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| Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash |
Thursday has rolled around again and that means it is time for me to share my Reasons to be Cheerful. This week I have chosen to share based on blogging reasons, I quite like to mix things up and have a theme or do a different style to keep these #R2BC posts interesting.
Blogging is a very funny animal. I've been doing it a long time now, in fact some would refer to me as an early innovator and this does make me laugh as I've never been a forerunner or innovator in anything.
Blogging Anniversary
On 10th February 2019, I had my 11 years of blogging anniversary, isn't that mental? I only started sharing so my friend and mum could see some pictures of the kids and then my comments led other readers back to me. I didn't even mean to do it!
But blog I have, many of my old posts have now gone back into draft now, as frankly they were just appalling, but there are also still some pretty abysmal ones lives on the blog from the early days, but I figure they are all part of the journey and show just how far my writing and skills have come.
However, despite all those old posts being back in draft, on 2nd February 2019 I published my 2000th live post on this blog.
Successful Blog Posts
There are some crackers, I still marvel at the fact that a post I wrote back in 2011 to publicise Chris from Thinly Spread travelling to New York to attend the UN General Assembly on behalf of Save the Children, has over 100,000 views on it. I think back then was when the parent bogging community was it its best, it was far smaller, we all knew of each other and the support was immense, withing 48 hours Hello It's Gemma and I had encouraged 164 other bloggers to write and publicise an article to support Chris and Save the Children.
My next most popular post is about how to tackle the disaster that is clothes moths; that one has 82,899 views on it as of today and I pray it helps reassure some people that these pests can be tackled and gives them the practicalities of doing so.
Working with Amazing Charities and NGO's
I've had some amazing opportunities because of my blog. I've been honoured to be able to support charities and NGO's with my writing, sharing and lobbying. Of course I had life changing trips to Ethiopia, Belarus and Washington D.C. to write about the good works that are going on.
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| In Ethiopia with Jen Howze and #ONEMums |
There have also been superb family days out, breaks and holidays away over the last few years and every one of them I've cherished. We can't wait to go to Leeds Castle to review that next week in half term.
It's NOT all about the Statistics!
I've definitely learnt that comparison is the thief of joy when it comes to blogging and I don't tend to compare my achievements to anyone else's, as this is a really personal journey. I know now I should have got on with my Instagram promotion when I first joined in 2012, but it wasn't a platform I enjoyed back then so I didn't and that leaves me with a paltry 2800 followers, a number I just can't seem to get past.
Pinterest has bee more successful though and I was super pleased the other day to see that my unique monthly viewers hit 102.8K in early Feb and last week I saw it had gone up again to 105.1K. Little things like that can make me very cheerful (for a day or so and then I remember how unimportant it is in the scheme of things! lol).
The Big Success
More than the statistics and the holidays, the big success for me has been staying authentic and honest. Sharing my faith, my battles with food and my own breed of imperfect parenting. Here's to the next 11 years!
Come and Join In!
I'd love to read your Reasons to be Cheerful and it is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to join in -
1. Link up a post about something that is making you super happy/ grateful. It can be in this style or it can be anything you like - a recipe, a tutorial, a from the heart, a list - it's your blog, you choose
2. Add the #R2BC badge onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they fancy
3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?
I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on twitter too
#R2BC is with me for the month of February.
Why not pin this post for later?
