What does a year of blogging bring you?

I HAVE been tapping away at my keyboard at odd times of the day on a blog about twins and multiple births for a year now and thought it may be helpful to give a rundown of what this daft behaviour has achieved.

Craig has helped me a great deal. I wanted to make information available to parents and expectant parents. This was the driving force behind the blog as opposed to making money - this would be nice of course and as time goes on, then I need to look into this more.

At times it has felt like a really thankless task, especially as I was labouring under the impression that there was a grand total of 360 returning visitors. I have just looked properly at the statistics and there has been 24,944 unique visitors and 4,370 returning visitors over 12 months.

What do you think of these figures? I hope to build on them and find the time to promote the blog more. More people have expressed an interest in contributing and I would like the site to have more of a community feel.

I know there are loads and loads more blogs with loads and loads more readers, but it has still been worthwhile in all sorts of ways.

Since starting the blog, I have been invited to speak on two regional radio stations and one regional TV programme. Some but not all of these came directly through the blog, but where they didn't, it added to the 'expertise' the interviewers felt I brought into the equation.

The site has also been mentioned on two national papers' websites and and once in another broadsheet's paper version. It has also provided me with the hook or knowledge for some successful pitches and I've got two or three high-paying 'real life' jobs through pitching stories as a result of readers getting in touch.

What I haven't done is made any money 'directly' from the blog at all really - just a few quid, and I mean a few, each month from people clicking on Google ads or clicking to buy books from the sidebar thanks to an Amazon affiliate scheme.

As someone at home in the evenings with a young family, I've also appreciated the contact the site has brought me with other parents and bloggers and treasure some of the advice, laughs and friendship (yes friendship!) I'd say blogging has brought me.

I'd really welcome any input from other writers as to how my experience of 12 months of blogging compares with theirs and what their advice would be as to how to progress now.

Thanks!

Comments

[Katie]

I've enjoyed your blog Linda, but don't know how you've found the time.