February Round Up

Well, February is nearly over, and I have another month of serious blogging under my belt. I don’t really know where to start with this month’s round-up so I’ll break it down, first talking about my personal accomplishments, before I move onto my blog.

This post does contain affiliate links. This means that if you use the link to purchase something, I will receive a percentage, at no extra cost to you.

Personal Life

Work

If you’ve read my January round-up you’ll know that I spent the last three weeks of the month signed off work, and I spent that time writing and improving my mental health. I started this month off by returning to work, and consistently attending for the whole month (yes!). Now I know that I will always struggle with working consistently, and I can’t predict whether or not I will need additional time off, but every week I attend builds me up further and keeps me going. I have since had an OT assessment (for what feels like the hundredth time), and while I was worried about my job security as a result of the insane number of days off I have had, the OT assured me that I should be protected by the equality act, so I am hoping it wont be a problem!

I turned 26

It was also my birthday this month! I don’t normally enjoy my birthday, but this year things seemed a bit more positive. I enjoyed a delicious Chinese with the boyfriend (a bit unusual for a romantic meal out I know, but it’s what I wanted). I have made a lot of changes in my life in the last year and I do think my life is on the up, even if I do have bad days occasionally, so I felt it was about time to celebrate it!

I also got 10 Cadbury’s Creme Eggs – so it was the best day!

Health

While I am currently struggling with some sort of bad chest and throat thing, my health has generally been okay this last month. My tiredness has mostly been stable, and manageable. With the exception of this week, it has only been overwhelming on my days off, which makes it much easier to manage. My routine is back – I’m getting up at the same time every morning, and falling asleep at a similar time every night. Things are flowing more easily. 

My CBT sessions actually end today, and I feel like they have been the source of my mental health turn-around. I’ve really worked hard this time to put in the effort and use the things I have learned to manage my mood each day. Things have become much easier, and I actually feel like a different person. Most of the time anyway.

Blog

It’s been a HUGE month for my blog. I have had over 500 views this month, which to well established blogs may not be a lot, but for me is insane! Every day I get into the double-digits with my daily views, and I’m getting a few comments here and there now as well. I’m hoping I can continue to grow, and I am doing all kinds of things to improve my blog itself, as well as increase my views and DA. See below for more details. 

Social Media

At the end of last month I joined twitter, and it has really changed my life. I know a lot of blogs use Pinterest for their main source of views, and I am working on that as well, but as a brand new blog with very little social media experience Twitter was absolutely the best place to start. By engaging with other blogs, using blog follow threads and also using writing hashtags, I am now up to 400 followers – which to me is a lot to gain in just a month. My goal for March is to get over 700, if not close to 1000. That would be the dream!

Twitter has also been a great place to meet other bloggers. I have made some great friends online, and we all support each other, which makes this whole experience a lot easier and more fun. 

I am also on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – although these three are growing far more slowly. I use buffer to schedule Twitter and Facebook to make sure I am posting regularly, but haven’t quite got there with Pinterest and Instagram. By the end of March I am hoping to have a strategy down for these, so they are growing just as much as Twitter and getting me more site views!

If you’d like to help me by following these accounts then that would be greatly appreciated – I always follow back!

Self-Hosting

Ah self-hosting. The thing I thought I could live without. My how stupid I was. 

When I first started I scoured the internet for help with how to become a successful blogger and freelance writer, and I’ve lost count of the number of times I was recommended self-hosting from the offset. The sites I was being advised to use were asking for about £80-£100 upfront for the whole year (even with an affiliate discount), which I just couldn’t afford, and I thought maybe they were just recommending it so they could claim a percentage through the affiliate link. (I was quite naive about affiliate programs at the time, that’s changed now as you’ll see below!)

I decided I would see how it went. I would try blogging for a year without paying anything and if it takes off then I would pay for a year of self-hosting. It was going well actually, I was growing as a writer, getting views, but I just felt that there was a lot I was missing out on. My site looked nice but it wasn’t as professional looking as some of my favourite blogs, and I don’t think I was being taken seriously because of that. 

Queue the very timely post from one of my favourite bloggers (Booksnest.co.uk), which recommended Lyrical Host. I’ll tell you, I wish I’d known about them sooner.

Firstly, you pay them monthly, which was a huge selling point for me. Even though it does probably work out more over the whole year, it’s much more affordable for someone who is currently making no money from their blog, and also works part-time at minimum wage. 

Secondly, I was advised that their support was second to none, and I was not disappointed. Within 24 hours of signing up they had migrated my whole WordPress site over to their hosting service, and have been on hand ever since to answer any questions. The replies I’ve had have been within the hour (often less than 15 minutes), and they have been so unbelievably helpful. 

Finally, customisation is 100 times easier using their hosting service. There are more, professional looking themes available, and there are more ways to manipulate them to get what you want out of them. You can use plug ins for even more options and features – I finally have Yoast SEO and have already been able to boost my domain authority. 

There are many reasons to self-host, and if you do decide to take the plunge then I 100% recommend using Lyrical Host. It has changed my life, and is the reason my blog looks the way it does right now (I love it – although I do welcome feedback so if you have any comments then let me know!). If you do decide to go for Lyrical Host, then please consider using my affiliate link, to help me cover the costs of running my own blog (it costs nothing extra for you). You can also use my discount code PCLAIRE10 for 10% off your first month.

Affliates

This month I also starting looking into and using affiliate links. I haven’t really used them much, as I want to make sure I am only advertising things that I love. I am hoping to use them more over the coming months, so watch this space. 

Content

I have been able to consistently post at least three days a week in order to build up my site. It’s not always been easy – I am often exhausted when I get home for work so I’ve been trying to write in advance and schedule them throughout the week. I’ve also expanded the topics I’ve been writing about. I’m doing a recipe series for slow cookers, and also started doing Feature Friday each week to honour a blogger who I love.

Blogging so far has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see where it takes me! Here’s to a successful March for all of us!