Never Did I Dream
Back then, I though blogging was just some hobby. I never actually thought that I could make a living out of it. Thanks to those bloggers who influenced me a lot on earning with my blog, I have come to realize that my blog's worth is more than anything in this world. Not that I am using it to earn money, it is also one of the outlets of my feelings, and emotions. With this blog, I earned a lot of things: money, friends, and experiences.
The Beginning
Back in 2008 when I was just starting with my previous blog, never have I thought of gaining a lot of views. It was just some sort of online diary. Then, I began following blogs of Muslim sisters such as Stephanie, Hana, Shea, and Dian. They all have tons of followers. I was wondering if I would ever reach fifty that time.
I was a noob. And I did not know about link exchanges. That ignorance was battled when I found Rhea's blog. She was always eager to comment on blogs, look for link exchanges, and do all other sorts of things related to SEO. I did not even know what SEO was. hahah. I followed her blog religiously. That was lilPrinsesa that time, I think. From then on, I began to comment on blogs, leave messages on tagboards for link exchanges, and so on. That's the time I met Cei. She was still blogging at finkalicious that time and was having a giveaway of .info domain. I joined. When I submitted all the entries for that blog giveaway, I have in the back of my mind that I will win. I also have a firm decision to get lilpink.info if I win. And yes, I won second price. I got myself lilpink.info and a 20gb hosting on February 14, 2010. I was ecstatic.
My first ever theme
The Dilemma
I was still a noob. When I started using wordpress, I felt like I was the dumbest kid in town. Heck! With Blogger, I created my own themes. But with wordpress? I had to resort to premade themes. I studied the themes religiously until I grasped the essence of PHP. I was unfathomably happy. Tamara was my saviour. You bet! Even though my first theme was flop, I was happy. Hey, it was my first time to create a theme for a wordpress blog. :) I had to learn everything - from photoshop to codes. I used to change themes every month but I grew out of that. I love the current theme and I am planning to keep it until I don't know when. :)
The Blessings
I kept my three-month earnings from my blog in 2010. That was the time I was able to buy my Kindle. I was happy to buy something out of my own money. I kept another four-month earnings. Then, I was able to buy a new camera in January 2011. Man! 2010 was my year indeed. I won in several giveaways back then. I wish I had that luck this year.
In 2011, I earned monthly income ranging from $40-$120. I did not even imagine that I could earn that much from blogging. Actually, there was a month that I did not earn. Not even a dime. It was the last month of the year, December 2011. I thought to myself, maybe my blog is not that lively anymore. Then, this month came. It was pure blessing. I never earned so much in 2 days. NOT UNTIL LAST WEEK. Man. My two-month earnings in 2011 was my 2-day earnings this year. Then, came the sponsorships as well. 2012 is awesome already. I hope it continues to be.
The Outcome
Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that I will have the current blog statistics. My three blogs, this one, Hey Miss!, and Hijabified, have at least a hundred followers. My facebook fanpage reached 500 (with the help of other people in advertising. haha) likes. My Youtube account reached 3000 (with the help of other people who advertised -again. haha). One of my videos in Youtube reached 11,794 views. I had no idea how it reached that much. I did not even spent time on advertising it. Not until it hit 10,000 views. I began sharing it because the stat was awesome. I had to let everyone know that I had an awesome video on youtube that hit 10,000 views. lol! My twitter grown so much. Ok. I used some sort of free followers back then. I stopped now. :P It is getting into my nerves until now. It keeps on letting my twitter account follow people who tweets nothing but #teamfollow. I sucked badly at that one. T_T Lesson learned. Do not use free services. They have perks. Don't get mad at me for using such service. Even Lady Gaga herself used the paid service. Haha.
The Future
Each day, I meet new people. I enjoy a lot talking to them. Some of the bloggers are my friends. I have even come up with a list of online bestfriends. Lol! I love them very much. And I love blogging so much. I wonder how would my future in blogging be like? :)
That was my blogging life. InshaAllah, there will be more great stories to tell, more looks to share, more love to give. I hope you stand by me through the years to come. And we will be awesome like that! Who knows.
To end the post, here's a photo. LoL!
with my pyjama. hahah (taken last year)
natawa ako ung kay Lady gaga haha! So many blessings from the moolah you earned to thousands of viewers! More blessing Ayah! sana ako rin :))
ReplyDeletei so love tamara's themes before when i was still using wordpress themes nya laki yung ginagamit ko
ReplyDeleteEven though I am a blogger way back, I am still a noob when it comes to blogging. =))
ReplyDeletehehehe!! I like your theme btw. ^^
wow you've gone a looong way in blogging =)
ReplyDeletesis! I don't know what SEO. hahha! :3 a little help here? o__O eeeh! I am still a noob. xD teheee! Blogging is really one of a kind~ :3 it helps us to build a great esteem for ourselves :D
ReplyDeletewow! ikaw na sis! hehehe :D same here.. game of SEO lang talaga yan para tumaas views and hits ng blog and all! :D
ReplyDeletenaloko na sis! hahah. natawa talaga ako sa statement mo na: you're a makeup guru na ren. LOOOOOOOOOOOOL! :P
ReplyDeleteWow. Haha. I know of SEO but I'm not that knowledgeable about it. I have to ask Rhea to teach me! :))
ReplyDeleteI think, right now I was in your position when you just started bloggin'. You are one of my blogger inspiration. I 've been a member of blogger since 2008 but I just started blogging about 3mos ago. I'm having 40+ views each day sometimes (very rare) 100+ and I don't know if I should be happy by that. Most of the things you've mentioned in this post is new to me so my mind was overwhelmed by those and I don't know until when will I be blogging, sometimes I'm feeling lazy na.hehe but I will always visit this blog.
ReplyDeleteXoxo, hijabcraze.blogspot.com
OMG! Nakakainspire naman sis. Gusto ko din ng ganyan kaso kasi bago palang ako. Mag 1 year palang ang PM sa March 25. Kelan kaya dadating sakin yan? Haha.
ReplyDeleteyou deserve best because you work hard for it. :)
ReplyDeletesis... buti kapa... 2012 so far for me is really bad .. at least for my blog. wala na lahat pati linkfromblog.. lol i don't know what happened.. wala nang gusto mag advertise sa blog ko.. odesk na nga lang ang source of income ko ngayon eh..
ReplyDelete