Wow, it’s been a quick year! January 5th, 2018 I launched Along Came Alex. During that time, I definitely had some content worthy experiences and documented over 45 blog posts in my first year!

My highest viewed day had 128 unique views and there have been people in 44 different countries who have read my content. Is that a LOT? Not particularly, but I am growing everyday. I LOVE this blog and have found such an inspirational creative outlet for myself. I am not stopping anytime soon. Here are a few things I’ve learned or formed an opinion on in my first year.

PREP

            You need a lot of prep time in order to start a blog. I needed a name. I needed a domain. I needed a layout. I needed a brand. I needed a color scheme to go with the brand. I needed so much than to start writing from the get go. I’ve changed all of that once I got going. Start creating content and eventually, you will be attracted to what you want to be attracted to. For me, colorful, bright photos is what inspired me when all along, I thought I was a neutral minimalistic gal. Whoudda thunk? You’ll get there though. I’d say prep time took at least a month to get my site where I wanted before I published it.

It’s much more complex than you’d assume

            Blogging does not just take the competency of a regular blog post, but some basic computer coding knowledge. You cannot just buy templates and hope for the best…if you want to move a piece of your page, you need to #1 know exactly what the coding for that piece/widget/plug-in looks like and #2 where you want it #3 how to take the code from one part of your page code to the other. It’s SO much more complex than I ever thought. I have a new respect for any and all bloggers out there.

Nothing is “free”

            There’s literally no such thing as a free blog unless you don’t have a custom domain (aka www.alongcamealex.com instead of www.wordpress.com/alongcamealex) or if you have the most basic of layouts. Even then, you’ll get some internet spam on your page which you can’t fully avoid without paying for protection. None of this is too expensive and I’ve probably only put about $250 into my blog in one year with a purchased layout, a custom domain, premium anti-spam packages and more.

Don’t purchase presets for Instagram

           A new pet peeve of mine: PRESETS. You may have seen influencers selling theirs. It’s a preset you can create on Adobe Lightroom so that you can edit your photos to have a similar vibe. I fell into the trap & did this months this months ago in the summer and I regret the 10 posts that I have using them.

Purchased presets and over-edited photos to have the “Instagram” moody look are, in my opinion, a phase. You know what else was a phase? In 2011, we all wore feathers in our hair for a hot second…do you remember that?? I think we are all going to look back at presets and shake our heads. It doesn’t look natural. To me, using Lightroom to brighten colors, change some shadows or sharpen some details are all the preset you need, and now I’ve created my own. Once I stopped using my purchased presets and started being MYSELF, I felt so much more fulfilled.

“Blogger”…What does it really mean?

Plenty of people are “bloggers” in 2018, but…are they all really? I consider myself a blogger because I have a blog and anywhere from one to ten posts per month. If you consider yourself a “blogger” with no website, youtube, or site that links from your website, in my opinion, you are not accurately advertising your brand. A blogger runs a blog site where he or she posts semi-regularly. You are not a blogger simply by having a domain name or having an instagram page. You are an instagrammer or influencer with an instagram. You are a blogger with a blog.

Fellow Blogger Relationships: Good & Bad

Usually in a niche or two, there are a few people who claim they are the only ones who are allowed to be there. A former friend of mine was actually angry at me when I started my blog because I “stole her niche.” Let me ask you the question: How does one person have a monopoly over the Asian travel and beauty market? I countered her argument by asking if we could collaborate on a post and work as a team. She turned me down cold and I honestly have not spoken to her since then because I was hurt by something that seemed small to me. She was employed at the time and blogging was not her sole source of income. For me, blogging is a hobby and I don’t plan on stealing anyone’s clientele. Additionally, I’ll be moving back to the USA soon and my niche will change completely.

BE YOURSELF! And please encourage other women and work as a team! Gina from GinaBearsBlog, Brit from Life of Brit, Rachel from Rachel en Route and Kirstie from Hall Around the World are some women who stick out to me as encouraging and empowering in their online presence. Although we all have some similar content, everyone spins their own very dissimilar flare and respect/support one another. Megan, who I know from college, from MeganRaeofLight is a beautiful, genuine, positive soul and answered any questions I had when I was first starting out. More people should be like theses women in the blogging community.

YOU HAVE TO BE YOURSELF

I covered this a little in the beginning, but I need to hone in on it. This seems obvious. I thought I knew this. However, it’s actual quite difficult to find yourself in this social media saturated world. There’s a lot online telling us what we should be. For me, I thought I was a minimalist. I like marble, gold, and baby pink like every other millennial.

However…my favorite photos and travels are ALWAYS colorful and vibrant. I’m inspired by color, not by beauty. This took me a very long time to understand. My brand for Along Came Alex at first was marble and pastels. Now, we have soft fonts and a white layout, but all feature photos/logos/etc are bright and any color. It feels more ME even though everything in my home life is pink, gold and white. It might take a moment to swing like a pendulum to where you need to be. Remember Miley Cyrus…she seems happy AF now but she never would’ve settled in her happiness now if she didn’t first discover what it was that caused her happiness.

THANK YOU! Thank you if you’ve read one word of this blog in the past year, I thank you. It’s basically a digital diary where I get to keep my memories…glad you’re coming along with me.

XOXO Alex