I have been blogging since 2011, perhaps earlier if you count Xanga and Myspace. You can read those angsty filled posts here from 2004 and 2005. (they are cringeworthy!) In those early days of blogging, it was new-ish and very unstructured. The blogs I found, usually through another blog, was very organic- posts about their life and what was happening. Now I feel like a lot of blog posts contain affiliate links, sponsored posts and posts about their lives that are curated. Everyone (even myself sometimes) curate their lives to make it look good. I like to read posts about the real things, life unfiltered. Its crazy to think how much blogging has changed in the past 10 years.
The idea of having a personal archive of your life- a blog- is a really neat thing. Yes, paper journals provide the same thing but I was never really good or consistent of keeping a physical journal. My planners have become more of a journal in the recent years, which i really love. Short, sweet and to the point. I have a finite amount of space to write and I have learned to write the things that are important to me in that space.
Blogging for me has always been a place where I can share my life and shed some light on things that are important to me, most notable, speaking openly about Crohn's Disease and my life. Ever since I first joined Blogger back in 2011, this space has grown as I've grown up. In the beginning it was something fun to do, now its something I look forward to doing and connecting with others in the blogging community. I think social media has become a huge part of blogging and while I don't exactly think it will stay like that forever, I am curious to see what will come of it. I have been thinking about how I would like WonderGraceJoy to look going forward and what I want to do with it. Here are a few goals/ideas that I am hoping to accomplish in the future.
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Everyday Jersey Girl. I would love to incorporate this name into WGJ. Everyday Jersey Girl was a blog name I wrote under and I absolutely LOVED this name. I feel like at the time- in my mid twenties, it was a perfect depiction of me. As I got into my late twenties/early thirties, I didn't love it as much. NOW in my mid thirties, I have been thinking about who the Everyday Jersey Girl is NOW.
Enjoy Documenting My Life. Writing for me has always been relaxing, fun and little pressure. This is my main goal, to ENJOY this process.
Staying True. I am not a fashion blogger. Back in the beginning, everyone was a fashion blogger by default and while some have continued, others have carved out their own niche in this community. I am not one to talk about clothes non stop or find enjoyment in finding sales and posting consistently about clothing all the time. If I am going to continue to write, I need to write things that I like and enjoy and actually want to read.
Finding my niche. I am at the point where I want to find my own niche. I would consider myself a lifestyle blogger because more time than none, I am sharing something about my life- either photos, or events or just what I am doing. I feel like I have more to share that would fall under the lifestyle umbrella but its challenging to figure out if that is where I will ultimately stay.
Build a community. I love seeing other bloggers who have built their brand and a community to go along with it. I love seeing the interactions and I would love that for my blog. I think finding my niche would help with that and connecting perhaps with other local bloggers too.
and lastly,
Monetize the blog. Who doesn't want to make extra money doing what they love. I wanted to work with sponsors/brands I actually love and will actually use. I don't want to promote anything that is not in align with me and what I believe in. This is probably my biggest obstacle and biggest goal- putting myself out there. I figure small, slow steady steps are better than no steps at all.
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This is a small look in to the inner workings of my mind and my action plan for this blog. Is there more behind the scenes that I didn't share, of course! I can't show all my cards at once!
I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who clicks on my blog and reads these posts. I truly appreciate your time and you!
[[If your goals don't scare you, then they aren't big enough.]]
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