Nine years ago today I published my first blog post ever. Unfortunately I don’t have that available today but I’m sure it wasn’t ground breaking in terms of content.
What was significant was that I found I loved blogging and have continued with it long after the newness wore off. Not that their haven’t been changes. This blog is my fourth and if you read my about page, it covers why I started and how I got to Health, Wealth and Travel.
To denote this special occasion I thought I’d share five reasons I love blogging.
Writing – I love to write for the pure fun of it. I get to pick the subjects, focus and words appearing in each and every post. Of course, I like to follow some guidelines for SEO and ease of reading purposes but generally I do what I want in terms of content.
Social – Although the actual writing is solitary, putting the results on a public site is social. Add to that promotion of it on Pinterest, facebook, twitter among others (although I’m not good at this part lately).
There’s also the social life aspect. I still have many online friendships with other bloggers I met online years ago. If we’re lucky we got to meet in person at a conference which brings me to the next reason.
Conferences – I love attending conferences where I’m not working professionally. I’ve spent time in cities I wouldn’t necessarily decide to visit (I’m thinking of you Savannah!) and even once attended a conference in San Diego where I saw a whole ‘nother side of my home town. I’ve enjoyed the presentations, expo halls, social activities and networking.
Education – My brain is definitely being stimulated as I am constantly learning new tricks in keeping the blog running. Most recently it was making my site HTTPS and making changes to be GDPR compliant.
Not only do you need to know about your blogging platform (WordPress here) and everything entailed there but also how to use other media platforms. Making better youtube videos is my current project although I still don’t understand the stories thing on Facebook and Instagram.
Fun – But the real reason I’m still blogging after nine years is that it’s fun. The past years have brought me a lot of personal joys but also sorrows and there’s been enormous changes. I know no matter what’s going on I am happy connecting with you on the blog.
I can’t wait to see what’s coming next. Here’s to the next 9 years!
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