“Andacia Kay” is a Year Old!!

I’ve been actively blogging for a year now (time flies, man) and I thought I should do a quick post to prove (mostly to myself) that all of this isn’t in vain. 

Here’s to a full year of blogging:

1. Blogging is harder than I could ever imagine: This here ain’t easy, do you hear me?! There is nothing easy about this, nothing. Having to consistently deliver good material, coming up with the visuals, the editing, and the promotion. I’m still having a hard time planning things out, you know what I mean?  I just never thought it would be this hard. It’s rewarding, but hard. This is among many reasons why I value reader feedback, it keeps me going.
2. The “follow to unfollow” thing is wild: I may have missed the memo, but lately there have been some huge accounts following me on IG, I follow back, and hours later they retract their follow. This can be a bit annoying because as I mentioned before, I’m trying to grow my platform. So, any bit of growth is worth something. I have recently made my Instagram private as I haven’t been bringing in readers from that end anyway; this is probably the best thing I’ve done all year.
3. I shouldn’t have to rushed to monetize my blog: As soon as I hit the triple digit mark on my page views I filled out an application to adsense and Amazon Affiliates. I was denied by adsense beacaue I didn’t have enough content and barely even a following. Looking back, I probably should’ve waited until I got more established. I think when I looking at other people’s blogs it seemed like having ads in the sidebars was necessary, but it’s not.
4. There’s a ton of “testing the waters” involved: Blogging is all about finding your niche. I feel like I found mine, but there’s a part of me that feels like I should be doing something else to supplement it. Whatever it is, I hope it makes itself known soon. 
5. Patience: Things are a little slow. Sometimes I feel like giving it up all together, but then I remember that I don’t really have any other hobbies! I just keep in mind that one day it’s all gonna pay off and soon I’ll be reaching people from all over. 
6. I’m a perfectionist: I had no idea until I started this blog about how much of perfectionist I am. For my big posts, I hold on to those for about two weeks before actually publishing them because I worry that they’re not good enough. For those of you who have been reading since my very first post, you know that somewhere along the line I scrapped my entire design for the one I have now. I’ll do it all over again if I feel that it’s time for a change; I doubt that’ll happen any time soon though. 
7. Blogging is an investment: When blogging, you’re investing time and money. I look at it as an investment in myself because it’s something that I truly enjoy to do.
8. Last, but not least, Thank you!! Thanks to all that have been here from the very beginning and to those who are just now jumping on board. I’ve grown so much and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!