“This is the story of how I died. Don’t worry, this is actually a very fun story”
Name that movie!
Yep, Tangled. We took a break from our normal Cars or Monsters Inc and watched Tangled the other day. This isn’t a story about how I died, but it is a story about how I became the blogger I am today. I alluded to this story yesterday, and today I’m going to give you all the gushy details.
Devin had a year of school left and I was scheduled to graduate. I didn’t know what I was going to do in a small college town for a year, so I decided to keep going to school. I signed up for a bunch of fun classes. One of the classes I took was Web Business. The reason I took this class is because I wanted to start my wedding floral business and I knew that if I wanted to market my business, I needed a website.
I thought the class was about setting up a website for your business. It turned out to be a class about making the web your business. This is when I was first introduced to blogging as a business.
It surprised me how much I really enjoyed this class. There were about 30 people in the class and the majority were male business majors who were required to take the class. They hated it. They showed up sporadically and rarely did the assigned homework.
I was the exact opposite. I read everything the professor assigned us and more and always completed the assignments. The guys in the class were always surprised that I did the work. It was really interesting for me though.
At the time, the impression I had of blogging was this:
(Raise your hands if you remember when blogs were online scrap books, please don’t hate me if your blog still looks like this)
I thought that was tacky and refused to have a blog. I just wanted to look like an established, professional business and decided a website was the only way to go ( it’s not, you can totally use WordPress to start a website). Devin was really busy in his Senior year of engineering and so I spent my time in the library learning HTML. I had shoulder and neck problems from the hours of hunching over my computer building my floral design website from scratch.
Here is my first website:
(I don’t know why, but I didn’t save a screenshot of the home page, but this is the inquire page… you get the idea.)
It didn’t take me long to understand that blogging wasn’t just a scrapbook journal and could look professional. I set a blog up for my floral business and like many of you started a lifestyle blog. The more I learned, the more excited I became about things I never would have imagined myself thinking about: HTML, SEO, PHP, analytics, IP addresses, scripts, etc. I haven’t stopped learning since that semester.
And that is the story of how I became very interested in all things blogging.
Blog about what you’re passionate about.
Launching Blog Ambitions was the best decision for my blogging career! I really enjoy what I do and I love continually learning about the technical sides of blogging. Even more, I love implementing the things I learn.
Being passionate about what you blog about is so crucial because blogging is a big commitment.
If you are passionate about your blog focus, you are more likely to be successful and less likely to give up.Tweet this!
Suggestions for finding what you are passionate about.
You might not know what you are passionate about and that’s okay. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
What are you already doing?
Are you giving your house a makeover? Do you sew on a regular basis? Do you play video games more than you’d like to admit? Do you experiment in the kitchen on a regular basis? If you are already doing something a lot, why not blog about it?
What do you talk about?
Start paying attention to the conversations you have with your friends and on social media. What are you sharing on Facebook? What do you pin the most on Pinterest? Sometimes we need to analyze our lifestyles to see what we like doing.
What do you think about?
I found this quote the other day and really liked it:
Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about” -author unknown
Don’t be afraid to try something new.
10 years ago, I never would have guessed that I would be so intrigued by the technical side of blogging. My friends are surprised too! Just the other day I had a friend watch Doran so that Devin and I could go to the MOZ SEO for bloggers chat. When I told her what we were doing she assumed we were going for Devin and got this disgusted look and then before dissing it said, “Are you… interested in that kind of stuff?” Ha. Yep. I am. Go figure!
Push yourself to learn something new. You might surprise yourself too with what you are passionate about.
Make sure your passions fit.
Here’s my last tip on pursuing your passions. Make sure that they are inline with your family. Family is a big deal to me. I am very passionate about Horticulture. I would love to be a famous wedding florist. I would love to do floral photo shoots all day long. But, people give flowers on holidays and couples get married on weekends. Right now, those are times I want to spend with my family.
Not only does following my passion for the technical sides of blogging allow me to spend time with my family, it is also something that Devin is interested in as well. He is a big part of this blog and even writes tutorials now and then.
What are you passionate about? Do you love what you blog about?
I see so much of myself in your story. I started blogging about my genealogy research because all the cousins kept asking about what i found. I was rather shocked to find people who were not related to me actually read my blog. Anyway,…I found i loved setting up my blog and now website! I love tweaking it and helping friends get started. I have found my inner techie! (It also makes me “cool” with my teens.)
Krisitie, thankzz for worth contribution..
I read what I love & I loved what I read..
Ah, clever!
I agree with the blog what you’re passionate about. I think that makes the writing more genuine and sincere and human. Not to say you can’t tackle other topics, but I think the passion should be there first, then everything else afterwards. Visiting from #SITSsharefest!
I agree, you can try different topics. But passion definitely fuels the fire!
Passion! That is the key and it is why I blog! As usual… you inspire me! Thank you for all you do!
Awesome post! There is something about displaying yourself professionally that I truly live by! In any aspect! Even without having a blog, it’s so important!
Agreed! I’m glad I did this challenge because it’s given me the opportunity to be me!
Hi there! I’m stopping by from SITS & I’m a new follower through Facebook & twitter. I hope your having a great day.
Thanks for following!
Love this post and I couldn’t agree more! If you don’t blog what you’re passionate about then you’re going to want to put in the hours required to create a successful blog!
Very true, I don’t think many people realize how time consuming it is and start out blogging about whatever, but that dies fast.
Wow, so much truth in this post! I liked reading your backstory and how you came to be writing about blogging. Though I’ve been blogging for about 7 months, I’m just now getting really comfortable and figuring out my niche. I’m embracing my passions more and more each day. Thanks for sharing!
Good for you Amy! I think that discovery is how we become passionate!
Great suggestions. The one that resonated the most is “What do you think about?” I’ll feel blocked for a post topic and then realize that I should write about the topic that’s been occupying my thoughts for days. 🙂
Might as well, right?
Great article! Blogging is definitely a big commitment. Which is why I love that you stressed that your passion also has to fit in with your current lifestyle. Do I wish I could sit and write all day long and/or learn new things about creating a better blog? Absolutely! But as an at-home/ homeschooling Mom there just isn’t enough time in the day. I fit it in when I am able (which sometimes is less than once a week) and I have learned to accept that at the moment that is just fine! I still get to do what I love – be with my kids and write about it too!
It’s all about a proper balance! I can tell that like me, you know what’s most important in your life!
Love this!
Kristie,
I love how you’ve started sharing more of your personal life on your blog. It makes you stand out. I’m curious did you ever use your horticulture degree?
As to passion, I really kind of lost mine this past year and almost quit blogging. I’ve got some new ideas for next year that will hopefully help and I still plan on hiring you to transfer my blog to WP. I need to do this before you get to big and famous (which I think you will) and will become too expensive for me.
This comment made my day. Thanks for having confidence in me! As to my horticulture degree, yes I still do weddings from time to time.
Love this post and so glad I found your blog through the #sitsblogging link up. I never thought I would be learning and doing some of the things I have done with my blog over the past year.
It’s crazy how much we can change in a year, isn’t it?
Great post – passion is so key to finding where you should be in the world!
Visiting from SITS Sharefest. Great article and so timely for me. I’m in the process of dedicating some more time and structure to my blog.
Cool! How are you going to structure it?
What a great post! Life is so boring without passion…..thanks for sharing!
OMG! I totally get you in so many ways. I have a desire to learn more about website development. I have spent most of my time gathering requirements and supporting systems as a business analyst. I took webdesign in college and I know enough to get me in trouble. Like I really like something now how do I fix it after I broken it after trying something new. This is something I’m focusing on this year because I know I can master it as well.
I think mastering a new skill is fun! Good luck Carla!
Love your story. I learned how to make a website for a college class in professional writing. It changed my life! Now I’m constantly soaking up more of the technical aspects, but I’ll never forget the first time one of my buttons was clickable on my first website. I nearly jumped out of my computer chair!
I always say that learning is empowerment. The more we learn, the more power we have. I’m the same way, I was even more excited when my button changed colors when you hovered over it! Ha.
Amen to everything! Loving learning about everyone involved in this challenge. Great post!
Dusti Kae
http://dustikae.com/beautiful-passions/
It has been a lot of fun! Great way to pinpoint why we are blogging!
Hi Kristie
It’s great when we attend to classes/courses that we really like. That way we can learn more ♥.
Haha and yes! I remember those blogs, mine was… pretty funny back then.
By the way, I pinned your quote ♥! Right now I’m so in love with my blog and the blogging world that I want to keep learning and growing more and more 😀
Fun. That’s a good way to describe how blogs were back then. 🙂 I’m glad you love your blog!
Awesome blog post, Kristie! My favorite line is “If you are passionate about your blog focus, you are more likely to be successful and less likely to give up.” So true, and I’m glad you said it! Good luck in your journey. 🙂 Cheers!
Thanks for sharing on Twitter! Good luck on your journey, as well!