Simply Kymtastic turns ONE! A Recap of my First Year of Blogging

Woah… I’m a blogger. I’d never thought I’d say that.

It’s been a year since I’ve launched simplykymtastic.com and all I can say is WOW.

The Journey

Most people I know have a hobby. A year ago, I didn’t. Sure there were activities that I liked, but I didn’t do any of those activities consistently. I was always so focused on school or work that I didn’t take time for ME.

I’ve never considered myself to be a writer. I’d write for school, I’d write for work, but I never wrote for fun. Every once in awhile, I’d write a really deep Facebook post and I would have a few people share my post or comment/inbox me to tell me that they appreciated my thoughts. After having a conversation with my mom, she told me I should really look into starting a blog.

I ultimately decided to launch my blog because I was going through a time of change. I didn’t know where I was headed or what was going to happen to me. I decided to invest in something that I would have for many years to come, regardless of where life took me.

Half of the battle was taking the time to start a blog. I’ve started a few free websites in the past, but I never posted on them. I didn’t take it seriously and I didn’t want to put in the work. Since I’d just quit my job, I suddenly had an abundance of free time.  When I made the decision to start my blog, I didn’t know what I wanted to write about. I didn’t have a plan. I simply wanted to have an outlet.

My blog is now my hobby!

The Launch

I purchased my domain name January 2nd and I launched January 15th. I worked my booty off to in the two-week time frame that I gave myself to make sure my blog was presentable. I set up a new Instagram account, I played around with my (awful) theme, and I learned as much as I could from the Facebook blogging groups that I joined.

Naturally, new bloggers have that “What am I going to write about?” or “Will people actually read my blog?” thought process. I changed my first blog post several times. I was afraid to talk about why I quit teaching, but I felt it was necessary. Prior to launching my blog, only a handful of people knew that I had quit my job. That blog post was me sharing one of the most traumatic times in my life for the first time; not only with people that knew me but with the world. I faced some backlash for my post, but the amount of support I received was overwhelming.

To my surprise, my first blog post has received over 5,100 views in the past year. Most of my views happened within the first two days of me launching my blog. I’ll admit, none of my other posts, have received that much attention. At the end of the day, I’m not worried about how many people read my blog. I’m more concerned about inspiring others through my stories.

The Foundation

I spent the majority of my first year learning as much as I could about what it means to be a blogger and how to make simplykymtastic.com the best that it could be. Running a blog isn’t easy and it’s a lot of work, but I’ve accomplished more than I could have ever imagined.  In the past year, I’ve published 28 blog posts. I found a mentor to help me grow as a writer. I was interviewed by another blogger. I changed the design of my blog (my site really was looking a little jank). Lastly, I’ve found some amazing bloggers to support and gain insight and inspiration from.

It’s easy to get caught up in what other people are doing and try to change who you are to keep up with others. I never believed in trying to be like others in my real life, so my blogging persona shouldn’t be any different. I’m not Instagram perfect. I don’t have hundreds of thousands of followers.  I don’t have thousands of page views each day (or month). I’m not raking in hundreds of dollars monthly. I’m not here for all of the hype. I’m not here for the fast train to six figures. I’m already making six figures every month if you count the two numbers to the right the decimal. I just want to stay true to myself and the success will come naturally.

The Next Level

So what’s next for simplykymtastic.com? Honestly, I don’t know. I wish I had some big plan to unveil, but I don’t. Having a creative spirit is kinda hard sometimes because not everyone can see or understand where I’m trying to go. And it’s hard for me to articulate my vision as it is always evolving. It’s frustrating sometimes because I have so many ideas floating around in my head.  I have goals and I’m sorting through all of my ideas to find a way to make them work. I believe I can do anything, but I can’t do everything (at least not all at the same time). 

Where will year two take me? God only knows. I do know for certain that it will be SIMPLY KYMTASTIC.

If you’re reading this, I really do thank you,

-Kymmie