New Year, New Blog Goals

2018 Recap

2018 was my first year of blogging and my goals were simple: just to get started and to find my niche. I was so worried about what people would think and felt self-conscious, that my only goal was to do it. Now that I’m about 10 months in, I feel a lot more confident about my blog and truly want to make it into a creative space that I can share with you.

I learned that my passions are lifestyle blogging which includes: fashion, beauty, motherhood. I know at the beginning, I shared some recipes, but those really aren’t what I want to focus on. I have immense respect for food bloggers though!

Some of you may know, my blogging journey began as an outlet to cope with my postpartum depression. My postpartum depression hit really hard from months 4-8 and there were a few occasions where I felt I hit my lowest lows. I love my day job as a social worker, and love being a Mother, but I needed something more. This blog allowed me to expand an area of interest I’ve had for quite a few years into a full time side-hustle.

Goals for 2019

Consistency I am planning to blog regularly this year, 2-3 times a week to be exact. I plan to blog regularly about motherhood, safer beauty, my latest fashion finds, and some “what we’re up to” posts so that you can get to know me and my family a little better. I also be featuring guest posts from other amazing bloggers that I’ve connected with.

Photography Part way through 2018, I realized my blog and Instagram could really benefit from having professional photos. I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with a number of talented photographers, but I also want to develop my own photography skills. I recently purchased a Nikon D3400 and am still learning how to use it. I’m really going to focus this year on developing my skills. Any tips are appreciated!

Collaboration One of the most important lessons I learned in my year of blogging, is community over competition. I’ve started to collaborate with some brands, photographers, and other bloggers, but I’d love to expand this in 2019. So that being said, if your a blogger or offer a service, shoot me a message: julia@theblissfulmomma.com This also means lot of fun giveaways for my readers!

Compassion This means several things to me. First, I want to find different ways to give back with this blog. I have one exciting opportunity I am working on (stay tuned to hear about it soon!), but I will continue to find different ways to give back and keep you posted with them. Mental health and body positivity are both important to me, so they will most likely have something to do with this. I also want to have more compassion for myself.

What got updated on the blog?

Newsletter Well by now, you probably got a pop-up to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve decided to send a newsletter from time to time, especially since I plan on posting on the blog consistently. I don’t know yet how frequently I’ll be sending it, but I promise it won’t be annoying! Keep reading to see how you can win a giftcard for signing up for my mailing list.

Logo Scroll back to the top of the page if you haven’t seen it yet. What do you think? I decided I need a real logo and had a wonderful experience using Freelancer.com If your unfamiliar with this site, you list your project and your expected budget (anywhere from $25-$400) and people bid with their experience and price. You get to review all your bids and choose whoever you think will do the best job. The person doesn’t get paid until you are satisfied with their work. It’s pretty cool! Click my link to save $20 on your logo or Freelance project!

Background A minor change, but I updated my site background, to give it a little cleaner look and to go with my logo.

Shop My Looks (COMING SOON!) Since I am starting to focus more on Fashion, I’m making it easier to shop all of my looks. All my looks both Instagram and on the blog will be linked on this new page I created. It may have some growing pains as I figure this widget out (due to the WordPress upgrade, but it’s coming soon!

Giveaway

To jump start the new year, I’ll be giving away a $50 giftcard to Target* for anyone that signs up for my Newsletter in the month of January. Don’t worry, I won’t be sending excessive newsletters–it will most likely be 2 times a month or so and you can always unsubscribe if you really don’t like it. But I hope you will! All you need to do is sign-up on the pop-up or go to this link

*Must be 18 years or older to enter, open to residents of the U.S. Only. In no way sponsored by Target. I take privacy seriously and would never distribute your email.