My First Month of Blogging - My Crash Test Life

I can not believe that I have been blogging (or attempting to!) for a whole month. Although there have been several successes, there have been an equal number of failures. However, even with all the ups and downs, I can not believe how much I love creating recipes and tackling this new adventure!

How it all started

October 3rd was the day that I bit the bullet and decided that I would try my hand as a blogger. Although I have a full time job that brings me plenty of challenges, I felt that I need to set a new goal and to learn some new skills. I had been thinking about starting a blog for some time, but really could not figure out what type of blog I would create.

What do people REALLY want to read about? What would make my blog popular? What do people want to see?

And therein lies the problem. I was so concerned about what would draw people to my website, that I lost site of my true passions - Cooking and attempting to achieve optimal health. My dad once told me that if you make yourself happy, all else will follow. Taking traditionally unhealthy foods and magically turning them into nutritionally dense recipes is what really makes me happy. It was at that point that My Crash Test Life was born!

Looking back on the month

I can not believe how much I have grown in the past month. I have very limited computer skills and absolutely no photography skills. I knew this was not going to be easy.

I decided that the standard rule of 3 years for any business was going to have to be applied to this adventure. For those of you who don't know, the rule of 3 states that on average, it takes a new business 3 years before exponential growth occurs. With that in mind, I decided to sign up with Blue Host as my hosting server for 3 years.

So, at the beginnnig of October, I had a domain name, a web hosting company and not a lot of anything else!

Here are the highs and lows of my first month of blogging.

Successes

Listed below are some of the accomplishments that I am really proud of:

I created a variety of delicious Whole30 and other low carb healthy recipes
I bought a camera and am slowly improving my food photography skills
I figured out how to make a page break in WordPress (that may not sound like much but there are SO many buttons that it was a lot harder then it sounds!)
I produced over 30 posts!

Failures

Now, onto the failures. Although I had a lot more failures then successes, my failures have helped me to grow and will hopefully continue to be transformed into successes.

Using my phone and my ipad as a camera did not produce pretty pictures. Let's face it, the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is true. Some of the photos of my recipes made them look inedible!
I made a mistake in my avocado pizza crust recipe post so when I made it a second time, it tasted terrible (what do you expect when you mistakenly add 4x the amount of baking soda to a recipe!)
I spent hours trying to get my website to look like all the other "pretty" food blogs out there. Finally, when I was about to throw in the towel, I decided to hire my web hosting company to also help make my blog become more visually appealing.
Major failure...Pinterest. I can not for the LIFE OF ME figure out how to find my pins on Pinterest. From what I gather, I have to be "invited" to join a group board on which I can post my pins. Until I post my pins on a group board, I (nor anyone else!) can find my pins. Weird, right? So far, every group board I have reached out to has either not replied or are not accepting any new bloggers.
I burnt my forearm twice while reaching into the oven!

Income Report

Here is a summary of my income and expenses for the first month (all numbers have been rounded up or down to make the math easier!).

Monthly Expenses:

BlueHost - I signed up for 3 years of web hosting so although I paid it all at once, it comes to under $7/month.
Camera - I realized that I needed a good camera in order to take quality pictures. I checked out a lot of reviews online and ended up with a used Canon Rebel T6 for $250.
SD Memory Card - My camera did not have a memory card so I had to purchase one separately for $23
Website Design - This was a big expense which I am currently regretting but am hoping that the company I am contracted with comes through. At $349/month, they are suppose to make my website more visually appealing as well as do some social media blasts on Facebook and Twitter. As of yet, I am THOROUGHLY not impressed but since I have contracted with them for 6 months, I am hoping that they will pull through soon.
Cookbook Plugin - "Plugins" was a new term for me. For those of you who don't know, a plugin is a "chunk" of a computer program that you can buy and add to your website. Unless you know how to write computer codes, plugins are a must. Since most of my posts are food based, I had to add this plugin to help me to create recipes. Cost: $49
GirlsBossRocks - I signed up for 2 online classes that were supposed to help me with Pinterest. Although the classes are full of information, until I find a way to get on a group board, I can't really do much with the information. I have no regrets with this purchase (cost: $47) because LeAnn has been very helpful and I am secretly hoping she will give me further guidance as to joining these "so called" group boards.
VistaPrint - I created business cards so that if ever someone wants a recipe, I can hand them a card with my website listed and the name of the recipe. Cost: $20 for 500 cards.
Time - I have probably committed over 20 hours per week but since I am truly (well, most of the time anyway!) enjoying myself, I consider it priceless!

Income

Are you guys ready for this....drum roll please..... $0!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I was not anticipating any income since I still don't even really have a website up and running. Also, most of the expenses that I incurred this month were basic startup costs. Since I have started a business in the past, I realize that one can not make money without putting in some money at the beginning.