My journey as a blogger

My journey as a blogger

Sep 16, 2020

I started a very cringe-worthy blog in the last month of 2014. The name was cringe, the concept behind it was cringe and just to spare me the embarrassment, I will not name it.

A month later, my sister noticed me typing on my laptop when I told her about all this she laughed. That's when I realised that name was so, "cringe".

So, I did what any smart entrepreneur would do (even though I was NOT an entrepreneur) I offered my sister a deal she couldn't refuse. I let her join in on my little experiment and it was one of the best things I ever did.

Fast forward to a year into blogging

Late 2015 - We didn't start making a full-time income, what we did make was a good part-time income, and a lot of motivation because we now knew that this was totally possible!

We were publishing twice every week, we were consistent. This meant, that we made two blog posts every single week and we published them that very week.

But we couldn't keep up the good work. My sister wanted to be an English language teacher and I wanted to pursue being creative. I loved writing, reading and doodling, I didn't know what I wanted to be but I knew I wanted to write and doodle for a living.

Slowly the blog died off as we both got busy with our post-graduation and simultaneously, building our own careers. Alas, the blog even after 1.5 years of inactivity, was closed off.

I re-discovered my passion for Blogging

I and my sister were the first in our family to have every studied till post-graduation. My dad mom and others in my family and even to some extend extended family were all people that never went beyond schooling due to financial reasons.

After my post-graduation was complete, my dad generously gifted me my very first MacBook and some cash. The reason being he was just overjoyed, I remember he was so proud of both his girls. My mom made our favourite dishes. It was like a celebration!

I thought long and hard about the things I enjoyed the most, and every single time I would remember the blog me and my sister had, how much I loved writing and being creative. But I was also torn between doodling and exploring drawing, and art.

God has been kind, he helped me put two and two together. I decided to blog and continue my education in art and design. My dad supported us all financially, and thanks to that I was never burned with having to earn on my own, whatever I would earn he'd ask me to save. He paid for my design education, I bought MANY courses on graphic design, web design, and arts.

And I re-started my hobby blog that had been laying around dormant since 2016 and I made it my goal to revive it.

I surfed the internet, searching on ways to make my blog better, countless hours. I wouldn't even sleep many times (do not do this! It will deteriorate your health as it did mine, sleep is important!)

I self-studied graphic design during the day and worked on my blog in the evening, and at night I would read up as much as I could for making my blog profitable.

4 years later...

My blog is now a valuable asset to my small home-based business. (I had an office before but it's just way more comfortable to blog in my pyjamas than it is in formals or casual and basically, I can be lazy.)

have always worked from home and apart from the days where I sometimes miss having an office and some colleagues, I quite enjoy working from home.

So what is it that I actually do?

I design for clients, logos, branding materials, brand identities and more. My job is to make other bloggers and creatives look professional online. And many times I get emails from bloggers about how they love my work and want to work together, but simply don't have the budget as they are just starting out.

This is why I provide free blogging education on my blog. To help bloggers who can't afford it yet but need it now. When it's easier to read no fluff, real advice you get better results.

Having said that, I have loads of affordable branding materials, etc. for your blog in my shop to help you succeed at blogging, you can check them all out here if you like. I want you to know and understand that it's possible to make it as a blogger if you just put your mind to it.

It's possible to start your blog without a budget if you can't afford to spare a penny on your blog, in fact, this blog post will help you start your blog on a budget of $0. No judgements, we've all been there.

P.S. Help me keep my blog running by buying me a coffee! In return, I promise to give you access to exclusive posts and ways to take your blog to the next level. Not ready for the next level yet, don't worry I've got some beginner-friendly tips to help you go from $0-$500/month as well. Not to mention, I regularly give away actual products from my shop worth $$$ away to my supporters and members for FREE.

P.P.S. pin this post for me, will ya? Help me spread the word, and help more people.

Lots of love,

Zera from Balkeni Studio

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