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Hello friends! I thought I’d write a quick post summarizing my blogging journey so far. So, I’ll give it to you nice and concise.
Phase I
- I started blogging in October of 2009 with a wordpress free blog. I had been told that WP was the best way to go and I still believe that’s the truth. I really had no idea what I was getting into. I just knew I wanted to express my thoughts in writing to anyone who would hear me.
- I stumbled along rather inconsistently writing sparse but spirited posts for Drewmanity just trying to figure out what I was doing and what I wanted to write about.
- Drewmanity had a nice tag. Drewmanity: One man’s view on life and humanity! It had a lot of promise for a personal blog. At least I thought it was cool at the time.
- While working on Drewmanity I was mainly just trying to figure out what blog theme (settled on Tarski) I wanted to use, wandering around WordPress and trying to unlock the secrets of the back end of the WP blogging software in order to make posts, work on aesthetics and try and make it a nice place for people to visit.
- I hadn’t read any books on blogging and I had no aspirations other than to start producing a body of writing comprised of my own personal thoughts, feelings and observations.
Phase II
- Somewhere around this New Year (2010) I decided that I wanted to change directions with my blog and create a different one. I wanted to just write about ideas I had and share them with others for free.
- An idea blog. Brilliant right? Sounded like a fun idea! So Share Great Ideas came along.
- This was a fun site and gave me a greater focus. Remember, when I started I wasn’t really thinking about filling some great blogging niche or being more than a hobby blogger. The Share Great Ideas blog came from a lot of my reading on marketer, Seth Godin.
- I settled on the Press Row theme by Chris Pearson who, as it happens, is also the creator of the current theme that I purchased and now use (love, it by the way). The DIY Thesis Theme (not an affiliate link). I’ll get to that in a second.
- Press Row and the SGI blog was fun, but I was having a hard time coming up with a regular flow of ideas to share. Keep in mind, I hadn’t cracked one blogging book yet. I was just winging it. If I had done some front end research, then I probably would’ve made some sustainability assessments beforehand.
Phase III
- So then at the beginning of this May, I decided that I just wanted to be me and blog under my own named domain and personage.
- So I switched to a Word Press hosted blog with my name, Drew Rieder. I settled on the Cutline theme by none other than, Mr. Chris Pearson.
- If you’re still reading this post, you can see that my journey is a constant process of learning, changing, re-configuring, self-reflection and evaluating. I think this is pretty much a theme in blogging and online publishing and living. We can’t stay the same. We can’t get stagnant! We must keep working towards our goals.
Phase IV
- So, what next? I had owned a domain since 2007 (drewrieder-dot-com) which I’d bought through GoDaddy when I launched my first album, You Are Near. So, I pulled the trigger on some products and switched everything to the blog you see now.
- I bought the Developer’s option on the DIY Thesis Theme (not an affiliate link) for this and future sites. I got hosting through BlueHost.com and I pointed my GoDaddy nameservers to BlueHost. I uploaded the WordPress plug-in on BlueHost, transferred all mycontent from my three previous blogs to here and started stumbling around using this new theme.
- REMINDER: I work full time at a pretty demanding job and I don’t make a 6-figure income. So, with the exception of buying my buddy lunch one day to help me transfer my content and navigate FileZilla FTP software, I did this all myself.
- I get the sense that many bloggers are in this boat. There’s a lot of bootstrapping and do-it-yourself work going on. And you know what, that’s great! It’s doable. There’s no “one” way to get to where you’re going. There’s no such thing as overnight success.
- If you’d like to know more about launching a great blog here’s a free PDF from Chris Guillebeau! It’s called 279 Days to Overnight Success! I, of course as a lesson in what not to do, read this after I started blogging. It’s great though and you should definitely follow Chris (personal plug with no affiliate linkage).
- ON AFFILIATES: I mention several times in this post that these are not affiliate links. Some readers might think that I’m missing a great opportunity. Some readers don’t know or care what affiliate marketing is. The point is that I’m not there yet. I know what it is, how to do it but it’s not a piece of the puzzle I’ve implemented yet. Enough on that, though. So where do I go from here?
Where NOW?
- This blog will continue to be here as my personal repository for insights, thoughts, ideas and creative inklings. As I learn how best to craft my message, continually improve my site and build community here, I’ll look into starting other blog concepts. You can be sure I’ll let you know all about it.
- Sometimes I get frustrated at my learning curve but each little step I take gives me a littel more confidence that I can keep going. Will I pay for a design eventually? Yes. When I have the right concept & niche picked for a blog and when I can afford to do so (non-six-figure income guy supporting family working full time and doing this at night).
- Up until this point, I think I’ve done pretty darn well. I do plan on reaching out to some of my fellow bloggers and community members to ask for some help on things like blog publicity, SEO tips and little things that I get snagged on.
- Lastly, I just started reading ProBlogger (great book and also not an affiliate link here). It’s been a great education on the how to’s, best practices and what-not-to-do’s so far. I recommend it highly. Maybe I’ll write a post called “blogging backwards” and list out tips of what to do from a guy who’s still learning.
- The good news is that there’s a million ways to do this and rarely does anyone follow the “steps” in order. So just get started. There’s my free advice.
So that’s it on my blogging journey so far. It’s not slick or sexy or hollywood, but it’s a real man’s journey in blogging. I know that I have a long way to go. I know that I’m not the smartest guy out there nor the least intelligent. But I believe in what I’m working towards and I think anyone with persistence and determination can do this. And, I think the best way to learn is by doing. Use me as a case study and save yourself some time because time is really our most valuable asset.
Start writing or creating or doing art today! Let me know your thoughts on my little journey so far. It’s been fun. I look forward to hearing from you and continuing to build a great community. We need each other. Have a great 4th of July weekend for all my U.S. readers and a fun one for those abroad.
Back at you soon….drew 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post, fellow rockstar.
I love the learning curve. Obviously, I’d like to experience it from a place of already being rich, but…well, what can I say. LOL
I think you are doing fantastic and I love your heart for connecting with people and creating community. It’s great counting you as one of my traveling partners and I look forward to what the future holds for both of us.
David, it has been quite a journey so far. Lots of great things and people to discover yet. It’s been great to get to know you. I’ve enjoyed watching your story unfold as well. God be with you as you journey, friend. To be continued…drew