Good Morning and Happy Sunday! If you’re following me on Instagram, then you know I am doing a weekly IGTV series, Behind the Blog, answering all of your most asked blogging, branding and social media questions!
I get asked all the time how I started blogging, how to work with brands, how to make money, how to pitch to brands, how to find inspiration, etc. and I thought it would be fun to give you an insight into the blogging world and what goes on behind the scenes. Because there is A LOT that you don’t get to see!
This will be a series of blog posts that I will be posting over the next few months, sharing different topics requested by YOU. Today, I’m going to start with sharing a little background on me and what inspired me to start my own blog.
Why Did I Start Blogging?
I have loved writing ever since I was a little girl. I had so many notebooks and journals and was constantly making lists, writing stories, and writing down what I did during the day!
Fast forward to high school. I remember opening a Word document and titling it Lifestyle Blog. I typed out tons of blog post ideas and topics I wanted to talk about.. Fitness, Beauty, Style, Study Hacks, etc. I wrote a few posts, just in Microsoft Word, but didn’t actually finish any of them. Obviously, I didn’t share any of them online either!
Skip ahead a few more years to my junior year in college. I opened up the Word document again and started brainstorming more blog post ideas. In any extra free time I had, I would write a few posts. These were just for myself. Something fun to do and a way to continue writing. I never actually published any of these or even thought about starting a real blog, I truly just wrote these for fun!
Now, fast forward to January 2018, my last semester of college. I knew with graduation coming up, I would have a lot more time on my hands. Especially since throughout college, I worked at least two jobs at all times in addition to all my school work and now I would only have one.
I have always thrived when I have a lot on my plate, so I knew I’d be bored if I didn’t have something to keep my busy outside of my regular job.
I really wanted to find a hobby that I loved that I could do after my full-time job. Something fun that I really looked forward to doing!
How Did I Actually Start My Blog?
So that January, I decided I to start a real blog! I’ve always been super passionate about writing and I love sharing workouts, clothes, makeup, organizing tips and life hacks. So I figured I would actually go for it!
The only thing holding me back was a name for my blog! It took me forever to come up with my blog name “Sunday Mimosas.” For a whole month I had absolutely no idea what I wanted the name to be. I know so many people use their first and last name, but I just didn’t like how mine sounded as a blog name. I wanted mine to be different.
After absolutely no ideas came to my head, I finally grabbed a notebook and wrote down all the words that I wanted to describe my blog, words that described me and words that inspired me. I came up with a huge list and I basically just picked words and paired them together! And that’s how Sunday Mimosas was born!!
Blog Name & Website Design
I thought coming up with a name was the hardest part.. Until I had to start designing a website LOL! I knew absolutely nothing about website design or where to even start. So, for three months straight (February through April) I did a TON of research.
I read so many blogs and watched so many YouTube videos on which platform to use, which hosting site to use, how to register a domain name and connect it to your website, the cost, how to customize the website, how to get blog posts to appear on certain pages.. literally all the back end technical stuff that you don’t see when you visit a website.
All of my time after school was spent learning about how to design my website and make it look pretty! And side note- the way my website looks now, is not at all how it looked two years ago! I have made tons of changes and even switched over my platform and hosting site.
Once I had my website designed, I started writing blog posts in April. I wrote 10 blog posts so that when I officially launched I’d have a few up for people to read! On July 8, 2018, I officially launched my blog! But, I actually didn’t tell anyone about it because I wasn’t sure if I wanted anyone to read it.
The next day though, I had a completely different mindset and I knew how much work and effort I had put into this little project of mine and I wanted other people to see it, to be inspired or learn something new. So, on July 9, I made an Instagram and Facebook post announcing the launch of my blog!
2 Years Later (May 2020)
Now, I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years and I still love it just as much as I did when I started. I’ve worked with over 40 different brands, published over 75 blog posts and have put in countless hours of hard work!
So, that’s how I started blogging! I had no intention of making any profit from blogging, I honestly didn’t know you could! And I wasn’t really following any bloggers on Instagram at the time that inspired me to start. I truly started because I love writing and sharing helpful tips that I’ve learned over the years with you all.
And I still feel the same way today! 🙂 Blogging is so much fun and I love all the connections I’ve made, the brands I’ve worked with, and all the support I’ve received from my boyfriend, family, friends, and all of you! Thank you for making this so rewarding for me!
Stay tuned for the next post in this series, How to Get Over your Fear of What Others will Think. Tons of other exciting posts are in the works as well!
Have an amazing week!
