Blogging for 1 Year, Plus a GIVEAWAY!!!

Wow!  Can you believe it?  I most certainly cannot.

Last month was a year since I started my blog…give or take a little…

I know, I know…I’m a little slow in celebrating 1 year of blogging.

But, better late than never…right?

I thought in celebration of this, I’d have a little giveaway.

This little giveaway would have been more perfect in December, but since we’re just in the beginning of January it’ll still work great!

I’m giving away one of my Inspirational Desktop Calendars for 2013.

One of you lucky people will get one of these Inspirational Desktop Calendars in the mail.  I have one stipulation only and that is: you must leave a comment below.  

I need comments in order to have a giveaway…

One more request.  Spread the word to family and friends about this giveaway…the more comments the merrier!

Leaving a comment is very simple…just enter your name, email address and a comment.

You can leave a comment as simple as just the word “Hi” or you can share one of your favorite inspirational sayings or quotes.

Just make sure you leave a comment and your name will be entered for this giveaway.

I would LOVE it if you would follow my blog…but I don’t want to force anyone to follow my blog…so no pressure…well, maybe a little pressure wouldn’t hurt.

If you want this and don’t WIN the giveaway, you can purchase this from my Etsy Shop for $15.00.

This giveaway will be open for a week.  The Winner will be posted on Friday, January 11, 2013.

***Congratulations Kim on winning this 2013 Inspirational Desktop Calendar!***

You can see a sample of the different months.

This inspirational desktop calendar comes with a jewel case which turns into a stand.

This gives an example of how the stands works.  It’s the perfect size to have on your kitchen counter, desk or other space.

I’m trying to get my blog a little more organized.  You probably have noticed throughout the year I’ve tried different layouts and set ups.  Right now I’m quite happy with the set up of my blog and I promise I’ll leave it like this for a while.

When I switched over to WordPress I wasn’t very experienced with doing a lot of web designing.  I had done the website for our office with the help of my older brother who is a true computer wiz…he breathes it and dreams it…well, not sure about the dreams…but anyways, it basically runs in his blood.

This time around with my own blog, I was feeling independent and wanting to figure things out myself.  So after a lot of research, trial and error I figured things out somewhat.  I can’t take credit for everything as I did not build my blog completely from the ground up…but I did learn how to tweak this and that to make it a little more ME…and that my friends feels pretty good!  I bought the Genesis Framework and currently I’m using the Lifestyle Theme…which I’ve customized somewhat to suit my own needs.

I didn’t know what to expect when I first started my blog.  I wanted it to be a place where I could showcase my products, maybe have a few tutorials and try to sell some stuff online.

I still feel fairly “new” at this whole blogging thing…but I sure hope I’ve learned a few things over the last year.

One tip I learned is how important it is to individually acknowledge each comment and reader on your blog.  My blog is still small enough that I can easily respond to each person who posts a comment.  I like to send each person who comments a personalized email thanking them for their comment and leaving some personal thoughts.  I’ve had a few awkward situations where a spouse left a comment on what they were giving their spouse for a gift and it appeared like they shared an email address.  So if I didn’t respond personally to you by email, that’s my reason.  I would feel terrible on giving away your secret.

We’re in a New Year now and my goal is still pretty much the same…to showcase my products…post some tutorials…and keep selling my products.

I will only be taking a few custom orders per month…we are starting to get into the thick of Tax Season and my wage earning office job, which is really my livelihood, cannot suffer because of my hobby.

I’m trying to be more organized in the New Year.  Starting next week Monday, which is January 7th, I will try to start a schedule for my posts so that you as my faithful readers will know where you’re at.  With a full-time job there is no way I can post every day.

I hope you will understand…please try and understand…

Thank you so much!

My posting schedule for 2013 is as follows…

• Artsy Monday – I will share some sort of craft, DIY project, product or tutorial.
• Fridays Scraps – This will be a post on anything…if I run out of hours this will be the first post to be missed during the week.
• Month in Review – This will be posted at the end of the month with a review of my posts during that month.

I will try to surprise you with posts in between…I must warn you that there is a possibility during March through May my posts might be a little sporadic.  I can only do so many hours in a day…and we work crazy hours during those months.

I have a few things I’m dreaming of…planning…and checking out different possibilities from different angles.  Does this sound confusing?

Once anything is more finalized, I will share it with you.  Don’t you worry.

I’d love to hear some tips or things you have learned during your time of blogging!

What did you find worked or works for you best?

Tags: blog, Blogging, free, give away, News, WordPress