It’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging for two months already. I guess I tend to get so focused on each recipe, each photo and each blog post that it’s hard to keep track of how many I’ve already submitted.  Though I still have TONS to learn about blogging, writing, photography, food, marketing (this list goes on forever, literally), I have already learned some valuable lessons.  I thought I’d take a moment today to reflect back on some of what I’ve learned.

1. Blogging takes a lot of work.

Duh, right? Well, I guess I really hadn’t thought about this. But, submitting three posts each week takes quite a lot of time, considering it involves the food planning, groceries, cooking, plating, photos, photo editing, writing, proofreading, etc. Don’t get me wrong: I love every second of it. Well, mostly every second. There are frustrating times when the pictures just aren’t coming out right or the recipe just isn’t good enough to post that I could do without.  This makes receiving new comments, RSS feed and newsletter subscribers all the more exciting because it feels like my hard work is paying off.

2. Mistakes are just gonna happen.

This is actually a life lesson I’m still working on…but this blog sure has pointed it out for me. I need to accept that I can’t control anything everything.  I can proofread and proofread some more, but I will certainly not catch every error before I hit that deceptively simple “Publish” button.  For all those little errors I have inevitably missed, I apologize.  Please don’t judge me…too much.

3. HTML isn’t so scary!

Who knew how much computer language I would need to learn in order to write my blog?! Isn’t that what I married a software engineer for?  (Well, that and his gentle but sturdy, wonderfully driven but goofy ways.)   I have been amazed at how often I have needed to understand HTML code since starting my blog.  Though I still feel like a novice, my eyes don’t immediately glaze over when I see <h4>example</h4> anymore.  Yay!

4.  If you post it, people will come…maybe.

This has been a hard lesson for me to learn so far.  I admit, I check my Google Analytics report each day to see how many visitors I had to my blog and how many RSS subscribers have added (or deleted) my feed.  It’s become an obsession.  I know.  This can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the reports I get.  Fortunately, there are great sites out there like TasteSpotting, foodgawker and Serious Eats that drive traffic to my site, but it really can be hit or miss, which always makes for an “interesting” time.

5. The food blog world is a wonderful community.

I guess this somehow never really hit me before I started blogging. I knew people commented on each other’s sites and shared their recipes, but I have come to understand the delightful community that exists in the food blog world.  There is so much support and caring.  I am very appreciative of all the kind words left as comments on my blogs and fellow foodies I have befriended thus far.

Like I said, I’m still shocked that my blog has been live for two months now.  In fact, this post was originally going to be titled, “Five Things I’ve Learned Since Starting my Blog One Month Ago” until I checked my Archives Page and did the math.  Oops.

Thanks for reading this post today.  I really appreciate your time and interest in my blog.  Here’s to the future and learning as I go!

If you have a blog, what are some of the things you’ve learned since starting?

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As always, I want to thank you for reading.  I welcome your comments, questions, recipe suggestions and food stories.  Here’s to doing what you love!

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