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It’s a Blogiversary Celebration! I’m excited to share that Baby Boomer Super Saver has successfully reached the 6-month mark. This is significant, because most new bloggers don’t stick with blogging. But for the ones who do, blogging can be a very creative way to make some extra money to help catch-up retirement savings!
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It’s Baby Boomer Super Saver’s 6-month blogiversary!
As a neophyte blogger who is not very tech savvy, the learning curve has been rather steep. Yet, I am making progress and I’m very excited about the growth of this blog. The interaction with readers has been wonderful. Thank you for visiting and commenting!
The positive feedback from readers has been especially gratifying because I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface. I still have so much to learn about blogging, and so much to share about increasing wealth for retirement.
One thing I’ve realized is that learning to blog is a lot like saving for retirement. You have to have an idea of where you’re going before you can start.
“Start with the end in mind.” Stephen Covey
It was important for me to determine the scope of this blog before I started, so I’d know who to write for. Yes, I am writing for myself, but I’m also sharing my message with other baby boomers who are looking for ways to catch up retirement savings.
Reflecting on my 6-month blogiversary, I discovered some unexpected rewards:
Blogging is hard, but not hard enough to make me quit.
When I first started, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to figure out the technical aspects of blogging. I’m learning and growing as a blogger, and the personal satisfaction level is through the roof!
My biggest challenge remains finding the time to publish more posts. Many people start and then quit blogging because they don’t have the time to write. Despite my limited output, I’m still blogging. Reaching my 6-month blogiversary has been emotionally rewarding.
The blogging community
really is a community,
and it’s pretty magical.
By reading and commenting on other blogs, I’ve gotten to know some lovely bloggers. I’ve also joined some online blogging forums and groups whose members have been very welcoming.
The personal finance bloggers I’ve encountered are all very positive and encouraging people. I’ve already received a shout out from Pete at Do You Even Blog, and also published my first guest post on another website!
You can read my guest post, How to Increase Savings for a Better Retirement Nest Egg on Mr. Jamie Griffin’s site. (Jamie is a teacher, and his guidance helped improve my writing on that piece. Thanks, Jamie!)
My post about our incredible experience at Chautauqua was highlighted on the Millennial Revolution blog and on the FI Chautauqua website, which was a huge thrill! You can read my full post about our trip to Chautauqua in Stratford Upon Avon, England, here:
You Should Experience Chautauqua at Least Once in Your Lifetime, and Here’s Why
The relationships I’m building with other bloggers mean a lot to me.
Reflecting on my blogiversary, I realized it’s OK to go slow.
Many of the comments I’ve seen from other new bloggers express discouragement that they are not making money from their blogs yet, or haven’t seen the blog traffic that they were hoping for.
There is money to be made with blogging, but it requires enough blog traffic to be able to generate an income stream from sponsored posts, ad placement, or affiliate links. You could also create gift guides as a way to earn money from your blog.
Once the creative juices are flowing, you might write an ebook or develop an online course to sell. But if no one visits your blog, who will buy it?
Although I’m already monetizing my blog with several relevant affiliate programs, I haven’t made any money except through Ebates (my most successful affiliate), which is now known as Rakuten.
Click on the link above or the photo below to get $10 back after your first $25 purchase through Rakuten:
I really didn’t expect to make a ton of money from this blog right away, as I figured it would take one to two years of blog growth first. For bloggers who have the time to consistently publish and market blog posts two or three times a week, there is an opportunity to start generating money faster.
If this blog eventually develops into a nice income stream, that would be great since I’m trying to catch-up my retirement savings.
However, I’m not going to beat myself up or burn myself out by trying to do too much, too fast. I have a full-time career and a part-time side hustle, as well as a disabled husband to care for.
There’s only so much I can do!
So I’ve decided to reward myself with a 6-month blogiversary present: permission to go slow.
In the story of the hare and the tortoise, the tortoise wins the race every time. Why is that, when the tortoise moves so slowly? It’s because the tortoise keeps moving, one step at a time. With persistence, the goal is achieved.
When I started this blog, I had a vision of inspiring other late-saving baby boomers to build wealth.
I’ll keep you updated on my own journey to financial independence and share the feedback I receive from other baby boomers who have utilized ideas from this blog to catch-up their retirement savings.
You can expect to hear about the growth of Baby Boomer Super Saver at my next blogiversary, too!
Whether it is learning to blog or finding creative ways to increase retirement savings, executing a vision is a learned skill. It is improved upon through practice.
Practice. Repeat.
Do that for 1,000 hours to build proficiency.
Repeat for 10,000 hours to gain mastery.
You’ve heard the phrase, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
How do you accomplish something big in life? One step at a time – break it down.
Break it down into pieces. Prioritize those pieces and get to work. It’s how you move forward.
That’s what I intend to do.
Question: What is one thing you want to move forward on this year?
Share some magic in the comments below.
I would like to build traffic. I am not too worried about monetizing at this point. My plan was 2 posts per week, but I’m finding that hard to do given my 12 hour work days. So, like you, I’m going to go at my pace rather than throw in the towel.
Sounds good, Shawn! Wow, I thought my work day was long at 10 hours. I’d love to publish 2 posts per week, too, but even once per week would be OK with me. Don’t give up! I’ve enjoyed reading the “challenge” posts on your site.
Woohoo! Congrats on your 6 month Blogiversary! Kathy! Really enjoyed reading and sharing your stuff 🙂 Keep going! You’re doing great!
P.S So excited to see you in Oct! Chautauqua baby! YEAH!
Can’t wait to see you, too! So excited!!! Chautauqua in Greece is going to be epic! Thanks for the encouragement, means a lot coming from you.
Boo. Don’t have too much fun w/o me!!!!!
We’ll be thinking about you, Michelle!
Congratulations on 6 months, I love this anniversary post, you definitely deserve to right to go slow.
I’m at the 1 month in stage, so my aim is to learn more of the ropes, in particular SEO and Pinterest.
Thank you, Ms ZiYou! I’m impressed by the number of blog posts you’ve published in such a short amount of time. You’re practically blogging every day! Your blog is lovely, btw!
New to your blog and also a baby boomer!
Congrats on your six months blogging:)
Thank you, Caroline! Glad to see another baby boomer here, thanks so much for stopping by!
Congrats on Ebates working out for you! We use it often and also recommend it.
We are in the same boat – patiently building out our website. Before we started, we read that it takes 2-3 years to get settled. We are about a year in and can understand why many people quit before they’re “finished” building what they started. We wish you the best, hang in there!
Hi Smart Money and Travel,
Yes, I’d heard that about settling into blogging, too. It’s good to take the long view and cultivate patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? Best to you, too!
Hi Kathy,
Congrats on your 6 month Blogiversary!
Found you through a retweet on Twitter. I like how you posted a question at the end to spark conversation. Might have to steal that one for my own blog.
The question – might sound cliche, but I hope to exercise more. I noticed that my endurance is at an all time low from being a desk jockey. I used to be able to do a half-marathon easily and now I could barely run a mile. I would like to grow my blog as well.
Cal, the word I love to hate is discipline! But really, it can be hard to squeeze everything in. I try to walk a mile during my breaks at work, but it doesn’t happen every day.
Thanks for your kind words, and for stopping by!
Congratulations on your 6th month anniversary! Found you through Twitter – and love what you’re doing. Your writing style is relaxed, engaging and pulled me in. There’s so much to reach online that to get people to read to the end and comment is a major accomplishment! I’m a boomer too, way behind on retirement savings, a blogger and a writer. I’m happy to have found you and look forward to following your posts. Most of all today, I needed to hear your message about patience. I am the most impatient person on the planet! I’m also a turtle, so it will behoove me to make that my goal for the year. Will definitely take a look at Ebates. Always looking for good affiliates.
Hi Dorothy,
Thanks so much for your kind words! I really appreciate the feedback, it keeps me going! Checked out your site – fascinating journey. I enjoyed reading your post about feeding the senses to manage stress. Lots of great tips there!
Thank you for this post and congratulations on your 6 month anniversary. I am patiently trying to build a following so it is nice to have some benchmarks that I can look to on what to expect after six months of blogging.
It’s been helpful for me to learn from other bloggers, too, C. Gulusky. It’s one of the things I appreciate so much about our blogging community! Your blog features many posts baby boomers would be interested in, too. Keep writing, and thanks for stopping by!
” It’s ok to go slow.” I totally agree with this statement. I have a full-time job too and sometimes I’m too tired to write anything. Congratulations on your blogiversary! Keep going……..
Thank you, lifetravelsoul! It is definitely a challenge to write consistently but I plan to keep at it. Thanks for the encouragement, it’s appreciated!
I agree with the sentiment… I just reached my 3 month mark and I too have given myself permission to go slow and try to enjoy the ride. Don’t let keeping up with Blogging-Joneses impede my progress or steal my joy!
Thank you for stopping by, MyEarlyRetirement Journey! Yep, nothing wrong with going slow. Blogging is supposed to be fun, right? I’m grateful for the wonderful connections I’ve made and amazed at how Baby Boomer Super Saver has continued to grow! Glad you’re enjoying the process, too.
Great post! Congratulations on reaching the 6-month mark. Very inspiring and it’s nice to see where other bloggers are in their journey too. I started my travel blog 7 months ago and it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I know the money will eventually come and I believe it will. Here’s to growing and enjoying what we do.
Happy blogiversary! I love this post, going slowly is so important to help maintain that pace – that’s something I’ve found over the past few months! I really love the blogging community too. Thank you for sharing!