What I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Blogging

First, a walk through memory lane.

What I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Blogging

Hey, friends! Today I’m sharing a highly requested blog post. I just had my 5-year blogiversary and a lot of you wanted me to share my experience as a blogger. First, I’ll give you a little background and share my story then I’ll share what I’ve learned in 5 years of blogging.

How I Started

Rewind 5 years to June 2014. 24-year-old Torey is living in Gaylord (in the middle of actual nowhere), engaged to be married, working at Ulta, and finishing school. I have a BA in Communication so a lot of my classes were related to blogging, media, social media, and business. For one of my classes, I had to start a blog for a project. I was always really interested in blogging so when I had to start one I wanted to take it seriously, and actually give it a try. I taught myself everything I needed to know to start and keep up a “blog”. I even learned some nerdy stuff like coding. I had a borrowed laptop and an iPhone 5 to take my pictures.

I blogged about beauty things and shared a lot of Ipsy Glam bag reviews (does anyone get those still?). I took IG and Blog post pictures on a whiteboard with sequins scattered around it. Combine that with my editing skills back then and I had some really interesting pics lol!. My first blog post was “Beach Bag Musts” – I shared sunscreen and magazines I would take to the beach. That’s not a bad first blog post if you ask me! I loved all the aspects of a blog (writing, photography, sharing, connecting with others, etc).

Fast forward to June 2016. I was desperate to quit my job so I could stay at home with my 7 month old (aka Emery). I really wanted to blog full time and try to earn income. I literally wrote down a whole plan and goals for my blog so I could start making money with it. My husband somehow agreed with me, we set a budget, and I quit my job. In October of 2016 I landed my first paid brand deal, a sponsored blog post with Bioclarity (I still love Bioclarity btw).

Shortly after blogging as a stay at home mom I found a lot of my content was heading in the #momlife category so I decided to make the switch my name and domain from Beauty and Beatitudes to Torey Noora Blog. Are you one of the OG readers that knew I used to be Beauty and Beatitudes? If so comment below!

It’s been a whirlwind since then and now we have 2 girls, and I’m incredibly thankful to be able to stay at home with them. My husband Chris has been helping me this year and it’s been our best year yet. I’m so excited about the future of toreynoora.com and I can’t wait to keep watching it grow.

What I’ve Learned

• consistency is the most important aspect
• God is always faithful
• this blogging world is complicated and always changing so that’s what makes it fun but also challenging
• it’s about your audience, not about you
• Network Network Network
• You can accomplish more than you think
• change/improving is good
• don’t forget to look back at how far you’ve come, it’s easy to get caught up in always looking ahead

My advice

If you’re passionate and hard-working you will succeed at blogging or being an “influencer”. I’ve evolved as a blogger and it’s because I’ve grown and evolved myself. You don’t have to wait to get a nice camera or the best computer to start blogging/youtube or whatever it is you want to start doing. Put in hard work and consistent content and the other stuff will come after. Blogging has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I love it, but it does come with some challenges. It’s hard to balance everything and stay motivated. It’s taught me a lot about myself and challenges me all the time which I love.

Thanks so much for being a loyal reader and follower it really does mean the world to me. It’s because of you that I get to do what I love every single day.

Cheers to 5 years!

x, T

For I know the plans I have for you” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11