It’s Friday night, it’s warm and the back doors are open, Glastonbury is on the telly and suddenly it hits me! I’m sat on the sofa, iPad in hand, just as I was this time last year, the night I decided I wanted to start a blog.
I remember feeling totally overwhelmed and not really sure if I could pull it off. I’d been reading blogs for a while, so had an idea of the type of site I wanted to create but wasn’t sure where or how to start. Suddenly, with the music of Glastonbury in the background I started writing an About Me page, this seemed like a good place to start. After half an hour I showed my first draft to my shocked husband (he had no idea what I’d been doing or that I was even thinking of starting a blog), he smiled and told me to go for it!
Over that weekend I googled ‘how to start a blog’ and got down to some serious research, by Sunday night I’d set up Running in Lavender. The idea behind the blog was (and still is) a simple one – I blog about the things in life that make me happy. It’s also a journal of my family life, that we can look back on in years to come.
At first I didn’t know what I was doing or if anyone cared but slowly my confidence grew and so did my followers. It didn’t happen over night, the first six months was tough and I worked hard to crack Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I set myself mini goals, which helped and I somehow managed to hit each one.
As the year went on, I realised that this was becoming more than a hobby. I started talking to brands and in November I got my first sponsored post. I also got invited to some events, which meant meeting other bloggers. It soon became clear to me that the blogging community was/ is an incredibly supportive group of people who help and promote each other at every opportunity.
So a whole year has now passed and as I look back on the months, I can’t help but feel just a little proud of myself. Here are a few of my highlights…
1) Working with brands including Royal Caribbean, Dove, Lumie, First Choice, SnapTrip, Poppy England, Gousto and Total Diet Food to name a few.
2) Making the BiBs Finals for Fresh Voice. I’ve never been nominated for anything before, so this was very exciting!
3) Hitting 4,500 followers on Twitter and 1,200 followers on Instagram.
4) Meeting some absolutely amazing bloggers and making some great friends.
5) Being invited by Royal Caribbean onboard their brand new ship Anthem of the Seas for the weekend.
6) Reaching number 177 in the Tots100. I’ve climbed up the rankings from 1,446 where I started last year.
7) Attending Blogfest, Blogtacular and BritMums Live. All three events were fun and inspiring in their own way, I can’t wait to attend the next one.
Today, I was sent the following testimonial from my BritMums sponsor Lumie. Receiving this really made me realise how far I’ve come in a year and left me speechless…
“‘Lumie started working with Heledd in December 2014 when she featured Lumie Bodyclock Starter in her post ‘Becoming a Morning Person’. Lumie then went with Heledd to BritMums Live 2015 as her sponsor. As well as being a brilliant blogger – we were delighted and proud that Heledd made the short list in the ‘Fresh Voice’ category for this year’s Brilliance in Blogging Awards – Heledd is very professional to work with and completely understands how to nurture the brand-blogger relationship; she regularly tweets about Lumie, shares the Lumie love with other bloggers and engages with our social media where relevant. If you’re a brand wanting to connect with a quality blogger that’s going places, then Running in Lavender is a great place to start.”
– Ruth Jackson, PR Manager.
So here I am, still sat on the sofa, still listening to Glastonbury and feeling very happy that I decided to take the plunge last year. Thank you all for your support and for reading my little blog. Let’s see what the next year has in store…
Now that I’ve booked our summer holiday and I know that we’re heading to the South of France, I can get down to the fun part, shopping for our holiday clothes!
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