6 things I've learned in my first week of blogging

In my very first post, I said "Who knew that starting a blog would be so much work?! Whew that was exhausting!" I can't help but laugh, because I now know that setting my blog up the way I did, was really the easy part! And to think, that was only a week ago!

1. I seriously had no idea what I was really getting myself into starting a blog. Not. One. Tiny. Bit. If you're just posting a blog for family and a few friends to read, once you have your blog set up, it's simple. But if, like me, you hope to gain a lot of readers and make new "bloggy" friends, then you really have a lot of work to do. And a lot more after that. 2. I really should have done more research before just setting my blog up and starting it right away! I began on blogger, but I've read so many raving reviews from other bloggers that self hosted wordpress is really the way to go. I've decided I need to make the big switch. Luckily for me, I'm finding this out still really early in, so the switch won't be as hard as it would be if I were say, a year or more into it. 3. Wait, I need to learn basic coding? Everything isn't just point and click and it's done for me? Ha! Again, I was naive about how easy a nice looking and functioning blog would be. Especially, since I'm so darn picky! I'm going to be making an overhaul with my look along with my upcoming change to wordpress. I really have my work cut out for me. 4. What in the world is a blog hop or linky party?? Obviously since I wasn't a blogger, I had no idea what these were. It's a way for bloggers to join up together in one place and follow each other's blogs and other social media sites. Joining in the blogging community is a MUST. Especially if you hope to get anywhere besides your handful of family and friends who you basically have to beg to even look at your blog! There are TONS of these parties out there, I have some posted on the left side of my page so come link up!! :) 5. Social media is my new best friend. Use every platform you can! I've said for years that I would never sign up for twitter, and I didn't actually use my Google+ account. I just didn't get the point of it, especially with Facebook. Well...guess what I did this week! It's pretty much a must in the blogger world. You can follow me using the icons on the top right of my page :). 6. It's going to take a lot longer than I ever thought it would, to get anywhere near where I want to be. And it's going to take a lot of work, more than you'd ever think. But honestly, I'm excited. I know there are going to be days where I'll end up frustrated,and wonder why the heck I'm doing this, but no matter if I get there or not, I'm going to make sure I have fun doing it.

• What is something you learned in your first week, month, or even year of blogging?
• Do you participate in blog hops and linky parties? If it's one I don't have posted, leave a link! I'd love to join :).
• Do you use Blogger or Wordpress for you blog? What are your thoughts on the platform you use?

Thanks for stopping by!