How I Survived My First Month Of Blogging

When I started blogging there is so much I didn’t know. I was terrified and thrilled. I thought I’d share how my first month of being self-hosted went, mistakes I made so you don’t have to and a few resources I love!

Anything new can be exciting and terrified. There is so much to learn and it was hard to know where to begin.

Being self-hosted has it’s up’s and down’s, just like any other job, hobby or thing in life.

How I Survived My First Month Of Blogging

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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What Does “Self-Hosted Website” Mean?

A self-hosted website means you pay a company like Bluehost to host your website for you. Put in the very simplest terms they store your website on their servers.

I choose to move self-hosted because this blog was going to be my business. At some point, I hoped to earn an income so I could stop working outside the home and become a work at home mom.

Although at this point I am not sure HOW this is going to happen I wanted to put in a solid foundation, to begin with.

Being self-hosted means you have fewer restrictions such as being able to monetize your site, set up a store if you wish, set up a newsletter and more.

Self-hosted websites allow you more freedom but with that comes more responsibility. You have to take care of everything. It becomes your job to take care of technical problems, backups, software maintenance and more.

Why I Choose Bluehost

I choose Bluehost for my site. I did this for a few reasons. By the way, every host offers different options and every host has good vs. bad things about them. I would love to say I found the perfect host but I’d be lying. 😉

Ask in any Facebook Group or Google and you will always find negative and positive reviews. My advice is to pick one that fits you and realize you can always move later.

Don’t let the fear of picking the right host hold you back if blogging is a dream of yours. Just start.

My Personal Mini-Review of Bluehost:

I wanted to update this post because I’ve been with Bluehost for almost 3 years now. I love hearing what those using a program think and their personal experiences before I make a buying decision.

When I bought my hosting with Bluehost I paid for 3 years in advance. This allowed me to lock in a low cost for the longest period resulting in the best deal. I paid $3.95/month USD all at once.

WordPress is free with most hosting companies but I was also able to get one year free for my Domain. You need to pay to register your domain, in case you didn’t know.

As well as 24/7 support via chat and telephone and email. Having that support has been sanity-saving. I can tell you, I’ve used it often as a new blogger. I needed help understanding upload sizes, site speed which matters, getting an SSL installed.

SSL is the green lock you see at the top. My SSL with Bluehost was included free of charge. Not all hosts offer that.

As for customer service, it depends on who you get.

I’ve had some customer service reps that did not help at all, they used tech speak I didn’t understand and were flat out rude.

I’ve also had amazing customer service reps that went the extra mile, walked me through each step and gave me support numbers to call when they couldn’t help me.

My advice is-if you get someone rude-hang up and call again. I always fill out the survey both good and bad.

Keep good notes. When you call ask for the name of the person and write it down, take note of the date and subject. That way if the issues persist you can call back and provide these details. It helps them out a lot!

I will not say you need to start with Bluehost if you are thinking of blogging but I will say you need to START!

Self-hosted Survival Kit

As I said once you go self-hosted it is your job to take care of everything. Here are a few services I’ve used to help me take care of the things I didn’t have a clue about.

Some are free. Some are paid. Yes, I’ve used or still use all of these as needed.

Email: Tools

You need an email provider, this allows you to send out newsletters such as letting your readers know when there is a new blog posts, send out subscriber freebies and more.

I currently use Mailer Lite. I’m going to share my referral link here >> Mailer Lite<<. That means if you sign up through that link you will get get a $20 credit and so will I.

Mailer Lite is free up to 1000 unique subscribers. Easy to use, drag and drop, and video walk throughs are provided if needed. The chat for help is great!

I used Nathalie Lussier’s 30 Day list building Challenge. To help me learn more about email and building a list. It is free and I highly recommend it.

My newsletter list was starting from zero before her challenge. I was excited to find it as building a community is super important to me.

I even offer working homeschool moms a Free e-Book to help them find balance while working, be sure to check it out!

I want to be able to encourage others and being able to send that to them in a way they can read and write back should they desire is amazing privilege.

Back Ups and Tech Help

I use WordPress Protection Package: for peace of mind.

When your business is online you need to protect yourself. I think of the WP+BFF WordPress Protection package as my website insurance policy!

With WordPress Protection I get daily back ups, weekly updates and if I have any problems Shannon is right there.

The peace of mind is worth the payment for me.

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My Advice To You After Being Self-Hosted

My advice to you is, try! Otherwise you will never know, and you will fail. Because you didn’t even try.

Want to try homeschooling but you are afraid of failing? Try it during an off-season, a break.
Want to try a new recipe? Go for it! Worse case it burns or its gross! You will never know if you don’t try!
Want to workout, get in shape, lift more weights? Try it! Start small and work your way up, but try!
Want to start a self-hosted blog or any blog at all but scared no one will read? Try it!

This small piece of advice has helped me survive my first month of self-hosted blogging. It has allowed me to overcome challenges, disappointments, and fears. It has allowed me to have grace and patience with myself when I fail, learn from my mistakes. And it will help you too!