When I was in high school, I remember I used to write some sort of online diary from the Xanga platform. It was in 2004, I was in first-year high school. I write all kinds of personal stuff. It was my own space online. I remember writing about my crush. I remember designing my blog and choosing themes. I still remember the language we used is in HTML. Those were the days.
In 2008, I discovered WordPress.com. I started writing again in my own personal space, about my assignments, about my college life. During this time, I was in my first-year of college. I still remember being inside the free-to-use computers in the library. Back then, we weren’t really fortunate enough to have access to a personal computer or laptop at home. Let alone have internet access! So I used the library computers all the time, that’s where I used to write my posts for the blog.
And then the year 2011 came. I learned how to buy my own domain and host my own blog using WordPress.org as the platform. I bought my very first own domain from GoDaddy for $1. I was so happy! I finally call this blog “my real own space” on the internet. I taught myself how to install WordPress on my own, manage my Cpanel, and all sorts of stuff. My field of study wasn’t really related to tech so I bootstrapped my way into managing in my own blog. I learned how to install my own themes, tweak them and install plugins as well. I wasn’t really financially capable back then so I cannot hire someone to do all of these for me, so I learned them by myself. After buying my first domain, I bought several others too, but I ended up not renewing them because they didn’t really make an impact.
In 2013, I launched The Lifestyle Avenue. I figured I want a blog with a brand not just my name. Both my personal blog and The Lifestyle Avenue meant so much to me. It opened a door of opportunities. I met and connected with a lot of people. I was invited to events, I received a lot of freebies, and this helped me and my family as I tried to get through college. Having my own blog helped me earn money which served as my allowance since I was still in college back then. Thanks to my blog, I was able to survive college!
Fast forward to 2022, my personal blog is now more than a decade old and next year The Lifestyle Avenue will be officially a decade old too. I am still getting opportunities from both blogs from platforms like Intellifuence. While getting invited to events has been really scarce because of the pandemic and my going to law school, I am at least still getting partnerships and projects for both blogs.
A lot has changed over the decade. I am thankful for all the opportunities I have received because of my blog. I am also thankful for the people I met along the way. I gained friends from different generations. I learned from mentors whom I also consider as my friends.
To everyone who supported my blog, followed my adventures, and has been with me ever since, thank you.
How about you? What’s your blogging story?
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