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Building My Blog

Building My Blog– This post is a bit different than you are accustomed to seeing from me.  I’m about to celebrate the 1st anniversary of creating this blog.  I wanted to share with all of you a bit about my blogging experience so far and an opportunity I have later this month to attend the Build Your Blog Conference in Salt Lake City, UT February 20-21st.

1st Blogiversary ~ The Complete Savorist

Valentine’s Day is coming.  That is a huge day for me.

I’m not talking romantically, either. Sure, I will spend the evening out to a fancy 6-course meal at my favorite local joint. I will be with my dear friend and her hubby.  I am not even sure if I will have a date.  I might, I might not.

But this dinner is not why the day is huge for me.  Valentine’s Day marks my one year anniversary being a blogger.  I was getting ready to go out to dinner with my dear friend, her hubby and my friend last year.  I had been cooking for a couple of months, writing and putting posts together. I set my laptop on the table.  I walked away.  I came back, checked on something, and in my distracted frame of mind, hit ‘publish.’

That was that. I had been procrastinating publishing since the beginning of February. And with an accident, it was done.  I was online. My heart continued to beat rapidly all through that dinner.

A year has gone by.  A crazy year. One of the best years of my life too! Having made the decision to do this full time was a risky choice.  The easiest part of being a blogger is cooking, photographing, and writing these posts.  The hard part is everything else.  I still know next-to-nothing about about the tech side of blogging.  Just ask any of my blogger friends.  I am always going to them with questions.

For all my years in and around education at both the college and secondary level, professional development was always important and frankly, required. I’m fairly certain this might be the case in all professions, whether it’s actual training meetings or conferences where others in the same field gather to discuss topics of importance.

When I made the choice to leave education, I took a big gamble on myself by becoming a blogger, specifically sharing the recipes I create in my own kitchen. This was scary since my culinary training is at the hand of Taco Bell, Red Lobster, and Burger King in my late teens and early twenties. And of course, in the kitchen of my grandmother’s and Mom2.

I’ve been cooking and writing for a year now.  Valentine’s Day, the day devoted to love is now linked to the day I officially began a career I love. And as I mentioned, I’ve got a good grasp of the cooking and writing, but the behind the scenes stuff is the real work. It’s where the bulk of my time trying to make this professional pursuit a success, and by success, I mean pay my bills.

The opportunity to attend the Build Your Blog Conference has come my way. Professional development for the blogger.  It’s a two-day conference in Salt Lake City February 20-21.  I’ll get the opportunity to learn from those far more successful than just making enough to pay their bills.

Build Your Blog Conference

To say I am excited to be able to attend this conference is an understatement.  Not only will I get to learn from other food bloggers, I will be able to attend sessions dealing with all the behind the scenes aspects of the blog from bloggers in all fields, you know those aspects of blogging I still suck at.  Some session-topics are monetization (remember, I want this blog to pay my bills someday…SOON), understanding social media (because there has to be a better way than me working on it for 8 hours a day), how to grow my readership (I love you all dearly and am grateful you are here, but would love some more eyes reading too), and how to work with brands (yes, endorsing products that I love and actually earn money for doing so.)  These are just a few of the conference sessions available.

Are you wondering yet why I have written this post today? There are many reasons.  One is for you to get to know me a bit better. But mostly because I am grateful that you have stuck around for the past year as I passionately develop foods for my family, friends, and all of you. I am grateful for those of you that recently found me.  It’s a rare gift to be able to do something you deeply love as a profession.  It’s been a wonderful year, but to truly grow and become successful, to be able to keep doing this, I need to learn how to do this blogging thing better and smarter.  I truly think this conference will give me some tools I am missing and allow me to spend more time in the kitchen, the place I love most.

Thank you all for a wonderful year and I’m looking forward to what this next year will bring.

If you want to join me and attend the Build Your Blog Conference, use the code BYBcon25 for $25 off!

Thank you for sharing!

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16 Comments

  • Reply
    Debra from Bowl Me Over
    February 8, 2015 at 11:12 am

    I can concur with that, the first time I published I was terrified also!! Just wanted to pop a quick note to say I really enjoy reading your blog and learning about your adventures! Congratulations on a wonderful year!!!

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 8, 2015 at 11:59 am

      Thank you so much Debra! It’s been a great year! Thank you for reading! And I enjoy yours equally.

  • Reply
    David @ CookingChat
    February 8, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    congrats on your anniversary! I just celebrated a blog milestone, too, post # 500!

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 8, 2015 at 2:05 pm

      500! That’s a feat! Congratulations on that!

  • Reply
    Healing Tomato
    February 8, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    What a wonderful story! I am sitting here with a lump in my throat. I am so happy to see you go through this wonderful journey over the last year. You have poured your soul into this blog and it really shows. You have been great at all the tech things and socializing aspect of blogging. I can’t wait to see what you are going to bring in the next 5 years and beyond.

    Congratulations and hope you are have a very successful new year.

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 8, 2015 at 8:40 pm

      Rini, I am grateful for all the advice and guidance you have provided. You have helped me grow my blog, and for that, you will forever have my gratitude.

  • Reply
    Sarah
    February 9, 2015 at 3:40 am

    Congratulations on 1 year! You have built a really beautiful site, and I hope you are feeling very proud today.

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 9, 2015 at 10:39 am

      Thank you Sarah, I am feeling very proud and humbled.

  • Reply
    Loriann
    February 9, 2015 at 8:34 am

    It has been a crazy amazing year & I am so glad to call you my friend! *hugs*

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 9, 2015 at 6:25 pm

      Thank you Loriann, I feel the same towards you. You’ve been a great support.

  • Reply
    Hein
    February 9, 2015 at 9:38 am

    Congrats Michelle! Here is to the next year of blogging x

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 9, 2015 at 6:24 pm

      Cheers! Thank you Hein!

  • Reply
    Victoria
    February 9, 2015 at 10:12 am

    Yay congrats on the blogiversary! I’m going to build your blog too! Can’t wait!!!

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 9, 2015 at 6:23 pm

      Thank you Victoria! It’s been a great year. See you in a few weeks then.

  • Reply
    Diane
    February 11, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    Congratulations Michelle! You are inspiring me to keep going. I’ve had my site up six months and the scope of this job is getting bigger. Good luck in the future and have a blast at the conference. If you learn lots come back and share! Great post. Great blog!

    • Reply
      Michelle
      February 11, 2015 at 11:05 pm

      Thank you Diane! It’s true, my first 6 months were NOTHING like these past 6 months.And it’s still changing, but all in great ways.

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