Hi there! It’s finally hot outside, though it is extremely humid and muggy, it does cool down a bit when it rains. Has your area been hit by the non-stop heat wave?
Now that it is July it means that not only are we in summer but the second half of the year has started, and the other half has gone.
In early January I wrote a post about the goals and plans I had for my Plaid + Sugar this year. It’s been since months since and so I decided it be a great time to do an update or follow up of what has happened since then and if any of my goals have been achieved.
Related Post: Plans and Goals for 2019
Mid Year Blog Update
The Good
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This year so far I have written 16 posts and though not all of them were a success, I feel proud of what I wrote. Though there were not many I found that they were better written and photographed than last year where I would post 5-6 times a month.
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My favorite post so far has been Too Faced Lipstick Collection as it was my first time watching and I really enjoyed doing it.
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A plan I had was to redesign/rebrand Plaid + Sugar as the logo was too cumbersome and the colors did not go with what I had in mind. The new logo is simple but eye-catching and I love how the purple and yellow coordinate with each other.
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In May I hit 12 000 all-time blog views!! Twelve thousand views!!!! That was my goal for the end of the year and I did in less than 5 months! Thank you to everyone who visits this blog and made this possible.
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Also, my goal was to have 500 followers combined in all my social medias but instead I have well over 1500!!! I more than tripled my yearly goal, who knows maybe I’ll reach 2000 by the end of the year. Thank you so much to everyone who follows me on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest
The Bad
Just like there were good things that happened in the first half of the year, there were also other things that did not go according to plan.
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My plan this year was to write about 4 posts a month, unfortunately, May was the only month in which I published a weekly post due to school, stress, and life.
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Though it is quite a disappointment I do hope to change that in the second half. As of now, I have about 4 post ideas per month planned out, I only have to sit down and write them down.
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What niche is this blog? Honestly, I still have no idea. This year I wrote my first beauty-related posts and thoroughly enjoyed doing them, but I’m not that obsessed with writing about makeup. Same with recipes and sewing. So as to figure out what niche Plaid + Sugar is, I still have no precise answer just lifestyle.
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I’ve yet to make money off this blog, but that does not upset me that much since it is hard to monetize small blogs. These past few months I’ve written a couple of posts that contain affiliate links and so I hope to keep doing that to make some coin, though it would take forever to achieve the minimum.
Related Post: Plans for this Summer
Plans for the 2nd Half
The plans I have for the next six months are not that different from what I wrote back in January. I still hope to increase my blog traffic by 5% monthly and also increase engagement in all my posts and socials.
Not having time to write down post is one of my problems and so I hope to be able to make time for my blog so I can post weekly. Even with just 15 minutes a day, I feel like I would be able to get many things done and written.
One of my biggest desires is to connect with other bloggers and go to conferences and the like. it would be great to meet with other bloggers in my area ad to help each other out.
Overall I feel that in the first half of the year I achieved more things than I thought. But before I end I want to thank each of you for reading my posts, because without out you I would not have made it this far. Thank you!
How was the first half of the year for you? What are your plans for the next six months?
Happy Summer,
Congrats on hittting 1200! Blogging is a lot work, but if you enjoy the ride then it is worth it
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Thanks, Allie, what you said is so true!
Incredible news! I wish you to triple your followers count once again by the end of this year 😉
Lots of love ♥ January Girl
Congrats on exceeding your goals in regards to followers!
Hope the rest of the year is good to you!
Louisa
Congratulations on reaching a lot of your goals already! That's amazing! Keep up the hard work and I'm sure the rest will come in good time x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
aww thanks, Liz I hope I can!
Thank you, Louisa. Thanks for coming and commenting!
Thank you, Sophie for the kind words. This year has definitely been much more different than last year and my hard work has paid off!
Awesome that you have achieved so much. I hope you achieve the rest until the end of this year.
http://www.fashionradi.com
Hope you wonderful rest of the year! It has finally gotten hot here… unless it is raining. 🙂
It sounds like your year so far has been going well! Finding a niche for your blog is hard: I've been developing my niche for years now and it's still not perfectly defined. It's certainly nice to have a niche, but honestly, don't worry if you never get one perfectly nailed down. 🙂
I'm visiting your blog from A Story Detective: I love your blog aesthetic! It's so cute!
Hanne
losingthebusyness.wordpress.com
I can relate to the heatwave. It is great that you've been killing it with your blog stats! Congratulations on your achievements so far! It is amazing that you have 12,000 blog views in May! It is fine that you don't have a specific niche for your blog. You don't need to have one. Sending you lots of love to kill it in the second half of the year!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
I was surprised by how fast things were done. Thank you for coming and commenting.
Thank you, Rakayle you too!
So true! One moment it's sunny then it's raining!
Thank you, Hanne for the advice. Finding a niche is hard and my blog is all over the place at times.
Thank you for both the compliment and for coming by!
Thank you, Nancy. Finding a niche has been hard since the blog is all over the place!
Hope you are able to achieve all your plans and goals in the next half of the year!
I have been loving the heatwave!! Sending you all of my love 💜
With love, Alisha Valerie x | http://www.alishavalerie.com
Ohh you have done SO well! your blog looks amazing and your blog posts are so well written – keep it up and keep active 🙂
-L
x