Blogging in 2017 for me, was the best year ever. At 54, I quietly became a full time professional blogger. I made new friends, I travelled and I was chosen to represent a brand I love.
You may be interested to know that blogging in 2017 wasn’t all about the numbers either. My Blog stats for various reasons, as I will explain later, dipped compared to previous years…
Blogging in 2017
It just goes to show statistics aren’t everything, you have to be real, have your own style and use your own voice. To put it simply be yourself!
On Fashion:
In December last year I started blogging about my personal style and my love of fashion. I was convinced that being an older woman, my midlife fashion choices would be laughed out of the blogosphere. Instead the opposite happened! Those style posts were my most popular, and for a new category on a blog that started out as a craft diary, I found that fascinating…
“…By stepping out in my ankle length frayed jeans at 53, I thought I was setting myself up for ridicule, instead you embraced and even encouraged me, for that my friends I will love you forever…”
LDJ
Blogging in 2017 on style in midlife
However, I soon realised that being of a similar generation to me you too were in the same boat. Yes you like to crochet and sew, but you are also still interested in clothes and shoes and dare I say it ‘fashion’
That however was the problem, as midlifers where do we shop? What is considered ‘mutton’ do we dare to try the trends that the young are wearing? or do we hide behind our cardis and pearls ?
By stepping out in my ankle length frayed jeans at 53 I thought I was setting myself up for ridicule, instead you embraced and even encouraged me, and for that my friends I will love you forever…
I met my blogging BFF via the Sun Newspaper!
As you get older and I’m sure you will agree, there are less chances of making new friends. However never say never, in 2017 I met Laurie from Vanity & Me when we both appeared in the Sun newspaper!
Now who would have thought back in December 2016 that I would be in the Sun? Let alone make a blogging BFF…
The Highlight of Blogging in 2017.
My fashion highlight in 2017 was being picked to represent JD Williams as a member of their Colour Council… We shot Christmas videos in August, we wrote articles, we celebrated our colourful lives and generally enjoyed being midlife ladies.
Look at who I got to work with from L to R Nikki from Midlifechic (me) Emily from Fashion Foie Gras
Jenny and Busola and Catherine from Not dressed as lamb
Fashion forward in 2018
Entertaining you with styles and colours you may not have considered wearing, will be high on my list in 2018. Whatever you do or wear in midlife be sure to make it 100% yours. I aim to inspire and encourage you to be you. Are you with me?
“…I moved out of my sewing room and into my office as I quietly turned into a full time professional blogger!”
On Restorations and Interiors via blogging in 2017
There were plenty of highlights. My trip to Milan with DFS. I got to visit the Top Interior Design show in Italy and to discuss the coming trends for 2018.
At home it was ‘that’ rustic king size bed and the story of how we made it ourselves, that turned out to be the star of the show in 2017. It even made it to a few magazines…
One of my faves restoration projects was the industrial stools I posted about recently. There will be more of the same in 2018 as Marc now has his own workshop and I have a long list of ideas!
Our Home:
Our home is ever evolving. I moved out of my sewing room and into my own home office as I quietly progressed into a full time professional blogger!
A move like that takes a long time to perfect, storage is always a problem. So 8 months later I still haven’t given you a tour of my new home office. Rest assured that post is at the top of the list. There were however, plenty of glimpses on instagram…
Home plans in 2018
A dressing room.. ?
Shhhhh I am not shouting about it, as I have not told my old man about my plans yet! Our large spare room will have a new ‘Day Bed’ and will be combined with open cupboards and storage for shoes and handbags and coats. I am sooo excited about this move. Watch this space
Craft and DIY in 2018.
There will be more I promise. Crochet is my way of relaxing, there will always be yarn in my life. Presently I am working on a pattern that lots of you crochet fans on IG have requested. It will be worked on over Christmas in from of the telly!
Of course I have such a wide range of interests it is difficult to record them all. Below is my Moroccan Stool
Travel Blogging in 2017
As previously mentioned I visited Milan with DFS. I also hopped over to see my Mum in Orlando, for two weeks in the summer.
I went to Marrakech and saw some amazing sights and fell in love with this stunning Moroccan city.
Closer to home there were many weekends spent in our capital.
A multi generational family holiday was taken in Devon. The dog came too…
I even had the opportunity to visit Manchester with JD Williams. A beautiful city that I want to return to very soon.
Blog Statistics and Blogging in 2017
My stats as mentioned above dipped in 2017. This was due to a few things.
- My blog evolved from a craft diary into a fully fledged Life and Style blog. I understand that if you started following me to see what I was sewing or crocheting, then possibly this is not your cup of tea?
- I changed to WordPress. Although I have been assured this does not affect your stats I beg to differ. A lot of my old followers are on BlogSpot and have to sign in to leave comment etc. Also the redirect message from blogger is a little frightening ie ‘do you trust the sight you are going to?! Having heard similar reports from my fellow bloggers. I know this does fix itself over time
- . I also changed to Https (for a more secure sight) after this I also saw a drop. Possibly I did not implement it correctly?
- I became a professional full time blogger. Therefore I was able to accept gifts in return for reviews on a more regular basis. I also added advertisements to my sidebar. I understand that some become disillusioned believing you to have sold out?
- To put it simply I also spent less time blogging in 2017 as work was very busy and that fact speaks for itself.
In conclusion after lots of changes for me with blogging in 2017 . I saw less page views but more unique visitors and I am very happy with that. It means more people are discovering Lazy Daisy Jones.
The stats are slowly climbing back to normal. Plus as a full time blogger I am now able to put more work into my blog posts, SEO and blog maintenance, it’s obviously paying off!
My Blog word for 2018
The word is ‘consistent’ something I have been unable to be whilst maintaining a creative job as well as a blog as a hobby. In 2018 I will post on the same days every week. I will be consistent! Thank you so much for reading Lazy Daisy Jones. I do hope you have enjoyed 2017 as much as I enjoyed writing about it and my life. Schemes and grand plans are afoot for 2018 and I would love you to share them with me?
Wishing you love, health and happiness for 2018, I believe if you have those three things , you will want for very little else? Enjoy your families and hold them close.
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