6 Month Blog-i-versary Celebration & Milestones

Wow! This week I’m celebrating the six month blog-i-versary of Tabler Party of Two! It has been a wild ride to say the least, but I enjoyed (almost) every moment of it! It is so humbling to me that I write, create, and photograph stuff and that people actually read it, comment on it, and share it. What a gift to me that is, dear friends!

You’ve stuck with me through my grainy iPhone pictures, my awkward fashion photo shoots, my craft and recipe mishaps, my typos, my posts that really weren’t that interesting, and my journey behind the scenes into things I didn’t know ANYTHING about at the beginning. Like SEO, hash tags, Google Analytics, link parties, collaborating, boosted posts, sponsored posts, Word Press, social media marketing, twitter, Alexa ranking and more. There have been more than a few hiccups. In fact, I had one of those yesterday! Last night I discovered that earlier in the day, a post from early October magically appeared on my blog. Like it was a brand new post. This counts as one of the reasons I wrote almost in the second sentence above! But the hiccups keep me humble, ya know?

Today, I thought I’d share a bit about where we’ve been and in the few days I’ll write about where we’re going. I have lots of new ideas for the coming months that I can’t wait to tell you about!

A Look Back

From: The Adventure Begins

The audience of this blog has grown tremendously since its launch, so many of you weren’t around at the beginning. In my very first post, The Adventure Begins, I shared what God put on my heart a year ago when the idea of Tabler Party of Two began to make its way into my thoughts. 

My goal then was — and is still — to be an encouragement to women in all their seasons of life. (I hope my posts sometimes encourage men, too!) I want to help women embrace where they are and show them ways to express creativity in everyday life. Our very creative God made each one of us uniquely! So I aim to encourage women to embrace that. In the way they dress, the meals they prepare, the style that fits their personality best, and the lovely, small touches that make their house a home. Whether a woman is a newlywed, a first-time mommy, or an empty nester, God has very special plans for her in the season she is experiencing. So let’s earnestly seek and then embrace those divine plans and watch them unfold!

To that end, I’ve worked every day since the very first post to write stories that inspire you in your walk with God and in your marriage, encourage you where you are, remind you that life as an empty nest couple can be a grand adventure, offer ideas on style, and teach you how to create healthy, tasty meals as well as simple DIY crafts for your home. These are the stories I will continue to write over the next several months.

Milestones

There have been many! I want to share a few with you. 

My New Camera
I’m pretty picky when it comes to graphic design and quality. The first few months of blogging with my iPhone were extremely frustrating. Images from an iPhone are sometimes just fine. But other times, quality is next to impossible to achieve. Especially indoor photography, which comprises much of what I photograph. So in October, I had saved enough to get my first DSL camera, the Canon T3i. I absolutely LOVE it and highly recommend it to other bloggers or anyone who wants to up the quality of their photography. I still live in the world of “automatic,” but I hope to venture into photography lessons soon!

As I said that day, hopefully my last grainy, iPhone image on the blog! Unless, of course, I’ve captured something I just HAVE to share with you!

Sponsored Posts & Affiliate Marketing
First, I want to tell you that I didn’t start this blog as a hobby. It’s my business, and I treat it like one. My goal at the beginning was to treat this blog as a successful business from day one, even though it wasn’t earning me a penny. I had faith that eventually I would earn a small income and then hopefully achieve more success as months go by. I work full time to build the brand of the Tabler Party of Two and to creative excellent content. One of the ways creators monetize their blogs is through sponsored posts. I was blessed to start receiving such opportunities at about the three-month mark. It’s very important to me that you know (a) I do get paid to write some of my posts and (b) I will never write a post that is not genuine and real and from my heart. Blogging gives me the opportunity to try new things to recommend to you. I take your trust very seriously and will NEVER recommend something I don’t believe in just to make a buck. 

I occasionally also make income from affiliate marketing. An example of affiliate marketing can be found in the “My New Camera” paragraph above where the Canon T3i is a link. As an affiliate for brands, I can provide you a link to a product that you might be interested in purchasing. If you purchase the product after you click on my link, I will receive a small commission from the brand. Again, you can trust I’ll never, ever include an affiliate link for a product that I haven’t personally used and/or wholeheartedly believe in! By the way, frequently I include links in my blog that are NOT affiliate links. Like my recent posts about my mom’s jewelry brand, Caroles Art and the review I did on my amazing Lily-Jade tote. I just happen to love those brands and want to bless and support my family’s and friends’ businesses! There are many others I’d love to support in this way as well, just because they are AWESOME!

In the future, I’ll be pursuing other ways to earn an income from my blog. But to be genuine to you, my readers, will ALWAYS be my number one priority! I also want you to know that most of my posts will not be sponsored. As a result, I’m very selective about what brands I choose to represent to you.

Sunday Features Link Party
I recently linked up with Denise at DeniseDesigned to bring you a weekly link party. These can be so fun and beneficial to both bloggers and blog readers! Focusing mostly on recipes, crafts, and DIY projects, this is the place where bloggers link up their most creative ideas of the week. Bloggers benefit by gaining exposure to their hard work through mine and Denise’s audience. It’s a wonderful way for me to feature other bloggers, encourage them, and help them towards success. We link our favorites — the ones we think you will like most — on our Sunday Features Facebook page (gosh, you could click that link and “like” us right now!) and Pinterest board. The Sunday Features link party is beneficial to my audience as well. You can come by starting at 8 p.m. CST every Saturday to get inspiration for meals, decorating, seasonal crafts and so much more. Now that Denise and I have gotten to know each other better, we are working on some major changes in the look and perhaps even the name of the link party. More details on that soon!

Sunday Features Link Party

Giveaways
I recently began posting giveaways on Tabler Party of Two. This is another way I can provide value to both my audience and other bloggers. I’ll never offer a giveaway for a product I don’t personally use, want and/or love. The benefit of giveaways to my readers is pretty obvious. A chance to win free stuff! I post what’s called a Rafflecopter, and you enter the giveaway as many or few times as you wish by performing what the Rafflecopter requests. This typically involves following me, the brand, and other participating bloggers on social media. YOU get the chance to win awesome prizes. BLOGGERS and brands are blessed by increasing their audience via social media. Giveaways are definitely a win/win! I’ve got two giveaways going right now! This one is for two beautiful pieces of designer jewelry. This one is for really cool bracelet AND $125 in Paypal cash! The jewelry in both of these was created by my very talented mom! It has been so wonderful partnering with several bloggers and my mom’s brand, Caroles Art on Etsy. I’ll be doing another giveaway next Friday for Paypal cash and a Frigidaire convection oven. 

Where We’re Going

Within the next few days, I’ll be posting about what God has specifically put on my heart for the future of Tabler Party of Two. He is the author of all my creative endeavors, and I’m so excited for the ideas He has recently given me. I can’t wait to share them with you… so stay tuned! 

Final Thoughts

I’m frequently asked by friends how they can encourage and support me. Honestly, the fact that you like to read what I write is the biggest support you offer me! If you want to take it a step further, then please share, share, share! Comment and share my blog posts. “Like” and share the Tabler Party of Two Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Bloglovin. This is how TPOT has grown to have thousands of followers in the past six months. I notice every comment, share, retweet, pin or post that I receive, and they each bless my heart!

Please also note that Facebook has recently made many changes. Did you know that when I write and create something new and post onto my TPOT Facebook page, only 6-8 percent of my followers ever even see the post unless I pay money to boost it? There are two things I want to mention regarding this. First, the more likes, shares and comments a FB post receives, the more of my audience it will show the post without my having to boost it. It’s crazy. So engagement really is key! Second, since a small percentage of you receive notification of a new post on my TPOT page, I’d love for you to subscribe to Tabler Party of Two so that you don’t miss any of my posts!

Thank you for taking the time to celebrate this milestone. Six months. I can’t wait for the next six to unfold!

xoxo,

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