From 100 To 10K: My Blogger Journey (Early Updates)
- March - July 2021
As a travel planning “nerd,” it is no surprise I love numbers, research, and data. This blog went live Thursday, March 4, 2021.
To track its progress, I began reporting metrics on how the blog start-up was going every week. I also highlighted accomplishments and setbacks. I did this for a few months.
Then, I began to learn more about blogging, writing, and how to be productive. As I did this, I realized sharing monthly updates made more sense.
Below you will find my initial collection of weekly updates. To find and read my more recent monthly updates, visit my Blogger Journey main page .
Table Of Contents
How Long Will It Take To Reach 10K?
I initially tracked key site metrics, as reported by Google Analytics and social media channels, and recorded them in this Google Sheets doc. Also, clickable below.
I now collect data monthly. View my latest updates here. I insert a link to my performance numbers in each monthly update.
And how long will it take to go from a starting blog audience of 100 friends and family to 10,000? Hopefully sooner than later!
Week 20: Doing The Work
I have not updated my data for about six weeks, and this is ok. I have been busy traveling and doing the work instead of reporting on it.
I’ve now published a total of 21 blog articles, and I am feeling good. Additionally, I have completed topics one through six of my ten-topic “Amazeballs Guide To Better Family Travel“. And aim to finish the final four within the next two months.
In the meantime, I plan to spend my time writing destination guides and related spin-off articles for our trips to Hawaii, Vermont, Wisconsin, and our upcoming trip to Colorado.
I am also excited that I created a Trip Budget Calculator as a part of my article series on “How To Find Just-Right Accommodation In Five Steps,” and as a thank you gift to email subscribers.
Other noteworthy accomplishments include sticking to my monthly newsletter schedule and creating my first few YouTube branded how-to videos complete with intros and outros (I had no idea what this word was a week ago).
The only dispiriting aspect of all this accomplishment is my blog traffic numbers are low. I know it takes a year, if not a few years, to grow traffic. However, it is never fun in the start-up phase – whatever the business – to do all the work and stay motivated while waiting for growth.
Goals for next week:
- Daily social media posts.
- Write and publish one article about Vermont – it is a short work week with family visiting.
- Finish trip planning for Colorado and Palm Springs trips.
What I Read And Listened To This Week
Week 13 & 14: Making The Big Magic Happen
My discovery from the last two weeks – the big magic to growing the blog is consistency and content.
And my other big (un) surprise – I do not drive traffic to my website when I create social media content just for fun. Especially when the content does not reference a specific blog article – click-throughs to the website do not happen.
For weeks 12 and 13, I had only 24 visitors in total to the website. During these two weeks, I wrote and promoted only one blog article. Instead of writing and publishing, I used the time to add posts to my neglected social channels and learned how to create Instagram Reels videos. This social media focus without linking back to specific blog articles did not translate to web traffic.
Compare that to this past week (week 14) when I published and marketed two blog articles – my weekly website visitor traffic jumped to 60 from a low of 11 (week 13).
This increase in web traffic reinforces that all other activities except for writing, publishing, and promoting blog articles – such as Instagram Reels challenges, regardless of how fun they are – should be deprioritized.
Here’s what I accomplished last two weeks (through Thursday, 6/10):
- Published two articles about Asheville, “Reader Advice: A 7-Day Dog-Friendly Hiking & Dining Guide To Asheville,” and “The Best Books To Read Before An Asheville Trip.”
- Published weekly goal # of posts to Instagram and Facebook.
- Created and published all article graphics on Pinterest.
- Began re-writing a how-to article on finding the best lodging.
- Created a trip budget template for the lodging article and to use as an e-mail newsletter sign-up freebie incentive.
What I didn’t get to:
- Writing and sending a weekly newsletter.
- Posting daily Instagram Reels. Instead of taking the time to do this each day, I create two or three a week.
- Sharing new content to LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube.
Goals for next week:
- Publish one article on Accommodation – it is a long one.
- Set up my budget and packing templates as e-mail newsletter sign-up freebies.
- Send my third ever newsletter out on Sunday.
- Create four to five social Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts.
What I Read And Listened To This Week
Week 12: Social Media Distraction
My major learning this week – only blog content drives website traffic – especially in the early stages of a travel blog.
With zero blog posts this week, I had 13 website visitors over seven days, which stinks. Last week, with two blog posts – which I shared and promoted on social media – I had 94 visitors in one week.
What happened?
I spent this past week catching up on tasks that had lingered too long on my to-do list. These included spending time posting to and being active on my other social media channels (e.g., LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter) and setting up my OPRF Chamber Of Commerce marketing page.
And here it is – full confession – I got sidetracked from my weekly goals by joining an Instagram Reels 30-Day Challenge group.
The challenge requires me to post an Instagram Reel (a mini-video that is 15 to 30 sec long) every day for 30-days, along with a group of 10 other lady business owners who will support each other with likes and comments. My two goals for the challenge are to get comfortable appearing in my own videos and two grow my Instagram following. I plan to start the challenge on June 1.
However, seeing my dismal traffic numbers for my website this week makes me think this challenge – I spent time this week watching tutorials and interacting with group members – is a distraction and a mistake.
The only way it will work is if I force myself to be disciplined about the time I spend creating the video content and about the time I spend interacting on social media afterward.
As anyone already active on social media to promote a business knows – it is utterly addictive. And it is far easier to spend time on Facebook or Instagram completing mini-tasks than doing the demanding and much more rewarding work of writing, editing, and layout work required for blog post creation.
What I accomplished this week (through Friday, 5/27):
- I caught up on promoting all my blog posts on Pinterest (4 new boards)
- I stayed active on Twitter (4 posts) and LinkedIn (2 posts) this week by promoting existing blog posts and related content
- I spent some time adding to the rough draft for an article on visiting Asheville, N.C.
- I published four Facebook and Instagram posts and five Instagram Stories.
- I created my OPRF Chamber of Commerce member page to help boost SEO.
What I did not get to:
- Writing and sending a weekly newsletter.
- Meeting my goal of publishing one article this week.
- Sharing new content to YouTube.
So, going into next week – I am still committing to the challenge – BUT, I am only allowing myself to have the “fun” of filming a video only AFTER I complete and publish my current blog post and write and send my newsletter.
This means, if – given it is Memorial Weekend – I cannot get to filming the video clips until 11 PM Monday to kick the challenge off on Tuesday – then that will be an interesting evening.
Goals for next week:
- Publish two articles, including the one I didn’t get to this week.
- Send my third ever newsletter out on Sunday.
- Create four to five social Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts.
- Book CO trip activity options.
What I Read And Listened To This Week
Week 11: Hints Of Growth
I am starting to see some growth!
What was the “big” boost this week? It was the response to my social media post linking to the article, “Experience Adventure On The Way: Take A Train,” part of a mini-guide on transportation.
Although it is time-consuming, I take the time to tag all businesses I mention or link to in any blog post when I share it on Facebook or Instagram. And it turns out the train companies are listening – thank you!
Amtrak, who I tagged – liked and commented on the post. It was my first major company that responded to a tag. And British-based Great Rail Journeys – who I also tagged – saw the social post, followed my account, and then shared it to their Instagram Stories.
These social media shares, comments, and “follows” help to boost the visibility of my social media accounts, and more importantly – my blog posts. It brings more traffic to my website and more subscribers to my newsletters.
What I accomplished last week (through Friday, 5/21):
- I published and promoted one article, “Experience Adventure On The Way: Take A Train.”
- I researched and wrote most of the rough draft for an article on visiting Asheville, N.C., which I will feature in my upcoming newsletter.
- I published five Instagram and Facebook social media posts.
- I posted on Twitter every day except for one and got a few new followers.
What I did not get to:
- Writing and sending a weekly newsletter.
- Meeting my goal of two published articles this week.
- Posting to, promoting on, and growing my other social media channels. Including Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
- Setting up my OPRF Chamber of Commerce account.
- Planning Colorado trip activities.
Next, I am off to work on more blog articles. I have nearly finished a rough draft for a 5-day hiking and a dog-friendly trip to Asheville, N.C. I plan to write about inn-to-inn self-guided hiking trips. And then look forward to spending some time on our spring Hawaii trip.
Goals for next week:
- Publish one article.
- Research and write the draft for a second. Publish this article and begin a draft of a third, if time allows.
- Write my third ever newsletter to send out Sunday.
- Finish setting up my Chamber of Commerce profile.
- Promote all recent blog articles on my other social accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest.
- Insert Pinterest graphics to each blog post, for easy sharing.
- Create four to five social Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts.
- Spend time planning CO trip activity options.
What I Read, Listened To, And Watched This Week
I watched a bit more TV this week. I try to avoid watching a lot of programs because I get obsessive about seeing all episodes. Though, the ones I saw were good.
Week 10: Building A Good Thing
I’m writing my Friday update two days late on a Monday. I waited to write it because I was committed to hitting my big goals from last week, and instead took time to get the work done.
Here’s what I accomplished last week (through Saturday 5/15):
- I published my article, “Enjoy The Ride: 12 Tips For Better Family Road Trips.”
- I wrote and published my first Hawaii article on books to read, “The Best Books To Read Before A Hawaii Trip.“
- I tracked my time to write and publish a blog post. I learned some important things.
- I posted five Instagram and Facebook social media posts.
- I replied to my very first comment on my blog. Thanks, VK!
- Trip planning: I booked our 20th anniversary trip to Vermont and coordinated with a concierge (a travel planning helper!) for a multi-generational big family trip to Colorado for meals and activities. More on these soon!
What I didn’t get to:
- Posting to, promoting on, and growing my other social media channels. Including Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, which need some TLC.
- Setting up my OPRF Chamber of Commerce account.
The important thing I learned this week is pretty obvious – though it did not feel that way until I lived it.
My genius realization – long blog articles take a long time.
My road trip article tops out at nearly 5,000 words with 30+ photos and who knows how many links. Once I was done writing – it took me another 15 hours (!) to make the post live.
I spent that time on several online publishing-related tasks, such as laying out the text and finding and adjusting imagery. The image adjustments included editing, resizing, renaming, uploading, alt tagging, and captioning.
Inserting all URL links and anchoring internal text links took time too.
And finally, I spent a few more hours testing the article. I corrected mistakes, added missing words, and fixed broken links. I also tested and adjusted the mobile versions of the post to ensure it would display on all devices.
To promote the finished article, I spent about two more hours composing a social media post for Facebook and Instagram. This effort included looking up and time-intensively tagging all businesses (e.g., REI, Kuat) mentioned in the article.
Was this tagging time worth it? Absolutely yes! REI saw my post and liked it. Does that mean I now have a sponsor deal with REI – a dream come true?!
Hahahaha. No. The post “like” did not transfer into a personal message or even a follow. I am a brand new little fish in a big ocean, and the “like” I got is the equivalent to a nod from one of the whale sharks.
And it is just one example of one of the many slow and steady – and yes – sometimes time-consuming little steps forward to building a good thing.
Goals for next week:
- Publish two to three medium to small-sized posts. Take a break from the long posts this week.
- Write my third ever newsletter to send out Sunday.
- Give my Twitter account some attention. Tweet something every day – so far, counting Sunday and today (Monday) I am 2 for 2.
- Finish setting up my Chamber of Commerce profile.
- Promote my most recent blog articles on my other social accounts: LinkedIn and Pinterest.
- Create four to five social Instagram and Facebook posts.
- Spend time planning CO trip activity options.
What I Listened To + Read This Week
I am still on a break from business self-help books and am a fiction and trip-related title kick.
Week 9: Momentum & Underestimation
This week’s theme is two-fold. It is about momentum, which I thankfully got back after returning from our Hawaii trip – and underestimation.
On the momentum front, this is the first week since we returned from Hawaii a month ago that I feel like I stopped swimming upstream to get my work done and instead caught the same current I was enjoying just after launch and before my trip.
This past week I achieved a number of my goals – including sending out my 2nd newsletter, creating a social media and marketing calendar, and hitting my number of social media posts.
However, the goal I didn’t hit this week is completing my blog posts. Cue the underestimation.
My blog posts continue to require much more time to write and publish each week than I think they will. Granted, I’m new to blogging, so I have no idea how long they should take. A quick Google search tells me they should take 3 hours and 16 minutes. Reading this factoid is enough for a beginning blogger to (nearly) throw in the towel.
Fortunately, I came across a different stat a few days ago that made me feel much better.
The site VacationIdea.com, which I came across while researching things to do in Vail, says it takes them, on average, 19 hours to complete a post, which includes: research, writing, editing, proofreading, photo gathering, etc.
Ah. Now, this makes sense. Quality travel blog posts are supposed to take a long time.
Since VacationIdea.com is an established website with three million+ visitors per month, and it takes them on average nearly 20 hours to write a post – then it makes perfect sense that as a new blogger, I should take even longer than this.
The current post I am working on, “Enjoy The Ride: 10 Tips For Better Family Road Trips,” was largely pre-written – though the original draft required heavy editing and content additions. The post tops out at over ten pages of straight writing on a word doc, with 30+ images. This kind of meaty content takes time.
To see how long it takes for me to write a post, as an experiment, next week, I will only work on my Hawaii post, which I didn’t get to at all this week. Not counting my Hawaii daily trip journal entries, whose writing is rough and not very unusable, I’ve done zero work on it. I will track my time from start to finish on the Hawaii post and report back here next week.
Why do this? Because it will help me accomplish several things, such as – planning my work time, measuring writing speed improvements, pricing my eventual sponsored content correctly, and strategizing my post length – longer with less frequent publishing vs. shorter with a steadier schedule.
Until next week, and Happy Mother’s Day!
My accomplishments this week include:
- Sending my second e-newsletter.
- Creating a social media and marketing calendar through the end of May.
- Four new social media posts on Instagram and Facebook. Posting blog articles on Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
- Completing the written portion of my newest blog post: “Enjoy The Ride: 10 Tips For Better Family Road Trip.” Identifying an image plan (30+ images) for the final published article.
- Researching two summer trips – 20th anniversary trip to VT and a family trip to CO.
- Joining my local OPRF Chamber of Commerce.
Goals for next week include:
- Write and publish one Hawaii blog post. Track my time spent working on it.
- Four to five Instagram/Facebook posts.
- Complete all other social media posts to promote blog articles (e.g., Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Get my OPRF Chamber of Commerce profile page live and provide content for social post promo.
- Book VT trip.
- Plan CO activities/dining.
What I Listened To + Read This Week
Still on my Hawaii reading kick and on break from business self-help.
Week 8: A Brief Interlude
I can blame it on a tough trip reentry, tax prep, camp forms, or even travel planning – however – here I am after a month with no updates and slow progress on goals.
During the interlude, we did take a two-week trip to Hawaii – which will be great for blog content, though it turns out – not good for getting work done. Unsurprisingly, I found it difficult to crack open the computer. Watch the ocean waves? Or make a social media post? The ocean won every time.
Though now I’m back, and luckily – with no ocean in sight to distract me – ready to re-hit the ground running.
My accomplishments this week include:
- Completing and publishing my blog article: 15 Tips On How To Raise The Bar On Car Rentals
- Writing a first draft of my second e-newsletter, going out this Sunday
- Launched a YouTube channel to capture our short video clips.
Goals for next week include:
- Writing and publishing one Hawaii blog post
- Editing and publishing an article about road trip tips for my Amazeballs Guide To Better Family Travel
- Create a new social media calendar through the end of May
- Five social media posts
What I Listened To + Read This Week
On pause from business self-help, I recently switched to mostly Hawaii-related fiction and non-fiction.
- Listened To: (Audiobook) Sea People: The Puzzle Of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
- Listening To: (Audiobook) A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (2nd listen)
- Listening To: (Spotify) Hawaiian Morning - Relaxing Guitar
- Read: This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila
- Reading: The Three-Year Swim Club by Julie Checkoway
Week 3: Reality of Time Conflicts
I am in the middle of a two-week stretch where I have limited time to work on the blog the way I want to. My goal is to keep things in a holding pattern with just a bit of momentum until I can throw myself back into things in early April.
Until then, I will keep my goals small and doable.
What I Listened To + Read This Week
- Listened To: Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, episode 367
- Listened To: Marketing School with Neil Patel + Eric Siu Podcast, episodes 1679-1681 (only five minutes each)
- Started Listening To: The Sea People: The Puzzle Of Polynesia (audiobook)
- Read: Finished Oahu Revealed Guidebook by Andrew Doughty
- Reading: Started Kauai Revealed Guidebook by Andrew Doughty
Goals for week four:
- 1 blog post
- post on social media 2-3 times next week
- Write content for next 2x/month newsletter
- Finish planning for Hawaii trip
- Begin planning for 2 to 3 summer trips
Week 2: Sticking To Schedule
This week is all about friends and family. To get a business off the ground – whether it is a blog, a new store, or a service – the support of friends and family at the beginning is critical.
That is why this journey is titled 100 to 10K – my own close network is probably 100 to 150 people. Though it feels like it should be more, it really isn’t. And this is true not just for me – for most people. Malcolm Gladwell talks about this small-size social group phenomenon, known as Dunbar’s number, in his book The Tipping Point.
So when I see many of my same friends like and comment on my social media content, which is critical to expanding my marketing reach beyond my friend group – I know I could not get this blog off the ground without them.
A special shout to friends and family who even went the extra mile and promoted the blog on their own social media channels – Swati, Asra, Lisa, Anne, and Emily, you all come to mind. Your support – along with everyone else’s – blows me away. Thank you!
My biggest accomplishments this week include:
- (Mostly) sticking to my “Goals” plan. This was not easy. The only thing I did not get done this week was creating a privacy page.
- Sending my first newsletter. I learned how to use the free version of Mailchimp. Even though the free version is bare-bones and does not allow for scheduling, I am sticking to it to keep costs down until the blog gets off the ground.
- Listened To: Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, episodes 306, 307, and 316
- Listened To: Marketing School with Neil Patel + Eric Siu Podcast, episodes 1662-1677 (only five minutes each)
- Read: Finished Frommer’s Hawaii Guidebook 2020
- Read: Started Oahu Revealed Guidebook by Andrew Doughty - so far one of my favorite guidebooks I've read yet
Goals for week three:
- 1 blog post
- post on social media 4-5 times next week
- Write content for next 2x/month newsletter dropping a week from Sunday
- Finish planning for Hawaii trip
- Explore the possibility of a trip to Glacier National Park this summer
Week 1: How Did It Go?
It has been a week since I launched, and it feels like step two of a 1,000-mile journey.
With just seven days under my belt, I am most satisfied that I created a blog post and social media marketing calendar through mid-April – and have stuck to it this week with two blog articles and daily social media posts.
Other accomplishments include getting on Twitter and fixing a back-end website issue after hours of misdirected trouble-shooting, with a bit of help from a friend. Shout out to Darien Marion-Burton, who saw my “HELP” post in the Elementor Facebook Group that had zero responses and texted me.
I also created the template and wrote the content for my first newsletter going out via Mailchimp this Sunday.
And finally, I put together the data tracking sheet displayed above to show how the site grows over time. The goal is to get a following of 10,000. How long will it take me to get there? I have no idea. Let’s find out.
What did I read, listen to, or watch this week? Not as much as I would have liked. Short school days make for fragmented workdays and little free time.
- Listened To: Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, episodes 337, 324, 322, 321
- Read: Frommer’s Hawaii Guidebook 2020
Goals for week two:
- 2 blogs posts
- Daily social media posts daily (according to content calendar)
- Create a privacy page
- Fix site header and footer according to recommendations made by Superstar Blogging Course moderators
- Write and activate an e-mail newsletter welcome letter
- Plan Hawaii trip
Find all new monthly updates on my blogger journey from 100 to 10K here.
Don’t want to miss a monthly update? Then signup to receive my Discovery e-newsletter. I will send you a free trip budget calculator as a thank you.
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Hi, I am Janice and and I run the Gather and Go Travel blog. I am a travel writer, blogger, and bookhound, specializing in family and group travel. I have traveled extensively domestically and internationally to 40+ countries. I am fascinated by other cultures, religions, and languages—and love to share what I have learned in my writing. For more on my background, read my bio, our story, and how to work with me.
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