Start Your Own Website!

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own!

Have you been thinking… How do I start my own website? Lately I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I started my blog, so I thought it would be a good time to share my “bloglife” story. I started MexiMoments 3 years ago, and even though I had no idea what I was really going to do with it, I knew I needed an outlet to start sharing my thoughts and ideas! My daughter and I moved to Texas in the summer of 2015 and I hardly knew anyone. So call it a slight case of loneliness, but I loved the fact that I could write my feelings or thoughts and get them out, even though I’m pretty sure no one was reading it, and that was okay! The first year I had my site on wordpress.com, meaning I really didn’t own my domain name, but I had all the bells and whistles of a website, and like I said it was the outlet I needed at that time! With a wordpress.com site you can still design a page, create posts, and have a safe link to share with your family and friends.

If you are new to blogging or not sure where to start, I really suggest this route. Creating a platform can be stressful and costly especially if your are not sure what you are doing or where to find the best support!

After 1 year, I felt like, okay… I got this, people were actually reading my posts and commenting on my blog! As I started to connect with more and more people, they shared how much they liked my blog and how they related to the cultural content I was sharing. I realized that I had an audience that found value in my blog… probably one of the best feelings you can have as a blogger is connecting to people that you otherwise may not have and it was all because of your platform! Cool Huh?

This encouraged me to create my own self hosted blog, meaning I now own MexiMoments.com and I host it through Bluehost. Now being 3 years in, I’m so glad I chose Bluehost and their team as my domain hosting site, because they have the best prices and a super helpful staff that is there 24/7. I had my site go down a few months back in the middle of working on a big project for a brand and they helped me get it back up and running! If you are ready to start a website, join Bluehost for only $3.95/ mo and you can own your website and start creating, selling items, sharing fashion tips or pretty much do anything you want to do.

In September 2015 when I signed up with Bluehost, I also realized that brands were starting to notice my content, and they started to reach out to collaborate with me through trade, free items, products, or actually paying me to work with them and create content that I could share with my followers. I really love to cook and share recipes so when I first started blogging that was one of my favorite types of posts to share. How awesome is it that brands like Walmart and Target wanted to work with me! So little by little I had opportunities come up. There were some that I would turn down, but if it was a product I used, then I was very much interested in partnering with the brand on my blog!

Now there are some bloggers out there really doing big things and making six figure incomes from home with their blog, but that is not the norm….but realistically you can easily make an extra $500-$1000 per month blogging! Here is how most bloggers are doing it.

1. Selling clothing, services, or products like digital downloads
2. Affiliate links (all of the products you see on the right side of my site are affiliates I chose to work with)
3. Sponsored Posts
4. Brand Collaboration

You will know when you are reading a sponsored post or see one on social media because all bloggers are required to have a disclosure for any posts they are sharing and being financially compensated for. I personally like having a balance, it’s rule of thumb to have a good ratio of sponsored vs non-sponsored posts. For me, being a blogger has opened up so many doors, from being on a local Daytime Lifestyle TV Show called SA Live in San Antonio TX, to building relationships with brands like Disney and GM. What I love the most is the connection I’ve made with other bloggers and small business owners. It really gives me a sense of community and being among other creatives which keeps me growing , learning and pushes me to be my best!

I recently worked with my amazing friend and artist Crystal Domi, she created my logo and artwork to help me personalize my blog! It came out so perfect and definitely an investment that was worth it! I’m so happy that my blog is growing enough so that I can invest in it and have a thriving platform!

Here are a few pieces of advice that I learned on my journey that I want to share with anyone that may be embarking on a blog or business journey.

Tip 1 – Don’t pay a bunch of money to someone that says they can make your page views or social media following grow. There are ways to grow your following without spending lots of money. Unfortunately some people will take advantage of new bloggers with their sales pitch. However growing organically is the best way to see growth and be true to yourself!

Tip 2 – Grow across all platforms, try not to limit yourself to only Facebook or Instagram. I actually have more followers and people that engage with my blog coming from Pinterest and Twitter! I know Twitter can look a little busy, but it’s been huge for me when it comes to promoting my content! You can also do giveaways to build your email list! I use Rafflecopter and they actually collect all the info for you in excel so you can import it directly!

Tip 3 – Most likely your close friends and family are not going to understand what you are doing, why your doing it and will probably be cheering for you in silence. Try not to take it to heart, but if they are not in a blogger/business state of mind, then don’t expect a great deal of support. This was something so hard for me to understand at first, but those that truly see your passion will be supportive!

Tip 4 – Build an email list, please do not count on your social media pages to be your only contact to your readers or blog community. If Instagram or Facebook disappeared tomorrow you would want to be able to contact your online community directly!

Tip 5 – Look into helpful apps that do not cost too much to help you manage your platforms, I use BoardBooster for Pinterest, Round Team for Twitter and Crowdfire for blog sharing and content management! If you have any questions or want to ask me anything directly, feel free to message me on social media or email at meximoments@yahoo.com I’m always willing to help!

I also suggest joining a network like Style Collective, they have tons of support from forums, brand resources, education and community building platforms all your finger tips and it has helped me in my social media space! There are also apps to help manage your blog income vs spending, I learned a lot of tips from my mentor and amazing entrepreneur Codie Sanchez Baker, she shared a few great tips in our interview!

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