My Blogging Journey – so many mistakes

One day, whilst enjoying a few days relaxing, I was reading a travel blog and the next day I read another and thought I could do that. I thought it would be so easy. So began my blogging journey.

Round One – Getting started.

At the time, I was attempting to start an Amazon FBA business but not having a lot of success.

I had been traveling for around 6 years and was looking to improve my current business and find products to sell online. Blogging seemed an easier option.

I would share my journey to make money online while traveling and tell others what I had learned. I would learn and write about each topic.

It should be easy, people were saying that you did not need to be an expert, just to be one step ahead of those you were trying to teach. This was so WRONG

I have changed the direction of this blog many times since then as I realized my mistakes. I did not know what I did not know.

Over the past 20 years, I have spent thousands of hours researching, reading, watching TV shows, and buying programs learning how to do everything better.  

I continued this research to increase my knowledge of blogging and creating online businesses.

I attended lots of webinars, wasted a lot of money on software and programs trying to learn, and haunted YouTube. Some presenters stated that others like to hear what you have been doing, not just as a business but in real life as well.  

I guessed that this could be a reason for the success of reality television in the last few years so I began documenting my travels, journal style.

This led to writing not only about my journey to discover how to make money online but also about my personal life, travel journey, and minor social media achievements. I started repeating parrot fashion what I had learned.

I wrote about many topics including social media, affiliate marketing, SEO, goal setting, travel, and camping, together with random thoughts. What a jumbled mess.

After a couple of years, I made some affiliate sales but the blog did not take off. I realize now that I was not offering anyone any real value. My content was all over the place and I could not determine whether the information was good, bad, or totally out of date.

Most of the content was not valuable as it was simply re-spinning content that was already available on the internet. I could not offer anything different because I had no personal experience.

Starting my second blog

Thus ended my first attempt at starting this blog. I quit and started a second blog under a pen name. I updated all my social media profiles to my pen name.

This time I started writing about making money online whilst traveling for my business. Talk about being a glutton for punishment.

All I achieved was a confused social media audience and more of the same rubbish content.

A couple of months later, I received my first affiliate commission from this domain. I’m not sure whether it was from the website, or from spamming social media.

My third attempt at blogging.

Fortunately, I had not deleted my website and the domain name was still current, so I reworked it a little and kept going. I found a second affiliate program and reworded a lot of my content to fit in with the vibe of the program.

After about 8 months of no results anywhere, I again gave up and started to delete and revise posts. Then out of nowhere, I got three high-ticket affiliate sales. I was on cloud 9.

I spent weeks writing new posts, improving my old ones, and creating reviews of the product only to have the program decide to cut its affiliate program. Talk about a kick in the teeth.

Blog on the back-burner

Again, I gave up and started consuming content as a means of trying to figure out what I was going to do. I set all my posts to draft and redirected everything to the home page. I deleted some absolute rubbish content. Over the next three years, I started researching and making many changes to my blog.

Time and again I reworked existing content, updated images, and continuously tried to discover a niche that would allow me to send affiliate links to the one program I was still a part of. I continuously updated my banner and social media profiles. Truly, I was just chasing my tail.

Eventually, I started to listen to the right people, and I realized that I had no Google love for two major reasons.

The post content was often off-topic concerning the title headling, as I tend to follow my thoughts and not a plan.

The content itself was poorly written. I am not a competent writer and my lack of personal topic knowledge was pretty obvious.

As a result, my website looked like, to put it nicely, something a 5-year-old put together.

Content and visuals were sadly lacking.

Fourth attempt – Getting back on track

Eventually, I asked myself who was I kidding? Another year had almost passed and I realized I needed to write about my life journey, and the life I lead, and stop focusing on trying to be someone I’m not. I will still talk about many topics, but instead of pretending to be an expert, I will talk about how I apply the lessons to my life and blog.

I don’t need to be a millionaire. I have a small superannuation account, have the ability to work part-time if I choose, and will eventually qualify for the aged pension, which is more than enough to support myself. Making a little extra would be welcome, but it is not the driving force behind my blogging.

I decided to reframe my thinking concerning my blog and make it align with the life I choose to live.

I owned up to where I went wrong and officially started over.

Who is KerryAnn today – Why still blog?

I continue to write notes about lots of things as I read and research. I love to learn. Today KerryAnn is just a bit older, and hopefully a little wiser, and still looking at doing new things.

I love to travel, enjoy life, and enjoy my freedom. I share my personal experiences so that you too can see that a simple lifestyle combined with a small income is possible for anyone who wants it badly enough.

Although I live and travel in Australia, there are many people worldwide who travel full time and many adventures can be achieved wherever you live.

I am certain that many factors that apply to Australians also apply to potential travelers and places around the world. Are you ready to add Australia to your bucket list?

Freedom is having the ability to choose what you want to do, with whom, and when.

Finally, I realized it was my lifestyle that was different and something I could talk about, not just trying to be another clone preaching about making money online.

The decision was made to revive this blog and share the dream.

Research and Restart

When I started to rewrite this blog in early 2023, I did so on my leased block of land. I decided to burn my bridges, start over, consolidate everything in my life, and travel again.

I slowed down, accessed my superannuation, hit the road for 6 months, and acknowledged that I love the life I live. I recently purchased a small house in the country for my home base.

This blog is about my life journey and the lessons I have learned. I hope it will inspire you to find your path to fulfillment.

My husband and I spent over 10 years traveling Australia and intend to continue to do so periodically until they take away our driver’s licenses. We expect to remain semi-mobile for at least the next 10 or 15 years. It is a wonderful lifestyle and we love it.

Imagine the future.

Are you looking for ways to semi-retire soon? Maybe you want to but are afraid you will get bored.

I often wonder where I found the time to work full-time. I have so much going on.

Imagine yourself sitting on the beach or beside a river breathing in the fresh air and enjoying nature.

Maybe, enjoying a campfire at night with fellow travelers.

If you enjoy prospecting and fossicking like me, you may spend many hours hunting for gold and gems and turning your treasures into jewelry.

There are many crafts that you can enjoy and even make a little money from as you travel.

Blogging has now become part of my life, I hope you will find your path to become more creative and enjoy the simple things in life, like blogging.