This month I’m celebrating 9 years as a paid professional blogger. That’s right. I’ve been paid to blog since 2011. Even though I started blogging in 2009, it was just an outlet to express myself. Then September 2011 rolled around and I decided I would make blogging a career option for me. Now here we are 9 years later and I’m still creating content that is authentically transparent. If you have been blessed by my content in anyway over the years, please contribute to my cashapp $VernettaRFreeney Thanks for rocking with me. Your support means so much to me
I’m so excited that tomorrow is the official day to celebrate my divine 9 year blogaversary.
What can I say about 9 years of work in a simple blog post? What can I share that will truly emulate this 9-year journey? What can I do to celebrate such a milestone in the midst of a pandemic?
Reflecting on this journey has given me a lot of aha moments as well as looking back at opportunities that were missed for whatever reason.
When I started blogging for money in 2011 no one took me seriously. And for the next few years when I said that’s why I started blogging again I would hear snide remarks behind my back. When I received that first paid opportunity just 6 weeks after launching, I knew that was a sign. However, doubt, fear and other things crowded my thought process which held me back from fully going after all that I could have done or gotten as a blogger. And probably my attitude as well. It was a strong one back then, lol.
As I look at where I am now with my blog, I am satisfied. I like the content I kept after a massive sweep when God told me to make a change. A shift. I like the content that I’ve created with careful consideration and thought for the people who will be blessed by reading it. I like the content I have planned for the rest of 2020 because I get to explore the Black church through months of research I’ve done this year and share that with you. Yet, I haven’t created a profit plan or monetization plan. I know, that’s wild.
For a person who started blogging 9 years ago to make money and not have one for the blog she’s currently blogging on especially after preaching to have a plan is inconceivable. I’ve lived in the hustle and grind space for my entire adult life. Well until this year when I left my part time job in December 2019.
Rest is a strategy I know being used for my good. The pandemic happening made rest a non-negotiable option for me. With rest, I pray that I’m hearing God tell me what steps to make and decisions to make in regard to how to monetize my blog. Because I am not going to start selling “Jesus” to join a trend. I’m a solution-oriented person. And that’s what I’ll continue to sell. Whatever solution God gives to me to share with you.
Nine years is a long time to do something and still enjoy it. To be excited about planning or working on it. To be thrilled when you get positive feedback on the content created. The number 9 means fruit of the spirit and divine completeness. I believe whatever I needed to do in order to grow and mature is now complete through divine intervention. And the fruit of the spirit God wants to exude through me will start to come through soon.
This ride has been thrilling. I look forward to another 9 years doing whatever God has called me to do. My hope is it’s still blogging my thoughts and sharing them with the world.
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