Happy birthday to Natural Beauty with Baby

Happy birthday to Natural Beauty with Baby

It’s a source of amusement in the Little family that so many of our birthdays fall in January – that’s me, my brother, husband, auntie, and my father-in-law! Today, January 4th, it’s my blog’s turn, as it celebrates its first birthday! I hope you can join me in wishing happy birthday to Natural Beauty with Baby!

Natural skincare and beauty has always been a passion – one I found myself even more interested in when I became pregnant. Once I was expecting, it was naturally more important to avoid harmful ingredients. When Jonah was born, the same applied to his skincare.

I thought it would be a rewarding hobby to document mine and Jonah’s favourite natural skincare and beauty products. I wanted to shout these products from the rooftops!

And so my blog was born.

Let’s take a look at Natural Beauty with Baby through the months.

January

I started an account with Blogger. Jonah was 7 months old at the time, and I remember writing my first post while he slept in my lap.

It was so short and uninformative, and quite embarrassing in retrospect. It took me several months to develop a style and format for my blog posts.

My posts are always long, and that’s because I’m so curious how natural ingredients in skin and hair care work. My own opinion is helpful to readers, but I want to know and share how beneficial ingredients can help. I’m driven to help my readers become aware of brands who use harmful ingredients.

Following on from my first post, I created several other review posts. It was easy for me because I put so little effort in. I didn’t take any photos, and I didn’t examine any ingredients. I just wrote my opinions.

Ah, how much I have learned since then!

I’ve since rewritten my first post and several subsequent posts. I’ve gone back and taken my own photos, rather than use stock photos. Much better!

February to March

I bought my domain name, naturalbeautywithbaby.com, and I started to look more professional. I made my first affiliate sale in March, which of course was very exciting!

April to June

Creating content very slowly, I started to branch out beyond reviews of single products and created a post about how to find healthier alternatives to mainstream baby products.

July

Blogging about life with Jonah, rather than just beauty and baby products, became an outlet for me on various parent topics.

August

An amazingly motivated and productive month, in which I wrote 9 posts. Figuring out how to promote my blog on social media marked a turning point. I created my first recipe post which has proved to be really popular. I also wrote and shared my birth story, which was so healing to write.

September

What a very busy month for me. First, I went self-hosted, migrating from Blogger to WordPress. Second, I bought a blogging course. Third, I won the Blogger Recognition Award, which was so nice as a newbie blogger! September was the beginning of a new phase with my blog.

October

In October, I received my first PR product, the BeeMom Breast Pump. I was so over the moon to receive a product, especially one that’s so useful to me as a breastfeeding mum. October

November

I was accepted onto the LoveLula Accredited Blogger Program. This means I can choose products every month to try. It pays my skincare and beauty tab each month, and I’m so grateful for that!

December

My Christmas gift wish list was hugely popular and received the most comments of any blog post yet. I reviewed my first LoveLula subscription box, which I hope is the first of many.

Natural Beauty with Baby in 2018

Like many bloggers, I’ve given some thought to my second year blogging goals:

  • Post about restaurants and days out in my local area.
  • Write up web design, image editing, and SEO techniques, since I have a lot to share.
  • Share more Baby Led Weaning recipes.
  • Focus on beauty, not just skincare. This means doing my makeup more often. For a beauty blogger, I’m really lazy and don’t wear makeup often.

I’m really happy with how far my blog has come in the past year. And I’m totally excited to see where 2018 will take me.

Paid to write posts? Increasing my affiliate sales… now here’s to that dream!

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know in the comments!

14 Replies to “Happy birthday to Natural Beauty with Baby”

  1. What a journey ! As I started my own blog a month ago, your post gives me some perspective, I thank you for that. I think I am at the quite-embarassing-newbie posts as I try to find my tone and voice. The best might be to be oneself without too many questions ? Anyway, if one day I become a Lovelula accredited blogger, or i receive PR products I would be thrilled, not for the free products but for the recognition. So, congratulations on your blog (and sorry for the I-talk-about-me comment ). Hope it will evolve along with you and your family.

    1. Thanks so much Myrtille! It’s great to hear your thoughts, so thanks for commenting. I think you are so right about being oneself. It makes complete sense. Recognition is a beautiful thing! Blogging is really hard work, and there are many skills to master – photography, writing, technical. Thanks again for your well wishes and will look out for your blog posts on LoveLula’s group. 🙂

  2. You’ve had a really successful first year, well done for all you’ve achieved!

    1. Thanks so much, Ruth! ❤

  3. You’re so vibrant sailing the blogging world. That’s really great that you make it alongside of your daily journey of life, and you make your blog grow ‘side by side’ with your beloved Jonah. Keep up the spirit. For sharing, I used to start blogging in early 2009 with my former blog and I felt so great seeing my blog having anniversary year by year, till I dropped it in 2015. Then I found I couldn’t get rid of blogging, so I built a new blog in May 2016 till now. So, once again, keep up your spirit..!

    1. Thank you for your lovely comment, Edwin. It’s so nice to hear the history behind your blog! Good luck to you in 2018 – I hope I continue to read your posts!

  4. Congrats on a year! And congrats on your other milestones — moving to self-hosted WordPress is like graduating to the big leagues. Here’s to another good year of blogging!

    1. Thank you, Adam! Best of luck with your blog, too.

  5. Sounds like you had a very productive year! Starting a blog is not easy I have found but you’re right it’s a great outlet! Good luck in 2018 🙂

    1. Hi Annie, it certainly isn’t easy! I didn’t realise this at the start. So many hats to wear… But great fun and so nice to watch it grow. Good luck to you as well!

  6. I just started my own blog January 121st and I’ve changed my niche and format about a million times. Love reading about your journey.

    1. Oh that’s great! It’s so good you can be flexible and change as needed! Good luck with your new blog, and thanks for reading! ❤

  7. You’ve done so well in your first year of blogging!! It’s not an easy journey but you’ve done an absolutely fabulous job!!

    1. Thanks so much, Shell! I really love blogging! 🙂

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