Milly Rogers Author

The nine stages of blogging

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Milly Rogers

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The nine stages of blogging

There are around 65 million bloggers on WordPress – and god knows how many more that use other platforms. But no matter which one you use, it’s most likely that every single one of you go through the following nine stages (and if you don’t I bow down to you oh holy one):

1. Imagining your future as a famous, influential blogger #chuckwendig

famous-cat

2. Trying to design your blog and going through 50 templates before you find the one you like

 too many cats.gif

3. Publishing your introduction post and waiting for your very first comment

 cat pat.gif

4. Researching ‘how to blog’ and ‘why does everyone blog about cats’

checking response cat

5. When it hits you that attempting to blog three times a day could be an unrealistic expectation if you still want to #netflix & #chill

cat-computer

6. Accidentally publishing a half-finished post and hoping no one saw it

shocked cat.gif

7. Taking a short break from blogging only to come back 2 years later

turkey-coma1.gif

8.Telling your friends and family that you have a blog and then getting embarrassed when they quickly find it

super-sad-cat-depressed-kitten-13595918793_zpse850bff4

9. Reaching 100 followers and secretly knowing that you’ve finally made an impact on the world

 satisfied cat.gif

Gifs sourced from:hilariousgifs.com, 4gifs.com, giphy.com, gifsoup.com, lozgif.com

 

 

 

79 responses to “The nine stages of blogging”

  1. rosedalearts Avatar
    rosedalearts

    #6 is adorable, #7 is relatable, and #9 is hilarious. Meow.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Tess M Garfield Avatar
    Tess M Garfield

    Yes, this is a good description of me…

    Like

    Reply
  3. Lucy Mitchell Avatar
    Lucy Mitchell

    Loved this!

    Like

    Reply
  4. superwifeandmummy Avatar
    superwifeandmummy

    😂😂true!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. thewritesteph.com Avatar
    thewritesteph.com

    Good grief, it looks like I’m one of the 65 million WordPress bloggers! And, yes, I can relate to your post. Still working on finding “followers,” one post at a time. 🙂
    -Stephanie from Alabama, USA.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  6. Riya Solanki Avatar
    Riya Solanki

    Lol 😅

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. lorraineambers Avatar
    lorraineambers

    Your cat blogs are extremely entertaining. I read them with my kids laughing and making aww noises. 😍

    Like

    Reply
  8. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    Another funny and relatable post! I’m guilty of a few of these. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  9. Becca Barracuda Avatar
    Becca Barracuda

    I am so glad I stumbled onto your blog. 1. I love that all of your post titles end with …with cats. 2. I love the cat gifs. 3. Your content is totally relatable (beyond adoration of kitties, too). You’ve got yourself a new follower, for sure! 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  10. Lilly Moore Avatar
    Lilly Moore

    Oh dear, I am already past stage six and I’ve not even been blogging for three months! Great post 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Thank you! Omg I do number six all the time! Actually, just this past week I accidentally posted my newest blog early – it was terrible because about 10-15 people saw it before I could take it down, it was soooo unfinished… 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  11. Cooking For The Time Challenged Avatar
    Cooking For The Time Challenged

    Oh! This is too funny! I have not gone through many of the stages you describe. My blog saves me time. This way my recipes are more organized and I can find everything more easily. I am always awed by the friendliness and the comradery of blogging. I am so happy to have been directed to your blog.🐈

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      That’s what I absolutely love about blogging here on wordpress, everyone is so lovely and friendly! The main reason I decided to start blogging was to find other people interested in self-publishing (so I could learn as much as I could from others) and to also share my publishing journey 🙂 I’m having so much fun connecting on here, so happy you could stop by 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Cooking For The Time Challenged Avatar
        Cooking For The Time Challenged

        I also think that everyone is so friendly and nice! It turned out to be so much more fun than I expected.

        Like

        Reply
  12. purpleslobinrecovery Avatar
    purpleslobinrecovery

    Hi Millie, Dolly from KoolKosherKitchen sent me over.
    This is fun-knee!! Thanks for the laughs to start my day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Hahah glad you liked it 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. purpleslobinrecovery Avatar
        purpleslobinrecovery

        Definitely!

        Like

        Reply
  13. koolkosherkitchen Avatar
    koolkosherkitchen

    Dear Millie, I reblogged this on https://koolkosherkitchen.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/the-nine-stages-of-blogging-with-cats/
    Welcome to my kitchen,
    Dolly

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Thank you for the reblog!! ☺️☺️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. koolkosherkitchen Avatar
        koolkosherkitchen

        You are more than welcome, and I love both your blog and your cat clips!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  14. koolkosherkitchen Avatar
    koolkosherkitchen

    Reblogged this on koolkosherkitchen and commented:
    Dear Beautiful People! This is possibly the funniest, cutest, and most profound post I’ve seen lately! Please welcome Millie of https://millieschmidt.wordpress.com and her cats.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  15. aboutthislifetv Avatar
    aboutthislifetv

    This is so funny! My short break lasted 5 months. I really need to work on a topics list and schedule so I can get to 100 followers and be an influential blogger. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  16. marple25mary Avatar
    marple25mary

    Yes! All of these things. Love all the kitties here! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. beetleypete Avatar
    beetleypete

    I never did number four, though I confess to the rest! My short break from blogging was only for seven days…
    Thanks for following my blog, which is much appreciated.
    Best wishes from Norfolk. Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Awesome! Do you mean Norfolk in England? I lived in Norwich for six months studying at UEA. I loved England so much and wish I could go back

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. beetleypete Avatar
        beetleypete

        Yes I did mean the ‘real and original’ Norfolk. The one that gave its name to the second one, in Virginia. I moved here from London, when I retired from work. We live 18 miles west of Norwich, close to Dereham, and I have taken my dog for walks around the lake in the UEA. Small world!
        (It’s all on my About page.)
        Best wishes, Pete.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. millie schmidt Avatar
          millie schmidt

          That’s fantastic! Very small world. Oh the lake!! Man I miss Norwich 😦 Wasn’t sure if you were American or not – not as many poms & Aussies around here! I had no idea there was a Norfolk in Virginia, but had a feeling there was probably one in the US – they’ve adopted most of the English names it seems. Cool, I’ll be checking out your about page 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          1. beetleypete Avatar
            beetleypete

            I think that places in America were given English names because of all the settlers that went there from England. There are too many to list, but you will find many examples in New England (there’s one!) and the original thirteen states. South and North Carolina were named after King Charles I (Carolus is Charles in Latin)
            Virginia after Queen Elizabeth I, Pennsylvania after the Englishman William Penn, and so on…I could go on all night…
            Not sure where you live now, but I have never been to America myself.
            Best wishes, Pete.

            Liked by 1 person

        2. beetleypete Avatar
          beetleypete

          This is what it is like in Beetley.
          https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/a-walk-to-old-beetley/

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
  18. Mesca Avatar
    Mesca

    Hilarious post! Love it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. Carolyn Dennis-Willingham Avatar
    Carolyn Dennis-Willingham

    Reblogged this on Carolyn Dennis-Willingham, Author Posts and commented:
    Too funny not to share!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  20. Carolyn Dennis-Willingham Avatar
    Carolyn Dennis-Willingham

    Great post!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Thanks!! ☺️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  21. theherdlesswitch Avatar
    theherdlesswitch

    Oh man, I need to get some work done, but this is just to damn funny!!! : p

    Meno<3

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  22. C. C. Cedras Avatar
    C. C. Cedras

    What fun to have been led to your hilarious blog! Thanks for following Stilettos, Stoli and Scribbles!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  23. michaelmadisonottinger Avatar
    michaelmadisonottinger

    I actually laughed out loud! hahaha I just recently started blogging and I can definitely relate to some of these. Others I’m looking forward to in the future ahah 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  24. ReBlog – The nine stages of blogging – with cats | Brickley Jules Writes Avatar
    ReBlog – The nine stages of blogging – with cats | Brickley Jules Writes

    […] Source: The nine stages of blogging – with cats – millie schmidt writer […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  25. Grandtrines Avatar
    Grandtrines

    Reblogged this on Still Another Writer's Blog.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  26. thecoffeebeanbrain Avatar
    thecoffeebeanbrain

    Love this. I felt like I’ve used every single template available in my first week and even posted about it. I did make my first post a year ago and became active only the past four months and none in my family knows that I blog (or at least none that I know of). So far, the best thing about blogging are the connections I’ve made with other bloggers through our stories and the great support from everyone. Hurray for WP! 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  27. Felicia Avatar
    Felicia

    Reblogged this on Nesie's Place and commented:
    Calling ALL bloggers! You need to read this blog! 👍

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  28. Felicia Avatar
    Felicia

    LMAO!!

    Wait, what? Blogging THREE times a day? Is that a real thing? Is it a requirement? Is anyone checking?

    Never thought about being famous – I’m just trying to stay out of trouble.

    It’s not working.

    Thanks for the follow – looking forward to your posts. (Will there be three a day?) 😄

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  29. devereaux frazier Avatar
    devereaux frazier

    Wow. This is incredibly hilarious, and true. I haven’t even told my family yet, but #6 is something I haven’t done yet. (Emphasis on yet)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  30. communecreatives Avatar
    communecreatives

    This is hilarious! Thank you for sharing this!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  31. Ankita B Avatar
    Ankita B

    This is indeed hilarious. Thank you for sharing. And surely I have been through these stages:-)

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  32. rockpriestesswrites Avatar
    rockpriestesswrites

    Thanks for the follow. I thought I’d check out your blog and yes, while you’ve followed me on rockpriestesswrites.wordpress.com, I do have another blog. You’ll never believe it, but it’s called, lifewithlunacat.wordpress.com. So I loved this post and wanted to return the favor and follow you as well. Happy Blogging and enjoy your kitty(s). 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  33. lovinggodonly2012blog.WordPress.com Avatar
    lovinggodonly2012blog.WordPress.com

    Awesome

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  34. catherinesletters Avatar
    catherinesletters

    Fun! I will add you to my list of places to go to combat writer’s block. Sometimes I just need to laugh at myself. But I am also thinking, as I browse your blog, that maybe the best strategy would be to move to Australia. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Thank you!! Argh writers block is the worst. Yes move to Australia! You’ll love it here. I just checked out your about page and saw you’re from Colorado! That’s awesome – to me Denver sounds pretty far-flung and exciting ☺️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  35. eths Avatar
    eths

    The cat in the bowl is hilarious!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  36. TalkaholicMe Avatar
    TalkaholicMe

    This is very hilarious.. thanks for sharing

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  37. Amanda Heaton Avatar
    Amanda Heaton

    Funny! Have you been spying on me somehow? 🙂 I’m good for 8 of those, and hoping for #9 before blogging goes out of style.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  38. Sascha Darlington Avatar
    Sascha Darlington

    Love this!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  39. L U C I D Avatar
    L U C I D

    Number 8!!! Oh my god, so cute!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  40. Shirley Anne Avatar
    Shirley Anne

    I’ve probably done most of those things
    Shirley Anne

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  41. DeanJean Avatar
    DeanJean

    I’ve been at 3, 4, 5 and a couple others, this post is so relatable to a perfect T 😂 Thanks for the follow, by the way – I’ve been sweeping through your posts and they’re full of cuddly cats ❤

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  42. sue clancy Avatar
    sue clancy

    The cats know best!! Good post! I presume you have a cat who coached you? 😉

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Oh yes most certainly!! He’s on my about page ☺️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      1. sue clancy Avatar
        sue clancy

        Checking him out now!!! What a great cat!!! My cat’s named Hawkeye and he’s an orange and white tabby – I also have a miniature long haired dachshund named Rusty. Nice to meet you 😉

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. millie schmidt Avatar
          millie schmidt

          That’s awesome!! Are your two friends? Mine get along pretty well ☺️ nice to meet you too !!

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
          1. sue clancy Avatar
            sue clancy

            Mine are fairly good friends – they take turns chasing each other and no-one gets hurt. 😉

            Liked by 2 people

  43. Tooty Nolan Avatar
    Tooty Nolan

    I’m perpetually puzzled as to why I’m not a blogosphere star. You will often see me refer to myself as an International Author, Literary Genius, or Internet Sensation. I figure that if I write it enough times, people will begin to believe it. But when my confidence starts to flag, Lulu.com inform me that I’ve sold a couple of books, and the whole rigmarole starts over again. For the most part blogging is fun though. It’s good to entertain people.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply
  44. Matthew Howard Avatar
    Matthew Howard

    Not to brag or anything, but I once reached Stage Ten: My cat was included on blog fan mail.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      No freakin way! #lifegoals

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      1. sue clancy Avatar
        sue clancy

        Right now I settle for “hey, I remembered to blog this week!” and my cat, who is not concerned with being a star settles a claw in my knee and says “Stop that computer cr*p and feed me already!”

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  45. shellflower Avatar
    shellflower

    Hahaha. I’m kinda at stage 7, but it’s only been 4 months and I went from Blogger to WordPress. I can already tell WordPress is way more where I belong. And, my cat totally does that compawlsive grabby thing like in stage 3. This post is truth! 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  46. Nam H Nguyen Avatar
    Nam H Nguyen

    Haha, so true.
    When I first received 100, 200 visitors I wanted to make a post telling the world how happy I am but then I realised that in the grand scheme 250 followers 50 views a day is nothing – and i got super depressed about it. For all of us who stick through it, we all go through these stages.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. millie schmidt Avatar
      millie schmidt

      Yep exactly. Though 250 followers is great!! I’m not too worried about traffic anymore, more so the connections and friends I make ☺️

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
      1. Nam H Nguyen Avatar
        Nam H Nguyen

        Oh I agree you shouldn’t focus too much on it
        But when I read about people who are getting 200 views a day after 3 months it makes me blanch

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. millie schmidt Avatar
          millie schmidt

          Oh really! Wow they must have some great content or strategies haha. I’m just not SEO minded enough to do that. Do you still get 50 views a day? I get about 150 a day (about 5o on weekends lol) and I’ve been blogging for about 10 months – I post 2-3 times a month

          Liked by 3 people

          Reply
          1. Nam H Nguyen Avatar
            Nam H Nguyen

            No, I dropped to about 35, and I blog 8 times a month.

            I don’t think I can increase it more unless I change the direction of my blog entirely.

            As you can tell, the only interaction on my blog is fiction (which is slow and focuses more on niche loyalty than numbers).

            I lack images and videos (lacks better forms of audience interaction).

            Liked by 3 people

  47. toutparmoi Avatar
    toutparmoi

    Well, number 1 doesn’t do it for me. I remember announcing to friends at a liquid lunch in October 2014 (it’s engraved upon my heart) that I was about to start blogging the memoirs of a Tudor cat. Their eyes promptly glazed over. But, Tudors and Cats – what could possibly go wrong? Well, first I had to learn how to set up a blog (a lunch member recommended WordPress) and then I had to pluck up the courage to make it live: that took months and months!

    Number 2, yes! I’ll never forget the first Follow I got from someone who wasn’t already a friend. As far as I’m concerned, that man can do no wrong.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  48. smudge Avatar
    smudge

    I laughed!! Of course I want to be “a staaaaaar”; I mean, really, who doesn’t? Will my blog be the key? Who knows; but if hope and sheer “will” have any part in it, I shall rule the world! (Okay, no – I don’t want THAT kind of responsibility; as a matter of fact, I don’t want responsibility AT ALL! I want freedom to write, and pet my cats, and chill and watch Netflix! Day jobs and “adulting” be damned!)
    For now, though, I guess I have to be complacent with my 10 meager blog posts, and my 50 page “likes” – no “ummm, it’s been (gulp) three years??” hiatus just yet…
    Loving the cat-love! The purrrrrr-fect end to a scratchy week! Thanks!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  49. ambroseandelsie Avatar
    ambroseandelsie

    Oh my gosh. I stared at stage #2 for way too long. It’s just so mesmerizing in its claustrophobia-inducing crazy cat ladyness. And I think that the black and white cat in the background is doing unfortunate things to that wall. 😦 Or maybe not. It’s hard to really tell with all the other cats flying around.

    But I love stage #8. I’ll just pick up that little kitten and “accidently” take it home with me. 😆 I don’t think anyone would notice. Right?

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  50. Shelley Reece Avatar
    Shelley Reece

    Oh my goodness, numb er 8 is dead on! Nothing like telling your friends you’re doing something awesome and then immediately downplaying it XD

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  51. settleinelpaso Avatar
    settleinelpaso

    That is hilarious. Thanks for this great post.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  52. kernerangelina Avatar
    kernerangelina

    number 6 and 9 are priceless

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  53. greg-in-washington Avatar
    greg-in-washington

    Why does everyone blog about cats? Everytning else is boring!

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply
  54. Dahlia Avatar
    Dahlia

    Cute post (and true!)

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  55. Toortsie Avatar
    Toortsie

    Oh I love your humouristic cat posts!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

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