Hello September: Blogging + Life Updates
September in the Philippines signals the start of the Christmas season. Yes, if you are a reader from outside the Philippines, we have one of the longest (or probably the longest) Yuletide celebrations in the world.
I recently found this old photo in my long-unused camera, dedicated to all people who miss traveling like me
Hello September: Blogging + Life Updates
However, aside from jokes circulating in social media about the appearance of Mr. Jose Mari Chan, singer of the classic “Christmas In Our Hearts” song, the season is still not palpable as compared to previous years. That’s because Metro Manila and some other parts of the country are still under community quarantine.
That means most establishments are still operating on limited hours while some are even not allowed to open yet. People are still encouraged to just stay at home and not go out unless necessary.
As for myself, I am still working from home since July but come August, I started to report to the office once a week. Like anybody else whose routine has been disrupted by the pandemic, there was nothing to do but adjust to the situation and to keep me busy with work, family, and personal projects.
Anyway, here’s to share with you some of the things that I had been busy with since publishing my mid-year update:
Blogging Updates
In terms of my personal projects, it is blogging that I dedicate a lot of my time to. Since the Metro Manila lockdown last March, I looked for ways to address my plummeting stats. I worked on my old posts but starting last June, after updating almost half of my posts, I slowed it down and focused on creating new content and updating my knowledge in content creation.
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
Travel content has taken a huge slowdown, primarily because of the coronavirus travel restrictions. Again, we wanted to visit Boracay last March but the local COVID-19 travel ban plus our personal decision not to travel with our children meant that all plans are on indefinite hold.
Our luggage would have to sadly take a break in the meantime. With that, I focused on creating parenting and lifestyle content instead.
Here are some of my favorite posts from last month:
1. 5 Tips on how to easily cut your toddler’s hair
Aside from making ice cream, one of the things I learned during the quarantine was how to cut our toddler’s hair. I created a post to help other parents in getting their baby to cooperate with them during their haircut session.
2. 5 surprising health benefits of Pepper Elder (Pansit-pansitan)
I also wrote a post about an herb called pansit-pansitan, regarded by many as a weed but is actually a plant packed with many health benefits.
3. How GCash can be your ultimate budgeting tool
I also wrote about how GCash can help people budget their money. These are just some of my favorite posts that I hope people would find value in.
Last August, I was able to secure partnership with three brands: one is an appliances brand, the other is a haircare brand, and the last one is Colgate. I was really happy that Colgate chose me to be one of the bloggers who will be part of the #GrowUpSmilingTogether campaign to promote the brand’s baby and kiddie toothpaste variants. It is one of the biggest brands that I was able to work with and I am just happy for the opportunity.
Also last month, I signed up for an online webinar regarding blogging success organized by Writing Hacks Academy. It was a fruitful one hour with a lot of new learning as well as affirmations on what I currently know about blogging. Some of my key takeaways are the following:
1. Always innovate, don’t stagnate - continuously learn trends and improve your craft.
2. Just go for it - don't overthink, start what you have set out to do now.
3. Find your happy - be happy when you write and your readers will feel it, too.
On the technical side of blogging, I am just amazed by how a small tweak can lead to better traffic. I reverted my robots.txt to its default setup and submitted a new sitemap to Google Search Console and it did the trick. It was not a huge spike in traffic but it was definitely noticeable.
I have also been using Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends a lot lately to research good keywords. I am just thankful to have been able to learn how to use these tools to help me with SEO.
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
One thought that has been going around in my head about blogging is this, “Is blogging dead or dying?” and the definite answer for me is “no.” While social media (particularly Instagram and, lately, TikTok) is fun and easy, nothing can replace the information that can be communicated in long-form content. As such, blogging is here to stay for a long time, maybe even longer than those popular social media channels.
So, if you are thinking of starting that blog, just go for it. There are a lot of platforms where you can begin (such as Blogger, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Tumblr, to name a few) and study the technical aspects of blogging.
Life Lately
As I mentioned earlier, Khris and I are both working from home. We consider this as the ideal setup because we are with our kids and we can check on them anytime that we need or want to. Working from home is also the most practical setup these days because, well, it’s much safer to just stay at home.
We do not have any big plans except that we might have to give up our condo unit soon and maybe move back to my in-laws’ house in Novaliches while Metro Manila is still under community quarantine. Other than that, we have postponed looking for our own house or maybe a bigger condo unit.
Let me just share with you some of my thoughts and realizations while on quarantine. It is just sad that this pandemic has exposed the bad side of a lot of people. I try to understand them because surely they are also under a lot of pressure. On the other hand, it is good to uncover truths and finally further trim down our circle of friends.
In terms of work, I am just thankful that our company continues to provide for us. We still have our livelihood intact. But similar to some of our friends, the pandemic has exposed the bad side of some colleagues. It’s just sad to think that, while we are all in survival mode, some people could still have the capacity to not play fair. Well, that’s life. Then again, it’s always better to know the truth.
That’s it for now. I hope you are well and safe. How has life been to you? Won’t you share your story with me?