What Worked & What Didn't Work in My Three Years of Blogging

Things are changing in my business. And it’s time to wrap up what worked, what didn’t work, what’s changing and what that means for me and you.

I’m also writing this at 4 am, in my jammies, still waiting for my coffee to kick in. So if anything doesn’t make sense to you, you have been warned.

Let’s get started

Three years ago when I first started my blog, I wanted to inspire women to get out of their comfort zones and travel. Today, while I love traveling and writing about it, it doesn’t necessarily fit where I want to be five years from now.

I started Traveling Petite Girl because I wanted to write a book & speak in front of crowds with inspiring messages. So I thought,

“Well, I should live an inspiring life to do that. So let’s do that first and share about it.”

So I started my travel blog and a lot of things have changed since then. My business goals when I was 25 and starting this blog are still the same, but my means of getting there have made a detour. I still want to inspire women to get out of their comfort zones but no longer through travel. But rather through entrepreneurship.

What worked

And I wish this was something I realized in my first year of blogging, I created travel content and while I did inspire my readers to travel, I was getting a lot of questions on how to blog. So for a short while, I was a blog coach, helping beginner bloggers jumpstart their blogs. And it was fun. I was making money within my first year of blogging by offering a B2B service. At the time, I didn’t think much of it but I didn’t know helping entrepreneurs was something I was passionate about. But because my fellow travel blogger friends were $100-$1000+ with brand sponsorships, I decided to switch to that route. It seemed like the cool and “legit blogger” thing to do.

I did get a few hundred bucks and scored a few free hotel stays but I didn’t always like the idea of promoting brands (unless I was truly aligned with them which I wasn’t 99% of the time). If I was going to promote a business, I’d love to spend that time promoting my business. But the thing was, I didn’t have any products or services to sell (officially).

So I created Piña Social Media LLC, where I helped business owners scale their businesses through social media presence. It was awesome. I loved Facebook & Instagram so much so it worked out. I was working with entrepreneurs and surrounding myself with passionate people. I even got asked to speak at a conference within three weeks of starting my new biz and took on three interns within three months.

And while my new business was expanding, so was my blog. I got a TV host gig where I got paid to travel to Philippines, Vietnam and China and talk about sights to see and things to do. It was basically the same thing I did for my blog but for TV and an entirely new audience. I was making good money, working with passionate entrepreneurs and traveling between high-end hotels and cruises and enjoying one-of-a-kind experiences. I was having it all really.

What didn’t work

All of these new beginnings happened at the same time that I became so overwhelmed and stressed. Hosting became intense 2-week commitments where I started the day at 5:30 am and ended at 11 pm. And during breaks, I would break out my laptop/smartphone and follow up with clients and try to find new ones. I had so many guilty pangs of not being able to check my emails but at the same time, I didn’t want to check my emails. It gave me anxiety. Now I know why my dad stopped taking work calls after office hours and set very strict boundaries with his clients. (My dad is kind of like my entrepreneurial advisor– he started his own consulting business and grew it into an empire. I aspire to be the same.)

I didn’t draw the same boundaries with my clients and it was taking a huge toll on my well-being. My career was expanding more than I anticipated that I didn’t have a plan for what to do when it happened. I wanted to have it all but I didn’t know I was going to be pulled in so many different directions at once. I was a rubber band stretched so thin that I snapped back. I took stopped looking for new clients and switched to offering consultation calls with my clients instead of managing their accounts. And because my TV show had to look for advertisers for more funding, we paused filming.

The Drawback of “Having it all”

My life had expanded so much because I chose to “have it all” but I didn’t know what that meant until I started living it. I wanted an entrepreneurial lifestyle because I wanted freedom. But what they don’t tell you about entrepreneurship is that unless you don’t set your boundaries for freedom, you end up working 100+ hour weeks and have no freedom at all. I learned that lesson. HARD.

I love traveling but traveling isn’t me

I was chasing a travel blogger/influencer that didn’t fit me anymore. And while I already did travel more than the average person, I didn’t always like sharing about it. There’s nothing wrong with being a travel influencer, it’s just not aligned with who I want to be anymore. I was looking at my Instagram and posted only about travel but it didn’t reflect my actual life.

My life was blogging, entrepreneurship, teamwork, networking, family, and travel. There were so many bigger things in my life I wanted to share but I felt restricted because I wanted to stay true to my niche.

I thought I started a travel blog because I liked talking about travel. But what I didn’t know was that I loved blogging itself and the idea of starting a blog to grow it to a biz. I loved traveling at the time, but it was more as a means of escape to run away from problems. Especially when I traveled solo. But that really isn’t the case anymore.

What I’m changing

So now I’m starting with a clean slate. I’m figuring out where I want to be in the future, looking at my role models and asking myself “what is it about them that makes me want to be like them?” and making those answers dictate my decisions today. I wanted to be a travel blogger & travel influencer before. And while that label sparked a fire in me three years ago, it no longer does today.

In five years, I want to be a best-selling author, a sought out speaker & thought leader. AND a mother who works from home and takes care of her future kids. (This extra part was added after getting engaged recently.)

My way of getting there? Blogging only about helpful & informative content to my readers, working with clients, and teaching through online courses.

My niche? Blogging & entrepreneurship.

What this means for me as a blogger & entrepreneur

This means a huge change in my business model which means a dip in my traffic, following, and income– temporarily. I’m very lucky that my fiancé & family is supporting me financially during this time so that I’m able to make these changes sooner than later. Following through with this change brings up new opportunities that will actually bring me towards said goals (instead of shooting in the dark hoping I’ll hit my target).

I foresee Traveling Petite Girl expanding in 2020, working with new clients, teaching students, growing my team and impacting thousands of people’s lives.

What this means for you, my dear fineapple

So if you followed me because of my travel journey, thank you so much. Really. But I should tell you if you’re looking for future travel guides & tips from me, I won’t be your source for that anymore.

But if you followed me because you have an entrepreneurial fire in and want to express yourself to the world through blogging, then I hope you’ll continue to stick with me.

If not, feel free to unfollow/unsubscribe. I’d rather you spend your time following someone who gives you something you value, and if it’s not from me, you’ll definitely find it from somewhere else 🙂

Thank you for reading. I may not share travel tips anymore but I will still be traveling, I will still be petite and I will still be your traveling petite girl.

Best,