re-brand & a giveaway!

"Bloggers Gonna Blog" Tshirt

Table of Contents

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Y’all, I am so excited that today is the day I get to share all the details of my blog re-brand with you! When I first started this blog over 5 years ago I never would have thought it would become what it is now, or that I would have a site as beautiful as this one. It has certainly come a long way from from my Blogger site, evidenced in my two original screenshots below.

When I first started this blog it was merely a way to try to sell the onesies and baby legwarmers I was making, and that’s all I would post about. Over the next couple years I broadened to more DIY and recipe posts. Then finally, a couple years ago I realized how much I enjoyed reading the blogs that threw in some of their personal lives and lifestyle. Surely, I could protect my kids’ privacy and open up a little more with my readers, the same way as the blogs I enjoyed reading did? That’s really when I started getting more serious and started dreaming about a total over-haul of my blog.

Screenshots

Even though I’ve wanted to make this change for awhile, I didn’t really have the money to pay a designer to do it, or the time and know-how to do it myself. I know the saying “you have to spend money to make money” has some truth to it, but when you’re on a tight budget and have a family of six, it’s hard to justify spending money on something that’s not a necessity.  I really have to hand it to all you bloggers that make the switch from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress, or go through a major re-brand yourselves. I look at technical jargon, read through it about 10 times, and then realize that I haven’t retained any of it. If I had attempted to do this myself, (a) it would have taken forever, (b) it wouldn’t have looked anywhere near this gorgeous, and (c) the whole process would have been frustrating and stressful.

I was so excited that I had finally made enough money from my blog to pay for my re-brand! Again, this is truly something I never would have thought when I started.

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My friend Rebecca with Simplepress Design was my designer/developer and the whole process was amazing. She listened to everything I wanted and made the reality better than what I had envisioned.

For any of you out there who are thinking about making the switch from Blogger to WordPress, or want to go through a re-brand but are nervous I want to say–

just do it.

Mike and I follow a zero-based budget so we tend to be really frugal; usually when I spend more than $50 I agonize over it (even if it’s a business-related expense), and question my decision over and over. That was not the case here. Never once during the process did I regret going ahead with it, in fact, I wish I had done it sooner! Instead of something that could have been nerve-wracking and stressful, it was a fun and exciting experience (for me at least, my designer might feel differently).

"Bloggers Gonna Blog" Tshirt

It was so exciting and fun when I received my first set of logo mock-ups! Then Rebecca sent me potential branding sheets with colors, and then website mock-ups! Every step of the process was so personalized and tailor-made. And when I found myself vacillating between one color palette or another, I sent her an email to get her opinion. I really felt like she was just as invested in my site as I am. Rebecca really wanted to make sure everything was perfect so that things would go smoothly when the new site went live and I would love it.

I also think it was more fun choosing all my branding details than it was choosing what to register for when I got married. Shh… don’t tell Mike.

By the way, you can check out more details on this process over on the Simplepress Design blog, so neat to see!

LOGO

I want to thank all of you that join me on my blog. I love interacting with my readers! I also am so thankful for all the bloggers and brands who were willing to work with me when things looked less than professional, thanks for seeing my potential!

Finally, I ask for patience as I go through and update the old posts, insert recipe cards, and put things in the proper categories. I have nearly 600 blog posts from over 5 years of blogging, so it’s going to be a process.

And now, let’s get to the giveaway!

I am giving away to one lucky reader a custom “bloggers gonna blog” shirt in this beautiful, plum color. If you’d prefer it can say something else that will showcase your awesomeness, maybe “bakers gonna bake”, or “runners gonna run”? Along with that I’m giving away a $20 gift card to Target or Amazon, your choice. Why? Because who doesn’t love Target or Amazon, that’s why.

This giveaway will close on April 13 at midnight and is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

EDIT: There are some issues with the Facebook link in the giveaway. Here is my Facebook page and we can operate on a trust system that you visited. https://www.facebook.com/LittleDove.Blog/

Bloggers Gonna Blog t-shirt