Hey there! It’s been a year of blogging and I can’t believe all that we’ve gone through to get here! Self-hosted, a new design, and a community supporting us like no other; I think we did good. Today, I’m gonna reflect on my year of blogging, show you some really cute pictures we took, and host a giveaway from a great brand! We love love love that so many people have had a positive experience on our site and we want to continue to bring quality content that you all love to read! Looking forward to the next big thing and can’t wait for you to follow along!
One Year Statistics
In one year we….
- gained over 4,000 followers across 4+ social media sites
- had 120k+ views and 83k+ unique visitors
- worked with 3 great brands
- joined 4 blogger networks
- created our own group pinterest board
- made a profit {however minor}
- met great blogging pals through #BloggingCollege and #GalPalChat
- became better writers
- found ways to express ourselves
- baked some fantastic desserts
Reflections
I started blogging because I didn’t feel like I had a space all my own where I could talk about whatever came to my mind. I love graphic design and pop culture and fashion and college. This blog gave me the opportunity to write about all of these things. Even when people told me that my blog was “stupid” or “irrelevant” or “a waste of time”, there were even more people that were so positive and kept me going! Thank you. This blog is like my baby. I am SO SO happy that I kept at it and grew my little corner of the internet into something I could be proud of!
We bake. We write. Simple. If you read some of my older posts, you can see that I’ve …grown. I’ve become more confident in what I have to say. So, thank you for all of your positive comments on the blog, twitter, and in person. It means so much, that a) people actually read the blog and b) that it’s having an impact. One person will say that they love it, and I’m over the moon!
Goals for The Next Year Of Blogging
- Get to 1,000 followers on all social media accounts, {5,000 on Pinterest}.
- Average 40,000 views per month.
- Stay on a consistent blogging schedule.
- Meet some other bloggers!
- Host Twitter Chats.. {maybe even our own?}
- Grow
The College Blogger Initiative#SwirlSocial - Work with more brands.
So, what’s #SwirlSocial?!
It’s an idea for a new social media and blogging community that Hannah and I have been playing around with. New Year, New Blog?! The idea is to build a community of bloggers {and people in general} who want to have a positive and encouraging community on social media. There are a lot of groups out there that focus on specific niches or improving your blog or being good students or all the other important things that you need to improve your life. Trust me, we’re in several and they are great.
But, I’d like to see a blogger community that is a relaxing and has a less stressful atmosphere: a place to chill. We’d love to see people using the hashtag #SwirlSocial on their fun Instagram pictures, on their tweets about iced coffee, and when they’re having a bad day so that lots of online pals will be there to cheer them up! Bloggers understand a part of you that a our non-blogging counterparts do not and it’s really important to have people there who understand the #justbloggerthings. See more updates on this in the coming weeks! If you like the idea, let us know in the comments below!
Giveaway!
So, I was recently contacted by the brand jimmyCASE and I’m always game for a beneficial partnership! I also have a really weird obsession with phone cases, so this was perfect. We decided it would be fantastic to host a giveaway coinciding with our one year blogiversary and rebrand! We’ll be giving away one jimmyCASE, so make sure to enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom {completing each task gets you multiple entries}! If you entered the Shell giveaway, you don’t have to do things more than once, just fyi.
So, what’s jimmyCASE?
The jimmyCASE was designed by CEO Dan when he was a little tired of having all his pockets filled with a bunch of different things like his wallet, phone, keys, and pens{because guys always carry pens in their pockets??}. He dropped everything{including his job} and designed a pretty stylish and practical case for every on the go millennial! The phone case is built with a sturdy silicone base, mahogany wood detailing, and a cloth card pouch that can hold up to 6 cards and is custom woven, #fancy.
First Impressions
I received my {gorgeous} jimmyCASE in a high quality plastic wrapping and honestly, I changed cases immediately. Don’t judge me; it’s been too long since I’ve gotten a new phone case. It was sleek and the wood detailing was such a great touch. I was so happy that I went with the pink and grey stripes too! Also, I was ecstatic that the silicone base fully encased my phone unlike the flimsy ones you get at the mall that I’m very afraid of!
My Thoughts
This phone case has been great the past week and a half. I WOULD recommend that all the busy people who always have their phones in their JEAN pockets to opt for the black case instead of the white one because this material gets pretty dirty pretty quickly. For full transparency, I don’t actually use the phone for it’s practical function {a wallet} because I am a purse-aholic and my wallet is my purse’s best friend. The material is very good quality and I’m sure that it will last a pretty long time and protect all your valuables!
Let’s be real. I can be a huge klutz and so one thing I take very seriously is a case’s ability to protect my phone. Thankfully, I’ve dropped my phone 3 times and it is still alive but barely breathing {no cracks, but it’s time for an upgrade}. This was a huge plus for me! I can definitely see myself purchasing another jimmyCASE especially for the guys in my life. One thing that would be nice in the future would be customizable cases *hint hint @jimmyCASE*! I’d love to customize the silicone color and the woven pouch to match my college colors because how much Carolina Blue stuff do I actually need!
The Verdict
YES. Go for it! I think it’s a lightweight yet high quality phone case & I think if you didn’t have a purse addiction nor a high frequency of misplacing things than you would feel comfortable using the wallet function of the case! You can find more information about the jimmyCASE over on their website!
The Giveaway
So in honor of our one year blogiversary and our pretty successful rebrand and site move; we partnered with jimmyCASE to give one (1) phone case of the winner’s choosing to one of our beautiful readers! Keep in mind they only have cases for most of the iPhones that are still around {4, 4s, 5, 5s, etc.} and the Samsung Galaxy S4, but feel free to still enter even if you don’t have these phones because it would make a great gift!
We wanted something fun and colorful! The Swirl is a place that is supposed to bring joy to your day, so I hope that seeing our fun graphics and new modern design will bring you back again for more fun in the future! Thanks for the support.
Always,
