This post was most recently updated on February 22nd, 2014

This is my 100th blog.

I’m having a birthday party for donnamerrilltribe.com

The number 100 is a milestone.  As I look back when I first started blogging, I was filled with excitement to get my first single reply to one of my posts.  Now I regularly get so many replies from so many great bloggers.  I don’t accept one liners, nor do I accept comments from people with no gravatars – unless I know that they are working on something.  So the comments are pretty substantial.

As I sit and ponder this milestone I look back and ask myself what has this blog brought to my life?  

Besides the business factor, what I celebrate the most is the sharing and caring aspect of donnamerrilltribe dot com.

It has been such an incredible learning experience along the way. I’ve learned so many things. I could jam 4 years of college into the short time I’ve been blogging.  

A rule of thumb for bloggers is to take what we learn and teach it to other people. 

I learned how to put in my own opt-in page. Now this must seem trite to many, but for me it was a huge challenge.  As most of you know, I am terrible when it comes to technology.  I’d rather hire someone to do it for me than to learn to do something requiring technical skill.  But..I challenged myself and actually learned to create my own opt-in. Horray!

Another great thing about blogging… I have met the most incredible people on the planet.  

Following Seth Godin’s “tribe” philosophy, I teamed up with several tribes, ergo, the name of my blog.  I still belong to various tribes and have found the reciprocity in these groups to be the most wonderful energy experienced. 

Through “tribing” with others, the connection I’ve made with my readership has become one of friendship.  There are so many people that have impacted my life online, that I cannot mention them all.  It just wouldn’t be fair.  All of you who come and visit have touched my life in a special way.  On this “Birthday Blog Post”, I am celebrating YOU my friends.  

The “Tribe Mindset” is something that immediately takes your mind off of yourself and your business to blossom into a go-giver.  This is good business.  The more you give, the more you reap.  It is beyond money, it is the energy we all share.  

Learning is Earning

As I look back, I realize all that I have learned about Internet Marketing in addition to blogging.  I have to giggle to myself because never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a marketer.  I learned marketing techniques from courses I took along the way.  But mostly, I have learned it from other bloggers who were outside of my niche.  There are the techies, who were sometimes a bit over my head… but I learned to carry on a reasonable conversation with them about backlinks and hyperlinks and html codes and all that sort of thing.  There were also many “network marketers”, who taught me many techniques for getting over myself and “selling”… something I thought I could never do.

And then there are the many people within my niche whose self- help and self-development skills were a blessing and a reinforcement to my existing knowledge and experience.  I was always especially happy to “mastermind” with them and participate in our mutual growth.

So the bottom line is this: Blogging has not been so much about making money (the first ostensible reason I started blogging), as it has been about the process of personal growth and the people who I’ve been blessed to develop true relationships with.

As I blow the candles out, my wish for this 100th blog is Blessings To You, all my friends.

Donna

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• Blogging Magic

Donna Merrill

Donna is a well known blogger and creator of "Blogging Magic" - an intensive guide to blogging. "Blogging Magic" is for beginners who are trying to figure out how to bring their blogs to life with tons of visits, comments and social media interaction. It's even for advanced bloggers looking to reach new levels of authority and engagement with their audience.