I launched this blog one week ago.
Here’s what I thought would happen, and here’s what actually happened.
What I Expected
I expected it to feel exciting and immediately validating.
I’ve built websites before — a goji berry export site, a Chinese side hustle blog — so I know the technical process. But this time felt different because I was writing in English, targeting an international audience, and actually documenting my real story instead of researching other people’s strategies.
I thought the authenticity would feel natural from day one. I thought the writing would flow easily because it was my own experience. I thought launching would feel like a big moment.
What Actually Happened
The technical setup took longer than I remembered.
Installing WordPress, configuring plugins, getting HTTPS working, fixing the DNS, choosing a theme — none of it is difficult, but it all takes time. I spent the first evening just getting the basic infrastructure working. Somewhere around midnight I realized I’d been staring at hPanel for three hours.
The writing didn’t flow as naturally as I expected. Writing honestly in English is harder than I anticipated — not because of the language itself, but because I kept second-guessing whether my story was interesting enough. Why would anyone outside China care about a goji berry website that failed? Why would they care about my stock analysis routine?
I had to remind myself that this was the whole point. The ordinary-ness is the point. Pat Flynn built an audience writing honestly about his own failures and experiments. He wasn’t extraordinary when he started — he just documented what was actually happening.
The launching didn’t feel like a big moment. I hit publish on the first post and then… nothing happened. No traffic, no comments, no external validation. Just a post sitting on a server, waiting for Google to notice it.
That’s normal. I know that’s normal. But it’s still a strange feeling.
What I Actually Learned in Week 1
Speed matters less than I thought. I spent time worrying about publishing frequency — should I post twice a week? Every day? Daily to build momentum? After a week of experience, I think this question is mostly a distraction. The real question is whether each post is saying something true and useful. One honest post a week beats five filler posts.
The setup is a one-time cost. Now that the infrastructure is working, the only thing that requires ongoing effort is the writing. That’s a much better position than I was in a week ago.
The audience question is real. My biggest uncertainty isn’t whether I can produce content — I’ve proven I can do that. It’s whether there’s actually an audience for this specific perspective: a Chinese person’s real experience using AI for side hustles and investing. I genuinely don’t know. I’m going to keep writing and find out.
AI makes the English feel right. My biggest fear about this project was that my English would feel like a translation — grammatically correct but somehow stiff. Working with Claude to write in natural English rather than translating my Mandarin thoughts has made a real difference. These posts sound like a real person wrote them. That matters.
What Week 2 Looks Like
I have two more posts ready to publish. I’m going to set up Google Search Console so Google can start indexing the site. I’m going to take some real photos of my actual workspace instead of using stock images.
And I’m going to keep writing.
The goji berry website lasted six years with almost no traffic and no income, and I kept going. This one has better positioning, better content quality, and a real monetization strategy. I’m not worried about week 1 traffic.
I’m thinking about year 3.
If you’ve launched a blog or website, what was week 1 like for you? Did the reality match what you expected?