A Complete Beginner’s Journey into English Blogging (How My Life Changed)

Hello! I’m Kim Lynn, the operator of lynntop.com. It’s already been two months since I started running my blog. During the first month, I successfully got approved for AdSense, and since then, I’ve been enjoying posting daily, making each day fun and fulfilling. In this post, I’d like to share how I, who knew nothing about WordPress at the start, began my English blog journey—and how this process has brought meaningful changes to my daily life and overall lifestyle. 🙂

From Knowing Nothing About WordPress to Starting My Blog

Honestly, I only had a vague idea that I wanted to start a blog—I didn’t really know how to do it. Then one day, while searching on YouTube, I came across WPlaybook. Unlike other blogging YouTubers, their clear and trustworthy explanations really resonated with me, so I started watching their videos—and that’s how I ended up running my own blog.

At first, I had no idea about blog setup terms or WordPress concepts, so it took me over an hour just to finish the setup. Even so, I’m really grateful that they booked another session to help me out. Looking back, if I had tried to do it on my own, it probably would have taken me months—or even years! I never realized creating a WordPress blog could be this complicated.

Create a LynnTop blog.

When I first started my blog, the first thing I had to decide was the domain name. I combined my name, “Lynn,” with the English word “Top,” meaning the best, to create “LynnTop.”

Not only did I want to express my desire to be the best, but I also wanted to build a brand with my own name in it.

Until recently, if you searched for “LynnTop” on Google Korea, the results mostly showed images of women wearing short sleeveless crop tops and sites selling women’s clothing. Since “Top” can also mean a woman’s upper garment, Google was associating “Lynn,” a female name, with “Top” as a clothing item.

LynnTop becomes a brand.

Two months into the blog, I Googled Lynntop again.

Right below the search bar, my main blog lynntop.com now appears, followed by my sub-blog english.lynntop.com, which I created using a subdomain. At least in Korea, it feels like my site has now become the primary representation of the word “LynnTop.”

I was so proud to see the LynnTop brand.

Kimlin

My site isn’t well-known on Google worldwide just yet. (When you search “lynntop” on Google U.S., it still mostly shows images of women’s clothing. 😢)
But I believe that if I keep writing and consistently posting, one day the LynnTop brand will start to appear on Google in the U.S. as well.

A Blogging Beginner Takes on an English Blog!

Until recently, I had no experience running a blog—not on Naver, not on Tistory, not anywhere. Starting my first blog in English was a big leap. What encouraged me was a conversation I had with Isaac during the initial setup. He suggested that if I was comfortable with English, I should consider starting an English-language blog.

Since I had experience working as a flight attendant abroad, English wasn’t a problem for me. I wanted to introduce fun aspects of Korea to foreigners—like K-dramas and their filming locations, learning Korean through dramas, and Korean culture in general.

Falling in Love with Blogging

I started posting mainly about filming locations featured in Korean TV dramas. Not long ago, I wrote a post about the shooting locations of Queen of Tears, a drama starring Kim Ji-won and Kim Soo-hyun that gained global attention.

Following WPlaybook’s advice to write multiple posts around one topic, I created several articles using related keywords. Interestingly, once one of my posts started appearing at the top of search results, other posts began ranking highly as well.

To my surprise, a few of them even showed up at the very top of Google search results in Korea. And since it’s an English blog, my posts are now being viewed in 181 countries around the world—and that number continues to grow every day.

initially expected most of my readers to be from the U.S., but it’s been fascinating to see many people reading my posts in English from places like the Philippines and Korea. I think it’s because my blog features a lot of travel-related information, so it’s likely being discovered by foreign tourists currently visiting Korea.

3 Keys to Ranking High on Google?

It wasn’t until later that I realized how important it is to optimize your blog the way Google wants. By following WPlaybook’s All-Back Theme and their well-explained tutorial videos step-by-step, I unknowingly created a blog that was well-optimized for Google search. That’s one of the big reasons I’m writing this post—to share how much I’ve learned from WPlaybook.

Looking back, I think there were three main factors that helped my blog rank well on Google:

To summarize,

1. My background in not being comfortable with English
2. Topics in Drama and Travel
3. Being able to write without thinking about Google’s complicated rules and conditions.

These three things came together perfectly and allowed me to get my blog ranked successfully on Google with surprising ease. 🙂

Touching People’s Hearts

In the early days of my blog, I believed external traffic was crucial. So one day, I decided to share one of my posts in a local moms’ community forum. The response was overwhelming. Among the many views and comments, one stood out: “I’m crying so hard right now 😭.”

The post was about translating emotional Korean lines from the drama Queen of Tears into English. It mainly focused on the dialogue, with a bit of my own thoughts added in. Seeing someone moved to tears by my writing—it honestly touched me more than I expected.

Connecting with People Around the World

One day, I received an email from someone named Ray—I’m not exactly sure which country they’re from, but they had read my post about the drama Queen of Tears and were curious to learn more about the wine featured in the show.

I was so happy to receive the message that I wrote a new blog post the very next day, all about the wine and other drinks shown in the drama, and replied to Ray with the link.

Shortly after, Ray wrote back saying they had shared my post with a friend who works in the wine business in their country and also happens to be a big fan of Korean dramas. The friend loved the post too, and even offered to help me with wine-related information for future blog content!

Ray also told me that Korean dramas are currently very popular in their country, and asked if I had any plans to start a travel agency based on my website. I replied that for now, I just want to focus on growing the site.

But that message planted a small seed in my mind—maybe someday, I could expand LynnTop into something more, something beyond just a blog.

Kimlin

Thanks to LynnTop, I’ve had so many exciting and heartwarming experiences in just two short months. It’s also made me realize how much responsibility comes with writing publicly. Every post I share can touch someone’s day, or even spark unexpected connections across the world.

LynnTop Sub-Branding Journey

Recently, I launched a new Korean-language subdomain: english.lynntop.com. Thanks to helpful insights shared within the WPlaybook community, setting up the subdomain was a smooth process. What’s great is that with just one main domain purchase, I was able to create this subdomain at no additional cost—and even place my approved AdSense ads on it. It’s incredibly efficient.

This new site is specifically targeted at university students and job seekers preparing for careers as flight attendants, especially those focusing on English study for airline interviews. By combining my previous experience working for both domestic and international airlines with my English language background, I hope to provide a unique and relatable resource to help aspiring cabin crew land their dream jobs.

In the future, I’m also considering expanding into English education for test-takers and the general public, once I come up with a more creative and distinctive approach.

Eventually, I plan to add a Korean-language category to the main LynnTop site, seamlessly connecting both the English and Korean content so that they feel like parts of a single, unified platform.

Taking a Step Beyond AdSense

When I first started blogging, my main goal was to earn revenue through AdSense. However, after running my site for a while, I realized that relying solely on AdSense wouldn’t generate significant income. Instead, I’ve come to see the value in diversifying my monetization streams.

One area I’m planning to focus on is providing helpful resources for aspiring flight attendants—particularly in the areas of job preparation and English language skills. I’m currently developing online courses and eBooks tailored to airline interview preparation. This isn’t a new venture for me; I’ve previously taught English interview skills at a flight attendant training academy, so now I’m simply leveraging that experience in a digital format.

To support these offerings, I also plan to launch both Korean and English YouTube channels. I believe this will not only help promote my content, but also create a stronger sense of connection with my audience.

Interestingly, since the COVID-19 pandemic, many flight attendant candidates have shown a clear preference for online learning—making now a perfect time to bring this idea to life.

How Blogging Has Changed My Life

As I continue to write on my site, I often find myself sharing personal stories and experiences. In doing so, I’ve started to reflect on my life more deeply, and recently, I feel happier and more fulfilled than ever.

Back when I taught English interview skills at a flight attendant training academy, I noticed something interesting—my students were far more engaged when I shared my own experiences than when I simply taught language rules. They weren’t just looking for textbook knowledge; they were drawn to real-life stories.

Whether it’s through spoken stories or written words, I’ve come to believe that people are more touched by honest experiences than polished language or eloquent speech. That’s why I now include my own hand-drawn illustrations in my posts, and it feels like I’m slowly writing my own autobiography online.

Documenting my life in this way—and knowing that these stories might help or inspire someone out there—brings me a deep sense of satisfaction.

My past made meaningful

I used to think it was pointless to think about the past because you can’t change it, but I’ve changed my mind.

While we can’t physically go back in time, I believe that if we incorporate our past experiences and thoughts into our current thoughts in a productive and positive way, it adds value to our past.

Before, I didn’t look at my old photo albums, nor did I remember them, but when I write a blog post, I look at my old photos and the faded ones are reincarnated into pictures for me, and I write in the hope that my experiences in the past will entertain, move, or inform someone in the present.

My day-to-day life and my life has become more meaningful and enriched by starting a blog.

Kimlin

Becoming More Proactive

I decided to start sharing my personal experiences more actively in my posts thanks to Isaac, the operator of the WPlaybook community. Isaac frequently shares inspiring posts about various ways to monetize and build your brand online. His advice about marketing yourself as a brand really helped me shape my online plans.

In the past, I barely shared anything about myself—even my KakaoTalk profile had just a single dot instead of my name or photo. I was cautious about letting people know much about me. But now, I’ve become bolder—I even uploaded my own photo on my site! That’s something I couldn’t have imagined before.

Since I created this site with the goal of earning income, I decided I might as well promote myself actively and grow. Looking back, I realize I owe a lot to Isaac and the WPlaybook community for their support—from helping me launch my site to developing my online business ideas.

I truly believe creating my site, LynnTop, was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I highly encourage everyone to create their own website too. Nowadays, having a personal site or YouTube channel feels like the new form of a business card.

In Closing

Honestly, I’m not someone who enjoys competition. I want to achieve success freely—in a space without competitors, where I can feel both physically and mentally at ease. The world of WordPress, where I can freely express my interests and personality, feels like the perfect place for me.

Will LynnTop be successful in a few years? I don’t want to judge its success years from now, but rather on the last day of my life. Right now, the challenges on the path to success are just exciting. It feels like I have a clear goal, and I’m happily running towards it.

Today, I’m off to enjoy my fun “WordPress playtime” at LynnTop again. Feel free to visit my site! If you’re curious about my profession in Korean, check out english.lynntop.com. And if you want to read stories about Korean dramas in English, please visit lynntop.com. Thank you!