This is my month 1 blog review for you to see what I worked on, what I learnt and how you can get started the right way!
Why am I doing this?
I created the profit blogging challenge because I wanted to treat this blog as a business, chronicle my experience for others and have accountability. Even as a non-techie, with no experience in graphic design, computer science or website building, I decided to embark on this journey.
In my blog review reports, I will share my goals, results and learning experiences with you. We have all seen and heard of successful bloggers making thousands of dollars a month. Or how established bloggers went from X to Y results in a short period of time. What I want is to give you a real look into exactly what I focused on each month and the results that follow.
Because I am such a non-techie and total newbie, I had to do A LOT of learning to do. I downloaded a bunch of free guides, worksheets and checklists. But, all the authors for teaching how to start a blog, had a tech background, were Millennials that grew up with computers or were already experienced with blogs, I had a hard time understanding. I had to google basic terms that I was reading about and figure out what to work on first without being overwhelmed.
It was a slow and steady progress.
I officially published my blog at the beginning of January. Yes, I have posts that are backdated into 2019. I did this because I had read from numerous blogging gurus that I needed to have a bunch of posts (5+) ready before going live. Since then, I wish I hadn’t listened to ANY of them!
That is why I started sharing “How to” content from a newbie perspective for others to learn the basics of starting a blog as I did. You can read more about getting started with your own blog with step-by-step instructions on how to pick a unique and winning blog name and getting set up with your own hosting. I am here to make things easier for you and welcome any requests or questions.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
WALT DISNEY
Show me the money!
I know that most of you want to know how much and how quickly you can make money from blogging. And I totally get that since starting a blog takes a lot of time and learning. However, I really believe that all those posts of people making money from day 1 gives a false expectation for those of us that don’t know what the $%*?# we are doing. So, because I’m so new to all of this, my main focus has been and will continue to be learning something new each month, applying it to my blog and reporting the results for you to follow my progress.
Now, there is a psychological reason for doing it this way. Although my end goal is to create an income from this blog, I do NOT want to get discouraged because I’m not making any money. We all know for a FACT that it can be done. We’ve seen others who have done it and assure us that if they can do it, anyone can. But, I also know that it’s human nature to compare our progress against others. And that is completely demotivating when you don’t measure up.
So, even though this is a profit blogging challenge for me, money doesn’t really matter at this point. Because of this, I will purposely not be reporting any income for the first year. I want to give myself time to learn and grow. I know for a fact that the income will happen at some point as long as I continue to apply myself. Because making money isn’t my focus, any income I do earn during this time will be donated to the SPCA.
*** Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.
Click here for the full disclosure statement ***
My action plan for January
- Publish blog post 2x per month
- Pin daily
- Get opt-in set up on homepage
- Design goal setting planner in Canva
- Set up the opt-in using Mailerlite (an email marketing platform)
- Optimize Yoast SEO (FREE) plug-in for all posts
- Upgrade Social Warfare $29/yr for Pinterest SEO optimization
- Design Pinterest templates in Canva
- Start using Tailwind to schedule pinning while away Jan 12-20th
Pinterest Course
One thing I did invest in was a Pinterest course. I knew that this would be the social network platform (it’s actually a visual search engine) that I wanted to use to get traffic to my blog. But, I knew absolutely nothing about Pinterest and wanted to fast track my learning since this would be how I got traffic to my blog. Unfortunately, I only actually had time in January to cover half the course. If you want to drive readers to your blog I highly recommend using Pinterest.
My Month 1 Blog Review
Although I was able to post 3 times in January, I didn’t keep up my pinning daily goal. The reason for this is simple. I set up pins for while I was away from Jan 12-19th thinking that once I was back, I could set up the next week’s schedule on Tailwind. What I failed to realize is that once I was back, I was jet lagged, had a ton on my plate at my full-time job and ended up getting sick. So, in Feb, I will set up a min of 2 weeks of pins and keep learning from my Pinterest course to continue to get traffic.
January Posts:
8 Powerful New Years Resolutions For The Soul
6 Free Pretty To Do Lists
24 Motivational Quotes For When You Feel Like Quitting
Build A Blog By Design
This past month made me realize that I was posting on random topics, about my life and getting started blogging but there was no structure or proper plan. So, I created a template to keep track of everything and now use to plan out my 3 months of blogging topics.
You can get your FREE copy of Building A Blog By Design to map out exactly what to write about, what to link it to and have a specific intention for each post.
Mailerlite Opt-in
I created my FREE goal setting printable opt-in using Mailerlite as well as 6 pretty to do list printables (no opt-in required). I did this because I’m starting out and want to drive traffic so I can sign up for Ad Revenue which requires you to have a minimum number of monthly readers.
Social Warfare
I got Social Warfare set up (the free version) and quickly learnt that it made sense to get the paid version. It was only $29 for the year and it would contribute significantly to my Pinterest SEO when my readers re-pin my post. It also allows me to customize my sharing buttons which is important for my branding. If you are on a tight budget, this is one thing you can get away with the FREE version to get started with.
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is another plug-in that’s FREE and I highly recommend you get. It gives you a lot of guidance in terms of not just SEO (which I think you don’t need to worry about) but of the blog structure. Things like sentence length, linking, headers, images and more are covered in their suggestions to increase the readability of your post.
I did get my business profile and boards set up for Pinterest but as I mentioned earlier, I missed the mark when it came to pinning daily. Based on only 3 weeks of pinning, I was able to start to drive traffic, about 40 readers, during this short period of time. So, I know that my pins are attractive and that I will be able to get the traffic I want from pinning. Before I started pinning again, I wanted to have more structure to my blogging plan so I can maximize from this traffic.
Canva
One of the best tools I have found is Canva. Even the free version is incredibly powerful. It’s a design program that is very intuitive and has a ton of FREE templates for everything from Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook etc. I highly recommend you start poking around in there to quickly create great pins, header images and more.
February Action Plan
- Post 4x this month
- Complete Pinterest Course
- Re-start pinning daily using Tailwind on Feb 10th
- Review existing posts & add opt-in options
- Create landing pages
- Design 1 new opt-in
In Conclusion
Even though I was away, I was able to get a lot done for the month. I still have tons to learn and this month am going to focus on finishing the Pinterest course as I haven’t started a group board or used Tailwind Tribes yet which will boost traffic to my site.
I’m also going to focus on posting some financial posts this month as I know many people are looking to save money and reduce debt after the holiday bills start showing up in January. Super excited to be sharing some “secrets of the rich” that you don’t want to miss out on!
Related content you may also be interest in:
The Importance of Goal Setting in Life and Business
6 Free Pretty To Do Lists
Month 2 Blog Review/Action Plan