This is my month 2 blog review. I share 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 did 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. 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.
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.
*** Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.
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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.
My action plan for February
- 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 page
- Design 1 new opt-in
My month 2 blog review
This past month was a whole new set of learning. As I mentioned in my previous report, I had no blog structure my first month, so I really focused on getting that fixed. I created this template and used it as my guide which made it a whole lot easier to set up my categories properly. Now, it makes so much more sense not only to me but also to Google and you as my reader.
I was able to post 4x in February. I admit that I tend to batch my writing so that it’s usually written in advance. However, it seems to take me longer to get the graphics and pins set up so I need to work on that.
February Posts:
Month 1 Blog Review & Month 2 Action Plan
5 Practical Questions You Need To Ask Before Starting A Blog
7 Major Reasons You Should Buy A WordPress Theme
#1 Strategy To Pay Off Your Debt FAST!
Pinterest Templates
Because I got behind on my pinning last month, I spent some serious time working on creating Pinterest templates. This will not only help keep my branding consistent but save time in the long run. I used Canva to create all of them and have even started making animated templates. I used the upgraded version to get access to more tools but the FREE version is still quite AMAZING!!! I found that I actually really liked creating these pin templates which makes it so much easier to make 5 pins per post.
Tailwind
Tailwind has been a lifesaver. I learnt more about how to use it to schedule my pins as well as joining and using tribes from my Pinterest course. Because I was able to do that, I have been not only pinning daily but I pin anywhere from 3-7 pins a day. They aren’t all my own pins since I only have so much content to pin. But, the templates have made it so much faster to create a new pin. Usually I only pin 1 of my own, some from tribes and some manually each day. This strategy has been working for me so I will be keeping it up.
Opt-in
Because I worked so much on my site structure, which is so so important, I didn’t get a chance to go through my previous posts to add opt-ins or create a landing page. I did create my new Debt Eliminator opt-in which you can get FREE in the following related post.
Related: #1 Strategy To Pay Off Your Debts Fast
March Action Plan
- Post 4x this month
- Join Pinterest group boards
- Continue to pin 5+ times daily using Tailwind
- Split up my goal setting & productivity planner opt-in
- Look at previous posts to add related content links & opt-ins
In Conclusion
No, I didn’t get everything done that I’d planned this past month. But, I did get some good content written, learnt a lot and am happy with my progress and am looking forward to Month 3.
Not accomplishing everything in my action plan will probably be an ongoing theme for me. But, I’m okay with that. As long as I continue to learn, apply new things and move forward THAT is what is important.
There’s simply so much to learn about and I have to spend my time focusing on what I think will bring the biggest reward as I go. That means that my priorities and goals will shift throughout the month and so should yours.
Related content you may also be interest in:
The Importance of Goal Setting In Life & Business
#1 Strategy To Pay Off Your Debt FAST!
Month 1 Review/Action Plan