9 Months Into Blogging: Making Connections

by Triasha, in category Blogging, Goals & Reflections, Life, My Life, Uncategorized

Hey, guys! It’s been a while. I know, know…It’s been ten months not nine, but my blog hit 9 months on February 29th, which doesn’t exist (this year).

I know I stopped posting twice a week this last quarter, but I’ve done a lot behind the scenes that I still want to document and share. School got in the way of my blog productivity, but I’m still proud about what I’ve accomplished. So without furthur ado, here is my blog’s 9 month update.

Related:

//Reflection

The last four months of blogging could look either productive or unproductive depending on how you look at it. I thought I was putting this blog on the backburner (even though I thought about it constantly) because I haven’t been posting as much, but now that I’m looking at this outline, I did a lot. I rebranded, made more money, “met” more bloggers….I will go more into everything later, but I was surprised to see how much I’ve achieved. Writing things out really puts things in perspective.

We always build up how productive we’re going to be in our heads then feel disappointed when we don’t meet our expectations, but we shouldn’t! Looking back now, I’ve done most of what I intended on doing in the last 3 months. Sure, I didn’t cross off everything, but I shouldn’t disregard what I got done.

I’m not really kicking myself for not being able to do write because the reality is that I’m a student with responsibilities, who likes to sleep. Sure, there are things I could’ve done better, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. (Other than learn from it, of course)

On that note, don’t expect much of me in April. I probably won’t be able to publish once a week because of finals. Don’t worry, my last final is on May 1st, so you’ll get sick of me next month. You can count on that.

//What I’ve Done In The Last Four Months

Bought A New Blog Design – I had been staring at this blog design for months before buying it. I absolutely love it! The free blog design I used to have had the tiniest font and I wasn’t able to change it for some reason. It also wasn’t as pretty. I love the features I can add to the new one and that readers don’t have to keep scrolling down over and over again to see my last nine posts.

Rebranded – I was really good at having a cohesive brand from the start but with the new design, I had to change a few things. I kept the circles (made them a bit more paint-like), changed the colors a little and kept the all capped letters in the titles. I haven’t rebranded the blog post images yet because I haven’t had time and this template is easier. Expect some changes this summer.

Got Better At Coding – Most people don’t know this, but a lot of coding goes into blogging. I’m much better at the writing and design aspects of it, but I couldn’t get by with the (little) coding I learned in high school. I’ve definitely gotten better at it in the last few months.

Used Social Media More – This isn’t saying much considering I rarely used social media before this blog. I didn’t have a Twitter until then and my Instagram was empty. I am certainly getting better at it, but I still need to work on improving the blog’s Facebook page this summer because I suck on that platform. I reached 500 followers on Pinterest (though that’s more of a search engine than social media). It would’ve been way more if I had done a better job at marketing, but I should get some props for gaining 200 followers after literally doing nothing. (That’s a joke. I haven’t had time to use it otherwise, I would’ve put much more effort into Pinterest)

While I’m at it, I might as well insert a shameless plug asking you to go follow me on Twitter. If you do so, you’ll find yourself reading posts like this:

And this….

….And who could resist this?

You should also follow me on Instagram to see photos like this:

You already know I’m not gonna fill up your feed, so why not?

Joined The InfluenceHer Collective – I was SO excited when I got in! There’s too much to explain in one tiny paragraph, so click this link to learn more (It’s not long). Being a part of it has already allowed me to connect with other bloggers and attend paid events. I love Her Campus, so joining is very exciting for me.

Joined The Clever Girls Collective – Clever Girls will help me connect with sponsors for this blog. I was excited about getting into this, too. I’ve heard many bloggers talk about it.

Took Blog Photos  – I took them over winter break with my tripod and DSLR. They’re not bad if I do say so myself.  This summer I think I’ll take my friend Stellah from Fiercely Living to Atlanta and we’ll have a blog photoshoot together. It’ll be a lot easier than setting up a camera on a tripod with a timer.

(The results were still great, though)

Published My First Sponsored Post – Someone from Analyze Academic Help contacted me last November about sponsoring a post. I wrote a post on how to write a college essay for them. I had it written for a while, but I couldn’t publish it because PayPal wasn’t sending my invoices for some reason. I still got paid, but that’s why it wasn’t published until February. I feel bad for the guy who had to deal with me that long because there were countless emails about the fact that PayPal wasn’t letting them pay me.

Applied For And Got Into Google AdSense – I know. There aren’t advertisements on this site yet. I’m working on it. I simply haven’t had the time or desire to code the ads in, so I’ll wait till this summer. I’m actually really excited about adding ads even though they won’t pay much. They’ll make this site look more professional.

Went To A Paid Her Campus Event In Atlanta – I actually signed a paper that said I couldn’t talk about it, but I will say that Her Campus now has a videotape of me nearly falling off my chair (In a “girl on her first day of work in a cheesy rom-com” fashion). You’ll never see it, but now you guys know how clumsy I am. I also got my first goody bag full of products from the company we were working with. I feel like that’s a rite of passage for bloggers and YouTubers. Getting free stuff. (I mean, I was able to get my college essays analyzed for free, but this was my first physical product(s) I got. I also met a bunch of bloggers who live in Atlanta. That was cool. I actually didn’t know that I was getting paid when I applied. That was just a perk. I would’ve done it for free.

//What I Wish I Did Better

Put More Effort Into Growing My Email List – I did not do anything to grow my email list. The big reason for this was a lack of time and lack of resources to create opt-in freebies. I don’t understand why people keep subscribing. Or how? I got rid of the subscription box because I wanted to wait till I had something to offer my readers. How did you find it? I  don’t even know where it is!

Paid For Board Booster – This is one of the reasons my Pinterest game has been off. I used the free trial until it ran out then never continued it. I plan on using it again when finals are over because it’s a great tool.

Use Facebook And Twitter More Effectively – I am really bad at social media (both in terms of personal and business purposes. It takes an effort to post pictures on my personal Facebook for my family to see, so using social media for my blog is near impossible. I also have a ton to learn. I used to schedule out Twitter posts but stopped after a while. I’ve barely done anything with Facebook other than uploading a few photos. I plan on fixing that this summer, but I still wish I could’ve done better.

Responded To All The Comments – I’ve only had time to approve comments. I’ve responded to most, but my goal is to respond to everyone’s comments in the next week or so.

Published More Blog Posts – I have only published 12 blog posts in the last three and a half months. I just haven’t had the time or willpower to write long-winded posts. I wish I could’ve written more, but I can’t change anything now. Things will get better once the semester ends.

//How I Did On My Goals

  • Install Design and Make Tweaks
  • Create A New Logo + ReBrand
  • Take Pictures Of Myself For Blog
  • Join The InfluenceHer Collective
  • Re-Read Old Blog Posts And Make Necessary Changes (I only did this for my most popular posts, but I think that’s a good start)
  • Add Affiliate Links To Old Posts
  • Create A Resource Library To Grow Email List
  • Do A Blog Audit
  • Write More Personal Blog Posts
  • Make Connections With Other Bloggers
  • Increase My Social Media Following
  • Do A Better Job At Marketing

I actually completed most of my goals this quarter. This made me feel a lot better because my lack of posting made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough for this blog. Looking at this list shows me that I did much more than I thought.

//Goals For The Next Two Months

  • Pay for Domain for the next year (I’ll try to get this done early)
  • Sign Up For Board Booster
  • Get back on a posting schedule (Probably Monday, Wednesday, Friday starting in May)
  • Make a blog business plan for the next year
  • Social Media Goals (Once Finals End)
    • Post Once A Week On Instagram
    • Post On Twitter And Facebook Page When New Blog Posts Are Up
    • Create A Google+ Page For Blog
  • Get A Professional Email Address For Blog
  • Create A Mail Chimp Account

These are all things I should’ve done earlier, but haven’t yet. I’m definitely going to do everything I can to get everything done. The hardest thing on this list for me is using social media, but I other than that I’ve got this.

Once again, I probably won’t post again until finals are over. Sorry about that, but school has to come first. This blog is going to be one of my top priorities this summer, so expect TONS of content. I won’t let you down. Good luck to anyone else who has final exams. Summer is just around the corner!

I’d Appreciate Your Support Of This Blog By Following Me On:

What are some of you blogging goals for the next quarter? What is something about your blog that you’re proud of? 

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