My Chat with a Successful Blogger

I’ve been blogging now for 8 months.  I truly love to blog.  I am not really a “writer” but I love to share my life and experiences with others in hopes that what I have to offer will encourage someone; maybe give hope.

 

To be honest, I haven’t received much response from the outside world.  To be fair, my husband, my mom #2 and my sister #1 have been very supportive, which is awesome.  My Facebook and instagram pages get some likes. Most all my friends are following my pages.  And a couple of my posts are 2nd or 3rd when you google the topic.  Those things make blogging exciting. But I am still lacking..

I was crusin’ Pinterest and came across a pin that caught my interest.  “You Can Make Money Without Tons of Page Views“.  Now, I’m not really into blogging for the cash flow, but hey, if it happens, great!!    Anyway, in the post, Kayla said she was getting only 16,000 views.  Oh, how I laughed.  I’ve gotten just over 1000 in the 8 months I have been blogging.  So, since the purpose is to encourage and give hope, I need viewers, right?  Right!  In her post, Kayla offered a 1 on 1 call consultation for $25.00.   For $25, I figured, what the hey?!  It can’t hurt to chat with someone and see what I am doing wrong.  So I emailed her.   This is what she gave me…

DON’T GIVE UP

No matter what, don’t give up.  Do not be discouraged.  Work hard and it will pay off.

KEEP A BLOG JOURNAL

She always keeps a blog journal for when inspiration hits.  I do not usually keep one.  I just open up wordpress and create a new post and save it for when I have some content to add to it.  She said that was good, but having a place to write down ideas is always a good idea.

USE STOCK PHOTOS

Be careful not to copyright!  I will admit, I have gone to google and took photos.  Not knowing they weren’t there for that purpose.  I have learned since not to do that.  She told me to google “stock photos” and look for a site that offers photos that match my post.  Done!  I found istockphoto.com.  If you need a place too, hit that link and check it out.

It’s okay to use your phone for pictures.  You do not need a professional camera for that.  Although, I do have one.

LINK IT

Always try to add outbound links to other websites and blogs you read.  Not only will your readers read your content, but linking up to your source and other bloggers is a great way to get readers to come back for more.  And it helps out your fellow bloggers as well.

20/80

Maybe you’ve read my 80/20 post on natural living.  Well this is the same concept for writing.  20% of your blog is writing, 80% is advertising your blog.  The more platforms you can advertise your blog on, the better.  So you can follow me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, BLOGLOVIN and now TWITTER.

MONETIZING

I write to share hope and give encouragement as I said above. But hey, everyone likes to earn a dollar or two.  I currently have google adsense, ThriveMarket affiliate and Natural Organic affiliate to help with the income part.  But in 8 months, I’ve made a total of $25.  YAY!!

So, to help with that, there are Paid Networks out there that set up campaigns that bloggers can apply for and write a sponsored post for .. and get paid for doing it!    I’m into that.

I also just set up Amazon Associates.  It’s Amazons affiliate program.  I am an avid user of Amazon.  I even wrote a post for Amazon Prime just because I think Amazon Prime is totally worth it.  Click here to read that post.

COMMENT

I read other blogs, but I do not comment much.  I don’t know why really.  However, some bloggers are trying to keep crap from showing up in their comments.  They protect the comment section so much that you have to jump through so many hoops to comment.  I just “X” out and move on.

Kayla advised me to add my website link to the comments when I do make them.  She said other readers may like what I had to say and will want to check out my website too.

 

GET CONTENT OUT THERE

Making sure I am posting at least once a week is a must.  I usually do, but since mom has moved here, I am really busy.  I have also started working an extra day outside the home, so my usual Tuesday writing day is GONE!

Reposting old posts to social media sites helps a great deal.  There are new people on all the time who have not seen my first few months of blogging.  So recycling posts is a great way to add to my following.  I have done that a few times, but not too often.

 

CLEAN UP MY SITE

The last thing she really said was to use a different theme.  The black and white one I had up was well, a bit much.  There were no “menu” buttons at the top, so that needed to change.  I also needed to add my photo to the side bar where my reader could see me. Lastly, adding social networking buttons so people could follow me.

 

GET BLOG ASSISTANCE

If you are interested in having Kayla look at your site and give you her thoughts and advice, contact her.  For $25 an hour it was worth it to me!  She has offered to send me tons of links that can help me out.  I can’t wait to get those and get started.  Her site is lostgenygirl.com, and that post is here.

Have a great weekend!

♥Sabrina