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I mostly keep this monthly accounting of my blog for me to keep track of what is going on, write out what has been working, and figure out where I want to go from this point on. I like to share the interesting new social media tips I find in case it can help any other bloggers out there. In fact, this past month while I was looking through some of my pins, I created a new board on Pinterest that just deals with social media tips for bloggers. You can find that here. Here is how August went on Home Crafts by Ali.
I had a large slowdown on social media followers and interaction this month. I had family visit the first week of the month and during the last week of August I was sick, so instead of promoting posts, pinning a lot, being active on Facebook, and visiting other blogs, I was away from my computer. Between not feeling well, some fun travel, and getting the kids ready for school to start, I just didn't put in the time time to create fun projects or recipes. I have already made a large effort to get things back to how I like on the blog and I'm happy with how last week and this week have gone so far.
Want to know my best posts that bring in readers for the month? My #1 post that brings readers in every month since May has been my Patriotic Wreath.
I love this wreath as much as my readers too. In fact, I still have it on my door because I didn't want to take it down yet. That will be changing in the next week or so when I finally admit to myself that it is fall.
As for new posts during August, my top three for the month were my DIY Fabric Pencil Pouch, Top 10 Thrift Store Shopping Tips, and a guest post from a friend about Waldorf Inspired Chicken Salad. I took a look at those posts to see what all three of them had in common - an eye-pleasing image and a large number of pins on Pinterest (a large number for my blog that is). Quality of pictures makes a big difference!
What worked in August
- Went through all social media platforms and unfollowed pages/people I didn't have an interest in. After doing that, my feeds were cleaner and I was able to see posts/updates from people I really wanted to interact with.
- I made genuine comments on quite a few different twitter and Instagram accounts and the people followed me back. One was a follow from one of my favorite bloggers and it totally made my day.
- Spent time practicing my photography and picture editing. That is actually something I work on every month and I think the practice is paying off in the quality of my photos.
Income Report for August
Expenses:
$15 - photography course (still need to watch the videos)
Income:
Sovrn ads - .70
IZEA ad - 2.50
Products - $56 (book for review and passes to local attraction for review)
Passes to Dartside for giveaway - $50.00
Expenses -$15
Income +$109.20
Overall +$94.20
Goals
For my goals in August, I would say that is was about 50/50. What is is about writing the "About Me" page for my blog that makes me so nervous? I have to do some searching on tips for writing it. It is one of the things all the other bloggers say you must have so people can connect with you on a personal level.
Since my goal was to continue working on my Pinterest in August, I wanted to share a few of the articles I read that have good tips.
Finding Group Boards
Double Your Following in 4 Weeks
The Pin Project with Twitchetts - a monthly series to recap their growth and strategy
Since my goal was to continue working on my Pinterest in August, I wanted to share a few of the articles I read that have good tips.
Finding Group Boards
Double Your Following in 4 Weeks
The Pin Project with Twitchetts - a monthly series to recap their growth and strategy
Looking forward to September goals
- Write About Me page!
- Rich Pins (done already!!)
- It is National Sewing Month and provide an easy project tutorial each week.
- Attend my first Blogging Conference (ABC in Utah)
- Posts for Craftgawker
- More options for crafting book reviews
- Fall projects/food
- Focus on Instagram - start to promote my blog more as well as the fun behind the scenes pics
There is my monthly wrap up. I would love to read in the comments what works for you or what your goals are! It is great to learn from each other. I'd love to hear some Instagram tips too.
I've just joined up at a Grow Your Blog Challenge for 2015. I know I'm starting late, but it will be nice to keep track of things with others. If you have a monthly blog check in post, feel free to link up as well.
I've just joined up at a Grow Your Blog Challenge for 2015. I know I'm starting late, but it will be nice to keep track of things with others. If you have a monthly blog check in post, feel free to link up as well.
I've been cleaning up my social media as well. I've unfollowed people and pages that were no longer of interest to me or those who didn't update regularly. It absolutely creates a cleaner timeline.
ReplyDeleteI love blog comments and commenting as well. Commenting is one of the ways that I've built an authentic audience.
Great post Ali. Lots of good stuff here.
Thank you Regina. I love to find blogs with articles that I enjoy reading, and I comment on them. I know how much I enjoy receiving comments and am sure that the people who's blog I comment on appreciate it too.
DeleteI really liked the idea of cleaning up social media - I need to do this on Instagram and make the genuine comments - not just "yum" but read the post and comment on what they wrote. I love it when people do that for me - then there is true engagement happening. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI think when you do genuine comments you can start to build a blogging friendship. There are quite a few bloggers that I visited before I started blogging that would take the time to comment back on Facebook and really seemed to enjoy engaging with their readers. I try to be that way as a blogger because I knew that I appreciated it as a blog reader.
DeleteThank you for posting this. I love seeing others' progress. It is helpful for a newbie blogger like myself!
ReplyDeleteChrissa, I feel like I am still learning so many things. Thankfully there are plenty of bloggers with more experience that are willing to help others out along the way. I hope that by posting these monthly updates someone else can find information that will help them.
DeleteAwesome! I've been slacking the past month or so and haven't been keeping track of my stats. It's horrible. I need to get caught up on all that to motivate myself again!
ReplyDeleteJaime, I was kind of slacking too. I went through a summer slump. I feel more inspired now though and have enjoyed working on my blog and commenting on others.
DeleteThanks for sharing! It's always great to see how other bloggers monetize. I blogged for over a year before I started getting serious and generating good extra money from it. But still have a ways to go. Hope it's upwards for both of us!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Matthew. It's always an ongoing process for bloggers to grow and learn. Good luck with continued success!
DeleteI have to say, I usually avoid reading these things because they are usually so unrealistically out of my reach, so I love seeing one that's more on my level. Here's a tip for your Pinterest following. I use Viral Tag (a lot!) and I've greatly increased my pins, which has brought me a ton of new Followers. Get out of your comfort zone and bring on some boards that are different. My camping board gets me a TON of Followers. I think my quotes board is one of my biggest draws. I'm not a big Disney person, but I have a huge Disney board just because it's so popular. I just started an apartment garden board even though I suck at gardening. I go for variety rather than just focus on the same stuff everyone else is pinning - crafts and recipes, etc. The nice thing about Viral Tag is that I can fill these boards up with 100's of pins in just a couple of clicks.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, I love your suggestions. When I was first blogging, I wrote mainly for myself. It took a few months to realize that I needed to write for the people that read my blog. I think I need to do that for my Pinterest boards too. Make some boards that I might not be too enthusiastic about, but are quite popular.
DeleteI love reading these income reports and blogging goals. They really help! Your monthly views are impressive. Hopefully one day I will be in that range:). Also, the About Me page is pretty tough, good luck!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Angie! Check back next month to see how things went with Instagram.
DeleteAli, I love reading these! it is so encouraging to me to see another newer blogger's transparency. Thanks for sharing. IDK what your blog schedule is but two things I've seen help increase traffic and create more repeat readers are: commenting (as someone else mentioned) and linkups. I schedule 45 minutes in the morning to do these things combined... I keep a spreadsheet of all the blogs I link up at as well as the posts I posted so I make sure not to repeat. It's a very basic/ non pretty/ non pinteresty spreadsheet. ha! I'd be happy to share my list if you contact me :) Anyway, that's helped streamline my linkup process b/c otherwise I felt like it was taking too much time! Also, linkups (as you know b/c you host one...) are so great b/c you find other bloggers in your niche :)
ReplyDeleteThen with commenting, I use feedly but click over to the blogs. I just set a timer and read/comment for 20 minutes or so each day. It's a way to get to read stuff I want to read and comment without getting "lost" and wasting time. I don't count reading tutorials/ helpful blogging articles in this time... I "budget" other time for that. Anyway, I'm not rolling in dough so it's not like these are millionaire strategies. But just ideas to streamline some of the tasks that can end up taking too much time. Sorry this comment is so long - gah! :)
Renee, you made some great points in your comment. I love your idea of setting a timer and reading/commenting on blogs for that certain amount of time. That would help me stay on track. Like you said, it is easy to get lost in reading.
DeleteI used to do link parties quite often before I started co-hosting a few months ago. Now I am trying to get back in the habit of visiting and linking up again. I am like you, I have an un-pinterest worthy spreadsheet to keep track of which parties to visit and which posts I have shared. =) I have them organized by day and time. Your comment was a good reminder to step-up in that area again.
The wreath is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashley! We love it. =)
DeleteI'm so glad to hear this! It sounds like HCBA is growing really well. I've noticed a lot more traffic since I've been using stumble upon. I think the evenings generate more traffic there, but it's too new to me to really tell. Can't wait to read more sewing tutorials!
ReplyDelete