Monday, September 5, 2016

Blogging With Intention - Getting Back on Track and Taking Risks

I have been joining with friends over at Sweet Tea, LLC for a monthly link-up where we share our blogging goals, which keeps us accountable to each other. You may noticed I have not been sharing my goals the last few months and it is because I was so busy this summer and did not focus on my blog.  This month I will be catching you up on the things I did accomplish over the last three months and set a plan for what I want to accomplish during the month of September.




To recap...In May my goals were:

  • Finish the post for my collaboration with a paint retailer Done
  • Continue applying for paid posts, especially since I have one under my belt now I have had five more paid post through blogger networks and collaborated with Thompson's Waterseal, which I got by creating an email pitch.
  • Continue working on gaining new email subscribers I have only gained 6 new subscribers, which is pretty sad.  I have been pouring through all of Kirsten's email marketing material and attended the class she taught at Haven, so I plan on implementing some of her strategies.
  • Continue to work on my Pinterest strategy...I upgraded my Buffer account so I can start scheduling Pins I have been using buffer for Pinning and think it works well; I just need to do it more consistently.  I have gained about 100 new followers on Pinterest, so I think that is good!
  • Design and order business cards for my blog Done...I passed those babies out like candy at Haven
So, even though I spent two weeks at the beach, served a week at Vacation Bible School, worked full time, shuttled my son back and forth to all of his various camps and activities, and spent a lot of time by the pool; I did accomplish some things. 

One BIG thing I have learned over the last few months and especially at the Haven conference is that you have to take risks if you want to see a reward.  This has been hard for me because I do not like putting myself out there at all. I do not like asking for things or talking to people I do not know, but getting out of my comfort zone has brought me collaborative posts with brands I did not think would give me the time of day, allowed me to form friendships with other bloggers, and will allow me to earn a little extra income on the side while doing something I love!  You know what?  You WILL fail; you will try things that do not work, or get a "No" from a brand, or be ignored, but that is OK.  I think these experiences make us stronger and more confident with our next endeavor.  So, that's my nugget of wisdom (from a newbie) for the month.



What I want to work on during September:
  • Work on the monthly Mason Jar Challenge - The Mason Jar is a membership site that gives you access to all Kirsten's knowledge, allows you to interact with other bloggers, work on bite-sized blog tasks, and MORE!  Its awesome, check it out and tell her I sent ya!
  • Pitch at least two collaboration ideas - I want to take advantage of some of the brand connections I made at Haven to cross some home projects off my list.
  • Work on ideas for the next three months of guest posts on Sweet Tea and Saving Grace
  • Focus on my Pinterest media strategy - I want to grow my followers by 50 during the month by posting more consistently to my boards and group boards.
  • Work on setting up affiliate links on old blog posts.

I hope you will join me with setting your own goals for 2016!  Feel free to link up with me at Sweet Tea, LLC if you are a fellow blogger who needs some encouragement in achieving your goals!

If you missed my other posts, you can read them here:


8 comments:

  1. Yes! Happy to see this back (As you know) - Getting genuine email followers is such a struggle! I think for some, because it goes for me, I'm really particular about what comes through my email and hate to have it so cluttered, so definitely a struggle finding those genuine people :)

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    1. Thank you for telling me that Ashley, because sometimes I wonder if people even notice! I am the same way with my email and have unsubscribed from some emails, so I know the struggle.

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  2. You have some great goals! I have never heard of The Mason Jar, I need to check it out. I would love to schedule my pins and a lot of other stuff, I just haven't had time to wrap my head around how to do it. That is my problem, I'm so busy working on posts, I never have time to brainstorm or think outside the box.

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

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    1. Thank you Carrie! I certainly get overwhelmed at times and do not schedule my social media like I should. It is hard to do all blog tasks well.

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  3. I STILL need to put affiliate links on old posts. So much to do. So little time!

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    1. I have started trying to just do one or two as I have time....there really is so much to keep up with!

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