This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure here for more info…however it is totally boring!
Hello everyone, welcome to my first blog report. I’ve been doing a poop-ton of researching lately about successful, money making blogs and have decided to test it out. One of the things I like about a lot of these successful blogs is their blog reports.
As a learning blogger, I find these blog reports extremely helpful and inspiring. I like them, also, because they keep me, the blogger, honest and keeps me accountable for my progress, or lack there-of… But let’s not focus on the negative, I’m shooting for the stars!
I know it’s the end of May and I’m just now writing this report. To be honest, I didn’t start researching and working at my blog until May 6th when my beautiful niece was born. I was in such a terrible rut from the end of 2018 when family tragedy hit me left and right. I lost my, for simplicity sake, step-mom who helped me with so much suddenly to a stroke, followed by my beloved 17 year old cat, Nard. I did not take either death well and still find myself crying and missing them.
With the appearance of Maelie, my niece, I felt inspired and felt like a weight had been lifted. She’s a ray of sunshine in my doom and gloom. She has helped me renew my purpose of creating a full-time income from my business so I can quit that 9-5 job that’s sapping all my life.
To start this new stage in my business building process, I’d like to start with April. It’s where I was before I made the plunge into affiliate marketing and increasing my available pattern inventory. April will serve as a reminder that if I continue to be in a rut, I will be stuck, not reaching my dreams.
Traffic and Income Report
Traffic/Page Views
This is a little different, but I’m going to look at both April and March’s traffic numbers, just to get an idea of where I am starting. What’s my average numbers before I jumped in with both feet writing posts and adding content like crazy.
| March | April | |
| Blog Page views | 294 | 383 |
| Facebook views | 4 | 18 |
| Newsletter Subscribers | 13 | 13 |
Yikes, those numbers are super low…. This just goes to show if you don’t make time to write and post regularly, you will not get the number of views you want. I’m planning to fix this and hopefully change these numbers for the better.
Income
Well since I have not started affiliate links and I am still working on Google Ads, all I have to report is any product sales. Which I am sad to say is a big fat $0.
I know why none of my products sold. Remember that rut I mentioned? I did not promote my blog or my products at all. As in no pins, no facebook, no instagram. I mean I’d post every once in awhile, but nothing like I am doing now in May. I can’t wait to see what the results will be next month when we take a look at how my promoting on my social media accounts helps.
I also did not use my SEO tool to it’s full advantage. I am still learning SEO and feel like I will always be learning, but I feel like I’m starting to get a better handle on SEO on my blog. I’m hoping this is increase views and hopefully, sales.
Expenses
Blog renewal: $65.31
I really didn’t have a lot of expenses this month because I already had my blog before and I have not added anything. I do plan to spend a little more in May in blogging classes and maybe Tailwind for Pinterest. I am currently using Tailwind’s free trial, which I am loving, so I might look into yearly cost to continue to use Tailwind.
Profit: -$65.31
Ok ok, so I’m in the negative this month. That’s normal for months that I do not have events. I’m planning to change that all around in the next few months and see what I can making while running this blog.
I keep reading amazing success stories and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with you, whether it’s about weaving, yarn projects, or blogging do’s and don’t s. Hopefully you’ll continue to support me by checking back every now and again.
May 2019 Goals
Now onto the good stuff. What do I plan to do with Bubbles ‘n Stitches in the month of May.
Publish 8 Blog Posts
That’s right, 8. I am being an over achiever. I want to flood Bubbles ‘n Stitches with good content to boost page views and hopefully sales. I’ve already posted 3 posts this month, How to Change Color Yarn on Continuous Strand Loom, Vendor Review of the Fingerlakes Celtic Festival 2019 and of course this post, April 2019 Blog Post.
I also have 4 more posts in the works. Just need to finish up links, pictures, and editing. Go me! Hopefully I will be able to complete them all before the month runs out!
Reach 500 Page Views
I know this is not a very large number of views. But currently I am only getting approximately 250 views a month. I want to give myself a doable number of views. With the help of Tailwind and all my new posts, I’m sure I will reach this goal and beyond.
Post 10-15 more Patterns
That’s right, I’m really working on posting weaving patterns right now. I have already posted all 36 rectangle loom patterns from Theresa Jewell and I’s book Weaving Scarves and Cowls on the 10×60 Rectangle Loom. I intend to post almost all of the patterns from Weaving on the 2ft Square Loom: A Collection of Plaids. I want to make sure each pattern has a finished design with it before it’s posted. I plan to get all the patterns from Continuous Strand Loom Weaving For Beginners: on the 5ft and 6ft Triangle Looms woven up and also added to my shop by the end of July.
Wish me luck!
Affiliate Links
My goal is to get started with Amazon Affiliate Links and make my first passive income penny. Again, my goal is small, but I’m thinking once I earn that first penny, you’re going to see a monster in me. I’m excited to see what happens.
Pinterest Tailwind
I’m nearing the end of my free 100 pins on Tailwind, so the time has come for me to decide if I want to invest in Tailwind or not. I’m thinking the answer is yes. Just have to find out how much a year and give it a whorl. I’ll give it a year to see what it does for me.
If it pulls in a lot of traffic, yay I’m keeping it since I am addicted to Pinterest anyway. If it’s not doing anything for Bubbles ‘n Stitches, then I guess I’ll have to find a different way to up my page views.
Stay on Track and Sane
This is my final goal, to stay on track and follow my new blogging schedule, and to stay sane while doing it. This is going to be a lot of work. I hope I am up for the challenge. I just keep reminding myself, if I put in all the hard work now, maybe someday soon I can leave my day job that I feel is turning me into a hateful person.
Whelp, that’s it for now. I’ll let you know in my next blog report if I reached all my goals or not and how I can fix that. I can’t wait to see the numbers!
