Last Updated on August 20, 2019 by Latrice
June is the first month I’m working strategically to do my own thing and turn this blog into a business.
I’ve learned to turn a blog into a business, it takes a much different strategy than blogging for a hobby or “just cause.” It takes a well thought out strategy to make the business successful as with any other business. It also takes overcoming poor habits and learning new ones.
June is where I’m testing if a half-assed blogger with a half-assed blog, and a full-time job, can really turn that blog into a full-time business with the right plan.
And can it be done in a month! *gasp*
Poor blogging habits that make for a half-assed blog… if you want it to be a business
The first poor habit that has made my blog half-assed has been not sticking to my writing and publishing schedule. I love to research topics and plan my strategy, but when it came to honoring my due dates, I would slack off. Or I’d do like I used to in college and wait until the very last minute to write the post (the morning of).
Being so last minute and not honoring my due dates led to not publishing as often as I wanted. In two years, with this poor habit, only 39 posts have been published on this blog.
The goal is to change that habit by working on procrastination and LEARNING to stick to a content and blogging work schedule. And treating blogging like an actual job where I have to keep my dates to keep my job.
The second poor habit has been not sharing consistently, not sharing oten, or not sharing at all. Sharing a blog post once or twice doesn’t work. Sharing in only a few places does not work. And definitely not sharing at all isn’t going to work either.
Since I have been so bad at sharing my blog posts, and networking online, the most views my site has seen in a day was 36 views. Some months, I’ve reach in the 70s and on some days I have under 10 views.
To change this poor blogging habit, I’m implementing a daily social media checklist. Since I’ve been learning how to turn my blog into a business, I’ve seen social media checklist as highly effective. They keep track of what has to be shared, to where it has to be shared and when.
The third poor blogging habit has been not getting out there to network. I haven’t joined many Facebook groups, I haven’t joined any Pinterest group boards, and I don’t do much sharing and commenting on of others blog posts.
Not sticking to a schedule, not sharing my posts enough, and not getting out there to network are habits I’m going to overcome in order to reach these June blogging goals.
Blogging and income goals for June
Publish content 3x a week and stick to a daily social media checklist.
Increase my blog’s traffic to 500 page visits this month and lower the bounce rate.
Get 50 people to sign up for my email list.
Optimize my blog for Pinterest, advertisement, and building my list.
Reach 100 followers on Pinterest and Facebook.
Earn my first $300 blogging.
June’s Action Plan
Start June with an action plan. The action plan has an editorial calendar, designated days for creating content weekly, a social media checklist, and time blocked off for working on digital products, web optimization, and graphic design.
Create products and opt-ins within the first week. This first week of June will primarily be about finishing my first digital products. This is to start building my email list as soon as possible and get over my lack of confidence in what I have to offer.
Create and follow a daily social media checklist and focus on two platforms. Following a social media checklist and focusing on two platforms will make building a good habit with social media easier. I’ve been reading that trying to master more than a few platforms at a time can lower chances of getting good at any of them.
Complete and schedule content on the weekends. Get out there and network during the week. I work full-time during the week so the plan is to batch content creation tasks on the weekends. During the week, I’ll focus on sharing my content and networking.
This’ll likely cut out a lot of overwhelm I was experiencing when trying to write content and publish during the week.
Although June’s action plan is progressive, considering I’ve struggled with sticking to a plan, I think I’ll be able to get it done.
Definitely interesting in seeing if the research I’ve been gathering will work.
Here we go!
I’m excited to see how June will pan out. This is my first time sharing my downfalls as a blogger and my plan to make improvements. I can admit I’ve held off on sharing my plans since I’ve had a history of struggling to honor them.
I’m also looking forward to sharing if these steps worked for improving poor blogging habits.
Hi! I'm Latrice
2 Responses
You can do it! I enjoy your blog! I can let you know I’d like to know how you keep going or motivate yourself when you’ve “fallen off”. How do you get back on track? I’ve been on a weight loss journey for so long and it always seems I get to a certain point and plateau. I even did the intermittent fasting (with help from your blog) but if I allow myself a cheat now and then sometimes it throws me so off I get carried away. I’ll get discouraged and say to myself “I’ll never get past this”. I know ultimately it’s up to me but could use some helpful insight/strategies. Thank you!
Thanks Savana! Your experience is like mine. I’ve so been there and each time I’ve had to get right back to it. I honestly get back on track by knowing I can’t settle with not achieving my goals. And I know that eventually I’ll learn the thought that’ll help me stick to my routine. It’s something I’ve worked on for over a decade. Even after losing weight. It is up to you, but trust that something will come through for you in the form of a helpful thought or new belief.