We Have Hit a Plateau and it Zaps My Motivation
I was so excited a few months ago, because sales were going up, and traffic was going up, we were on a steady curve. But for the last couple of months, things have not really changed, in fact sales are down. I figured sales would go down from December, but they seem to just keep dropping, with March having less sales than February.
Traffic has seemed to hit a ceiling, staying at just under 3000 a day. It will not go over 3000! It is frustrating!
We have been writing consistently, targeting easy to rank keywords, and still our traffic stays the same.
It zaps my motivation when things are at a stand-still. When numbers continually increase, I get excited, it makes me want to work more. But when numbers stay the same or decline, my motivation gets zapped, I feel like I want to give up, like this isn't worth me getting up at 6 am everyday.
I just wanted to rant a little, and to ask, what do you do when your motivation is declining? How do you keep youself going when it seems like your work is getting you nowhere?
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Here is what I have always found that works for me. When I reached a goal, traffic or otherwise I started to look at two things.
One what could I add to what I am already doing. Maybe Social Media advertising, maybe build backlinks using comments on others people blogs. Easy to find ones on here to comment on and leave your URL. What can I do different.
The second thing I could do is ask what can I learn that will help me change this. It could be Traffic Generation, Attitude Change, Change the formula I use for content writing. etc. etc. Then I spend time learning whatever I decide. It might be going back over the lessons on here about Social Media traffic.
When I do those two things it is amazing how quick I become unstuck.
Wow, that's crazy. Losing motivation even with 3000.00 in sales a month? I'd be happy to make one cent just so I believe this thing works and I've been writing constantly for 15 months. Ranting over that? I have no words...
She never said it's lousy.
Once you get there and it suddenly doesn't move forward anymore, you will ask the same question.
Everybody has the same problem, just on a different scale.
Now you will say that $500 or $1000 a month would be awesome.
Once you reached that you want more, too.
I don't know anyone who stopped at that point. ;)
I understand that to people just starting out, my problem does not seem like a problem! But like Moritz said, once you hit $500 or $1000 a month, you want it higher. Whenever things slow down or stop, you will wonder why.
I have to speak from a bit of a hypothetical point of view, as my site isn't making any profit yet, but what I would consider is the fact that I have spent over 25 years working retail. For long periods of time, my income remains unchanged. I get one raise a year, so my income increases every 12 months or so, usually by about 5-10 cents per hour.... I may receive a more significant increase if I get promoted or change jobs, but that happens very infrequently.
Having my income stay steady or fluctuate slightly wouldn't bother me if I am doing something something I love, especially considering that I've been dealing with a mostly-unchanging salary for years doing something I hate.
Hi.
I'm in the same boat.
Different numbers but they have been the same for a while, too.
Why not take a break from this site and start a new project?
You know now how to build a site that gets thousands of visitors EVERY DAY! That's huge!
Just watch your site and see what happens if you don't add content for a while.
Does everything still stay the same?
That could become a real passive income while you work on another site.
Or do what others said: refocus!
Spend less time on creating content but more on marketing. Social media, maybe paid ads on FB and AdWords.
Add a store to your site, if it fits the niche.
Just some ideas.
I can see why you're feeling frustrated since you're still putting in the same amount of work and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. A while ago I found my traffic started dropping so I totally know the feeling. After I began promoting on FB it went back up.
Just going off what you wrote it sounds like you;re relying on Google / search engines. So, look for new sources of traffic eg FB groups / Pinterest 9 if it suits your niche )
I do rely on Google. I find that I don't have enough time to put into social media. I guess I could write less content and focus on building a social media following.
Hi Andrea
Life is testing you. Face the challenge like you know that you can do, and I am sure that you can win ! Sometimes the rewards are backordered :)
I am not a pro but a student of IM, but I believe that it takes one full year of statistics of traffic and so on and not less than 100 to 150 posts to get a really good feeling about the real potential of a blog. And sometime just a small modification will make a huge benefit. TRUST yourself, your businesswoman feeling and GO :)
Best Regards Jeff
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I "liked" this post because I'm feeling the same way at the moment. But I'm not NEARLY as successful as you two yet!
Hope things have turned around for you by this time!