You Get What You Put In!
I've had this fiber arts website for several years now. I made a little money here and there, but I sure couldn't have made a living from it. However, I got a cosmic kick in the pants this May when I was told that my teaching job was being opened up for other applicants, in spite of my great work reviews and test results and rapport with the kids. Somebody up there was telling me that maybe teaching wasn't where I'm supposed to be... or maybe just somebody in admin was telling me because they wanted their niece to have a job. School starts again in a couple of weeks and none of my interviews have gotten me any offers.
On June 8, the day I decided I'd devote my summer to working full time on the website just to see what happens, I took a screenshot of my analytics. The chart on the left shows my stats for that day and the previous month, from May 9-June 8. On the right is a new screenshot, taken a couple of days ago.
See that line jump up? See the bounce rate go down? It's not just my mom reading my blog anymore.
With 6 weeks of full time work on the site, twice-weekly blog posts about my hobbies and things I'd be doing anyway, plus a single, $15, two-day post boost on Facebook, I've gotten 53 new subscribers! Not many for some of you, but for me, it nearly doubled my previous subscriber list! I sent out a newsletter today telling everyone on my mailing list about a great deal through one of my affiliates, and I've made $25 so far. I can't make a living on $10 profit, but I proved to myself how quickly and easily I could drive up my stats. WA training works!
The icing on the cake? A PR person noticed my Facebook push, and contacted ME, asking if I'd interview one of their clients for my blog! I will not ever be lacking for content ideas if I have people soliciting my writing, right?
In case you're wondering about the cover photo, that's the results of one morning of eco-printing on watercolor paper, drying on the table in my garden. Leaves pressed onto watercolor paper and steamed will leave their print on the page. It works on fabric, too. It's one of the hottest new crafts going, worldwide, and I get to have fun trying it, take a few pictures and write about what I did, and then link people to books and materials for it. This is waaaaay more fun than reminding High School Seniors to capitalize the first letter in a sentence!
Write on!
--Kelley
Recent Comments
2
Hi Kelley- Isn't is amazing how if you put your energy into what you are doing, you start to see everything grow. You are truly on your way to great things and I am looking forward to more updates as you go along
All the best to you
Vicki
Of course yes, that's part of the rules of life!
Thanks for posting this great message Kelly