Serena on the GO

Absence from blogging won’t kill you, or it. Income & Traffic Report, 18 Month Success!

serenaonthego — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 22:41:18 +0000

Let’s chat about the ultimate break from blogging. Imagine the worst day you’ve ever had. Okay, now rub coarse salt into it, step on 4,300 legos while barefoot, fall naked from a moving vehicle, and throw raw ham at your face while crashing into a speeding train. Yep, that’s how my last year has been.

Not only did I go through an emotionally demoralizing divorce from my best friend, soul mate, and retirement partner…I also found out he was having a FULL BLOWN affair on me while we were actively working to rebuild our family and marriage (you guys, this woman had a KEY to his apartment). Yeah, that bad. Talk about SUCKS. I cannot even begin to express the pain, betrayal, confusion, self-worth questioning and other BS this situation entailed. I’ve questioned my sanity, I’ve felt like a fool, I’ve bawled like a 4 month old on my cold, hard kitchen floor, I’ve isolated, I wondered if I’m living a lie, and even drank an entire bottle of wine in 2 hours (totally out of character for me).

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase I get a small commission to keep this blog running.

It’s just simply sucked.

I’m not going to waste your time talking about how incredibly effed up my roller coaster life has been, I want to focus on the OUTCOME (because it’s good ladies, real good!)

Get this, timing is everything. I’m finally able to step back and look at the big picture.

I’m stronger.

I’m braver.

I trust my friends more.

New friends have walked into my life because of it.

I’m more in control of my own happiness and success than EVER before.

And best of all, I can now use my own emotions and life experiences to channel this energy into something beautiful for you! Like LL Cool J once said “Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years, I’m gonna take this itty-bitty world by storm, and I’m just gettin’ warm!”

Life is full of hurtles, mountains, BS, challenges and heartache, but we always have the opportunity to use this “stuff” as a lesson, a growth movement, a re-birth and as a way to re-connect with old friends, make beautiful new friends, lean on family, and pray for others. Yeah, I said pray for others. You wouldn’t believe how much I pray for my ex-husband, because after everything he’s done and the pain he’s caused, I still wish him nothing short of a good life and happy future. He’s still human, and all humans deserve love and a satisfying life. I’m teaching my kids this, so I have to live it (as hard as it may be sometimes; I’m not perfect and neither is he.)

On October 5, 2018 it will have been exactly 1 year from the time I published a blog post. This was right before my life took a wild turn into unchartered territory. Get this; despite the break from blogging and online affiliate marketing, I continued making passive income EVERY month without fail, still scored new e-mail subscribers, and my readers continued to come, especially from Pinterest.

The point is this, no matter what life throws at you, it’s never too late to pick up the pieces and begin again!

SO, Here’s what happened during my 12 month crazy-train “hiatus”:

I posted my 1^st Blog Traffic and Income Report just 4 months into blogging; you can read it HERE!

Within 7 days I’d received over 3000 page views (read about it here), and within 3 months I’d received over 20,000 page views (read about that here).

Highest Performing 1^st Quarter Posts:

Then, life happened and I didn’t post for an entire year. Not a single post.

Here’s where I was at, as of July 28, 2017:

Blogger Hangout Facebook Group: 275 Members
Blog traffic: 20,232 Page Views
Pinterest followers: 383
Twitter followers: 74
Serena on the GO Facebook page: 320 “Likes”
Instagram followers: 186
E-mail subscribers: 392
Started Elite Blog Academy 3.0: Currently on Module 1

Here’s where I am as of September 19, 2018:

Blogger Hangout Facebook Group: 1,745 Members (increase of 1,470 members)
Blog traffic: 43,547 Page Views (increase of 23,315 page views)
Pinterest followers: 1,745 (increase of 1,362 followers) and over 7,000 monthly viewers!
Twitter followers: 91 (I’m still clueless how to use it)
Serena on the GO Facebook page: 454 “Likes” (increase of 134)
Instagram followers: 535 (increase of 400 followers)
E-mail subscribers: 753 (increase of 361 subscribers)
Started Elite Blog Academy 3.0: Currently on Module 3, but going to start all over again soon!

I also recently finished Tracie Richmond-Fobes’ Blogging course called “Learn, Grow, Earn” which is an awesome budget-friendly alternative to Elite Blogging Academy! Tracie is a VERY well known, successful blogger and social media consultant I highly recommend this course if you’re just starting out, or well into your journey but still find yourself needing additional information on blogging legalities, sponsored posts, how to market yourself, etc.!

The other thing I did just prior to going MIA was building a Pinterest Group Board from scratch. As of today, there are 265 creative contributors and over 1,400 followers! I’d call that a success! I’m always welcoming new contributors with high quality content and I still offer my FREE e-book on making perfect pinnable images!

What's stopping you from your dreams?

Grab your FREE copy of "Perfecting Pinnable Images" COURSE NOW!

Expenses:

Bluehost $154.08– This is where I “host” my blog, and they come highly recommend from me! If you’re just starting out or thinking about switching your host, please go with a self-hosted WordPress site hosted by Bluehost. I paid for a 36 month subscription up front which included site hosting, domain registration and site security. For me, paying upfront was just easier and one less thing I have to remember a year from now; you don’t have to do this.

Convertkit $29.00 a month – ConvertKit is my e-mail service provider; it allows me to easily collect leads, embed subscription forms into my posts, and send pretty e-mails to my readers. I’m partial to ConvertKit because I live in Boise (they are here!), but honestly, they are the best in the business and you’ll find that most well-known, successful bloggers use ConvertKit.

Studio Mommy Theme $45.00 – I knew from research that I wanted a blog “theme” that wasn’t free. I learned that a paid theme looks professional and provides more freedom to be creative and monetize. I’m forever thankful that I found Studio Mommy on Etsy; her work is gorgeous and her customer service is banging! If you’re ever in need of a theme you should look at her work. Wow, just wow.

BellBerry Lane Logo $147.00 – So, I actually ended up with 2 different logos that were hand created by Kristin from Bellberry Lane. When my blog was revolving around travel she had created an adorable travel related logo, then I asked her to change it for me to represent my transition to mentoring and blogging.

Canva $119.40 – Canva is another service I paid for the entire year upfront. It was easier, and I think I saved some money that way. Canva is another “must have” in my book. It’s the SIMPLEST way of making Pinterest optimized images and graphics for your blog post. If your computer or photograph challenged like me, Canva is your answer.

Haute Stock Photo Membership $99/Quarterly – This is where I grab GORGEOUS, feminine stock photos! I’m absolutely ga-ga, drool worthy, crazy in love with their pictures and stock photo options and the website is organized by color and theme. Since becoming a member my Pinterest followers have increased by over 1,400 with over 27,000 monthly viewers.

Earn, Grow, Learn Blogging Course $73.50 – I took this course because I’m a gigantic fan girl of Tracie Richmond-Fobes from Penny Pinchin Mom. She’s been blogging since 2009 and has had incredible success! If you spend any time in quality Facebook Groups you’ll see her around providing incredible advice and guidance to other bloggers.

Elite Blogging Academy $797.00 – Crazy, I know. Worth it? Absolutely. EBA is intense, and I’m so excited to work through it. Ruth Soukup from Living Well Spending Less is a blogging genius and this is her course. EBA is a well-known course for serious bloggers looking to take their blogging business to a completely new level. I was ready. So I jumped. I’ll keep you posted how it goes! If EBA is a course you’re interested In I highly recommend getting on the waiting list now!

Income:

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing taught me how to use affiliate marketing in my blog. In the last 18 months I’ve never had a month that I didn’t make passive income, even when I was absent from blogging or posting to social media. This income came from offering links to courses such as Become a Pinterest VA Today and through vendor sites such as ShareASale and Flexoffers. I also earn a hefty affiliate income from sharing products and services I swear by like my e-mail subscription service, Convertkit.

Start a blog RIGHT from the start! FREE Blogging Course!

Enter your name & e-mail to get immediate access!

Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout Group

I’d love to hear if you have started a blog and took a break! What has worked? What hasn’t?

My Must Have Blogging Resource List:
Bluehost
Convertkit
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Become a Pinterest VA Today

Read more about happiness, success and blogging here!
Read more about FREE airfare and my frugal travel adventures here!

Together, we can power through anything!

XO,

Serena

Start your OWN blog! It’s never too late!

Get your FREE Social Media Weekly Planner!

Stop being busy and get productive! Don't let social media suck you in!

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6 Genius Ways For Bloggers to Get More Blog E-Mail Subscribers

serenaonthego — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 21:07:35 +0000

Getting blog e-mail subscribers and growing your e-mail list is crucial to your blogging business. It’s how you connect, communicate, and sell! Yes, I know…you’ve heard this hundreds of times but you’re still asking “HOW do I get e-mail subscribers or grow my list in the first place?” This post was written with you in mind. Blog e-mail subscribers are special because they are your loyal readers who have said to you “I care what you say” and “Yes, please market to me.” They love your content, they love your voice, they are beginning to trust you, and they’ve made a personal connection to you in some way. THEY WANT MORE!

Remember, once a blog reader leaves your site they will be bombarded with over 200 million OTHER blogs fighting for their loyalty and attention. If you don’t capture that reader by obtaining their e-mail address, through your blog e-mail subscription form, you’ve likely lost them forever. It’s true. Sorry.

Instead of a reader having to locate your blog again, or book mark it, or risk losing your blog link all-together, e-mail subscribers want your shiny, happy voice to come barreling straight into their e-mail inbox. Sweet, right!? So how do you grow your list by encouraging more people to sign up for your e-mail list?

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase I get a small commission to keep this blog running.

Here are six tips for growing your list & getting blog e-mail subscribers!

Add a “freebie” or “opt-in” at EVERY opportunity

A “freebie”, “opt-in”, or “magnet” is something of value you offer to your reader for free. It is a sweet incentive for them to hand over their e-mail address. Keep in mind, people don’t enjoy spam and some hold their e-mail address as special to them as their social security number. Think of your reader/blogger relationship like dating; the reader must like you, slowly gain your trust, date you, and then really want more of what you offer….which is the point they subscribe to your blog.

Like the heading suggests, add a freebie or opt-in every chance you get! Every post? Check. Hyperlink a call-to-cation on your e-mail signature? Check. Twitter bio? Check. Instagram profile? Check. Facebook group? Check, check, and check. You get it, right? Anywhere else that your blog fans might interact with you is a great place to add an opt-in link. You want to make it accessible. This goes for your blog itself, also. Make an opt-in available on every page. When the moment strikes and they decide to join, don’t make them hunt for it.

Remember, readers are interested in solving their OWN problems, not yours (sorry!), and they need solutions to their troubles (not yours, again!) In the spirit of keeping that in mind, here are some great freebie ideas for any blog niche:

+FREE courses, PDF e-books, or invaluable resources that you know well (Similar to my FREE Blissiplined Blogger Course & FREE Perfecting Pinnable Images Course)

It’s likely you have expertise in an area that others don’t and need. For instance, something that is obvious or comes easy to you may not be the same for someone else. Share that information in the form of a freebie! After the reader has completed the free course you can add them to a e-mail sequence or up-sell them a different paid course! Perhaps you’re a great photographer; offer free stock photos! Strapped for TIME? Outsource your ideas for super affordable prices on Fiveer. I LOVE (love, love) using Fiveer!

+List of niche related gift ideas

Blogs, especially when found via Pinterest, are a go-to for shoppers! When shopping for my teenage son I’m always seeking new ideas, inspiration and must-haves! Having a high-quality list of ideas for my teenager would reduce the time I have to spend online “window” shopping!

+Printables

Some may say this is “old-news”; I wholeheartedly disagree and I still find printables convenient, fun and time-saving! Items such as gift tags, stickers, kid’s name tags, grocery reminder lists, pet care scheduling, etc. are still very helpful to the busy household keeper and shopper! Ensure your printables are high enough quality that someone would actually pay for them!

Make it as easy as possible for your blog reader!

Are you guilty of “x-ing” out of an annoying pop-up or 14-field form that requests everything except your blood type? I can imagine you roll your eyes at them like I do and think “ugh, ain’t no-body got time for that!” It’s important to reduce the number of entry fields in your opt-ins and pop-up blog e-mail subscription forms. You won’t need more than a readers’s first name & e-mail address. Ever.

Speaking of pop-ups, increase your e-mail subscription pop-up time to 60 seconds, or only to appear when a reader is leaving your site; you do not want a pop-up to appear immediately or you’ll likely lose the reader. Remember, in blogging you only have 1-3 seconds to catch the readers attention! You don’t want those seconds to be them fumbling to find the big red “X” to leave your site out of frustration.

Remove as many barriers as you can so that they can’t say no to joining your e-mail subscription list.

Run a contest or giveaway!

The way to enter? Becoming a subscriber, of course! You can include a whole range of actions for readers to take to increase their number of entries, which encourages them to stay engaged and rewards you at the same time! Win/Win! For instance, you can make them aware that by doing the following activities they’ll get more giveaway entries: liking your Facebook page, following you on Twitter, or sharing the contest on their social media profiles. The more involved your giveaway is, the more engagement and activity you’ll reap from it!

Get your FREE Social Media Weekly Planner!

Stop being busy and get productive! Don't let social media suck you in!

OWN YOUR TIME with this FREE Weekly Social Media Planner!

Turn your TIME into blog e-mail subscribers!

Are you really good at something? Do you have an expertise in your niche? Could you be a consultant or coach in your niche? Perhaps you blog about horses and can offer a review of riders on video? Or maybe your a home-school mom that excels at science? Readers would love to have 10-15 minutes of your time! Use a landing page or blog subscription form to have readers sign up for 10-15 minute increments “live” with you! This method is a win/win because you can use this time to gather new post ideas, get feedback, and hear your readers thoughts and feelings!

Put social media to work for you!

The average person spends up to 5 hours a DAY on social media! Use all of your social media platform bios and profiles to link to your blog e-mail subscription sign up form or landing page! Also, on a timed basis (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) post specifically about your e-mail sign up and let your followers know what you offer! It’s OK to repeat posts for e-mail sign ups!

Guest Post!

Silly, you thought guest posting was only about exposure and blog traffic! Nope, it’s also a rock-star way to gain blog e-mail subscribers and grow your list! Here’s why. When you guest post for another blogger you’re offered the opportunity to share your work and create an “author bio” where you share a little about yourself. The author bio is a great place to slap a freebie and “call to action” which links to your blog e-mail subscription form or landing page!

Wait! Now What….

One last thing….the question I knew you we’re going to ask! “Serena, what program do you use to build and grow your e-mail list?” I use, and swear by ConvertKit. Convertkit is an e-mail marketing program made especially for bloggers BY BLOGGERS! Yep, it’s a little pricey, but truth is it’s been the BEST money I’ve spent so far on my blog! While I know there are many free e-mail providers out there, I can’t speak to their performance because I’ve used Convertkit since the day I launched! Tip: INVEST IN YOUR BUSINESS!

Convertkit integrates with e-commerce, landing page, and membership site providers as well as having e-mail list automation tags and sequences (this is a fancy way to sort your readers, tag their interests and send out drip e-mails!) Convertkit prevents you from having duplicate subscribers, it has EASY (like, really easy) templates to set up your blog e-mail subscription forms and landing pages and has awesome reports and a dashboard like mine below! Honestly, for me, it’s on my must-have list!

Looks like you have lots of ideas now to keep you busy while growing your e-mail list! Have a look at this article published by SumoMe that has even more incredible e-mail subscriber list growth ideas! SumoMe is a plug-in I use that provides free tools you need to grow your WordPress site. SumoMe makes it easy for your readers to join your e-mail list, share your posts to social media, and optimize your analytics.

Have any awesome ideas for growing your e-mail list that I’ve missed? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

My Must Have Blogging Resource List:
Bluehost
Convertkit
BoardBooster
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Become a Pinterest VA Today

Read more about happiness, success and blogging here!
Read more about FREE airfare and my frugal travel adventures here!

Here’s to growing your e-mail list,

-Serena

Start your OWN blog! It’s never too late!

The post 6 Genius Ways For Bloggers to Get More Blog E-Mail Subscribers appeared first on Serena on the GO.

Is Your Workspace Organized for Maximum Blog Productivity?

serenaonthego — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:51:58 +0000

There are only so many hours in the day (I haven’t come to terms with this yet). While you can’t add more time to a day, you can increase how much you can accomplish in the time you are given. After all, if you could finish your work day in three hours instead of eight and then have that extra time for your family, wouldn’t you? For starters, you need a clean work space. Yep, I said it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully aware that some of you will try to convince me that you work better in organized “chaos”, or that your hoarder tendencies are masked creativity, or that you know exactly where your stapler is in the pile of junk mail; while I appreciate your positive attitude…it’s not flying with me!

It’s time to take charge of your work space to get the most production from it! Here are five pro tips:

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links.

A clean workspace. Boom. No back-talk about it.

Most people thrive when they’ve got a clean table to work on. In fact, this is a proven statistic. Scientists at the Labor Department found there is a powerful connection between clean homes and health, and clean work spaces and productivity and focus. Now, I’m not one to post a bunch of science fluff (it’s out there if you want to find it), but there’s no denying scattered papers, Post-it notes and day-old cups of coffee can create a background mental-hum of distraction that will keep you from reaching your true potential.

Before some attack me, I know this isn’t true for everyone. Some people (especially highly creative types) claim to thrive in a messier work space – a method-to-the-madness approach. While I don’t totally agree, it’s important to know which one you are and have self awareness of your space.

Ergonomics!

Nothing can halt productivity like a slouchy posture. Not only will creating an ergonomic workspace help promote a healthy spine and wrists, it can also unleash your creativity. You’ll want to aim for a seat height where your knees create a right angle. Same with the keyboard height (elbows at a right angle). Your monitor should be positioned so that when you look straight on, you’re looking at the top third of the screen.

Sounds crazy, right? Writing that made me feel like the principal of a grade school. But, seriously, the way you set yourself up physically to be productive does make an impact on your outcome.

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Get organized. Now.

Nothing is a greater time suck than frantically looking around your office for that one piece of paper that is nowhere to be found, or, feeling like your computer is a never ending file cabinet of photos, videos, posts, pages, headlines…you know what I’m talking about! Creating an effective filing system, both in person & online, can be incredibly helpful to boost productivity. The age-old in- and outboxes are a tried and true method because they work (thank you IKEA for mine!). Whether you’re in an office, working from home, working from a coffee shop or an RV, they can streamline your process. Aim to keep the papers you are actively working on organized near you and then papers you rarely need to look at the furthest from you.

Now’s a good time to organize your computer files and images by folder; I did this morning and I already feel lighter and less chaotic!

Related reading:

Don’t forget to decorate-even if you’re not the decorating “type”

Inspiration can lead to productivity. If your work space, no matter how ergonomic and organized, doesn’t inspire you, it can sometimes be hard to churn those blog posts out. You need a space that you’re excited and happy to spend time in. Etsy has adorable, inspirational wall art and hilarious coffee mugs that every blogger needs!

Put inspiration on your walls! Own your GIRL BOSS mentality! I actually have been known to pick up awesome inspiration items at thrift stores and garage sales! (garage sale junkie here!)

Treat all your senses.

You might not think about this, because who does? You should be engaging all of your senses. Sight, sounds, and even smells can impact how well you can focus and therefore how productive you can be. Positioning your desk near a window is a great way to get a boost of energy; nothing beats a little vitamin D and sunshine….or snow and blue skies! If that’s not possible, investing in some nice lighting to help counteract that harsh florescent glare can do wonders. I’m a sucker for essential oils! I’m almost never in my office without peppermint and lemon essential mist in the air! It’s such a “pick me up”!

Also consider putting on some ambient noise, which has been proven to boost productivity. There are free apps like Coffitivity (mimics the sounds of a coffeeshop) you can try. Classical music can also be another great alternative. As for me, you’ll find me jamming to 90’s country…..I haven’t given up my Tim McGraw marriage pipe-dream, and who doesn’t sing along to “Yeah way down yonder on the Chattahoochee?”

So, now you know what you really should be doing to get your work space in top shape for productivity! If this goes against everything you know, now’s a good time to break out of your comfort zone!

How’s your work space looking? Share in the comments!

Serena

P.S. Have you started your blog yet? It’s not too late!

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Social Media Planning For Bloggers: Maximize Your Productive Time On Platforms

serenaonthego — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 16:00:27 +0000

I get it; social media is addicting. While social media is an important part of any blog & blogger’s day, it can easily create a time warp. Can you relate? You get started with nothing but productivity in mind…then 3 hours later you find yourself having a deep conversation on Facebook with a cousin-in-law of someone you went to middle school with. You need a social media blog planner. Seriously, I couldn’t truthfully tell you how many times I’ve looked up from my phone to realize I’ve spent (a lot) more time on Instagram than the quick check I had planned, or got sucked into Facebook threads that are irrelevant to my end goal.

When I attended the Elite Blogging Academy ACTIVATE Conference I learned the eye opening difference between productive time and busy time. Most of us, myself included, are guilty of being SUPER busy….not not productive. I’ve learned from long time bloggers (ones that make well over $50-100k a month) that they limit their social media time to 15 minutes a day! WAIT, whaaa…15 minutes a day!? Yes, you read that right. If this is a HUGE wake up call to you (as it was me) you should keep reading!

While social media is an incredibly rewarding avenue for bloggers & business owners, and has become essential to gaining and keeping blog traffic, it also has its downfalls. If you’re guilty of falling into the black hole that social media can be, here are a few proven tips to help you maximize the time you spend on social media.

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links.

Focus on what’s relevant & set time limits for yourself

If you’re hoping to grow your blog through social media, it’s important to stick to your chosen topic(s). Meaning, even if those dog skateboarding videos are adorable, unless your blog is about dog training, it’s likely not going to help you spread the word about your blog. Follow influencers and other important sources for your topic and focus on those; these are the people (and potential blog readers) that matter!

Of course there will be “down” time when your browsing social media for your own entertainment (guilty…who doesn’t love a good kitten video?), but ensure that when your focus is meant to be on building your business that you’re sticking to business.

The quick “checks” of your social media accounts, as we all know, add up throughout the day. Time is money. The beauty of blogging and online income is the ability to earn passive income. If your spending a ridiculous amount of “non-productive busy” time on social media you are no longer making, what I consider, passive income. Set some “no social” times, whether that’s when you’re hanging out with your family, at dinner with your friends, or when you’re working on blog posts. Not only does that limit distractions when you’re focused on the task at hand, but it also ensures that you’re actively engaged with what’s going on around you.

Get your FREE Social Media Weekly Planner!

Stop being busy and get productive! Don't let social media suck you in!

OWN YOUR TIME with this FREE Weekly Social Media Planner!

Learn to love a social media scheduler

Automated Facebook scheduler was a game changer for my own Facebook Group, Blogger Hangout. It provided me a way to schedule my posts and interaction with the group on Sunday for the entire week up front. Social Media, especially Facebook Groups, can be a time sponge. If you take advantage of automated schedulers you can get all your posts scheduled in an hour’s time (I do mine Sunday night for the week) AND it keeps the temptation of falling into the “hole” at bay.

HootSuite, Buffer, IFTTT, SocialOomph, SocialFlow and Tweetdeck are rockstar ways to make it appear that you’re online all the time, even when you’re not. You can pop on once a day to answer replies personally and schedule posts in advance. Now you can really stick to those off limit times knowing that your social media outlets are taking care of themselves.

Related reading:

Create a hierarchy of time sucking activities

What’s the best way to maximize your time doing anything? Prioritize the important things. The same is true of social media. You should create a hierarchy of most important to not important.

These might vary for each blogger’s traffic experience. For example, if you use Google Analytics to determine Facebook and Pinterest are your biggest traffic leads, then spend the majority of your time interacting and posting on these social media platforms. Then your next most important thing might be to read and respond to blog comments and Facebook thread responses. When you only allow yourself 15-30 minutes to spend on social media in a day, you then know which things you should prioritize and which you can ditch (goodbye, Farmville).

What’s your tip for staying on track with social media? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Social Planning!

Serena

The post Social Media Planning For Bloggers: Maximize Your Productive Time On Platforms appeared first on Serena on the GO.

Are Your Images Pinnable for Pinterest?

serenaonthego — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 15:18:43 +0000

Are you making a huge blogger mistake when it comes to Pinterest? I’m willing to bet you might be if you’re new to Pinterest! Are you aware there is a HUGE difference between an IMAGE and a PINNABLE image?

For a limited time I’m offering “PERFECTING PINNABLE IMAGES” PDF course to my readers FREE!

ENTER YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL BELOW FOR YOUR FREE COURSE! It will be delivered directly to your inbox as a instant download PDF!

This 10 page course includes:

IS YOUR BLOG PINNABLE?

Let me send you a FREE short course on making PINNABLE images!

This simple course will boost your blog traffic!

Pinterest drove over 25,000 views to my blog in just 4 MONTHS!

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The Heartbreak and Happiness of Blog Un-Subscribers

serenaonthego — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 00:35:08 +0000

Picture this: You’ve worked your hiney off on your blog. You’ve perfected every published post and ensured every hyperlink actually links to something. You’ve lost 6 pounds sweating over content, SEO, plug-ins, disclosures, marketing, affiliates, branding, images, traffic, getting subscribers, and on…and on…

Then, just when your confidence has peaked, you’ve figured out how to send a newsletter e-mail (or “Broadcast” if you use ConvertKit like I do), you’ve gotten up the nerve to push “send” and then, you wait…

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, if you purchase I receive small compensation.

…and BAM, you’re heart falls to your toes and your gut feels like releasing every meal you’ve eaten for 3 days.

WHY?

UNSUBSRIBERS! “Nooooooooooooooooo!” Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout Group

Wait, you mean, our readers have the audacity, the nerve, the boldness, the pluck to REMOVE themselves from receiving e-mails from us? Yep, they sure do. And….who cares? Not me, and you shouldn’t either. While I understand it feels like a rejection; it’s not. In fact, I reached out to other bloggers to get their take on unsubscribers; I hope you feel “lifted” and relieved in reading their individual views and how they use unsubscibers as an opportunity to fine tune their audience and catapult to their success!

Audrey from About With Love found a way to use unscribers as a way to evaluate her blog posts!

I look at the e-mail that they unsubscribed from and try to evaluate what could’ve made them unsubscribe. Was it an email with an unclear message? Was the content not of much value? To take the guesswork out of why a person is unsubscribing, you can ask this question before they officially unsubscribe. Every person who unsubscribes is a chance to improve your e-mails! However, sometimes people simply unsubscribe because they’re uninterested, and that’s the way things go!

Rebekah from RebekahAllan.com learned quickly to NOT take things personal!

Unsubscribers use to make me feel sick to my stomach. Like I had done something wrong. And that just isn’t the case. The truth? That not 100% of people will like 100% of your stuff!
I’m sure they unsubscribe for various reasons and have no ill feelings or malice behind unsubscribing. It isn’t personal, so don’t make it. Over time I have grown a thick skin and barely glance at the number (only to check if it is higher/lower than normal!) And every email I get 50 unsubscribing (to an email list of 20k). It is all relative.

Eric from High Five Dad has found he much prefers quality over quantity!

The goal of my email list is not to have the most massive list on the internet but to have a well curated list of individuals who crave my content. I look at unsubscribers as helping me prune my list down to my core group of followers. This provides for a much higher engagement on call to actions later on. It is not the size of the list but the quality and I aim for quality.

Related Reading:

Clara from The Balance Collective thinks that maybe it’s not about the e-mails at all!

I remind myself that sometimes people prefer to keep in contact through social channels or they don’t need the support the blog offers any more. In fact, I rarely read e-mails anymore so I can’t take it personally when people are digitally de-cluttering.

Brian from BrianManon.com has found a way to reach out to his unsubscribers!

Unsubscribers is part of the game. Whenever you send a e-mail depending on your list size you will get unsubscribers. When someone unsubscribes from my e-mail list they go to a page were I tell them “I’m sorry to see you go but if you would like to keep in touch you can follow me at (Social Media Networks)”

Eden from EdenFried.com says “upward and onward” and feels that unsubscibers is a “gift” for your business!

I used to detest unsubscribers. For some reason, I took each unsubscribe personally as if it was some form of cruel, virtual slap across the face. Since then, I’ve come to learn and appreciate the art of email marketing and have learned to reframe my perspective on unsubscribes. When people unsubscribe, think of it as a gift to you. They’re doing you an awesome favor by leaving your list when they clearly were never meant to be there in the first place. I actually know many people who deliberately send e-mails that are intended to weed out people who shouldn’t be on their list and provoke unsubscribes from those people. Crazy, right? Well I actually think it’s pretty genius. So the next time you notice an unsubscribe, try and feel grateful! Onward and upward.

Courtney from CourtneyHelena.com brings up a great point regarding money and the opportunity to reflect!

Unsubscribers give you the opportunity to reflect, hone, refocus, and get closer to finding your true tribe. They also help keep e-mail costs down for larger lists – why pay for someone who doesn’t want to be there?

Mandi of Big Tiny Steps uses e-mails she receives from other bloggers to see what readers love!

I recently got 3 unsubscribes in 2 days. I have a small number of subscribers so this really got me down. I felt sorry for myself for about a day and then I said alright it’s either 1. grabbing the freebie and running 2. cleaning out inbox or 3. not digging what I am throwing out there anymore/expected something different from me. So I took the opportunity to reach out and ask for feedback and now have been working hard on improving and switching up my email strategy. I did this by checking what e-mails I love to open and trying to determine what they are doing that hooks me and sets them apart. All failures are opportunities if you let them be!

Julie from All About Self Employment says “Business Isn’t Personal!”

When subscribers decide to part ways with my e-mails, I view it as a challenge to continue to grow my list, but with a more targeted market. I only want to bother people that want to be bothered!

You see, while we could ponder and worry about why someone chose to unsubscribe, it just isn’t worth our time and doesn’t contribute the the success of our business or blogs. Have you ever felt let down, disappointed or hard on yourself for sending an e-mail that resulted in unsubscribers?

My Must Have Blogging Resource List:
Bluehost
Convertkit
BoardBooster
Studio Mommy Theme
BellBerry Lane Logo
Canva
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
Become a Pinterest VA Today

Read more about happiness, success and blogging here!

Read more about FREE airfare and my frugal travel adventures here!

Here’s to keeping engaged subscribers,

-Serena

The post The Heartbreak and Happiness of Blog Un-Subscribers appeared first on Serena on the GO.

1st Quarter (April-July 2017) Blog Traffic, Income & Social Media Report

serenaonthego — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:46:16 +0000

Who’da thunk it? With a blink of an eye a “quarter” has gone by! Serena on the GO officially launched April 28, 2017. Within 7 days I’d received over 3000 page views (read about it here), and within 3 months I’d received over 20,000 page views (read about that here). Get a hold of this…most of those page views occurred while I was unplugged in Maui for 16 days…thanks to Pinterest and BoardBooster!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Clicks may result in me earning a commission.

Let’s get something out of the way. Some love income reports, other’s don’t. If you’ve been following me much you’ll know I don’t care what others do, and I try to care very little about what others think (you can read about that here!) Truth be told, if it hadn’t been for discovering income reports on Pinterest prior to my blogging days it’s unlikely I would have started my own blog at all. With that said, I’m hopeful that by posting my own reports, those coming behind me will find motivation and inspiration to start their blogging journey!

Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout Group

Income reports (along with Social Media & Blog Traffic Reports) keep hope alive! They serve as a kick-butt accountability and tracking tool (to ourselves) and they give insight into what is possible for others! What better motivation is there than real life results? None that I can think of.

When I started Serena on the GO it was done to teach others how to fly for free (as in, get free airfare!) I’m a huge travel addict; once I’d learned to fly for free I wanted to teach others how. I did that, successfully. However, along my 1^st quarter journey I found myself struggling to produce awesome travel related contact. While I love writing, I wasn’t finding passion or joy in writing about travel, and I’m not keen on photographs (Achilles heel, ya’ll.) Following my heart and gut instincts to transition out of travel blogging has paid off two-fold; not only am I happy, my readers are providing marvelous feedback! If you stick it out with me you’ll be in for more about business, motivation, passion-pursuing and mentoring; topics I’m endlessly giddy talking about!

Highest Performing 1^st Quarter Posts:

How Bout’ That Blog Traffic:

Wow! Blog Traffic has been incredible! However, during my 3-month journey I learned that many struggle with blog traffic to the point of giving up or quitting, so I set out to find ways to help my fellow bloggers drive traffic to their sites. If blog traffic is a challenge for you please visit my posts HERE and HERE to find out how I drove over 20,000 page views between my April 28^th launch and July.

Using BoardBooster to schedule Pinterest activity has been beyond-words rewarding for my traffic. I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Pinterest, but I never realized how beneficial it would be for my blog. Using BoardBooster to schedule my pins has been the source of 80% of my blog traffic. I started with a free trial and quickly realized the $10.00 a month was worth its weight in gold (your 1^st 100 pins each month are free!) BoardBooster has increased my Pinterest followers by 335 in just 90 days, and increased my monthly engagement to 65,587! Insane, right!

If Pinterest is new to you, or you’re not quit getting it I highly recommend Become a Pinterest VA Today. This course will walk you through everything you’ll need to get your Pinterest performing for you and driving traffic to your blog.

Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout Group

Social Media and Current Stats:

Participation in Facebook Groups has also played a huge role in driving traffic to my blog. When I started blogging I didn’t realize the importance social media played. Since I’ve never had Instagram or Twitter I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and get involved. While I’m still learning at snail’s pace, I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of both.

Having Convertkit to capture and connect with subscribers from the “get-go” has been awesome. Many times bloggers report they wish they had started gaining subscribers from the start. Subscribers are your loyal readers; the ones that will keep coming back for more and that will give you honest feedback and direction. They are also who will purchase your products and become your affiliates.

I’ve had to contact my host, Bluehost, twice with plug-in issues that caused my comments to act up. Bluehost customer service was top notch and they had everything working perfectly in moments.

Here’s where I’m at, as of July 28, 2017:

Blogger Hangout Facebook Group: 275 Members
Blog traffic: 20,232 Page Views
Pinterest followers: 383
Twitter followers: 74
Serena on the GO Facebook page: 320 “Likes”
Instagram followers: 186
E-mail subscribers: 392
Started Elite Blog Academy 3.0: Currently on Module 1

Goals for 2^nd Quarter:

Increase Blogger Hangout Facebook Group to 700 members
Increase blog traffic to 20,000 monthly page views
Grow Pinterest followers to 600
Expand Twitter following to 150
Grow Serena on the GO Facebook page to 600 “likes”
Inflate Instagram to 500 followers
Gain 300 new e-mail subscribers
Publish weekly round-up posts
Complete Elite Blog Academy 3.0
Earn $600.00 in affiliate income

Let’s Talk About MONEY!

While income alone wasn’t my sole objective when I started blogging, it certainly played a role in my “big picture”. I wanted to be able to eventually monetize so that I could quit my day job and replace my income. Just weeks into being “live” I heard about Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and decided that was an investment I could justify; thank God I did. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing walked me through money making stuff that was totally foreign to me!

Within a week of implementing steps from the course I had earned my first affiliate marketing commission!

My 1^st quarter expenses were high; this is because I’m a true believer in investing in my business so that it rewards me like a business. Naturally, I won’t incur these same costs every month. Please don’t think that you need to incur these costs to have a great blog…you don’t!

Expenses:

Convertkit $58.00 ($29.00 a month) – ConvertKit is my e-mail service provider; it allows me to easily collect leads, embed subscription forms into my posts, and send pretty e-mails to my readers. I’m partial to ConvertKit because I live in Boise (they are here!), but honestly, they are the best in the business and you’ll find that most well-known, successful bloggers use ConvertKit.

BoardBooster $15.00 – Oh, BoardBooster, my heart. BoardBooster is a Pinterest scheduling tool that allows you to “set it and forget it”. I have BoardBooster scheduled to release my own pins from my Pinterest boards into Pinterest Group Boards daily, based on the Group Board rules. BoardBooster gets ALL the credit for 6000 page views while I was unplugged in Maui for 16 days!

Income:

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing taught me how to use affiliate marketing in my blog. In the last 3 months I’ve made a total of $584.22. This income came from offering links to courses such as Become a Pinterest VA Today and through vendor sites such as ShareASale and Flexoffers.

In light of being transparent, it’s tough to break this income down because I have my affiliate vendors set not pay out until I reach $100.00. Since my income is coming from different vendors they haven’t all paid out yet. I’m ONLY reporting $584.22 that I’ve actually received in my bank account through Paypal.

Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout Group

I’d love to hear if you have started a blog! What has worked? What hasn’t? Blogging is not easy! If you’re willing to put the hard work in and keep trucking away you’ll reap big rewards, but it won’t come quick or overnight.

Happy Blogging Friends!

Serena

The post 1st Quarter (April-July 2017) Blog Traffic, Income & Social Media Report appeared first on Serena on the GO.

20,000 Page Views In 3 Months- Let’s Talk Blog Traffic!

serenaonthego — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 19:36:20 +0000

It seems like yesterday I wrote “3000 Page Views In 1 Week Live“. Time flies, eh. Well, here we are 86 days later! Now seems like a good time for an update on blog traffic! Serena on the GO is not quite 4 months old, and as of this morning it’s at 20,232 page views. Exciting, right!?

Related: Join my Free Facebook Blogger Hangout

Before I go on, let’s get something straight (I’m a straight shooter). This is NOT going to be a step by step guide on how you can magically make a traffic unicorn appear and get this amount of page views overnight. It won’t look like this:

Step 1. Do this
Step 2. Now do this
Step 3. Jump to the left 5 times
NO.
NO.
NO.

It’s going to be a detailed insight into how I’ve approached my blog, what I’ve done to drive blog traffic, and the things I feel are critical to a successful blog. These are my opinions. Always remember opinions are like a*******, everyone has one. During your blogging journey, you’ll receive copious amounts of advice, direction and criticism; only you can decide what feels good and what works best for YOU.

Start a blog RIGHT from the start! FREE Blogging Course!

Enter your name & e-mail to get immediate access!

Here’s what worked for me:

It’s NEVER too early to start building online relationships with other bloggers (even “celebrity” ones!)

Whoa, intimidating right!? Well, so is a lot of other stuff in life. Get over it. Other bloggers, especially successful ones are your biggest teachers and support network. They’ve all started from the ground-up, they’ve felt your same frustrations, feelings of being overwhelmed, learned through mistakes, and seen-it-all. Let them be your guide.

If you haven’t noticed already, the blogging community is tight knit. Weave yourself into this knit! Just 1 week into my blogging journey I reached out to Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents (whoa, right, who do I think I am?) and she was incredible! She, like so many other “big name in the game” bloggers are down to Earth, supportive, helpful and seemingly have an “open door” policy. I’ve yet to experience any negativity or competitiveness from well-known bloggers. In fact, I often tell others that out of my 21 years of working (Army, Corporate and Federal) I’ve never been a part of a more welcoming, friendly, and supportive community of folks!

Having friends in the blogging community open doors for you. It’s a network gold-mine. For one, you can simply learn things you didn’t already know. It also opens up opportunities to be noticed, mentioned, guest posted, interviewed, get invited to Pinterest group boards (more on that later), and get social media shot-outs. It’s also a great way to find affiliations, courses, and to review their already-successful work (remember, I don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel.) Let’s face it, I can’t be the only one that nerds out with excitement when Michelle Shroeder-Gardner “likes” my Facebook posts (don’t tell her I said this…haha)

So, don’t be shy, we’re all introverts of sorts (or we wouldn’t be bloggers). Be the voice for your blog! You’ve worked hard on it and should be proud. Reach out and touch someone! Start here, I know for a fact these gals (and guy) won’t be snarky!

Kristin Larsen from KristinLarsen.com (formally Believe in a Budget)
Kelan & Brittany Kline from The Savvy Couple
Eden Fried from EdenFried.com
Carrie Becker from Our Everyday Chaos

Be A Hustler (Baby), but NOT a Spammer! Let’s Talk about Facebook Groups:

(while we’re at it, feel free to join mine here!)

Remember I said “be the voice of your blog”, I meant it. Why spend precious time constructing a gorgeous blog if you’re not willing to promote it to the world? Your blog doesn’t have a voice, it doesn’t have a theme song, it doesn’t have legs to walk on. YOU are the ONLY person who can make it move.

Facebook groups have been instrumental to my success. With that said, it’s not as simple as “join and drop”. You can’t simply drop a link into 117 different Facebook groups and expect others to flock to your blog; it will not happen. Bloggers are human. Humans crave connection. YOU HAVE TO CREATE CONNECTION.

How do you do this? By creating online relationships. Spend time in your groups, answer other blogger’s questions (whether technical or emotional), be helpful, be constructive but always kind. Give your opinions, and seek the opinions of others. You’ll be amazed (I was) that by creating REAL human connection the rest will fall into place. Don’t believe me? Try it.

Creating connections is the 1^st step of making Facebook groups work toward driving traffic to your blog. Once you have connections and feel comfortable in a particular group you can start “link dropping” to promote your work. Be sure to follow the group owner’s guidelines and please, don’t “drop” your link and run. In other words, put a caption before your link, give your link a voice by telling others what it is (so they know before they click). This creates intimacy and visually shows others you’re putting time and effort into your link and their group.

Make sure to follow the group’s thread schedule and rules, otherwise, you’ll just be another spammer with no views. Also, ensure your dropped link is relevant. Nothing is more awkward than having a nice conversation on Facebook about Pinterest and a random, out-of-nowhere blogger drops an SEO post. Grrrr…..

With that said, I can’t talk about “threads” without telling you how I really feel. Now’s a good time to refill your coffee (vodka) because it’s gonna get hot in here. DO NOT, I repeat, do not participate in forced reciprocation threads with as many rules as a kindergarten class. I was hesitant to say this because some of my favorite bloggers have Facebook groups like this, but hey, it’s my blog so I’m going to tell it like it is. Forced reciprocation style threads do not provide genuine readers or subscribers, nor do they feel good. They bring out cattiness, cruelty, drama and tattle-telling (seriously, we’re all adults here.) Forced threads are a huge time waster; that time is better spent elsewhere. Just be genuine; follow, like and comment on blogs and social media accounts you’ll ACTUALLY go back to (because isn’t this who you want liking, following and commenting on your blog?). Enough said.

Stop worrying about what others are doing or not doing:

“She followed then unfollowed me”
“there’s too many people blogging about blogging”
“he unsubscribed from my blog”
“income reports are fake”
“she’s not following the thread rules” (admin tagged…haha)

Who cares? Not me. Every second spent worrying about what someone else is doing or not doing is time lost from being productive on your own craft. Just stop. Stop giving a single care to what others are doing or not doing. This is a short paragraph because it’s really that simple. Just stop. Worry about YOU, YOUR blog, and what YOU’RE doing and not doing.

Learn Pinterest NOW! You won’t have a single regret:

I should have mentioned this previously; while my blog has been live since April 28, 2017, I was unplugged in Maui for 16 of those days. Literally unplugged. I didn’t write or publish a single blog post from June 19, 2017 until August 1, 2017. I’m mentioning that because while I was in Maui completely unplugged I received over 6,000 page views. Did you read that? A 2 month old blog, no new content, an unplugged blogger, with over 6,000 PASSIVE page views.

Insane, right!? The credit belongs to Pinterest and BoardBooster.

Pinterest is a beast….in a good way! But, I also understand not everyone knows how to use Pinterest and it can be INCREDIBLY overwhelming. I bought and paid for Pinterest Unpuzzled and I’m SO glad I did. Other than Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, I can honestly say it was the best blog investment I’ve made yet. It’s prettty much got everything you need to know about rocking Pinterest!

Pinterest is a search engine. It uses “Alt Text” from your image (entered via WordPress when you “add media”) to allow users to search for what you’ve written about. So, if you’ve written a blog post about birds, and upload an image to Pinterest with “Alt Text” that reads “Southern birds of prey eat little baby squirrels in winter” anyone who comes to Pinterest seeking those words would likely see your pinned image as a result. When they click on your pin it will take them to your blog post.

Each of my oldest blog posts has 1-3 pinnable (I’ll touch on “pinnable” shortly) images. My newer blog posts have 3-6 pinnable images, however, I “hide” them in my HTML code so they aren’t seen ON my blog, but they pop up when someone pushes my Pinterest social share button.

Totally confused? Go to this post, click on the Pinterest share button on the left sidebar. Notice that pinnable images pop-up that ARE NOT on the actual blog post? Great, eh! You can do this also:

Enter the image into your post (doesn’t matter where, I always put on very top of post)
Switch to TEXT view
Enter this code before your image code:
Enter this code after your image code:

That’s it. That’s how you hide a pinnable image into your blog posts! Now when you publish a new post, go to the post and share your pinnable images to your own Pinterest boards directly from your blog post via your social share buttons.

Follow me on Pinterest!

I’m also part of 58 group boards on Pinterest. Group boards are boards that have multiple collaborators who can contribute new pins, which creates a very large audience for your pins to be seen.

Update: I now have my OWN Group Board with over 100 contributers! Contact me with your e-mail address if you’d like to be a part of my Group Board!

Because I’m a real human (yep!) with only 2 arms, 10 fingers and roughly 14 hours of productivity time a day (I sleep sometimes), I can’t realistically keep up with all these boards myself. This is where BoardBooster comes in. BoardBooster is an automated pinning tool that allows bloggers to set a schedule of where and when to pin. I’ve set up my BoardBooster account to re-pin MY OWN pins to each group board daily (per the group board instructions, some have limits of 3-6 pins a day). This keeps my pins recirculating to group boards 365 days a year without my manual involvement!

Earlier I mentioned I would talk a little about the meaning of “pinnable.” NOT EVERY PHOTO OR IMAGE IS PINNABLE. Meaning, don’t think that just because you have an image or graphic on your blog post that it’s worthy of being on Pinterest. Pinterest has a very distinct “look”. You’ll want your image to be vertical and have a clear indication showing what your blog post is about via text overlay.

Get a copy of MY FREE COURSE “Perfecting Pinnable Images” HERE!

Think of your “pin” as an advertisement like the examples here:

IS YOUR BLOG PINNABLE?

Let me send you a FREE short course on making PINNABLE images!

This simple course will boost your blog traffic!

Pinterest drove over 25,000 views to my blog in just 4 MONTHS!

I’ve predicted you were going to ask me “How do I find Pinterest group boards and become a collaborator”?

The answer to that lies above. Build online relationships and be your blog’s voice. Ok, it’s not that simple, but it is that simple. Go to PinGroupie to find group boards that interest you, then message the owner (1^st person listed) by introducing yourself and your blog and asking the owner to be a contributor to their group. This is the exact way I got invited to over 30 groups. I just took the bull by the horns and reached out. I also posted in Facebook groups that I was seeking new group boards to join and received many more invitations to collaborate. Also, sometimes you’ll see new group board owners asking for collaborators on Facebook groups. Again, don’t be shy!

Facebook Group participation and Pinterest account for 90% of my blog traffic. Since I have a tendency to shy away from things that challenge me I’ve just started using Instagram (follow me here), however, I’ve gained 214 followers in one month. When I post to Instagram I always comment on my own post with 30 hashtags (that’s all Instagram allows) and that seems to be resulting in new followers for each post. I’ll update you on my Instagram use next time since this is a brand new platform for me.

Treat your blog like a business, if you want to be rewarded like a business:

I get it, money is tight and free information is abundant on the internet. I don’t disagree, but I don’t fully agree. I’m an advocate for investing in yourself and your blog. This doesn’t have to be huge bucks, just enough to get you started on the right foot.

I’d rather see someone invest $3.95 a month in hosting to have a beautiful, fully optimizable blog they can grow, then watching them scramble later to get it moved over to a self-hosted site (seen this horror story more than once). I’d also rather see someone invest $197 in a life changing course like Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing in order to start monetizing right away (I made $500 in 3 months, I’ll create an income report soon) then someone who seeks out all the free information they can find and are still struggling to make .10 cents a year into their journey.

This is just the reality of doing business. Investing in your blog is never a bad thing. I’m thankful that I made a few smart investments upfront because they’ve paid themselves off already.

Well, if you’ve made it this far, awesome! I know this was a long post but there was so much to cover and I didn’t want to leave anything out. Blogging is hard work. You’ve got this!

Before I end, I want to re-establish what I updated on the “3000 Page Views in 1 Week Live” update…

UPDATE: SINCE WRITING THIS POST I’VE RECEIVED A LOT OF COMMENTS LIKE “BUT, YOU DIDN’T ACTUALLY TELL ME HOW”. I WISH THERE WAS A STRATEGY OR “EXACT” STEPS I TOOK, BUT THERE ISN’T. I WAS SIMPLY INVOLVED, MINGLED, HELPED, ASKED QUESTIONS, DROPPED LINKS IN SCHEDULED THREADS AND MET AND NETWORKED WITH NEW “BLOGGING BUDDIES” IN THESE GROUPS. THERE REALLY IS NO “MAGIC” TO BLOGGING…IT’S ALL ABOUT ONLINE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING. YA’LL I’M BRAND NEW, TOMORROW WILL BE 3 WEEKS THAT I’VE BEEN A BLOGGER. I CAN’T MAKE MAGIC HAPPEN, IT’S HARD WORK!

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda

Start a blog RIGHT from the start! FREE Blogging Course!

Enter your name & e-mail to get immediate access!

Happy Blogging & Increased Traffic, Friends!

Join my FREE Facebook Blogger Hangout!

Serena

The post 20,000 Page Views In 3 Months- Let’s Talk Blog Traffic! appeared first on Serena on the GO.

Strap In & Hold On…Change Is Coming and Your NICHE Matters!

serenaonthego — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:49:11 +0000

Your chosen blog niche can make or destroy your happiness, crush your blog success and create the dreaded burn-out often referred to in the blogging community.

It was just under 4 months ago that I was a “noob” (aka “newbie”, “newbster”, “rookie”…I have a teenager) in the blogging space. Passion, excitement and feelings of being overwhelmed were all too real. Everything in me was determined to take my travel blog to the next level by educating the universe on how to fly around the world free.

See, if you didn’t already know, flying free (as in-getting free airfare) is my passion; I’m an avid travel addict who learned how to “hack” free airfare; it was in me to share this with others and I did for a short time, very successfully. Problem is, I quickly discovered I don’t find drive or joy in writing about travel. I LOVE traveling. I’ll always love traveling. However, I don’t love writing about it. It wasn’t until I started this blog and wrote for 4 months that I learned that. And, let’s face it, by having a travel blog I became a travel agent in my friend’s eyes…blech; that wasn’t in the plan. Bottom line, creating content we don’t love to write about is a struggle. Struggle isn’t something anyone should voluntarily bring into their lives, and I want my readers to feel passion and get as excited as I do.

My 4-month journey being a “travel blogger” reminded me of something my mom shared when I was a little freckled face girl. Mom had a stained glass business (think Tiffany lamps & intricate church windows) in the 1970’s; she is strikingly talented and loved hiding away in her glass room to cut and solder. Problem is, like me, she turned her hobby into a “job” and it lost its joy. Writing about travel doesn’t bring me joy. After getting back from our $33 trip to Maui I had to do some serious “soul searching”, this resulted in a big change.

I’ve learned more about myself in 4 months than I have in a long time. Not only did I learn about myself, I also listened to others, YOU & my mentors. Without a doubt, the best advice I had learned along this blogging journey was coming true:

Advice: LISTEN TO YOUR AUDIENCE!

Well, I’ve listened, and listened hard. You (my readers) don’t care much for my free travel advice (it’s brain-pain hard work), but you’ve made it clear you love my “Positive Paula in a Negative Nancy” world mentality. You’re begging to learn how I live my life not caring what others do, how I build online relationships, how I structured my blog into 20k page views in less than 3 months and how YOU can share in this positive mentality and personal success. My inbox is filled with your e-mails wanting to work with me as a mentor or coach and asking me to do “boot camp” style (Army pun not intended-Veteran here) reviews of your work. You’ve asked me to write more motivational posts, and to tell more of my life stories relating to “choosing happy”. Some of you even asked to hear more about my annoying Grandpa (Gah…you know how to get this tough girl sentimental!). Google Analytics (this is how bloggers know which of their pages get read the most), my heart, and my husband have all confirmed that I need to follow my gut.

Well friends, luck should have it…

It was meant to be, because, THIS is my favorite thing in the world to write about and brings me immense joy!

Writing about free travel was cool, but the thought of being able to guide other amazing women through their own personal journeys, online relationships, virtual assistant structures, and blogging businesses is rewarding beyond imagination!

Instead of saying “I’m a blogger who teaches others how to fly free”, I decided I like THIS better:

I lift up female business owners & bloggers while guiding them to their dreams. Happiness coach, brazen builder, potential pusher, and motivating machine!

While I’ll still throw in some free travel stuff every now and again (I’ll never stop traveling), I hope you’ll stick around while I turn this site from a “travel blog” into a kick-ass, female entrepreneur, happy-momma-making, confidence cultivating, motivating mentor machine! Now, who’s looking for a cheerleader, of sorts!?

Blogging and writing shouldn’t be a “chore”, it should be something you LOVE! The niche you chose to write about should be a topic you find yourself thinking about at night before you fall asleep, telling your friends about at get-togethers, chatting incessantly about over the fire while your camping, and something your audience wants more of. I get that every blogger has burn-out and needs a break (girl….I just took one!), but your niche should be something you’re less likely to fall out from under.

YOUR NICHE MATTERS BECAUSE YOUR HAPPINESS MATTERS! (and, it’s never too late to change it)

Have you had a change of niche? Have you started something you thought you loved and had a change of heart? I’d love to hear about it!

Happiness Always,

Serena

The post Strap In & Hold On…Change Is Coming and Your NICHE Matters! appeared first on Serena on the GO.

5 Reasons A Staycation In Your Own City Is A Budget Friendly Alternative To Expensive Traditional Travel

serenaonthego — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 05:15:02 +0000

Have you ever considered a staycation? Booking a hotel or AirBnB in your own city can be the best vacation you’ve ever had! My family is known for booking a last minute hotel room to get an overnight “refresh”, or to use the indoor pool in the winter.

I get it; most people and families cannot afford to go for expensive international getaways due to several factors including time, finances, conveniences, and health related concerns. The good news is that you can have great fun without flying out of your country, or even your own city. In fact, a staycation in your local hotel can be so much better, memorable and relaxing than an expensive getaway. Why?

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, if you purchase I receive small compensation to keep this blog running.

Here’s why;

It’s inexpensive- you’ll save money!

Taking a staycation in your own city will cost you far less money than flying to other states or exquisite international vacation destinations. They are ideal for those looking for new adventures without overstretching their budget. With this kind of vacation arrangement, you do not have to pay for costly flight tickets, food, rental car, or other expenses that come along with most travel. Local tourism is fun! Use Groupon, Entertainment Book, or other coupon sites to find great deals on local entertainment. Bring food to your hotel. Drive your own car. Use the hotel’s pool. You can spend quality time with your family, away from your home, without breaking the bank to do it. Holiday Inn Express is our go-to local hotel; we love their pool access and free breakfast!

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Related reading: 15 Ways to Save For Your Next Vacation

Time is of the essence

Most US companies give little time for paid vacation; usually 2-4 weeks. Taking a staycation in your local hotel can be an incredible way to spend quality time when you have limited time. Staying local also rewards you with more fun time as you will not have to spend endless hours connecting flights or moving from point A to B. An international vacation may require 2-4 weeks while you can simply make your staycation a single night or weekend event. Planning a staycation requires less time than a vacation. You will no longer worry about missing your flights or packing in a hurry. With a staycation there’s no long drives home or recovery time!

It’s much more relaxing

A staycation may be what you just need to unwind or eradicate stress. Traditional vacations can be demanding and stressful. Staycations eliminate all stress-related factors including reservations, flight connections, packing, jetlags, flight delays and endless security checkpoints. You can simply choose to relax your mind by checking in for the weekend at your favorite hotel.

Promotes local economy

Another thing about taking a staycation is that you will be making a significant contribution to the growth and development of your local economy. Take advantage of your free time to explore all the local museums, amusement parks, entertainment venues, restaurants, or even take a short road trip to cities within your state you have never visited. Promoting local tourism will lead to job creation and superior economic growth for your country.

Convenience

The good thing about going for a staycation is that it is very convenient. You can drive yourself around, set your own sightseeing schedules and accommodation plans without pressure. It will also save you from enduring endless stress in form of planning, overspending, packing, visa requirements, vaccinations and language barriers.

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Consider making your next vacation a staycation! Have you had a look at some of my most recent FREE flights? How about how I plan to retire by 40? Or how I’m quitting my high paying career to do what I LOVE!

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5 Reasons A Staycation In Your Own City Is A Budget Friendly Alternative To Expensive Traditional Travel

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