My Second Blog Traffic Report – The Rising Damsel

This post contains affiliate links
Throughout all of my blogging research, I most enjoy reading blogger’s income and traffic reports as a part of their monthly updates. They keep me motivated and I hope to do the same for you.

The birth of my blog was exciting and scary, in a most welcoming way. A little back story; I cut and ran from a blog I had worked on for six years. It was my longest relationship ever. Over time, my interests evolved and I found it increasingly difficult to produce quality content that I felt proud of. I wasn’t monetized, and I was spinning my wheels with stress and no reward. I knew that it was time to change direction and break free from my old blogging ball & chain. That’s when The Rising Damsel was conceptualized. It was a huge detour, however, the cost of liberating myself was minimal and the gain well worth it.

If you’re looking to make money off of your site, adding widgets, offering any services, or freelancing, self-hosting is a must. For $3.95 a month you can own your site and all its content through Bluehost. Run your own advertisements, sign up for affiliate networks, and start pulling in money for views you are already getting. Use my helpful guide to get set up with WordPress and Bluehost Start Your Own Blog with Bluehost. 

As a professional, I have found that I enjoy helping people and that working in a corporate setting is not for me. I am adjusting my life accordingly and this is the path I have chosen. I’m publishing my traffic reports to keep myself on track and accountable. Documenting the progress and time it takes for a little blog to ‘make it’ should give a realistic example of my blogging journey. Hopefully, my tricks and mistakes will save you time and make you a more efficient blogger. We can all succeed together.

Blog Cost

When I signed up for hosting through Bluehost I opted for a 3-year plan. It’s a good idea to do the same as you can get a refund at any point. You will find that paying upfront for most monthly services will save you considerably. I also chose a yearly plan with Tailwind, which netted me a free month. At this point, my blog costs can be estimated at $14.00 per month.

What Got Accomplished in May? 

Facebook

I joined multiple facebook groups which have been AMAZING. Groups have been an invaluable source of information as well as a great support system. I created a facebook page and a facebook group for The Rising Damsel. Set up your WordPress to automatically publish to your site’s Facebook Page. Your group board should be a community where you invite others to promote their blog etc. *When you are first starting out, I would focus on contributing to other boards. Usually facebook groups are full of ‘share4share’ opportunities to really grow your reach. As time goes by, your page and group will naturally grow too.

Printables

Creating printables has been a wonderful creative outlet for me. If you haven’t looked into creating printables, I highly suggest doing it. There are so many different places to sell and promote this sort of business, especially online. The cost is zero and the investment is time. Thank goodness I can keep my site clean and concise. All my ‘artistic’ endeavors are saved on Picmonkey and Canva. As soon as I figure out some formatting requirements, I will be sharing them.

Affiliate Research

Research on affiliates should be an ongoing process. I signed up for Flexoffers which is an affiliate network that hosts many retailers and travel companies. My favorites so far are TD Ameritrade and Nordstrom. I suggest you check them out for your own affiliate needs. Their company’s list is ever-growing and their interface is really simple to use. 

Chitika Is my choice as an alternative to Google Adsense. I was notified on WordPress that Google Adsense was frozen and the plugin was potentially going away when I tried to change an ad. I haven’t heard anyone else talking about this on any forums though. In an effort to be proactive I looked for alternatives. If you’re a newer blogger and looking for alternatives to Adsense, I highly suggest Chitika. Chitika pays out at $10.00. Sites like Mediavine are wonderful but you need the traffic to support your application in order to get approved. There are no catches with Chitika and the ads are really easy to place. *I don’t currently make much money on my ads as a new blogger, however many successful bloggers preferred their test studies done with Chitika vs Adsense and made the switch to strengthen profits.

Tailwind Utilization / Pinterest Follower Increase

Pinterest has sorta been my baby since the start of monetizing my blog. Using Tailwind’s analytics and Tribes, I have increased my follower count by more than 400 in 3 months. Automated pinning has been a lifesaver. Your time is worth it, use Tailwind to take pinning by the horns.

Increased Interaction         

This blogging community is going to be the backbone of our success. It’s important to gain trust and make an effort to help people succeed as well. Commenting and being more interactive on other blogs has been awesome! As an engaged reader you retain more, I promise. I highly suggest taking at least 30 minutes a day to click on other blogs and show them, love. It will be reciprocated, my view count and referrals reflected it immediately.

Blogging Posts

• How to Live a Happier Life Tips Inspired from Abroad
• Be the Keeper of Your Money – Financial Tips for the Unexpected
• How to Have a Successful First Week at Your New Job
• Slim Your Waist Fatten Your Wallet. 20+ Easy Ways to Earn and Lose

Blog Goals For June

• Share 6 blog posts.  
• Get Ahead of Posting.  Work and blogging has been a stretch. Honestly, I could spend all day on Pinterest and Facebook doing promotions. Fill up all my extra time just clicking around and never even think about a post. Not good. It’s true, you’re supposed to spend about 60% of your time promoting, but I would like to have some more posts in my back pocket when I’m doing that.
• Increase Follower Count.  My follower count goals are above. I hope that I get to 600 for Pinterest. When you first start to blog it’s a good idea to set up small goals to keep yourself motivated. My pinterest number has definitely provided that for me.
• Use Tailwind More Efficiently.  Scheduling a month in advance would be a dream come true.
• Begin to Create My First Freebie.  I plan to invest in Convertkit within the next month or two. Before I do, it’s important for me to have an offer for my readers to sign up for.
• Narrow Down and Focus.  There are about a million blog ideas bouncing around that have nothing to do with posting. The most important priority needs to be creating a freebie and posting.
• Increase Page Views.

What’s the Plan?

Organization will be the name of the game this month. Being consistent on a day-to-day basis has been difficult. Being proactive would reduce a lot of that stress. Pre-scheduling pins on Tailwind has been great, except I am only scheduling about 5 days at a time. My plan is to carve out certain time frames to work on pre-selected objectives throughout the day to keep myself on task.