New Year’s resolutions, setting goals, whatever you call it. 2019 was the year we finally decided to start our blog. From the beginning, we’ve mapped out our goals and the things we want to accomplish with the blog. Luckily Jo’s very tech savvy and we’ve managed to figure everything out on our own and build the site up ourselves Now we want to share what the first 3 months of blogging have taught us.
While it’s only been three months we feel like we’re taking the right steps to make this hobby into something bigger over time and to incorporate it into this digital nomad lifestyle many Millennials have started chasing.
Before we dive into this post we just want to say thank you to all of you for reading and supporting us! You guys are what help us stay motivated to keep writing every week! Now that we’re about to start our travels hopefully we’ll be able to share some more posts from cool places like Tel Aviv, Israel and Dubrovnik, Croatia! And also the reality of being a digital nomad!
It’s been a fun experience so far for the two of us. And it’s something we can do and share together. It’s something we both love and have in common and it’s a blast that we can share our adventures and tips with the world! Years from now we can look back at our amazing experiences and see what we learned along the way.
Here’s what the first 3 months of blogging have taught us:
1. Pinterest is everything
When it comes to getting more traffic! We’ve definitely learned that investing in Tailwind is worth the money if your goal is to get more traffic.
2. Work on your SEO
Short for search engine optimization. It’s easy to spend money on ads on different platforms, but what you really want is to get FREE traffic to your website. Apart from being active on Pinterest, working on your SEO is a really good idea. We use the WordPress plugin ‘Yoast SEO’ to help us!
3. Blogging is so much more than a fanbase
It’s all about communities, learning from each other, and helping each other grow.
4. Ads are becoming outdated
You heard it. This is (for most people) no longer the way to go about it if you wish to monetize your blog. What you want to do instead is to:
5. Build your email list
With email lists, there is no algorithm and no bs. Just direct contact between you and your subscribers – and this is worth so much more than followers on Instagram. Later on, you can then create a product or sell a course to your subscribers.
6. Create freebies
You want to give your audience something valuable and grow your list at the same time. Freebies (also known as opt-ins or content upgrades) are the way to go.
7. Use your network
The most traffic we get is from sharing our blog on our Facebook. Pinterest and Google are our second best platforms which bring readers to our blog. Having supportive friends and family members means a lot to us personally and to our traffic.
8. Blogging is about creativity and your mindset
If you really want it done – get it done. And then take advantage of the opportunity of being super creative with your language and your images. It’s fun and good for you and your brain!
9. Get a project management tool
This way you can keep track of your projects and the processes. We don’t know what we would do without our TeamWork account! It helps us stay sane 😉
Other related posts
Dom’s biggest takeaway
The biggest takeaway… I think personally for myself, the biggest thing has to be the enjoyment of having a blog. It’s just like anything in life if you enjoy it you will put more of an effort into it.
Blogging would have never crossed my mind a few years ago. I was awful at writing essays in high school but then again I wasn’t interested in Shakespeare. Writing about something you truly enjoy and have a passion for is a million times easier… ”nice tip Dom,” but it’s true. It’s fun writing about our travel experiences along with sharing tips about traveling, blogging, and becoming digital nomads.
Find your niche, start producing content related to your niche, and you will start to make friends and meet people that support or believe in the same things. You’ll also help people along the way.
One more takeaway I want to share is don’t be scared to share your content. You may think it’s obvious or everyone knows about it but there’s always going to be some people learning something new from your blog. Things that may be obvious and simple for you, may not be obvious to your readers. Share what you’re passionate about and you will see your readers grow! Everyone is unique and you never know who is interested in what you do until you try!
Jo’s biggest takeaway
When blogging there is a lot of things to keep track of. It can easily feel overwhelming – especially in the beginning. If you have a job on the side it might be a whole other story.
I think it’s important that you don’t let yourself get overwhelmed and accept the fact that things take time. Yes, there is a lot to learn, but you’ll get there! No one starts a blog and becomes successful overnight. It takes a long time. Just don’t give up.
Set small goals for yourself and your blog and then just enjoy the small victories once you’ve reached your goals. Understand that it’s a learning curve/process. Enjoy the journey. Blogging is fun!
Alright guys, so that’s a bit about what we’ve learned over the past three months. Now it’s time for you to tell us what you have learned from your own blogging experience. Also, please share with us in the comments what your biggest takeaway from this post was!
Have fun!
Love it? Share it!
Blogging is a lot of work! I didn’t realize it when I started! Good luck!
Hi Michele, it really is, isn’t it? But it’s also a lot of fun and I think it gives amazing opportunities to write down your memories and to help other people travel more (in our case) 🙂 Best of luck to you too!
– Jo
This is so amazing you two! I’m so happy and excited for your new journey. I got a lot of great takeaways from this and I totally agree that traditional ads are outdated now. 🙂
Thank you, Taylor! It’s definitely inspiring see how far you’ve come in just over a year. A great motivator to keep us going 🙂 I’m happy you got something out of the post!
– Jo
Thanks Jo and Dom for sharing this! I’ve just recently started blogging as well and I definitely need to start being more active on Pinterest. Also, I’ve started with a free Wordpress plan just to try it out but I think I will change to a paid plan with my own domain soon. Wishing you all the best for your upcoming journeys! 🙂
Hey Maria,
Welcome to the world of blogging, haha. That sounds so great, good luck with it all! Feel free to reach out if you need any advice 🙂
-Jo
Generally I don’t read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, quite nice article.
Hey Keely,
Thanks for the positive vibes! 🙂
– Dom
Hey Freddy,
Thanks for hopping on this journey with us! I hope you enjoy the posts.
-Dom