Cheers to 6 months! With 21 blogs posted it’s safe to say that we’re completely happy with where we are at the moment. We both work about 25-30 hours a week while being on the road and in between countries. At the moment we’re visiting friends and family before our next big move to Canada!
Again, 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 seriously what has helped us to blog these past 6 months! As some of you know, we’ve just recently been to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Dubrovnik, Croatia! Croatia gave us our first taste of being Digital Nomads and experiencing life on the road! We’re excited to share with you everything we learned!
We just shared 11 Awesome things to do in Dubrovnik which we are really happy about and hope you guys will benefit from it when you go visit. It basically covers hiking in Dubrovnik, things to do in the old town, and a few awesome trips to do from Dubrovnik.
We also spent a few days visiting some of our friends back in Prague, Czech Republic which was fantastic! It was so nice to be surrounded by such positive and inspiring people and all your positive vibes!
Now that we’ve been blogging for 6 months we’ve wanted to add to the list of what we’ve learned and our biggest takeaways after making it this far already. We wrote a post like this after our first 3 months of blogging, so if you want, you can check that one out too!
We’re crushing our goals of monthly pageviews and are aiming to keep it growing. In the grand scheme of things, it’s nothing but it’s great to see the monthly viewers going from 200 to 500 to 800 to 1150, and in June we just surpassed 2000 monthly pageview! Thanks, everyone! 🙂
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means if you decide to use the links and make a valid purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you <3
Here’s what the first 6 months of blogging have taught us:
1. Pinterest is STILL everything
Pinterest is great! We get a couple hundred of views per month from Pinterest and thanks to Tailwind it’s now easier for us to schedule posts AND increase traffic.
When it comes to Pinterest it’s worth figuring out the proper way to drive traffic and not just pinning like a mad man! It’s worth understanding Pinterest and realizing it’s a search engine and how it works.
We definitely recommend taking a look at Melyssa Griffin’s Pinterest content. She is the guru when it comes to Pinterest.
She has a paid course called Pinfinite growth but so far we’ve just taken advantage of her free challenges she runs on Facebook and via email. We’ve learned A LOT from her!
So keep an eye out for our blog in the near future – we’ll be writing a blog about the proper way to use Pinterest in the near future. Stay tuned! 😉
And until then… Please give us a follow on Pinterest. It’d be very much appreciated!
2. Ads are NOT outdated
At least not for everyone. We thought they were after our first 3 months of blogging but we realized that they’re only outdated for some people!
Back in the day you could get 1000 monthly viewers and get adds to your site but now it’s not as easy. Ads are still a great way to monetize your blog but it’s worth waiting till your blog hits over 30K monthly viewers.
From there you can apply for Mediavine which makes you go through an application process and if you pass that you will start earning a significant amount more than from other ad services! We’ve also heard rumors, about getting ads too soon can be bad for your SEO. Not worth the risk for us!
3. Build your email list
Continue working on that email list we mentioned during the first three months. Algorithms change, platforms can change but your email list will always stay with you.
Having an email list is a great way of nurturing your readers. Get on our list here and learn everything about being a digital nomad and life on the road.
4. Facebook groups
Join Facebook groups and network the shit out of them. Make a name for yourself. When people have questions and you have answers then deliver!
People will remember that and remember you being there to help them and will be more likely to help you repin, repost, share your blogs to others.
5. Use your network
Keep using your network to share your blog. People will see your consistency and will start to follow and be more engaged with what you’re doing. It takes time but patience is one of the most important qualities to have while blogging because this doesn’t happen overnight.
Dom’s biggest takeaways
For me, it honestly has to be the enjoyment. Instead of wondering do bloggers get paid? I start appreciating the process and watching everything I’ve learnt grow and help the blog.
If you’re feeling burnt out or not in the mood to write then take a break and refresh your mind. Because if all you can think about is do bloggers get paid and how quickly will I start earning money then you’ve basically already lost.
It’s a marathon and not a sprint and it’s something I am happy I’ve realized.
I also find that it’s much easier for me to stay focused and driven since there are two of us working on the blog instead of doing it all myself.
Most people blog by themselves and I can totally understand the feeling of being burnt out. So definitely take a break if you’re feeling like you’re just forcing your blogs.
Your readers will sense this too and it likely won’t get you great results.
I do think consistency is key though, and you should try and commit to at least a blog post a week if it’s possible.
It’s hard to keep a following and having readers come back to your blog if you don’t post consistently.
I mean, if you know someone will share a post every Monday (like we do) and you enjoy reading their stuff you will be more likely to keep reading and following along than if they posted randomly throughout the month.
So, if you can find the perfect balance of consistency and enjoyment you will see your viewers, followers, engagers, and blog continue to grow!
Jo’s biggest takeaways
To me, I think my biggest takeaway over these past few months would be how important networking is. Running a blog is NOT about having a fan base.
It’s about providing value to your readers and to give back to the community. If you help other bloggers out you find that they will help you back too.
There are so many ways to give back in this world. Leave a comment on their blog, share their pin, help people out by answering their questions.
If someone is asking for advice about a destination you’ve been to, help them out! Share your insider blogging tips and tricks and add a link to your blog when appropriate.
But it’s important that you don’t expect to get anything in return. Help people out because you’re a good person and because you want to. Then, I promise, you will see results one day!
Enjoy the community. At the end of the day, it’s the relationships you build that are the most important!
You may also like…
- What the First 3 Months of Blogging Have Taught Us
- What the First 9 Months of Blogging Have Taught Us
Alright, guys, that’s six months gone. We’re going to try and keep this going quarterly to show our progress and hopefully help, guide, and motivate you and have future bloggers hop on board.
Our next three months will be extremely busy road ripping The States but we’d love for you to tell us what you have learned from your own blogging experience in the comments.
Looking forward to hearing back from friends, strangers, and other fellow bloggers!
Have fun!
Love it? Share it!
I love this new post. We recently did a post about our first year on the road and we loved writing on that topic. We’ve been blogging for about 8 months now (Steemit not included) and are still struggling to find the sweet spot for traffic growth. Really appreciate this post.
Great job you two, keep up the great work!
Hey you two! That’s awesome. It’s so fun to write about your personal experiences, isn’t it? Funny that you’ve been on Steemit too. So have we! It’s a different game than the blogging one though with SEO, DA, backlinks, you name it 🙂 Good luck with your blog! I hope it’ll be successful!
– Jo
This is amazing! You guys have accomplished a lot over the past 6 months and I totally enjoy following your daily journeys!
Thanks Taylor! We’re so happy with what we’ve accomplished so far 🙂 Thanks for the support! We truly enjoy following along your journey as well!
– Jo
This is so helpful. I’m glad things are going great for you guys!
Thank you! We’re glad you like it and we appreciate you taking the time to read it 🙂
– Jo
Nice learnings, thanks for sharing your journey! 🙂
Thank you!
– Jo
This post is awesome. I’m new to blogging myself, and I know I have a lot to learn. I’ve always dreamed of traveling the world. I hope I get the chance to someday. Thank you for this blog post. It was really insightful. =)
Shanae
Hi Shanae, we hope you found some of the insights helpful! This whole blogging world is so big and can be hard to comprehend – but once you do, it’s amazing. We wish you all the best with your blog!
– Jo & Dom