Blog Monthly Check-in & Goals ~ Month 9

It's time for another one of my monthly blog check-ins. I'm doing it a little differently than I have in past months. I want to share with you the exciting things for my blog over the past month and what has helped me with my growth.

Home Crafts by Ali Monthly Check-in & Goals ~ Month 9
*** This post contains an affiliate link ***

The first thing I wanted to share with you is that I joined an amazing blogging group on Facebook. The two ladies in charge of the group are so great and want to help us all be successful. It is about getting back to the essentials of blogging. Each month has a theme and we work on different blogging projects every week. In September they wanted us to think about what direction we wanted to take our blog and the best way to fulfill those blogging dreams. Let me know if any of you want an invite to the group, it is for people that have been blogging for years, new bloggers, and for people that haven't started a blog yet.

During the month I designed a new header for my blog, some business cards that match, and designed a new cover photo for Facebook that shows pictures from some of my best posts.

In September it was National Sewing Month and every week I challenged myself to create a sewing project and share the tutorial here on my blog. Those projects can be found here. By doing that, I re-found a love for sewing. I have so many sewing projects on my "to-do" list now. But that is a wonderful feeling, being excited to create something new.

One of the most exciting things for September was attending my very first blog conference. Affiliate Blogger Conference here in Utah was a wonderful event. I learned so much that day, met some great bloggers, and we worked in small groups to update out blogs with some of the tips that were shared. I am so glad I went and look forward to attending my next blog conference!

Here are the statistics for my month of September. Same modest growth. The increase in pageviews was nice. I received some nice comments on current and old posts this past month. I love reading the comments because it lets me know that what I am sharing is helpful to others.

Home Crafts by Ali Monthly Check-in & Goals ~ Month 9

In my August update I shared that I was going to focus on Instagram growth for the month of September. Unfortunately I forgot about that goal until the end of the month. I find that pretty much anything I post on Instagram gets likes. I need to concentrate on sharing more of my finished projects. I also want to find a site that helps you figure out what hashtags to add to your posts.

In August I had finished my free trial to Tailwind so I started a free trial of ViralWoot. I learned from the founder of ViralWoot in comment to this post how to make some changes to the standard settings. I have used it a bit more and it is fine, but I like the ease of scheduling that Tailwind provides better.

Income Report for September:

EXPENSES:
$61.47 for blog conference

INCOME:
IZEA ad: $1.00
Sovrn ads: $1.45
Products: $17.00 (book to review)

OVERALL: - $42.02 (first month not having a positive "income")

Goals

I felt very successful for September. I reached 6 of my 8 goals for the month.

Looking forward to October goals:

  • Outline ideas for the rest of the year's blog posts
  • Find a holiday giveaway to join
  • Join a holiday blog hop.
  • Build backgrounds for my photographs.
  • Build a store for my blog to sell my items.
  • Increase my income - book reviews, ad networks
  • Watch my photography classes.
  • Work on blog only when kids are asleep or at school.
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There is my monthly check in for my blog. Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear in the comments what exciting things have been happening for you! Feel free to share your goals for the month too.

13 comments

  1. I love that you do this. It's a great way to create goals and mark your progress!!!

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    1. Thanks Vanessa. Since September ended, I have changed things a bit that I will share in my update next month. I love having goals written down to keep me accountable and motivated.

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  2. I love this idea! I think it is great to track your progress and write down your goals! I need to do the same! xo, Karina

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    1. Thanks for visiting Karina! I think writing down the goals helps me to remember what I want to work on. I tend to get sidetracked by blogging and life.

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  3. Way to go! I need to be better at setting goals and writing them down!

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    1. Thanks! When I write down my goals, I have that visual reminder of what I need to work on, and am more likely to follow through.

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  4. Hello Ali,

    I am Alex, Founder, Viralwoot.
    I am really sorry for the bad experience with Viralwoot. From the top dropdown menu of your Viralwoot, you can fetch all your missing boards within seconds. I really hope that you will give Viralwoot another chance & in case of any problem or queries, our support team & myself are always there to help you.

    Thanks again,
    Alex

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    1. Alex,

      I appreciate your taking the time to come to my blog, comment, and help me out with my problem. It says a lot about how much your clients mean to you and it leaves a wonderful impression of your company. I will come back and see if making those changes helps. Thank you for reaching out.

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  5. That is awesome! Such great goals! You are really coming along. It was great meeting you at the affiliate blog conference. I learned a ton there too and I am excited about implementing all the things I learned. Looks like you are well on your way to making some great progress!

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    1. It was nice to meet you too! I appreciated you taking the time to come and talk with me. =)

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  6. I have not tried any other pin schedulers but I really like broad booster.

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    1. I've heard great things about all of the different ones. It's finding the one that works best with how you want to promote.

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  7. Helpful stuff Ali, thanks! I have a food blog and am always looking for ways to increase our traffic. You mentioned a facebook blogging group above - is that still operating? The link didn't bring me anywhere. I'd be interested in joining if it's still open. TY!

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