Tag Archives: blogger experience

Blog Post, Tale of a new blogger

This and That: Checking in With Wolfe Butler

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Hello, readers! It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post about me. So much has been going on that I feel like I need to check in with my audience and give a quick update on everything from building a launch team to growing an ice plant. As a result, I’ve decided to take some time off from my different series.

As usual, Wolfe is trying to go in more directions than are humanly possible (I don’t know why I’m referring to myself in third-person.) If I didn’t, though, I wouldn’t be me.

From hiring editors to killing plants, here’s what’s been going on in Wolfe Butler’s world.

Why You Need a Professional Editor

If you’ve followed me for any time at all, you know that my debut novel, Getting Home, was a labor of love that took me 15 years to complete. I finally self-published it simply so I would stop working on it. My goal was to go back to it at some point so it could be polished to perfection.

A couple reader’s pointed out some small grammar and typo mistakes. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so those mistakes have become an obsession of mine.

I decided not to wait and to dust off the manuscript. I raised the price on Amazon so no one would be interested in buying it for the time being, and I decided to get the help I needed to polish it into the gem I know it can be.

Through a little searching, I was able to find a great editor within just a two-hour drive from where I live. I am working with the wonderful and talented Angela B. Wade. Even though the book was finished, Angela is helping me do a developmental edit. Angela can also be found on Reedsy if you want to work with a great editor.

 

Picture of an edited page

The Bad and the Good

When it comes to getting good and bad news, I always opt for the bad first to get it over with and so I still have something good to look forward to. Angela has helped me to see that there were some serious revisions needed in Getting Home due to plot holes and some confusion from inconsistent point-of-view.

On the positive side, as I work through the entire manuscript again, I’m finding that it’s actually a fairly decent piece of fiction. Yes, I know I shouldn’t say that about my own work, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

After almost seven months of not looking at it, I sat down to read it cover to cover. I was pleased to find some good writing. Yes, there are lots of things to fix, and I’m so thankful to reviewers like Kristy Jo Volchko for their kind reviews in spite of glaring mistakes. However, there is some good writing, so I can’t wait to do a new release for my passion project.

While I am disappointed with myself for putting my work out into the world in an imperfect state, I am so grateful to Angela B. Wade. She is helping me to put the book in order and has pointed out a few flaws that I would never have noticed on my own.

If you are an indie author, I strongly recommend that you consider working with a professional editor like Angela B. Wade. If you feel like a professional is outside of your budget, then, at the very least, find a teacher or other wordsmith in your life that is willing to give your manuscript a once-over before you launch.

You will be surprised at how many mistakes a fresh set of eyes can find.

Why Bloggers Should Include Pinterest Pins in Their Posts

Building a Launch Team

One of the reasons for today’s post is that I am looking to build a launch team. There are two main reasons.

One, as I just mentioned, Getting Home will soon be re-released. I would love some help spreading the word.

Two, my current work-in-progress, Paradise, is also nearly complete for book one. My goal is to have it live on Amazon by mid-October, which means I have a lot of work to do between now and then.

I am coming to each of you to ask for help. In the coming days, I will be creating Facebook groups for each book. Please consider applying to join my launch team. In addition to my eternal gratitude, you will also receive a copy of the book when it goes live.

 

Shuttle launch

What Does a Launch Team Do?

Many of us have done book tours, whether online or in person. Developing a launch team is very similar. All I would ask from you is that you read the advance copy I will send to you and then leave an honest review once the book goes live. It would also be great if you were willing to post about the launch on your blog or social media accounts.

Now, I don’t want to cross any lines, especially with Amazon. If I send you an advanced reader copy (ARC) copy of either book, you are under no obligation to write a final review. I would love it if you would, but would fully understand if you did not. It would be good to include in your review that you received an ARC, but I don’t think it’s a requirement.

Please reach out to me if you have any more questions on launch teams.

You Gotta Have Help

Another huge change I have made in my daily life was adding CrowdFire to help me keep up with my social media accounts. I was spending hours each week on social media, primarily on Twitter and Facebook.

I still spend a fair amount of time on each platform, but CrowdFire has cut out a lot of the I spent posting to separate platforms and keeping up with followers and unfollowers.

CrowdFire has a free option, so you can check it out and see if it is something that will work for you. For me, it has saved me hours each week and worth every penny I paid for the upgrade. It also will help you post and repost blog posts and will post to Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Shopify, Etsy, Vimeo and more.

The biggest way it is saving me time is by helping me add new followers and remove those that have chosen to stop following me or become inactive. It turns out, over the last eight months, I have unknowingly followed a large number of spam accounts.

Those accounts become inactive in time and bloat your numbers when it comes to the accounts you are following. Removing those inactive accounts gives you room to follow new, legitimate accounts.

The best news? It only takes about 10 minutes a day to keep things up to date, and you can do it all from the CrowdFire app right on your phone. Honestly, I do it most mornings before I even get out of bed.

The Versatile Blogger Award – Wolfe Butler’s Take

The World of Self-Publishing

When I self-published in November 2017, I knew nothing about the subject. I thought I had done a lot of research in advance, but the months that have followed have taught me just how little I knew at the time, and how little I still know today.

To help me grow, I have teamed up with a self-publishing group. I will be posting more about this in the near future. The short story is they are teaching me about book design, layout, and effective book promotion. I can’t wait to share everything with you in the coming weeks.

That said, I will also be sharing my updates on how self-publishing is working for me. Hopefully, that will mean lots of success story posts.

 

Ice plant

My Yard Hates Me

Okay, so maybe that statement is a little harsh, but I am really struggling this year, and I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong. I’ve had both pampas grass and knock-out roses die this year. Pampas grass! I didn’t know it could even die.

The Ice Plant I wrote about in Why You Should Drop Back And Punt is still not blooming, though it’s supposed to bloom all summer, and even my impatiens, which are one of my favorite flowers of summer, are barely blooming this year.

The only things I can think of is that we’ve had a lot more rain and a much cooler summer this year than normal. If you have any tips, please let me know.

There’s No Time to Read

Last, I want to comment on my lack of book reviews. With everything going on in my world right now, plus trying to still do some freelance writing, there has been very little time to read. That means that the books I have from talented authors like O.J. Lowe and Caron Allan are being neglected.

While I will eventually (probably not until winter) get to those books, I do want to see more reviews go live on this blog. To that end, I am talking to a few other bloggers and reviewers about posting their reviews on my site. Again, more on this will be coming soon.

If you are interested in writing a guest post book review for my site, please send me a note through the Contact Page link. Also, if you are interested in becoming part of my next launch team, please contact me as well.

That’s it for today. Thank you for stopping by. Don’t forget to check out CrowdFire for social media management. The free version will give you a good idea as to whether it is the right tool for you.

Blogs grow through word of mouth. If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others.

Wolfe Butler shares what's new with his personal blogger experience. | #blog #blogging #WolfeButler

 

Tale of a new blogger

5 Important Things June 2018 Taught Me About Blogging

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Hello, readers! I can’t believe that another month is already here. I’m officially starting my eighth month as a new blogger, and June taught me some valuable lessons about blogging.

If you are a new blogger or a veteran, you probably know that June 2018 was a little crazy for a lot of us. Many bloggers that relied on BoardBooster were terrorized by messages from Pinterest about how BoardBooster was not an approved partner. Then, when things didn’t look like they could get worse, BoardBooster shut down completely near the end of the month.

Life is constantly changing, and blogging is no different. Here are the things I learned as part of my blogging experience last month.

 

Disclosure: This site is a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This post also contains affiliate links. Any purchase made through such links will award me a small commission or referral fee, at no extra cost for you.

 

What is the first year of blogging really like for a new blogger? Read part seven in this ongoing series chronically Wolfe Butler's path. | #blog #blogging #blogger

Tale of a New Blogger – Part 7

Each month, I publish a post about my real-life experiences as a new blogger. I share the good, the bad, and the sometimes very ugly. In time, I hope to have an amazing success story, but there is a lot of hard work and time that goes into building a blog in the meantime. You can read the previous six posts by clicking this line.

As I stated, June was a rather eventful month for blogging communities. All the blogging Facebook groups and all the chats over at Billionaire Blog Club (BBC) were on fire over the BoardBooster issues, but even in the face of trials, there are always important life lessons to be learned. Here are five of them from June.

 

1. Life is about change

It’s been said that the only constants in life are death and taxes. Everything else changes. That is especially true of blogging. In the seven months I have been a new blogger, things have changed in large and unexpected ways more than a few times.

BoardBooster, if you did not know, was a means of putting blog content on Pinterest. It was super easy to use and created a ton of new traffic for those of us that were using it. Many of us, myself included, were devastated when they couldn’t reach an agreement with Pinterest and were thus forced to close their doors. They will be missed!

But, as they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. (That’s really an awful expression. Who would ever skin a cat?) Into the rescue stepped Tailwind. Well, actually, Tailwind was there all the time. Their product has many of the same features that BoardBooster had, so a great flock of us made an exodus to Tailwind.

I will devote a future post to Tailwind because I am still only a couple weeks in and just learning my way. However, I am happy to say that my Pinterest traffic did not fall as a result of losing BoardBooster.

June 2018 Pinterest Traffic
June 2018 Pinterest Traffic

This graphic shows my average monthly viewers on Pinterest and average number engaged with my posts.

As you can see, I was just finding my way with BoardBooster at the beginning of June, and my numbers went up dramatically as a result. I stopped using BoardBooster around the 20th. There was a negligible dip for a few days, but then things headed back north. I will keep you posted.

 

2. The best bloggers honor their commitments

You will likely see me write a lot about BBC in the coming months and years. I have rarely been overwhelmingly impressed by a company or person, but Paul Scrivens, or Scrivs as he’s better known, the man behind BBC, really impressed me in June. Within days of BoardBooster’s announcement, Scrivs created and launched a series of detailed training videos about Tailwind for BBC members.

I wrote in detail about BBC in Tale of a New Blogger – Part 6, so I won’t go into a lot here. Billionaire Blog Club is a program you can buy into for a low fee that pays for your membership for life. Once in, you have access to all the new products and training materials as they become available, without ever having to pay again.

The last few days I have been learning about search engine optimization (SEO) and affiliate marketing. BBC has 23 step-by-step training videos about SEO and 22 about affiliate marketing, with more coming soon.

BBC is currently closed for new members, but should open again in the next few weeks. If you would like to see if it would be a good fit for you, I highly recommend the 12-Day Blogging Bootcamp. It’s 100% free and will give you a good idea of Scrivs’ writing style, and what things you can hope to learn if you become a member. My membership has already more than paid for itself.

 

3. You gotta have help as a new blogger

Twitter is still my favorite social media platform. However, my Twitter obsession was taking up so much time that I was not properly writing, editing, or formatting new content. I still don’t have a good email list program in place, and there’s two other blog series I’ve been meaning to start for some time now.

There are several products available to help you simplify your social media life. I have fought against the idea, especially after I spent two months on one product and was thoroughly underwhelmed by it.

That said, in June, I stumbled upon CrowdFire. I was very negative going in, but it was free, so I decided to give it a shot.

I’m not going to lie to you. CrowdFire doesn’t do everything I would like it to, and a few things not in the way I would prefer. That said, it does do a lot of things that save a ton of time.

Most important to me, CrowdFire has been unbelievably useful in cleaning up my followers and accounts I’m following. When I started on Twitter last November, I didn’t know much about the platform. As a result, those first months, I followed pretty much everyone I came across.

That process lead me to following hundreds of spam accounts. In just one month, CrowdFire has helped me clean up almost all of them. It also works well with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and seven more platforms.

The free option gives you a lot of functionality. I have no reservations about recommending it. I chose to go the paid route once I saw all the time it could save me, but the free option is definitely worth checking out. Click on CrowdFire to take a look, and help me out in the process.

4. Blogging is a fickle mistress

Every time I think I am finally getting a handle on blogging, something completely blindsides me. My assistant started a blog of his own in March of this year. His blog is Speaking Bipolar, and you should check out his posts on dealing with mental and chronic illnesses. He’s on a mission to get more men especially talking about mental health.

 

June 2018 Blog Stats
June 2018 Blog Stats

 

Well, you would think that since this blog is four months older than his, my traffic should be at least some higher than his.

My June traffic was up. In fact, June for a record-setting month for me.

However, record setting was only 820 total views from 527 visitors, which isn’t terrible for a new blogger. For Speaking Bipolar, he saw nearly 3,000 page views from 2,300 visitors in June. For July, we are comparing our processes to see where I am falling behind.

 

5. Social media is key

As much as I don’t always love the idea, social media is the most important thing for a new blogger. Unless you buy ad space, which is something I am considering for July, the only way to increase traffic is to increase exposure on social media.

The good news, my Twitter account continues to grow rapidly. Using CrowdFire and following their tips has continued to grow my list of quality followers.

Twitters state June 2018
Twitters state June 2018

 

What most excites me the most about Twitter is that my followers are probably 80% bloggers and writers. I seem to be picking up quite a few musicians in recent weeks, but I’m great with that, because I love music almost as much as books. Almost.

I hope to have 10,000 followers by the end of July. That’s not too bad for a new blogger. Sorry, I just had to pat myself on the back for that one.

My other social media accounts are not growing as fast, but that’s because I don’t give them the care they deserve.

 

June 2018 Referrers
June 2018 Referrers

 

The numbers are low, but I’m getting about 12% of my traffic from Facebook, and that’s with doing little more than posting new blog posts to my page and account. Clearly, Facebook is deserving of some TLC even if it’s not my favorite brand.

 

Odds and Ends

 

Am Editing

To finish up today, I want to share with you a few other things. One, I took the plunge in June and connected with a professional editor. I am working with the talented Angela B. Wade who is based just a couple of hours south of me in Chattanooga, Tennessee. If you are looking for an editor, I strongly recommend Angela.

She works with authors from everywhere, so don’t be disinclined just because she is from Tennessee. I have learned a lot from her already, and we’ve only been working together for a couple weeks.

Together, we are working on revising Getting Home. I know, I said I was going to let it sit for a while, but it desperately needs a better cover. I decided that if I was going to update the cover, then at the same time I should finish polishing it. Getting Home is my most precious baby, so I’m not sure I will ever be completely done with it.

 

I’ve Learned Series

You may have noticed that I am posting less often in the I’ve Learned series. The reason why is that I have decided to turn it into a book. That was actually my goal from the beginning. So, as far as that series, I’ve been spending more time on editing and revising posts and content than on writing new. Never fear, it will continue to be an ongoing series for as long as I am here.

Working with Angela has taught me so much about how a book should be written, so I am trying to get this one right on the front end. More coming on this topic in the future.

 

Printable Coming Soon!

One of the new series I am working on is a collection of writing tips and techniques. As part of that series, I will be creating printables. The first one, which will be free to everyone, will be on character development. I hope to have it out by the end of July.

 

Take Aways

Tailwind is a great product for scheduling and posting on Pinterest. They are an approved partner, so there should never be any issues with Pinterest. Try the free trial to see if you like it. You can also post to Facebook and Instagram through Tailwind.

Check out Billionaire Blog Club’s 12-Day Blogging Bootcamp. It’s free and with no obligation. It will give you a great chance to see if BBC might be something you are interested in down the line.

CrowdFire is a great app for managing Twitter and for posting to Facebook, Instagram, and more. There’s a lot you can do with the free version, so you have nothing to lose by checking it out.

Please show my assistant some love, and visit his blog:  Speaking Bipolar

If you are looking for a talented and professional (not to mention eternally positive and optimistic) editor or freelance writer, contact Angela B. Wade. She would be happy to give you a quote for any of her quality services.

That’s it for my new blogger experience for this month. What’s going on with you? Please share your latest news in the comments below.

Blogs grow primarily be readers sharing their content. Please share this post on social media or by email. I thank you in advance.

Until next time…

 

What is the first year of blogging really like for a new blogger? Read part seven in this ongoing series chronically Wolfe Butler's path. | #blog #blogging #blogger

 

Blog Post, Tale of a new blogger

Tale of a New Blogger – Part 4 – Path to Becoming a Successful Blogger

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It’s been a roller coaster ride. Blogging is a new adventure every day. Some are great. Some… well let’s stay positive. So it goes on the path to becoming a successful blogger.

For the most part, it’s a fantastic journey.

This blog went live in November 2017. In this series, I am sharing my real blogging experience as a newbie and as it happens. Share in my triumphs and downfalls as I continue to learn how to be a better blogger.

Work! Work! Work!

If you want to be a successful blogger, you have to be prepared to work. I continue to be surprised at how much time it takes.

To blog with the ultimate goal of making a living from your blog, you must be willing to put in the time along with the blood, sweat and oh so many tears.

Don’t get me wrong, I am having a blast. Every night as I am preparing for bed, I think about how thankful I am to be living the life of a writer.

I really hated the last years of my career in financial services. But this, blogging, I enjoy every day.

Even the days with less than anticipated results.

In total, I spent just over 100 hours on my blog in March 2018. Just glancing at the numbers I can see some of my mistakes.

Actually, my number one mistake was fear. I am so concerned about money coming in that I am sacrificing my blog time to take freelance gigs.

The tradeoff means that my blog isn’t growing at the rate I would like.

For the remainder of April, my goal is to produce more quality content each week, promote more on Pinterest and to learn as much as I can about successful blogging.

 

 

Continue to Learn

In Part 3 of this series, I mentioned how my assistant has joined Billionaire Blog Club. Unfortunately, his time in March was also commandeered by things outside of his control.

What he has learned so far has been really helpful. Together, we have been working to increase SEO and Pinterest presence following the tips that Scrivs and other bloggers share through the Billionaire Blog Club network.

If you have thought about joining a blogging community, BBC is the one you want to join. The wonderful bloggers in the community have created an atmosphere or encouragement and support.

BBC is only going to be opened for limited time periods so that the owner, Paul Scrivens, or Scrivs, can concentrate on helping all of the members without being spread too thin.

But even if the program isn’t currently open, I can’t recommend the Free Blogging Boot Camp enough.

It’s a great way to get a better idea of whether blogging is for you. You will also see Scrivs style so you can decide if it’s a good fit for you. Being part of the Boot Camp also means you’ll be notified the next time BBC opens to new members.

Blogging is not for everyone, and neither is BBC. That said, I do think it will be an important tool in becoming a successful blogger. We are really enjoying the program so far and learning a lot.


Promote More

The one area I feel like a successful blogger for last month is social media. My Twitter account has finally reached a point where it continues to grow organically whether I am able to get online or not.

Pinterest, with the help of both Billionaire Blog Club and the wonderful course I purchased from Carly Campbell, Pinteresting Strategies, is showing real improvement.

March 2018 Daily Views

You can see from both images that I didn’t really get serious about Pinterest until near the end of March. But the impact has been phenomenal.

Average daily impressions for the prior month were just 335. But this month they were 1,553, and that’s with not really getting active until the end of the month.

March 2018 Monthly View Average

I can’t wait to see the final numbers for April 2018!

Another things that has really pushed the Pinterest growth was adding Tailwind. I started with the free trial and fell in love.  Tailwind is like having an assistant to handle some of my work for me, and I can’t imagine working with out it.

I upgraded to a higher level to have access to more options, but this investment will pay for itself in no time.

 

 

Interact

Visitors to my blog were down in March. Page views remained pretty consistent.

I am honestly not sure what caused the drop. There was less content published in March and that no doubt makes up part of the difference.

April is off to a great start and traffic is starting to roll in from Pinterest. These numbers should change a lot in my next report.

Connect with me on Pinterest

As you can see, Facebook and Instagram were a little neglected in March. Both still saw some growth so I am happy with that.

Twitter is probably the channel I enjoy the most. Of my now 7000+ followers, almost all of them are creators and most are authors or bloggers.

Being part of such a large community of writers gives me the encouragement I need to keep writing day after day, and will in time lead me to become a successful blogger.

 

Where’s the cash?

Earn?

My hope was to be one of those bloggers that had an amazing income story to tell after just a few months.

The truth is, in March I earned maybe $1.00 in total. I am not even going to look for the numbers because I know they are quite low.

There is no one to blame for this downfall but me. I have been so concerned with immediate money coming in that I forgot the time spent on my blog is an investment in my future to become a successful blogger.

That said, moving forward I am scheduling time to work on and promote the blog each day. The numbers may not increase a lot in April, but I am confident that the May numbers will show results.

12 Awesome Motivational Quotes You Should Know

Recharge

Having a blog means there is always something you can be doing. It’s important to take time to step away from you computer or phone to recharge.

I read a post over the weekend, 50 Unique Self-Care Ideas, and it got me thinking that it has been far too long since I have spent any time on just me.

Down time and excursions are now being added to my calendar like anything else I need to do.

An income is worthless if you aren’t finding enjoyment in life.

Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging. But my friends were missing me. And I was missing them.

50 Unique Self-Care Ideas for Mental Health

Takeaway

In conclusion, here’s a summary of what I learned this month:

  1. Community is important. Billionaire Blog Club is giving me the support and encouragement I need to really grow. Go visit Scrivs site today.
  2. Learning is important. What I learned through Pinteresting Strategies has helped create real and tangible growth on Pinterest. Take a moment to visit Carly.
  3. Investing is important. Really it’s a not a significant amount if you choose the monthly option, less than most people spend at Starbucks each month. Tailwind is growing my Pinterest base even when I can’t be manually pinning.
  4. Recharging is important. Take yourself on a date. Just you and you alone. 50 Unique Self-Care Ideas has many great ideas to help you recharge.

Until next time…

Blog Post, Monday Musings

4 Lessons I’ve Learned About My Blogging Journey

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Disclaimer: Wolfe Butler is a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links. Any purchase made through such links will award me a small commission (or referral fee), at no extra cost for you. I only promote products that I use and have benefitted from.

It is overwhelming. The shear volume of information available about blogging could fill an entire library by itself. I would describe it as a tsunami but that word may not be a big enough metaphor.

Wave

If you are thinking about starting a blog you should do it. Anyone can do it. You can do it. I believe that wholeheartedly. Like achieving most things of value, a successful blog requires lots of time and hard work. And, as this blogger is finding out, lots of learning.

In the past month I have spent over 40 hours just learning about blogging.

Four items stick out in my mind from the last few weeks. I wanted to share them with you today.

1.      Blogging About Blogging is Not for Me

While I am very interested in sharing my journey as a blogger, I have decided I do not want this to become a blog about blogging. This may be a crazy idea as there seems to be a lot of money in blogging about blogging. My passion doesn’t spring from writing about blogging. If I let blogging become my niche, I fear I would quickly run out of enthusiasm.

Fiction writing is my true passion. Second to writing is reading. I love books. I mean I really love books. I have more book cases in my home than all the other furniture combined. And still some books are piled in corners around the house.

Great writing and reading are the identity I want for my blog. My intention is to hold true to that vision.

Book Pile

This does not mean that I am going to end the Tale of a New Blogger series. I enjoy writing that post once a month. It gives me a chance to take stock of my progress and to renew my enthusiasm about my blog in general. Look for that series to continue.

2.      SEO Requires Real Effort

The letters SEO meant very little to me just four months ago. I knew they stood for Search Engine Optimization but little more than that. One of my projects for February is to learn more about SEO and to update my existing and future posts accordingly.

But WOW. You won’t believe how much there is to know about SEO.

First of all, there are some 200 rating factors Google uses in SEO. 200! I had no idea. As I read through the list, I knew about five of them.

You can read the complete list on Backlinko’s website by clicking this line.

Just reading the complete list took considerable time. Brian Dean does an excellent job listing all 200. He gives a brief description of each item making it easier to understand all the rating factors.

Learning

The good news is that now I can honestly say I understand SEO.

Well, sort of.

The time and effort comes in with using SEO correctly. The best way to increase your SEO results is to do research before you write your post. That will take some time, especially when you are first starting out like I am. This is an item I will come back to in future posts when I am better qualified to offer advice on the subject.

Another great SEO resource is Gundi Gabrielle’s The Sassy Way to Ranking #1 in Google – when you have NO CLUE!: A Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization. This is book 6 in her blogging series. I have read four of the books, including this one, and they are full of valuable information. If you have Kindle Unlimited you can read them all for FREE.

3.    Social Media Takes Time

Yeah, yeah, we all know that. Who of us hasn’t wasted an entire evening catching up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Trying to grow a blog following on social media is even more time consuming.

I am thrilled with my results so far. I have grown a considerable number of followers in just a few months. That said, trying to keep up with commenting, pinning, liking, sharing, etc. is more than a bit daunting. It can easily take up the whole day.

Ana from The She Approach just released a great new FREE 5-day affiliate marketing course. If you are looking to monetize your blog, this is the advice you need. I’ve learned so much from her that I have to recommend it to others.

Enroll for Free Now

Setting up time limits seems to be helping me keep social media under control. If I know I only have an hour, I don’t spend a lot of time writing lengthy replies or looking at kitten videos. Yes, baby animals are my weakness.

4.    Writers Need to Write

This blog has taken up the bulk of my time for the last two months. I am not complaining. I love writing blog posts. And I love learning new things so learning about blogging is a fascinating adventure. But I don’t want my fiction writing to ever be sacrificed for the success of my blog.

I love to write. I NEED to write. That is the number one priority.

I haven’t really given a writing update for a while. I am currently working on two novels. Plans are also rolling around in my head to write a non-fiction book on mental health experiences. And I want to turn my I’ve Learned series into a Kindle book.

My goal is to publish all four books this year.

This year? I know that sounds crazy, but we’ve already established that I am crazy.

Bear with me a moment. I have the circumstances right now to write nearly full-time. Some of my time is going to freelance gigs. It probably doesn’t have to be, but part of my brain is panicking about no money coming in. But the majority of my time is free for writing.

Writing

Since that is the case, there is no excuse for me not writing.

I was disappointed to realize last week that I had not worked on my primary WIP since January. For over two weeks I had not even opened the file. The books I am planning will never get written at that rate.

Toward the end of last week, I set out to rectify that problem. On Friday I decided to write before I did anything else. I wrote for less than two hours but knocked out almost 3,000 words! I am ecstatic about that.

It proves to me that my true love doesn’t need to be neglected for the success of my blog.

To give myself some accountability, I will share my goal. I intend to have the first draft of my sci-fi adventure completed by the end of March. In future posts I will comment more on that writing journey.

What lessons have you learned recently? Please share your comments below.

Blog Post, Monday Musings, Tale of a new blogger

Tale of a New Blogger – Part 2

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Tale of a New Blogger – Part 2

In a continuing effort to share my true blogger experience, Part 2 of this series looks at my blog 60 days into the process.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Calendar

It is unbelievable that another whole month has already gone by. I started this blog in November 2017, thinking I had a good grasp on what owning a blog would be like, only to be quickly shaken to the core with the reality that I did not know anything. Not. A. Thing.

Still, I am having a blast and truly enjoying my blogger experience.

More than once in the last few weeks I have been overwhelmed by the ocean of information available about promoting and monetizing a blog. The latter had not been my original intention. I am quickly learning that I will not be able to concentrate on my blog and other writing like I want if I am also having to concern myself with making an income.

Writing will have to become my income source, as it should be, because that has always been my dream.

Disclaimer: Wolfe Butler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links. Any purchase made through such links will award me a small commission (or referral fee), at no extra cost for you.


Actual Numbers

As I stated last month, I think it is important to post actual numbers. Most bloggers only start sharing their blogger experience and stats when they are making $500 or more per month.

For many of those blogs, they were six months to two years into their journey before they saw that monthly income. What happened during their earlier months? That is what I am most interested in learning right now and what I plan to share.

Maybe I am doing everything wrong, but I am making progress, and that makes me very excited.

500 Page Views!

Let me start with my blog. Total page views for January 2018 were 612, up from 210 in December 2017. That is a 290% increase! That number will not create, and did not create, any substantial income, but it is an excellent step in the right direction. Total visitors grew at almost the same percentage going from 88 to 260.

My very first blog goal was to hit 500 page views in a month. I am ecstatic to have reached that goal in my third month. My next goal is 5000.

01 2018 Blog Stats

About 70% of my blog traffic is coming from social media.

Promoting yourself on social media takes A LOT of time, or at least it has for me. I started this blog with no real social media background.

In fact, I did not even have Twitter or Facebook accounts before November of last year.

Everything is brand new, and while I am happy with my progress, I still have much to learn.

Read Part 1 of Tale of a New Blogger here.

In the beginning weeks I spent most of my time on Twitter. What excites me most about my Twitter followers is that the majority of my followers are writers and bloggers. They have been a tremendous source of inspiration and encouragement.

Pinterest is a bit of a different animal, and I am struggling some figuring it out. I am optimistic, though, because even with only six followers, I had over 1000 views and a 10% engagement ratio. My engagement ratio on Twitter tends to hover about 2%.

01 2018 SM Stats

Invest in Your Blog

Investing in yourself is one of the most important things you need to do as part of you blogger experience.

In the past 90 days, I have visited hundreds of blogs and read dozens of ebooks trying to set up best practices that work for me.

One of the items I enjoyed the most in January was a live cast by Ana Savuica, owner of The She Approach.

Ana was incredibly engaging and motivating in her presentation, so much so that I purchased her bundle at the end of the presentation. I cannot recommend it enough.

Ana’s ebooks are well written and full of important and relevant information for growing and monetizing a blog and improving your blogger experience. She has an abundance of valuable free information in all her blog posts.

If you have not already visited her blog, I encourage you to do so today. I am thrilled with what I am learning from her. Click the picture to learn more.

Bundle OFFICIAL POSTER

For February, I am starting something new. One of my biggest struggles has been with time management and trying to schedule how much time should be spent on which activities. I don’t know how much time I have been spending on each task and that is important to know what needs to change.

To help myself focus, I have downloaded a time tracking app on my phone. When I am writing my March post, I will be able to look back and see how much time I have invested into my blog and growing my social media base.

I am tracking things like writing and formatting posts, time spent learning about blogging, and time spent interacting on social media.

Show Me The Money

I have saved the monetary details for last. If you are thinking you can start a blog and quit your traditional job tomorrow, you need to reconsider. While there are some who had quick and substantial success, for most bloggers it is a process of at least six months before they see any real income from their blogs. As you can see from the graphic below, I am going to fall in that category. Still, my blog produced some earnings for January and that is empowering.

01 2018 Earnings Stats

 

It is encouraging to me that you have chosen to come along with me on my blog journey. If you haven’t already, please take the time to connect with me on social media.

I am posting my links below and will be happy to friend or follow you back. I would also love to hear your feedback. Are there questions you would like me to cover next month? Please leave comments below or send me an email through the contact link.

Be sure to take a minute to go visit Ana Savuica’s site, The She Approach. You will find an abundance of great blogger resources to help you improve your blogger experience.

Also, be sure to check out my newly designed Resource Page with essential tools for blogging, being an indie author, and posting on social media.

Until next time…

Connect with Me on Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wolfe_butler

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wolfebutlerauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butler.wolfe/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wolfebutler/

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Blog Post, Tale of a new blogger

Tale of a New Blogger – Part 1

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As a new blogger, it’s sometimes hard to find your way. Many posts will tell you about an exciting and unbelievable blogger experience. The truth is that most of those posts are unbelievable because they are not true.

This blog is taking a different route. I will be sharing my blogger experience as it happens. The good, the bad and the ugly. Hopefully not too much ugly.

Part 1

In October 2017, I decided that it was time to change my life. I had a job that was creating much more stress than it was worth. I was missing leisure time with family and friends due to demands from said job. My overall joy in life was largely lacking.

What was probably an insane decision, I set out to change everything. I dusted off the novel I had been working on periodically over that last fifteen years and set about self-publishing on Amazon. I put a plan in motion to quit my job, to start freelancing and created a blog. This is my blogger experience.

Disclaimer: This site is a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links. Any purchase made through such links will award me a small commission, at no extra cost for you. It’s how I keep the lights on. I only promote products that I use and have benefitted from.

Changing Everything

Let me mention here that I was in the position to quit my job and have no income for a few months. While I hope that this turns into a record-setting journey, I cannot say with certainty that everyone will have the same experience.

I have mentioned before that I thought I was ready to become a blogger and self-published author. As with most things in life, there is a big difference between planning and practicing. Most days I feel like I have done everything wrong. I can see progress, though, and my vision of the future is bright.

Prior to November, I was not a social media person. However, social media is a necessary evil in the world of self-publishing and the lifeblood of promoting a blog.


Diving Into Social Media

Since the beginning of November, I have dove headlong into my blogger experience and social media. I created accounts with Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. That alone has been a major learning experience but a necessary part of any blogger experience.

Side note: I have a blog post about why every blog post should include a tall-pin for pinning on Pinterest.

I think I am doing something right as I am up to 4600 Twitter followers. I have 180 likes for my Facebook page, 74 followers on Instagram and 41 followers on my blog.

Those numbers may not seem impressive, but since all of those numbers were zero just two months ago, I am pretty happy with the results.

 

Workplace with notebook on black background

Crunching Numbers

I am a numbers guy. Working in financial services for the last twenty years has put my mind in constant numbers mode. I am constantly thinking of rate of return and tracking progress. Numbers will continue to be an important part of my blogger experience.

Every day I am figuring out things to improve my online presence. I decided to write a post about my progress so you can go along with me on my journey. I intend to update my progress at least once a month.

I am doing this for two reasons.

  1. I want to have a written record of my journey. I could put everything in my personal journal, but why not put it out there for the whole world to see? Hopefully my words will help someone else.
  2. Two, I have read dozens of blogs of how individuals are making thousands of dollars a month from their blogs. I want to believe they are all true, but the skeptic inside me is not sure.

4 Ways to Beat Procrastination – With Frogs

What Happened During The First Months?

I am also noticing that most bloggers are not listing their progress until they are 6, 12 or even 24 months in. What happened at the beginning of their journey? I would like to have those numbers so I can see where I compare.

Should I be happy with 4600 Twitter followers or should I have 46,000 at this point? Is 200 page views for the first full month of a blog a good number or sadly lacking? Should I be expecting any income from affiliate marketing?

I did not imagine I would make anything from my blog the first few months. I was not far off. I think I am up to about $5.00 earned from all sources combined for the past 60 days, counting all income sources.

Please note that is earned so I have not even received that amount as of today. If I were to break that down to the hours I have put in, I am making less than $0.01/working hour. At this rate I should be living on the street by summer.

Thank goodness McDonald’s has free wi-fi.

Ultimate Resources for Bloggers and Writers

 

pexels-photo-757457

Building a Foundation

With any building project, a good foundation is the key to success and stability. I would say I am easily putting in 60-80 hours per week. Knowing that things will not stay at this magnitude, I am willing to put in the time and effort now.


About half of my time has been spent on learning, reading advice, watching videos and corresponding with other writers and bloggers. If knowledge is power, I intend to have superhero strength.

Ultimately, my journey is my journey. No two people have the same journey in any endeavor. Even what I will be sharing here will not necessarily be your journey. In any case, let’s take the journey together and see where it takes us.

If you a new to blogging, or maybe not so new, please share one of your blogger experience below.

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