What a wild and crazy year it’s been! I just completed my first full year of blogging. And I am pleased, and rather amazed, that in less than one year I created a mailing list that is more than 20,000 subscribers strong. And I want to show you how to grow email lists, too. A…
Blogging
How to Grow an Email List: My Journey From 0-20k Subscribers
How to Respond to Blog Emails Faster and Better
During my first year of blogging, I built a mailing list of more than 20,000 subscribers! Woohoo! But with great subscriber growth also comes more reader emails in my mailbox. After all, I encourage them to email me. And I actually like to answer my emails because I like getting answers to mine. Sadly answering…
Getting Back Up After a Failure
A colleague in a Facebook group wrote this, “Okay, this entrepreneur thing is such a manic experience. Does anyone have a blog post they’ve done or really liked from another blogger about finding strength when you feel beat down from things not going according to plan or a failed project?” This spoke to me, because…
How to Take Great Blog Photos & Videos
Your photos can make or break your blog. Back when I began online publishing in the ’90s, we used photos sparingly because of bandwidth and dialup modems. These days, however, you NEED good photos. Your readers expect them. Your blog posts need them. And you will reach more people through them. But they need to…
How to Survey Your People and Get Answers You Can Use!
We all struggle with figuring out what is popular and what our blog readers REALLY want from us. Have you ever thought about just outright asking them? You can, and should! The fancy-schmancy word for this is a market survey, but let’s just focus on the asking part for now. My blog isn’t very old…
How I Monetized My Mailing Lists and Made $30,000
I’m a Maker. Mostly on this blog I share how to be an Amazing Thing Maker — like how to make giant paper flowers or super-cool furniture. But I am a Maker of many things. A wonderful child. A happy home. A loving relationship. A series of bestselling books. A successful company. A community of…
Blog Income Report: September 2017
This month marks the end of my first full year of blogging. While I hadn’t stated it expressly (because I knew it was unrealistic), I really was hoping to get to a full-time income by the end of one year. As I entered the month, however, I was not yet at a full-time income. For…
Blog Income Report: August 2017
This is the month after my big affiliate revenue win during Amazon Prime Day. Would I still make decent money without that once-a-year opportunity? My August 2017 Blog & Social Media Stats Pageviews: 107,907, up from 78,824 Sessions: 58,193, up from 38,819 Users: 47,101, up from 29,254 Mailing List Subscribers: 13,045, up from 10,862…
Blog Income Report: July 2017
My little blog is making money! And not just a little bit, it’s making REAL money! I almost can’t believe it. Can it be sustained? So let’s see what happened and where the money came from. My July 2017 Blog & Social Media Stats Pageviews: 78,824, up from 70,097 Sessions: 38,819, up from 33,169…
My Journey Through a Better Year: Mid-Year Report
On the last day of 2016, I posted about looking ahead to a better year. 2016 was a particularly rough year for me. So I set some big goals for 2017. I was determined to improve my situation, specifically my health and professions. It’s been six months and I think it’s time for a report….