Thriving Teacher Blogging and Business – Page 2

The goal of Thrive Beyond Teaching is to empower educators in and out of the classroom. One of the ways teachers usually struggle is financially. While blogging is not for everybody, it can be a flexible and lucrative option. I plan on posting regular blog updates and income reports for the following reasons (in no specific order). People seem to enjoy reading blog/business income reports. I hope to inspire others and show it is possible to have a successful blog. I want to make the journey easier for other people, especially teachers, who decide to pursue a blogging business. I want people to have shortcuts at hand by looking at my successes. On the other hand, I will also share my mistakes so you don't have to make the same ones. Let's get to it! Income Report Let's start with what everyone wants to know... How much money did my blog make in 2022? Drum roll please... My blog made $0 in 2022. But don't be alarmed. That's to be expected. This is a brand new blog. I started it in late November 2022. It can take months or years to see a profit from blogging. I want to be very clear and upfront about that. What you do with that time can make all the difference, but it still is not a surefire or get rich quick plan. It's the same as any other business in that regard. Here's a snapshot of my startup expenses. Blogging has a pretty low financial barrier to entry! Please note that my biggest expense by far was the Project 24 course, and this was completely optional. Your only required startup expenses are your domain name and web hosting. This should run you less than $100. I spent a total of $467.55 to start this blog, but you can start one for under $100. Blogging Long Term Plans and Goals While blogging doesn't cost much money to start, it does take a high level of determination and grit. To be a successful blogger, you must be willing to learn, fail, pivot, and keep going. You have to be patient since you'll be hearing crickets for a while before you get any page views or make a single penny. It helps to keep your eyes on your long-term goals. My two main objectives are: To have my blog surpass teaching as my main income stream. To use my blog to further diversify my income streams. While it's good to know your ultimate whys, it's also important to create short-term actionable goals. Here's a snapshot of my 2023 blogging goals. Notice they are not based on financial outcomes. Instead, they are focused on actions that are within my control. This way I can celebrate each small success that leads me closer to my larger, long-term goals. My 2023 Blogging Goals 2022 Thrive Beyond Teaching Blog Progress If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of starting your blog, here are the exact steps I took to start mine. Feel free to copy and paste and create your own checklist. No need to reinvent the wheel! Note: I'm not saying this is the best way to start a blog. These are just the steps that I took. If I discover things I wish I had done differently, I will be updating this post. 1. I bought and followed a course. You could definitely start a blog without purchasing a course. There's more than enough free information on the internet. For me, the $399 I spent on Project 24 was well worth the time I've saved not having to piece together random information from all over the place. As soon as I started the course, I instantly knew I had made the right decision. Project 24 has been invaluable in starting off on the right foot. I know it has saved me months, if not years, of trial and error. (I do not make any money from this recommendation. I am not a Project 24 affiliate, but I would love to be!) 2. I chose the focus on my blog. Project 24 has a lot of advice on this. There is also a plethora of free advice online Your blog does not have to be about teaching. Choose something you have a sustained interest in because you're in this business for the long haul! Since this is a business blog, you also want to pick something that's monetizable. But don't worry about that too much. There are probably ways to monetize your blog that you can't even imagine right now. First and foremost, pick something that won't make you hate your life and all the hours you're blogging. But do keep monetization front of mind as well. After all, this is a business. 3. I chose and purchased a domain. There's a ton of advice out there on choosing a domain name. Ultimately, you want to choose something simple that is clearly related to your blog's main focus. Also, you'll want to make sure your domain name ends with .com. I went with BlueHost for my domain name because I got it for free when I used them for hosting. Also, I love that they have 24-7 customer service via phone. 4. I purchased a hosting plan. I went with BlueHost for web hosting. Every recommendation I saw said this is the way to go for a beginning blogger. They are very affordable, and so far I've had great customer service experiences. Note: My domain name was free with the purchase of a web hosting plan, so you might want to check this out before buying your domain name elsewhere. 5. I set up a super basic WordPress website. My website is extremely basic right now. My main focus is getting high quality blog posts up so Google can start indexing them. This takes a while, so the sooner you start, the better! WordPress is not easy or intuitive for me, but everyone says it is the way to go. Thank goodness for free YouTube resources! Still, this part was the most painstaking and time-consuming. But there's progress! My site currently has a: Theme- I'm using the Acabado Theme from Project 24. Blog- This is the most important page! About Me Section- Don't stress about this right now, but it's good to give people a basic idea of who you are, what your blog is about, and why they should keep reading. Contact Form- Ya know, the form where people can get in touch with you if needed. Privacy Policy- This allows users to see how their information will be used on your website. That's about it for now, but I aim to tweak my blog's appearance on a regular basis. The most important thing is getting started and publishing quality blog posts on a regular basis. 6. I carefully curated a list of blog topics. I followed Project 24's search analysis method to determine the topic and content of my first ten blog posts. Remember- This is a business, not a hobby blog. Your content creation should be strategic, not based on what you like to write about. 7. I focused on regularly scheduling blog posts. This is where I am now. All the above steps took longer than expected and I had a couple setbacks. (See below.) But now my main focus is creating consistent, quality content that will get my site ranked and start getting page views. Setbacks Setbacks are frustrating, but should be expected. I've already had a couple that significantly slowed where I thought I would be right now. Domain Doom First, I had to completely redo my website after making hours of progress. I started under a different domain name with CloudFlare. While I was setting up my WordPress site, my site crashed somehow. CloudFlare did not have customer suport that was useful to me and BlueHost couldn't help since my domain wasn't with them. It was extremely frustrating, but I bit the bullet, completely changed my domain name, and started over. This time I got my domain with BlueHost since they have 24/7 phone assistance. I figured if anything else went wrong, I'd want it to be with them. WordPress Worries After getting my new site up and running, it was time to start navigating WordPress. I needed an About Me page, Contact Form, and some other basics. While Project 24 was pretty comprehensive, I had to seek outside assistance for these steps. In my opinion, WordPress is not intuitive or user-friendly at all. A few YouTube videos later, I have these basic pages barely set up. I know WordPress will be one of my steepest learning curves. When there's a plot twist like the ones above, I try to remind myself that these are just the first of many. It's not always easy, but I know the way I handle these learning experiences are crucial to my long-term success. Lessons Learned One thing I've learned over the last couple months is that most things take longer than expected. The antidote to that has been to stay consistent. I aim for 1-2 hours a day most days of the week. Figure out what would work for you and try to stick with it as much as possible. It will feel like you're moving at a snail's pace, but when you look back, you'll be surprised at how much you've accomplished. Schedule. Schedule. Schedule. I'm a creature of habit and a scheduler. Working on my business blog has now become a part of my daily routine like my day job and exercise plan. Two apps that help me are Clockify and Way of Life. Clockify Clockify is a time tracking app. I love it because it's simple to use. It shows how much time you've spent working. This is helpful if you're like me and never feel like you're doing enough. The trick is remembering to start and end each work session on the app! I use Clockify to track how many hours I worked on my business each week. Way of Life Way of Life is probably my favorite app. I use it to track 2-3 goals I'm working on. Each day you simply note whether you met your goal for that day or not. My favorite part is the little bell that goes off when you do meet your daily goal. These little micro rewards seem trivial, but they can help build consistent habits. I use Way of Life to track how many days a week I worked on my blog. I use it for other life goals as well. Time Blocking The super successful Sophia Lee and so many other thriving entreprenuers recommend time blocking. Time blocking is chunking your day into blocks of time so you know exactly what you'll be doing at any time of day. https://youtu.be/fyoSCSg7-Tg Super successful blogger Sophia Lee shares her time blocking schedule and other tips from her first year of blogging. I don't personally use time blocking at the moment, but I wanted to share it here in case it is a useful tool for you. Instead, I aim to fit in an hour or two of work time most days. Then I track this time on Clockify and Way of Life. I will definitely keep experimenting with ways to boost my productivity. If I try time blocking out, I will let you know how it goes. Have you found a scheduling method that helps you to stay as consistent and productive as possible? I'd love to get and share more ideas! Resources I've already shared a couple of the resources that got me through my first couple months as a business blogger, but here's a list of my top five. The Project 24 System- Project 24 has given me so much insight into the business side of blogging. I have a much deeper understanding of how strategic I need to be to succeed. Income School- Whether you become a Project 24 member or not, the creators also have a Youtube channel packed with top notch content. Perfecting Blogging by Sophia Lee- I love Sophia's relatable style and her success reminds me that if she can do it, I can. I admire her laser focus, discipline, and strategic business-minded approach. Allison Lindstrom- It doesn't look like Allison has posted any new videos for a while, but I love her easygoing, accessible approach to having a successful blog. She often offers alternative perspectives that remind me to do what is realistic for me. Create WP Site- This is the site that saved my sanity when WordPress had me curled up in the fetal position on the ground. These step-by-step tutorials are lifesavers! There is a world of information available for free right at our fingertips. It's a fine balance between information overload and making sure you keep learning the most you can. Closing Thoughts Blogging has a low financial barrier to entry, but you want to be sure you have the commitment and stamina for this marathon. It'll probably be a while before you see any tangible returns. Being realistic and having actionable short and long term goals can help. Expect setbacks and celebrate your successes. Find scheduling tools that keep you consistent and online mentors who inspire and educate you. Whether you're following me or any other bloggers, this will only work if you make it workable for you. Take all advice with a grain of salt, and whatever you do, just keep on learning and blogging! You've got this!