Blog and Business Lessons from October 2020 – What I learned from a 5-figure month working 25 hours a week
I can sum up October 2020 for my blog and business in basically one phrase: WHY DIDN’T I START DOING THIS SOONER.
I’m always thankful for what I’ve learned, but October was a month of hard lessons of UNlearning. Specifically in areas around social media. And specifically in places where I thought that I was “wasting my time” to spend any energy there (looking at you, Instagram and Youtube).
But more on that later….
All in all, October was a great month. It was a month of big change and transition and growth. There were days when I couldn’t focus on anything. There were days when I just sat down and made tons of printables (that *cough cough* I haven’t released yet). There were days I naturally woke up at 3:30am and started working because I was so excited.
But the best thing that I learned… well, you have to read to see all of it 😉
VIDEO
Hello, instant regret. How have I not found you sooner in my life!? I spent the majority of October cranking out video content to Youtube and Instagram.
Why is this a regret? Well, because I’ve been blogging for 5+ years now and am JUST NOW getting my butt to Youtube.
The lesson I learned: NO EXCUSES… just get it out there.
I’m fortunate enough to have an editor for these videos, but since I spend 3 days a week making videos on Facebook Lives, it makes sense to me that reusing those videos is the best course of action for me.
So…. just freaking do it.
In other news, I’m technically running 2 Youtube channels right now: My own, and the one for Blogging On Point’s brand. You should subscribe to both of them 😉
ALL the email all the time. But specifically using it to grow your social channels.
Let me back up here to say that I’ve had Facebook groups for both my money-savers AND my bloggers for years and years. But I’d stopped promoting them because it wasn’t getting the kind of ROI that I wanted to see so I all-but abandoned them.
Enter October when I realized that I could grow those groups by – you guessed it! – showing up on video for free in the groups.
Now, this is still a work in progress of growth and engagement, but it’s slowly picking up steam.
The reason I’m talking about this in the “email” section for the month is because I added my links for my free Facebook groups, my Youtube channel, and my Instagram to my email signature.
That alone had netted me more than 300 new members to that group in October.
That might not seem like much, but we’re talking that I’d had 10 over the previous 30 days. Soooooo I consider that a win.
ONE MORE THING ON EMAIL…
Sending new freebies to your email list. Like, brand new opt-in pages.
This will get eyes on your tripwire and bring you a boost of cash.
Can I get a WOOT WOOT for that?
Here’s how it goes (because I know that sounded… janky?):
- I’m writing my normal email to you.
- At the bottom (or wherever), I link to the LANDING PAGE for an opt-in.
- They will re-opt-in to your list (I wouldn’t freak out over them accidentally getting on your welcome sequence again… I haven’t had anyone complain about this ever)
- After they opt-in, they will see your tripwire! Yay! And you never had to actively sell anything to them! (Double YAY!)
It’s that simple. And everyone wins: you get to see if your people like your freebie, your people get a new freebie, and they get a great deal, too!
COACHING
Limiting belief alert!
I thought that it was something that new bloggers needed or bloggers who were admitting defeat when they got a coach.
FALSE.
I was talking to multiple [6-figure] bloggers & business owners in the past few weeks and it became clear: coaches were where it’s AT.
So I hired myself a business coach (I did this on the 29th, so I can’t really tell you how amazing this has been in October’s lessons, but… I’ll dish in November’s recap… but it’s going to be a biggie, I can already feel it 😉 ).
Every. Single. Day.
Posting to my feed, getting in my stories… and! Doing Reels!
Instagram went hard and heavy with Reels in October. Meaning that they wanted to see Reels, they were showing people more Reels in the feeds and in the explore tab. Soooooo it was all about making Reels!
In the week that I committed to doing at least 5 Reels a week for the rest of the month, I saw my reach increase by 202%. I didn’t do anything different other than getting in Reels every day.
It gets easier with time to do the Reels (my first one took WAYY too long). But with practice and consistency comes results.
Are we friends on Instagram, by the way? You should follow me. 😉
BELIEFS
I gotta tell ya… I’ve come face-to-face with more limiting beliefs in the month of October than I have…. Maybe ever.
In case you’re not in the woo woo mindset yet, this. is. HUGE.
Promise: I’m not a woo woo kind of person… except… this stuff kinda works.
Here’s something practical you can do:
- Every time you think something negative (especially about your business), catch that thought and turn it the hell around.
Here’s what this looked like for me (like, really and truly):
- Flip through Instagram
- Read that someone had a $1 million launch
- Get down on myself and think “that’ll never happen to me”
- Catch that ish!
- “Woah, why do you think that?”
- “Stop that. You are working your way there right now.”
- “Say it with me now: Good for her! Be happy for her killin’ it! Your time is coming.”
- Breathe in, breathe out.
And then repeat over and over and over again.
This is something that I struggle with is comparison. And the more that I can catch my own brain going down a negative wormhole, the better. The sooner I can stop the negativity, the better.
You have homework! Because I know I’m not the only one who finds themself thinking “must be nice,” “I wish that was me,” “I suck because I’m not as good as…”
Every time you think that, catch yourself. Say something nice to yourself and about the other person/ thing that triggered you.
WHAT I BINGED:
Anything Amanda Frances has been my vibe. But especially in October when I really knew that I needed something bigger but I couldn’t seem to bridge that gap.
She has a bunch of free resources that are basically guaranteed to up your vibe by a lot.
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