Are you a blogger? Or perhaps you want to be? Blogging is hard work. It can get discouraging real quick. Do you ever feel like no matter what you try, you can't seem to get more readers? It's like you've hit a flat line and your blog feels dead. What's worse is when you are trying to actually make your blog into a business but your income isn't even covering the costs to run the blog. Yep, that's been me. I've been there, friends. About two years ago, my page views were stuck at around 15K per month. I was reading eBooks about blogging. I had a brand new design done by a professional. I Continue Reading
Guy Behind the Blog Episode 15
The end of a month means it's time for Travis to hop over and answer some questions in our Guy Behind the Blog series! This month, I'm answering the questions and Travis is responding in italics! Let's get started! 1. What is something that you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? He doesn't like it when I can't make up my mind. For instance, when I can't/won't choose where to eat or what to eat. Or when I'm making any type of decision and completely stressing over it. Yes, and I also don't like it when you chew on your fingers and bite your lips. 2. You bake him a cake for his birthday, Continue Reading
How to Update Archive Posts
I began blogging at Seeing Sunshine around four years ago, and if you looked back at some of my very first posts (now known as archive posts) you might not recognize that it's me writing. Each year, I have gotten better at this blogging thing. I've learned a ton about good content, easy-to-read formatting, and eye-catching graphics, and I've grown so much as a blogger. As bloggers, we should constantly be improving, growing, and strengthening our blogging skills. Our spaces on the internet should keep looking better and better as the months and years go on. But what about all those posts Continue Reading
2 Ways to Monetize Your Blog as a Beginner
I had my blog up and running for at least a year before I began to monetize it. But it's honestly never too soon to start. There are two main ways to monetize a blog that are perfect for beginners -- whether a monetizing beginner or a blogging beginner. What I love about these two ways to monetize is that you can get passive income. By that I mean you do a little work at the beginning and then sit back and watch the pennies roll in. I say pennies because I want you to know this is not a get-rich-quick method. I know very very few people -- actually none -- who suddenly made a lot of Continue Reading
How to Use CoSchedule
I posted a link to my latest blog post to Facebook. With almost 1,000 Facebook followers, you would think many of them would see it, a percentage of those people would engage with the post by liking or commenting, and a smaller percentage would click the link. But here I sit, waiting for anyone to even see that post. Facebook tells me that even though I have almost 1,000 followers, only 25 people have seen that post. As bloggers and business people, we know that Facebook reach is low. It makes sense -- they want us to pay for those views by boosting our posts. Most of us bloggers like to Continue Reading
The Best Blogging Resources
If you are thinking of starting a blog, just started a blog, or are fairly new to the blogging world, you've got to check out my posts that I wrote just for you! But even if you aren't new and you've been blogging for years, finding valuable blogging resources to help you improve your website is so important. Check out these posts if you're new to blogging: How to Start a Blog: Part 1 -- The first six steps to starting a blog before you even purchase a domain. These steps will help you get on the right track and stay on it! How to Start a Blog: Part 2 -- The six steps it takes to Continue Reading
Blogging for Beginners: The Next Steps
Hey all you blogging beginners out there! I'm super excited for you and your new websites! There is so much to learn and so much hard work ahead for you, but hopefully it will all be worth it. If you haven't already, be sure to read How to Start a Blog Part 1 where I share the first six steps you should take before even buying a domain. Then, read How to Start a Blog Part 2 where I share the step-by-step instructions for getting your own website. Once you have all of those 12 steps finished and you've begun writing great content, it's time for the next steps! Today, I'm sharing with you Continue Reading
7 WordPress Plugins You Should Use
How many of you are bloggers or are beginning your own blog? I've shared the six steps you should take before even buying a domain, and I've also shared the next steps you should take when starting a blog. One of the best parts of having a self-hosted Wordpress website is having access to thousands of tools to make blogging easier. These tools are called plugins. You install the plugins on your website and then customize them to fit what you want. A lot of things you see on this blog are actually plugins I've installed. For instance, see that box at the beginning of this post? The one that Continue Reading
How to Start a Blog Part 1
In the past month, I've had several people ask me about blogging, how I got started, and how they can start a blog. So I've decided to write just a few posts for those of you out there interested in this. I started this blog in 2012 as a hobby. It was a way for me to therapeutically write after a hard break up with the guy who is now my husband. It started out with a lot of sad posts and a lot of rambling. My only readers were my mom and said ex-boyfriend/now husband who still loved me and couldn't stop reading. I'll say it -- it was a bit pathetic. Since then my website has grown a lot, Continue Reading
How My Page Views Increased by 150%
16,595. That was my average monthly page views on my blog in January 2015. That's also the month I started Elite Blog Academy. 41, 611. That was my average monthly page views on my blog in January 2016. Yes, one year later my traffic increased by 150%! It's all thanks to Elite Blog Academy -- a step-by-step guide that helps me create a successful blog, grow my traffic, and even helps me make more money. Not only have I seen a major increase in traffic to my website, I've also seen an increase in social media followers. I've learned so much about consistency, content, email Continue Reading
A Holiday Gift Guide for Bloggers
I've been a blogger for ... jeez, how many years now? I think I started my first blog in 2010 and moved to Seeing Sunshine in 2012. So I'm going on six years of blogging. Over that time, I've figured out what helps me with my blog and some things that I would love to have for my blogging "career." Do you have a friend who's a blogger? Or perhaps someone trying to get into the blogging world? This is my list of gift ideas for bloggers. Blogging Holiday Gift Guide Coschedule I just recently started my free trial of Coschedule -- you can get a 14-day free trial to see if you like it Continue Reading
The Guy Behind the Blog: Episode 1
I've been seeing other bloggers get involved in this series called The Guys Behind the Blog created by Betsy at Heavens to Betsy. This monthly series gives the guy behind the blog a chance to answer five questions so we all can get to know them better. I decided I wanted to join in on this series, which is also a monthly link-up, for two reasons. First, my husband Travis is so supportive of this blog it's a little ridiculous. He is always encouraging me to keep going and keep improving it. I think he believes in this space more than me at times. Second, this will be a great way to get Continue Reading