Today we’re going behind the scenes once more for another My Creative Studio Spotlight June 2018 edition.
Studio Goals for June:
Blogging Consistently and Establishing an Editorial Calendar
- Publish 2-3 blog posts per week
- Plan out my editorial content a month at a time
- Batch blog post writing and schedule them in advance
My goal after launching my website was to maintain a steady stream of traffic via my blog.
I’ve heard others having great success in blogging and posting their content to Pinterest and I am making this a key marketing strategy for my first 3 months in business.
Needless to say, I struggled to hit the 2-3 posts per week mark, achieving 3 posts in the month of June.
My posts are hitting 1000+ words each and I find I’m putting a lot of effort to make each one useful and helpful. As a result, they are taking a lot longer to compose than anticipated.
I’ll continue to work on this goal and I’m committed to publishing every Tuesday through July & August. I’ve also planned out my post topics for the month so this should help to get them done!
Pinterest Strategy and Group Boards
The second part of my blogging strategy is combining it with the use of group Pinterest boards. Pinterest is ultimately a search engine and other creatives have achieved great success in posting regularly to group contributed boards. My approach was:
- Optimize my blog visuals for Pinterest.
- Find group boards to join.
- Start posting my content to Pinterest group boards.
To optimize my Pins, I registered for Rich Pins, ensured my graphics were the preferred 600 X 900 size and developed a consistent post style.
Next, I started researching how to find group boards on Pinterest. I tried to use Pingroupie but couldn’t find what I was looking for. I had better success looking to see what others in my niche were members of and looking into those group boards.
Once I found a board I wanted to join, I was surprised how many hoops I needed to jump through to join them. A lot of them want you to email them, fill out a google form and join a Facebook community before getting access. Even after doing all of this, I found the owners just didn’t respond or follow through.
Most group boards also have very specific requirements for joining such as pinning other people’s content or posting only on a specific topic.
I was successful in joining a couple group boards in my niche and in one month, I’ve had good results so far:
- My reach for average monthly viewers increased 1933%.
- Activity on Pins from my website saw an increase of 1520% in average daily impressions and 5460% in average daily viewers.
Onboarding Clients, Workflows and Setting up my Client Resource Manager, Dubsado (CRM)
The perfectionist in me really wanted my workflow and my client onboarding process to be all figured out right from the start. I’m quickly realizing, I need to put a few months into this business of mine before I can really streamline this part of my operations.
While I have extensive experience from my interior design and textile days working with clients, it’s been a little different as a web designer. Also, the needs of each client are unique.
This goal will be an ongoing process as I solidify my work process with more client work.
Starting a Morning Routine
This last goal was more of a personal development one than a business one. Still, I felt it was really important to get into the right mindset as I start on my entrepreneurship journey.
After reading The Miracle Morning, I really focused on establishing a morning routine. For 3 weeks now, I’ve been regularly doing yoga and meditation first thing in the morning and have noticed a huge shift in my focus and my ability to get things done. Definitely a win in my books!
Website Stats for June:
Here is my first full month of website stats:
- Page views: 494
- Pages/session: down from 2.11 to 1.63
- Average Session Duration: down from 1m 57s to 46s
- Bounce Rate: up from 64.19% to 79.21%
I’m not surprised to see a drop in all of my website stats this month. My launch generated a lot of activity from friends and family who were really curious about what my business was all about.
As curiosity has died down and I’m generating more organic traffic through social media and my blogging efforts, I’m getting a better sense of how my website is performing overall for my target market.
It will be important now to try and improve on June results by adding value to my website and working on keywords to really find my ideal customers.
Books I’m Reading:
Yes – I’m a member of the Amazon Associates affiliate program. If you happen to make a purchase by clicking on any of my book recommendations, I do make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
I procrastinated to pick this book up for a bit but once I started I couldn’t put it down. I’m certainly adding it to my list of top recommended books.
In the first few pages alone, I jotted down quote after quote. Here is one of my favourites that sums up the book pretty nicely:
For anyone that is feeling stuck, this is a great motivational book full of useful ways to create exactly what you want. Check out my other recommendations on my Resource page.
Listening to:
Why You Aren’t Taking Action on the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast with Amy Porterfield featuring guest Brooke Castillo
I didn’t spend a lot of time listening to podcasts this month. However, when this one popped into my inbox I knew it was a must listen.
I’m certainly someone that struggles with perfection. I know if I have the time, I’ll let a task take so much longer than it actually needs to take in order to get it just right. My struggles with blogging consistently is a great example of this.
Amy’s guest Brooke had a few key takeaways that I certainly need to work on:
- You’re hustling too much and not having enough productivity (ie. actually producing a result). “If you’re not producing anything, you’re not going to get any traction.”
- You are giving yourself too much time to get stuff done. You should plan everything in one-hour increments and produce B minus work. “B- work can change people’s lives. Work that you don’t produce at all does nothing.”
- You’re avoiding failure and discomfort when discomfort is the currency of your dreams. “Success is built on a pile of failures and the only time you’re going to start failing is when you start taking massive action.”
This podcast was full of great insights. I definitely think it’s worth a listen!
Blog Posts Published in June:
My Creative Studio Spotlight May 2018 Edition
Branding and Website Design | Vanessa Bucceri Creative
How to Brand your Instagram in 5 Easy Steps
What’s Coming Up in July:
- Blogging consistently including an editorial calendar (again!).
- Facebook & Instagram strategy including batching and scheduling posts.
- Getting serious about my email list with consistent weekly Studio Mail.
- Looking into online quizzes as a lead capture technique.
Behind the blog
I’m Vanessa. The Founder & Creative Director of Vanessa Bucceri Creative.
We work with ambitious service professionals who are ready to uplevel their brand identity so they can flourish in their businesses. We show style-minded business owners just like you how to connect with your audience through artful branding & web design - all while truly listening to your vision and intuitively bringing it to life.
More About VBC
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