Grow Your Blog || Take Action

Like some 1200 of you, I attended Helene's #MonitizeYourBlogWebinar last night and she said something that really struck a cord with me. I was actually working out and taking the webinar at the same time (subtle brag for working out) so I didn't write down the exact words, but in a nutshell she said that you really need to take action on your blog in order to be successful. 

I've never done all of the things you're supposed to do as a blogger. Take yesterday for example, I didn't personally share my post on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. Why? I have no idea. I just totally forget to I guess? There is no excuse really, but I will say I do a downright lousy job of "taking action" on this blog. 

So how did I grow my blog, if I'm so painfully lousy at doing the easy things like social shares? Well, for the first year I put a lot of money into advertising. At the time I had just moved to Dallas and was working full time at my current job, while still basically working full time at my job back in Knoxville as a marketing and graphic design consultant. It probably sounds like I was wearing myself thin with blogging and working two full time jobs, but  I really wasn't. I had no social life and nothing but time on the nights and weekends. Plus, I was making bank and had plenty of money to invest back into my blog. It was the perfect time for me to have started my blog. 

I bought sponsorships constantly, but I think advertising on other blogs was a lot different then. Every blogger offered sidebar ad space, and it was totally worth it. I'd pour myself a glass of wine on Friday night and by my third glass I'd be the proud new owner of 5 different sidebar ads! It was absolutely the most effective way to grow your blog, and would get me hundreds of extra page views every day. I like to think that I also had the content to keep the readers I was gaining. I worked hard on my posts because I knew I needed to make those new readers stick around. 

Now a days though,  I don't advertise. I don't have the money rolling in like I used to -- I don't work two full time jobs and CB and I like to drink beer and I own a $6,000 Jack Russell -- plus sidebar advertising just isn't readily available like it used to be. So when Helene talked about taking action, I really listened to her. 

We all need to do a better job of pimping our own stuff, finding new collaborations that we really WANT and growing our blogs. I too often shy away from doing any of those things because I feel like I'm being annoying... or perhaps I'm just straight up lazy. 

When you take action though, it honestly works. 

I am the world's worst blogger when it comes to just kicking back and waiting for a new email to pop up in my inbox that says, "X company would like to work with you and pay you $300 and send you their product." OH SWEET! 

Imagine how much more you could make though, if you sought out these collaborations. What if they were collaborations that you were genuinely excited to share with your readers?! 

On Monday, I told you I was going to contact some companies I really wanted to collaborate with. I found a contact through either their website or by just shooting them a message on Facebook asking-- Hey, who should I email about a blogger collaboration? 

And guess what happened...

Seriously, every single company I contacted emailed me back and wanted to work with me. All I had to do was take action.

This post, this post and this post were all collaborations I personally took action on, and made happen. I honestly feel like you can tell how much I enjoyed writing those, plus, how perfect are all of those posts for MY blog in particular?! 

Venus Trapped in Mars Media Kit || Located under the "Work With Me" tab at the top of the page 

So do what Helene said in her AWESOME webinar yesterday (p.s. did you hear about her new GIANT secret  project she released last night? It's freaking sweet and already killing it!!) and start TAKING ACTION on your own blog. Who knows what could happen, how much you could grow or how many cool things could come from it!