A little look into my February goals for the blog & in life, along with a recap of what happened in our life & with Domestically Blissful in January.
Well hello February!
I love the month of pink & hearts!
It’s the month of love, the month of my sister (in-laws) birthday, my nieces birthday, & my birthday! Random fact: my niece & I share the same birthday!
Last month there were several firsts that occurred in relation to my blog.
For one, there was an entire week where I didn’t share a single new post on my blog. I’m a bit disappointed in myself, but at the same time I’m glad that this is the first time in my almost 2 & 1/2 years of blogging that this has happened. So I only shared 11 new blog posts in January…
On a happier note I reached 5,000 followers on Facebook!
Any who, I wrote today’s blog post backwards, from bottom to top, & I have too much energy to look at my computer screen any longer… So we are going to go ahead & skip right to my reading goals!
Oh, but one more thing! Please keep us in your prayers! We have some big things happening in February (& today!) that I can’t discuss until after they have happened, but I promise to fill you in as they happen & in next month’s life lately!
ps. You can keep up with the randoms from my life by following me on Snapchat @blissfulmiller
Reading Goals & Life Lately
This month I started She Read’s Truth “The Bible in a Year” plan & I am already behind. Last year I made it through February before I fell so far behind I gave up. This year, however, I am not going to stop no matter how far behind I get. So even if it takes a year & a half to read through the Bible I am determined to read the whole thing consistently.
I’ll also admit that I am not exactly following their schedule, but rather using it more as a guide. So far I have read Genesis, some of John, & some of Psalms. In the morning while Roger is eating breakfast we have devotions together. I read a little bit from our church’s Bible study guide & also from the Bible. Although I plan on reading most of the Bible in my own devotions, I will be reading Psalms & Proverbs (along with a New Testament book or two) to Roger this year.
I did the math & I need to read a little over 3 chapters a day. So even if I miss a few days here & there if I read 2-3 chapters a day by myself, & 1-2 a day to Roger, I should be able to read through the Bible by spring of 2017!
So my Bible reading goal for February is to finish John & read Job, James, Galatians, & begin Exodus.
For Christmas my mom gave us a beautiful copy of Peter Pan which I have been reading off & on to Roger. We probably won’t finish it anytime soon. But I hope we will finish it by April.
I am also hoping to read Pride & Prejudice this month!
After writing this I’m honestly not sure how I will accomplish all of this reading since February is the shortest month of the year.
But I’m going to try!!
January Blog Goals/Accomplishments
& February Goals
I blogged a lot less this month than I have in months past, but there was also a couple of other reasons why my blog page views decreased.
After curiosity finally got the better of me I asked a trusted blogging group I belong to what their yearly trend is for their blogs. I got a bit of a mixed response since we all blog about a variety of topics. But what I gathered from these ladies, & my knowledge of my own blog, the first quarter of the year is probably always going to be my slowest in regards to growth, interaction, & page views. And in contrast, the 4th quarter (the holidays) will probably always be the best time of year for my blog.
I will just keep trudging along these next few months & pray/hope that my blog doesn’t fall behind during the coldest & darkest months of the year!
With this knowledge I am going to try to make my goals more realistic for these first few months. And then as the year goes on I will push harder to reach the yearly goals that I mentioned last month.
Also, Ash from A Mom in Training had mention to me a couple of months ago that she was interested in reading what my most popular posts were each month. And I felt so bad that I forgot to include that in last months report! Sorry Ash! But I promise to include them from here on out!
Top 5 Most Popular Blog Posts in January:
1. Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (Originally published: 10.07.2014)
2. 50 Unique Star Wars Gifts (Originally published: 11.22.2015)
3. Chocolate Caramel Marshmallows (Originally published: 10.12.2015)
4. 25 New Year’s Resolutions for Married Couples (Originally published: 12.20.2015)
5. How to Whiten Salt Dough (Originally published: 10.23.2015)
Facebook: Goal: 5,000 -> Reality: 5,040
+ February Goal: 5,100
Yay! I finally made it to 5,000 followers on Facebook! I will admit that I was pretty excited about this!
For the first few months I will keep increasing my Facebook goal by 100. Depending on the trend, I will probably increase that to 150 a month in April, then 200 in August, & (fingers crossed) 250-300 later in the fall. After doing the math, I’m really not sure if I will reach my 7,500 Facebook followers by the end of 2016, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big & working hard towards a goal!
Instagram: Goal: 2,800 -> Reality: 2,740
+ February Goal: 2,800
So this is pretty funny! [insert slightly sarcastic laugh]
I gained & lost many followers this month resulting in one less follower than I had at the end of December.
I’m thinking I need to work a little hard this month on Instagram. I’ve started posting more (again) & I’m determined to reach this goal!!
Pinterest: Goal: 3,500 -> Reality: 3,743
+ February Goal: 4,000
I gained 289 Pinterest followers in January. I’m really not sure how I am going to reach my 10,000 Pinterest followers goal for the year. I was gaining a steady flow of Pinterest followers last year when I had a dropdown bar for Pinterest, but at the end of December I replaced it with an email subscription drop down bar.
I’m thinking I need to change my goal to 7,500, but even that is going to be difficult.
However, I am contemplating switching the dropdown bar back to Pinterest, because I think I had more interaction with the Pinterest dropdown. What do you think? If you were (or are) coming to my blog for the first time, what are you more likely to click on? A Pinterest follow button or an email subscription dropdown bar (I also have a popup after you reach a certain % of my blog page)?
I’d love your advice!
Twitter: Goal: 800 -> Reality: 802
+ February Goal: 850
I can’t believe it! I finally reached the Twitter goal I have had for months!
I really think this has everything to do with TheseReads. I’ve started using their share button & throughout the day I am constantly tweeting from TheseReads.
Hopefully I can keep this up!
Rss Feed Email Subscription: Goal N/A -> Reality: 286
+ February Goal: 450
After months of debating whether I should start an RSS feed email subscription I finally did it near the end of December. I know it might sound silly, but I didn’t want to pay for a P.O. Box. After finally deciding to make the investment I found an inexpensive one & took the dive.
I had a subscription box on my blog when I first started blogging (although I don’t know if I ever used it), so when I imported the original list into MailChimp I had 83 subscribers. So while it was nice to start with 83 subscribers, rather than 0, I’m pretty sure I lost some of them right off the bat because chances they didn’t follow Domestically Blissful on social media, & then when I didn’t email anything they forgot who I was. Which meant that when I did start emailing they probably thought I was spamming them.
Anyways.
I initially signed up for a month of Get Social using their Starter Plan, bad idea! I don’t know what I was thinking because once you reach their 25,000 page views limit their popups will no longer show on your blog. And since I get over 100,000 views a month I would be paying upward of $24 a month.
So I quickly switched to Sumome & am using all of their free tools. I think that this is a perfect trade off! I did notice that I was getting more subscription sign ups a day through Get Social, but it was not enough to make me pay that steep price.
Plus I still gained 200+ new email subscriptions in January! Although truth be told I have no idea if this is good or bad. I’m going to have to do some research to figure out if this is an accurate number based off of my monthly page views. If it isn’t good then I need to make some adjustments to my dropdown/popups to increase the number of new subscribers. If it is good than I am going to make my 2016 goal 2,500 subscribers.
Do you have any tips or advice for a newbie like me?
Page Views: Goal 150,000 -> Reality: 104,662
+ February Goal: 100,000
I was off by about 1/3. But hey, it’s January!
Even though this post garnered more than 80k views on Hometalk, it was such a simple tutorial that there wasn’t a lot of click through to my blog… Oh well! I had fun making it & I really love the addition to my home!
So I’ve decided to be more realistic with my February goal. Although, to be honest, I think it will be tough to even reach this goal since February is the shortest month of the year!
I guess we’ll just have to wait & see!
Want to connect on a more personal level!? You can find me & Domestically Blissful on
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin, & Pinterest!
With love, G
Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
More Confessions from Domestically Blissful
Look like you’re killing it on the blog goal front! That’s awesome for Facebook followers- go girl!!
Thanks Ashley!
It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but I am excited about the future! 🙂
I hope you have a blissful week!
ps. Your Crispy 3 Bean Quinoa looks delicious!!
Yay! Thanks for sharing your top 5 posts for the month! I always think those are interesting. 🙂
Thesereads is a lot of fun. I started using it when you blogged about it a few months ago and although i’m still tRying to learn the ropes, i’m slowly getting there! How often do you clip content? I clip daily and have seen an increase in followers, but does that necessarily meAn they are follOwing my blog’s profile too? Still confused on that part.
I love reading your monthly goals! I totally think you can reach your reading goals this month! Peter pan is one of my faves. 🙂
I think if i were a first time visitor, i’d be more inclined to click the pinterest button to follow you, however, i Suggest keeping the email subscription box. If you can create something to give away for free to your audience in eXchange for their email, you cAn connect with them on a more personal level and Increase your pageviews that way! My email newsletter is the second most popular way i drive traffic back to my blog, nect to pinterest. Its worth a shot. 😉
Hope that helps!! Keep at it, Giustina!
Btw, are you still using periscope?
Hey Ash!
I am addicted to TheseReads! It’s such an easy way to stay connected to bloggers & their newest blog posts! I try to clip 5-10 times a day, throughout the day. Your personal page & blog page are separate, but that can be good because you can grow your personal account through clipping lots of great content. And that means when you clip something from your blog it will get more exposure from all of your personal followers! 🙂
I’m already way behind in this months reading, & I’m finding it strangely difficult to read Peter Pan out loud, but I’m thinking it’s just because the first 5 chapters are setting the stage & are bogged down with details. Wendy just fell from the sky so I know it’s about to get good! 🙂
I think you are right about Pinterest! I switched the dropdown bar to Pinterest, but kept the email subscription popup box since it is collecting the most emails. At the end of February I will compare the interaction I received from the Pinterest bar vs. when I had it as an email subscription in January to verify all of this.
That’s a wonderful idea! I wish I had sent out newsletters from the beginning. Right now I’m only doing RSS emails, because I noticed only 1 person had signed up for a weekly newsletter, but I’m definitely going to look into giving something away. I’m just not sure what…
I had to stop using periscope, it ate up my data too quickly! 🙁 Maybe I’ll start using it again later this year when we have better internet. But I have to admit I prefer using Instagram & SnapChat, no matter how much I enjoyed using Periscope it stressed me out more than it should. I really liked connecting with other bloggers (like you! 🙂 ), but since I’m not a video blogger I don’t feel any sort of pressure to use it. Are you still using Periscope?
Thanks for all of your tips & advice Ash!! 🙂