Thank you so much to all who entered the giveaway!
As I was reading through every single comment left, I wanted so many of you to win.
Do you wanna see the survey results???
I’m always curious as to the survey results of other blogs, so I thought it would be fun to share some of the results from THIS survey, here on the blog.
You ready….? 🙂
I asked, “What do you want me to mentor you on for the two weeks mentorship?”
This one question helps me to determine exactly what you want me to teach you. What YOU say I’m good at. How YOU think I can help you.
Of course, as a blogger, we should always know exactly what others want us to teach on, so this question for me is incredibly valuable. I’m basically asking you what you think I’m good at.
- 32% of you said “Blogging success (traffic and income)”
- 29.6% of you said “How to make money from home as a stay-at-home-mom”
This isn’t surprising to me at all. When I first started my blog and started teaching saving money, very soon after, I started getting requests to teach blogging and how to make money from home. It all just lines up with exactly what I’m supposed to be doing in this world: teaching moms who want to stay home with their kids, know exactly how to accomplish that. <3
I loved having that confirmed!
I also asked how long you’ve been reading the blog.
- 35.1% of you said 2-3 years.
- 29.1% of you said 1 year
- 17.9% of you said 6-12 months.
It’s REALLY cool to see that more than 64% of you have been following along for over a year. It really makes me feel like I’m doing something right and I’m so appreciative to everyone who allows me into your life week in and week out.
I never, in a million years, thought this would be my life. I came from nothing, I had nothing, and now I live my dream life every day, serving others, doing what I love.
Thank you!!!
The truth is that, *I* didn’t make my dream life happen, YOU DID. Because without all of you (and God), I wouldn’t be here! It’s very humbling to be in such a position that others would think I’m special enough to follow. It’s a massive honor.
I asked what types of posts you want to see more of.
- 53.4% of everyone polled said blogging
- 48.6% of everyone polled said organizing
- 47.4% of everyone polled said saving money
- 36% of everyone polled said binders
I asked what your number one question was. Here are some of the questions:
Donna asks, “How do you keep your faith so strong?”
I can’t take any credit for that. I’ve been through so much in my life and God is just so faithful to keep me going. Whenever I am on the brink of busting down and crying and just losing it, God shows me that He’s near to me, that He has me, that everything will be okay.
That gets me through for a little while and each time, I just take one day at a time. Life is tough. It’s certainly not all roses and pie in the sky over here. I have lots of trials too. But I love to read stories about great faith shown in the Bible; my favorite is the story of Abraham and his son. Abraham sure had a lot of faith, didn’t he?! And we can too. God always gives us what we need right when we need it. <3
Kerstin asks, “How do I discover my talents/niche?”
I think the best way to do this is by asking people. Talk to as many people as you possibly can. One of my favorite things to engage others in conversation is asking them what they do and they naturally ask me as well. Then, I tell them what I do and just kinda listen and watch how they respond.
Are they excited?
Do they think I can help them?
Or are they like, meh…what is a printable? Not really impressed.
After you talk to many people, you’ll get a good idea of what your talent is and what people want to learn from you. I don’t believe in niching your blog for most people, however, that will lead you into the right direction. 🙂
For me, it was teaching women how to stay home with their kids and so everything I do flows into that one goal.
Kimberly asks, “How can I increase my blog traffic?”
I would start trying to make real connections with people OFFline Kimberly. While social media and online is GREAT, Idk, I just feel like it’s sooooooo stupid!
Yeah, I said that. I totally did. I may be the ONLY ONE in the entire world who feels that way, but it feels slimy to me.
I mean, don’t you see all these bazillionaires making all this money teaching us how to market this, do that, try this, and so on.
“Do your email list like this, make this certain drip and people will think you’re sincere and you’ll gain their trust.”
“Guest post on other people’s blogs and people will ‘see you everywhere, think you’re really someone, you’ll be in their face enough and they will follow you.'”
Seriously, isn’t it all just crap?!
Bloggers spend SOOOOO much TIME creating the perfect video, making the perfect sequence for their newsletter, doing affiliates a certain way, and all this other junk.
I tell you the truth, NOTHING, no video, no online connection, no perfectly orchestrated newsletter sequence is going to instill more trust in your followers than BEING FACE TO FACE!!!!!!!
You CANNOT re-create that. You CANNOT manufacture that.
Eyeball to eyeball, in person, real connections.
That’s the secret to my traffic. That’s the secret to my success. While everyone else is all working their butts off figuring out the perfect this or that, I’m talking to REAL people in person, making connections and finding REAL followers who tell their friends about me.
That’s ALWAYS (from day 1), how I’ve gotten my traffic to this blog and it will be that way til the day I die. Because NOTHING, hear me, NOTHING beats a real connection in person.
Don’t learn blogging to get traffic…learn network marketing!
Gabriella asks, “How do you get out of debt when you can barely make ends meet?”
It’s just one step in front of the other. Make one goal, accomplish it, make another goal. This didn’t happen for me all at once. I was homeless NINE years ago. I started this blog 5 years ago.
Year one after getting out of the homeless shelter, I was still in debt, over $30k worth. It was just about surviving. I was making $700/month and that was my bills.
Then, my ex-husband came back. We got back together, things were okay. And then he took off again. Abandoned me and the kids ALL over again!
At that time, I was smarter. I knew he was fixin’ to leave and I was smart. I went into reselling right away, before he left. I knew I’d need the income to fall back on again.
He did leave and I already had a business. I was already making money on the side. Not a lot, but enough to have my feet in the water and things set up, then all I had to do was increase the hours and work it more to make more. Soon, I was making $18k/year reselling on ebay.
I lived RICH on $18k/year. Didn’t spend a whole lot. Saved up, bought a car for $7k and paid cash.
Started blogging and started making $10k/month. Then, my second year blogging, $23k/month. And on and on it went until the point where I am where I am today.
It all started as just a small step. One step in front of the other. I got out of debt (was debt-free around 5 years, now I just bought a house this month, so I’m in debt again, but it’s just the house. I don’t have any other debt). 🙂
Just take one step at a time.
Focus FIRST on saving money, and SECOND on increasing money.
Next, I asked how I could serve your needs more. You said…
Stephanie says, “More homeschool stuff!”
Sorry, Stephanie, I don’t homeschool my own kids anymore, so I feel uncomfortable teaching something I don’t do. 🙁
Tonja says, “Throw out an extra newsletter every now and then.”
Love it! I actually realized lately that I haven’t been talking too much, it’s just been so many free printables, and while I LOVE the printables and I know you guys do too, I want to balance it a little more.
I used to share a lot of my life with you guys and haven’t done that for a few months and I really want to get back to that. 🙂
Cheree says, “Send more emails with uplifting stories that you used to share.”
TOTALLY on it Cheree! You’re sooo right! <3
Denise says, “I would like some hands on videos once in a blue moon. I don’t think I have ever seen you on camera.”
You’re right! There’s only ONE video of me currently made in the entire world. That was when the Rachael Ray Show asked me to be on their show. I’m an introvert all the way, but I am going to be recording some little things this week to get out of my comfort zone. 🙂 So, look for those things soon!
Jamie says, “More bundles and post of blogging and Shopify.”
This year, I’ll be focusing on creating more bundles Jamie. 🙂 I’m REALLY excited!!! Right now I’m working on a saving money one. 🙂
Anonymous said, “Help understanding Instagram”
For learning Instagram, I would highly encourage the course by Hilary Rushford. You can access the course sales page, but you have to watch the webinar first. I was not figuring out Instagram at ALL and went through the course and it’s really helped me. My Instagram page is doing VERY well! Highly recommend her course, and as you know, there’s not many courses I ever recommend, so you know it HAS TO BE good!
Linda says, “Assume I know nothing about essential oils and talk to me as a newbie.”
I have a post coming up next Monday, 10 things to know before using essential oils, that I think you’ll really like. 🙂
Risea says, “Offer a daily e-mail sharing your faith and how His blessings and guidance has transformed your life.”
I love that idea, though…a daily email would probably be too much on my plate at this time. 🙁 I DO have the Hope Binder that is a 30 day faith-filled experience that shares a lot of my life and lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Again, thank you ALL for responding to the survey. It’s so incredibly helpful as I create my one-year plan for the blog this year, to know exactly what you want me to do and where you want us to go together.
I look forward to serving you more and more as time goes on. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. I’m incredibly blessed.
Now…to announce the giveaway winner…
The winning entry who won the FREE TWO WEEK PERSONALIZED COACHING SESSION is….drumroll please…
Kelan and Brittany of The Savvy Couple.
Congratulations Kelan and Brittany. Contact me by email to get started! 🙂