Tag: blogging

July 2020 update: Oh my God, we made it

2020, what a start to a new decade. As I edge closer to the twilight of my twenties this year went from an exciting start to a bizarre limbo and an uncertain end. I run on the side of hope, that all will eventually balance out.

The Coming Month

Part of the goal with these start-of-the-month updates is a chance to better connect with the community and lay long term infrastructure for the blog. If I ever need to take a break from writing, I can update in this post rather than just randomly go off the grid, like I’ve done in the past. A lot of my posts I add the occasional life update but with a monthly update I can do life updates all in one place, without tacking it onto an article; this will help articles keep their focus. This month for our two articles we’re looking at a poem and the third chapter of New Horizon, which has not been seen since 2018. I want to do the third chapter right, so expect this post to be the last week of the month. As for the poem, that’ll be next week.

Other Updates

This year I’m focused on growth but more importantly, sustainable growth. What I like about WordPress is the sense of community. Before I was a writer, I was a reader and nowhere else have I felt more at home. In the past, I’ve shied away from active promotion and have preferred organic growth; however, I’ve come to realize these two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Simply put, I want more people to see my content and enjoy what I have to share with the world. Instead of simply waiting for more people to come, it helps to simply say “hey, by the way, it’d be great if you joined the community.” Simple, yet effective.

No more weekend posts

Sometimes I get excited and want to post right away. As I’ve found over my years of writing, while the time of a post typically doesn’t matter, the day does. Weekend posts have historically gotten no traffic, regardless of topic. Fridays and Mondays are also fairly slow. So as I organize the blog and look at reach, you can expect to see posts on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. All this really means for you is more consistency, which is good.

Updated Contact and About page

Long overdue, I finally got around to updating my About and Contact page. I gave both pages an updated look, making it easier to find information about me and to reach out. Links are above if you’re curious what the pages look like.

Looking Ahead

I am currently researching podcasts and already have a draft of a first season planned. If I do create podcasts, I’ll post the content on my Patreon for everyone’s viewing pleasure. My first book is nearing completion and you should hear more within the coming months.

That’s it! Like, share, and follow if you enjoy my content. I’m excited for the coming weeks as I delve back into poetry and short stories. As always, feel free to comment below!

May Update 2020

Hello Everyone! It has been a crazy last month! From quitting my job to being locked inside, a lot has happened. As of now, my main priority has been to publish my first book. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, this will be nothing new. It’s a compilation of the poetry I’ve written over the years and should total 22 poems in all. I’ve finally gotten all the poems transferred to a google doc and am currently figuring out whether or not I need to go ahead and purchase Microsoft word. Kindle Direct Publishing seems easiest for my first book and from there I will begin to look at other options. I do have plans for a second book and this will be a true to form title. Written not on the blog, but rather entirely new material. It’ll stem from my practice of writing short stories and will either be a compilation of short stories or a novel written from beginning to end. As such, once my first book is published, expect to see some more short stories on this site.

In addition to getting a book published, I have started expanding my social media strategies. I’ve built a good base for content on the site but marketing and promotion have always been a bit of a struggle. I’ve started employing some of my college of business knowledge to help push my content further. Part of that strategy has been to start publishing original content on LinkedIn. If you remember years ago, I used to publish business articles on this site. That eventually turned into self-help and then eventually the content you see today. It’s much more relaxed on this site and I like keeping it that way. That doesn’t mean I don’t cover more serious topics like mental health (I’ll try to get an article out soon for mental health awareness month) but as far as business articles go, I stopped posting them on this site for a reason! LinkedIn over the last couple weeks has been fruitful and has helped promote my writing talent on a professional platform. I’ve fiddled around with the idea of doing a third website such as medium and a long time ago I thought about a sub website (“Mike Cole Gaming” or whatever I was going to call it) but ultimately decided against those alternatives. WordPress has been my home for the last 5 years and it’s been great building this website for over half a decade.

After five years, I finally have an official facebook business page. This has allowed me to promote to my friends and family without me having to use my own personal timeline. If my friends like my content, then they can like the page. Eventually, it’ll house photography commissions and hopefully painting, but for now the Facebook page is just to promote my writing. Why I didn’t have one before, God only knows. My blog took the back burner a bit while the call center sucked out my soul. As of now, I’ll be treating writing as more of a full time job. That is why I’m pushing content on LinkedIn, writing a book, and promoting myself as a freelance writer. I enjoy writing and during a Pandemic is the perfect time to see what it’d be like if I only did this. If I can generate enough revenue, I think I would enjoy doing this every day more than any job I could apply for. Creative hobbies are fun and where my company has failed me, blogging never has.

Eventually, I might open up my Instagram to be public as opposed to private. I’m still mulling over the logistics but for now I’m going to see how it goes with Twitter. I’ll be on Twitter more often, figuring out how to tweet and gain traction. I’ll also be monitoring the audience I attract as the blog continues to expand but all in all I see no issue when we make the jump from one hundred and fifty followers (3 away!) to a couple hundred and then hit the one thousand mark. While I don’t think we’ll hit the one thousand mark by the end of the year, I am optimistic that the site will grow by at least a couple hundred. I check the stats consistently and we’re already on track to surpass last years numbers; for the entirety of 2019. The number of views for April jumped four fold from 2019 to 2020 to illustrate an idea how well the blog is doing. I am truly excited to see what May has in store. If there is any content you’ve been missing, feel free to reach out and let me know. I love writing and if there is content you want, I’d be happy to take it into consideration!

And that’s it! Just wanted to do a quick update on what I’ve been working on. It’s a crazy time but the blog has never been better. I am starting to see growth on the website and we’re set up for a strong year. Every like, follow, and share helps drive traffic to the site as well as bring in ad revenue so I can support myself. As we start to get more and more people joining my Patreon, I’d also like to emphasize that joining Patreon should come with an invitation to join my discord community page. If you don’t receive an invite, let me know. Below is the link to my Ko-Fi and Patreon, so if you feel like supporting me, you can do so!

Support this blog!!!

As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to this year!

Most Likes

So on April 20th, on the day after my 5th anniversary with WordPress, I also received the most likes on a single post in a single day. 14 likes. It’s crazy. Likes can vary from post to post but to put that in perspective, my posts typically receive 14 likes in their lifetime. If you go through my blog, posts that have been there months or even years have typically 13 to 14 likes. My posts from 5 years ago? Most have zero likes, the best typically had one. What was I writing at the time? Back then, I had word of the days and poetry commentary (if I even chose to comment on it). It was around May that I started to expand my writing and try to have some semblance of my own thoughts and it is around this time I started getting more than a couple likes on my posts. A like back then feels just as good as it does now and with my blog growing, it is satisfying to take a look back every once in a while. Some of you have been with me since the very beginning and I do notice, I see your likes pop up time and time again and I appreciate the support; I may not call anyone out individually, but as a blogger it’s gratifying to know that whatever I post, you are following me for me and not a persona I would like people to believe I am. There is a reason my domain is my name.

On the back-end, I do enjoy combing over the stats. Typically after a post, I check each day to see the views and the comments left. I see what content people prefer and do my best to meet demand (I actually have no idea what demand is). Another favorite of mine as far as data is concerned is looking at the map to see where the views are coming from. While the majority of views come from the US, at this point my blog has been seen by many nations throughout the world. And that’s what I love about blogging. Is, for every barrier we put up, we often find we have more in common than we do not.

My most popular posts seem to be my update posts. Clunky at first, like a fine wine they have only gotten better over time. And they’re fun to write. As I sit in my room, sipping my cup of coffee, I’m in a state of pure bliss.

Each like helps support the blog, each follow helps grow the community. Part of my content restructuring involves ideas for long term growth. What happens when the blog surpasses 150 followers? 200? 500? And then finally, 1000? Honestly, I don’t expect much to change. The benefit of having more followers is a larger community. I’ve been talking primarily about likes but another aspect I’ve enjoyed is comments. At the moment, very few comment on my posts but when I started, no one commented on my post. As the blog grows, I expect an influx in comments and I’m looking forward to it. All in all, it’s an exciting time for this blog.

And that’s it! Remember, if you like my content, share it with your friends or give it a shout out on social media! The more traffic the site can get, the better. And remember to check out my Patreon and Ko-fi! I’m steadily improving both, so please take a look and provide your feedback! I can add tiers for Patreon and set goals for Ko-fi, so let me know what you’d like! Below is the link:

Support this Blog!!!

Looking to contact me via email? Click below:

Contact me!!!

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below!

Anniversary Post

Yesterday was my Five year anniversary with WordPress! Typically I pay no mind but half a decade on the same platform is no joke! I remember when I first started, few views and no followers. I’d post and back then, I saw it more of a journal; never did I expect to grow a following. It’s taken five years but the blog is close to one hundred and fifty strong. I’ve never focused too much on promotion. I simply write and people come. That is beginning to shift as the Pandemic has upended a lot of my prior priorities and made me rethink life. The blog will always be around but I want it to gain wider traction in the coming years. As mentioned previously, I took a step back to rethink content, structure, and flow; slowly but surely that is coming to fruition. Part of my strategy is simply to mention to share the content if you like what you read and to subscribe to my Patreon or buy me a cup of coffee per post. I generate a little money via ad revenue but not enough to offset the cost of maintaining the blog. Profit? That has always been a dream. I’ve branched my writing to gain more exposure to my craft and in time, the landscape of my professional career will look drastically different. Writing has been my one constant. Wherever life has taken me, my blog has followed. It provides an inner peace and calm like I’ve never experienced before and I still remember how scared I was when I first started. Now, I simply type, edit, and publish.

My blog is increasingly growing more important from a career perspective. As of today, I have quit my job at the Call Center. Two Years of work and I had to trust my gut; it’s a strange feeling. I spent years building a safety net and the net has caught me, for now. This was the first major life decision I made in a very long time. It’s easy to stay, the tough part is knowing when to leave. During the middle of a Pandemic? Risky but necessary. I am retaking control of my narrative and course correcting. I’m happy to know I can do what’s right for myself and still believe in a better tomorrow.

Part of my plan for the blog was finding a way to put the why back into what I do. Why do I write? Why is a question everyone must ask. It’s the question I kept asking myself at the Call Center. If you don’t ask why, then one day you’ll wake up and realize you’re exactly where you were years ago. I forgot how to ask and took too much grace in listening to others rather than listening to myself. Thanks for sticking around this long and here’s to another 5 years!

If you want to support this blog; like, comment, and follow! Also, share! If you want to offer further support, below is a link to my Patreon and Ko-fi accounts!

Support this blog!!!

If you would like to reach out regarding collaborations, feel free to contact me directly through my email!

Contact me!!!

And as always, feel free to leave comments below; I read them all!