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I recently published a mid year review of the financial goals for 2018. In turn, the RTC Board of Directors demanded a mid year review of the blogging goals as well. They claimed to be discouraged by the portfolio manager’s guidance. A direct quote from the conversation was:
“the board is concerned with the direction of the blog in general.”
As such, the mid year blog report was created and approved by the chief editor. [bctt tweet=”Mid Year Progress Report on the Blogging Objectives for 2018″ username=”reversethecrush”]
A Brief Note on the Past and Future Direction
Back when RTC was founded, the current chief editor was experiencing what he refers to as “an undisclosed issue.” An article was published about it on another blog, but it wasn’t direct enough. It only alluded to grief. Whatever it was, though, it definitely impacted the quality of the editor’s life.
Anyways, an improvement has been made but it’s still there. Although blogging is therapeutic, there were even plenty of times when these issues impacted blogging. For example, the chief editor incorporated what he was going through into writing. To sum it up, the writing was negative at times and directed at certain topics—the wrong topics. In reality blogging was just being used as an outlet and the real problem was being hidden.
But now the blog is here—the chief editor is no longer on a year off journey and blogging has become completely different since then.
Here’s a brief note to elaborate on the chief editor’s current mind frame:
Listen, my interest in blogging isn’t fading anytime soon. I wanna reshape my life around blogging over the next 6-to-12 months. I know it sounds stupid, but I’ve got to put myself in position to move forward with blogging. There’s really no other choice.
I need to make the necessary changes, even if I have to take a step backwards in other areas of life. Of course, the dividend income has to keep growing. But I have to find a way! Life is too damn short, ya’ know…
It’ll take big-time changes, but it’s in the best interest of my health and happiness. I mean, there’s no f$%@ing point in standing the hell around when something remains such a strong interest for so long, especially if you have proof of concept. Sacrifices must be made!
What is the purpose of including blog history and the editor’s current mind frame?
The point is to bring you to now.
The blog began during a difficult time and during a year off work. Because of this, the blog topics varied and the approach was inconsistent.
However, now, the topics are clear and so is the north star.
Dividend investing, blogging, personal finance and personal development.
In short, the future direction of the blog is simple:
- Cover the 4 topics above in a creative and unique way.
- Improve myself through writing about the topics.
- Take blogging more seriously as a potential long term career.
Mid Year Review of the Blogging Objectives for 2018
1. Publish 12 Dividend Income Updates and 2 Forward Dividend Income Projections | Pass! (On pace – 5 dividend income updates and 4 dividend income projections have been published.)
This goal is easily on pace considering that the forward projections have become a monthly recurring post. Overall, blogging how much dividend income was added motivates more savings.
In regards to the dividend income updates, this upcoming update will be the first to feature year over year growth numbers. Based on how much income has been received so far in June, I can confirm that the year over year growth is going to be astronomical. It will definitely make for an eye-catching headline.
2. Start a TailWind Subscription | Fail
After trying out a free trial of TailWind, it was determined that a TailWind Subscription would be needed to help drive traffic. However, the focus on blog traffic tailed off at the end of 2017 and early 2018. The main focus shifted to dividend income investing.
Nevertheless, the social media team has still found ways to be successful with Pinterest without a TailWind subscription. I have utilized Pinterest group boards and pin on a fairly consistent basis.
Although I will admit that traffic would likely improve with TailWind. Put it this way—if the goal was to monetize the blog, TailWind would’ve been a higher priority. Depending on how the rest of the year goes, I still might pay for TailWind’s service. But it’s still not a major priority at this time.
3. Reach 3,000 Twitter followers | Fail (2,179 followers currently – not on pace)
The target of 3,000 Twitter followers was set based on the growth of the first 2 years. It seemed logical as 1,000 per year was seemingly the going rate. Maybe it’s because we haven’t been as consistent this year. The RTC social team used to be a lot more proactive about sharing old content, and they previously utilized Hootsuite to send Tweet’s while working.
With that said, the best driver of new followers is new content. Going forward, the team will implement a more consistent strategy of following like-minded people on Twitter, producing more content and sharing classic posts more often.
4. Reach 500 Pinterest followers | Pass (586 followers)
As covered above, the RTC social media team has found ways to be successful without TailWind. With minimal effort, Pinterest traffic has been rising and has become a constant traffic contributor. Although it doesn’t generate as much traffic as Twitter, it could easily become the social media traffic leader. It has that much potential if used properly.
Now that goal of 500 Pinterest followers has been surpassed, the goal of 1,000 followers seems like a fitting number to strive for. At the very least, I anticipate Pinterest followers will end up in the 600 plus range by the end of 2018.
5. Reach 100 Email Subscribers | Fail (52 subscribers)
Attracting email subscribers has been an interesting learning experience to say the least.
For example, the amount of topics that you blog about can greatly impact the ability to attract subscribers. During March and April 2018, the only posts being published were dividend investment related. As as result, the amount of subscribers began to increase. Perhaps the focus should only be on dividend investing content…
Even though more than 1 topic is covered on this blog, there is a concerted effort to stay on the main topics (dividend investing, blogging, personal finance and personal development). If the team is serious about growing email subscriptions, though, we would create some type or giveaway or offer in exchange for signing up. On the other hand, what type of offer does someone who hasn’t reached FI yet have to give? In my estimation, more success with blogging or investing needs to be achieved first to create a valuable offer.
Concluding Thoughts
As mentioned in the introduction, the purpose of this post was to provide an update on the blogging goals for 2018. Plus, it was meant to be an outline on the direction for the RTC Board of Directors.
After careful analysis of the progress thus far, it’s safe to assume that the blog is moving at about the same pace as the financial goals. Frankly, I’m not saving enough nor am I working hard enough on the blog to accomplish long term goals.To improve the rate of progress towards financial independence, and to be able to spend more time blogging, I must take more control of my life. There are sacrifices to be made, vices to go and a more disciplined approach to blogging must be taken into consideration.
Mid Year Update on the Personal Finance Goals for 2018
