5 Reasons Why Twitter Lists Are Amazing

If you’re using Twitter but you’re not using Twitter lists, you’re really missing out.

This is the one thing I wish I’d learnt when I first started out on Twitter.

Your feed is hard to keep up with at the best of times. I'm betting you follow a lot of people – and with retweets, quotes and some sponsored content, it can be difficult to take it all in.

You don’t want to miss the best tweets. You don’t want to miss the best opportunities. But how do you make sure you see them?

With Twitter lists.

These let you see the most important, exciting and original content from the people that you’re bothered about the most. It’s like you’re using Twitter more than what its purpose is. You’re using it intentionally and mindfully.

I absolutely love Twitter lists. Like Tom said yesterday, not only can they help you find inspiration, they’re also there to find communities and to look for opportunities to interact.

But there are so many other ways to use them too. So today’s task in the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge is all about why Twitter lists are so great and how you can make the most of them.

Why Are Twitter Lists so Great?


You Can Create Lists of Your Favourite People

Your favourite bloggers, brands, friends, magazines – you don’t have to scroll through your entire feed to see if you’ve missed their updates. You can make sure you catch all of them by putting them into a special list. I have a Twitter list that’s exactly like this, and honestly? I never scroll through my entire feed anymore – I've got the most important updates right where I want them.

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5 Useful Steps for Creating an Effective Social Media Plan

Gone are the days when social media could take a back seat in getting yourself known online. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn - they are now so saturated with the claims of bloggers and businesses each vying for their market share, that simply having a presence on these social platforms is no longer enough. You need a proper social media plan to give yourself the best possible chance of standing out from your competitors.
 

This is a guide for you to achieve that, with five steps to help get you started and then repeat over and over until your social media presence is flourishing.


Please remember though that this takes time - people will not flock to your website within a week, perhaps not even after six months. But if you put as much hard work and effort into your social media plan as you do creating brilliant blog posts, there is no reason why your social platforms cannot become a valuable asset for your work and career.

So let's get underway focusing on two of the most useful social platforms for bloggers - Twitter and Instagram.

Go on a Following Spree

When starting out, you will almost certainly have to follow someone for them to follow you in return, so identify individuals beneficial to you and follow them. The best case scenario is that they follow you back. The worst case scenario is that they don't, but by following them you will still be able to see all the useful content that they share.
 

A good way to ensure that your feed is full of truly genuine opportunities for engagement is to go on a following spree. 

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How to Find Your Best Times to Post on Social Media

Have you ever wondered if people are actually seeing what you post on social media?

Your latest blog post, that question you wanted answering, your exciting announcement - it’s great to tweet about them. But what happens if no one is actually seeing your updates?

Social media is one of the best ways to get yourself out there in front of your audience. You can build relationships, share your content and truly make a name for yourself. In 2016, there are even Instagram stars - that just shows you how powerful social media can be.

But I believe that you can’t just use your social channels as and when you want to. I used to use them like this - posting what I wanted, when I wanted. Becoming a serious blogger make me completely change my view.

I believe that social media can’t be used without some sort of strategy - a strategy that involves timing.

Lots of things come into play when it comes to posting to Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. And one of the biggest questions that always comes into play is, “when should I post my latest update?”

That’s what Day 17 in the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge is here to tell you.

So let’s start with the basics - I know you’re all savvy. I know you’ve got common sense. I know you know that 4am isn’t going to be the best time to post a link to your latest blog post, because it’s likely that hardly anyone will read it.

Just as you know that lunchtime is a great time to tweet and Snapchat, because people are highly likely to be checking their social updates on their lunch break.

When I first started blogging, this is how I worked out my social schedule. I thought about the times that my audience were likely to be online, looked at some research, and picked my timings based on those things. Here are some facts that I found originally:

  • Weekend posts on Facebook get more engagement
  • During the week, it’s best to post to Facebook in the early afternoon
  • You’ll get the best engagement on Twitter in the afternoon
  • Instagram is always active
  • Pinterest is the best referrer of traffic
  • Never post a LinkedIn update during work hours

Looking at those facts for social media, it really narrows down the times when you want to post.

For instance, you definitely want to post something around lunchtime. Then there’s early morning and around 5pm as people are getting to and from work. And anytime in the evening.

But you can get even more specific than that.

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Why You Need to Update Your About Page & Profile Pics

What’s one of the most important pages on your website? What’s one of the places where first-time visitors will go to get to know a bit more about you? Know the answer?
 

Your “About” page.


This is one of the most useful, and will probably be one of the most popular pages on your site. It’s where your readers, whether they’re new or not, can go to learn more about who you are, what do you and why you’re doing it.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Yep, it is. And there are blog posts upon blog posts out there that will tell you how you can create a killer About page.

But that’s not what today’s about. That’s not the point. Day 16 in the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge isn’t here to tell you what you need to put in your About page. It’s here to tell you why you should update it regularly and how to do just that.

Now that leads me onto a very important question to ask you.
 

When was the last time you updated your About page?


Think about it. I read blogs every single day. More often than not, I’ll head to their About page. But the information will either be really really short or just completely out of date.

When you’re constantly trying to attract new readers to your blog - even though you might not actively be doing this all the time - it’s not the best thing when your About page is “old”.

So writing one up to make it the best About page ever is great and something you should definitely do. But do you just leave it forever once it goes live?

Hell no!
 

When Should I Update My About Page?

We can split this up into three scenarios:

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5 Ways to Tidy up Your Social Media Channels

When it comes to spring cleaning, you always start off with good intentions. Making a list is what usually happens first - room by room, task by task, you write down what needs to be done. Then you think it’s time for a brew - Netflix goes on, you jump on Twitter and whaddaya know? Two hours have passed.

But with some things, spring cleaning really needs to happen way before Spring even starts. With some things, it needs to happen now. Like your social media channels.

Most of us are guilty of never going on our social platforms other than to check our notifications and have a good scroll. When actually, there’s something we’re missing. There’s something we need to do at least once a year that doesn't really involve being social.

Let’s face it - your bio could probably do with an update (and possibly your profile photo), you’re still trying to create the “perfect” Instagram feed, but don’t know what that entails, and Twitter is still quite a mystery to you. Sound familiar?

You’re not alone, friend. If you want to feel better about social media, it starts with cleaning up your channels. Day 15 in the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge is going to tell you five ways you can do that right now.

Go on an Unfollowing Spree


I'm gonna’ start off with the most unglamorous task first, but arguably the most important. You've got to go through those followers. I'm serious. I know you might be following hundreds (or thousands) of people, and it might take you most of your afternoon, but trust me. This is what you want to do. And here’s why.

Sometimes, we follow people on a whim, without really paying much attention to who they are. Sometimes, the cheeky channels do it for us! But if they’re not relevant, you don’t have a clue who they are or they’re not bringing anything positive and valuable to your feed then they’re pointless being there. It’s not worth following them. Don’t be afraid of hitting the unfollow button!

I did this at the end of last year and cut who I was following down by about 300 people. It felt so good. Why? Because I knew I was getting rid of accounts that were meaningless. It left me with more room for the people I actually wanted to follow.

Keep scrolling, read all the bios and if they don’t float your boat, just hit unfollow. It’s as simple as that.

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How to Tidy up Your Blog's Menu and Sidebar

Have you ever gone onto a new blog, read an article and REALLY wanted to read more from the person...I mean they had such an awesome blog post....but then you take one look at the navigation and the sidebar, and you can't seem to figure out where the rest of the blog posts are?

The menu is cluttered with topics that don't make sense, the sidebar is full of unrelated ads and buttons from random "organizations" that the blog is apart of. And yet you can't find anymore posts to read ANYWHERE.

After a quick scan of course, you give up and click out of the page. Too bad, you really liked that first article.

We've all been there right?
 

Let's talk about actions that you can take to be sure that your menu and sidebar are user friendly and easier to navigate.

The first rule, that applies to both sidebars AND menus is to keep it simple and give as few options as possible.

Often, we think that by breaking up our content into tons of tiny categories or having a bunch of different pages, we are sure to meet everyone's needs when they come to our website. When actually, we have much more difficulty deciding what we want when there are too many options.

Think about visiting a big city with a ton of new, different restaurants, all with different foods and a good variety - you'll more than likely have a hard time deciding on where you want to eat and sit and debate about it until you end up drawing restaurant names out of a hat to decide. Now think about visiting a small town with only two restaurant options - maybe one is pizza and one is a diner. Your choice is going to be MUCH easier in the small town.

Although we like the idea of different choices, and maybe all of those choices ARE wonderful, people on the internet do not often spend time searching through each of these options available on your site. They like clear, defined choices so that they can get exactly where they want to go with just half a second of looking.

So what does this mean for you?

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How to Find Your Own Unique Image Style

This is one of the fun parts! Researching and determining what image styles will suit your blog should be enjoyable (especially if you’re a Pinterest freak like me) and not time consuming. I know it’s easy to get sucked in and start collecting a million ideas, then agonizing over what will actually work. So let’s break it down and get you some gorgeous images!

 

 

What Do You Love & What Does Your Audience Love?

This is probably something you think about often when considering your blog and who you’re trying to reach. And it plays a big role in finding imagery that works for you. 

First and foremost, anything you do has to strike a chord in your heart and then you can think about others. So when you’re looking at images make sure they light you up, feel inspiring, and resonate with who YOU are. 

Once you have that piece you can start incorporating how the images relate to your audience and what they love to see. Obviously some common sense should come into play here - if your blog is about chic interior design, posting selfies of you and your cat probably won’t win your audience over. Find that sweet overlap between what you love and what your audience loves and that will guide your images.

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Why You Need To Try Publishing Content Every Day

This online space has been running for over two years now. But I've actually enjoyed it and learnt the most about it during these past six months. This is my number one side project above all others, and it makes me so happy to create content for you and interact with you all each day.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not easy. There have been plenty of tears and stress levels have been high. But it’s been more valuable and rewarding than I ever could have imagined. Now, I couldn't imagine my life without this blog. I know it won’t stay the same – it’ll grow as my life does. But I want it to always be there.

But there’s something I always wanted to try – daily blogging. When I first started out, I posted three times a week. Then for a while I went up to five posts a week. As of this year, I'm pushing myself to publish a blog post every single day.
 

Why? Well that’s exactly what this post is going to tell you.


On Day 12 of the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge, I want to talk to you about why you should definitely consider blogging consistently for a whole week. By the time you’ve finished reading this post, I think you’ll start to see the benefits.

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Why You Should Always Write About What Inspires You

Not so long ago, I found myself in the depths of my worst ever blogging rut. It's a situation that most bloggers will be familiar with: I grew more and more reluctant to write and photograph, and became increasingly convinced that I wasn't good enough, creative enough or talented enough to be blogging at all.

The answer was of course a simple one... My concerns about "branding" and "fitting in" meant that I was rushing to hit publish on posts that didn't resonate with me. Instead of being excited to write and share my content, I was left feeling flat and drained, unable to think of a way forward.

If this is where you are now, today's post is just a friendly reminder that we all end up here. Blog for long enough and you are bound to hit a low; it's just part and parcel of being creative. To help get you moving forwards, here is my very best advice for finding the posts you love to write...

TAKE A STEP BACK

I ended up not blogging for around 3 months, but this lull ended up being exactly what I needed. Removed from the pressure of sticking to a schedule and meeting readers' expectations, I could clearly see that the problem was not that I was lazy or stupid: I was simply no longer in love with the content I was sharing. 

By Her Mirror was a beauty blog at the time, and the step back gave me a chance to realise that beauty posts weren't the ones that satisfied me most. Lifestyle and photography pieces were the ones I was excited to share, and that felt authentically me. I realised that for By Her Mirror, this meant a shift in focus was needed; I said goodbye to beauty content and I haven't looked back.

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A Space of One's Own

Finding a space in which to work that makes you comfortable and free is an essential part of developing your voice.

How often has someone told you not to work in bed? That you should create an area in which you can be strict with yourself and focus, probably at a desk or kitchen table.

The people telling you to work that way will only have had your best interests at heart. They will have been teachers, tutors, parents, whoever and they’re correct - but only to a degree.

What's essential to being able to write, is having a space that is entirely your own, somewhere you can disappear into your own thoughts, theories and ideas.


And if you’re in your pyjamas under the covers, who cares?

In A Room Of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf wrote: “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

While Woolf used the rest of her famous essay to put forward some of the trailblazing feminist theories that shape our thinking today, the practicalities of the situation remain the same as they were in 1929. It is essential for a writer to have personal space in which to write.

So while it might not be ideal to write from your bed, and you should try to ensure that you have the correct orthopaedic support, if your room is the only place that you have to write privately, then you should write there.

Whether you live with your parents, with friends or housemates, distractions are everywhere. Coffees being made, dinner being prepared, discussions about the day at work, university or school, all waiting to suck your attention away.


Writers need to be able to lock into a thought process and get thoughts onto paper as soon as possible, without being distracted by the delicious smells of a Sunday roast.

 

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How to Create the Perfect Structure to Your Day

Building a structure into your day is an important and useful habit to become accustomed to, and if blogging is factored into that, even better. As part of the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge so far, I sat down and really thought about what I wanted my blog to be this year. This involved where it had come so far in 2015, and also where I want to make improvements, inspiring me to write a list of Blog Goals for 2016.

You may notice that right at the top of the list is “blog more regularly” – something that in my fledgling first nine months of blogging I have found difficult to grasp, with some weeks posting nearly daily and others only once. Having usually planned a whole bunch of great posts, not only does this push your schedule back, the sporadic nature can be irritating to your followers and appear erratic.

Therefore this year on Wooden Window Sills, I'm determined to design (and more importantly stick to) a regular calendar, both for blogging and more generally in life. Don’t know where to start? That’s exactly what Day 9 of the #BloggingBreakthrough Challenge is here for!


How Do I Start?

Firstly, use some of the pointers given on days 1-8 of this challenge. Trust me, they will be amazingly useful. For blogging in particular I especially refer to Day 4 on planning your editorial calendar, and equally yesterday’s Day 8 on writing lists. Because ultimately, the key to organization is both of these things – planning when you’re going to do things, and making lists of what you want to achieve.

I tend to use three calendar systems in my day to day life, and the beauty is, you may choose to not use any of them! The main thing here is finding what works best for you, so that it fits into your life and is easy to stick to.


What System Do I Choose?

To start, think about what style suits you.

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Let's Talk About the Amazing Power of the List

Let me ask you a question. Are you ready?

Do you have a to-do list for your blog?


It's great if you do. But if you don't, it wouldn't surprise me.

You see, being productive and being organised are two totally different things. You could write the best to-do list in the world. Completing it is a different story.

I can see the problem, though - because I've been there myself. Last year, I was trying so hard to come with a system for completing all my tasks for my blog. I tried out lots of different ways and none of them worked. Until recently.

I bet it's safe to say that many bloggers have a to-do list. But I bet it's also safe to say that you're making it more complicated for yourself than you need to be. That's where Day 8 of the #BloggingBreakthrough Challenge comes in.

I find reading about other people's productivity processes really interesting. And honestly? My blogging life would be nowhere near as successful without my to-do list process. I couldn't keep track of everything without this list, and since using it, I've been more ahead with my blog than I've ever been before.

So today, I present to you my process for creating the best to-do list ever for your blog.

So the main list I want to talk to you about is one for your actual blog content.

If you've been joining in with the #BloggingBreakthrough Challenge, you'll have sorted out your editorial calendar on Day 4. That's the foundation I use to create my to-do lists.

I don't have a monthly to-do list - my editorial calendar does that for me. My lists consist of weekly ones that I create every time I've planned the following month's editorial calendar.


What's in the List?

This list is to help you understand where you're up to with creating content in your blog schedule. I use paper and pen, but you can feel free to do it on Word or online too.

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How to Sort out All Your Blog Files Really Quickly

The other day I needed to find a pretty important document that was in my bedroom. I remembered that I'd put it on my desk. But over a few days (plus Christmas), I'd also put a lot of other things on my desk. So much so, that I couldn't see the surface.

I was going back to work and my untidy bedroom had made me feel like my whole life just wasn't organised. So I tidied and cleaned it - afterwards, I felt a whole lot better.
 

So let me ask you something - can you relate to this with your blog?


Something we all want as bloggers is to be organised. We've got so many images, documents, calendars, ideas, printables and so much more that we want to be able to find quickly.

But if these are all over your computer, then it makes it quite difficult to stay organised, right?

Welcome to Day 7 of the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge. Today I want to talk to you about how you can create dedicated places on your computer for all your blog-related items that will save you a massive chunk of time. Plus, you'll be able to get it done quickly. I'll be telling you the system I use so you can start using it too. All you need is some motivation and your drink of choice (tea for me). Let's go.

Spoiler alert – I don’t have anything on my desktop.

 

Nope. It’s a free zone of everything. All I’ve got is my pretty desktop calendar from The Blog Market and that’s it.

Some people have their desktops full of everything. And that might work for you. But to me, that just shows mess and clutter, which makes me feel like I’m not on track with anything.

The method I use takes away all of that. It’ll feel like a breath of fresh air!

If you’re on your computer reading this and you’ve got your folder open with all your documents that’s a fab place to start. But first, there’s something else to tackle.

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How to Tell People What You Do in Just 5 Minutes

If there’s one question I know we all hate answering it’s this: “so, what do you do?”  We pause and think. What’s the right thing to say here?

I’ve been asked this question many times over the past few years. And if like me, you stumble across the words and can’t think of how to answer this question, then today’s post is for you.

The #BloggingBreakthrough challenge is all about getting a breakthrough with your blog, right? Part of that means you’ve got to be recognised and remembered.

How you answer this question makes all the difference. I was so sick of my response being “I work in marketing and I’m a blogger.” That sounds so boring, right? I mean, how many people work in marketing? And how many people are bloggers?

You want to be different. You want to be the only one that a person will remember when they ask you this question. So you need a good answer. You get that by creating a brand statement,



HOLLY, I'M LOST - WHAT EVEN IS A BRAND STATEMENT?

I first learnt about brand statements during my Masters course in Journalism, two years ago. For every brand we created during that time, we had to create a brand statement for it. This was so we knew exactly what each brand embodied. It was so if someone said, OK, tell me about [insert brand name here]”, we knew exactly what to say to blow them away.

Let’s say you answer “so, what do you do?”  with “I’m a marketer and blogger.” Boring, right? Or you could answer it like this:

"By day, I market one of the top sixth form College’s in the country through online content, email marketing and social media strategies. By night, I write for my online community about building a fulfilling online presence, reaching your dreams and getting to where you want to be. I also use what I learn on a daily basis as content ideas to teach my audience. It seems that people know what sort of what they want to do in life but they don’t believe they can get there. That’s what A Branch of Holly is for."

Which one do you think is the better answer?


Which one would be remembered the most?

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Want a Breakthrough with Your Blog? Introduce Something New

As we come towards the end of the first week in the 28 Day #BloggingBreakthrough challenge, I wanted to give you just one tip. A tip that for me, completely changed the way people looked at ABOH. It was a breakthrough moment. And it’s actually not that difficult. Plus, it’s got nothing to do with strategies, SEO or burning yourself into the ground. The only thing it involves is you and your ideas.

If you truly want your blog to grow, you can’t stay static. It’s like anything. You want to move up the career ladder, right? You know you won’t be able to do that by staying in the same job. This is true for you blog, too. It’s all about coming up with new ideas and really, the whole point of day five of this challenge - introducing new things.

But I get it - you’ve got to come up with so many blog post ideas on a daily basis. You’re thinking, I can’t come up with a whole new series or feature idea for my blog too!

That fear is natural, friend. Many of us have felt that way at some point, myself included. Earlier this year, I felt like I didn’t have any ideas left. I wanted to do something different with ABOH. I wanted to introduce something new that wasn’t just another blog post. I wanted it to be bigger and better. But could I find the idea? No.

I tried so hard to search for this that the idea just never came. I’ve always believed that when you look for something, you won’t find it. It’s like when you go shopping and think, “I need a little black dress.” Chances are you won’t find it, because you’re set on looking purely for that. 

So I decided to stop looking. I stopped forcing myself to look for this new idea.

And that’s when it came to me like a light bulb.

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How to Create an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

If you’ve never used an editorial calendar for your blog, you’re really missing out. Even though this is one of the most important tools I use to run my own site, I’ve never actually written about it - until today.

An editorial or content calendar helps you plan out your blog posts for the month and keep track of them. This was one of the first things I learnt about as a blogger and I’ve been using one for two years.

Over time, I’ve tried out different ways of managing my calendar. But now I’ve finally found the one that works best for me. So for day four of the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge, I want to share with you how I set up my publishing schedule and how easy it is for you to create your own editorial calendar.

Why Do I Need an Editorial Calendar?

If I’m ever asked by a fellow blogger whether an editorial calendar is worth it I always say yes. Here are a few reasons why:

  • Blogging consistently, whether it’s every day or once a week is challenging. An editorial calendar makes it a whole lot easier.
  • It gives you consistency by helping you post content on the same days and at the same time each week.
  • It improves your productivity by allowing you to see what tasks you’ve completed and what you need to do.
  • An editorial calendar gives you an overview of the types of content you’re posting - it can open you up to lot more variety.
  • It also allows you to monitor how often you’re blogging about certain categories - plus you can schedule all your content for when you’re going on holiday or taking a break.
  • You’ll be surprised at how many new ideas you get each month.

So now you know why you need an editorial calendar - let’s talk about how you actually create one.

Every blogger manages their calendar in different ways. But I’m going to take you through the steps of my process and show you my own editorial calendar.

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Goal Setting for Creatives

If there is something I have a love hate relationship with, it's goal setting. For some reason it works with some things I do but not with others; for example, my free email opt-in was taking a while, so back in October I gave myself the deadline of December 30th and it was ready almost a month beforehand. However, with my book I gave myself the deadline of February 28th and I’m definitely not on target with this one – as least 10,000 words behind on it and it’s been getting me down.

One question I always think is – how can I make my goals easier to achieve? 

Reading up on it, there is a lot of information and honestly with so much to soak up it can be hard to remember or even ascertain which information to follow. I’m sure they all work, but as everyone is different, I’m not sure what will work for me or you. Then I found a tweet by my friend Rebecca Viner - she has recently done her website, rebranded and set herself goals to achieve AND released a workbook – which you should definitely get if you’re just starting out. Her tweet went a bit like this: "Ultimate Vision - 3 objectives - 5 achievable steps. Okay so that's it broken down now lets create some goals."

Write down Your Ultimate Vision or Goal

Whatever it is that you want to achieve this year, write it down. It can be anything, from putting out your first workbook (free or paid), to setting up your course idea. It doesn't matter what it is that you're aiming for, only that you write it down. Once it's written it can't be forgotten - so write it somewhere you'll remember.

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How to Get Reader Feedback to Help Grow Your Blog

Next month, I’m planning on recapping my first ever reader survey. I’m going to analyse all the data and talk about all the information I’ve gained from it. It’s so exciting to read your responses and find out how I can improve ABOH based on what you want. But I know what you’re thinking - how did I even get this feedback on my blog?

You’re not a mind reader. You don’t know what your audience wants. So how do you find out? By asking them. 

 

Reader feedback is one of the things that can benefit your blog the most. Your readers are like your cheerleaders. They’re there to share your content, sign up to your mailing list and tell people how great you are. These are the people who are going to be able to help you grow your blog right now.

It’s as simple as that. So on Day 2 of the #BloggingBreakthrough challenge, I want to share with you exactly how I went about getting my own reader feedback, from start to finish. By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll have everything you need to ask your readers for exactly what you want.

How Do I Get Reader Feedback?

The easiest and best way to get reader feedback is to create a survey. We’re going to walk through it right now. There are a few questions you need to ask yourself as we go through.

 

#1 What Do I Want out of This Survey?

If you run a survey just for the sake of it, you won’t get the answers you want. You’ve got to be intentional and purposeful with it. You need to know why you’re doing it. I can give you a general reason for why you’re doing it - to get a breakthrough with your blog. But the deeper reason is up to you.

Do you need to find out more about who is actually visiting your blog? Do you need to find out what type of content they like the best? Are you planning a rebrand this year and need some feedback? Figure out the deeper reason. I ran my survey to find out more about my audience, what they were enjoying and what they wanted to see more of. So this really helped me figure out what information I wanted from my readers.

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How to Get Your Blog Ready for 2016

It’s official. 2016 is here which means it’s the start of a brand new year of blogging. Like me, I’m sure you’ve got lots of grand plans up your sleeve and want to make this another big year for your blog. But how do you make sure that’s going to happen?

If there’s one way to kick start the new blogging year it’s this. Forget reading blog posts, guest posting for others and scrolling your way through endless social media feeds. If you want a breakthrough with your blog, the first day of this challenge is how you make that happen. That’s what we’re going to talk about today - by looking at where you’re at with your blog right now.

Why Is Reflecting so Important?

You can’t breakthrough with your blog unless you know what’s working and what isn’t. It’s like anything - a business doesn't function year on year without a review. And you don’t move up the career ladder without an annual review. This applies directly to your blog too.

Before you can start to plan what you want to introduce to your blog this year and how you want to grow it, you’ve got to take some time and reflect on your current situation. So, what does this start with?

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