We've already packed away two months of 2022. And for me, it was probably two of the longest months I've had in a long time. Even though it was a slow start, things are still looking up. That is as long as I keep trudging forward.
In fact, at the rate things are going, I could write well more than one million words this year. Considering what I do as a primary source of income, that's a hell of a milestone.
Sure, I have my down days. I had one yesterday, as a matter of fact. But it's how we deal with those days that will dictate how well we progress. The trick is to not wallow in those bad situations and find a way to ride it out. Because most of those situations are temporary.
Wrapping Up the Vocal Media Challenge
I finished the Vocal challenge to write every day for 30 days. Although I didn't make a ton of money, there was a slight improvement to my account overall.
I'm not sure if paying $10 per month to Vocal is worth the fee, though. I'm debating on going back to the free version. Yes, this means I'll make slightly less money. But when you're comparing making $0.90 per month versus $0.40, it really doesn't matter much.
However, I am also thinking about running a few more challenges on Vocal. Especially one where I set up a spreadsheet to track certain types of articles. This is because Vocal has poor analytical tools and doesn't really show a lot of data.
I would love to have a passive income that makes more than just a buck per month. I'm just not sure if Vocal is one such platform that is viable.
Planning Out the Next Writing Challenge
Now that Vocal is out of the way, it's time for the next writing challenge. I need something that will push the boundaries a bit without burning me out. After the 90 blog posts in 30 days challenge, there isn't much that I can do to top that. Keep in mind I was also managing my work with GreenGeeks during that month.
One challenge I am thinking about setting up is another 30 days of blog posts for one of my established blogs. However, this time, I'll focus on search intent and keyphrases. When I did the 90 blog post challenge, a lot of it was one-off content that read more like journal entries.
This means I'll have to spend some time looking up keyphrases, how they're used, and how I can answer people's search inquiries. I'll start working on a list of topics tonight and see what I can come up with. I'd like to see how much of an impact 30 days of blogging makes when you're actually putting in the effort for search intent.
Setting Up a New Case Study for Bloggers
I am also setting up a new case study for March. It'll center around why you should go back and revamp older articles for new searches. I've already seen the impact of what a simple, 400-word addition can do to client articles. In one instance, traffic grew by thousands of visitors per month. Though, this will more than likely be a long-term case study. It can take from four to eight months for any article to really gain traction in Google.
But if you like data, I'll make sure this case study has plenty. It'll be featured on WriterSanctuary's blog, and I'll link to it once the study is complete.
If there is something you'd like me to experiment with on the blogs, feel free to let me know. I quite enjoy doing case studies and discovering what does and doesn't work.
Still Working on a May 1st Release Date
Things are still moving along for a May 1st release date of Kingmaker. This is perhaps the longest book I've written and by far my most favorite. I am still trying to figure out the best way to show the rough draft of Chapter 1 to the monthly Buy Me a Coffee members. Hopefully, I'll have it hammered out by Sunday.
The idea is to be done writing by the end of March while taking April to proof, edit, and create the cover. This means it's going to be a daily process to meet my self-imposed deadline. And since I was able to finally change my banking address, I can sign up with Barnes & Noble for A Freelancer's Tale. So, I am technically working on two books at once yet again.
Personally, I'm truly excited to have Kingmaker sitting on my shelf next to my mom's book in hardcover format. I just hope it comes out as nicely as A Freelancer's Tale for self-published printing.
How Has Your March Been So Far?
I know the month has just started, and it might be too early to tell. But how you start the month often lays the groundwork for how well it progresses. What kind of writing goals do you have and are you working towards something amazing for March?
Let's make this month the one to beat for the rest of the year.