So you’re probably all sick of hearing me bang on about how awesome the SBB Bootcamp is (and of course I am going to say it’s awesome, I created it!), but what you might not realise is that there are some seriously amazing bloggers coming through the Bootcamp right now. And they are kicking some really amazing goals for their blogs (I am blown away every week with the awesome things they are sharing).
So I thought I’d let a couple of them share some of their blogging experiences and learnings with you all (because quite frankly they are amazing, and I do get sick of the sound of my own voice!).
So first up is the lovely travel blogger Alison (Fairlie) Dennison from Feet On Foreign Lands, take it away Alison…
Name of your blog: Feet on Foreign Lands (http://www.
How long have you been blogging?
I’ve been blogging in a haphazard fashion on a couple of different blogs since 2006, but earlier this year I decided to really focus my efforts and create a blog dedicated to all my travel experiences. So Feet in Foreign Lands has been in existence since March 2014. I did bring some earlier content across from previous blogs though.
What is your blog about?
Feet on Foreign Lands is primarily a travel blog where I post about all the amazing places I’ve been, the incredible sights I’ve seen, fabulous stuff I’ve done and most importantly, the all things I’ve learnt along the way.
What is your aim/dream for your blog?
I love to tell stories. I love to write. I love to take photos. Above all, I love to travel. And the blog is the perfect place for me to bring all of those together, so that others can be inspired to create fabulous travel itineraries for themselves.
My biggest dream for the blog is build it to a position where it enables me to travel frequently and write about my experiences full-time.
What have been your biggest blogging challenges?
Two big challenges – time and traffic.
Finding the time to really put the work required into creating a fabulous blog can be a bit overwhelming. But that’s where the Bootcamp has been great, as it has broken tasks down into bite-sized chunks that I have been able to work my way through at my own pace. The amount to be done each week is totally manageable when done as a tick-off list of items.
The other big blogging challenge is finding the audience for my particular style of blog and content. That’s a work in progress!
What have been your biggest blogging achievements?
As a newbie blogger, just getting a regular posting schedule in place was a huge achievement! Each day, I’m ticking off new little goals. Possibly the most exciting recent achievement was having one post shared extensively on social media, which saw my blog traffic increase ten-fold in a 24 hour period! I realised then, that it’s all about creating content that capture’s people’s imaginations.
What has the SBB Bootcamp helped you most with?
SBB Bootcamp has been a veritable fount of knowledge and information. The step-by-step approach within each module is really helpful to break down seemingly huge tasks into easy to tackle to-do items.
Bootcamp has really encouraged me to approach the business of blogging in a professional and efficient manner – understanding the customers (i.e. the ideal readers), creating a thoughtful posting schedule, having a clearly defined brand, drawing up a weekly task schedule, monitoring statistics, marketing my brand and product effectively, capturing and recording costs and income, and approaching income opportunities with the best possible foot forward.
It’s also been great to have the SBB Bootcamp Facebook group, both from a blog networking perspective, and also as a sounding board and a source of answers to some of blogging’s mysteries. The lovely ladies have all been so helpful and so generous in sharing advice.
SBB Bootcamp, combined with Mastermind and the Facebook group, has really given me the confidence to seek out the opportunities that I know are out there!
What have been your biggest achievements since doing the SBB Bootcamp?
Since I started SBB Bootcamp, I have:
- Increased my monthly unique visitors by 500%
- Developed social media engagement across five other channels
- Been approached to do review posts
- Introduced advertising spots and affiliate links to the blog
- Drafted a media kit ready for the next steps in my blog’s growth
And most importantly, I’ve had fun doing it and gained a huge sense of satisfaction!
What would you tell someone thinking about doing the SBB Bootcamp?
Just jump right on in! If you want to take your blog to a new level you’ll get all the knowledge and experience you need to do so from SBB Bootcamp. I felt like I had my money’s worth straight off in the first module.
