alittlebitsocial2 Last week A Little Bit Social celebrated it’s 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday! It’s crazy that something that started as a hobby would three years later be bringing in an income and growing by the day and I’m just as passionate if not more than I was back in 2019. I’m still not at full time blogging capacity yet, many reasons for that which I will talk about but like many bloggers, it’s always nice to start the year with some blogging goals, so we are accountable for the year. Which I am hoping will bring more travel and less covid but only time will tell. Here are my 2022 blogging goals and what I am looking forward to most about the year to come.
My Goals for 2021
In 2021, my blogging goals were the following:
- Affiliate marketing
- Brand Collorations
- Selling Products/Services
Three simple and attainable goals. I will go into further details later in the post but I didn’t fair too badly with all three of my goals but before that I thought I would share my blog stats. I’m not going to lie, I almost choked on my cup of tea (very British) when I saw the 23k+ page views. It is definitely heading in the right direction after I sorted out my organic traffic issue, basically I wasn’t getting any and didn’t for most of early 2021 until I realised.
Now the important bit Blog Stats for 2021 (Google Analytics):
- Visitors: 11,127 (up 6,711)
- Page Views: 23,474 (up 11,942)
- Top Post: Your Appearance Really Does Affect Your Career Prospects Heres How
- Top Referral: Organic (54.9%)
- Top Social Source: Facebook
- Followers: 41 (up 10)
Here are my TOP posts from 2021:
- Your Appearance Really Does Affect Your Career Prospects Heres How
- Changing Schools in the Middle of the School Year – is it a bad idea?
- Why We Should Picnic as a Family
Photo by Jess Bailey Designs from Pexels
What Happened in 2021
I have always been a family lifestyle and travel blogger with a little random content in between but in 2021. I made the decision to focus more on travel content and not so much on the random as I knew not having a sense of purpose made my blog not very niche. I think it was confusing Google and my DA was sat at 10 for most of 2021, until I decided to niche down a little. It has steadily grown to 18 and although it’s not such a big deal these days. It felt like a huge achievement after being stuck for so long!
So after deciding to Niche down, covid continued to be ever present so we had no option but to stay at home. Although we managed a short trip to Haven Perran Sands, it was chaos with everyone deciding to holiday in the UK and more importantly Cornwall. Sadly, I couldn’t wait to get home to the safety of my four walls.
Here are some travel highlights of 2021:
- Things I’ve Learnt Travelling with Anxiety and Tips to Help You Overcome it
- Travelling Safely During COVID-19: A Convenient Guide
- Caravan Hygiene Tips for Germ-Free Travel
2021 was unfortunately similar to 2020 finding ourselves in lockdowns and then uncomfortable travelling. It wasn’t the best start to finding my niche, but I managed to make a little money and again I thought I would share with you my earnings.
How Much Did I Earn Blogging in 2021
I did extremely well with influencer networks and blogger outreach in the early part of the year, this was 90% of my income but around August, this tapered off and it’s been a struggle in that area. However, from January to December I made £1,112.88. I am so pleased with this. I know bloggers earn this a month but non of this was affiliate marketing and I’ve only accounted for money I have actually received.
My Blog Income:
- 70% – Sponsored Content
- 18% – Influencer Networks/Blogger outreach
- 10% – Freelance Writing
- 2% – Google Adsense
Sponsored Content/Link-building
In 2021, I made the decision to slowly move away from link-building and concentrate more on sponsored posts and paid guest posts. This has proved quite difficult but 2022, I am definitely sticking to my plan to cut back on paid links.
Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels
Influencer/Blogger Outreach
Hmmm, influencer and blogger outreach appears to be dying unless you use youtube or tik tok or have 50k followers. I had a positive start to last year with Intellifluence, Blog Meets Brand and Social Publi offering me a stream of paid work but as mentioned in August this all dried out, perhaps covid has affected marketing budgets but at a similar time, Intellifluence changed their alariythm and since then I’ve had nothing suitable.
I haven’t given up all hope, so we will see what 2022 will bring.
Freelance Writing
As mentioned in my 2021 blogging goals I had invested in Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr as a way to make some extra pennies and keep my portfolio fresh and I’m all for starting at the bottom but $10 for a blog post, which then has fees deducted meant I earnt £3.50 once the exchange rate kicked in, plus you have to hit a minimum earnings threshold of £100 to withdraw. On another note, no one prepares you for the little detail they actually give you. ‘I would like a blog post about mortages’. That was it.
I’m not expecting £150 at this point in my career but I feel £15 including deductions is still £0.015 a word for 1000 words! That isn’t even 2p. I really don’t want to get into freelancing in this post because it’s a whole other post but websites like Upwork should have a standard rate of pay.
However for 2022, I would like to take my writing more seriously.
Google Adsense
2021, was the first year that I really saw my come grow a little. It’s still small but last year I made £32.38 which is a big improvement on £8 from the 2020.
What Will Take a Backseat in 2022
Last year, I used this section to mention what didn’t work well and rather than discussing the negatives, I thought that I would consider a few things as taking a backseat and not being a priority in 2022.
Using Freelancer Job Sites
As mentioned, they work for many and I’ve been grateful for the work I’ve received but I worked far too many hours, researching, writing and editing for little compensation.
We will see what 2022 brings but I’m not holding my breath.
Guest Posts/Links
Being a blogger I accept that I will be receiving emails asking for guest posts and sponsored content. I actually more than happy to accept guest posts and credit authors as such but recently I’ve had very cute emails some written better than others offering me ‘their’ blog writing services. Only to receive said post to find it’s written so terribly that I have to completely re-edit it! (Yep, I’ve done this a few times because I’m too nice).
However, recently I’ve learnt to say no. If it’s that poorly written, I don’t even consider re-editing it. I just say that the content doesn’t suit my blog. I strangely feel lighter.
Photo by Tobias Dziuba from Pexels
2022 Blogging Goals and What’s Next
Looking towards 2022, I can’t help but feel motivated and positive. The world may be a crazy place right now, but it doesn’t always feel so bad from the comfort of my dining room or sofa.
I also need to be realistic about my future blogging and writing. So I’ve written some blog goals for 2022.
Making Money with my Blog in 2022
I feel really motivated and positive this year, I’ve already planned blog content for the first six months and I actually feel this has helped keep me motivated, I’ve been working on my SEO for the last few months, using Ubersuggest to help me keep track of where it’s working and where I can do better but this year I am investing a lot more time in growing my blog so I can hit 5k page views every month.
My blogging goals for 2022 are:
Affiliate Marketing: My mind has always boggled when I even think about affiliate marketing. I currently belong to Skimlinks, Awin, Amazon and Rauken Marketing and I think Skimlinks is fantastic as you can add a google extension that tells you when a brand pays commission on reffarl links. I use a mixture of all three. 2022, I want to start making money from my links. I’ve made a little but I haven’t met the minimum to withdraw yet.
Collaborate with brands: I’ve never actually emailed a brand and asked to work with them yet. I’ve had a few reach out to me and offer a few products or services in exchange for a social media post and a mention. A few event invites but no Disney yet (always hoping). Non of them have been paid, and sometimes that’s okay if I like the product. I am hoping that my time is coming.
Subscribers: I use Mailerlite for my subscribers. I’ve never really been sure how to work with my email subscribers or how to get their attention but I’ve invested in some short courses and I’m ready to embrace finally building my subscribers. Even if I gain ten, that’s okay right?
Here’s to 2022 blogging
In 2022 I would like to write for more significant publications or more local ones. I said the same thing last year but this year it’s something I am really working on. Especially as I took the plunge in 2021 and started a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. This writing career is serious for me and I want to prove that.