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Eat Like Bourdain 1 Year Report
[CASE STUDY]I'll be completely honest: at a certain point, I was definitely starting sites on a whim last year. I'd sit down to dinner with my husband, and be like "I think I'm gonna start X new site" and would have it launched and deployed within a week. While I pride myself on coming up with (what I think are) good ideas and moving on them quickly, it got to be a bit much – we did end up running twelve sites at the end of 2021...
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May 2022 London On My Mind Income Report
It's hard to believe that, all in, I've been blogging for almost nine years – and as a full-time role for four years. When I left my last traditional job, it was a leap of faith, and the pandemic certainly made me question my plans (as it did for many). However, by starting new sites – including London on My Mind (LOMM) – I've been able to weather the storm and actually grow in the past few years...
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May 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report
After a travel-filled April, May was delightfully slow – a few days of travel at the beginning and end of the month bookended a month of home time, catching up on work and with friends. While I am rekindling my love of travel and of being a travel blogger after 2+ long years of slogging it out, it's nice to be home with J and the kitties, and have my routines to keep me sane...
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tRPM: The Most Valuable Blogging Metric You’re Not Tracking
In the world of blogging and running websites, there are so many metrics to keep track of. Traffic numbers and follower counts. CTRs and ROIs. Engagement rates, view rates, ad rates, oh my! At the end of the day, there's only one metric I really care about for my websites (and their associated social media accounts): tRPM...
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April 2022 London On My Mind Income Report
When I started receiving requests to do monthly recaps for Valerie & Valise, part of me wondered: would it not also be helpful to have a look 'under the hood' of a newer site? Would people want to see how you can start a site and how it will grow – not just what an almost decade-old site can do today?...
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April 2022 Valerie & Valise Income Report
Busy, busy, busy – that's how April sticks out in my memory. For the first time in two years, I feel like April began to give us a sense of returning to some normalcy. I spent a lot of time on planes, some of it not even wearing a mask; I went to conferences and events, many of which not even wearing a mask; I ate in restaurants and went to parties and traveled almost-normally...
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What is the Content Challenge
& How Does it WorkFeeling stuck on growing your site? Have a serious case of burnout or writer's block? I've been there – many times. Most people are surprised to learn that since I'm generally super productive and get a lot done but I (like everyone) struggle with my motivation. I've also worked to overcome those issues by finding tricks and techniques that motivate me even when I'm not feeling the fire inside on any given day, week, month, or even season. (Yes, I've taken whole seasons off from some sites!)...
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Jordan Traveler 1 Year Report
[CASE STUDY]People often ask me how I choose to start sites about different destinations, and why. The reality is that each answer is different. When it comes to my Jordan Traveler site, it was a memory of a trip six years ago – almost exactly around this time in 2016 – that left such a strong impression that I want other travelers to have the same experience. And I was fortunate to have that own experience again recently...
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How Often to Publish on a New Site:
My 10/10/10 Website Launch PlanSo you've decided to start a new site? Awesome! When I started Site School, it was always my goal to help both first-time and repeat website owners create sites that bring them joy and earn them money. This means that, from time to time, people in the community will be in the "launch" phase of their first/latest site and need help with that process as much as any other part of the business like monetization through ads and affiliates or product brainstorming...
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6 Important Areas of Focus for Your SEO Strategy in 2022 (& Beyond)
If I've learned anything over the eight years since I started running my first site, it's that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) never stops changing. As soon as you think you've figured out what Google wants, the world's biggest search engine improves its algorithms, changes its criteria, or releases some update that upends all we've been focusing on...
