Pet Bloggers Journey 2022
Holy moly guacamole, it’s 2022. Another year has rolled around, and that means two things: another year of blogging on the books and there’s a new Pet Blogger Journey to cap it all off!
I love this tradition because it’s a chance to reflect, and a great way to track my own personal growth. It’s hard to believe that this will be my fourth Pet Bloggers Journey and 2022 will be my fifth year of blogging! It’s also a great way to learn from others.
As always, thanks to Colby for putting this all together.
Here we go.
Read my entries for past challenges:
When did you begin your blog and what do you currently write about on your blog?
I started a blogpost in the summer of 2017 to share stories about traveling with my dogs. It was totally on a whim, and not serious at all. I knew nothing about blogging.
That changed a few months later when I attended my first and last BlogPaws in February 2018. It was an a-ha moment during which I realized that blogs weren’t just online diaries for your friends and family to read. That conference changed everything.
I currently write about pet travel and pugs.
Name one thing about your blog, or one blogging goal that you accomplished during 2021, that made you most proud.
I wrote some, I completed my first full year with Mediavine, and I increased my blogging income. To be honest, it’s hard to believe I accomplished anything, given the fact that we’re in year two of a pandemic! I’ve altered my expectations a bit.
When looking back at my goals from that last Pet Bloggers Journey, here’s how I faired:
I. Develop my side hustles.
In 2021, I spent a good amount of time developing my two Instagram accounts A History of Dogs and Dogs of NYC. It paid off, because they both gained a good amount of followers. I’ve found that companies are much more interested in advertising on social media accounts than blogs (at least in my experience) and I’ve been able to capitalize on that.
I also began work on a second blog, to be launched soon. It’s dog-related as well. I’m hoping to build it up enough to qualify for Mediavine. Let’s see how long it takes!
II. Find my voice.
I’m still working on this, but I think I’m better off now than I was last year. The key has just been to write as much as possible, whenever possible.
III. Grow my traffic.
I’ve done this! Not to the degree I wanted, but numbers are still going up, slowly but surely.
What was the biggest blogging challenge you faced in 2021? How did you tackle it?
My biggest blogging challenge in 2021 was staying motivated. I write about pet travel, and for the past two years the world has basically come to a halt due to the pandemic. It’s been challenging.
Tell us one thing you learned in 2021 that can help us all become better bloggers.
Make a plan and write it down. It’s easy to have ideas swirling in your head, and to complete tasks as they pop up. But I’ve found that it’s much easier to get things done when I have a list of what I want to accomplish. I’m very loose about it – I write goals for the month and keep a list. It’s something that I know I can always refer to that will keep me on track.
What are your top three blogging goals for 2022?
I’ve thought about this, because I want to be very intentional this year. Here’s what I’ve got:
- Write 1 blogpost a week. This goes for this blog, and my new one. I hope to have 52 brand spanking new blogposts for each blog by the end of the year. That’s the goal at least!
- Start a podcast. This is a big one, and honestly, I’m not sure I’ll have the time. But I’ve had the idea for a podcast for awhile and want to put time aside every week to flesh it out. We’ll see how it goes!
- Double my income. Another big one! I’m going to continue to diversify my income, and build my blogs so they grow.
In the perfect world, where do you see yourself and your blog one year from now?
I’d love to substantially grow my traffic and double my income by next year. Fingers crossed!
If you had a $1,000 to spend on your blog how would you spend it?
I’d invest in some sort of blogging research tool, like ahrefs.
What is one skill you’d like to learn or improve in 2022?
I’d like to be more intentional with my time and work. I get easily distracted, and sometimes jump from task to task blindly. I’m hoping that goal setting and lists will help. Being more intentional will hopefully help me be more productive, and waste less time.
If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you’re having with your blog, what would it be?
How do you stay motivated?
Congratulations on increasing your blog income! That’s great and definitely an accomplishment to be proud of. It’s tough to stay motivated when your industry is pretty much shut down. It sounds like you’ve found some good ways to move forward by growing new Instagram accounts. Since my blog is about puppies and training. Getting a new puppy (coming soon) or puppy sitting inspires me to write more. Also, taking training classes also motivates me. This past year we’ve taken tricks, sport dog, nosework, and obedience classes. Another big motivator for me is conferences. Unfortunately, since the start of the pandemic, there haven’t been too many in-person conferences. Hopefully, they come back sometime in 2022. Thank for participating again in the Pet Bloggers Joureny. Happy 2022!
Hi Colby! Thanks again for putting this all together. Your blog and journey inspire me so much! I agree about conferences but have had such bad luck – the year I discovered BlogPaws was the last year of the conference, and when I joined Mediavine the pandemic was in full swing and they weren’t doing in-person conferences. Conferences are something I hope to attend in the future.
Awesome! Hopefully we can meet in person at a conference one of these days 🙂
You’ve been doing awesome and way to go with goal achievement! I love that you want to start a podcast. I’ve thought about it but it’s not something I plan this year for sure. Committing to at least one post a week is awesome and you can still update any older content to help boost your rankings, too. I am sure you know all that 😉
In terms of staying motivated, I don’t put more on my plate than I can handle. I use good old-fashioned notebooks. I plan my week out and then take items off that list for daily tasks. I used to put too many things on it – but I am learning that is self-defeatist for me.
Onward and upward and happy new year.
Thanks so much Carol! I’m a fan of notebooks too. I’m still learning how much I can realistically handle in a day or a week, but I’ll get there. Happy New Year!
Hi-
It looks like you had a good year even with the setbacks. Congrats on the Instagram accounts. That’s been a goal of mine since last year.
I stay motivated by reading about other bloggers successes. Which is why I enjoy the Pet Bloggers Journey so much.
Best of luck in the New Year,
Bonnie
I love what you’ve accomplished and am excited for your podcast. I’m starting one too! We can be each other’s support systems!!!
Here’s to an amazing 2022!!!
How do I stay motivated? Loving what I write about so much I want to share it with the world!
I also became better with time management and plonking myself down at my desk and forcing myself to write. It’s like running a marathon. Those miles aren’t easy but you just put one foot in front of the other and next thing you know you ran 26 miles.
I’m excited for your goals for 2022 and wish the very best for you!!!
Congrats on your first full year with mediavine! I bet you can double your income in 2022! I also struggle with staying focused on my work and that seems to be an ongoing issue every year!
As far as staying motivated, when I’m in a slump, I schedule a business pep talk with my husband who works in marketing and understands websites and blogging really well. He’s good at inspiring me. Or, I reach out to another blogger for a chat (as blogging can feel really lonely sometimes so it’s good to connect with others). Following the mediavine podcast and fb group helps me too, just to hear from other content creators. Re-visiting my goals almost every day also motivates me.
Congratulations on doubling your income! That’s awesome!
I stay motivated because I love blogging. And I make my living from it so to keep the money coming in is a good motivation too.
It is easy to get sidetracked though. Sometimes I think I have ADD. So my daily list that is made from my weekly lists, is what keeps me on track.
It sounds like you had a great blog year in spite of the hardship of COVID on travel.
Motivation can be hard, but I find listening to podcasts and Youtube videos as well as joining online blogging summits(free and sometimes paid) help me. I also just joined a blogging mastermind that I’m looking forward to be a part of to help me build my blogging business.