Well hello there! It’s cold and dark here in the UK, the trees have lost their leaves and the country seems to have gone into hibernation mode. But there’s lights aglow everywhere and the Christmas spirit is high – for it’s the most wonderful time of the year! With this in mind, I can’t believe it’s been two months since my last update. It’s December now and we’re less than a month away from 2026!
The last few months have really been a rollercoaster ride. I’ve learnt a whole lot about how to develop a successful blogging website, how to write genuinely good articles which people will want to read, and how to rank highly on search engines. Pretty much all of this learning has come from the fantastic website https://www.productiveblogging.com which is such a brilliant resource if you’re new to blogging. It’s a fountain of knowledge, and I feel fortunate to have stumbled across it during my various Google searches.
A couple of months ago, I wrote a number of blogs (about 20) which I stockpiled in preparation for future release. However, I discovered (through Productive Blogging) that my writing style was just not captivating enough for the average reader – so I went through and heavily modified them to encourage better viewership. My writing style was paragraph light (instead of short paragraphs with sub-headings favoured by most readers, I tended to migrate towards a few long paragraphs with lots of text). This needed to change.
So, much to my annoyance, I (almost) completely rewrote these blogs based on the new knowledge I’d gained. I spent a good part of October learning about how to write properly, and editing my blogs. By early November, I became very busy with work, plus I had a severe case of tonsillitis (which left me with no voice for two days), and I was also preparing for an exotic holiday to:
Zimbabwe! (which is where I spent the second half of November). Although I could have continued working on this website there, I only had my phone (which the WordPress editor is clunky to use with), plus the wifi was intermittent and often quite slow. Instead, I scheduled new blogs to be released twice a week while I was away.
Zimbabwe was a fantastic holiday – the country is physically very beautiful, and the people were all incredibly kind, regardless of how much money they had, or my skin colour. I will definitely go back again. It’s unlike any country I’d been to before – for example, in the capital, Harare, there’s a major hustle culture, with everyone trying to make money in any way (and in as many ways) as they can. Ultimately, this stems from poverty and job insecurity, but it was inspirational to see how hard people work there – especially those who manage businesses they built from scratch. There’s not a whole lot of touristy things to do in Harare (you need to go to Victoria Falls for that – something for next time), but it’s still a vibrant (and often hectic) city with a lot going on.
Alas, I’m now back in the UK and back to ‘normal’ life (whatever that means). I’m excited to get back to work on the blog. There has been some reasonable viewership while I’ve been away, which is lovely to see. I still have to remind myself that this website is a long-term project and it will take some time for visitor numbers to increase. At least I’m really enjoying the process of developing it.
November goals review
- 2x blog posts per week (including re-uploading old blogs which have been refurbished). Completed.
- Try to get a consistent audience every day. Fail. I would’t say that this website is pulling in readers every day, but there was some reasonable viewership during November (while I was away).
- 25 X followers. Fail. 19 followers (although I didn’t post at all in November and
- First follower on Pinterest. Fail. – still no followers. 🙁
December goals
- 3x high-quality blog posts per week (including a couple of Christmas-themed blogs).
- Try to get a consistent audience every day.
- 25 X followers.
- First follower on Pinterest.
- Finish Profitable Blogging .pdf worksheet (available here).
Other articles you might enjoy…
- Investing in the stock market and building wealth
- Live a simple life and save a ton of money
- 14 ways to live an easy life
You can follow me on X, and find me on Pinterest and Facebook.
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