alaahassan

Highlight of The Month

This month, I’ve been focusing on blogging.  I want to get into the habit of writing consistently.  If I plan on taking this blog to next level, I need to make sure I develop a discipline of writing regularly and not being lazy about it.  It takes time to get ranked well on Google and I don’t want to waste any of it.

Something I Learned This Month

If you plan on launching a podcast, which I did, you really need to be ready for this type of work and committed to it.  I launched my eCommerce Training Academy Podcast but noticed that I am not really being consistent.  Maybe it’s because I have so much going on but nonetheless, I should be serious about it.  I will be launching a couple more episodes shortly.

Traffic Details

Total Visits  710   +265.98%
Total Visitors  533   +244.52%
Total pageviews   1,078   +132.83%
Pages per visit  1.52   -36.38%

Top posts

• 3 Things You Should Do Every Morning Before Grabbing Your Phone
• The Best eCommerce Blogging Platforms for Fashion
• Why I Accepted An $8.00/hr Job and Will Never Regret It

Top 3 Traffic Sources

1. Direct
2. Google Organic
3. Facebook

Top 3 Social Network Sources

1. Facebook   80.33%
2. Twitter   10.88%
3. Linkedin   7.11%

Tools I’ve Discovered & Love Using

Anti-Social. I discovered this amazing app by listening to Michael  Hyatt’s podcast one day.  I helps me avoid wasting time by blocking access to social media sites for a specific amount of time.  Great thing about is that it only costs $15 and you can’t bypass it when you enable it.  I wrote about how I became anti-social with this tool.

Youcanbook.me  An amazing calendar booking tool I use every single day when customers need to schedule a call with me.  I use it religiously in my conversion rate optimization agency.  Easy to use and free basic access.

Pixlr.com I use this tool whenever I need to create a new image for some of my online projects.  Last month, I mentioned Canva, which I use a lot, but Pixlr is sort of a Photoshop type of solution (free of charge).

Online Communities or Blogs I’ve Discovered & You Should Follow

If there’s one person I always recommend everyone to follow it’s Pat Flynn.  He blogs at Smart Passive Income.   I learned a lot from him.  I got lots of tips about blogging, starting my own podcast and how to make money online.  He has lots of experience and consistently sharing valuable knowledge every week.  Follow him today!

A Podcast I Discovered & You Should Listen To

Since I already mentioned Pat Flynn, how can I not talk about his amazing Podcast with over 10 million downloads.   I listen to it religiously when driving or working out at the gym.  If you really want to get started in blogging and actually learn how to make money from it, listen to his podcast.

Let me know if you want me to share any other data that you feel will be useful for you.

I truly hope this inspires you to start or keep blogging!

Launching your own personal blog is a piece of cake.  What’s difficult is blogging consistently with interesting and valuable posts that will make readers come back for more and share your content with others.

But there’s one more thing you need: MOTIVATION

Here’s the reality:

When you initially start blogging, you’re excited.  You publish content regularly during your first and second week.  You actively share your content across social media networks.  You ask you friends and family to subscribe to your newsletter and much more.

Does that sound familiar?

That’s what I did with my 3 blog failures. But one thing I did was I never quit blogging.

When I launched passionTribe, my new blog, my goal was to inspire people to leverage the power of the Internet to do what they love.  I want them to discover their passion.  One tactic I recommend most of the time is to start a personal blog.

One thing most bloggers complain about is the fact that they get demotivated because they’re not seeing the results they expected – more traffic and income from their blogging efforts.

So here’s what I decided to do from now on.

Two of my favorite bloggers, Pat Flynn and Dale Partridge, both share their monthly blog earnings with their readers. They’re making some serious money blogging both online and offline.  When I see their results, it really inspires me to keep blogging because if they can achieve such success, so can I.

Every month, I decided to share with you a full breakdown of my traffic reports, what I’ve learned from my online efforts and some tips for those who are trying to achieve success with their online initiatives such as having a personal blog.

Highlight of The Month

I used to blog under my AlaaHassan.com and Tumblr but now, I decided to launch my personal blog under passionTribe.  I am moving over blog posts on a weekly basis to this one.

Something I Learned This Month

Instead of planning too much, I decided to focus on simply writing what’s on my mind.  I didn’t launch the blog with many categories.  This process really helped me focus on writing about any topic without limiting myself to specific ones.  Sometimes people plan so much that they end up not doing anything.  I decided to do the opposite.

I created a category called blog and started adding posts to it.  Each post has its own category but it’s not yet linked in the blog menu.

Traffic Details

Total visitors   194
Total pageviews   463
Pages per visit  2.39

Top posts

• Online Entrepreneurs Need To Learn How To Sleep More
• What Is PassionTribe?

Top 3 Traffic Sources

1. Direct
2. Facebook
3. Google Organic

Top 3 Social Network Sources

1. Facebook
2. Linkedin
3. Google+

Tools I’ve Discovered & Love Using

Evernote.  I use it to manage all my notes and bookmarks.  I also use it to centralize my blog management where I keep ideas for upcoming posts and outlines.

Lastpass.  A good friend shared this amazing tool.  It allows me to store passwords for all sorts of websites I use online

Canva. An amazing tool I use every single day for my graphic needs.  Sometimes I wonder what would I do if I didn’t have Canva!  I create both blog and social media graphics using this tool.  It’s easy to use and free (unless you need photos which will cost you $1).

Online Communities or Blogs I’ve Discovered & You Should Follow

For years, I’ve been following Michael Hyatt by reading his blog and listening to his podcast called “This is your life”.  In September, I decided to join his Platform University.  My goal was to learn how to improve my personal brand by focusing more on my platform which includes this blog.  His Platform University allowed me to connect with great people and got access to valuable videos and resources to improve my brand. I think I remain a member for a while until I feel I don’t need it anymore.  I pay around $30/month.

A Podcast I Discovered & You Should Listen To

I discovered Seth Godin’s Startup School podcast perfect for anyone planning on launching a business whether it’s online or offline.  He covers lots of great topics and popular challenges faced by any entrepreneur. It’s only 15 episodes.  I listened to all of them while driving for a couple of days.

Let me know if you want me to share any other data that you feel will be useful for you.

I truly hope this inspires you to start or keep blogging!