January Round Up: An Exciting Month for Suzie81 Speaks and Advertising Opportunities

Posted on by

26

imageJanuary is usually the most depressing month for me – after the excitement of my birthday, Christmas and New Year’s Eve I often find that the start of a new year leaves me feeling as dull and cold as the weather.

I decided to approach 2015 with a positive outlook and  just one goal for the year: to take the risk. As Suzie81 Speaks does not have a theme or a niche, my posts have been eclectic and have reflected the thoughts and feelings I have experienced and the events happening at the time. I shared some blogging hints and tips for new bloggers, my ideas for beating the January blues, my thoughts on how to build self-esteem and confidence and highlighted a beautiful story that proved that there is still hope for humanity. I decided to have a bit of fun and shared stories of my dating disasters and experiences of working behind a bar. I also edited some of my photography – something that I haven’t done in a long time – and posted a beautiful poem written by Roger McGough. I have been amazed at the response that I have received to these and some of my earlier posts – my ‘Tale of a Sociopath’ post continues to be shared on StumbleUpon, two of my posts were featured on the Sits Girls ShareFest and Mumsnet Bloggers promoted my post on Fox News’s ridiculous report about the Muslim population of Birmingham as their ‘Blog of The Day.’

I also made a little promise to myself that I would develop the connections and friendships I have formed and give other members of the blogging the world an opportunity to promote themselves. I found that I had been falling behind with the comments that I received, and now instead of posting something on a particular day, I try and take the time to reply to every single one on the blog and all of the social media links that are connected with it. I have continued to host my weekly #SundayBlogShare on Twitter, which I started three months ago, and have been delighted that hundreds of people now participate every week, with over a thousand posts being shared. This week I am pleased to announce that I have a guest host for #SundayBlogShare – Gene’O from Sourcererblog (who was instrumental in the promotion of #SundayBlogShare in the early stages) has kindly agreed to look after you all this Sunday. (For those of you that are interested in participating, there will be a post later today with the information and rules).

While I made no resolutions, I decided to take Suzie81 Speaks to the next level and started advertising for sponsors. I had no expectations of the sort of response I would receive, if any at all, but within hours I was contacted by a number of bloggers. Consequently, over January I have featured both Jolene from Valley Girl Gone Country and Helena from Helena Turbridy and have been delighted by the feedback that I have received from them – both have seen a huge increase in their traffic… Even more amazing, February sponsorship is completely full and even spaces for some of March (and even a space in July) have been booked. Awesome.

Finally, to add the cherry on the proverbial cake, I was offered an really exciting opportunity the other day, which has cemented my decision to take the risk.

image

My family, my friends and, of course, The Bloke has been absolutely wonderful throughout it all. As always, the blogging community has also been there every step of the way. I’ve been blessed to have received so much support from people that I consider to be friends and have been able to meet lots of new people who have taken the time to make me laugh, encourage me and have contributed to one of the best months I have had in a long time. Thank you.

Are You Interested in Being Featured on Suzie81 Speaks?

I have decided to expand this further and offer opportunities for sponsored one-off promotion for WordPress bloggers. Each Sunday, (when my own stats usually exceed over a thousand views during the day), as well as hosting #SundayBlogShare, I will feature a WordPress blog as the ‘Blog Of The Day.’ This will include a single post about the blog, a reblog of one of your posts and promotion through #SundayBlogShare. While I obviously can’t guarantee a huge increase in your traffic and/or following, I know that my sponsors have informed me that they have indeed seen quite a significant rise in their stats on days where I have promoted their posts.

For those of you who are interested in being my ‘Blog Of The Day,’ here are my details:

Cost: £9.00. This may seem like an odd number, but I have had to add on a little extra to cover the PayPal charges. (Please take into account that conversion rates may change in countries outside of the UK).

January Stats (at the time of posting): 17,265 views

Followers: 10,425 (6,126 on WordPress, 4,179 on Twitter and 120 on Tumblr). I also have 221 followers on my Facebook page. All are growing on a daily basis.

If you wish to be featured, please email me at suzie81blog@hotmail.co.uk

 

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and you don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks

 

26 thoughts on “January Round Up: An Exciting Month for Suzie81 Speaks and Advertising Opportunities”

  7. Just back with a thought. I do not see how you do it. Twitter and Facebook, in particular, give me fits. Tons of notifications on those networks just get lost. And even a modest blog thread can take me half an hour to answer properly. On days when I have posts going on two separate blogs, if they both get feedback, just catching the threads up takes a big chunk of the evening. I do try, and I think you’re right to prioritize the responding. It just amazes me that you keep up with your threads as well as you do.

    • Thanks Gene’O! That’s why I need a break haha! It took me about three hours to reply to the comments from the end of last week on Sunday, all while I was attempting to run #SundayBlogShare… I feel really guilty if I don’t reply, and I know that I are lost followers for not replying to comments!

  9. Great piece. I too have been thinking about the direction of my blog in the New Year. I seem to cover so many topics, just random things that interest me. But it all comes back to a theme. My confusion and sadness with America, and what is happening here. Everyday folks struggle with the bills, healthcare, stagnant wages, inequality, the cost of education, etc. It is their stories that I am drawn to, so I am working to fine tune my message around these stories and the setting where they take place because as an addicted road tripper I love the landscape of America. It is a theme through all the novels I’ve written.

    I love your #SundayBlogShare. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share our blogs.

  10. You’re really in a great spot! Congrats on all of your successes. I truly do believe you get back what you give – so the positivity you spread is just coming back to you. And many thanks for hosting (or even co-hosting!) the #Sundayblogshare – I only wish I had discovered it sooner!

    • Thanks Joy! I started #SundayBlogShare about three months ago and it’s grown beyond all recognition in that time! @SourcererBlog was a huge influence at the start of it and has very kindly agreed to guest host for me today as I had a lot of work to get done… So glad you enjoyed it!

  11. Congratulations on your recent birthday! Fortunately January is over! Thanks for organising #SundayBlogShare. It’s often a bust family day for me, as mother and grandmother, but it sounds great. I’ll be contacting you too about the promotion 🙂

  12. Hey Suzie, well done on such a successful blog, I’m really excited that it’s going so well for you! Natirally I’d love to have the numbers that you’re seeing on your blog, but clearly you have a talent that some of us are missing. I’ll just keep doing what I do, and if anybody actually reads it, well that’s just great!

    We should totally hook up for a coffee one day, the wife is always looking for an excuse to bake a cake!

Comments are closed.