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Intentional Fortune is three months old! I wrote 10 blog posts in May.
My goal for writing is to write at least 2 blog posts a week (shooting for Wednesday’s and Saturday’s for now) and a minimum of 10 blog posts a month. This will keep me on track to reach my yearly goal of 100+ blog posts by the end of 2019.
May was a disappointing month for me as I fell short of meeting many of my goals. I continued to make progress, but less than I need to be making to make Intentional Fortune as successful as it can be.
I look forward to the opportunity to do better in June and share my triumphs. On to the details…
Posts Written in May 2019
22 Ways to Save Money on Groceries (No Coupons Required!)
20 Tricks Supermarkets Use to Get You to Spend More
How to Save Money Guilt Free with Mindful Spending
How to Shop for Groceries on a Budget
How to Start Saving Money for the Future
How to Save Money on Gas for Your Car
How to Stop Impulse Buying and Gain Control of Your Spending
Emergency Fund Guide: What, Why & How Much Money to Save
How to Save Money Buying in Bulk
Search Engine Rankings
Rankings for certain search terms and impressions have improved slightly since April. The blog post centered on getting paid to search the internet continues to rank high in the search terms. Also, the supermarket tricks blog post from this month has started showing up high (within the top 10 for certain regions).
I know that Google doesn’t acknowledge a “sandbox”, but I’m hoping that the closer I get to six months and the older this blog gets, the more trust Google (and other search engines) will have in it. This should translate to higher ranking for search terms for select posts.
Marketing/Advertising
I’m still experimenting with some Facebook ads. I stopped doing them again near the end of May and haven’t used them since. Although I currently have no advertising running, I am toying with the idea of taking advantage of the momentum I’m seeing with the supermarket sales trick post.
I may run a 10-day advertisement for a $1.00/day to see what kind of click through rates I receive.
Organic traffic is starting to trickle in more. For May, I’m averaging 3-4 visitors a week from search engines. I hope this will continue as I churn out content that I think people are interested in and will help them.
Revenue
As of this writing, I have yet to generate any revenue from Intentional Fortune. I expect this with so little traffic. I will continue to work on writing blogs, generating traffic, and affiliate marketing. I will also continue to track performance and make changes as necessary.
2019 Goals Progress – May Update
Personal Goals for 2019 – May Update
Receive Approvals for Promotion to Senior Engineer
I have taken on more responsibility and am working toward completing performance goals as assigned. Will revisit with supervisor in June/July.
Pay off wife’s car
Paid required monthly payment plus an extra $50.
Pay off $6,000 of wife’s student loan debt
Paid required minimum plus a little extra. Received bonus and tax returns, but holding onto cash for now. Currently tracking toward paying off $3,600. Hoping to increase monthly payments as other debt is paid down.
Average less than $800.00/month in food expenses
Failed badly in May 2019. Paid ~$1,200 for food in May 2019. This is much worse than April. We plan to cook at home and eat-in more in June for budget and health reasons.
Started off the month right by getting food from the grocery store for honey soy baked chicken and shrimp tacos.
Start MBA program and complete first semester
On track to start in August. Still need to follow up on immunization records.
Intentional Fortune Goals for 2019 – May Update
Write 100+ Quality Blog Posts
Wrote 10 blog posts in May. If I continue on this track, will reach 100+ quality blog posts by end of 2019.
Setup Email Marketing and Start Creating a List
Created a free MailChimp account that will work for up to 2,000 subscribers. No subscribers yet. Expect this to change once more organic traffic starts visiting the site.
Have 100+ Followers Between Pinterest and Twitter
Currently have 8 followers on Pinterest and 0 followers on Twitter. If followers increase at the rate for May (1), I will not meet my goal. I’ve started learning how best to setup and use Pinterest for Intentional Fortune. Also, Pinterest has been a great resource for post ideas.
I need to spend more time on social media and add more value to my Pinterest and Twitter accounts.
Make $500/Month by the End of 2019
Did not make any revenue in May, but didn’t expect to without more organic traffic.
Will continue to work on lead indicators like creating quality blog posts, creating activity on social media, etc.
Will track lag indicators such as daily visitors to the site, organic search impressions, and bounce rate.
Not anticipating any revenue until I can start attracting more organic traffic to the site.
Write 10+ Guest Posts
Still haven’t started this yet. Need to reach out to similar blogs and see if there is any interest.
As I mentioned in my Goals for 2019 post, I am writing these goal updates to hold myself accountable and ensure that I continue tracking towards achieving them in 2019.
Some are ambitious for 2019 and a little outside of my control (see $500/month, guest posts, and followers), but as long as I keep moving towards the goals, good things will happen along the way.
In my experience, fortune favors those who are willing to follow their ambitions and fight until they achieve them.
Intentional Fortune Goals I Set for May 2019
Write 15 Blog Posts in April
Really bad fail. Only wrote 10 blog posts in May. With work ramping up and the MBA program starting soon, I think 10 blog posts a month will need to be the goal moving forward.
Goals for June 2019
Write 10 blog posts in June.
I still think content creation should be highest priority. With work ramping up and the MBA program around the corner, I will focus on creating the highest quality content I can and work on marketing and list building as time permits.
Conclusion
That’s all I have for May 2019. For me, it was a disappointing month with the increased spending on food and the goal fails. Having to type it here is a humbling experience and I know it will drive me to do better next month.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you all next month and sharing how we’re doing!
Do you have any blog post topics you would like me to write about? Do you have any suggestions for how I can improve these updates or the blog as a whole?