Another month has come and gone, along with another quarter! We are now half way through this year and I can not believe how quickly time flies when you are having fun! In this months dash of sparkle we are going to tell you all about what happened over on the blog in June and give you a little update on the more technical side of the blog.
Blog Update
We have been busy on the blog for what seems like forever! I quickly (very quickly) realized that juggling all of our summer activities and consistently posting to social media was not going to happen organically or in any sort of a timely manor. With travelling so much I often don't have service for hours or days (gasp- but seriously, you should try it) at a time. So to fix this issue, I have spent hours, upon hours implementing and testing out social media scheduling platforms this past month. Some I absolutely hated right out of the gate and they got tossed out the window almost immediately. But now I have landed on two (one for Pinterest and one for Instagram) that I think I am in love with. I have posts scheduled for a few weeks on both platforms, so we will see how it goes!
I will be doing a post on all of this research and testing in a few months once I fully learn the platforms and figure out the pros and cons with each one. So if you're into that type of thing, keep an eye out for that!
Recipe Videos
We have been full steam ahead on the recipe videos! Eddie has been a rock star hand model, editor, and musician these past few months! I just sit in the background making sure the ingredients are prepped and the lighting is good. We are getting better and faster every time we shoot a video, and we are having a blast.
If you missed our last months dash of sparkle, I went into detail about Eddie's involvement in the recipe videos and you can read about it here.
Top 3 Most Popular Recipes
The numbers are in and the three most popular recipes in the second quarter were....
Second Quarter Review
The second quarter was every bit as challenging as the first. I feel like I am travelling a mile a minute and constantly writing down things I have to do, things I need to do. At times my "to do" list has been over 4 pages long...
But, if you can believe it, I am getting the hang of it!
One of the most helpful things I have learnt these past few months is the power of batching work! Go in with a plan, shoot all the recipes one day, edit all the pictures at the same time, and then write the posts all at the same time and schedule them out.
Also, using a social media scheduler and implementing a social media strategy have been total game changers.
Monetizing the blog
In the past quarter I decided to take the leap and apply to Google AdSense. At first they denied me saying that I didn't have enough content, which was understandable. So I waited 2 more months and tried again, and got accepted! This was an exciting day for me, because it finally felt like the blog was moving forward!
I haven't made much yet, but I am totally ok with that! I am more excited than ever to see what the next quarter holds!
Second Quarter Stats
Early into this quarter I discovered Foodgawker. Immediately I started submitting up to three recipes per day to their site, and obviously that is why I saw a huge jump in traffic in April. My traffic is consistently getting to be more and more, so I must be doing something right, right?
A glimpse into Real Life
That is all we had time for, a measly glimpse!
Recently my parents bought a new property in British Columbia. We finally made it out there for a weekend and it was a blast! We already have plans to go back this summer and I can't wait to explore the area more.
Other than that we have been firmly planted in front of our computers.
A true dash of sparkle
While I was writing this dash of sparkle for June, I poured myself one of my favorite teas and the quote on the tea bag string took me totally by surprise. It read;
From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.
-Aeschylus
This tiny quote put a big stupid smile across my face and brought tears to my eyes. I love this blogging thing so stinking much, thank you for being here and sharing this journey with me!
Well here's to hoping that tea bag quote someday comes true. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and we will see you back on the blog in a few days with a new recipe!
We would love to hear if you tried this recipe! We put a lot of work into our recipes and love to hear how they worked for you! To get a hold of us, you can shoot us an email or leave a comment down below! We can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.
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