Yooooo it’s been so long since the last update. I hope you didn’t forget about my ambitious challenge. If you did, I don’t blame you. I’m here to tell you I had not given up on this challenge. My family is just experiencing some troubling drama and I had to help resolve that. It’s still an ongoing battle but I’ve somewhat gotten back to my flow of things.
I’d say week 2 and 3 were the most “dead”. But I’ve picked things up soon after.
In this email:
- Finally working on the website
- Tools bought during Black Friday sale
- Caved in and hired freelance writers
- Expenses and income for month 1
- Next month’s plan
Website Progress (10%)
I only started working on the website when I’m 100% confident of my niche and have a few articles up my sleeve.
That’s why the website is 10% ready at the end of November.
I decided to use Generate Press as my theme and installed their starter template. I’ve used it before for my old site (it’s gone now) and I like it. It’s a lightweight theme and it’s fast. It’s also affordable at $59 per year or $249 one time.
Tools Bought
I tried to hold myself back this Black Friday. I didn’t want to purchase something just because it’s on offer, you know?
With that said, I bought 2 software subscriptions from AppSumo marketplace and credits for a plagiarism checker.
- Neuron Writer — To optimize articles for keywords
- Topic Mojo — For keyword and topic research
- Originality.AI — To scan for plagiarism and AI content by freelance writers
Hiring Writers
The good thing about my chosen niche is I have extensive knowledge about it. BUT I’m starting to realize my time is better spent on researching and optimizing. For basic writing, I can train someone to write what I know. I just have to give them the points I want the articles to convey.
It takes me less time to proofread and edit the articles than to write from scratch.
I feel much better and can focus on my family while building this business. I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing any important parts of my life. All I got to do is spend a little bit of money. I set a monthly budget so I don’t overspend on writers.
However, finding good writers at an affordable rate is hard. You get what you pay for, right? So I keep my expectations low. I don’t mind a little of AI content from them as long as they fact-check and edit to humanize it.
I’ll write another article detailing my terrible experience with a “cheap” writer. It was 90% AI content, poorly written and full of misinformation. Even after revisions, it was shit. I let it go and find other writers to cover the same topic.
After a couple of failed tries, I found 2 decent writers at different price points. One has more technical knowledge while the other can spit out quick. accurate general-type articles.
Money In, Money Out
My income came solely from Medium this month. A whopping $21.87. Not too bad for a start. I usually earn less than $10 so I’ve doubled that in a month.
Expenses… well, Black Friday made me spend over my budget. However, I bought lifetime access so I don’t think I’ll spend as much in the coming months.
Revenue: $21.87
Expenses: $428.76.
Total profit for November: -$406.89
Next Week’s Plan
I’m going to continue building up the website. It should be done by next week.
I’m also going to make it live and publish the first 10 articles. There won’t be much data about it though.
I’m also going to start strategizing the marketing campaigns. Based on the e-commerce niche, I think building an email list would be the best.
That’s it for this week! Let me know if you have any questions. Until then, stay safe and enjoy your week ☺️
Cheers,
Athirah
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