In our latest interview series which I like to call “Meet the Blogger”, where I spotlight inspiring creatives on this Blogger Magazine. We caught up with Mecyll Gaspary who runs mgaspary blog and an aspiring Filipino best-selling author. How To Start Blogging, Earn Your First $500, & Succeed Without
Getting Overwhelmed
1.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your blog?
Hi, I am Mecyll Gaspary, an aspiring Filipino
best-selling author, blogger, and freelance writer. My interest in writing
combined with work-related experiences as a writer led me to create my blog
into a useful resource for writers like me in the public domain.
2.
Describe what inspired you to start your blog?
I began my blogging journey back in 2015 when I met a
co-writer on a news website where I worked before. She told me she made money
from blogging anything. So, that caught my interest in the blog as a potential
to add income streams.
It wasn’t easy, though. I started with Miss Creative
Journaler (nulled) as my first professional blog where I bought web hosting
packages and all that stuff. After I failed, I started again with another
website and failed again until I finally made up my mind to create my professional
website where I can showcase my strengths as a writer and help other struggling
writers to make money using their skills online.
3.
How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
I’m a productivity geek. Desperate to perform more and
see more progress in my endeavors, I scoured the internet to find solutions for
my dilemma: procrastination.
While working full-time as a content writer, I tried
to spare time for my blog despite the mental exhaustion and fatigue. I tried
many ways to remain productive and followed different people’s tips but nothing
worked for me.
What I do is to know how my body works in rhythm with
my mind. My head may tell me I need to finish the task but I have to make sure
my energy equates to become ultra-productive.
For instance, I wake up in the morning and the
adrenaline rushes, I have to finish as many tasks as possible before the
euphoria fades. This isn’t laziness for me. Surprisingly, I accomplish more
when I follow this system rather than forcing myself to do something for the
sake of productivity.
If I failed to align my work rhythm and forced myself
to accomplish a task, I tend to procrastinate and stay away from my desk. This
is why I need to consider myself in the process. It’s the same thing I suggest
you do. Listen to your body and respect how it works.
If you push yourself too hard as I did, you will not
enjoy the process of doing anything, including your blog. I once believed that
when I do more, I make more progress. That was my old productivity principle.
It wasn’t the case. I succumbed to writer’s block to the point I couldn’t write
a word again.
Imagine a writer who can’t even hold a pen and a
notebook to scribble a single word. That’s a painful, unimaginable situation
most writers can’t avoid (unless if they follow the same productivity strategy
I did).
Many people define self-discipline as doing the same
thing every single day. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, keep going until you
see results. However, I beg to disagree. It’s also important to listen to your
body when to do things and not to do things. Rest if you have to. But that
doesn’t mean you quit.
When your mind and body align, you unknowingly become
more productive than you think.
4.
How active are you on a weekly basis? How often do you communicate with your
followers?
I communicate with my audience weekly. With the help
of automation, I send weekly emails to my subscribers, as well as pin posts on
Pinterest via Tailwind App, which is my go-to-platform to schedule my pins.
5.
What do you think is the best social media strategy for getting more visitors
to a blog?
Video presentation suits better than most strategies I
tried. This is the best option for Facebook and Instagram as the posts perform
best when it’s in a video format than photos alone. Of course, there’s nothing
wrong with sticking with photo posts, though.
When you prefer using Pinterest, on the other hand, it
follows a different strategy. You need to join group boards and Tailwind Tribes
by collaborating with other pinners. Your posts will not perform better if you
stick on pinning on your boards without the help from others.
This is what makes Pinterest different as to how you
execute social media strategies on Facebook and Instagram - the reason for
bloggers to love this platform.
6.
Would you encourage other people to make their blog?
Yes, definitely. My writing career began when I
started writing blog posts. Although I have been blogging since 2012, I got
into the business side of it in 2015.
Without my blog, I wouldn’t have discovered vast
opportunities waiting for me ahead. For instance, earning $5,000 as a writer
wouldn’t have been possible without considering blogging as a stepping stone
for that success.
7.
A lot of people think that blogging is an easy way to make money online. Do you
have some tips for those people who are interested in making money from the
blog?
Out of all the tips and strategies suggested by
experts, successful bloggers, as well as authors, this one is at the top
priority. Create phenomenal content.
Regardless of the SEO - which also plays a big role in
getting more web traffic - Google values unique and high-quality content. After
its algorithm change not too long ago, many big websites that published
outdated posts and invaluable content faced devastating effects.
It was the first time in history that the big sites
like Daily Mail UK witnessed plummeting website traffic. At the time, small
websites were facing a big threat. However, it was otherwise.
Consequently, it gives opportunities for small
websites with quality content to rise on the top search engine results aka
SERP. This proves that writing epic posts work for all online content. It’s a
must for bloggers to gain traction.
When you keep creating epic or cornerstone content,
you don’t need to chase money. It’s drawn to you. It doesn’t matter if you’re
an affiliate marketer, blogger, freelance writer, or author.
The easy way to start making money online is by
creating phenomenal content that hooks your audience to the bone. A post that
will engrave in their minds and will never be forgotten. Your content is too
valuable and irresistible, pushing them to take action i.e. purchase the
product, sign-up on your email lists, etc.
8.
What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?
It’s when I have to blog while working full-time as a
writer for someone else while performing my household duties as a wife.
Fortunately, I didn’t have children yet so it wasn’t as stressful compared to
mother bloggers whom I offer my salute to.
9. What is your greatest
achievement outside of blogging?
I was a student council president in one of the top
universities in the Philippines. During my term, I several organized programs
for the students, especially the scholars and the unfortunate young students in
our city.
Initially, the program for the scholars I developed
with the help of my team was exclusive to one college.
Over the years, the program grew into an annual
university activity wherein all the scholars undergo orientation to help them
assess their academic performance better.
With the other program, it was created to discover
potential young leaders who are less fortunate within the city. With the help
of my team, we scoured the city to search the youth to train and excel as
future leaders of the country.
Given the scale of the program, it was no surprise
that it garnered awards from the university’s award-giving body. Although it
took years for developing that program (from my term to the next 2 student
council presidents), it was worth it.
10.
Who is your blogging hero and why?
Several names appear in my head the moment I read this
question. Over the years of studying hundreds of thousands of content in the
public domain, I encountered great bloggers who happen to be best-selling
authors.
To name one, I have been following Jeff Goins, a blogger,
and best-selling author, since 2015. That’s when I got serious with blogging.
His influence is big enough to push me to self-publish my book, which I’m
working on right now.
“Just write,” he always mentions in most of his blog
posts. There’s no other way for someone to become a writer but to write.
Nothing else.
11.
What advice would you give to a new blogger starting out?
Don’t be scared. Just don’t. Many of us tend to scour
the internet to search for potential niches we might like to do, especially
when we’re just about to start it. When we do, we see massive topics to try
without knowing these could potentially threaten our drive to start a blog and
continue.
The internet provides a lot of information about every
single thing. This overwhelms you so much that you’re scared to try writing
something because you thought, “Anyway, somebody has probably written about it.
Why would I bother?”
Or, you might be thinking too much about web traffic,
SEO, and all the technical side of blogging that compromises the quality of our
work.
Our drive to blog is to share our experiences with our
audience. And if we’re too distracted with the plugins, Google algorithm, etc.,
we might lose the spark we once had when we started.
A piece of advice? Start writing for yourself. Write
epic posts you love to read over and over again. I know this sounds like a bit
of advice for fiction writers but the same principle applies to the blog. Just
write. That’s it.
12.
Have you collaborated
with brands? If yes, name few brands you worked with
If this includes the affiliated programs I partnered
with and made money from it, these include Your Online Revenue LLC, Grammarly,
WP Engine, Tailwind App, and Dabble Writer.
13.
Finally, what are your thoughts about BloggerMagazine?
First of all, I’d like to thank BloggerMagazine for giving me this
wonderful opportunity to share my thoughts with your amazing audience. This is
because, for me, BloggerMagazine is a great hub for the most inspiring and
creative bloggers on the planet. That’s why I’m so grateful to be featured in
your great community.
Follow Mecyll Gaspary on her journey at:
mgaspary.com | facebook.com/mgasparywriter | instagram.com/mecyll.jamila | instagram.com/mecyllg | linkedin.com/mecyll-gaspary
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