How I doubled my pageviews in 30 days

It was a little over a month ago when I wrote this post. I'd been struggling with finding a job after our move from Estonia to Germany, and was feeling like a total loser. I was defeated and lost. But, looking back at it now, that day turned out to be a turning point for me. It forced me to get myself together and make a conscious decision. I could either keep fervently looking for a job and feel like sh*t in the meantime, or finally start taking myself seriously and act like this, my blog, was a real business. 

After I'd had a good cry, a heart to heart with my husband, and some time to think, I decided to go for the latter. I started working for myself full time. For the past 6 weeks, I've been getting up at 7am every morning and working for 12-14 hours every day to turn this blog into a business. If you've ever started a business, or tried to monetize your hobby, you might know how hard that is at first. Sure, I've been blogging for years, and sure, I've had thoughts of monetizing my blog many times before, but I had never made a commitment. 

Ever since I started this blog, I've been going back and fort between keeping this a hobby, turning it into a side-job, or going for a full creative career, depending how the week's stats were, and wether or not I'd made any Etsy sales, or had been featured somewhere. I was feeling awesome and so ready to be all business when things were going uphill, but quickly started doubting myself when the blog wasn't growing as quickly as I'd hoped, or the post I'd worked on for hours got mere crickets instead of millions of comments and shares. Ok, maybe not millions, but you get the point. 

What I've realized over the past 6 weeks, though, is that building a business is so different from just hoping to monetize a hobby, or make a little extra money on the side. Building is a conscious action, usually requiring a plan, some knowledge, and the right tools. Very different from hoping to build something. You don't accidentally build a table, right? Well, you don't accidentally build a business neither. Hoping is wishing something happened despite you. Building is making sure it happens in spite of everything else.

Which is not to say that a hobby-blog couldn't grow to a point where monetizing would happen almost by accident. Or, that when you start taking your blog seriously, from a business perspective, you'll be an instant success, and money would start pouring in. You know from my recent income report that's not true. What I am saying is that how you view your goal, whether it be growing a blog, or pursuing a creative career, will determine the rate of your growth, and infinitely better your chances of making those dreams real. Look at it this way - when you start walking from Tallinn to Rome without a map, you might still get there, but the chances are way better when you start with a clear route in mind and a map to guide you.

When I started Pearls & Scissors, I had a very clear vision for my blog and an intention of turning it into a profitable side-business. I remember being very excited back then about the prospect of making money doing what I loved. I even had some initial success. I had over 44 000 pageviews in the first month alone, and an average of over 39 000 pageviews/month for the first 6 months. My blog kept slowly growing, but at some point I felt it wasn't growing quickly enough. I wasn't getting the opportunities I thought I would be, and slowly but surely, I started to lose hope. Why wasn't this happening already? The thing is, I entered this with no idea how to get to where I wanted to go. And to be honest, I don't even think I knew exactly where that was. All I had was this elusive dream of a paycheck that had something or everything to do with my blog. So, I was basically hoping for success.

At some point I got tired and confused. Somewhere along the way I went back to being a hobby-blogger. Which is totally fun and cool, but not at all what I set out to do. When I wasn't getting the results I wanted fast, like yesterday, I gave up and hoped that things would magically happen for me. Time and again, I'd get inspired to give it another go. And another. And another. I hoped to build a business, but I didn't have the tools or knowledge, nor a plan. 

What I realize now is that hoping isn't enough. If I want to see results, I need to have a plan of action. If you keep hoping for things to happen, they might never. But if you make a plan, get the tools, learn what you must, and do what you can every single day, eventually you will make it happen.

So, how did I grow my blog from 35 000 pageviews a month to 75 000 pageviews in just 30 days?

1) I got my sh*t together and made a conscious decision to build a business.

2) I set myself smart goals I could attain, and a clear plan to follow.

3) I showed up each and every day and did my best.

I hope this inspires you to make a conscious decision to do the thing you've been hoping for. To take matters into your own hands, and make it happen instead of waiting for it to happen to you. 

xo. Hanna

P.S! If you haven't already, go an check out my awesome new crafty e-book!

One Little Word for the year: Courage

The new year seems more special to me this time than it has in the past. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel that this year is going to be special. Everything is so fresh and new, and it makes me excited for what's to come. We made our goal list together with Rein and I hope it's going to be a family tradition for years to come. I also decided to join the One Little Word™ exercise this year. I've read a lot of great things about it recently, and I just felt I needed to experience it for myself.

At first, I thought it would be hard for me to choose a word, but one little word did pull me harder than the rest. So, my word for 2015 is COURAGE. It's something I need in my life right now. I'm at a point in my life where the only way forward is through overcoming fear and putting myself out there. And that demands a lot of courage.

I want to have courage in my career. At this point I don't have anything to loose. I promise to take on challenges, and crab for opportunities I'm scared of. The worst that can happen is a little disappointment. I think I can live with that. But, the best that can happen is that my dreams will come true. And that perspective sounds amazing to me.

I want to have courage in life. I have some secret dreams that I would love to pursue. So, I'm trying to have more courage and just do what feels right and what I really want. It can only lead to a better, more fulfilling life, right?

It's easy to get sidetracked by fear and self-doubt. Both of those feelings aren't foreign to me, but I will make a conscious effort to move passed them. Most of the boundaries in our life are self-inflicted, so it's time to climb over them and see what's on the outside. I'm really excited to let this one little word lead me through this year and hopefully remind me to take more risks and actively move towards my goals, even if the journey scares me a bit.

Will you join the One Little Word exercise? What is the word that will guide you through this year?

Happy New Year, my friends!
xo. Hanna

5 Things I've learned // On goal setting

Remember the 30 days 30 goals challenge I began in October? Well, you might be wondering what happened to it. I know, I know, I was supposed to write the conclusion weeks ago, but alas, here we are, at the beginning of December.

Truth be told, I completed about half of my 30 goals. That would constitute a failed challenge, right? Well, so I thought at first, but the I started thinking. Whenever you learn something about yourself in the process of a challenge, it's always a win. So, here are 5 things I learned during the 30 days 30 goals challenge:

1) Long To-Do lists stress me out. The moment I compiled that list of 30 things I felt over-whelmed. I knew it was going to be hassle, and I already didn't want to do it. I hoped that the challenge would motivate me to work harder to cross things off, but no. Note to self: make to-do lists that are short and sweet, 10 items tops. Keep different category lists separately, because seeing them all together will freak you out.

2) Defining a manageable and well-defined goal is the key to success. One thing I noticed was that I crossed off most of the smaller, more manageable tasks that required a very specific action. Like, have shoes repaired, or take old clothes to H&M. Other tasks, like pack all kitchen items, or pack all clothing were left undone, because they depended on other circumstances I wasn't clear on at the moment, and were too blurry for me to take concrete action on.

3) When I don't need to do it, no list will make me. There were items on that list that I could've easily complete, but I still didn't because I was always out of time, and they just didn't seem that important. They were not things I needed to do, more things I thought I had to do.

4) I stink at time management. You see, I think I'm Wonderwoman. Yes, I believe I can accomplish a weeks worth of tasks in one day. And then I get all grumpy and self-accusing when it doesn't happen. All I have to say to myself is to just chill and give myself a break once in a while. Burning myself out is not going to help anyone.

5) It's all about setting goals that inspire. The list I compiled was full of things I dreaded. Packing all my things, sorting things out that needed sorting, getting all the work-stuff done before the move, cleaning, organizing and so on. Yuck! There was not one inspiring goal on that list. No make a blog business plan, or get nails done every week, or eat a healthy meal every day. Nothing that would motivate me to get going. It was all chores. I love goal setting, but I truly failed this time.

This challenge taught me a lot, so I guess it was still worth it. Did anyone else participate? If yes, how did yo do? Or, have you ever taken on a similar challenge?

I'm definitely going to do some challenges now and again. I'm not going to promise it'll be one each month, but we'll see what the new year has in store.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

xo. Hanna

New challenge // 30 days 30 goals

October's challenge stems purely from my need to get a lot of things done in a short amount of time. With the move to Germany, my increasing work-load, and aspirations in business and singing, I feel it's so important to take more time to organize and plan my daily hour-count, so that everything important is taken care of, but I'm still moving towards my bigger goals.

It's easy to get lost in the everyday hassle and lose sight of what you're really working towards, or just push those big plans further and further into the future. It happens to the best of us. Better time management is a constant learning process, for sure. I'm definitely not the expert here, but I'm working towards a more balanced and fulfilling life.

This months challenge is to make a list of 30 goals (big or small) and complete them within 30 days. Sounds daunting, for sure, but the accomplishment would be so rewarding. I have a million things I still need and want to get done before my move to Cologne in mid-November (that's soon!). So I'm setting myself a goal to complete 30 of those things before moving away.

As I'm going to spend 10 days at the end of October in Cologne where I can't complete these goals, my challenge will go on until the 9th of November. I'll share the result on the blog in the next "5 things I learned" post.

I'm posting my list of goals on Instagram tomorrow, so if you'd like to follow along on my journey, just follow me there. Or, if you'd love to join me and share your own journey, use the hashtag #30days30goals

So, what do you say? Are you in?

Let's get shit done! (pardon the language)

xo. Hanna