The month that I celebrated 4 years of Wear Wag Repeat, I walked up on stage at a pet blogging conference and, with Lucy by my side, accepted the award for Best Pet Blog Design 2017.
I would never have imagined that fate in the first few years of blogging.
But last year, something changed and I decided to start taking this blog more seriously. In one year I have completely transformed my blog into a business. How exactly did I do that? Read on…
Seeking Out Expert Help
I subscribed to every online expert I could find and started consuming as much info as possible about being a professional blogger. There are loads of things that you can do to make your blog as professional as possible.
One day, I stumbled upon someone named Melyssa Griffin (maybe you’ve heard of her?) and all the amazing free resources she has on her site about how to grow your blog traffic, dominate your Pinterest account, get email subscribers and so much more.
I learned so much from all her free advice that when I found out she was releasing an online course called Blog to Biz, I knew her paid content would be incredible!
It was an investment, but I bit the bullet and signed up for the course. I was immediately connected to a private Facebook group of other ambitious bloggers and side-hustlers like me who were all trying to turn their blogs into a business.
Excitement built as we all got access to the recordings, presentations, research, guides and office hours that are part of the course. There’s A LOT of content!
–> 2024 Update: That first course I did with Melyssa Griffin launched me on a path to turning this blog into my full-time career. Since then, I became a B-Schooler. This is the online program run by Marie Forleo. I‘ve been an alumni since 2019 and go through the course every year.
My Year Going From Blog To Biz
I know it sounds incredibly cheesy, but thanks to this course and the amazing resources Melyssa provides, I am truly living my dream today! I swear I’m not being dramatic! Here’s a little timeline so you can see what I’m talking about.
- Signed up for Blog to Biz (June 2016)
- Connected with Branded by Brit through the private FB group and underwent a total re-branding and re-design of my site (August 2016)
- Revamped my highest-traffic blog posts with new Pinterest graphics and email sign-up forms (October 2016)
- Hosted my first live webinar on DIY paw print Christmas ornaments (November 2016)
- Earned my very first sponsored post revenue on my blog (December 2016)
- Decided to “lean in” to the term Dog Mom Blogger and had it printed on new business cards, thanks to Melyssa’s advice to niche-down (January 2017)
- Found out I was a finalist for Best Pet Blog Design at the Blog Paws Conference (March 2017)
- Consistently working with brands on sponsored content for my blog and Instagram (April 2017)
- Hit 10,000 followers on my Instagram account (April 2017)
- Win Best Pet Blog Design at the Blog Paws Conference (May 2017)
- Thanks to my award, I’m connected with PawCulture who hired me to create exclusive DIY videos for their site (July 2017)
To wrap it all up in a bow for you… thanks to Blog to Biz, I met Brit and we worked together to implement all the blog design strategies and tools that Melyssa recommends in the course.
Thanks to that redesign, I won the award for Best Pet Blog Design. And thanks to that, I have secured a multi-video deal with a major pet website to create exclusive content for their site! It kinda blows me away that this is real life!
Making A Living With My Blog
To be completely transparent with you, I set a New Year’s resolution in January that I wanted to make $10,000 on my blog this year.
In 2016 I made zero dollars on my blog, so that was an ambitious goal! I’m very excited to say that not only will I reach that goal, but it’s also looking like I will surpass it for 2017! I can’t thank Melyssa and the Blog to Biz community enough for making my dreams a reality.
It has been a ton of work, and I have cut back on other clients so that I can devote more time to Wear Wag Repeat. But I think it’s 100% worth it because it allows me to live out my dreams, which ultimately makes me happier and a much more positive impact on the people around me.
If you want to feel like this too then I would encourage you to start blogging yourself. You have to take that first step and who knows where you’ll go from there!
If you have been watching my journey, or even if you’re brand new to my blog and just love what you’re reading in this one post, then I suggest you look into an online course that can fast-track your pet business success.
These days, Melyssa Griffin has retired from Blog to Biz, so I recommend looking into Marie Forleo. I have a blog post about her program, B-School. There, you’ll find all kinds of links to her free and paid resources.
An online program like B-School will give you a head start to grow your audience and create a profitable pet business. Maybe even a blog, like mine!
Tapping into expert advice from somelike like Marie will help you learn the core strategies that will help you get more traffic, subscribers, and income. You’ll create a SYSTEM that will grow your pack and turn your idea into a buzzing, profitable business.
P.S. Both of the women who have made this success possible for me, Melyssa Griffin + Brittney Lopez, are amazing dog moms, too! We just have a way of sniffing each other out!
Enjoy this post from 2017? Check out more recent posts about the petpreneur journey:
From Blogger to Author: How to Write a Dog Guide Book
How to Make More Money for the Same Effort in Your Pet Business
Using B-School Magic to Create a Dog Enrichment Mini Online Course
How to Become a Petpreneur
Ideal Petpreneur Playlist Quiz – Get a custom playlist of my podcast!
Congratulations! What an achievement! This is amazing to read! I blog about dogs and am looking to ‘move’ my business forward to generating an income. I feel like your blog post was written for me to read at the right time! Thank you so much, you have given me hope!
You should be so proud of all you have achieved. Just amazing!
Thank you so much for this comment Michelle! I had my fair share of doubts about my blog, worrying it was too specific, etc. But once I tuned in and looked around, I could see huge companies spending tons of money marketing pet products and featuring dogs in ads and I knew I did the right thing by sticking to my passion! Best of luck to you with your blog, and if you decide to sign up for this course, please let me know how it goes!
I’ve always wondered about her course, might be time to take the leap…
I think you would get a lot out of it! One of the best parts is that you get lifetime access, so when all the material gets updated next month I’ll be able to see it even though I signed up last year!
Thanks for sharing, Tori, I’ve signed up! I did her pinterest course and thought that was bloody brilliant!
Your pins and graphics were amazing after you took that course – I could totally tell a difference!
Aw love those pics!! I’m so happy to hear about all of your success. Melyssa’s courses are simply amazing! P.s. Time flies by so fast!!
Time does fly by so fast! I can’t believe it’s been over a year since we both started that course and you created my site. Looks like everything is going really well for you, too!