Lifestyle

The 2020 Vision – Goals & Plans

December 30, 2019 itsamandaburnett 1 Comment

Happy late Christmas, everyone! I know I haven’t been the most consistent with posting but I’ve been spending time with loved ones and taking a breather before the new year. But now 2020 is right around the corner!

This year was the most successful I’ve been when it comes to my blog and I’m so proud of the hard work that I’ve put in. My readers have become more like friends and I can’t tell you how thankful I am to everyone who checks for new posts each week. Looking back though, I see that there is still so much room for improvement.

You guys, 2020 is the year to work even harder and to be seen for that hard work! As my mom says, it’s the year for 2020 vision.

My Vision & Goals For 2020

My word for the new year is transformation. It’s kind of like when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, I guess. 2019 was me in the caterpillar phase. Preparing myself for the transformation of 2020. I took the first big steps to really become successful on my blog, business, and in my personal life too. I’m ready to become a butterfly and show the world what I have to offer. That was cheesy, I know.

Goals

My first ebook is still in the planning phase but it will be published in 2020. If you’re into living a more positive lifestyle, be on the lookout.
I will continue posting at least once a week on my blog. I’m also doing a bit of rebranding & making sure my content is more high quality.
It will be the year I get my first blog paycheck from Adsense! I’m halfway there.
I’m letting my style shine. I’ve been way more into girly things lately and it’s a bit shocking but I’m letting that girl out more.
Practicing two new languages! Spanish & ASL to be more specific.
This will be the year I finally get my puppy!

As I said in my last blog post, 2019 was full of good things and not so good things. It has taught me more about myself, pushed me to limits, and I’m so excited to see what I accomplish in 2020.

Farewell, 2019.

Friends, I’ll see you in 2020. ♥

Looking Back On 2019: My Year In Review

December 16, 2019 itsamandaburnett Leave a Comment

Can you guys believe in about 15 days it’ll be 2020? That’s so crazy to me. I want to take the rest of the month to reflect on the year I’ve had and what I’ve learned. I prayed in 2018 that 2019 was going to be a good year. Well, it definitely was a much better year than I expected but it also tested me in ways I didn’t expect.

In my post, “What I’ll Achieve In 2019”, I made the points that I wanted to:

Focus on my blog full time. I am confident that I did this. I had a few weeks that I wasn’t consistent but for the most part, I published a new blog post every Monday. My blog has become pretty successful and I’m excited to watch it grow and blossom even more.
Be More Organized. Check! In 2019, I bought myself a desk and created a work area on a budget. There’s a blog post all about it. I also bought myself an Erin Condren planner that I still use every single week! I have definitely become way more organized this year.
Be Great At Saving Money. This is something I’m most proud to say that I achieved! Not only was I able to say I kept money in my savings but I got myself two credit cards that I’ve been very responsible with. This has saved me money but raised my credit score at the same time! I was even able to bet myself into a new apartment! Let me know if you’d like a blog post about my tips for having a credit card and using it responsibly.
Focus More On My Physical Health. Sadly, I didn’t focus too much on my physical health, or at least the way I intended too. I wanted to consistently work out but that didn’t work out. Good news, my eating habits aren’t that bad!
Focus More On My Mental Health. This year has been all about my mental health. This is something I’m always focusing on and I’m really proud of how I’ve been able to pull myself out of tough mental days.
Step Out Of My Comfort Zone. There have been a few times this year where I almost missed out on an opportunity because it was scary and definitely out of my comfort zone but I did it anyway. For example, starting my new business with Monat!
Getting A Puppy. This one hurts me a little bit because most of my money in my savings at the time was for a puppy but then a couple of weeks after my birthday when I was getting closer to my puppy goal, my apartment was broken into and my laptop was stolen. This was probably the worst part of the year. Not so much about my laptop or the puppy but I realized how unsafe the area I was living in was. I also fell into a dark place for a couple of weeks. That savings turned into a “new apartment” savings. Although since I’m now all moved into that new apartment and much happier, a puppy is in the plans for 2020!

So this year hasn’t been completely amazing but I’ve learned that there will always be bumps in the road. Overall though, I can’t complain. I’m going to be ending this year and starting 2020 on a good note with big plans.

In the next post, I’ll be revealing my plans and resolutions for the New Year.

Thank you so much for reading!

Moving + Starting A New Business

December 3, 2019 itsamandaburnett Leave a Comment

Hey all! It’s been a while since I posted on my blog and it’s so good to be back. So let me catch you up to what I’ve been doing!

New Apartment!

In the past couple of months, I’ve been preparing to move. That whole process is just a headache. But I finally moved into my new place last week and the unpacking has had my undivided attention. I also was so stressed, I totally forgot to call my internet company BEFORE moving so I had no internet at my new place for 5 days. That was rough.

Moving tip: This might be a no brainer but call your internet company a week before moving to schedule your hook-up for the day of. Waiting sucks.

Well anyway, I just finished decorating and putting up my wall decor. My apartment is really starting to feel like home. I even put up my Christmas tree! I think I’m going to be really happy here. Another bonus, I’m walking distance to my day job and the neighbors are really friendly. Okay, now I’m just babbling but I’m just really happy. I’m also on my third cup of coffee because I’m still so busy. Enjoy.

Come stop by my Instagram! I’ll be posting pics of the apartment soon.

Hello, I’m Your New Shampoo Dealer.

In the midst of moving, I also started a new business with Monat! If you haven’t heard of Monat, it’s a haircare and skincare brand that is completely vegan and cruelty-free! That alone piqued my interest. My mentor Elizebeth, slid into my DMs on Instagram a few months ago wanting to send me free samples. I’m not one to turn down free samples so of course, I said yes. When I tried the products, I started seeing results in a couple of washes. It was shiny, soft, and my curl pattern started coming back to life! My hair is honestly becoming healthier than ever so I wanted to be able to share these products as well.

Because I’m so passionate about these products, I am diving into the business headfirst. When I’m not at my day job and I’m not organizing my new apartment, I’m studying the business, the products, and sending free samples to my prospects! Honestly, I’ve never been so inspired to work a business like this. I’m also debating connecting my business with this blog or if I should just create a whole different blog for it. But since my audience is here, I’ll experiment with it. Let me know your opinion! Would you like to see more posts about Monat or should I keep it separate?

Alright you guys, that’s it for this blog. It’s short and sweet but I just wanted to fill you in on my life update and to say hi! I hope you all are doing well. xx

The Pinterest Course That Helped Me Monetize My Blog

November 18, 2019 itsamandaburnett 6 Comments

If you’re unaware of what Pinterest is, it’s one of the biggest search engines on the web besides Google! Bloggers all over the world swear by using Pinterest to grow their blog traffic. When I first started my blog though, I sort of went into it blindly. I kept hearing all these great things about Pinterest so even after I created a business account, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had a couple of pins that went viral but I had a feeling I needed to improve my strategies to find further results.

*This post does contain affiliate links which means if you click on a link and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you*

The great thing about the internet is you can find courses on literally anything. So there I was, trying to find a course that could help me with Pinterest. The problem was, I was on a budget and a lot of courses were around $100!

I’ve been following Ell Duclos on Twitter and have been on her Facebook group for months before I realized, wait a minute, she has a Pinterest course! The best part though? It’s only $30.

Inside The Course

Inside her Pinterest course, you will find 7 chapters each filled with multiple pages of very valuable information. She goes into easy to understand but in-depth details!

Blog Basics – This is the first chapter in her course and instead of diving right into the Pinterest side of things, she talks about different tips and resources you need when you’re first creating your blog! I love this because before you can make money from Pinterest, you should have a good blog foundation.

Set Up Pinterest – Her second chapter has 6 steps that go into how to set up your Pinterest properly. When I first saw the title, I honestly thought, “My Pinterest is already set up. I don’t need this step.” But I’m so thankful I still read it because I found so many things that I was doing wrong and that I was able to improve! She even includes lots of pictures to show you step-by-step for you visual learners.

Creating Pins – I found this chapter so helpful because creating visually appealing pins is so important! She gives you a visual of how you can use Canva to create pins that people will want to actually click on. She even includes resources such as her favorite sites for stock images!

Joining Group Boards – Have you ever wondered what the importance of group boards were? Well, Ell explains all and she even includes links to find group boards to find on Pinterest!

About Tailwind – Tailwind, the tool everybody says you need to triple your traffic! What is Tailwind? How do you use it effectively? What are some strategies you can use? This chapter is one of the more detailed chapters (22 pages!) Ell explains all of the ins and outs, pictures included, so you can feel confident in how to use Tailwind for your blog.

Pinterest Traffic – When it comes to social media and our blogs, traffic is our friend and we want more of it! Well, Pinterest is not just to bring traffic to your blog specifically. There are so many things you can bring traffic to using Pinterest.

Affiliate Sales – It’s one thing to be earning money on your blog from great traffic but what about making affiliate sales? Affiliate sales can potentially bring you the most income! Ell provides great info on how you can do that as well. Fun fact, she has an affiliate program for her courses you can earn from too! Let me disclose, I am using her affiliate link in this post but I would never promote this if I didn’t think it was valuable to my audience.

Want To Take The Course?

I have learned so much from this course and the fact that it’s so affordable is an absolute win. These 7 chapters provide so much detailed information. I highly recommend investing in this course because for the fabulous price, you can become a pro at Pinterest.

Click here to go check out her Pinterest course!

Thank you so much for reading!