Best of November 2018 | A Round Up of Resources for Writers & Bloggers

Happy December!

I can't believe there's only one month of 2018 left. Crazy, right?! Before you know it, it will be time to reflect on the past year and start making goals and plans for 2019. As a newly, full-time freelance writer working from home, I seriously can't wait for all the good things 2019 is going to bring! I have some big goals for my business, as well as my blog and I'm excited to share them with you all in the coming year.

Anyways, I wanted to start December off by reviewing my goals for November, sharing helpful business and blog resources, fun stuff from the month, and a breakdown of my goals for December.

You can read November's roundup here or visit the archive for previous months.

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Note: This post may contain affiliate links.

November Goal Review

November was busy, which was not surprising! Months with major holidays always tend to get a little crazy, but I had a lot on my plate. While I thought the month went really well and I started working with a couple of new clients, I definitely didn't get as many of my goals accomplished as I had hoped. Here's how I did on November's goals.

Business Goals

1. Finish rewriting/designing my main business site ✅ / ❌

So, I halfway accomplished this goal.

🤷🏻

Like I mentioned in October's round up, I decided to create a new business site to cater to my niche, while keeping my original business site intact to act as a hub for my business as a whole. I managed to get the new site, House to Home Copy & Content Writing, up and running but I've just barely started on the other site.

Hopefully, I'll finish it in the next week or two!

2. Implement Jorden's cold emailing strategy to build up my client roster ❌

Between my new client workload and the holidays, this fell by the wayside. I did manage to send out about 5 emails but it was nowhere near Jorden's suggestion of 20-25 cold emails PER DAY. That's definitely going to take some planning so I can streamline the process as much as possible, and I plan on creating a few email templates I can customize before sending.

3. Optimize my LinkedIn profile ✅

I just finished optimizing my LinkedIn profile this week (check it out here) and I've already had 2 potential clients connecting with and contacting me!

A lot of optimizing your profile has to do with SEO (like most content) but there are some really strategic things to include in your profile. I utilized the information from Jorden Roper's LinkedIn Profile Planner, which was part of the Killer Cold Emailing bundle I purchased in October.

4. Write 2 sample blog posts for House to Home ✅

I actually managed to write 3 samples for House to Home, which is great!

If you don't have samples related to your writing niche, don't be afraid to create them! You can publish your own articles on LinkedIn Publisher or sites like Medium and link to them from your writing portfolio. Just make sure they're quality writing samples that really showcase your skills.

Blog Goals

1. Write 6 new blog posts ✅

I've been trying to get more content on my site without sacrificing the quality of the content and six blog posts a month seems to be a really good number for now. Here's the new content I published in November.

1. 5 Reasons You Need an Email List
2. 20+ Gift Ideas for Bloggers
3. 10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Email List
4. 5 Must-Have Tools For Running a Freelance Business
5. How to Create an Opt-in Freebie & Grow Your Email List
6. 6 Reasons Freelance Writers Should Have a Blog

Now if only I could work ahead and create content a month in advance; That would be my dream!

2. Update/Rewrite my older blog posts ❌

I'm still working on updating my writing portfolio blog post…it's taken me a lot longer than I thought because of my client workload this month and because of how thorough I want it to be. I'm about halfway finished with it though!

3. Create a new resource library ❌

This has been on my to-do list for the last two months…and I have yet to accomplish it, for mainly the same reasons as why it's taken me so long to update my writing portfolio blog post. The other factor is that I'm considering changing my theme to the Extra theme by Elegant Themes. I haven't made up my mind yet, though, and it's putting a definite wrench in my plans.

Magic Moment

I was approached by Jane from Plain Jane Lifestyle about being a featured blogger on her “Blogger of the Month” page! I didn't expect that, but it definitely felt great to be chosen.

You should definitely check out her blog, by the way. Jane is a part-time freelance travel writer, which is so cool! She also posts adorable photos of her dog and travels on Instagram, so be sure to follow her there.

My Favorite Resources in November

Blog Posts I Loved in November

• Design Killer Newsletters With MailChimp (Adored Designs)
• How to Write Copy With SEO In Mind (Ashlyn Writes)
• Books for the Creative Entrepreneur (Small Talk Social)
• 5 Things You Should Always Make Time for as a Creative Entrepreneur (TheCrownFox)

Free Resources

• Evernote – My favorite way to keep organized!
• Make Your First Affiliate Sale – A 5-day video course from The She Approach to teaching bloggers about affiliate marketing and strategies for implementing it.
• Accelerate Your Freelance Writing Income – An 18-page guide created by Elna Cain to help freelance writers build a more profitable writing business.

November Extras

I love sharing my favorite resources from the month, but I also like to share fun stuff too! Here are some of my favorite non-business/blog things from November.

Books I Loved in November

My reading goal for November was 10 books…it was a bit ambitious but I really want to hit my goal of 100 books for the 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I somehow managed to read 12 books in November, probably because of the holiday, but I'm not complaining! I'm currently at 93 books, which means I'll have another 7 to read in December.

Of the 12, these were my top three.

• All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire
• The Proposal by Jasmine Guillroy (My Book of the Month choice for November. Use my referral link to get a free book!)
• The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

A book I didn't like?

4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.

If you saw my Instagram post, you know I had mixed feelings about this book even before I started reading it because it had some very mixed reviews on Amazon. I still decided to give it a go and it was a struggle to finish. Despite the fact that the author seems like a Grade A jerk, it did have a few good points which is why I decided to finish it.

Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear what you thought so leave me a comment below.

Podcasts I Loved in November

I love, love, LOVE listening to podcasts. While I love business podcasts like Goal Digger, true crime podcasts will always have my heart! I haven't been listening to podcasts as much since I quit my job to freelance full-time because I don't have a long commute to and from work anymore, but I try to listen to them while I do chores around the house.

My all-time favorite podcasts are Crime Junkie and Swindled, but I found a new one in November and it's so good! It's called In the Dark and it's an investigative podcast about the disappearance of Jacob Wetterling in 1989.

I'm from North Dakota, so this is was a big deal where I'm from, but since I moved to Minnesota this summer it's even more interesting. What's really cool about the podcast is it launched right around the same time Danny Heinrich confessed to the crime, so it comes full circle as you listen to it.

December Goals

Here's what I've got on tap for December. Hopefully, I will be able to knock them out fairly easily so I can start 2019 fresh!

Business Goals

1. Finish designing and writing the copy for katiejenison.com
2. Create an email opt-in for katiejenison.com
3. Send cold emails and grow client roster
4. Write and publish two sample blogs

Blog Goals

1. Change blog theme*
2. Launch new resource library
3. Write 6 new blog posts
4. Optimize old blogs posts for SEO
5. Complete Pixistock's course, The Intentional Brand

*I haven't fully made my mind up on this.

I have a feeling December is going to be a pretty busy month, even without hefty goals but I'm going to do my best! Do you have any big goals for December? Let's hear them!