Earlier this year when I was setting my New Year’s resolutions I decided I wanted to be bold this year. I wanted to stretch myself and step out of my comfort zone in life. I wasn’t sure how this was going to come about but I promised myself I was going to do more things that scared me in order to move forward.
About three weeks ago, one of the bloggers that I follow mentioned something called Elite Blog Academy. It’s an intensive course designed to help you grow your blog into a profitable business. I’ve been writing my blog off and on for about 3 years. I think maybe 10 people have read my blog, mostly because I’ve been very selective about who I share it with because I haven’t been confident enough in my writing or my self I guess to share it. I feel like this course can really propel my little blog into another income stream if I really work the program. Writing is a true love of mine. If money was no concern and I could do anything for a living then I would be a writer. It’s my stress buster, whether it’s writing my blog, or on my novel, or even New Year’s resolutions.
Here’s the problem. Elite Blog Academy is open for enrollment 5 days out of the year. I learned about this approximately 3 weeks before the open enrollment and then I learned the cost…let’s just say it’s expensive. Oh well, I thought, I guess I’ll have to wait and try to do it next year. There was just no way I could justify taking this course when I’m already working a second job to pay the bills. I kept reading more about the course though and I realized I didn’t want to be working two jobs, six days a week for another year. If I have to have a second job I want it to be doing something I love.
I talked to my boys about it and they were pretty encouraging for me to take the course. I talked to my best friend and she said to do it also. I received some birthday money the day the course enrollment period opened that had a note that said “spend this on you”, then I got an unexpected $50 survey payment two days later. I looked at my budget and figured out a way to tweak a few things this month and suddenly I had about $250 towards the cost of the course figured out. The blogger I mentioned earlier sent out an email telling her readers that if they were still on the fence about the course to email her with any questions and she would try to answer them. I sent her an email along with my blog address, told her my concerns, told her what I hoped to get out of it, etc., and a couple hours later I get an email back from her with a link to a video. I figured it was just a promotional thing about the course (not her course by the way, she had taken the course a few years ago and credits it to the huge success of her own blog and she’s now helping to promote it). I opened the video and she was talking directly to me, mentioned that she had read my last blog post, said I was a fantastic writer, talked about what I was already doing right and strongly encouraged me to take it this year. Granted, maybe she told everyone this that wrote to her but she obviously took the time to go to my blog and I appreciate that.
I listened to her video about 5 times, talked to the boys again, and then I read my blog post about being bold this year and then I signed up for the course. And then I felt slightly nauseous… lol. That’s okay though, I’m slightly nauseous but I was bold and I’m going to work this program and my blog and hopefully I’ll be able to make this my second income. And for the sake of my now 44-year old knees and back, hopefully I can make this my second income source sooner rather than later because fast food work is hard on an old lady body and I want my full weekend back.
The Elite Blog Academy is twelve modules that you work at your own pace and they recommend that you devote at least 10 hours a week to it and it will probably still take 9-12 months to get through it at that rate. It’s a big financial commitment and it’s a big time commitment but I am dedicated to the process. This means no new TV once the tax refund comes in and putting off a few home projects and tweaking the budget even a little tighter but I am determined to be one of the success stories when they open up enrollment again next year. Wish me luck!
