Hannah Zulueta Every year the pet blogger’s community comes together in a joint exercise to document their journey.
I’ve participated in this activity through my other blog: Maggie Loves Orbit and this year I wanted to also participate on this one.
Our host is no other than Colby. He trains service (dog) puppies. I know right. Someone has to do it and Colby takes one for the whole team. I mean how cute are his puppies. Speaking of which – you should go visit his website: Puppy In Training
So how does this work?
Every blogger answers the same set of questions every year. So without further ado, here’s my 2022 entry.
1. When did you begin your blog and what do you currently write about on your blog?
I started this blog on October 12, 2021. I write about dog food/nutrition.
By the end of November, I had 35 pieces of content up (pages and posts). I realized just what a writing machine I could be given how passionate I am about dog food.
Ok. Nutty. I’m CLEARLY nutty about dog food.
2. Name one thing about your blog, or one blogging goal that you accomplished during 2021, that made you most proud.
I did a soft launch to my Instagram community and I have already been receiving bookings from dog parents for wellness calls and packages.
I also started to publish daily reels. One reel on animal fiber has hit 2.3 million views, another has hit 1.1 million views (this one is about salmon roe and it’s such a short video) while another is on it’s way to hitting 1 million (this one is a short video on lion’s mane).
This has led to more clicks to the website and more wellness calls. Which means more dog parents that I can help!
What was the biggest blogging challenge you faced in 2021? How did you tackle it?
Leaving a consulting job that accounted for a great portion of my income. And while I realized I wasn’t aligned with the direction the company was going, it became a blessing because it propelled me to put all my energy into this new venture.
Tell us one thing you learned in 2021 that can help us all become better bloggers.
Video can help amplify your blog and drive traffic to it. I used to be so intimidated by YouTube thinking I needed to create long form videos. Now I am focused on 15 second or less videos that I distribute on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
What are your top three blogging goals for 2022?
I have big goals:
- Launch a podcast
- Launch an online workshop
- Start writing a book
In the perfect world, where do you see yourself and your blog one year from now?
My vision is to help other dog parents level up what they feed their dog. That doesn’t mean I want to convert them to feed raw (that’s what I do for my own dogs). I just want them to improve incrementally from their comfort zone to the next level.
That means kibble feeders will become experts in adding fresh food to increase their dog’s vitality.
That means some will be home cooking and an even smaller minority raw feeding.
As for the blog, my goal was to publish daily (short form articles and recipes) I know ambitious right? But if I’m doing this full time then I should be able to even if it’s taking the Instagram content I publish and posting it here. Currently, I’m posting twice a day to Instagram (one post and one video).
If you had a $1,000 to spend on your blog how would you spend it?
I’m content where I am today. I have all of the equipment I need for both the video and podcast. Perhaps by mid-year, I’d like to rent an Airbnb with a big massive kitchen and live stream the workshop from there.
What is one skill you’d like to learn or improve in 2022?
Get comfortable on camera. I still feel SO awkward.
If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you’re having with your blog, what would it be?
I still can’t quite fall into a cadence with my email marketing. I can go four weeks and publish weekly and then ghost my whole list for six months.
I’d love to hear how you have developed this habit? What do you include in your emails? What keeps you consistent?
And that’s a wrap
Thank you fellow pet bloggers. I enjoy participating in this annual challenge. Here’s to a wonderful 2022 for all of us.
Thanks for participating in the Pet Bloggers Challenge. Congratulations on starting the new blog and it sounds like it’s off to an awesome start! You have some ambitious goals but I don’t doubt for a moment that you will accomplish them. I’m so with you with being in front of the camera, I’m so awkward! As far as consistency with emails. You’re asking the wrong person. The only thing I have set up is a welcome sequence and a forever sequence (not really forever) but it used to last over 15 weeks. I’m revamping the forever sequence. Have a great 2022!
I love the “forever sequence’ hmmm that I can do =)
Thank you again Colby for hosting.
Hannah, WOW! Your new blog has hit the ground running, you’ve accomplished so much with it in such a short period of time! It’s amazing and inspiring. I so look forward to all that you do in 2022, especially the podcast and the workshop. Well done!!
P.S. Along with the food workshop, you might want to consider a social media one!! You’re killing it!
Hi Candy. Thank you! I don’t really know Social Media I just get really lucky sometimes lol. REELS are the way to go right now and short form 7 seconds or less and get that hook and framing right to intrigue them. I used to think I would have to tell the whole visual story – when really just one scene sometimes will do. Excited for your new blog that you’re going to launch!!!
You have accomplished a lot and I’m impressed that you have jumped into video. It’s something I’d like to do but can’t quite do it.
For me with email, I put out 2 newsletters a week, one on Tuesday and one on Friday. It’s been great for connecting with my readers and generating traffic.
I have a template for the newsletter I made so I just fill it out and can get the newsletter produced in under an hour. I’m very consistent with this and usually do it about the same time of day. If I’m a few hours late, I get emails from folks wondering where their newsletter is. So I know people are depending on me and I don’t want to let them down so I always get that newsletter out.
Thank you so much for your kind words and advice. I will build a template as that sounds like give me structure. Thank you again.
Congratulations on your new website and goals. You are going to rock this like you rock everything else. Nutrition is at the heart of a dog’s health, so way to go! I look forward to following your journey and seeing your videos, too. Good for you for moving on from what you had to in order to pursue what you want to. All my best and happy, healthy 2022!
Thank you so much Carol. I’m having such a wonderful time in this space – food is really my passion it only took me a while to figure it out lol. Thank you again and hugs.
Congrats on this new, second blog! I am good about sending out a simple email newsletter every week. I use a similar template each time and share 4 articles. I prioritize it over new content and over all social media. That’s how I get it done.
I love that idea. Thank you so much Lindsay. I love your newsletters!
Congrats on the new blog! I home cook for my two dogs, so I’m definitely going to have to check your site out more. I fed raw for many years, but my senior boy just doesn’t tolerate raw very well anymore. It’s been quite the adventure shifting from raw to cooking for my dogs. I can’t help much with the email marketing stuff, unfortunately. That’s been on my ‘to do’ list for my own blog for longer than I’d care to admit.
Wow! You’ve been busy! Congrats on the new blog! It’s exciting to see all your plans!
I hope you get some good advice for your email list. I really want to get mine restarted this year.
Thank you!!! Yes I’ve kept my head down busy working!!!