This challenge kicked off in June 2022 with my friend Mandy. We were ambitious. The rules were simple: 1,000 words a day for 30 days. It lasted about a week before life had other plans.
I'm keeping this post up because it was genuinely fun while it lasted, and the idea is still a good one. If a 30-day writing challenge is something you want to try, everything below still holds up. This was really harder than I thought it was going to be.
My Game Plan for this 30 Day Writing Challenge
I just plan on writing daily in here. There will be drafts that I’ll add to or combine. This may changed as the challenge progresses
My Topics to Write On
This is my running topic and articles list. Anything related on Adventure, Professional articles in marketing or general business, how to articles that have helped me.
Subtopics of having an adventurous lifestyle
Mindset
Safety
Planning and Packing
Past adventures
New Orleans and those places
Local Eats
Professional Topics
SEO as a Long Term Strategy
My Goals
I want to get more content on here and for work's website as well. I won't post what I've written for work, but I will talk about what I wrote.
Another goal of mine is to be more efficient with writing and using tools that help me grow as a content writer and write in general.
The last goal is to become more accountable for what I want and to make it happen with consistency.
My Process
Starting off, figuring this out at the beginning of Day 2, select a general topic or article from my list and get an outline going before work. I need to write down the list to reference.
Mandy’s Game Plan for this 30 Day Writing Challenge
Mandy told me that she has a website and she plans to write on content for it. She is organizing and writing in Google Docs to help keep her organized.
A friend reached out asking how to help her son with a homework assignment involving spreadsheets. The easiest answer was to just show her. That's how this video came together.
Filtering is one of those things that looks simple on the surface, and it is: but it's also something you'll use constantly once you get the hang of it. I use it regularly at work, especially when importing and exporting large sets of data. The biggest reason to use it correctly is data integrity. If you sort or move rows without filtering first, you can easily break the organization of your data and not realize it until something doesn't add up.
The video below walks through the basics: how to turn filtering on and how to use it in both Google Sheets and Excel.
This a personal entry. I've been thinking more intently on life in general. Since I've been working on some guides on goals and productivity, I've been thinking on what I want. Life is getting shorter and there's so much that I want to do.
And that's not just professionally or personally, but in all areas of my life. In general, this is a high-level brain dump for me. I'll list out the where I was, where I am, and where I want to be on both professionally and personally.
Professionally
Where I was
Previous work experience in:
ERP systems
E-commerce
Accomplishments at my current position
Within 6 months I designed, created and maintained an e-commerce store from scratch while also being new in the industry.
Since then have doubled sales year over year. Year 3 is also forecasted to double sales.
Where I am
I currently work at an industrial hose company where I do the marketing digital and print, maintain online orders, and 2 e-commerce websites.
I don't want to continue to do the same thing that I am doing. As of right now, I am positioning myself to be in a strategic position within the scope of marketing.
I have also been working on a additional sources of revenue. I use to do a lot of contract work, but haven't in the last few years.
Where I want to be
I want to be somewhere where I can go. At the time when I firs started to write this at the beginning of June 2022, he company that I worked for was bought. Before that, I was somewhat stagnant in position and such. After the buyout, it opened the possibilities of opening more doors.
I definitely don't want to be stuck doing the same things that I have been. I want more growth.
Plan your next 5 years, make it happen in the next 6 months.
Anonymous
I’m not sure where I saw this, and not exactly sure how capable the quote is.
I do know that 6 months is a good amount of time make things happen in any area of life. Thinking about 5 years ahead and breaking it down to six months increments is a good way to process the years.
Personally
Where I was
On a personal level, there were several years that everyday was the definition of insanity. There had to be a stop to it and entrusting people. I had to come to terms that someone who was suppose to be a life partner no longer was (and this was during). I had to realize that said person didn't care anymore and did not want to be held accountable.
Well, that all ended and just had to keep moving forward. During and after a divorce, you have your emotions, loneliness, rollercoaster type of ride life for a while.
It wasn't so much that I had to "find me" again, but more of how to I get back to the "real me". If that doesn't make sense.
I once had a friend tell me during the start of my divorce that I needed to "find out who I am". My response was "I know who I am". If I remember correctly, she said that's not what I mean. I get what she means, but we weren't exactly on the same page.
Where I am
I'm better off financially that I was.
I'm more outgoing than I was,
I don't feel as lonely anymore.
I am active doing the things that I love to do.
I'm more adventurous than before. I never would have thought I would have gone skydiving, not once now, but several times!
Where I want to be
I want to be able to go to more places.
I want to experience more things - locally and abroad.
I want my home and environment to be better.
Most of my energy right now is going toward the professional goals in this post. If you are looking for someone with this kind of self-awareness and track record, take a look at the portfolio.
An existing ecommerce site built on the Big Commerce platform, but vital business functions could not be setup.
The decision was made to scrap it and start over on WooCommerce, where I could build it the right way from the ground up.
The new site went live mid-June 2019.
Screenshots were taken May 2022 and reflect a point-in-time snapshot of SEO performance.
The next screenshot is a view of 5 years.
The small charts across the top are month comparing the previous month.
This is screenshot of the current SEO competition landscape as of May 2022.
Interpretation
The supplier's website consistently ranks higher than everyone else in the landscape, and that's expected. Distributors go through a selection process and are referred back to the supplier's site, so the domain authority and traffic signals are working in their favor by design.
SEO Strategy
I built this out in layers. On-page first, then product visibility, then local.
This is one of several projects in my portfolio, spanning eCommerce, marketing operations, and brand work.
On-page I started with the foundation: image tags, page text, headers, site structure, and the metadata that visitors never see but search engines read closely. From there I audited our product descriptions against the competition and established a consistent standard across the catalog. I also added resources directly to the site: sales sheets and manufacturer catalogs, giving customers and search engines more to work with.
Off-page Off-page SEO is harder to control, and for our industry, tactics like PR and link outreach weren't worth the time or the spend. I focused on what I could actually influence. Google Merchant Center gets lumped into "product feeds" but I look at it differently: if someone searches for one of our products and it shows up in Shopping results and organic rankings, that's SEO working. The feed is just the mechanism.
Local After a competitive analysis of the surrounding areas, I updated all three Google Business Profiles: adding product categories with direct links back to the site. I tightened up the three location pages on the website and updated the social media profiles for each location.
These screenshots are a snapshot from May 2022, not the finish line. The work was ongoing, and the rankings reflect a strategy that was still building. This was also during the COVID era: companies in our space either adapted their digital presence or lost ground. One data point worth noting: around this time, one of the competitors in that landscape was actively hiring for marketing positions.
Cathy Gray is an eCommerce and digital marketing specialist based in Atlanta, GA, with nearly a decade of experience helping B2B businesses sell more online. Outside of work she's chasing waterfalls, kayaking rivers, and finding dark skies to camp under. Her dog Sam is officially retired from adventures but still supervises from the couch. None of it happens without coffee.
