Suzy: The Finale – Suzy Speaks!

 

Hi everyone!

I’m “Suzy”, from the Case Study. Some of you may know me as Nancy D. Brown from the “What a Trip” blog.

As Trisha mentioned in our interview, we met on a press trip.

I distinctly remember her asking me about what keywords I wanted to rank for on my blog and I’m sure I looked at her with a blank stare.

Excuse me? Hello, I’m a journalism graduate, not an SEO geek.

Fortunately, for me, Trisha seemed intrigued by the challenge of teaching an “old school” print journalist how to become a keyword density guru.

I am so grateful that Trisha took me under her Google-search-engine wing. Truly, I was over-whelmed with the thought of launching a new blog and learning a new ‘style’ of writing. Trisha helped me set up a WordPress blog and repeatedly walked me through how to install widgets.

Finding My Niche

Today, I’m proud to say that my www.writinghorseback.com blog has a Google page rank of 2; not bad for a new blog.

I also received my first check from an advertiser, in addition to the Google AdSense and affiliate program revenue that the blog is generating.

Hurdles to Overcome

My eyes still glaze over when Trisha mentions adding HTML code to the blog. I’m also resistant to the idea of writing an e-book, due to time constraints with my writing assignments.

However, e-books don’t have to be intimidating and can translate into dollars. Trisha continues to remind me that we are all experts in several things and that there are people who would be interested in my equestrian travel expertise.

Let It Flow

I found the Flow Chart helpful on several fronts. The chart laid out a step-by-step plan so that we stayed focused on our weekly conference calls. We had items to cover and each week I had specific tasks to accomplish. This type of format works well for me.

Only time will tell if WritingHorseback becomes a self-sustaining blog. Thankfully, I look forward to posting on the site, as travel and horseback riding are my true passions.

Please stop by www.writinghorseback.com and leave a comment if you feel inspired. If you are an equestrian at heart, consider becoming a fan on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Writing-Horseback/131988308126.

Thanks again, Trisha, for the fabulous opportunity you have given me. You are a confidence builder and patient teacher with many insights to share.

~Nancy D. Brown, aka “Suzy”

About Nancy D. Brown 3 Articles

Nancy Brown is a lover of all things travel-related.  She has combined her passion for travel with her professional writing career. 

Nancy writes a travel column, “What a Trip” for the Contra Costa Times Lamorinda Sun, a publication of Media News Group.  She is the Lodging Editor for Uptake.com. She writes an on-line travel column for Diablo magazine and the "Traveler Making a Difference" column for Escapes magazine. 

Horse lovers will find her on the Writing Horseback blog. She is a BootsnAll Insider for California and has contributed to InsideBayArea, Uptake.com and Write to Travel blogs.  She is a member of Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW), BlogHer, Matador and Travelwriters.com.  She also owns a public relations consulting business.

8 Comments

  1. It was very nice to follow your progress, Nancy. I had a look at your site and it’s really good.
    I am designing my own website/blog at the moment and follow the case study setp-by-step. Still have a long way to go.

  2. Congratulations on successfully launching your blog! I found this series very helpful myself and when we settle down for a bit, I am going to go through it all again and recheck our blog. It shows what you can do in a few short months with the right tools. Looking forward to seeing how writinghorseback progresses!
    .-= Dave and Deb´s last blog post: Remebering the Tsunami, Sri Lanka =-.

  3. When I looked just now it showed me you had a Google Page Rank of 3. That’s impressive. Well done. And it shows that it can be done, and I think any print travel journalist who is not looking to the web somehow is going to struggle.

  4. @Mike
    Thanks for letting me know that my WritingHorseback blog has jumped to a Google Page Rank of 3. I also recently signed on another advertiser. Woot!

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