If you are new here, you might probably not understand this post. I re-designed this blog to accommodate where I’m going. If you have not been following me since this WordPress blog started out on April 29th, 2022, as theentrepreneurialarchitect.com, you will need to know this backstory.
Here is how I started this blog and my initial monetization.
I had searched for how to start and monetize my blog forever. I started this blog as a free blogger in September 2021. I just bought my name as a domain name.
Before then, I had started 4 blogs, and I had no idea what I was doing or what to write about.
I started my first blog in 2013 with no knowledge of what was involved. The blog is still active but no posts on it as I deleted everything on it. I was ashamed of the things I posted there.
I was literally copying posts from any magazine or pamphlet as I had no clarity, direction, or even a blogging business plan.
But, deep down, I wanted a blog I could be proud of, where I could write things that were valuable. I knew I wasn’t cut out for Entertainment or gossip like Linda Ikeji or Bella Naija because I initially struggled to be like them.
Google AdSense would not approve any of my blogs. The content was very poor. I didn’t have any idea about other monetizing strategies.
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I was discouraged when people asked me how I intended to combine blogging with Architecture.
After the first blog failed, I created a new free blog again and went on to find people who told stories to publish their content on the blog. I got fed up with that.
I created a new blog to journal my daily activities. Boring.
Note that I was blogging anonymously on all these blogs. I wanted just to write but I wasn’t confident in myself or in what I wrote.
Eventually, after years of reading and watching what others were doing, I settled on blogging through my career as an Architect and clarity came with time.
Blogging became a marketing strategy for my career. This eventually answered the question of how I combined blogging with my field of Architecture.
I started the 5th blog, knowing a few things, plus direction but I was having difficulty monetizing the blog.
When I first heard about Zaddy of Abuja, I was skeptical because the lady who mentioned his name had been involved in some controversy, but I kept watching.
One day, Mr. Emeka Nobis mentioned that he was going to pay Zaddy 500k to get in on the blogging course. That’s for one-on-one training.
I couldn’t afford that, but I was just waiting. Then Mr. Remedy Nwankwo announced this cheap blogging course, and I jumped in on it. I wrote a blogging business plan, it’s not huge, just a basic 1 page.
I bought this 10k course at a discounted rate of 5k and paid a developer 24k for a new blog setup. I moved my blog to a new domain (6th blog) with a new blog set up on the 29th of April.
I bought the domain name as theentrepreneurialarchitect.com
I followed instructions on monetizing. I applied for AdSense on May 18th with just 15 posts. I got monetized on June 10th.
READ ALSO: The fear of upskilling or cross-skilling.
Note that blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme, I’m not a promoter of Ponzi; you must be ready to work for your money.
If you get to know the amount of work involved in blogging, you might easily give up especially when you get to the Backlinking course.
If you consistently post on any social media, you are already blogging, but you can’t monetize your traffic, especially for Facebook in Nigeria (although that is changing soon).
Just know that you can start blogging beneficially.
Progress report.
After attending the blogging course, I applied for AdSense on May 18th, 2022, and got approval on June 10th, 2022. I felt made. I started writing and publishing more posts.
I began promoting my blog link mostly to family and close friends and I had my first challenge. The blog link was too long and difficult to remember. Some can’t remember to correctly spell “entrepreneurial”.
On July 28th, 2022, I had to request that a new domain name be purchased and to re-direct theentrepreneurialarchitect.com to the new blog link. I wanted a name that said what I did on the blog, so I purchased mydesigngist.com.
I constantly felt dissatisfied with mydesigngist.com and 2 months later, I changed the blog name to MyDesignViews without changing the blog link. I was testing out how I felt about the name before making another purchase.
One day, I was reading a document online and the author said that sometimes, you need to go back to where you started, in order to correct a mistake.
When I began making Architecture posts on Facebook on June 16th, 2021, my goal was to bring Architects and Architectural practice to the limelight, helping clients understand their roles. I was fed up with the way the public regarded Architects and the profession, especially in Nigeria.
When I started posting to my blog, I wanted a blog name that would not stop me from writing about other areas of life.
I also wanted to be an entrepreneur, to build something that is not hinged on my real name, so I called myself “The Entrepreneurial Architect” with the acronym TEA.
I wanted something short and easy to remember, so I went with TEA’s Blog and the blog link as https://teasblog.com.
In the month of November 2023, I was taking stock of what I have achieved with ranking and realized that with all I have done, a simple search of the name teasblog, I was getting results for tea companies.
I was devastated. I had to make a change quickly and this time I wanted the word architect in the domain name. I wanted the name to rank by even just a simple search.
I went with two names: one strictly for architecture and one personal one (which you are on).
So, I went with Ebele Ubaka and the blog link as https://ebeleubaka.com.
What I’m doing now
Ever since changing the name to ebeleubaka.com on December 1st, 2023, I began promoting my blog aggressively. I personally do not focus on new year goals but this 2024 has me doing new things indeed.
First, in January, I decided to take this blogging journey as a full-time job and no more part-time posting whenever I feel like it. I created a Google Calendar, planning all my activities.
I haven’t had the need to hire more writers and to maintain authenticity in my posts, I currently post thrice monthly.
I scheduled my posting time on a 10-day interval. I actually write ahead of time and keep scheduling to avoid missing my post days. I occasionally pop-up posts outside the post days on a testing phase.
In February, I started out on my backlink-building journey. I have been lazy and scared about doing it, but I took the bull by the horns. If you understand the process, you will know it’s a herculean task.
I sent an email with a proposed topic to a top blogger here in Nigeria and I got approval to send the post. That’s a 100% Guest post backlink success rate on a first attempt.
My goal is to get 5 quality Guest post backlinks by the end of December. I’m also on the HARO Reporter (Currently known as Connectively) backlink method and I’m yet to start out on the 404-error backlink building. These are the backlink-building methods I decided on.
Maintaining integrity
This has been my biggest challenge in the blogging industry. I have read tons of advice and strategies for growing one’s blog. From white hat SEO, grey hat SEO, black hat SEO, “hacking” AdSense earnings up to best blog practices. Some I tried, and some my conscience plagued me until I went back and removed them.
One such practice that I removed was the social media email harvesting strategy. I sent an email to the email addresses I had harvested, that I was deleting their emails as I got them without their consent. I added a new subscription link for anyone who wishes to continue reading my posts.
As of the time of publishing this post, 3 persons joined from that new subscription link and my heart is at peace. Moving forward, I uphold my activities on this blog to the highest standard.
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Monetization
In monetizing this blog, I offer my services here on the blog as an Architect and designer. Our design products are uploaded on the online shop for sale, you can also use this form to request any design need.
I also use display ads, affiliate links, and sponsored posts. I do not have any affiliation with the ad links placed on this blog. I only earn a commission when you view or click on the links. It doesn’t cost you anything.
Social Media
The social media handles connected to this blog are: Substack Newsletter, and LinkedIn.
Mistakes I have made
I have made mistakes in this blogging journey. It started with plugins. I had installed all manner of plugins as I deemed fit in my back office. You can imagine how it weighed down on the blog size and loading time, affecting your experience here. I paid dearly to fix this.
I had WooCommerce on the blog. WooCommerce is a nightmare on its own for a beginner. I had to learn to do without some of these plugins and actually found some fantastic alternatives. I went from 23 plugins to 10 plugins. I’m so proud of this blog.
Another mistake I made on the blog was losing my AdSense approval. It was a naive, huge, and careless mistake. During my first request for a change of blog link, I deleted the AdSense account, thinking it would not work on the new blog.
At the time, I didn’t understand how another blog could be connected to an AdSense account. I thought it was 1 blog link, 1 AdSense account. What a WOW!!!
Also, changing the domain name 4 times will have an impact on all the previous rankings you may have gathered.
Tools I use
For WooCommerce, I opted for a 3rd party website dedicated as an e-commerce platform. See our Shop here.
I removed all input form plugins and used Google Forms and I added a cool payment feature directly to Google Forms.
To create catchy headlines for my post, I test my topics with a headline analyzer.
When I couldn’t get AdSense approval for the 100th application time, I joined Adsterra.
To avoid plagiarism in my post, I use the plagiarism checker tool.
I do get tired of sharing my posts on social media, so I used a social media scheduling tool. Note that currently, with all the platforms having their own scheduling feature, I no longer use this tool.
For my featured images, I use Canva. Hopefully, I will soon move to Photoshop Elements.
I use this form to create WhatsApp automation.
Expenses
My current expenses on the blog are for my domain name, web hosting, and optimization. For other things, I’m using any available online free tool and subscription.
Moving forward
I don’t have access to theentrepreneurialarchitect.com, mydesigngist.com, or teasblog.com any longer. I deliberately deleted them and did not redirect them to ebeleubaka.com or the architecture blog in order to give the new blog link a fresh start with ranking. However, I retain the name “The Entrepreneurial Architect” with its acronym “TEA”.
I’m here to serve you by God’s grace. I pray every day for growth and ideas to share on the blog. I intend to be more active in posting more designs I have done especially for building designs.
My site videos are another blog chore I’m yet to start tackling. Hopefully, I will do that soon.
