Imagine being able to take time off and not worry about money. As a freelancer, that may seem impossible. However, blogs like Piccolo Perfection can help.
Read this case study to learn how I grew a small niche blog in its full calendar year.
What Is Piccolo Perfection?
In August 2021, I started Piccolo Perfection on a whim. I’d read how some entrepreneurs were making thousands of dollars per month with what’s called a niche blog.
Now, the most successful of these entrepreneurs own multiple blogs. However, I was testing the waters, so I started with one blog. I chose to focus on the piccolo since I’ve been passionate about it for years.
On the blog, I share playing tips and recommend instruments, sheet music, and accessories for piccolo players.
The Blog’s Problems
At the beginning of 2022, Piccolo Perfection was just under five months old. It has yet to get many daily page views. While I’d monetized it with affiliate links from day one, it also hadn’t made much more than a dollar.
Many websites struggle with these problems. However, I knew there was something I could do to increase traffic and convert those extra views to more dollars.
Where SEO Content Comes In
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for website owners looking to get more organic traffic. As a freelance blogger, I’ve learned the basics of SEO and how to write quality content that ranks in search results.
I’d already used SEO best practices to get the initial blog posts to rank on Google. The goal was to continue that strategy through 2022.
However, I started the website by only posting once per week. First, I increased the posting frequency to three times per week. To help with this, I syndicated piccolo blog posts that I’d published on Hannah B Flute.
Content syndication is an excellent way to build a new blog. It can also help your new website build trust from Google. As long as you credit the original article, you can keep from being penalized for copying content directly.
SEO Content Creation Process
When creating SEO content for Piccolo Perfection, I followed a few steps. First, I would brainstorm content ideas. In some cases, ideas would come naturally based on problems I was having with my piccolo playing.
I also referenced flute and piccolo Facebook groups. Many users ask questions in those groups. I’d scan those groups regularly and take note of any questions or concerns people had.
After coming up with a topic idea, I used Google Keyword Planner. The tool tells you how competitive a keyword is and about how much search traffic it gets each month.
My goal was to choose low or medium competition keywords with at least 10-100 monthly searches. Once I had a keyword, I would add the post to the content calendar, outline it, and write it.
Social Media Promotion
As much as I love writing blog posts, I know that social media is one of the best ways to promote your content. It’s particularly useful in the beginning before search engines have a chance to index your content.
Throughout the year, I primarily used three social channels to promote the content on Piccolo Perfection.
When I started the blog, I added a blog-specific board to my Pinterest account. After a new blog post goes live, I add a link to it on that board. As I write the blog post, I create a branded graphic that will show up on Pinterest.
Occasionally, I would design more graphics for each post. Then, I’d share the graphic to other relevant boards.
Of all of the social platforms, Pinterest is the best for blogging. It’s the only network people use when seeking out information from blog posts. That can make it a lot easier to get clicks and saves.
Instagram is an excellent platform, particularly within the music industry. I know a lot of musicians who publish content there. Many more follow music accounts and interact with their content.
While it can be hard to get website clicks, Instagram is useful for building a community around your brand. I started by just posting the blog graphics and sharing that a blog post was ready.
However, I also occasionally would create unique content. That strategy included a variety of Reels and photos. I tried to keep the content relevant to that week’s blog posts.
By the end of 2022, the Piccolo Perfection Instagram account reached almost 500 followers. It’s been on the back burner for a while, but I know I can pick it back up to grow it more.
Facebook is another excellent platform for brands like Piccolo Perfection. I didn’t create a Facebook page for it. However, I have shared links to blog posts in multiple flute and piccolo groups.
During the summer, I aimed to share an informational blog post in a relevant group at least once per week. Since then, I’ve shared blogs less often as to avoid spamming these groups since I’m not an admin for most of them.
However, I have continued to share posts when they’re especially helpful. I also will link to a blog post in a comment. If someone has a question, and there’s blog post with the answer, I’ll share a tidbit in the comment with a link to the full post.
This strategy has been more successful than I expected. It also comes with a much higher return on investment (ROI) in terms of the time it takes. I can post on Facebook in a few minutes, but Instagram takes more time to engage.
Piccolo Perfection 2022 Traffic
In 2022, Piccolo Perfection received a total of 15,699 views. This works out to about 1,308 views per month or 43 views per day. That’s not bad considering the blog is still less than two years old and is in a very niche field.
The home page was the most visited page. However, the top posts include:
- Best Piccolo Brands to Consider
- Piccolo vs. Fife: How Do They Compare?
- Best Earplugs for Piccolo: Etymotic ER-2o Review
- 16 Best Orchestral Excerpts for Piccolo
- Piccolo Repertoire: Music You Need to Know
The post that most surprised me was the comparison of the piccolo and fife. I didn’t realize that there was that much of an interest in it.
However, it didn’t surprise me that a list of piccolo brands was at the top. A lot of people want to know what brand or model to buy.
If you search the title, you’ll notice the blog post gets what’s called a Featured Snippet. This makes it the first organic search result. It also shares some of the details from the post, which helps it get more clicks.
In 2022, search engines were by far the largest traffic source for Piccolo Perfection. Google came out on top, but it did get a few clicks from Yahoo and others.
Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest were next, in that order. This blog (Hannah B Flute) rounds out the top five traffic sources.
Piccolo Perfection 2022 Revenue
As I mentioned, the goal of Piccolo Perfection was and is to increase my earning potential as a music entrepreneur. Growing a niche site and turning a profit from it isn’t easy.
However, the website earned more than one might expect for the first calendar year.
Amazon Associates was the largest revenue source of the year. The blog earned $275.77, or an average of $22.98 per month. As you can tell, there was a huge increase in the monthly earnings as the blog grew throughout the year.
The other way I monetized Piccolo Perfection in 2022 was with Google AdSense. I started it at the end of January, and it earned me $58.42 throughout the year.
Combine those for a total of $334.19. That averages out to almost $27.85 per month. Those numbers may not be that high, but anything helps, especially when you work for yourself.
How You Can Achieve Similar Results
You don’t have to start a piccolo blog to achieve these results. If you want to increase website traffic or your revenue, SEO is the way to go. Adding a blog to your existing site will give your website more chances to show up in search results.
Then, you can turn those website clicks into clients or students.
If you’re looking to grow your online presence, contact me! I’d love to help you create excellent content to get your site to show up in Google.
This is nice help me out am a flute player and I love doing covers. So how would be the idea of creating blogs.
That’s awesome how you love doing covers! I’d recommend starting a blog and using it to promote your covers, so like writing a post each time you publish a new video of yourself playing. Send me an email, and we can chat further if you’d like!