Hey Reader~

When I was in middle school, I shaved parts of my eyebrows because I hated how the hair felt when it reached my eyelid.

My family didn't let me get them waxed until I was, like, 19.

I was infantilized and sought permission from everyone. Even into my early 30s, I had relatives lecturing me about getting my eyebrows waxed. (Don't even get me started on my upper lip.)

Lately, I've been learning to groom them myself without waxing because sudden, intense pain is a fainting trigger now. 🤷‍♀️

My blogging journey is similar:

• I used to need/seek permission from everyone else before I did what felt right for me.
• Other people got to decide for me whether I "deserved" something, whether that was money or rest — or even love.
• The DIY approach appeals to me most because I love experimenting/trying things/seeing what works for me specifically.

and writing last week's email, and this one, feels like I'm finally doing something that feels like me in your inbox.

made 2 of 3 amazon associates sales quickly

Everything I've seen about the Amazon Associates affiliate program is about how difficult it is to get started/approved because you need 3 qualifying sales within 180 days.

I looked at my top 10 posts, added a few special links to to two of them, and got 2 sales shortly after — like, barely three weeks.

One post was how to smell good. I don't remember the other post right now, but I'll find it eventually because I'm going to create a tracker for that and it won't be a long-term problem. 💁‍♀️

I've since added links to other posts, like a sleep spray DIY.

As I'm still overhauling my content, I've not yet implemented affiliate marketing as much because I realized I don't have much affiliate-friendly content. 😳

reviving pinterest 📍

I don't know when or why, but last month I wrote "Pinnable posts" on a piece of notebook paper and listed

• existing posts that could be Pinned
• future Pinnable posts

and realized I had more than enough existing posts to work with — even if they weren't fantastic.

Because at the end of the day,

1. Pinterest Pins take time to amount to anything
2. the URLs would remain the same (or I'd redirect them)

so reviving Pinterest sooner rather than later would not be effort lost. If anything, it'd be, like, pre-compounded labor? something like that.

I've read in multiple places, from a few different Pinterest strategists, that optimized Pins take about 3 months to take off.

In my experience, reviving my Pinterest account takes about one month and dies out 3 months after I quit Pinning.

So. I'll keep you updated on how this goes. 😅

creating without certainty

The biggest mental hurdle for me is creating and publishing without certainty.

I can guess the results a post might get, but I won't have the answer until 1-4 months later, when there are enough stats to look at.

So blogging sometimes feels like throwing one of those sticky toys at the ceiling and wondering if it'll stick or stain.

Like, I can have a lot of hope my posts will amount to something, but nothing is promised.

This is why I have moments where I wonder why I'm still doing this, because working a job would at least guarantee return on labor performed.

At the same time, I'm IN a job situation where rogue management attempted constructive discharge by ignoring my accommodations paperwork, all to cover up what I didn't even know I was sitting on 'cause I wasn't even focused on them. I'm on pending accommodations leave. (I used to be asset protection, so...I used this time to identify the timeline and report it.)

And times like these, I'm like, "THIS is why I can't give my all to a job. This is why I'm still doing this. This is why..." and the list goes on.

Because I look at people who manage to somehow survive retail despite everything, and it seems to work for them even though they want to escape it.

I've even had family tell me what a "nice little hobby" my blog could be alongside "a stable, secure income from a job".

And I've tried it multiple times — that way of living that looks like it's supposed to be easy. Doing what someone tells you in exchange for financial stability so your livelihood remains intact is supposed to be easy.

But it's never been easy for me, and I used to think some part of me or something inside me was broken that it was never easy for me. Because it would be soooo easy if I could "just do it".

My biggest issue at jobs has always been my inability to do something needing to be done to make my job easier because of corporate bureaucracy, emphasizing my lack of autonomy...or doing my job too well and being lectured for being "over-productive". (literallyyyyy what does this even meannnnnn)

I don't have those issues with/on my blog. 💁‍♀️

But then I end up looping back to the lack of certainty.

Anyways. I have a nutritionist appointment I accidentally slept through last week 💀

texas heat is ugh,
Jane Lively
​Lemon & Lively​