The World of Blogging
Stepping into the blogging world has been an unbelievable adventure… tons of ups and downs… but early on in my adventure, I stumbled upon the Create and Go blogging courses and it has literally saved my life!
Create and Go has not just taught me how to set up my website, about marketing and social media, they taught me to treat my blog as a business. This has been, for me, one of the biggest takeaways. And in no way, shape or form does this diminish any of the technical and marketing support I got through them in these courses….but mindset is where it’s at!!!! Mindset is a consistent theme through many of my blog posts and here it is in real life… it’s a beautiful thing when you can turn a perspective into real-life action!
I had Zero Website and Marketing Experience
When I decided to launch a blog, I thought, yeah it was time, I had needed to do this for some time as it would be a good compliment to my private practice in mental health therapy and maybe I would make some extra money with it. However, I had absolutely no experience whatsoever in any technical software or website management/building. Needless to say… I have had a lot to learn!
Fortunately, as I scoured the web looking for videos and tutorials about how to quite literally, “launch” my blog, I found Alex and Lauren’s videos which were lifesavers. I loved their approach, straight forward and they gave me the answers that I needed. Soon after, I decided to take the plunge and buy all three of the Create and Go blogging courses in the Pro Blogger Bundle, cause if I was going to do this blog thing, I was going to do it right!
That was last November and although I haven’t made a dime, when I look over my website and blog, I feel really good about how far it has come and enjoyed the challenge each phase brings. This is another lesson I have learned from the Create and Go blogging courses, making money will come, and not to rush it! I will, without a doubt be really excited to turn a profit, and I am confident that it will come, it just takes time!
This review article will cover my experiences going through each of the 3 Create and Go blogging courses that I bought as part of the Pro Blogger Bundle. Included in this review will be my affiliate links in each of the relevant sections which will take you to the course should you want to check it out for yourself and possibly decide to plunge into the blogging world yourself. As you are probably well aware, by using my affiliate link I will get a commission should you decide to make a purchase, and this will be at no cost to you.
I will also add that I have intentionally waited to write this review, as I wanted to give myself time to get through the 3 classes and have some experience under my belt before I offered my two cents to you as you weigh the pros and cons for yourself.
Launch Your Blog Biz E-Course
This course had all of the essential building blocks I needed to get my blog up off the ground and begin the process of building my online business. And for this reason, I think this was the most important and most useful class for me. I do work full time and I also have a private practice so my time was limited, but I still managed to put in 20 hours a week, just on this course and it still took me a good month, to get through the course. Suffice it to say, that there was a ton of information in this course, and all of it was incredibly important, no filler at all!
Additionally, I loved that it was an e-course and that I could go back and re-watch anything I needed to review again. Having lifetime access to these courses and the updates is also really valuable as I will discuss in the “Pinterest Traffic Avalanche” course.
As I mentioned I had very little experience in the business world and none at all in online marketing and web design, so needless to say, as soon as I began this process I was very quickly feeling in over my head and very overwhelmed. With lots of deep breaths and having this course to lean on, I was able to get through it and build something that I feel proud of.
This is another important piece to highlight, the emotional roller coaster that you go through during this process, which Alex and Lauren talk a lot about. Acknowledging this through their courses helped tremendously as it provided emotional support to a certain extent. Funny as it may sound, this course really did help manage the ups and downs and helps you to understand that this is hard work, which can give you peace of mind knowing that when you are struggling, it’s ok, and even kind of expected. Furthermore, if you follow the steps they give you, even for a non-techy, you can do this, anyone can!
That kind of support is almost invaluable, it helps you to believe in yourself. It also provided support with the fact that many people in your life just won’t understand or get what it is that you are actually doing, which I have definitely felt as well.
Bottom line is that this course really has everything you need to get yourself up and running.
If you are serious about launching your blog, the Launch Your Blog Biz course is a must-have!! The value here is extremely high and I really don’t think there is much here to critique. I would give it an A++
Pinterest Traffic Avalanche
So, this course was my least favorite and I felt the weakest of the Create and Go blogging courses that I took. Maybe I was so wowed by the first course, that it was inevitable, as it truly would have been hard to maintain that kind of momentum through all three courses, so I give them a pass for this one 😉.
But I am here to give you my honest opinion and tell you about my experience with these courses and so here it is… for the most part, this course just left me feeling underwhelmed.
However with that said, one highlight that I very much appreciate and consider a real positive for the course (and all of them for that matter), are the updates to new information that comes out regarding Pinterest. I saw this happen in particular with Pinterest, given the algorithm changes that it periodically goes through, and this is something that you will have access to over the lifetime of the course.
My underwhelmed feeling about this course could have something to do with some changes that seem to be happening with Pinterest lately and the overall lack of success I have had with Pinterest. Tailwind, which is their recommended software that will assist with pinning and Pinterest management, was getting a lot of mixed reviews and so I decided to hold off on subscribing. It is possible that this had something to do with my lack of success and feelings about the course, but sometimes you just need to make a decision and move forward, which is what I decided to do here, by focusing more on SEO and other social media versus Pinterest.
Despite the fact that I am not a fan of this course, there are many who rave and have found tremendous success with this course and the Create and Go approach to Pinterest. So for this reason, I would not rule it out, maybe it will work better for you and if you get it with the pro blogger bundle which is what I recommend, I do think this course is worth going through. The Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course is a little shorter and not as comprehensive so it’s quicker and maybe there will be something valuable that you will get out of it. My overall rating is a solid B.
6 Figure Blogger
This was another high-value course! I did wait a few months before I dove into this one, as I knew from the previous courses that I needed to give this process time to build my audience, grow my brand, and just get some experience under my belt, as this is not a course for someone fresh out of the gate.
I gave it a good 5 months after finishing the Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course before I started the 6 Figure Blogger, and I am glad I did. Having had the time to work through some things and continue to build on what I had already done, made this course more valuable and is really helping me to take this blog and my online business to the next step.
This course will be most useful for the person who is still fairly new to blogging and online marketing but not brand new either. Taking this course about 6 months into my blogging journey seems to have been good timing for me. Giving yourself time to establish a realistic routine that works for your life and family responsibilities will be helpful.
The 6 Figure Blogger Course is primarily about marketing and creating your own products. However, a big piece of this course is also around affiliate strategy and how you can optimize other products that are already out there before creating your own. I will say that prior to this course I was bouncing around a lot of different ideas about products and courses that I wanted to create, but one word of caution that I heard loud and clear in this course was to wait until you have an audience from who you can get the feedback you need to create the products they want and need. I thought this was very good advice and again, another way that Alex and Lauren are helping all of us to not make the mistakes that they made. I have felt this pain in small ways with opt-ins that went the way of the “opt-in graveyard” as Alex and Lauren have named it and it is not fun. Putting your time and energy into a product that you love but that no one wants, is a hard pill to swallow. My overall rating on this course is an A+
Pro Blogger Bundle
I think the bundle is a good way to go and is what I would recommend to most people who are new to blogging and online marketing.
Launch Your Blog Biz course – The first course will help you get started and get your blog and website launched, it’s got all of the essentials and then some. This is for the newbie newbie, highly recommended! This will probably be the hardest course, because it will all be so new (yes… the poop phase) and there will be curveballs at every turn. However, once you get your sea legs and are able to weather the ups and downs with more ease, you will be able to move forward confidently and with a plan, thanks to the Launch Your Blog Biz Course.
Pinterest Traffic Avalanche Course – This is a more specialized course and if you are looking for information just about Pinterest, then this might be the course for you and you may want to consider purchasing this course on its own outside the Pro Blogger Bundle. I didn’t love it, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be helpful for you, and I did get a lot of good information out of this course.
6 Figure Blogger Course – This last course in the series will help you move your blog from the beginning stages to the advanced stages and overall a very well done and high-quality course. Alex and Lauren spell it out in plain English, as they do in all of their courses and give you all the tools you need, just short of doing the work for you.
Pro Blogger Bundle – Best value without a doubt! If you are new to blogging I don’t think you will regret going this route, I really don’t know where I would be without the guidance, information, and support I have gotten through all 3 of these courses.
In Short
The Create and Go blogging courses are all super high quality and I will say have made this blogging journey a lot more fun. Something I haven’t mentioned is the online community that is available through these courses which have been an awesome support and source of information. Through the Facebook group that Create and Go run, you have access to a community of people who are all in different phases, this group can offer some great feedback from folks with lots of varied experience.
Alex and Lauren have also just launched an SEO course which I have not yet taken, but looking forward to getting into. When you buy their courses you have access to a world of support that just seems to keep on growing and giving. I am super grateful to have found these guys and that they have shared their knowledge and experience with so many that are still in the weeds and just trying to make it with their blogs.
I started off thinking that a blog would be a boost to my private practice or a personal passion project, but Create and Go blogging courses have taught me and showed me what the potential is and can be! Which has made such a huge difference for me and what I have done so far in this online world. If you are on the fence, do it, I can guarantee that you won’t regret it!! After all, if you want to make money, you got to spend money!!
Thank you for reading this review, I hope you found it helpful as you consider making your blogging course purchase, I know there is a ton of information out there and that in and of itself is overwhelming, if you decide to go with the Create and Go blogging courses, it will help you find the calm in an otherwise stormy sea.
Good luck and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to send me a message at meredith@upsidedownflan.com. And don’t forget to share this with your friends and family!