Blog Tips, Blogging, Mom Marketing Coach |
One negative aspect of writing about your life for all to see is that every once in a while, you will receive comments from strangers (or friends) that will annoy, contradict, or degrade you. The internet did not create negativity. It’s just a new medium that people use to spew their hatred.
One would think that most of the time, negative comments come from political or religious posts. For some reason, parenting brings out the nasty side of people as well.
The problem is that everyone thinks they know the right way to parent.
Other parents will think you are too strict with your kids, and others will say you are too lenient.
If you work outside the home, the stay-at-home moms will judge you. If you stay at home with your kids, the working moms will mock you.
People will blast you for overscheduling your kids, sending them to public schools, or allowing them to watch inappropriate content on TV.
Others will label you as a helicopter parent, a lawnmower parent, as being too involved, or not concerned enough.
And God helps you if you write about anti-vaccines, homeschooling, and co-sleeping. You’re just asking for trouble with those topics.
What do you do when you receive negative comments? You only have a few options. Let’s discuss them.
Delete (or Edit) Negative Comments
You could consider deleted or editing the negative comments that someone leaves on your blog. Immediately use this tactic if someone writes something perverted or inappropriate about you or someone in your family. Don’t forget to block them from making additional comments as well.
Respond to the Comments
Your knee-jerk reaction may be to fight fire with fire. If someone calls you a name, you may want to revert to your 11-year-old-self and name call as well. Honestly, it could be kind of funny if you respond with a, “oh yeah? So’s your mother!” You could diffuse the situation by bringing humor to it. This type of reaction is especially fitting if that is the personality you portray on your blog.
Perhaps you should consider responding with a thoughtful explanation of why you disagree with your readers’ opinion. You have created a public forum with your blog. Are you afraid of exchanging ideas? Maybe blogging isn’t for you then. If you want constant public affirmations, perhaps you should post your content on Facebook to an intimate group of family and friends.
Ignore
Sometimes ignoring is the same as responding. Sometimes people’s comments are so inane and poorly written, that calling them out on it would just be cruel.
Mommy bloggers are a tight-knit group. Perhaps your friends will respond for you if you ignore the Debbie Downer. It’s fantastic to see who has your back in your time of need.
That’s it! Those are the three things you can do if you receive criticism regarding something you wrote. You can delete, ignore, or respond.
Here’s an idea that may blow your mind: maybe you shouldn’t discourage negative comments. Here are some reasons why.
Perhaps your reader is right.
No one wants to admit this, but maybe you used faulty logic when expressing your opinion. Perhaps the studies that you referred to were outdated, or the information that you presented as “fact” is untrue.
Maybe you did over-share your family’s problems in the quest to be completely transparent in your blog. If someone calls you out on this, perhaps they are right. Granted, some of your readers may not present their ideas with tact and consideration.
Perhaps your reader is trying to help.
Another thing to consider is that some people can’t listen to any complaint or comment without offering advice. They may not even think they are inconsiderate or rude. They may feel as if they are helpful in trying to fix your problem.
Yea! You have readers who care enough to comment!
Finally, perhaps receiving comments, negative or positive, are signs you have made it as a professional blogger. After all, you want people to read your blog, right? If your comments are turned on, that means you are promoting a public forum. Honestly, I’ve never understood bloggers who are aghast when readers disagree with their viewpoints. What did you think blogging was going to be?
Think hard if you are considering starting a blog to earn extra income. Are you able to handle a back-and-forth discussion with someone who contradicts or disagrees with your ideas? Are you going to be able to handle someone offering criticism on how you parent? Will receiving tons of unasked for advice drive you crazy? I hate to break it to you, but if you answered, “yes” to those questions, then maybe blogging isn’t for you.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach!
Blog Tips, Mom Marketing Coach |
You have thoughts to share and products to recommend or to sell, but you may not have the technical knowledge on how to start a mommy blog. Perhaps that’s what is keeping you from taking that first step.
Don’t let your lack of knowledge keep you from sharing your ideas with the world. Let us help you walk through the process of creating your online space.
While this article is focused on WordPress, know that you have options. WordPress is extremely popular, and millions of users have created blogs, business websites, eCommerce sites, portfolios, and resumes using WordPress. In fact, some studies say that WordPress powers over 34% of websites. But you can also start your website using the uniquely-named Wix, Weebly, and Jimdo. WordPress has plenty of competition.
Once you begin looking into WordPress, you will notice that there seem to be two versions. One is WordPress.com, and the other is WordPress.org. Without getting too deep into the reasons why, you should use WordPress.org if you plan to do affiliate marketing on your site.
1. Purchase hosting
Before jumping into WordPress.org and creating your site, you need to take care of a small piece of technical housekeeping. You first need to purchase a hosting platform for your website.
Every website that you look at throughout your day has a host that “powers” it. Without a host, no one will be able to see your content. It’s kind of important.
WordPress recommends hosting platforms on its website, such as Bluehost, DreamHost, and SiteGround. Each hosting site has a variety of packages available in different price points, but some start as low as $3 a month. You can’t purchase hosting and your domain name through WordPress.org.
We know this process sounds intimidating, but these hosting companies make the process as painless as possible. Once you pick which package is best for you, you will be asked if you have a domain name or not. This is the next step in the process of creating your mommy blog.
2. Purchase a domain name
Your domain name is your website’s address, such as https://www.mommarketingcoach.com.
You can purchase your domain through a variety of methods, but since you are reading this step-by-step guide, and technology may not be your “thing,” we would recommend that you purchase your domain name from your hosting company. For example, Bluehost makes it incredibly simple.
Bluehost charges a small fee to help you obtain your domain name, but this domain is yours for however many years you choose. You won’t have to change your website name if you decide to switch hosting platforms at a later date. You will be able to take your website’s name with you.
3. Install WordPress
You can install WordPress on your own. It’s free. If you choose to use Bluehost as your hosting company, you can easily install the software from their website as well.
Bluehost will walk you through the process of installing WordPress, but if you miss it, log into Bluehost and click the Create Site button.
3. Create your content
Once you have a hosting site and a domain name, you are ready to create your content using WordPress.
WordPress will walk you through the process of creating your first blog post. From the WordPress dashboard, click on the “Posts” link and then choose “Add New.” To write your text, you literally need to click and type. You can add images and videos using their rather intuitive system.
4. Seek help when you need it
One benefit of using WordPress is that you will have no trouble finding help when you need it. Search for YouTube videos to walk you through the process or help you when you get stuck.
If you are frustrated with the process, or you are concerned that your lack of expertise will make your website look childish, you may consider hiring a freelancer to manage your site.
5. Promote your website
Once you have gone to the trouble to create your website, it is time to learn how to promote it or to create content that allows people to find it easily. Promoting your website is the subject for another series of articles (or books). Remember that this is a necessary step in the process. Don’t feel as if you will immediately receive likes, shares, or comments on your work. It’s a long journey.
Hopefully, this is enough information to get you started on creating a blog using WordPress. While there are many other methods and software available to share your content with the world, this guide was meant to offer the most straightforward, fastest way to get started. Good luck!
This article was originally posted at Mom marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging Success, Marketing Tips |
Affiliate Marketing in Your Mommy Blog
Perhaps you have been blogging for a while and have been lucky enough to earn a loyal following. Congratulations to you! It’s tough to get noticed in this competitive field.
While you care about your audience and the message of your blog, you need to earn a more significant income. Kids aren’t cheap, and as they age their clothes, toys, and activities become more expensive. Plus, nine-year-old boys eat like a horse.
It’s only natural that you would try to earn more money from your blogging habit by signing up for affiliate marketing programs.
Here are some simple steps to get started:
Step 1 – Choose Your Niche
Since you are visiting our website, I’m going to take a wild guess that your blog is somewhat “kid” related. When it comes to choosing affiliate marketing programs, you may want to narrow your scope a bit.
Perhaps you are a dance or ice-skating mom. You probably have spent hours bedazzling costumes, and you know all the best tools and tricks for maneuvering through that world. Capitalize on this knowledge. Maybe your blog can offer suggestions on the best reading glasses to purchase now that you have ruined your eyes from too much bedazzling.
Maybe your child has struggled as a reader, but you have found resources and strategies that you would like to recommend to parents going through similar issues. Why not make money from your recommendations?
Do you have the girliest girl who loves to dress in boutique-style clothes? If you are raising a model-in-the-making, why not make some extra cash along the way by offering an affiliate marketing program that focuses on kid fashion?
If you have been writing for a while, you probably already have a niche. It’s time to capitalize on that knowledge by sharing your favorite products and services with others.
Step 2 – Form Opinions
Your savvy readers will smell a rat from a mile away. They will be able to tell whether you are a genuine user and fan of a product, or if you are just saying you are to make some extra money. Find products that you really do use and enjoy.
Marketing experts know that this kind of publicity works to sell a product. In fact, millennials are more likely to trust the opinions of someone they view as a peer instead of any other form of traditional advertising.
Make a list of all the products and service you interact with that relate to your niche. Feel free to play with topics that are not directly related but are loosely connected.
For example, maybe your child’s dance team habit means that you travel to competitions around the country. Expand the scope of your affiliate marketing campaigns, so you write about dance-related travel.
Step 3 – Sign up for the Amazon Affiliate Marketing Program
Sure, there are other affiliate marketing programs out there, but since you use amazon, and your readers already use Amazon, why not start there?
Another benefit of using Amazon is that you can find any product imaginable on their website.
It’s an easy process. Here are the basic requirements.
If you are starting an affiliate marketing program on your website, you must own your own website. The content must be recent or no more than 60 days old. There must be at least ten posts, and the site must be live and viewable by the general public.
You can also run an affiliate marketing program through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.TV groups. Your social network account must be already established with at least 500 members. It, too, must be publicly available.
Once you have signed up, you need to have at least three sales within the first 180 days. You can’t make the sales on your own; they have to be from a third-party source.
Finally, you need to comply with Amazon’s extensive list of rules and regs. It’s Amazon, so they take their practices seriously. Here’s the complete list. Some of the regulations are written in shouty-voiced ALL CAPS, so you know they mean business.
One of the most important things to remember is that you need to identify yourself as an Amazon associate by using these words: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” You cannot offer anyone a reward or incentive for using your links. You can’t say that proceeds from particular orders will go to a charity or non-profit organization.
Step 4 – Continue Producing Content
You need to be prepared before you sign up to become an Amazon associate. Amazon has high expectations that you will start driving sales within the first five months, so you really need to have your ducks in a row before you apply.
Good luck in expanding your mommy blog. Remember to stay true to your message, and your readers will follow.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Mom Marketing Coach |
Wow. This is a stressful writing assignment.
If you don’t finish reading this article about how to write blogs that people want to read, will I have done my job?
While I might not be an expert writer, I do read. A lot. Here are things that I have noticed that draw me into other people’s blogs, posts, and personal essays.
1. Use Eye-Catching Images
Sorry, all you writers out there who spend hours crafting your words, so you can share profound, insightful thoughts. If your blog doesn’t have some sort of eye-catching image to draw you in, you may have a difficult time bringing readers to your post.
Learn how to improve your photography skills. Use free stock images if you are desperate. (You can find free photos at pixabay.com.)
Personally, I’m drawn to photos of people showing a lot of emotion. Or pictures of dogs. Even people who aren’t necessarily animal lovers like looking at pictures of dogs.
2. Use Quirky Subheadings
Recently, I was drawn to someone’s post about signs of aging. The first subheading was titled “Birds.” The next was “Ferris Bueller.” You know you’re going to read anyone’s writing who can connect those two topics in one piece.
Subheadings also break up huge blocks of text, so the piece looks readable. While the greatest writers in the world, such as Charles Dickens, didn’t follow this practice, Dickens wasn’t writing for average internet reader. The average internet reader scans articles while waiting in line at Target or sitting on the toilet.
3. Tell Stories About Your Daughter Waking Up with Chewing Gum in Her Armpit
You’ve started mommy blogs before that are written with beautiful, flowery language full of generalities. Many times these posts are oozing with feelings and emotions about how being a mommy has been such a life-changing experience.
Maybe it’s just me, but as soon as I begin reading this kind of writing, my eyes glaze over, and I start scrolling. The only thing worse is having a seventh-grade girl ask you to read her book of poetry.
Start by telling a story, and then you can go into the feelings associated with the account.
For example, start your blog post about how your toddler woke up from her nap with a huge wad of chewing gum underneath her armpit. Then, go into your piece about the joys of motherhood.
Hopefully, you will have remembered to take a photo of the wad of gum. That image will undoubtedly bring in plenty of readers.
4. Lead With the Monster Attack
One of the first things you learn in journalism school is how to write a good lead. Professors teach baby writers to not “bury the lead.” Here’s an example.
If a monster is attacking people on the beaches in Florida, you don’t start your news article by writing, “On Tuesday, 56-year-old Herman Giuseppe lost his arm while on vacation in the Florida Keys.”
If you are writing a blog post about your child getting chickenpox, even though they were immunized against it, you will get more readers if you lead with that information instead of starting with a lot of background information.
Lead with the monster attack, and then tell the rest of the story.
5. Awaken Your Inner Teacher
We have all turned to the internet to learn how to do something. My recent Google searches include “how to paint your kitchen cabinets,” “how to get knock-out roses to bloom,” and “how to get a wad of chewing gum out of a toddler’s armpit.”
Even if your instructions are more tongue-in-cheek in nature, people are drawn to online “how-to” guides.
If you are writing a Mommy Blog, write how you were able to get your child to sleep through the night. Write how you were finally able to get your kids from dropping all their crap on the floor of the entryway. Write about how you were finally able to get your sixth-grade son to hug you every day before walking out the door. This is the kind of information Moms need to have to improve their daily lives.
As you sit down to write your blog, think back to what your seventh-grade English teacher taught you. Before you write, you need to know your purpose for writing. If your goal every day is writing about how perfect your life is now that you have raised the most amazing children in the world, you may struggle to keep readers.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success, Mom Marketing Coach |
I didn’t grow up in the South, and neither did my Mom. But every time I hear Miranda Lambert’s drawl mimic her mama’s advice to “hide your crazy,” I always think of my own Mom.
My Mom was the queen of stoicism, a trait that I honestly admire and tried to mimic most of my life. My Mom always put people at ease with her calm voice and absence of outbursts. I grew up with zero stress because my Mom wasn’t one to complain or express dissatisfaction. This doesn’t mean that Mom didn’t have hardships or difficulties. She just didn’t feel that it was very lady-like to share them.
While my Mom had plenty of friends and lived a perfectly comfortable life, she wasn’t the first person people turned to for a good story. She wasn’t the life of the party, and she wasn’t one who you felt you could pour your heart out to unless you knew her well. Because of this, my Mom would have been a lousy blogger. She wouldn’t have shared enough. She wouldn’t have been authentic enough.
To have a successful mommy blog, you have to have readers. To keep readers, you have to offer value to your content by telling a good story or giving good advice. And you need to be authentic. Here’s how to show authenticity in your writing.
Tell It Like It Is
One of my favorite mommy bloggers is the queen of honesty. She writes about how exhausted she was after entertaining her three kids for almost an hour in the doctor’s examination room. She stops and takes a quick photo of her youngest, who is screaming on the floor at Target because she didn’t like how her socks felt on her feet.
Of course, you wouldn’t want to read about this chaos every day, and people might start to judge you if all your photos depict red-faced kids throwing fits. But reading about this blogger’s issues may make someone feel a little better about your three-year-old threatening to throw away your phone, makeup, and a coffee mug because you didn’t peel her banana right. Reading about how a blogger’s toddler woke up with a wad of gum stuck under her armpit might make you feel better when you just caught your little darling washing her hair in the toilet.
Try to Write Like You Talk
Some bloggers get so caught up by trying to depict a perfect life that their writing style suffers. They begin to sound like anal-retentive English teachers instead of regular moms who are just trying to get through their day.
If your tone is more formal and less conversational, try telling someone else what you want to write about in your blog before you sit down to write it. Sometimes writers start off loose and easy, but after a series of edits, their writing ends up being too stuffy and impersonal.
Quit editing so much. You’re not writing for the New York Times. No one expects your writing to be perfect, and no one cares if it is. If you live your life peppered with four-letter-words, use them in your writing.
If you are really ticked off with your husband because he threatens the kids with ridiculous punishments that he can never follow through on so the kids lose respect for you and start acting like a bunch of barbarians, don’t worry if you just wrote the longest-run-on sentence ever. Get it out, girl.
Get Off Your High Horse
I’m an eye-roller. I always have been. My Mom used to tell me that if I got hit on the back of my head during an eye roll, my eyes would stay that way. It’s a bad habit, so since I’m a grownup, I try to limit my eye rolls to times when no one is looking, or else I do an “inner” eye roll, which only I know about.
When I read Mom blogs of women who LOVE their kids SOOO much and have the PERFECT spouse who takes her on OMG – a SURPRISE weekend to wine country, I have to be careful not to hit the back of my head.
Where I grew up, people who talked like that were said to be on a “high horse,” which is kind of a funny expression when you think about it.
Not only are you making the rest of us feel bad about our unglamorous lives, but you are also losing readers too.
So, forget about hiding your crazy. Let it all out. Your readers will thank you for it.
This article was originally posted to Mom Marketing Coach
Blog Tips, Blogging |
Writing a blog post feels like solving a maze. You wouldn’t want to begin, knowing that you’re going to fail one way or another, probably over and over, until you reach the finish line.
But just like a maze, you have to start if you want to get it done! So today, let us help you plan your day as you write a blog post.
#1 Plan your day… realistically
For your own sake, don’t shoot for the stars, hoping that you will land on the moon. That’s not the best advice to take when you’re planning to write a blog.
You have to be more realistic because your responsibilities as a mother are in line if you don’t check what you need to do for the day. Carefully plan the non-negotiables of your day, like breastfeeding, preparing your toddler’s food, reading her a story before tucking her to bed, and so on.
Check this to-do list first, then set realistic goals for your mom blog. Don’t rush too much if you can’t finish a post the whole day. Based on experience, quality comes before quantity in your journey of mom blogging.
#2 Who are you trying to help?
Audience-targeting is usually done before you even buy a domain. This is on the upper part of the to-do list when you decide to start a mom blog.
Once you have a target audience, every post should be in service of them. But just in case you are targeting a different audience for this specific blog post or you haven’t really decided on your target audience, it will be best to do audience-targeting before you write a blog post.
#3 Check your previous posts
Our #4 step is about deciding on the topic to write. This is one of the most difficult parts in writing a blog post, so we advise that before you Google for something to write, check your previous posts first. You may have slightly discussed a topic before and you’d want to elaborate on that.
This is a good way to select a topic for two reasons:
- First, you probably have a little bit of knowledge on this topic.
- Second, this will help you create internal links between your blog posts. Internal linking is one of the powerful tools in SEO.
#4 Decide on a specific topic
If you didn’t find anything on your previous post, you can effectively choose a topic by thinking of your target audience.
How can you help them today in your post? What is something about your niche that you have struggled to figure out before and now you know completely and you think will be of great help to them? What is something trending in your niche that you want to express your opinion about?
Once you’ve decided on the topic, try to scale it down to something more specific, then create a working title out of it.
#5 Decide the type of post to write
Now that you have a topic, it’s time to make it easily readable for your audience. Here are the types of posts that you can choose from:
- How-to post – something like this blog post. It talks about the steps on how to achieve something. This is perfect if you’re teaching your readers the methodological process of how to get from where they are to where they want to be.
- News post – this is a more formal and more stiff kind of writing that often involves quoting facts and statements from others. This is more fitting if you’re writing about an update in your niche.
#6 How will you end it?
There’s beautiful advice from Malcolm Gladwell, the writer of the worldwide-acclaimed book, The Tipping Point. He said the best way to start writing is to know how you’ll end. He says, when you know the ending of what you’re writing, everything else will be so easy.
That’s actually an excellent point! One challenge in writing is that you can get lost in the middle. But if you have an ending to your blog post, you’ll have a guide to the finish line.
#7 Write for yourself
Start with a draft. Dump all the things you know – your research, your opinions, more research while you’re writing, everything! Write down every single thing in your head as if you’re the one who will read your post.
#8 Write for your audience
I really believe that the first phase of editing is refining your work to suit your audience. In step #7, you wrote as if you’re the one who will read it. This will allow you to freely express yourself.
But in the end, you know that you’re really writing for your audience, right? So rephrase your sentences, add some more words and sentences to explain your point, then deduct the unnecessary. This first phase of editing should be the part where you make your blog post easiest to understand for your audience.
#9 Edit and Proofread
In writing, the more you edit, the better your blog post becomes. Edit and proofread as much as you want.
Check your grammar. Refine your words and sentences more. Read the post over and over until you can say that this is something worth reading.
#10 Season your post with pictures
Lastly, help your post become more interesting by adding interesting photos that will illustrate the words you’re writing.
Photos will surely take away the boredom of reading. After all, you don’t have to take your own photos. There are lots of websites out there giving out free photos like Unsplash and Pixabay. And mind you, they’re not your average images, but photos taken by professional photographers! If you’ll be kinder enough, credit these photographers in your mom blog too.
In the ’90s when people started blogging, they were just writing their ideas almost without a filter. Those days, blogging used to be more personal – an outlet for those who wanted to share their feelings and experiences.
I don’t see any reason why mom bloggers should do blogging differently. Don’t be too conscious to the point that your consciousness will stop you from starting a blog post. After all, your readers may have 0% knowledge about the topic you’re sharing. Keep these readers in mind and forget about your fear of getting negative comments.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach
