Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success |
Brainstorming for Your Mom Blog Content
Once your mom blog is up and running, or even before you’ve ever started, you’ll find yourself always needing new ideas for content. For a beginner, this can be super intimidating.
How are you supposed to come up with a constant stream of ideas?
Are there even enough things to write about?
Well, I’m here to show you how to not only find great ideas to write about but also how to always have a fresh idea in your back pocket when you need it.
Let’s get started!
Finding Inspiration
To start, you need some good old inspiration. Fortunately, it isn’t as hard to find as you may think!
Inspiration comes from many places, but above all else, inspiration comes from your passion for a topic. If you love the niche you’re writing about, you should have no shortage of inspiration when you begin your blogging journey.
Of course, sometimes you hit a rut and the inspiration well runs dry. Don’t panic! Try answering a few of these questions to give yourself some ideas:
- What do people need to know about my niche?
- What would I be excited to talk about within my niche?
- Who cares about my niches, and what can I teach them?
- How can I help the people in my niche?
Researching Your Niche
If inspiration fails you (don’t worry, it’s natural!) then it’s time to turn to your competitors and the fellow blogs in your area.
This doesn’t mean you should copy these blogs; rather, you should focus on what they aren’t writing about. What holes are they leaving in your topic that you have the knowledge to fill?
For example, if you blogged about the best kitchen equipment and saw other bloggers in your niche blogging all about crockpots, you probably don’t want to write a long post about crockpots right at the same time. However, what about writing about all the different recipes you can make in a rice cooker, something many people already have! They’re cheaper than crockpots and can fulfill many of the same functions.
By taking this new approach, you’re helping solve a problem for people who can’t afford a crockpot but have a rice cooker, or for people just looking to mix it up. You can do the same thing in whatever niche you write in! So look carefully at the topics others are discussing in your niche and see how you can expand upon them, make them better, or find a new angle unique to you.
This is a great way to brainstorm content for your mom blog and is an effective supplement when inspiration runs dry.
Solving Your Own Struggles
Another great way to find content ideas for your blog, especially when you’re just starting out, is to think of ways to solve your own struggles. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!
Start by identifying the things you struggle with within your niche. Perhaps you are a chef, but struggle with your knife skills, or you sew but struggle to embroider. It’s likely that others reading your blog experience these same struggles!
Once you’ve identified what you have difficulty with, do your research! Find solutions to these problems, or make some of your own. That right there is the topic of your blog post, maybe even your next five blog posts. You’ve just solved a clear problem for your niche, have collected or created valuable information, and all of that work is well deserving of becoming content on your blog!
Keeping a Notebook
Finally, we come to a content brainstorming method more focused on future-proofing than on finding content ideas now. However, if you take up this practice you’re setting yourself up for success, and for never having to worry about a lack of ideas again!
Our last method is keeping a notebook, and it’s surprisingly simple. All you need to do is keep a small notebook, legal pad, or computer document nearby. Whenever an idea for blog content strikes, write it down, in detail! You can organize this by topic or by date, but however you do it, this notebook will become an invaluable tool for you when you eventually hit a rut in your content creation.
Using this notebook of past ideas, coupled with the other three methods we’ve outlined about, you should be all set to continue putting out amazing content on your blog for years to come. Whenever you get stuck, just remember; there’s always more to write about when you know where to look!
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success, Grow Your Audience, Mom Marketing Coach |
Monetize Your Mom Blog
With any small business comes costs, and it’s no different for a newly created mom blog. Of course, with these costs also comes the desire to make money to sustain the needs of your new business, also to help support your family, your passion, and hobbies!
Below you’ll find four great ways to jumpstart and monetize your mom blog quickly after launch! All of these are easy to do, and with a little work and research can help you earn money for years to come thanks to your new blog.
Advertising
Starting our list we have one of the more obvious ways to make money through your blog; advertising.
Now don’t shy away! Many people feel that running ads on your blog has to be intrusive, annoying, or downright scummy. I’m here to tell you that this is definitely not the case! It’s all about how you do it and all about the kinds of ads you run.
Depending on your niches, you may be able to find an online ad service that will target their ads to your blog’s topic. Not only does this help them by showing ads your audience actually cares about, but it helps you make more money, since more people will want to click on the ads on your site.
Better yet, find a company or service provider in your niche and partner with them directly! While this may not be possible early on in your blogging career, plan for it down the line. This way you’re choosing exactly who to run ads for, ensuring they align with your blog’s message and values, and that they pay you a fair price for the precious internet real estate you’re giving them!
Affiliate Marketing
Next up we have affiliate marketing, which is in many ways similar to advertising, but more organically woven into your content.
For example, have you ever been researching, say, the best crock pots available on Amazon? You probably found a lot of blogs with an affiliate notice at the top. This lets you know that, if you buy one of those crock pots from the link on their site, they earn a little kickback at no charge to you.
Guess what? You can do this on your blog too!
Through super simple programs like Amazon Affiliates, affiliate marketing has never been easier. Whenever you mention a product you already enjoy and use on your blog, make it an affiliate link. That way, if one of your readers finds it equally as useful and buys it through your link, you earn a little bit of money as a thank you from the seller!
It’s a really simple process, and is likely to earn you way more money than plain old advertising!
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is similar to affiliate marketing in that it’s essentially advertising that’s been organically included in your blog’s articles and posts. Sponsored content differs in that it’s usually done through a direct partnership with your sponsor company and that the entire article is geared towards selling that product to your readers.
In terms of advertising, sponsored posts will probably be the most lucrative you can do, though they’ll also require the most work. Researching, writing, and promoting the article are key if you want to earn money and a good reputation with your sponsors.
However, when done right, these types of posts are great ways to promote products and services you enjoy and use to your readers while making a large chunk of income for your blog!
Ebooks, Courses, and Coaching
Last but not least we have the most work intensive of the four; ebooks, courses, and coaching.
Essentially, this method requires you to spend a large chunk of time upfront to create a product or service, design it, market it, and sell it to your audience. However, what you get from all of that work is a sustainable source of income that doesn’t require much upkeep once it’s been created!
This is likely where you’ll want your mom blog to go in the future, moving you away from relying on other’s sponsorships and ad money and instead relying on your own fantastic products and offerings! Product creation is definitely a “down the road” endeavor for the beginning mom blogger, but it’s something to keep in mind as you start planning your monetization strategy and preparing your mom blog to become a profitable endeavor.
When combined, these four methods are a great way to start small, making bits of money here and there through ad revenue, and then grow as your blog grows, moving on to affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and eventually your own products.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success, Grow Your Audience, Marketing Tips |
Improve Mom Blog’s Traffic Using Social Media
Every blog in its early days will struggle to get enough traffic to sustain it. It’s totally natural, but it is disheartening for many new blogging moms.
Fortunately, there are some simple social media hacks that can help you get more traffic for your blog and grow a loyal audience that will sustain you for the rest of your blogging career!
Facebook
First up we have Facebook! The titan of the social media sphere, practically everyone is on Facebook, making it the perfect place to begin your social media work. Best of all, you probably already know quite a few people on Facebook who would happily follow your blog’s page and help promote your posts!
Don’t be afraid to leverage family and friends here! The more exposure you can get the better. Your focus on Facebooks should be to provide excellent, in-depth content that you can promote over and over. Of course, don’t be afraid to promote other people in your niche as well and share the love. This is a great way to make friends and create some good will. Good karma never hurt anyone!
Instagram
Of course, not every blog is ideal for Facebook! Some blogs have a stronger focus on photography, food, or fashion than in-depth articles. If that’s what your blog is all about, then Instagram is the place for you.
A social media platform dedicated entirely to photos, Instagram is the perfect place to promote your beautiful, enticing, or delicious photo skills and earn followers that love you for them. Your focus here should be on creating the most alluring photos possible. Make sure they’re well lit, colorful, and fit a cohesive style that your whole blog contributes to.
And don’t be afraid to share articles here as well! Just focus on providing a beautiful image to link people back to your article, and make sure the photo relates to your topic! That way the people who come to your blog from Instagram have something to stick around for beyond your photography skills.
Twitter
Next up we have Twitter, one of the often overlooked younger brothers of the titans that are Facebook and Instagram. Hopefully, you won’t make the same mistake of underestimating Twitter that many of your competitors do!
If you’re an engaging writer and are proud of your wordsmithing skills, then Twitter is the perfect place to begin finding an audience. Because of the short character limit, Twitter works best for promoting articles on your site with catchy headlines and memorable quotes.
Of course, Twitter has its own unique requirement when compared to Instagram and Facebook, and the focus is more on your existing readers than on new ones. You can use Twitter to remind your audience of a new post, and encourage them to visit your site. When they read your article and love it, encourage them to retweet it to help you reach a broader audience.
If you already have a small, but loyal fan base, Twitter may be a great place to get started on your social media growth, letting you leverage existing readers to gain a new and highly engaged audience.
Pinterest
Last, but definitely not least, we have Pinterest! A strange hybrid between Instagram and Facebook, Pinterest requires both great writing and quality graphic design, but the payoff for the extra work is immense.
While a Facebook post or an Instagram photo may last on someone’s feed for four or five minutes, a post on Pinterest can continue to be circled around for years after you initially created it. That means you get a huge return on your time investment, making Pinterest one of the best social media platforms for beginning mom bloggers!
Because of this, Pinterest has a ton of moving parts to keep in mind. Setting up rich pins, joining group boards, and even just the basics of designing pins can all seem super intimidating at first. However, once you’ve done the research and mastered these skills you’ll be a pinning genius in no time, and can reap the rewards Pinterest has to offer as one of the fastest growing social media platforms around!
Thanks to all of these great social media platforms, gaining new traffic for your growing mom blog is more attainable than ever. Since everyone already congregates on these platforms, why not take advantage of them? They’re free, easy to use and learn, and the perfect way to jumpstart your blog’s growth and success!
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success, Marketing Tips |
9 Marketing Tips for Mom Blog this Holidays and New Year
You know that the holidays are coming up and that everyone is looking to finish (or start) their holiday shopping. You want to draw all of the online shoppers to your blog, but you aren’t sure where to start. Fortunately, there are some easy marketing tips for your blog during the holidays that can increase traffic and maybe even make a profit at the same time.
These marketing tips do not mean that you should throw everything you usually focus on out the window. The first thing you need to do while considering this (and really, you should apply it to any of the suggestions) is remembering to stay true to yourself and the reason you have the blog. You’re a mom first and foremost, and that’s why your readers follow you. The more genuine and approachable you are, the more attractive you will be to new visitors.
Affiliate Marketing
If you aren’t already using affiliate marketing, you should consider it (find out more about one of the easier ones to join here). If you are already using affiliate marketing, add links to what you think might be your more popular posts. If you can tie products into your posts, you increase the chance of your blog coming up in a search for the products.
Focus your attention on companies that moms will be most likely to buy from. For example, take a look at Gymboree’s program and feature their holiday outfits in your blog. Partner with MindWare and give your readers suggestions on educational toys for different ages. You can never go wrong with promoting Amazon’s products. Learn more about their associate’s program. Utilizing affiliate marketing can help people build their shopping lists, give people new ideas for gift exchanges.
(Note: Make sure to read the guidelines of the affiliate programs carefully, as some have restrictions that may make you ineligible).
Create a Gift Guide
You can make this as big or as little as you prefer, but creating a gift guide is probably the number one way to utilize your blog to its full potential during the holidays. Yes, there are a lot of gift guides already out there, but make yours unique and follow a theme.
For example, instead of the usual “20 gifts to get your animal lover,” do a guide that covers gifts for the entire family, i.e. “Have a soccer player? Gifts for everyone in the family to take to the fields.” And then suggest everything from gear for the kids to the best camp chairs or insulated mugs for Mom and Dad.
Be creative, but choose items that you can suggest with authority; do not pick items that do not stay true to your brand. You want to be the trusted person to your readers. Moms are generally loyal readers because they will find a common bond and hold onto it, however, they can also be easily turned off by something that feels forced or unlike your usual material.
Produce Holiday Content
This doesn’t mean overdoing it with snowflakes and holiday decorations. The key is to stick with your brand and your focus. Discuss fun kid crafts that can be used to decorate a holiday table. Talk about family-friendly places that have holiday events. Give tips on how to make memorable holidays without breaking the bank. These are things that moms think about all of the time, so give them the information they are looking for.
Recycle Old Content
Revisit blog posts of holidays past. Update the content, check to make sure links are still active, and make new graphics or update pictures. For example, if you posted about your kid’s excitement about the “best gift ever” that he received last year, update your readers on the status of the gift. You could cover several years in a retrospective approach (“Whatever Happened To…”). Readers will love revisiting memories with you.
Any readers you have gained over the past year probably haven’t gone too far back into your archives, so all of this will be new material for them. It will give them a better feeling for who you are and help to create that bond and loyalty even faster.
Share Festivities
Take some time and put together a calendar of holiday festivities. It is not feasible to do one that includes every single event, but you could do one that highlights local activities and other events within a certain radius.
You could also look at the bigger cities and find the exact dates of their holiday events. For example, knowing when the tree is lit in Rockefeller Center in NYC or the hours of special shopping events at malls or holiday markets. Amusement parks often have special winter wonderland hours; find all of the big ones and post them in one handy place. (Remember your readers aren’t always just local)
People are often traveling for the holidays and sometimes find themselves with extra time after all of the family commitments are winding down. How helpful would it be for them to know what might be going on near them, especially if it’s an area they are unfamiliar with?
If you can make yourself useful at a particular time of year when people want quick answers, you can create loyal followers who will bring others with them to your blog.
Take the Pressure Off
Moms are going 100 miles an hour in 7 different directions during the holidays, and they often do not have the time (or, let’s face it, the energy) to do all of the research or planning that they should. Be a good resource for your readers. Make your blog the “go-to” place for gift information. Loyal followers will know to trust you and your recommendations.
Review products, or do some “shopping” and report what you have found. If there is a hot ticket “must-have” gift that everyone is talking about, do the research on it and post it on your blog. (This would be an opportunity to work on sponsorship for your blog that could carry into the New Year as well). If the gifts turn out to be successful, you may gain yourself some new followers in the process!
Be Creative
People are stressed out during the holidays, so give them a place to have a little bit of a brain break. Do a holiday-themed quiz (“Name the holiday movie from the screenshot.”). Get interactive and have a user-generated photo contest (“Funniest Family Holiday Card Photo”). Offer a gift card to the “winner.” If people have fun with your quizzes or contests, they’ll stay for the rest of the year.
Optimize SEO
Regardless of what you choose to do to enhance the marketing of your blog during the holidays, make sure that you are using effective SEO practices. Compile a list of keywords that you think will bring hits to your blog and scatter them throughout your posts.
Plan Ahead
To be truly effective and to see a marked difference, start earlier next year. By many accounts, it takes time for word of mouth buzz to really take effect. This doesn’t mean you have to do holidays in July, but you should start your planning early so that everything is in place to roll out at the appropriate times to catch that wave of holiday fever.
Whatever you choose to do to promote your blog during the holidays, remember: stay true to your voice and your brand. Your followers will appreciate the consistency and your new readers will get to know you even faster.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success, Grow Your Audience, Marketing Tips |
Growing Your Mom Blog’s Audience
So you have your mom blog up and running. Congratulations! You’ve passed the biggest hurdle on your blogging journey! Now comes growing your mom blog’s audience and reaching newly engaged readers for your content.
Of course, this will require a bit of learning and work on your part, but don’t despair. The three methods you’ll find below are all simple to get into and proven to work, bringing your blog the traffic it needs to become wildly successful!
Social Media
Starting our list is the simplest of the bunch; Social media! You probably already use and love social media in your everyday life and you aren’t alone. Nearly everyone is on some form of social media these days, and you can be sure you’ll find tons of people who’d love to read and experience your content. You just have to know how to reach them!
There are a variety of platforms you can explore, depending on your audience from Facebook, to Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. What you choose really depends on the type of people you think would enjoy your content.
Once you’ve decided which platform is right for your blog, all you need to do is focus your content to fit what succeeds on that service. Facebook likes clickable articles, while Twitter is a great place for impactful quotes and tidbits of information. Instagram is perfect for photobloggers, fashionistas, or culinary geniuses, while Pinterest acts as a hybrid of all three!
Once your social media strategy is in place, give it a few weeks to pick up traction! These things take time and will grow exponentially if you give them a chance to take off. Don’t rush things! If you only get a handful of followers your first week, that’s ok! So long as you keep growing slowly and steadily, you’ll be just fine.
Advertising
One of the next most popular ways to grow your mom blog’s audience is through good old advertising, but not the type you may be thinking of. Most people imagine the annoying TV commercials that interrupt their favorite shows, or the pop-ups and banners ads that litter many websites. Advertising this way doesn’t really work for most bloggers though. Instead, there’s a better way!
Much like how you used social media platforms above to generate organic, free traffic, you can also use these platforms to generate extra paid advertising traffic. Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram all have the ability to display your paid ads on their site, and since that’s where most of your users already are, it makes sense to embrace these types of ads.
One of the best strategies for maximizing your return on these social media ads is to pick from posts, articles, photos, or pins that have already done well for your organic traffic. Did you have an Instagram post that went viral or a Pinterest pin that doubled your traffic? Set those up as ads to reach even more people with an ad you have essentially already tested, for free!
Newsletters
Finally, we have a slightly unorthodox way to increase your mom blog’s audience, and that’s through your email newsletter!
While at first glance this doesn’t seem to make sense, think about it. Someone comes to your blog, likes your content, and decides to sign up for your newsletter so they don’t miss your future posts. As more and more people sign up for your newsletter, more and more people come to check out your posts when they go live thanks to the newsletter they receive. Soon you’ve built an audience that loves your work, is excited about your products or services, and wants to hear from you.
Having a loyal audience like this is one of the most vital elements of having a successful blog and something you simply can’t ignore if you want to do well in the blogging space!
Of course, it isn’t as simple as putting an email signup form and waiting for the subscribers to flow in. Many people will want some incentive or reason to sign up, and this provides you with an opportunity to provide them with more great content that will encourage them to come back for more.
Here are some ideas you can use to encourage people to join your newsletter!
- Make a free ebook about your niche
- Make a pretty checklist, planner, or calendar based on one of your posts
- Write a short email course teaching your readers skills you mentioned in one of your posts
- Offer something personalized for people who sign up
- Run a short giveaway or contest for people who join your newsletter
All of these are excellent ideas that will jumpstart your newsletter activities. Paired with social media and advertising, you’ll have a successful mom blog in no time!
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blogging, Blogging Success |
Starting a Mom Blog
For any aspiring mom blogger, getting started is the most intimidating part to start a mom blog! You’re looking to create a successful home business, and perhaps you even have some awesome ideas for content and topics, but you just don’t know how to take that first step.
Well, you’re in luck!
Today, we’re here to help you create an action plan, taking you from wannabe internet writer to superstar blogging mom. Better yet, it’s a lot easier than you might imagine.
Find Your Niche
Starting your game plan is one of the biggest hurdles in any blogger’s career; finding your niche. Once you’ve passed this step it only gets better from here!
Of course, you might be wondering; why is having a niche so important? Can’t I just write about what interests me, or about all of my passions at once? Well, while that works great for a personal blog, an online diary of sorts, what you’re running here is a business.
Imagine for a moment if your favorite Italian restaurant suddenly starting serving Mexican food one week, burgers the next, and fancy French cuisine a month later. You’d be more than a bit confused, wouldn’t you?
Blogging is no different. To have a successful mom blog, you need to provide consistent, excellent and useful content for your readers so they stay longer on your site and would always want to come back!
So, to begin your blogging journey, decide on your niche. What are you passionate about? What could you talk about all day long?
Whatever you decide to write about, make sure it’s something you love and are knowledgeable about. Just be committed to what you do and you will surely become successful in your mom blog.
Search for Inspiration
Next up, you’ll need to start collecting some ideas based on your chosen niche.
Some would call this market research, but with such a dry-sounding name it’s hard to get excited and enjoy the process. Instead, let’s call this a search for inspiration! Your job during this step is to dig through the internet and gather more resources to help you with your blogging journey.
What do they talk about? What do their readers need help with? Are there any holes in their content you could fill?
You may actually know some of your competitors already because if you picked a niche you’re passionate about, you probably read some of these for fun! Of course, even if you don’t know a single blog in your niche, that’s not a problem you can always search on google for reference.
Once you’ve gotten an idea of what to write about and what your message will be based on your competitors, write it all down. Brainstorm a blog name along with your first five blog post topics. These will help you organize things and make you a better blogger.
Set Up Your Mom Blog Website
Finally, you say! Finally, we get to build my website, the fun part of all of this! Or maybe you’re one of those people who dread the technical side of blogging and have no idea how to build a decent looking website at all. Either way, not to worry!
To start, you’ll need to pick a hosting provider like Bluehost or Site grounds. Once you’ve signed up with them they’ll walk you through the whole process of buying a domain name and setting it up! Then it’s time to make your website look nice through WordPress.
You have a few easy options here. You can easily hire a WordPress theme developer for a fair price and have them handle all of the web design for you. Or, if you’re feeling thrifty and are up to the task, you can find a free WordPress theme and set it all up yourself. This isn’t difficult to do but be prepared, as it will likely take a lot of your time as well as more trial and error if you’re inexperienced.
Write Your First Content
Last on your game plan for starting your amazing mom blog is creating your first batches of content! This is where you get to play with keywords, brainstorming, research, writing, formatting, and all the fun, creative aspects of blogging.
As you begin writing (based on the five topics you wrote down earlier), try to develop a cohesive style for your content. Are you the type of blogger who loves lists and planners, or are you more interested in writing in-depth articles on a single topic? Whatever it is, run with it, but be consistent! Your readers will thank you!
And with that, our game plan is complete! You have all the tools you need to create an awesome mom blog and rock the blogging world, all from the comfort of your laptop!
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
