Blog Tips That Pay

I still need to finish thoroughly working on my Day 1 exercise and finish reading my Day 2 from 31 Days to Build a Better Blog course, but I wanted to share a tip with you. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of Darren’s tips in the course but  I haven’t gotten far enough to know. However, its still an important tip…do guest posts for other bloggers!

I just did a couple guest posts and was featured  this month in a mini-interview  for THESE blogs. Always include a link back to your own website as this will drive new readers (hopefully) to your own blog. They may like   you and become your subscribers too and it give you links back to your blog. You need your blog to be linking to other relevant blogs like yours. Its part of  SEO (search engine optimization).

Okay…thats it for now. I just wanted to be sure I shared that with you. Stay tuned for my Day 2 summary coming soon!

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Okay so Darren says the task for today is to …”write an elevator pitch for your blog”. Well, I’ve done this in the past to some degree  by taking a cue from studying other bloggers’ blogs.

My personal tip to you is to watch and study what the popular bloggers are doing with their content and the layout of their site.

If you have an eye for detail and you’re looking you will learn a lot by watching other people.  The more self-sufficient you are with your blogging, the less money you will have to spend paying someone else to do things for you.

Some things, that is.

So… elevator pitch. I can’t rewrite Darren’s ebook for you, that would be, well, illegal for starters. But my version of how I would use an elevator pitch would be found on my About page under my picture and on my front page of my blog. I’ll use my HallofFameMoms blog because that is my main blog and where I’ll be implementing what I’m learning here. If you go there you will see a block of text under 3 ads that starts off with “So…what’s happening here?” There you’ll find one of my “pitches”.

Now- I haven’t tweaked my “elevator pitch” in those two places since starting Day 1. I do need to  take some time to think about how I can better say what I want to say.  The “elevator pitch” needs to be sharp and concise.  I need to pack it tight with the right thoughts…to convey the message I want my readers to understand in as few words as possible.

My elevator pitch will likely be the door that opens and closes opportunities for me in the blogosphere.  I will be asking myself, as I ponder my current pitch…

• Is my pitch written in such a way that I will attract new readers and keep current ones?
  
• Will I attract good PR offers?
• Are my objectives clear?
  
• Am I missing something?

So, you know what MY homework is right now.  [By the way, Darren goes into more depth and detail about "pitch". ] What about you? How’s your “pitch”?

Did you find this post helpful? Do you have any suggestions? Let’s help each other out. If you want to say something, please leave a comment below!

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As you know from an earlier post, I bought Darren Rowse’s ebook 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. Now its been more than 31 days since I bought it. I think I just bought it in February. I think its high-time I really get into the work involved. I’d like to invite you on this ride…or series. But first you should know…

:: This will take ME longer than 31 days.

:: I plan to post about EACH step I work on.

:: I really don’t know what all I’m in for here. * yikes!

I could use a little “go girl!” now and then. So if you are seriously thinking about being a successful blogger or have already arrived to that status I’d love to have  a little encouragement here and there to keep me motivated.

Not empty flattery.

Just let me know you are interested in seeing how this experiment pans out or that you are indeed learning along with me

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Okay, I am sorry I haven’t posted in a timely manner here but this blog is “on the side”. Its where I can dump some of the technical aspects of blogging in a niche of its own. I don’t think everyone who reads my main blog is really interested in blogging for themselves so I don’t want to turn them off by sharing everything there. Plus, there may be a few other good reasons why that wouldn’t be a good idea anyways.

I did, however, share something over there that I will only link to here. I wrote the post to reach the work at home moms from MomPack.com. Its a Yahoo group I belong to. This IS information that a blogger should know. At least, a blogger who has to be very frugal about spending money on anything that has to do with blogging. I know for me, blogging is not my #1 priority in life, its not my purpose for being on this planet we call Earth If you need some extra buttons and banners for your site you should read that post. CLICK HERE to read it. I share some information on how to make your own buttons and banners for FREE.

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Yep, after checking in at Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger site, getting his emails, reading his guest posts, etc, etc… I saw that he was offering his ebook 31 Days to Build a Better Blog for less than $20! I had to get it. I really believe in this guy and what he’s knows and what he’s doing. I just downloaded my copy tonight and he has some extra bonus stuff too, btw.

To learn more about ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, click the image below. But be aware- this book is not for someone who has not set up a blog yet. Darren has a book for beginners like that I think. You can learn more about Darren Rowse and sign up for his free email updates by clicking the link below as well.

I was asked awhile back to share my tips about how I make money selling ads on my blog. Its taken me awhile to write this post.  I knew I needed to be able to give this some focus and being a work from home mom means I don’t focus on one thing for very long periods of time- without interruption that is.

When I started blogging I did so with the intent to earn money from home being an affiliate marketer – not a “mom blogger”.  But it was a niche I really wasn’t prepared to be successful in. I was pretty green and had a lot to learn about managing my own website and learning the terminology etc etc..  Nevertheless, a business coach (Kelly McCausey) showed me I was really heading in the “momblogger” direction. That conversation was a turning point for me. Instead of bucking the idea of being a momblogger I embraced it,  and moved in that direction and it has been liberating!

Mom’s blog about a lot of things and its important to blog about where your passion is, aka- your niche. You’re niche or focus is “yours”. I blog about a lot of things. The phase of my life right now is filled trying to be a godly wife and mother and help bring in some income while I am home with my kids. I don’t want to work outside the home, but I need an income.  To make some money, I provide childcare for a few other moms who do work outside the home and… I blog.

I really am making some money in a few ways by blogging.  However, being  a wife and mom are priority so I can’t commit 100% of me to blogging. And just a warning…blogging and the many things associated with it can be quite intoxicating! And I’m talking about it negatively here. It can consume your thoughts and your time. Especially when you are trying to get from point A to point B and you have to do it all by yourself. That is, everything from the techy stuff to the writing. When you don’t know much, you have to research much! And at times it feels like you are in a race with time I guess. Especially when you don’t have much time for yourself, let alone learning a new “career”   You can laugh at that, but I believe its the truth!  I’ve learned more about blogging, marketing, advertising, html, wordpress, Googles, social networking and so on.

Before you can expect to make money online by blogging (that is, if that is your reason for getting started in blogging) first things first.

1-   Discover, find, realize…what your passion is and make that the focus of your blog.  Blogging will be a chore without desire.

2-  Are you willing to blog  without making any money? If so, you have a good chance of eventually earning some money down the road because if you blog and share your blog with other readers (and bloggers!)  you are bound to find others who also share your interest and many will become loyal readers and…

3-  Lots of loyal readers = an audience who will be visiting your blog and seeing the ads on there and…

4-  An audience is what advertisers want and need…

5- Cha-ching!

And so I will conclude this Prelude because my 5 yr old has continually interrupted me, climbed on my chair with me, tried to color my hair with a crayon and convince me I needed to put on his socks. Its time for me to stop for now. Thnk about the things I mentioned here, do a little soul-searching and subscribe to my posts (see my sidebar) so you don’t miss my updates. Now that I’ve gotten started on this topic I definitely want to tell you how I’m making money by blogging

You can also visit me at www.HallofFameMoms.com and become my friends on Facebook and Twitter through my links there.

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