How To Create a Free Designer Logo For Your Blog

How To Create a Free Designer Logo For Your Blog

Such a neat trick. She shows how to create a free logo for your blog that looks like a professional designer made it. Tons of logo designs and styles to choose from and takes literally 5 minutes :)Ever tried to DIY your blog logo? How’d that turn out?

Unless you have the happy coincidence of being a blogging babe and a graphically gifted, I’m guessing not too great. Even attempting to create a basic text-based logo can take hours of your time and still come out looking home-grown… and not in a good way.

It’s sooo easy to get sucked into the design of your blog in the beginning. Forever tweaking your layout, colors, fonts and yes, your logo.

But when you’re just starting out, there are WAY MORE IMPORTANT things that you need to be spending your time on.

Things like creating awesome content, getting traffic, growing your email list and creating a profit plan for your blog. And tweaking your blog logo a gazillion times doesn’t contribute one bit to any of those important things you should be focusing on to grow your blog.

Some marketers will even tell you that ugly websites perform better than fancy ones.

The key here is not that “ugly” or “pretty” is better, but that you don’t have to dump a bunch of money into your logo or branding in order to have a successful blog. Especially in the beginning, it’s important to set a strong foundation and spend your time on tasks that will directly contribute to the growth of your blog.

That said, you don’t want your logo looking like a hot mess that your Kindergartner put together in his free time. A homemade logo that looks homemade can lead to a decrease in credibility in the eyes of your readers.

So if you could get a professionally designed logo for your blog in about 5 minutes – for FREE – would you want it? Stick with me, it’s coming 🙂

But first, let me just tell you that you’re not alone if you’ve already dumped a bunch of time and effort into your blog logo. I’m embarrassed at how much time I spent in the early days of this blog tweaking my logo. And completely changing it 100%. And then tweaking it again.

Here are a few of my early concepts (2 of which were actually on the blog for a time):

Attempt #1:

Attempt #2:

Attemp #I-lost-count:

The current logo I have isn’t perfect, but I’M NOT TOUCHING IT for a good long time! I’ve already wasted way too much time, and the thing that pains me the most is that I SO didn’t have to.

There’s a much faster, easier and smarter way to getting a designer logo for free. If you’re graphically challenged (or just a perfectionist who spends waayyyy too much time on your blog logo design), then this video is for you.

In it, I show you how to create your own free designer logo for your blog… fast.

Here’s a quick recap of what’s in the video in case you didn’t watch:

1. Log in to Canva.com (it’s free and takes seconds to sign up if you don’t already have an account)Click

2. Click on “More” (looks like a plus sign inside a square)

3. Click on one of the templates that best resembles the basic shape/orientation you want your logo to be (ignore the pictures and graphics on them… you’ll customize this in the next step). This will open a blank canvas in the shape/template you chose.

4. Once you have your blank canvas open, click on the T-Text tab in the left sidebar. Then scroll down and choose the designer logo template you like.

5. Now just customize it with your blog name and colors. Aaaand, done!

The logo templates are pre-designed by real designers who actually know what they’re doing, so you know it’s going to look legit when you place it on your blog. Of course, design is subjective, but pretty much everyone can spot a DIY logo that was done by a not-graphic-designer.

So save yourself the time and trouble, create a fast, free designer logo for your blog and call it a day!

Then move on to the truly important tasks when it comes to growing your blog, like you know, getting traffic, growing and nurturing your email list, and making money.

❤ If you enjoyed this post, will you please share it on social media? That 5-second gesture goes a long way to support my blog. Thank you! 😚

Free Resource Guide: 8 Steps to a Money-Making Mom Blog in Just 2 Hours a Day

Everything you need to know, and in what order, to start and grow your own money-making blog in just 2 hours a day.

How To Get Free Traffic To a Brand New Blog

How To Get Free Traffic To a Brand New Blog

This looks totally doable! She breaks down exactly how to get free blog traffic without wasting all your time or paying for it.Writing an epic blog post that no one reads is kinda like doing Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred workout right before eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts – it’s a big waste of time and energy. Not that I’ve ever done that (ahem.)

Moving on.

We all want boatloads of readers, pageviews and traffic to our blog. In fact, when I sent out my annual survey to my email list at the beginning of the year, this was the #1 top requested topic that my readers wanted to hear about. And for good reason: if no one’s reading our posts then our posts don’t matter. #harshtruth

But as busy moms and bootstrapped bloggers, our time and money are tight! We need to be able to get traffic to our blogs without spending a ton of time or money to get it. And that my friends, is what I’m about to share with you.

Here are the top 3 ways I got free traffic to my brand new blog:

1. A Free Platform With a CONSISTENT STRATEGY

Riddle me this: Where can you go online to get decadent cupcake recipes, healthy meal plans for kids, budget DIY project ideas AND boatloads of free traffic to your blog?

Yep, it’s Pinterest. If you’re new to blogging and haven’t heard the buzz about how tons of bloggers are getting massive free traffic from Pinterest, then this is your lucky day.

This traffic strategy is at the top of the list because it’s my absolute favorite for getting a lot of traffic with minimal time investment.

But for the longest time, Pinterest was my Acchiles’ heel when it came to getting traffic to my blog.

Even though I profiled bloggers (here and here) who were getting crazy amounts of free traffic from Pinterest, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it to work for the life of me!

I followed all the Pinterest advice that everyone talks about in their own success stories on their blogs:

  • Set up a Pinterest business account
  • Use keywords in your profile and Pins
  • Pin long, attractive images with enticing text
  • Use a Pinterest scheduler
  • Pin to group boards

But I was still coming up shamefully short. What was I doing wrong? It was nails-on-the-chalkboard annoying and frustrating.

Turns out, I was missing the one thing that would later become crucial to my Pinterest growth: a cohesive strategy.

I was just random-Googling and trying things, but didn’t have the overall big picture SYSTEM to understand how to effectively implement each task and make all the pieces work together. For some people this isn’t an issue, but I’m the kind of person that needs to understand the big picture.

How to Get Free Traffic from Pinterest

Once I understood the strategy – the why – I started (seriously) scheduling my Pins with Tailwind (this was key for me), and following a strategic plan. Now, I say “seriously” because I had already previously been using both services “here and there” to schedule Pins, but never developed a routine and schedule to do it consistently.

I’d pin a few things on Monday, schedule a dozen things for the next day or so, repin a few things on Pinterest itself, then forget about it for the rest of the week. And the week after that. Then I’d get at it again. I had no consistency whatsoever! And I wasn’t pinning nearly enough, and again, I think it’s because I really didn’t understand the why of it all.

So I invested in a course. It took me what seemed like FOR.EV.ER (<— that video goes on for 10 hours… where do I find this stuff??) to invest in a Pinterest course. I can be obnoxiously stubborn and like to think I can figure everything out on my own. If I just read one more blog post about it or try one more “hack”, then I’ll get it.

And a lot of times I can! Heck, maybe this time I could have too, and I know many other bloggers who’ve had success without taking a course. But for me, I was just wasting waayyy too much time trying to make it work and getting waayyy too frustrated with my slow Pinterest growth. So I bit the bullet and invested in a Pinterest marketing course.

Having the step-by-step, in-order guide, video tutorials, workbook and supportive accountability environment made all the difference for me. And even though I used to be reluctant to taking blogging courses, I’ve shifted my mindset and now I’m all over it. It’s the same reason I loved Elite Blog Academy even though I already “knew” blogging: having a step-by-step guide and accountability is a sanity-saver.

And with 4 young kids to feed, nurture and entertain all day, I need to keep as much of my sanity as I can 😉

So, to sum up my Pinterest game, here’s what I did:

  • Created my “Perfect Pinterest Profile”
  • Switched to a business account
  • Leveraged Pinterest SEO in my profile, board descriptions, and Pins
  • Rocked my Pin images
  • Implemented a consistent posting strategy using Tailwind

Check out this page for 2 quick videos on how to get even more traffic to your blog.

2. Facebook (But Not Your Facebook Page!)

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I have no idea how to properly use my Facebook Page for my blog. I mean, I post helpful blogging stuff there occasionally so it doesn’t look like a ghost town to a curious onlooker, but as far as a marketing strategy? No idea. And no time to try and figure it out right now. #busymomblogger

One of these days I’ll take a course on it 😉

For now, Facebook Groups are where it’s at for me!

How to Get Traffic From Facebook Groups With the GIVE-ASK Method

I use a GIVE-ASK method to consistently get free blog traffic from targeted Facebook Groups. Here’s how:

  1. I search Facebook Groups I’m a part of for topics I can help with and reply with helpful info (GIVE)
  2. I share my posts and opt-in freebies on promo days within these groups (ASK)

I’ve noticed that when I constantly GIVE helpful and positive advice in these Facebook Groups, my blog promos typically get more attention and clicks. (Of course, you need to make sure your headline and share image is great as well – don’t underestimate this!)

To find Facebook blogging groups that are a good fit for your blog, use the Facebook group search function. Here’s a quick and simple video from Social Media Examiner that shows you how to do it:

You should also use this method to search for Facebook groups that are specifically related to blogging, since those are the ones that most frequently have promo days.

“But, doesn’t this take a ton of time?”, I can hear you ask. It certainly can, if you let it! The best way to do this with minimal time investment is to do a bit of legwork ahead of time to organize your blogging groups into a spreadsheet so you know which days you’ll get to promote on. Then, schedule 15-30 minutes into your calendar each day (if it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist!) and stick to your schedule.

Warning!: It’s really easy to nonchalantly slide into socializing on Facebook when you do this., which will waste a ton of time. Stick to your schedule and even set a timer on your computer if you need to hold yourself accountable.

3. Shine a Spotlight

This method just might be the most fun on this short list, because it allows you to connect with other bloggers and get to know some really great people in your niche. Here’s a fun way to do this effectively (and have a bit of fun and connect with other bloggers in your niche – 2 big bonuses!):

How to Write a Roundup Post to Get Traffic

Write a roundup post on a topic in your niche and feature several blogs or bloggers’ advice or examples in your article, linking to their blogs.

So for example, in her post “16 Top Bloggers Share What Bloggers Should Focus On In 2017”, Jennifer Snyder of Women Winning Online interviewed several bloggers and featured them in her post.

Something magical happens when you do this… most of the featured bloggers will share your article with their audience! Who doesn’t want to share it when they’re featured on someone else’s blog? Pretty much no one. Here’s what happened with Jen’s post from above:

And those are just a few of the shares on one social media platform from the bloggers featured in the article. Easy traffic for Jen 🙂 .

Many bloggers will get automatically pinged when you link to their blog and will share it from there, but some don’t keep an eye on that stuff religiously. SO a bonus tip to improve your chances at getting them to share it: let them know you featured them!

Not like, “Hey I featured you in my latest post, can you please share it now?”, because… obnoxious. ;P

Instead, try sending them an email like this:

“Hi [Insert Name Here]!

Just a quick note to say that I love your blog! Your post [Insert Post Title Here] really resonated with me because [insert personal example].

I also wanted to let you know I featured you in my latest post about [insert topic]. Here it is if you want to check it out: [insert link to post]. I know you’re busy, so no pressure 🙂 Just wanted to let you know I appreciate your work!

Take care,
[Your Name]”

You can copy-paste this script and personalize as needed – easy peasy lemon squeezie. Not every blogger will share, but many will!

The interview style in the example above is certainly effective, but you don’t even have to do all the leg-work of interviewing the other bloggers. You can simply include examples from their blog in a helpful way to your readers (be sure to get permission if you’re using any of their images).

Here are a few examples you can use as inspiration for your own roundup posts:

  • 14 Fats and Healthy Dinners For Busy School Nights
  • 9 No-Mess Activities to Do With Your Toddler
  • 7 Essential De-Cluttering Tips From Minimalist Moms
  • 5 Clever Style Hacks to Keep Your Wardrobe Looking Fresh All Year Long
  • 17 Easy Ways to Style Your Mantle on a Budget

I’m sure you can come up with a gajillion more if you put your mind to it! Be sure to work roundup posts into your content calendar regularly to reap the most benefit from this method.

Quick Recap of “The 3 Free” Traffic Sources

There are certainly a lot more free ways to get blog traffic: hashtags on social media, commenting on other blogs, a strategic Instagram, Facebook and Twitter marketing plan, and more. But the three I mention in this article have the potential to get your blog a boatload of traffic with minimal time and effort, and that’s the key for any busy mom blogger.

So remember, to get a bunch of traffic in not a bunch of time:

  1. Rock Pinterest by following a strategic plan and scheduling Pins
  2. Rock Facebook Groups by using the GIVE-ASK method to connect with other bloggers in your niche.
  3. Rock Roundup Posts by featuring other bloggers in a helpful or inspiring way on your blog.

Now go get it, mama!

❤ Did you enjoy this post? If yes, I’d be so thankful if you shared it on your favorite social. That 5-second gesture goes a long way to support my blog 😘

Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program Review

Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program Review

The Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program

An insider’s review of the EBA affiliate program benefits and features.

elite blogging academy affiliate

A review of the Elite Blog Academy affiliate program for bloggers. Click the image to learn about the program benefits, payout amount, and how to apply.What Is Elite Blog Academy?

Elite Blog Academy (sometimes mistakenly referred to as “Elite Blogging Academy”) is the premier blog training program on the internet. EBA is the only blogging course recommended by most 6- and 7-figure bloggers for its comprehensive approach that teaches new and seasoned bloggers alike to make a full-time income blogging from home.

I have also taken and personally recommend the course.

How Much Money Does the Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program Pay?

The Elite Blog Academy affiliate program pays out 40% for anyone who purchases through your referral. The price of the course in 2017 is $797, but has typically gone up every year since it originally launched. That’s almost $320 commission per sale… you can see how this could add up fast. In fact, the top affiliate last year (2016) earned almost $50k in commissions!

There are also monthly payment plans available wherein if someone purchases that way, you’ll get monthly commissions for the duration of their payment plan.

Is the Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program Easy to Promote?

Yep, and this is a huge perk of the program. TThey have tons of freebies that you can offer your readers and audience that are tracked all the way through the sign-up and sale (called a “forever cookie”). Once someone signs up to the mailing list via your referral link (either through one of the freebies or a direct link to the waiting list), they are forever linked with your account. So, even if they purchase a year after they sign up for the waiting list, you still get paid.

Additionally, it’s just flat out an amazing blogging course, so you can feel confident that you’re promoting a quality product that will benefit your audience. They also have a 100% money-back guarantee:

“Elite Blog Academy comes with a 100% money back guarantee, which gives you the freedom to promote it with confidence. If one of your referrals completes the course and doesn’t see measurable results, they will get a full refund.”

– taken from the Elite Blog Academy affiliate program description

Elite Blog Academy Freebies (or “Freemiums”) You Can Promote

When you promote these freebies to your audience, and if they sign up to get one then they’re forever linked to your affiliate account. That means if they EVER purchase Elite Blog Academy down the line, you get the credit. Click on each image to see the email capture page for each.

How To Apply to the Elite Blog Academy Affiliate Program

If you want to become an Elite Blog Academy affiliate, the program is currently available by invite only, but if you purchase the course, or are alumni, you can become an affiliate.

You are required to complete an “affiliate bootcamp” before being approved as an affiliate. This short course has videos that show you how others are successfully promoting the program and how you can do the same, so it’s a super helpful.

Questions? Comments?

If you have any questions about becoming an Elite Blog Academy affiliate, let me know in the comments below & I’ll do my best to answer them for you!

5 Super Simple Ways Any Mom Blogger Can Make Money With Affiliate Marketing

5 Super Simple Ways Any Mom Blogger Can Make Money With Affiliate Marketing

The Little Black Book of Affiliate Programs for Bloggers

107 Affiliate Programs for Bloggers + The $500 Affiliate Marketing Roadmap
Check It Out!

Need to try this! She shows how to make money blogging using affiliate marketing. Love the mini case studies from other mom bloggers - gives me ideas to try! Pin for later or click through to see now.Six years ago my world changed in a moment.

Up to that moment, I was a young wife and working professional who could go anywhere and do anything on a whim.

After that moment, I was a young mother completely responsible for the life and health of another human being.

It was humbling and terrifying and exciting all at once.

As I held my newborn boy in my arms, the thought of “going back to work” was the farthest thing from my mind. But the reality of having two full-time incomes and no kids go to one income and a baby (with more to come) was impossible to ignore. We made it work, but knew we didn’t want to stay in that place.

You know which place I’m talking about, right?

The paycheck-to-paycheck place. The “You’ve got to be kidding me! The car needs what? And it costs how much??” place. The “I don’t think we’re going to be able to make it for Christmas” and “thank GOD for hand-me-downs” place where money is tight and stress is high.

Nope. We definitely did NOT want to stay there.

I was able to work on and off from home on a part-time basis (which helped), but I started to feel trapped. Tired. Bored. I thought: of all the things life can be, boring should NOT be one of them!

I craved flexibility and freedom, so I went out to get it.

I read and learned everything I could about blogging, wrote post after post during my baby’s naptimes, obsessed over SEO and my blog design, put ads in my sidebar… and wondered when the money was going to start rolling in.

Want to start a blog of your own but not sure how? Here’s your free step-by-step guide.

Not that I expected to get rich.

But I thought there’d be something coming in after several months at the grind. What was I doing wrong?

It wasn’t long before I realized that blogging – at least profitable blogging – doesn’t actually work that way.

The ads that I thought would be bringing home the bacon were actually a waste of space on such a new blog, and there was actually a MUCH BETTER way for me to be making money as a new blogger.

As Ruth Soukup teaches in Elite Blog Academy, if you have a new blog or low traffic, ads are most likely not going to be the best income stream for you.

Thankfully, I realized that there was a much quicker and easier way to make money with my blog.

The Quickest and Easiest Way For Mom Bloggers to Make Money

So, what is this diamond in the rough I found that enabled me to make money from my blog naturally and easily?

It’s called Affiliate Marketing, and it’s probably not what you’ve heard it is.

In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is when you earn a commission (money) for referring buyers to products and services. As a busy stay-at-home-mom of 4, this is now my #1 favorite way to make money blogging because it requires very little time to get rolling and, if done properly, still has huge potential for making a lot of money.

No products to create or services to provide that suck hours out of your day. No writing half-hearted sponsored posts just to make a one-off buck or randomly placing ads in your sidebar and crossing your fingers that someone clicks them.

Affiliate Marketing the Right Way (Because There is a Wrong Way)

Unfortunately, lots of bloggers do affiliate marketing all wrong, which causes them to make NO money and  LOSE trust with their readers. Don’t let that be you!

Here are some “Dos and Don’ts” you should know if you want to be successful with making money from affiliate marketing on your blog:

Get Your FREE $100 Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet for Bloggers

Discover the “Affiliate Marketing Profit Equation” that makes it easy to plan your first $100 revenue (+ peek behind the curtain at 3 of my personal favorite affiliate programs for bloggers)!

Not That!

Don't make these common affiliate marketing mistakes!
  • DON’T: Personally recommend products and services that you haven’t used just to make a buck (you’ll lose the trust of your readers)
  • DON’T: Sign up for every affiliate program under the sun. It gets too confusing to track them all and remember which ones to include in posts. I recommend signing up for 5 – 10 core affiliates to stay focused and effective.
  • DON’T: Get too pushy or salesy with promoting affiliate products. No one likes to be sold to (this is why people dread buying a new car or walking through the perfume & makeup section of a department store). Remember the “friend rule” from the “Do this” section.
  • DON’T: Just put affiliate ads up in your sidebar or random places on your blog and expect to make good money.
  • DON’T: Try to hide the fact that you’re an affiliate for the products and services you recommend. Not only does this violate the law, but it also violates the trust of your readers. Not worth it.

Steal These 5 Affiliate Marketing Hacks From Smart Mom Bloggers

As a blogger, there are countless ways you can use affiliate marketing to make money with your blog. Here are five real-life examples from bloggers who are using affiliate marketing successfully on their blogs:

1. Reviews

Write a blog post focused on reviewing a specific product or service.

Ashli from The Million Dollar Mama demonstrates this perfectly in her review of the Living Well Planner.

In her post, “How to Organize Your Whole Life With The Living Well Planner”, she explains what she was looking for in a planner and why the Living Well Planner was the perfect solution.

It includes several pictures and examples of how the planner would be useful to her readers, making it a great example of an effective review post that earns affiliate income.

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Packed with practical tips you can implement right away, this super helpful mini ebook reveals 7 easy things you can do today to start making money from your blog tomorrow. It's a game changer, and for a limited time, you can get it free!

2. Tutorials

Write a how-to article that helps your readers solve a problem or reach a goal.

This article about going paperless from Abby over at Just a Girl and Her Blog is a great example of how to write a helpful tutorial that also earns money from affiliate marketing.

The post is packed to the brim with step-by-step advice and helpful resources. Affiliate earnings come from recommending products like the scanner (Amazon), Evernote and The Paperless Home ebook.

This type of post is perfect for earning affiliate commissions since it helps her readers solve a very specific problem and also has several opportunities for including affiliate links in a natural and authentic way.

3. Lists

Present a list of products or services that will help your readers in some way.

BuzzFeed made the “list post” popular, but you can make it profitable! Here’s a great example from the blog What Moms Love:

87 Energy-Busting Indoor Games & Activities For Kids (Because Cabin Fever Is No Joke)

Instead of another puny list of ideas, What Moms Love compiled a whopping 87 ways for moms to entertain their kids on a rainy day. Filled with bright, colorful pictures and easy-to-follow instructions, this post goes over-the-top in delivering value to its ideal reader.

The affiliate links that are sprinkled throughout the post accomplish two things: 1) They make it super easy for readers to get what they need and, 2) They earn the blog easy profit from commissions.

4. This vs. That

Put two different products up against each other and declare a winner.

Showdowns have drawn crowds since the Wild West, and blogging is the perfect platform to pit one thing against another in an epic head-to-head match.

Try comparing two similar products or services that your readers are interested in and break them down into nitty-gritty detail. Chantal of Busy Blogging Mom does this in her post about two popular but competing Pinterest schedulers, Tailwind and BoardBooster:

BoardBooster VS. Tailwind: Which Is Better?

In her post, Chantal discusses her experience with trying both services out, the pros and cons of each, and which one she ultimately decided to go with.

Since she’s including the features and benefits of each in an objective and factual way in order to let her readers decide, she’s able to use her referral links for both services – bonus!

5. Videos

Record a video to answer questions your readers have that would work naturally for making money with affiliate income.

Jordan Page of FunCheaporFree.com recorded this video to answer her #1 asked question from her fans on social media:

 

In the description of the video on YouTube, it has affiliate links to all the products used in the video. This is a fun, entertaining, and super helpful way to deliver value to her audience and make money.

There are a lot of different ways to make money blogging: ads, sponsored posts, selling products and offering services, to name just a few. But all of these methods have the drawback of either taking a lot of time and effort to setup and maintain or they only make you pennies when you’re starting out.

Affiliate marketing is the only blog monetization method that works great for new bloggers, takes very little time to set up, and also has great potential for making you a lot of money (which is why it’s perfect for busy moms!).

If you want to be successful with affiliate marketing on your blog, remember to stick to the “Dos & Don’ts” from the table above and use the real-life blog examples in this article as inspiration to create your own profit posts!

If you enjoyed this post, will you please share it on social media? That 5-second gesture goes a long way to support my blog. Thank you! ❤

Get Your FREE $100 Affiliate Marketing Cheat Sheet for Bloggers

Discover the “Affiliate Marketing Profit Equation” that makes it easy to plan your first $100 revenue (+ peek behind the curtain at 3 of my personal favorite affiliate programs for bloggers)!

Create Your Own S.M.A.R.T. Blog Profit Plan

Create Your Own S.M.A.R.T. Blog Profit Plan

Stop reading other bloggers' income reports and create YOUR OWN blog profit plan. A simple and S.M.A.R.T. profit action plan (+ free worksheet)So, hey. The new year is here… again. Another year gone, another year where your blog didn’t make any money. Or if it did, it was only a few measly bucks a month.

You read a million blog posts about making money and tried every monetization tip under the sun hoping it would do the trick.

And to be sure, some of that helped.

You probably learned a ton, grew your pageviews and social media following, and are a more seasoned blogger today than you were last year.

But you can’t cash pageviews in at the bank. If making money with your blog is a goal of yours, but you’re still not where you want to be after tons of trying, then it’s time to create a S.M.A.R.T. profit plan for your blog.

Tips and tricks and tools aren’t cutting it, and in fact, they’re probably doing more harm than good.

If you haven’t started your self-hosted blog yet to start earning money, here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started.

A Quick Word On “Blogging Tips” and “Trying Things”

You’ve heard Pinterest is awesome for getting traffic and subscribers to your blog, so you go after it!

You’ve optimized your profile, switched to a business account, and revamped your Pin images on all your popular posts. You were just about to set up your daily Pinning schedule and re-work your board descriptions when you see it:

“Webinars Are The Best Thing In The World For Getting Subscribers”

It’s the shiny New Thing that gets your attention and makes you think everything you’re doing now is a waste of time. So you forget about Pinterest and start researching all things webinars. You’ve drafted your webinar outline and were just about to finish your slides when you see it:

“Facebook Groups Will Change Your Life! You Must Start One Today!”

Another shiny Shiny New Thing. Ugh. You put your webinar work on hold and start a Facebook group for your blog. You have a few hundred members, daily prompts and were just about to start doing Facebook Live videos when you see it:

“The Ultimate Guide to SEO and Infinite Free Traffic To Your Blog!”

STOP! Just stop, please.

It’s nearly impossible to finish the thing you’re working on right now before something new, and seemingly better, gets your attention.

And believe me, I get it. There are so many awesome ideas and advice out there about blogging, marketing, list building and making money that it’s hard to stay focused.

But focused, you must stay, my friend.

Jumping from one thing to the next is the kiss of death when you’re trying to grow your blog into a profitable side hustle or full-time income.

You need to stick to a goal-focused blogging plan and put every potential action through that filter before you do it. Don’t write one more post or spend one more minute on social media until you have a plan.

Create Your Own S.M.A.R.T. Blog Profit Plan

Before we start creating your blog profit plan, let’s take a quick moment to discuss what this whole S.M.A.R.T. business is that I’ve been talking about, because it’s important to set the right kind of goals before you set out.

S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym used to help people set the kind of goals that get results. While the meaning of the letters can vary a bit depending on which application they have, for planning out our blog profit we’re going to use:

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Actionable

R – Realistic

T – Time-bound

In order to get the best results from your blog profit goals, they need to meet all criteria. For example:

BAD GOAL: Make money with my blog.

This goal is Realistic, but it’s lacking the other 4 criteria. It’s completely generic, so once you set out to try and achieve it, you’ll end up chasing tips again and reading a dozen more articles about “How To Make Money With Your Blog” without adding a dime to your bank account.

GOOD GOAL: Make $2,000/month in consistent passive income by the end of 2017.

This goal is S.M.A.R.T.!

Specific – $2k

Measurable – Monthly

Actionable – Since the goal is passive income, you can focus on strategies that will feed that goal (eg. affiliate marketing) and ignore strategies that work against it (eg. offering services).

Realistic – While $2k a month isn’t easy to reach (you still have to set the foundation and do the work to get there!), it’s definitely realistic!

Time-bound – By the end of 2017

Okay! Let’s create your S.M.A.R.T. blog profit plan.

Step #1: Choose a “Dream Big” Goal for the Year

Start by choosing your one main profit goal for the year. Now’s not the time to be shy. Dream big – set a goal that excites you!

Doing this will help keep you motivated throughout the year as you start working through your plan monthly, weekly and daily.

[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]Your goals aren’t too big; they’re not BIG ENOUGH to get you excited. No snooze-fest goals![/Tweet]

Make sure it’s something strong enough to pull you out of bed in the morning and towards your keyboard at night when Netflix is calling.

Quick tip: Make sure you write your goals down! You’re 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down.

Step #2: The 10-Minute Idea Dump

This step is crucial to do at the start of your planning so you can avoid chasing after the Shiny New Things as they come up throughout the year.

Continuing with our goal example from above of $2k per month in passive income, set a timer to 10 minutes and write down all the things that come to mind that might help you reach that goal.

So if you run a style blog for busy moms, your list might look something like this:

  • affiliate marketing
  • google ads
  • simple hairstyles for moms (affiliate links to hair products & accessories)
  • amazon affiliates
  • sell ebook
  • roundup blog post with affiliate links
  • 5 staple pieces every mom wardrobe must have
  • look into RewardStyle affiliate marketplace
  • sell ad space
  • research how to do funnels
  • create course
  • reach out to etsy shop owners to pitch ad spots
  • course idea: “rock every season in style”, videos, photos, how-to guides
  • email series with affiliate links
  • shop page with recommendations
  • ask email list & FB groups what their biggest style frustrations are
  • how to style any outfit with these 3 accessories (post with affiliate links)
  • ebook idea: the frumpy mom’s guide to chic style in 10-minutes a day

This is just a sample list I came up with in about 5-10 minutes, and I know pretty much nothing about style! I’m sure you can come up with many more ideas that fit your own niche.

The trick is – don’t hesitate and don’t judge your ideas before you write them down. It’s an idea dump. Be general, be specific, be redundant… just write everything down and don’t stop until the 10 minutes are up. You can (and should) edit later. Just focus on getting ideas out of your head and on to paper.

Tip: If you need help figuring out a comprehensive gameplan for how to make your blog thrive, I personally suggest Elite Blog Academy. It’s only open once a year, so it’s best to jump on the (free) waiting list now so you don’t miss the enrollment period.

Step #3: Create a 90-Day Action Plan

Since I started blogging and goal setting roughly 7 years ago, I’ve always used a monthly planning system to guide me towards my yearly goal.

While this has worked pretty well, I’ve recently started to implement a 90-day plan and am loving the clarity it delivers! It’s so much easier to break my “Dream Big” goal into 4 large chunks and work my way down from there.

To implement the 90-day plan for yourself, set a goal for the first 90 days of your yearly plan, and break it down into 30-day actionable items.

Here’s what it looks like:

Download your free copy of this editable worksheet.

**This worksheet is modeled after the 90-day plan in the Fresh Start workbook, a workbook & planning guide to help you grow your blog & love your life in 2017! To download your own copy of the worksheet, go here.

Step #4: Work The Plan

I learned a new mantra recently (from the Fresh Start workbook mentioned above), and oh man is it powerful: “Work the plan”.

Don’t let its simplicity fool you; these three words will keep you focused and on track like nobody’s business! Work the plan monthly, weekly and daily.

  • When you sit down at your computer and don’t know what to start on first – work the plan.
  • When you find yourself scrolling aimlessly through Facebook looking for something exciting to happen – work the plan.
  • When you find yourself checking email for the 100th time today hoping for something noteworthy to pop up – work the plan.

By making a habit of this, you will start to make something happen. Of course… that’s assuming you have a plan to work.

Here’s how to create your plan:

1. Start by breaking your 90-day action plan into monthly tasks (like in the worksheet example above) and write them out in your blog planner (LOVE this one by Meera Kothand) or weekly and daily planning sheets.  You can do this for the full year if you want, but I like to keep it to 90-day chunks at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed and I can stay nimble and change things up if I need to (see step #5 below).

 

2. At the end of each week (I do it Sunday night), write out your goals for the following week so you’ll be able to hit the ground running on Monday morning. Make sure the items that make it onto your list feed your 30-day goal for that period. Don’t waste your time doing things you think you might need to do… be ruthless with your time and focus on things that you must do in order to meet your goal.

 

3. At the end of each work day, write out the tasks you’ll need to complete the following day to be able to meet your weekly goal. Since I only work about 2 hours a day, I keep my list to 2-3 things max (most days only 2).

Keep everything S.M.A.R.T., and make sure every item is feeding it’s bigger goal, and remember to write it down! Even billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson still writes down his goals, plans & ideas daily:

Write it down, write it down, write it down

A photo posted by Richard Branson (@richardbranson) on

So your daily tasks should feed your weekly goals, your weekly goals should feed your monthly goals, your monthly goals should feed your 90-day action plan, and your 90-day action plan should feed your “Dream Big” goal for the year.

Step #5: Evaluate + Adjust Monthly

As important as it is to create your blog profit plan and work the plan daily, it’s just as important to evaluate your results on a regular basis.

Use a time block at the end of each month to check in on your goals and make sure your plan is actually working to help you reach them.

If so, great! Keep on working that plan! If not, then it’s time to be flexible and change your approach.

For instance, one of your 30-day goals might be to increase your email subscribers by 100. In order to accomplish this, you set a weekly goal of publishing one guest post per week to get 25 new subscribers per guest post.

If, however, your guest posting isn’t returning those results, then it’s time to switch up that strategy! Consider what you might be doing wrong with your guest posts and also brainstorm other ways to build your email list. Then, work up a new plan for the next 30-days.

Having a thriving and profitable blog is no accident, and no amount of chasing tips or reading articles is going to help if you don’t have a strong goal + plan to get there.

We’ve learned how to:

1. Set a “Dream Big” profit goal for your blog this year

2. Do a 10-minute Idea Dump

3. Create a 90-Day Action Plan

4. Work the Plan!

5. Evaluate & Adjust

Follow these 5 simple steps to creating a S.M.A.R.T. blog profit plan that works… take the time NOW to map it out and get clear on what you want from your blog. Don’t forget to sign up for the Elite Blog Academy waiting list if you need help figuring out how to grow your blog readers and income. You can do this – I promise.

Consider sharing? If you enjoyed this post, would you share it on social media? That one 5-second gesture goes a long way to help support my blog ❤. And I’m always happy to chat with you in the comments below if you have any questions or feedback!

5 Easy-Peasy Email Automations For Busy Mom Bloggers

5 Easy-Peasy Email Automations For Busy Mom Bloggers

This is a guest post by Meera Kothand. Be sure to check out her awesome freebie at the bottom of this post!

Great tips on how bloggers can use email marketing automations to save time and make money with your blog.It’s a tough balancing act being a mom and a blogger, isn’t it?

You work hard to earn some income from your blog, keep your social media feeds filled, write and publish your blog posts, create those pesky graphics in ten different sizes and try to manage the kiddos and household.

When you have to do all of that and I tell you to add email marketing in the mix, I don’t blame you for wanting to throw something at me. Email is this whole other monster that you don’t even know how to start tackling right?

But what if I told you that you could use email to save time, build credibility and bring in the sales?

Email is not a time drain. Far from that. If you know how to use email right, it could very well be the key tool in your arsenal saving you loads of time.

If email marketing was that great, why aren’t more people using it rather than viewing it as a chore? That’s because they fail to see the automation opportunities that exist in email.

Power of Automation

Automation is not scheduling. In fact it’s the very opposite.

Scheduling is manually batching an area of work so that it can be published or shared later. Queuing your posts in WordPress to be published later, loading your buffer feeds and loading your pictures on Latergramme are examples of scheduling.

Automation is setting up a system of processes that repeat themselves time and again.

That is what you want to do with email. And this works like a charm for a mommy blogger because time is so precious.

In this post I’m going to give you a snapshot of the possibilities that exist with email marketing.

Welcome onboarding for new subscribers and clients

Have a new subscriber? Hurray! This is your time to wow and impress them when they are most engaged with you and your brand.

Every time someone new opts-in to your list, send them a welcome email series which is a sequence of 3-5 emails.

Example: After opting in for the freebie “10 Screen-Free Toys for Guaranteed Quiet Time Play That Will Let You Relax, Recharge or Put The Laundry Away”, WhatMomsLove.com sends a short series of welcome emails to introduce you to their brand. See screenshot below:

mom blogger email welcome sequence

Email #1 of 4 from the WhatMomsLove.com email welcome sequence.

Imagine every subscriber going through an onboarding sequence with the intention of introducing them to your brand, your best content and the value you provide.

Imagine the impression that would make on your subscribers. Your new subscribers will be taken care of no matter when they opt in to your list. Even if that’s during the holiday season or when you’re on vacation.

Opt-in > Deliver opt-in freebie > Subscribe to welcome email series

Collect Testimonials

As bloggers and solopreneurs we struggle with getting testimonials. It’s one of those things that gets put on the back burner because we simply forget to put in place a system to do so.

But what if you could automate the process. Here are some ways you can do so:

  • A subscriber who has been on your list for 30 days or more gets an automatic email asking for feedback or a testimonial about the content you’ve been sending them
  • You auto send an email to any client after they’ve signed up for your service package and ask for feedback about the working process
  • Anyone who has purchased your course or ebook gets an email 30 days later asking for a testimonial

You will wake up each morning to testimonials in your inbox rather than actively look for them or remembering to get in touch with subscribers, customers or clients.

Are you starting to see the potential of your email list? Don’t miss Meera’s free email course, “Email Lists For Newbies, to kickstart your email list the right way.

Know exactly what your audience is interested in

What if you knew exactly what your subscribers were interested in? Tag anyone who has opted-in to your freebie or content upgrade or clicked on a blog post link as interested in that particular topic.

convertkit email tag interests

If a reader clicks on this link, you’ll know they’re interested in Pinterest.

This way when you’re looking for beta testers for a product or to do a product survey related to the topic, you will know who to reach out to on your list. You can do this easily with an email service provider such as ConvertKit.

Opt-in to freebie or content upgrade> tag as interested in topic

Click on blog post link > tag as interested in topic

Sell on autopilot

Do you have an ebook or course that you’d like to sell on autopilot? If you have a content upgrade or freebie on your blog that’s directly related to that paid product, you could set up a series of 5-10 emails filled with educational content to send to any subscriber who opts in to the freebie or content upgrade.

email sales sequesnce

Sample sales email series.

There are very few people who will buy from you straight off the bat. By sending them content related to the topic of your paid product you are showing your expertise and the problem that your product solves.

You inch the subscriber closer and closer towards making a purchase. You could then present your product as a natural ‘next step’ later in the email series for anyone who wants to go deeper into the topic.

Opt-in to content upgrade or freebie > Subscribe them to an email sequence

Identify potential customers

Not everyone will be interested in your offer. But those who click through to your sales page are at least interested to know what your offer is about.

It’s important to know who these people are so that you can send them offers even if they don’t buy from you the first time.

There are several reasons why someone doesn’t buy. It’s not always about your product. It may not be the right time for them. They may have other budget constraints for the month. Being moms, we know how such months are.

But if you show up at an opportune time in the future, they might just jump on your offer. You can automate this as well and I’ll show you how in the next step.

Present a downsell

A downsell is a ‘lite’ or cheaper version of an existing product or service package.

For anyone who has clicked through to your sales page but did not buy your product, add them to a downsell sequence that will only hit their inbox 30-60 days later. You could present them a coupon code or a ‘lite’ version of your existing product.

Provide excellent customer service on auto

Your email content just bagged you a sale. That’s fantastic, but your support for that subscriber who just purchased doesn’t end there. Connect them to a new email sequence that hand holds them through your course or product.

Tag as ‘purchased product’ > Subscribe to ‘welcome to course/product’ email sequence

Embrace email

All of these processes that I’ve walked you through can be set-up once and then run on autopilot in the background with an email service provider with basic tagging and automation features.

Our host Candis and I are huge fans of Convertkit (aff link). Convertkit has a dedicated ‘Automations’ section in the dashboard which makes it really easy to have all of these running in minutes. If you’re ready to kickstart your email list, Convertkit is a platform we highly recommend.

You will need to sit down and plan how you’d like them to work, but once you have the systems in place, you will begin to enjoy email and reap the benefits of it.

Every piece of content including your emails and blog posts will work harder for you so that you have that extra time and money to spend on your family. So that you can work on growing your blog and business rather than be in constant ‘launch mode’ wondering where the next sale or client is going to come from.

 

Have I convinced you to embrace email as yet?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Meera Kothand

meera kothandMeera is a certified email marketing specialist and blogger who helps ambitious female solopreneurs and bloggers find focus, build authority and stand out online. Want to get started with your email list? Take the free email course Email Lists for Newbies.