This is a topic I am obviously passionate about, since I started full time blogging just over one year ago! I want to start off this series of posts by giving a little background and history into my journey with blogging: why I started, the goals for my blog, and when I started making money. There are lots of answers to how to make money blogging, but I am going to focus specifically on how I make money as a mommy blogger.
Why I Started my Blog
I actually wanted to start a blog YEARS ago, but didn’t think I had anything valuable to write about so I gave up on the idea almost as quickly as I had it! We had a couple of family trips planned around Reagan’s first birthday, so I decided to start a blog since I had some travel related content to write about.
I initially thought there was only one kind of blogger (fashion) and the more I tried to fit that mold the less successful I was. After a couple of months, I started writing about more motherhood related topics and found this unknown passion to share my thoughts on motherhood with other women! I also found out I was pregnant with my second daughter around this time, writing about pregnancy came very naturally to me and my small audience responded very positively to the things I had to share.
When I started my blog, I was working five nights a week in a lab, caring for a toddler during the day, and pregnant with our second baby. My husband was applying to PA schools, and I knew that once he started school I wouldn’t be able to work to support our growing family without enrolling our children in day care. I knew bloggers made money, and I thought that if I started early that I might be making enough supplemental income blogging by the time he started school that I wouldn’t have to leave my babies to work outside of the home.
Goals for My Blog
Like I mentioned, my ultimate goal was to eventually be able to make some sort of income to support our family while my husband was in school. But making money did not drive the topics I wrote about or the methods I used to become a successful blogger.
I wanted more than anything to inspire women who were in a similar stage of life as myself. Young moms, moms of multiples, moms with two under two, moms living far away from family, working moms, stay at home moms, etc. I LOVED writing about motherhood and hearing how I was touching the lives of women from around the world.
Growing a blog takes more time and effort than you may recognize. Every spare moment that I had when I wasn’t taking care of babies or working in a lab was spent on my phone or laptop. I easily spent 6-7 hours per day engaging with other bloggers on Instagram, taking and editing photos to post to my feed and site, and writing three blog posts per week. My content was planned weeks in advance, and I rarely had time to spend with my husband or with myself during that first year. It all paid off, and I gained 10,000 followers on Instagram in my first year!
I use Instagram and Pinterest as the main ways to drive traffic to my blog. (A lot of women choose to only use one platform to build an audience on, but I highly recommend devoting your time to several channels so you have a following to rely on if Instagram up and disappears one day.) Since I utilize these platforms to drive traffic to my blog, I spend most of my time building those audiences and linking to my blog frequently.
When I Started Making Money
I did not see a dime for all of those hours put in until my blog was 10 months old. My first paid collaboration was for a lactation supplement and I loved the product so much that I continued a relationship with them for over a year! That was a tangent, but important to mention. DO NOT accept the first paid offer you receive if it does not relate to your blog. Bloggers refer to this as staying “on brand” and it’s crucial if you want to maintain an audience that respects and trusts you.
Anyways, after that first paid collaboration, I thought I would receive all sorts of paid offers from other brands. NOPE. There was a threshold I needed to hit first, the 10,000 follower mark.
I hit 10k followers barely after my blog turned one. That number “qualified” me as a trusted resource (as dictated by Instagram) and I started receiving a lot more offers from brands. When I say that brands reach out or I receive offers, I am referring to the process where a social media manager finds me on Instagram (usually through hashtags/geotagging), determines I am a good fit for their product (staying on brand), and emails me a proposal.
Proposals typically introduce the brand and product, lay out what the brand is looking for in terms of content, and leaves room for negotiating payment. I do frequently participate in product exchange collaborations where I receive free product, but am not compensated beyond that. Some examples of these collaborations include small shops, products worth more than my posting fee, or things I really want to do or experience. For example, I recently collaborated with an air purifier company who’s product costs $2,000. Since that is well above the fee I charge for sponsored posts, I agreed to collaborate on a product exchange basis only.
I also frequently send proposals to brands that I want to work with. If I see another blogger in my niche working with a brand who I think is a good fit for my blog, and email the brand directly. The blogger community is good at sharing media contacts, and I have made connections with brands from other bloggers sharing their contacts!
What to do Next
Okay so now that you have a background into why I started and when I started making money, I will dive into the nitty gritty of HOW to actually start and maintain a blog as a business. Look for How to Make Money Blogging – Part 2 coming soon!