So you’re thinking about starting a blog. And you are also a mom. Go you, mama! Blogging is not only a great outlet for all the craziness of motherhood (even if you aren’t writing about parenting), but it also has the potential to provide an income from your own home while you wear pajamas and wrestle your child into their stained but sturdy clothes for the day. BUT, there are some big parts of blogging to consider before you take the leap.
What’s the Problem?
You want to start a blog, but:
- You don’t know where to start
- You don’t have a budget to start a blog (domain name, hosting, etc)
- You aren’t sure if you can make money blogging (if that’s your intention)
- Worry you won’t be able to learn while also wrangling your child(ren)
- You have no idea how to stay organized through the chaos of EVERYTHING (not just blogging)
Let me tell you a secret: all these worries are completely valid and actually show that you are thinking before you jump in the deep end.
Blogging is anything but easy. Anybody that tells you otherwise is likely selling something (and you don’t need it because it will be full of fluff, ego trips, and false promises).
F that.
Blogging is a full blown business.
Plus, there are many parts of blogging you don’t realize are going to be a part of your already hectic life.
Whether you are wrangling a toddler or trying to enforce curfew with your teenager, parenthood means you will always be distracted (even if you don’t realize you’re doing it). You will likely have incredibly fixed and limited time to do all the blogging things while also managing all the momming and life-ing things.
But let’s look at this one step at a time.
Let’s take a look at what you are likely reading online (and worrying about) and debunk and expand on a few things:
Starting A Blog Is Easy And Fun
Drooling over other blogs on the internet can really get your creative juices flowing! It’s fun to think about all the ways you can make your website pretty and it shouldn’t take that long…right?
There are tons of step-by-step tutorials on how to purchase a domain (your blog URL like yourblog .com) and to set up your blog with a host (if you are going self hosted meaning you are paying someone to house your blog files so you own all the content). It truly is simple and easy.
The challenges arise when you are learning a brand new system/platform like WordPress along with a theme (the look of your blog). There is a freaking huge learning curve.
Don’t discount how much time and frustration are about to come your way trying to emulate or even update a simple item on your site when you first start blogging.
Blogging is an online world full of trials and lessons to learn. Since it’s all digital, that means you may not have someone to help you teach you or set things up for you (depending on your budget), and the less tech-savvy are really going to struggle.
The good and the bad side of blogging is that there is a YouTube video for nearly everything…but what works for one blogger may not work for another. Arg!
Just remember that once you get over that learning curve, it will mostly fall into place and you will be one proud mama.
ACTION ITEM: Before you make yourself crazy over the debate of starting a blog/business, focus not on what you want to get out of your blog but what you can offer to your readers. You need to solve problems for your audience, not just try to solve your own financial ones. Think about your reader first in all things.
Without readers you have an online journal not a business.
Starting A Blog Is Budget Friendly
Yes. And no.
If you aren’t careful, blogging can be an incredibly expensive endeavor. But if you focus in on what you actually NEED to get starting, you’re golden.
I have absolutely no doubt that you will want your site to be perfect and exactly like what you see in your head (likely inspired by another blogger’s site).
But many successful bloggers have gotten to a point (or at least have the budget) where they can upgrade numerous things on their site. Some may be purely aesthetic (visual) while others may be great tools but there are versions you can use when you first start for free (like they also didn’t when they were new either).
When you first start, there are only 2-3 investments you should make (more on this later).
After that, guess what you should focus on?
Hint: it’s not making your site PERFECT (I know, I know, you are going to fight yourself on this one).
Content.
That’s blog posts. You are going to hear over and over that “content is king” (or “content is queen” – let’s be inclusive shall we?).
For every successful blogger thats out there pushing the benefits of blogging, there are also many, many bloggers who have failed.
Those who run a successful blog, on the other hand, have mastered a few key elements that reaffirms why blogging is so alluring to so many.
A successful blogger befriends social media, puts in a ton of hard work and consistently writes quality content. Theyve also found a way to garner attention and make money, which is what drives most people to start a blog in the first place.
Neil Patel
You don’t need fancy and (at times) expensive plugins (which add functionality and “prettiness” to your site, depending on the purpose of the plugin) or theme. You just need to create content.
Just Find Focused Time To Work On Your Blog
Sure, you can focus when you are alone while your kids are sleeping or when someone can keep your kids out of the emergency room.
But for many of us moms those focused times are few and far between and sacrificing sleep for your blog is like intentionally opening the dishwasher while it’s running and getting sprayed with scalding hot water (that you now have to clean up) – your days doing the millions of other things to worry about and work on.
Managing it all will require systems (which we will discuss a little bit later) you create that include flexibility as a busy mompreneur.
ACTION ITEM: Every mom and every child is different. To form a plan that works for you and your unique circumstances you must first take a deep dive into your own life and face your pain points one-by-one. Imagine you are looking in at you and your child(ren) through a window, write down what works and doesn’t work (in all the things) then celebrate your successes and tackle the challenges like a hangry linebacker.
Impressive Income Reports From Others
You have no doubt heard of some people online saying they started blogging and made a full time income within 3 months. For 99.9% of bloggers it could be YEARS before you come close to a full time income.
This is NOT to discourage you. But so many moms just like you start a blog thinking it’s an easy and simple way to make money from home. Blogging is hard for everyone but even more so if you are also juggling a family, an avalanche of laundry, and peanut butter smears on the carpet.
Why This Sucks
You just want to write and make money online.
Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy?!!!
But if it was that easy everyone would be doing it and making buckets of money.
Blogging is a skill (actually a lot of skills) and not everyone is cut out for it.
That’s the harsh truth.
To top everything off, moms have a piece of themselves waking or crawling around outside of themselves. Its a unique, constant distraction (even if welcome) to every moment of every day.
Let’s get real.
The question every blogger asks themselves after she starts to grasp exactly whats involved in being a blogger is: “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?!”
This question resonates with every single blogger out there as a newbie.
Ask ANY blogger and they will have something to tell you about an “ah ha” or “oh crap” moment when they first started.
And, no, it is not about one particular issue or task.
Lets put this is some easier terms:
Why Blogging Is Like Having Quintuplets
Remember when your child was a baby? Or are you in the thick of it NOW?
Starting a blog is like starting from day one – you know you want a baby, you decide to have a baby, you get pregnant, you plan the nursery, pick a name (or 10), make it to all the doctor appointments, take your prenatal, read all the baby books, etc etc etc
Then, suddenly you have a crying, endlessly ravenous, sleepy, adorable newborn baby to care for.
Weve all been there. Books and planning only go so far since every baby is different. Every mama is different.
Now, imagine starting on day 1…with quintuplets.
You go into planning a blog because it sounds amazing, you could make money while doing it, and you get to make your own hours.
Yay!
There’s a big BUT in there.
What most newbie bloggers dont realize (moms and non-moms alike) is that if you plan to make money blogging, you are about to start a full-fledged business.
You dont just write words and share your knowledge with the digital world and BAM you have people reading your content and eagerly buying through your affiliate links or your products (however you choose to make money – aka monetize).
If you want to blog merely for fun, that’s like having 1 baby. It’s completely manageable and you can write whatever you want because your goal is different.
Now, if your goal IS to make money blogging as a mom, you are about to give birth to quintuplets.
Joking but not joking here.
What You Will Need To Learn And Maintain As A Blogger
Just getting started and set-up (labor) can feel overwhelming, endless, and painful as heck.
Then, you have to care for all those babies in the form of:
- maintaining your website/blog (what people see and what they don’t)
- writing content (blog posts)
- promoting content
- creating and maintaining an email list
- monetizing
- networking
- learning SEO
- mastering graphic design for the online world
- discovering how to make your own products or courses
- learning Pinterest for business
- testing, reporting, and pivoting your plans and tactics
And thats not even a complete list.
ACTION ITEM: The list of items you will need to learn and maintain is very overwhelming. When a new topic, method, term, whatever comes up, keep a running list of what to research. Then, intentionally sit down to research each (high level) and decide for yourself which should take priority. You’re only one person (taking care of many others). Take them one at a time!
Why Comparing Can Equal Instant Failure
Now, one thing to always keep in mind is that no two blogs are the same. This is both amazingly good and equally frustrating.
On the one hand you know that although there are millions upon millions of websites and blogs out there, each blog has a different voice (your writing style and personality), experience level (beginner, intermediate, and expert level knowledge on topics), and skill set (Good at selling and/or marketing? Good at connecting with your reader? Good at creating goals and reaching for them? So on and so forth).
Then the other side is realizing that since there are sooooo many blogs out there you won’t have a roadmap. What works for one blogger may not work for another.
If you have already done your research, you know that everywhere you look is conflicting information on what “works” to succeed as a blogger. There are a couple of reasons for that:
Bloggers find what works for THEM and share it (sometimes assuming or leading readers to believe it would work for anyone)
Bloggers make money as affiliates (receive income from purchases through link clicks from other companies, etc) so may promote a tool, service, or product merely to earn money (sad but true).
Its insanely hard to know what will work and what wont for YOUR blog.
But thats where the method of guess and check come in.
What many bloggers dont share is the many methods or tactics that DIDN’T work until they found what did work.
And even if they did share their failures (which are only indicators that something isn’t working), who’s to say that wouldn’t work for YOU?
See why this is so challenging?!!
ACTION ITEM: Stick a post it on your computer screen, get a tattoo on your hand, do whatever you need to do to keep reminding yourself that failures are GOOD. Failures are merely telling you what doesn’t work so you can try something else.
How to Handle It
Ok so let’s get back to some the worries I listed earlier and tackle how to actually make them work:
How To Start A Blog
I really wish this was a simple answer. Rather than get into the step-by-step process (this will be in a separate post), you should first determine if blogging is right for you.
Blogging takes dedication, consistency, and a whole lotta moxy to succeed in this competitive online world.
ACTION ITEM: Before anything else, you need to make clear goals for your blog. Are you just trying to share your experiences? What are your goals to help your READER? Yes, your goals must at all times remember your reader. Be clear. Be as specific as you can. Make them measurable.
How To Start A Blog On A Budget
While blogging is an investment, knowing what to invest in when you first start is going to save you a TON of money in the long run.
Here is what I recommend to every blogger:
- Domain name: URL (like yourblog .com)
- Hosting: where you house your blog files
- Legal Page Templates (optional but important): Privacy Policy (a requirement for ALL blogs/websites), Disclaimer, Terms of Use, etc
Everything else you can get away with for absolutely free when you first start out.
There will be a million-and-one courses you will see and want to take. But hold off. See what you can find for free to get started and then be strategic on which courses you invest in (not just the ones that are offering a hefty discount or look appealing).
Do your research!! I have personally invested WAY too much in courses (and unnecessary plugins and services) and only some were worth the investment. Many I thought were good when I first started blogging, but I later discovered that the courses were mostly fluff and was information I found for absolutely free online.
Learn from my mistakes, mama.
ACTION ITEM: Clearly outlining your budget to start a blog is one of the first things you should consider. It IS possible to start blogging on a free platform, but you will want to move to self-hosting when you get serious about blogging (and want to own your content and customize your site to your gleeful heart’s desires).
How To Make Money Blogging
Diversification.
That’s right. There are many ways that you can make money blogging.
Just always keep in mind that making money blogging takes time. Sometimes a LOT of time. Many won’t see income within a year or more. Methods to monetize (set up your site to make money) includes:
- Affiliate Marketing: earning a commission when a reader clicks on a link provided by a partner/company (you signed up with) and makes a purchase.
- Advertising: earn money by displaying ads on your site. Keep in mind that I don’t recommend ads on your site until you reach about 10,000 pageviews per month (it’s just not worth the bad user experience, slower site speed, and tiny income before then).
- Sponsorship: get paid by companies to write blog posts or promotions on social media about their products and/or services (also something that may take some time to land since companies look for lots of traffic or social following).
- Creating your own products: selling your own courses, digital or physical products
- Offering services: no, this isn’t blogging specific. But, becoming a virtual assistant or providing some sort of a service is something you can do to make money while you wait for your blog traffic to increase (which has better potential to make money).
You know that old saying “don’t put all your eggs in the same basket”? The same applies for pretty much anything in blogging from making money to social media platforms to types of blog posts.
Start with a single method, master at least the basics of making it work on your blog, then see about adding another one.
How To Find Time To Blog As A Mom
I wish this was also a simple answer. You are unique. Your kids are unique. Your life is unique.
If you do decide to take the leap into the blogging sphere, check out this blog post on my other blog that also includes a video and free resources on 5 Ways To Balance Your Life, Blog, and Motherhood.
How To Stay Organized As A Mom And A Blogger
The key here is to think about how you organize everything else. Are you a paper and pen type of person? Do you prefer digital tracking?
Many moms (myself included) find ways to encompass all parts of their life in (mostly) a single system, calendar, spreadsheet, whatever works for YOU.
There are a TON of online tools you can try and planners galore (free and paid).
Skimmer’s Guide
Don’t have time to read all of that? It’s ok, I get it!
Blogging is hard. Anyone that tells you it’s easy is not being honest.
Before you take the jump to being a blogging mom, here are the things to consider:
- How will you find the time to work on your blog knowing you are actually starting an online business? Think creatively!
- What is your budget (if any) to start a blog? Remember, there are only 2-3 investments a new blogger needs to make: a domain name (URL), blog host (where you house your blog files), and (hopefully) legal page templates (at least a Privacy Policy which is required by law).
- What are your goals for starting a blog? Outline your goals for yourself AND for your reader (who you should remember in every single choice you make for your blog).
- Determine how you want to stay organized as a blogger. A LOT is going to happen very fast. Battle the overwhelm by creating a system and sticking to it.
Have any other questions or concerns? Comment below!
Good Luck With Your Inner Struggle,
Kristine Beaves
Kristine is a squirrel loving mom of 2 young boys running herself crazy every single day with her dang ambition to help others. She’s constantly hiding out to sneak in some typing between sweeping up Cheerios and avoiding lego-death-traps on the floor.
