This week’s Global TV parenting segment is for mom AND all. With the kids heading back to school, there is no better time than NOW to get off the fence, dive into a new passion, possibly CAREER, and take the blogging plunge. Once again, five minutes is difficult to give you all the ins and outs, but here is blogging and monetizing in a nutshell. A crash course. The condensed version. 😉

Wondering how to start a blog and earn income from home? Here we go. Plus, there is always a first for everything, so watch my microphone crash and hit the floor on live tv. I almost died and my grammar went all wonky on me after that.

Direct Link: http://globalnews.ca/video/793474/erica-diamond-how-to-create-a-mom-blog

I ran out of time and was unable to share all my tips, so below I have written them out for you.

1. IF YOUR INTENTIONS ARE TO MAKE THIS A BUSINESS, BUYING YOUR DOMAIN NAME CAN COST YOU $10! Or, if your intentions are to use it make motherhood a little less lonely, it won’t cost you a penny!
You don’t need to buy a domain name especially when you’re just starting out. You can grab a free blog on a number of free platforms including WordPress.com, Blogspot.com and Blogger.com. I use love WordPress and love it… it is powerful, easy to use.
I started WomenOnTheFence.com on a free platform and then switched after a few months to hosting my own domain.

2. PICK A BLOG TOPIC
Pick a great blog topic. The key to choosing your topic, is to pick something that you will be motivated to write about, that you’re passionate about, and that you would enjoy discussing with others. A niche blog is always a good thing, unless your plan is to blog about your life, like Dooce.com or TheBloggess.com.

My blog, WomenOnTheFence.com was born out of my confusion and sitting on the fence, and I envisioned a hub for women who were stuck in their lives to take the leap with me, and draw inspiration from myself, guest bloggers, celebs etc…. I had a clear vision of topics, yet it wasn’t hyper-niched like a cooking blog, or travel blog.

3. PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
Once you’ve built it, you can’t be shy to promote it! A few ideas are to: Exchange links with other bloggers, JOIN TRIBERR (MY FAVORITE!!), submit your url to blog directories, GUEST BLOG on other sites, join a blogging community, join local networking groups, share each and every blog post in social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linked In, etc…, ask your local media to cover your new blog, if you have an area of expertise, then offer to speak for free– it’s a great place to promote your blog when you’re getting started.

4. READY TO MONETIZE? EYEBALLS CONVERT TO DOLLARS, SO BUILDING TRAFFIC IS IMPORTANT TO MONETIZING ONLINE.

Some tips:

a) START BUILDING YOUR LIST IMMEDIATELY. Have that SUBSCRIBE call to action button VISIBLE on your homepage. That way, when you finally have a monetizable offer to sell to people (ex, coaching program, e-course, sponsored review), you will have receptive buyers. So build that list from Day One!

b) YOU CAN HAVE CORPORATE SPONSORS ON YOUR SITE AS I DO (again this is where high traffic to your website is important. Track your numbers with Google Analytics so you know your numbers – page views, unique visitors per month, bounce rates, etc..).

c) BANNER ADS. You can sell your own ads yourself which lets you keep all the money (you can even start with local companies in your city), or you can use a media company like I do, I use Glam Media, who supplies banner advertisements to my site, but I give them a percentage of my revenue.

d) PAID BRAND AMBASSADORS IS BIG BUSINESS TODAY. This is where brands hire you to represent their brand online, leveraging your audience. You create a mix of blog posts, sponsored video YouTube series, Twitter parties and tweets, Facebook postings, etc… It is where you get paid to promote another brand that fits with your audience, in your social media channels.

e) BECOME AN EXPERT: COACHING! I coach via Skype and Telephone right from home. What are your talents, and can you offer your talents to customers online? People who visit Erica-Diamond.com or WomenOnTheFence.com can see my COACHING tab, hire me, and pay me right there via paypal.

f) WEBINARS, SELF-PUBLISHED E-BOOKS (KINDLE PUBLISHING), TELE-SEMINARS. Create your own, or sell others (called AFFILIATE LINKS). If you don’t yet have your own programs, webinars, tele-seminars, conferences to sell to your audience/list, you can sell OTHER people’s programs or products (affiliates), and earn a handsome commission. There are plenty of experts looking to pay big commission to people to who sell their products and services. Moms are huge consumers, and you can sell other mom friendly products on your site as well.

g) MONETIZED CONTENT. Writing reviews and sponsored posts.

h) SPEAKING. As you gain momentum, you might even be asked to speak! AND GET PAID FOR IT TOO! The benefit of speaking for free at the beginning of growing your blog is twofold: firstly, you get to promote it. Secondly, you get invaluable speaking experience and you can start to position yourself as an expert in your field (fashion, cooking, health, beauty, etc…). So while many are not fans of speaking for free, I think while you are building your blog, and to practice for upcoming PAID speaking gigs, I say absolutely YES.

Ladies, there are umpteen different avenues to monetize, and still, so many different reasons people start blogs. Whatever your intentions are, may I say– write with integrity, write from your heart, and release it for the world to read.

And finally, I thought since we’re talking blogging, let’s help each other discover new blogs. Why don’t you leave your blog URL below!! Or, if you know of a great blog, please share it with us below.

Shabbat Shalom,

Erica3