I don’t know if you are an Apple fan like me but this right here is a huge game changer for me! I feel like there is so much that can be done with this amazing app I am going to share with you. For sure it is the new way to create pins with your apple pencil and you’re going to love it!
Why Apple
If you aren’t an Apple user then let me just break down quickly why I love Apple so much! I wasn’t an Apple fan at all until I won my first iPad back in 2013 and then I was hooked! Before the iPad, I was one of those “I hate Apple products I don’t know how to use them so they are dump” type of people.
Then again I won that free iPad and realize just how “undumb” Apple products really are!
User-Friendly
They are extremely user-friendly and that is probably my absolute favorite part about all my Apple products.
Right now in May 2019, I currently have that same iPad, MacBook Pro, Apple mouse, two iPhone 6s’s (that we keep for back up phones and for my daughter to play with), a series one Apple Watch, two Phone Xr’s, two Apple Air Pod sets, the Apple TV and I just bought last week the new iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil and keyboard.
You could say we love Apple Products for sure.
Yes, as new updates come out the older Apple Products slow down a little but for example that first iPad I won still works great and it is 6 years old which is old in technology years!
My daughter uses it to watch her videos or she can FaceTime and play Roblox at the same time with my niece. So that’s impressive to me to be able to handle all that while being one of the first iPads that came out.
Hold Value
Surprising they hold their value really well. You wouldn’t think that anything older than a year or two would still be worth as much as you can get out of them. At one point I looked into upgrading my Apple Watch to a newer version only because I do feel like with the new updates it doesn’t hold it’s charge as long and I was surprised at what it was still worth.
I could sell this watch and only pay maybe $100 out of pocket and get the newest watch. I assumed it would be worth maybe $50 but it’s not!
When I looked into selling my daughters barely (and I mean barely) used Nintendo 2DS and with the DS, the case, the chargers, and all the games it was worth $50. That doesn’t seem worth it to sell it all for only that. But we spent almost 4 times that amount when we bought it a few years back.
It isn’t that old and didn’t hold it’s value at all!
They All Connect
This is the main part I wanted to get to about how awesome Apple products are, everything connects!
It is all connected to your Apple ID so if you sign into each one with the same ID it is like being on the same device.
My iPhone XR (which is just flat out awesome), my MacBook Pro, my Apple Watch, my Air Pods, and my new iPad all connect together. If I want to put my Air Pods in then it will connect to the most recent one or whichever one is right next to me. There is no trying to connect and trying to pair. It just connects and pairs.
A window pops up for you to verify and that’s it. So as soon as I open the case my phone will alert me they are connected. If I am listening to music I just take one out to pause the music. Crazy cool.
I love how I can receive messages, phones calls, and FaceTime from any device as well! The Watch doesn’t FaceTime but other than that they all do.
It just works so well for me to not have to adjust when switching devices. They all worked seamlessly together!
The New Way to Create Pins with Your Apple Pencil
I could go on and on but let’s get to why you came here. To find out the new way to create pins with your Apple Pencil. If you are reading this then I am sure you already love Apple products so let’s talk about the new Apple Pencil on the new iPad Pro!
Creating Pins
Bloggers are always creating new pins for Pinterest to drive traffic back to their blogs. We are always looking for creative ways to make pins that are eye-catching and don’t blend in with the crowd. Well, I have some good news for you! I came across this app that is a game changer!
You want to create pins that make pinners on Pinterest save your pin and to do that you have to create beautiful useful pins. I created a free course on how to create Pinterest Images that you can learn more about the different programs bloggers use.
My goal has been to find a better way to streamline my work. I feel like I am tied to a computer when I work on my blog and summer is literally right around the corner and I can’t be stuck inside all day. My daughter is going to beg to go to the pool or be out and about.
I don’t want to sacrifice time with her or working on my blog. So I decided to look into a way to be more mobile. My husband’s job just gave him a Microsoft Surface Pro with a keyboard and pencil. I watch how easy it is for him to just work all off of that.
I did research on the new iPad Pro and thought about it for a couple weeks and then decided to run it by my husband. He is beyond supportive so he didn’t blink an eye and said let’s get you one!
I ended up getting the keyboard so I can type a blog post easily while at the pool and the pencil too for all it’s amazing functions.
iPad Pro
This is the exact ipad that I bought. I did go with the lower storage because I need to get a hardrive anyways so this way I can just get one of those and save money on buying the extra storage. We looked into purchasing it through our phone carrier to add data to it but that costs more also. Plus we found out that our T.V. provider has hotspots I can use when I am away from home.
Just some things to think about!
I wanted the bigger screen so that was my main priority. I wasn’t as worried about storage because I have a bigger icloud storage plan and then again I plan to get an external hardrive to save all pictures and important documents on it.
Now I don’t pretend to be all tech savvy, I know just enough to get by. I know that I am a busy mom and this all makes my life easier and more portable.
I do want to say that it comes with a completely new charger. Supposedly it is to be able to connect to your computer better or other techy stuff I don’t understand but my point is no more USB and no more other end. The cord has the same end of each end. So either way it connects to your converter to plug into the wall and then into the ipad to charge. Just a heads up.
Keyboard
Then since I got the bigger screen I had to get this keyboard that fits it. They are both 12.9 inches so that gives plenty of room for using your screen and typing on a good sized keyboard not a tiny one.
The ipad connects magnetically to the keyboard and there are three dots on the back of the ipad that connects it to the keyboard. Then you can have it in different positions to adjust it to your liking while typing.
Then you can fold it over and closed and you will hear the ipad lock. Also you can flip it around and under the ipad to quickly use the ipad only.
Apple Pencil
Then of course I got the Apple Pencil 2nd Generation that is compatiable with the iPad Pro. It is very sleek and easy to use. There are no buttoms it looks and feels just like a regular pencil.
It doesn’t erase like one although I think it should. I keep wanting to flip it around and erase with the pencil eraser like you normally would. But just a heads up it doesn’t work like that.
Another fun feature of the Apple pencil is that it connects to the side of your ipad magnetically to charge. This is great to keep track of the pencil and know that it is always charged up.
No plugging it in or cords involved! Once you connect it to the ipad it will tell you what charge the pencil is at as well.
Pin Creating App
After I got home and started playing with it and watching tutorials on what all it could do I came across this app. I became very interested and spent the next 3 days just learning more and more. After much research, I finally decided I wanted it and purchased it for $9.99.
I know what you are thinking…you just spend a lot of money on an iPad Pro, keyboard, and pencil and you hesitate about a $10 app? Yes, to me $10 is an expensive app! I expected the others to be expensive but I don’t buy apps without a lot of research!
Maybe you have heard of it or maybe you are like me and you have never heard of it.
All the amazing possibilities with this app are just mind-blowing. If you are an artist you are going to be in heaven!
If you aren’t then no worries NEITHER AM I! It is very user-friendly and not overwhelming at all! I will add that I am not affiliated with this app either I just love it this much! Just check out some of these examples from their website!
Amateur
Don’t worry if you aren’t a professional. Again, I am not an artist in any way shape or form. But I think this app is perfect for on the go designing from anything to logos, freebies, pins, printables, graphics designs, you name it!
But let’s talk about creating pins for Pinterest.
Pinterest
There is an option to create the image as a custom size. You can then create it as a pin size and add pictures, import fonts, make amazing edits, layer it for quick changes, and so much more! It does take a bit to learn all the features it offers but this is perfect on the go pin creation with your Apple Pencil.
There are so many videos on YouTube that walk you through how to use the app but if you are looking for a way to use your creative side and give your pins a leading edge I think this app is perfect!
Again, I don’t have any affiliation with the app besides that I downloaded it, love it, and had to share!
All the Same
If you have been blogging for long you can see that many pins look the same. It is hard to not look the same some what but there are certain stock images that are way over used. I read an ebook that was full of case studies that shared how the author feels free stock images can arm your pins reach.
Pinterest also recently went public on the Stock Market. Things are about to get alitte harder for bloggers. There are going to be more people that are willing to pay for space on Pinterest. Because of that you need to really show Pinterest you are a creator worth sharing.
Many bloggers are saying you should be adding a new pin everday. Well, I don’t know about you but I don’t have time to sit at my computer and create pins all day. I do use a program called RelayThat that creates multiple images for you with just a few clicks so that saves a bunch of time.
However, they also seem to only have the same layouts. It can be customized a hundred different ways but it is still the same layouts so you can’t solely rely on that.
With this app and my new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil I can be mobile and creating pins on the go all the time!
Accessories
Because I will be on the go I did get myself a case and as I said I also have the keyboard too. I have seen some creators have these cool pencil gripper sleeves. I don’t know if I will do that or not because with the new pencil it senses when you double tap to erase when using the Notes App. Also I don’t know how that affects it charging magnetically or staying safely on the side of the ipad.
I worry that it might come off and I would lose it.
Another reason I love Apple Products…all their amazing apps! I use the Notes app all the time. My whole life is in that thing. All categories and accessible on any of my Apple Devices.
If I am sitting at the computer working and I make changes on in my Notes App then later when I only have my phone I can see see those changes. It is like the perfect Notebook that I never forget at home!
Free Pinterest Image Course
Well there you have it! I hope you check out the Procreate App and enjoy it as much as I am! There are so many possibilies I can’t wait to see what all I can create! The best part is this is a way to be artist (or try) without the mess!
Don’t forget to check out my Free Pinterest Image Course for other tips and programs to use to create Pinterest images! I will be adding this information with this app to it soon!
Happy blogging!
Vanessa
P.S. Comment below with some of your beautiful pins you create using Procreate! I would love to see them and share them!
How to Provide Services on Your Blog to Make Money
Blogs are more than just for an online journal. Many people use them to make extra money or even a full-time income! They can be lifestyle blogs, coaching/training/teaching blogs, informative blogs, product blogs, entertainment blogs, or service blogs.
It is really only limited to your imagination as to what you want to use a blog for. The same goes for the service you want to provide on your blog if that is the option you choose to go.
There are so many different services you could offer to make money on your blog but let’s talk about a few of the main ones.
1. Virtual Assistant
This one covers a wide range of needs that a blogger or any business with an online presence has. A virtual assistant is sort of like an online personal assistant. If you are looking for someone to just help you keep up on your emails you can hire a V.A. If you are looking for someone to help you write articles, respond to customers, fill orders, create pins, work on projects on your blog, you name it, there is a V.A. for it.
Many V.A.s just don’t want the whole responsibility of having their own blog and they would prefer to use their skills to work their own hours and help bloggers and business owners.
Or some do have their own blogs, but they just like to have a little extra work on the side of their own blogs.
That person may be in school full time, work full time, stay at home with the kids full time, or even blog full time and they are just looking for a little extra income on the side.
Whatever the case may be there are many wonderful V.A.s out there that are highly equipped to help however it’s needed!
So, if you have one area of blogging that you just love more than anything else, maybe you could offer your services as a V.A. for that specific thing.
Or maybe you love the idea of becoming a V.A. for someone else but you would rather have your own blog, then you could just blog about being a V.A. and teach others!
I read a great book (that I’m not affiliated with) that was full of everything you need to know about becoming a blogger. It was called Bootstrap V.A. and I got it off of Amazon Kindle.
It is a great read if becoming a V.A. is something you would like to do.
2. Graphic Designer
A graphic designer is someone that usually has an artistic side that designs any type of image or product. For instance, my brother-in-law is a very good graphic designer.
He doesn’t do it for a living only on the side for the vinyl and promotion business that he and my sister have.
He has designed several logos for our family and is very good at it! I don’t think it is something he would want to do every day but as a hobby it is perfect. I, however, I am not an artist like that at all.
It takes a special skill to not only have a vision of the finished product but to understand all of the computer programs and different software out there to design it.
Because there are so many people like me, it is a great way to make extra money online and with a blog by someone who is good at it.
To make that change from more of an amateur look to a professional look would take the work of a graphic designer.
So, if you have that special touch and can create amazing images and designs then offering your services as a graphic designer would be a great way to make money with your blog.
3. Freelance Writer
A freelance writer is someone who gets paid to write. They can write blog posts, social media posts, books, ebooks, you name it. A popular name in the freelance blogging world is Elna Cain.
She is a freelance writer and has grown her business into multiple blogs. She talks all about freelance writing and how to use it to make money on a blog.
There are many companies you can sign up with to become a freelance writer and they will pay you to write! So, if that is more your strong suit and you would rather not worry about all the other details of blogging then that may be the way to go!
A Social Media Manager is someone who is in charge of the social media profiles of a business or client. They ensure that the account stays active and is responding to comments.
If you are someone who loves to be on social media, then this could be a great opportunity for you!
Businesses are seeing the importance of having an online presence and not just a website. They are seeing that being active on Social Media is great free (mostly free) exposure!
However, not all business owners have the time to be on social media all day or they don’t understand how to use it correctly for their business to grow.
This is where someone who does know all of that would step in!
It’s not as easy as just scrolling Facebook all day though. You would have to prove growth for that account and show you are worth getting paid to help.
Then you can move on to managing several accounts!
She has made a business of not only becoming one of the first social media managers but then she has turned teaching others how to do it into a business as well!
5. Coaching
This one is very broad and can be used for anything. You can coach, train, teach, or inform anyone on anything you want.
The service you would be providing is your time and knowledge.
You can provide an online coaching service for those that need help with their online business. You can provide an online teaching service where you teach a different language.
As you can imagine you can pretty much do anything in this category.
The difference between providing a service and selling an online product in this instance would be that you would provide more of a 1 on 1 with your readers.
You could have an option for them to purchase a 30-minute phone call with you each week or maybe a video chat.
As for an online course where you would sell the product you created teaching them how to do “your expertise”.
So the difference between them is one is more of a live 1 on 1 session and the other is a pre-written or pre-recorded course or ebook.
Pros and Cons of each
Coaching Pros
You get that 1 on 1 with your client to help see them through the process.
You have control of how many students you take on and when you are available.
Start getting paid right away.
You get to show your passion and emotion more through that more personable experience.
You can charge more.
Coaching Cons
The biggest con would be you are limiting your income to only the clients you can take on.
It seems a little more stressful to take on a bunch of clients and have the pressure of making those calls daily or weekly.
It would be less streamlined than just recording once and selling repeatedly.
You’re put directly on the spot on calls.
Product Pros
It is more of a one and done type of deal. Write the book once or record the course once and then just maintenance work after that.
You are able to make a lot more sales since this doesn’t require your time daily.
You can offer an affiliate program for your products and sell more products through the help of others.
It is easy to go into your course and make an adjustment, unlike a live coaching call.
Product Cons
You wouldn’t make any sales until the product is finished.
It is harder to show your personality through an ebook or even videos than it is in a live coaching call.
If creating products is something you would like to learn more about then I highly suggest using Teachable! That is who I go through for all of my products I have created.
What Other Services Are There?
There really is no limit to a service you could provide and promote on your blog.
If there is a need for it, there are people out there willing to pay for it. You just have to think outside the box and think about what people struggle with that you could help with.
Do people need to make extra money and you know how?
Do people need to find more time in the day and you know how?
What would save time for a busy mom that works full-time with 3 kids?
What would save time for a busy businessman who works 24/7?
Do they need more organization?
Do they need a cleaning service?
Do they need to meal prep?
What problem can you solve?
How to pay off debt quickly
How to eat more healthy
Think of all the problems people face on a daily basis and find out how you can solve it with your service.
Once you come up with a problem that you can solve, narrow it down even more. Let’s say you want to help busy moms find more time. Then you narrow it down to you want to help them also eat more healthy and save time.
So now you want to help moms meal plan healthy meals. Can you narrow it even further and maybe provide a service that does all of the meal planning and prepping for them?
Your service could be that you provide already prepped healthy meals for big busy families delivered right to their door!
Boom! That busy mom doesn’t have to come up with meals her kids will like, she doesn’t have to look up all the ingredients, she doesn’t have to go to the store, she doesn’t have to come home and prep it all, she doesn’t have to do any of that hard work!
Her week is already planned, prepared, and taken care of! All she has to do is serve it! That just saved her a bunch of time and stress.
Another Example
Here is an example of a way that I was able to come up with some extra money by providing a service.
I used to run a daycare, my mom ran one for 20 years, and I have worked in schools. So, I have plenty of experience with children. I had been working at the Church Preschool part way through the school year to help them out. They decided to close the 1-year old’s class which left me with the opportunity to either stay home or take a different position at the school.
After much discussion, my husband and I decided that I would stay home. But then that left us without my pay, so I had to find a way to make that up.
Right at that same time, our city school system announced they were changing the start time for the elementary schools to be later and the high schools to be earlier.
I believe this was a way to make sure that not everyone was on the road at the same time because our town has been booming and grounding very rapidly.
However, parents have to be at work by 8 or 8:30 and now the elementary schools didn’t start until 9.
This left a need for parents to find before care.
I had been trying to find a way to make extra money without taking on a full-time job and it hit me. What if I offered before and aftercare for just our neighborhood?
I looked up the child care laws and if I didn’t watch more than 2 at a time, I would be fine. Our neighborhood is all very close, so I threw the idea out there on our neighborhood Facebook Page and I had enough people respond that I was able to fill two spots in the morning and two in the evening.
I charged what the school before and aftercare charged, and I was able to not only help myself, but I helped all those parents struggling to find before and aftercare for their children.
This way all the kids get on and off the bus as if they normally would and the parents don’t have to go out of their way on their busy car ride to and from work to pick them up somewhere.
They just drop them off at my house on their way out of the neighborhood and then come straight to our neighborhood and pick them up on their way home!
So, I “work” 2 hours a day and make pretty much what I made working full time at the school.
I found a need and I solved a problem!
You just have to get creative and really think. Don’t think about the big problems either. Think about the little problems and niche down and become the middle man.
I realize that is not a virtual service that you could provide on your blog but I just wanted to help give you an example of how thinking outside of the box can help you find a solution to a problem!
What unique services do you provide or want to provide on your blog?
How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog
I’m sure you have heard all about affiliate marketing and how you can use it to make money on your blog. But does it work? Can you really make money with affiliate marketing on your blog?
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.
Basically, it means that you can get paid for promoting things on your blog. Whether that is a company, a product or a brand. The most common is promoting a product and getting paid when a reader purchases that product.
Depending on each particular affiliate program is how and what you get compensated.
Affiliate Marketing
If you are new to blogging, I am sure this is the one way to make money that you have heard the most about. It is a very simple concept yet when I explain it to anyone outside of the blogging world, they look at me like I’m crazy.
Affiliate marketing is essentially getting paid to advertise or sell for others. I recently found out that companies will even pay you for leads you send to them not just purchases made.
Here is how you can use affiliate marketing on your blog to make money.
Let’s say that your blog is about puppy training. You love to write about how to care and train your puppy.
While writing a blog post about the best products to use for puppy training you will most likely be suggesting the products that you use and trust. Now let’s say that your readers want to purchase that product because they trust your opinion.
If you were an affiliate for that product, your reader could click on a link that would take them to that product for them to purchase it.
This is a win-win for everyone involved.
Your reader was able to solve their problem and get the product that you recommended to help them train their puppy.
If they used your affiliate link to click through and purchase that product it will tell the company, you sent that customer and the company (depending on their affiliate program) will compensate you for sending them a paying customer.
Then, of course, the company wins by receiving a new customer with little effort on their part.
How does it work?
When you sign up to be an affiliate for a company, they will give you a special link that attaches a “cookie” to the reader that clicks through the link. It depends on the affiliate program on how long that cookie will last.
For example, I believe Amazon’s cookie only last 24 hours. However, I am apart of affiliate programs where the cookie lasts 365 days! This cookie tells the company who sent that customer and it is a way to track where the customers are coming from and who to compensate for referring them.
So, if someone clicks on your link and has a cookie that only lasts 24 hours that means that if in the next 24 hours they make a purchase, you get credit for it. Unfortunately, if they put that item in their cart and purchase it later after the cookie expires, you don’t.
You can get paid for the leads you bring a company, the sign-ups you bring, or the sales you bring to the company. Again, it all depends on each particular affiliate program.
You can get paid either by a certain percentage or a flat dollar amount.
For example, I am an affiliate for many courses through Teachable and most of them will pay you 40% per sale. However, I am also an affiliate for SiteGround, and they pay a certain dollar amount per sale. It also grows depending on the number of sales I get per month!
Each program pays out differently, so you have to check those details when you sign up.
All of the affiliate programs I am a part of will pay me even if the customer that linked on my link purchases a different product.
For example, if I have an Amazon link on my blog to a book and a reader clicks through but doesn’t purchase that book but instead purchases something else in the correct time frame then I will receive compensation for that purchase.
As I said before if they click on your link but don’t purchase your product until later when the cookie has expired you don’t get compensated. However, if they click through your link and purchase everything they have been holding in their cart then you get paid for all of that!
So yes, sometimes you may miss out on a sale because of the cookie expiring but you also have to opportunity to make more if they purchase more, which we all know too well can happen on Amazon!
Another example is if a reader clicks on one of my links to one of the courses that I recommend such as Michelle course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing that cookie lasts 365 days so any other purchases they make during that 365-day time frame, I get compensated for as well.
There are some stipulations such as they would have to be on the same device they used to click the original link but that is still pretty cool! If that reader that clicked through my link decided later to purchase another product from Michelle, I would get compensated for that!
Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing
Pros
There is no upfront money needed.
There is no product creation needed.
You can make very good money with affiliate marketing.
You only have to add links to your blog posts.
There are affiliate programs for every kind of product out there!
You don’t get paid as much as you would for creating your own products.
You have to remember to always disclose in each post and should put a disclosure page on your blog.
There are different rules you have to follow for each affiliate programs.
You have to check your links often to make sure they still work just in case.
You have to be accepted into each affiliate program and avoid getting kicked out.
How do I find and sign up with affiliate programs?
If there is a certain company that you know you want to work with then you can go to their website and scroll to the very bottom and look for a link that says Affiliate or Affiliate Program.
If they don’t have a link, then you can try to contact them and ask if they offer an affiliate program. Some of the bigger companies use affiliate networks.
These networks host affiliate programs for multiple companies. This just saves that company from having to deal with it themselves. They just have that affiliate network take care of it for them. Some of these networks include Commission Junction, ShareASale, and Rakuten(Link Share).
You can go to those websites and join the network and have access to join hundreds of name brand companies.
If you don’t know a company but you just are interested in a product, then you can google that product + affiliate and it will list all the companies that have that product and offer an affiliate program.
There are literally thousands if not millions of affiliate programs out there. The most popular one is probably Amazon. It covers such a wide range of products that you can pretty much find any product you want on there to add to your blog.
Amazon doesn’t pay out a large amount per sale and as I said the cookie doesn’t last long either. They also have strict rules on disclosure and making sure you aren’t hiding or concealing anything from your readers.
Make sure to read through all of the terms and conditions before signing up.
Amazon, like other affiliate programs, only gives you a certain amount of time to make a sale before they kick you out of the program. Don’t worry though you are able to try again to rejoin and make a sale.
Also, know that not all programs will accept you and you can be kicked out.
Side note: In Michelle’s course she brings in an expert to give you tips and advice on how to ensure you are always accepted into affiliate programs and what to avoid to make sure you don’t get kicked out.
Amazon
Amazon is a great program to start with for affiliate marketing. They don’t pay a huge amount per sale but they have so many different products that you can add a lot of links to your blog.
They do have rules that others don’t usually so you want to pay attention to that. One major one is where you are allowed to put the links.
They let you put the links of Facebook but you can’t use them on all Social Media platforms and they are adjusting the rules all the time so you need to just check the current rules before posting a link.
They also don’t let you cloak your link, which means to change it to something different.
What that means is if your Amazon affiliate link for a product is https://amzn.to/2GWDo2c but you don’t want your readers to see that, there are plugins you can use to change the link to be prettier. Such as https://momblogfromhome.com/ringlight.
BUT REMEMBER AMAZON DOESN’T LET YOU DO THAT.
There are three different options to add affiliate links to your blog from Amazon.
Here is an example of what an Amazon affiliate link may look like with the text and image option.
You can choose if you want the link to only be text so you can add it to any phrase on your blog such as this! This is different than cloaking your link. By changing the link from the Amazon link to a link with your URL it looks like it’s your product and misleads your readers.
Adding it to a phrase in your blog post about that product is not the same thing. Your readers know that by clicking on that link they will be taken to where the product is sold.
Lastly, you can just have it be the image itself with no text like this one below.
Either way that ring light is awesome and I love mine!
Here are some more tips on Affiliate Marketing!
You have to disclose you are using affiliate links with each blog post and a with a page on your blog.
Affiliate links she be no follow links.
Pretty Links is the plugin used to make your affiliate links (other than Amazons) look cleaner and prettier.
Remember to only share links to products you truly recommend!
Don’t spam your posts with links.
Don’t write blog posts to only promote products (too salesy!)
You can add affiliate links to Pinterest! As of right now, you can add affiliate links to Pinterest. That has changed a couple times in the past so make sure you double check at the time of reading this but as of right now you can make pins on Pinterest with your affiliate links!
At the beginning of the year, I decided to offer to feature new bloggers on my blog. They had the option to sign up and have an image of their choice and a biography added to my blog. The image was either their logo or profile picture. They could have however long of a bio they wanted and their blog URL.
It went great! I had a bunch of new bloggers sign up. I wanted to focus on new bloggers that really needed a helping hand on getting their name out there. I too am a new blogger but anything helps!
This was a great resource for me as well as I could ask each blogger that signed up what their struggles were in starting and growing their blogs. That gave me insight on how to help my readers! It gave me blog post ideas, course ideas, freebie ideas, etc.
I only wish that I could pump out the blog posts as fast as the ideas came in!
It was really hard when I had all this insight, traffic, and momentum but then I had to step aside from blogging for a few months to help out a local Church in their Preschool class. Now I am back at blogging full time so I have a lot of ground to make up!
While trying to dive back in I made a few changes to my blog. Such as my logo!
My daughter and I made a fort and we were spending time together in there while I was working on my blog so she helped me design it! I love it! It is definitely more me!
I also had changed a few things on my home page that ended up reducing my bounce rate by half! That was just an added bonus.
Then I an awesome idea!
As a blogger, you are always thinking about how can you better serve your readers? My blog is about teaching moms how to blog. Really anyone can read it and learn how to blog. Again, if only I could pump out the blog posts as fast as I think of them!
But I have moms in mind when I write and share what I have learned about blogging.
So, how else could I help moms? Originally, I thought that I could help moms be free as in debt free. That would just solve so many problems in the world and especially motherhood! I do have a passion for budgeting and paying off debt but I just felt like I could do more.
Then that’s when the idea hit me!
The turn out was very impressive when I offered to feature blogs! I couldn’t believe how many new bloggers signed up. So there was a reason for that. There was a need for that.
Benefits of being featured
Here are some benefits to being featured on Mom Blog From Home:
– To broaden your audience
– Gain new followers
– To collaborate and reach new people
– Build your SEO
– To have your blog listed amongst other like-minded passionate mom bloggers!
Depending on if you choose to join my Feature Facebook Group:
– You will be able to connect with other featured mom bloggers
– To inspire new ideas
– To motivate each other
– To drive each other to reach our goals
– To build each other up
– To build our confidence
– Have fun together!
– Educate each other with tips and tricks
– Help support each other financially (purchase each other’s course/ebooks etc.)
– Build rapport and our reputations
– Get the advice you can trust
I know when I first started blogging (or still) I would have loved to have been featured on another blog! Especially if it was a bigger blog!
You have the potential to reach so many more readers!
That is what we are all after isn’t? To reach as many people as we can.
When I asked my readers, as they signed up to be featured, what their biggest struggles were as new bloggers wouldn’t you know it…most of them said traffic! So, just like I said…we all want to reach more people!
The main benefit I got out of it all was enjoyment! I flat out enjoyed every moment of helping those bloggers! They were so grateful I was willing to help them and it felt great!
So, my awesome new idea is to up my featuring game!
There were some kinks that needed to be worked out before that I fixed such as before I had to send out multiple emails a week and I added two features a week so after signing up it took a while to actually be featured. That is now fixed!
How does it work
This is how it will work now.
If you are a mom blogger (fur babies count!), but sorry guys this is for the ladies only, then you can sign up here to be featured on Mom Blog From Home.
Your feature will be categorized by niche and will be sorted alphabetically. This way there is no waiting in line and your feature will be easy to find when others search through the features. Oh, and did I mention that by being featured you will be apart of a blogging directory. I want it to be a place for bloggers to come to connect with other bloggers. I want it to benefit everyone!
Categories
There are several categories that your blog will fall into. I am sorting all blogs by these categories until we have so many I need to niche it further down.
However, if you don’t fit into any of these categories right now I can add more!
This will help organize all the features and make it flow!
The categories are:
Health
Beauty and Fashion
Faith and Inspiration
Technology
Coaching
Education
DIY
Benefits
There are many benefits to being featured but here are the benefits you get from me for being featured:
Feature Image– You can submit one image you would like to use for your feature. That image should either be your profile picture or your logo.
Biography– You can submit a bio for your feature that would tell readers about you and your blog.
Blog URL– Please submit your blog domain address or website URL (ex: www.momblogfromhome.com)
“Featured On” Image– Each feature will receive a “Featured On” image for you to place on your blog letting your readers know that you are featured here on Mom Blog From Home.
Promotional Link– A promotional link is a link to either an email opt-in, a blog post, or even an affiliate link. It is not a link to a product or service you are selling or providing. VIP Features can change their link up to once per month with a 2-week notice.
Product Link– A product link is a link to a product or service you are selling or providing. VIP Features can change their link up to once per month with a 2-week notice.
Special Feature Spot– Each package has a feature spot. The free package features will be listed in alphabetical order per category. Package Basic & Advanced will be featured in alphabetically order above the free features. The VIP package will be listed alphabetically above all other packages. Please see the chart below.
Private Facebook Group– There is a private Facebook Group for paid features. In this Facebook Group, you will have to opportunity to advertise your blog, freebies, promotions, affiliate links, products, services, etc. Each day will be for a certain category and if your blog niche falls into that category that is the day you will be able to share. Other days are for blogs in the other niches.
Facebook Live– VIP Features will be allowed to do one 10- minute Facebook Live. Lives will be scheduled with me prior to and will be set on your specific category niche day. Ex: Your blog is about health, your live will be scheduled on the day of the week that category is on.
Featured in Email– You will be featured one time in an email to my email subscribers.
FREE BRACELET– Please enjoy and show off your free Mom Blog From Home bracelet!
When you sign up you will get a PDF of exactly what is included in your feature package. Instructions on how to submit your information to me. Instructions on how to join the Private Facebook Group (if you choose those packages) and then a copy of your “featured on” image!
I am so excited about all the new benefits of being featured on Mom Blog From Home!
I tried to make it as easy as possible for you to have your blog featured. You get to pick which benefits you want by choosing which package you want!
The best part for you is super easy to just submit your information and be done! You don’t have to worry about writing a long post or anything just your basic info and that’s it!
This is a community you will be joining where we are all here to help each other. Everyone benefits from this!
I can’t wait to lock arms with you and all of us moms help each other grow our blogs together!
Have you ever been featured on another blog before? How did it go?
How to Make Money with a New Blog – The Steps I Took to Make $346 on My New Blog
When I first started my blog my goal was to make money. I wanted to see if I could make money with a new blog or make money at all! I have always been drawn to blogging and I thought it was so interesting. One of the interesting points for me was that you could make money while staying home. We have one daughter and my husband has always worked long hours so it has always fallen on me to take care of everything. That probably isn’t far off from most moms that do it all and they may have more than one child but we lived far from family and I had no one to help me when I needed it.
I would work all day and then be the only one that was cleaning, cooking, caring for our daughter, and well-keeping everything going! My husband is the hardest working person I know and when he got home it was time for bed just to do it all over again.
I loved the idea of me being able to stay at home with our daughter and making money online. So I started to do a lot of research and boy is there a lot of information out there!
Learning How to Blog
I tried and gave up blogging several times. It just wasn’t the right time for me but I never stopped dreaming about having one. In August of 2016, we moved to Georgia from Kansas and I took a job as a receptionist. Then in 2017, I was laid off from my receptionist job when the company closed down so I decided to take the summer off and spend it with my daughter. She was 7 at the time and loved to spend time with her friends playing so I had free time and decided now was a great time to take another crack at blogging!
Luckily, I came across this awesome coursethat walked me through starting my blog. I was excited to see that everything was much easier than years ago so when I first tried blogging! After many changes to my design and my niche it all finally came together and I officially launched it in September of 2017!
Driving Traffic to My Blog
I had spent the summer working on my blog, spending time with my daughter and helping my husband with his side lawn care business. Once fall came we were still very busy with the lawn care, birthdays, Holidays, and we took a family vacation to Disney. So once it all calmed down in January I kicked my blog into high gear.
I followed this Pinterest strategy and was able to take my blog traffic from 300 page views a month to over 5,000 a month in less than 30 days!
Things Were Looking Good
Even with the trickle of traffic I had at the beginning, I had already started to make money with a new blog. Then my email list doubled with all the new traffic in January. It was all coming together!
Until the flu hit my daughter and I hard at the end of January. Also, I was offered the lead teaching position at a private school to help them through the rest of the school year. I took the position after healing from the flu and life got a bit crazy again.
It was great to help out the school however, it did put a ding into my blogging “business”. I still was able to rake in a little more money even with my traffic slowly trickling down. From August of 2017-May of 2018, I was still able to make $346.84!
Making Money Blogging
Now, if you followed along with me you will see that I did not put blood sweat and tears every day into my blog for 10 months to only get $346.84. I still lived life and worked on it very much part-time and was still able to make a chunk of change.
I can only imagine what I would have made had I not taken all of the Fall off, gotten so deathly sick with the flu, or taken the teaching job. That is the furthest I had ever made it blogging so I call that a success!
My goal was to launch my blog by my birthday in October and I was a whole month early. My other goal was to start making ANY income from my blog and I was able to do that before I even technically launched my blog!
Affiliate Marketing Sales
All of the income I made during that time was from affiliate marketing. I was able to start bringing in some money fairly quickly without dedicating that much time. Again, imagine if I would have been more vigilant!
August 2017-May 19, 2018
Siteground – $100
Start a Mom Blog – $113.84
Moms Make Cents – $88.50
Elegant Themes – $44.50
Total — $ 346.84
My niche is helping moms start their own blogs. I love to share what I have learned and pass it on to other moms with the same dream as mine, being a work from home mommy! The hosting I use for my blog is Siteground, the courses I promote are from Start a Mom Blog, and Moms Make Cents, the WordPress theme I use is Divi by Elegant Themes. That is where my sales came from, sharing those affiliate links in my blog posts.
My traffic at the beginning was small then I had a huge month in January and then from flu to full-time job my traffic slowly trickled down.
I would say that the main thing that has saved me and helped me earn any money at all has been my email list. Of course, Tailwind and Pinterest have been a huge help as well for getting traffic to my blog but I tried hard to stay up with my email list to keep the list warm and not let it go cold while I was teaching.
How to Use Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog
Here is a quick break down of what you need to be able to earn affiliate sales with your blog.
Set Up Your Blog
First, you need a blog if you don’t have one already.
If you are ready to just jump right in, then you can get hosting and a domain name with HostGator and get up to 60% off using my Promo Code – MBFH2020
Check out this blog post for a quick walkthrough on how to start your blog.
Set up your email service provider.
I use Convertkit. There are free email providers out there but they are only free for so long. I went straight to using Convertkitbecause I have heard so many amazing things about them I didn’t want to try and switch later. I just started with the best.
Implement Affiliate Marketing
Sign up for affiliate programs.
There are SO many affiliate programs out there. You can be an affiliate for almost anything. A good one to start with is Amazon since they have such a wide variety of products. Then you can promote any product you want or you can go directly to a company you want to promote and join their affiliate program. The best way to find out if a company offers an affiliate program is to scroll to the bottom of their homepage. Most of them have an affiliate link at the bottom of their homepage. Also, you can search for the product+affiliate on Google.
This is a great eBook on how to really get the most out of affiliate marketing on Amazon!
Write great blog posts and add your affiliate links.
Now that you have a blog and are signed up as an affiliate you just need to share your link with your readers. After signing up as an affiliate you were given a link. That link tracks the sales you send to that company and the company pays you for sending them paying customers. To share your link with your readers, you write a blog post about a product or company and insert your affiliate link! Make sure your post is informative and not just salesy! Make sure to write good quality blog posts that solve a problem or give great information for your readers. When suitable insert your affiliate link.
Disclosure of affiliate links.
You will also have to disclose your affiliate links. There is a great plugin that you can install into your blog that will add this disclosure to the top of every blog post. You can have it say something like “Mom Blog From Home may earn a commission for purchases made after clicking links on this page”. Also, create a disclosure page on your blog to let your readers know that you have affiliate links on your blog. You need to be open and honest with them that you receive commission or compensation for sales after clicking your link. Here is my disclosure page.
Gain Readers
Offer an awesome freebie to gain email subscribers.
To gain email subscribers you want to offer them something to sign up. Most are not going to just sign up because you have a Sign Up Here link. They probably won’t sign up for your weekly newsletter either. However, they will sign up if you have something to offer for free! Like here is a FREE list of Facebook Groups to join and their Promo Days to promote your new blog! Give them something for free in exchange for their email address.
Drive Traffic to your blog.
Joining Facebook Groups are a good way to promote your blog and drive traffic to it but an even better way is Pinterest. Pinterest is a very powerful tool! An even more powerful tool is Tailwind (try it free for a month!) that pins to Pinterest for you! This makes life so much easier! Instead of spending hours pinning yourself it will pin for you! I can honestly say that is why I gained over 5,000 page views in one month.
Mastering Pinterest is one of the most important steps in having a successful blog. It sends traffic to your new blog right away! Learn more from these blog posts.
As a new blogger, to get yourself some sales I would suggest to write a few good blog posts and include your affiliate links. Have your email marketing provider set up and able to gain subscribers by offering a freebie to your readers. Then drive as much traffic to your blog as you can with Tailwind and Pinterest. You will also need to have a business account on Pinterest, don’t use your personal account. Again, I walk you through how I did it all right here!
Continue to add blog posts to your blog and to email your list weekly. The more content you create the more sales you will make!
The Best Advice: Just start!
I used to worry about my blog not being perfect or sending people to it not finished…but you are losing out on sales waiting for your blog to be perfect. Just get it up and running, add affiliate links and take email addresses, and you are good to go!
Start driving traffic to it as soon as you can! Then, don’t leave your email subscribers to just sit there and forget about why they signed up. Keep sending them great information in a weekly email and keep them warm. This helped me so when one of my affiliates ran a sale I was able to send out an email letting my list know. Then when they got my email they weren’t thinking “Who is this?” Or all she does is send out sales pitches. I kept in touch with them and then let them know of a sale without feeling guilty.
