Blog Tips

How I Easily Do My Blog Taxes From Home

April 1, 2019

This post is sponsored by H&R Block but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

If you are doing taxes for your blogging income for the first time, bless you! I can honestly say that taxes are my least favorite part of blogging. I am super excited to share how I made it less painful with you today! I do not know what I would do without Ryan (the best blogger husband in the world) and H&R Block! Ryan helps me with a good bit of the business side of blogging and we have been using H&R Block now for several years. I don’t have to go to an accountant and can easily (and quickly) file my taxes from the comfort of my couch! How awesome is that? As a busy mom, who has time to go through extra errands? No, thanks!

Why Sunday Nights Are Crucial in Blogging

January 31, 2018

A couple of weeks ago, I asked if you guys wanted to see more posts about blogging and y’all overwhelmingly said YES! So, here we go with post #1. This may be a weird place to start, but lately I have been a very “in the moment” blogger, and this is something I have wanted to talk about for a while, so why not start here? For the last couple of years, my “work week” has started on Sunday evenings. I can tell a huge difference in when I get those 2 hours of work done on this night and when I don’t, and they really do make or break my entire week as far as blogging is concerned.

What My Day As A Blogger Looks Like and Why I Love It

March 3, 2016

I have made no bones about the fact that I love blogging. It started out as a hobby that I started up one day because I was working on websites at the time and thought it would be fun to start my own. It was something I did totally on a whim and had no idea it would turn into a full-time job. I wanted to write this post today because a lot of people have been asking me what I do lately. It has always been easier just to say I am a SAHM, but that’s not the whole truth. The truth is, I work my tail off. I have been working 40-60 hours a week for the last year now. There is a lot to the world of blogging. With millions of blogs out there, there is a lot of work you have to do to stand out. Some bloggers get lucky and have a post go viral that can carry them for a while, but for most of us, that is not the case.

What My Day As A Blogger Looks Like

How to Go On Vacation Without Missing A Beat On Your Blog

February 4, 2016

When I took a reader survey a few weeks ago, I had an overwhelming response from you saying you wanted to see more fashion posts and blog tips! I thought that was pretty neat because I honestly wasn’t expecting that. I thought I would have more requests for recipes and parenting posts. While I will definitely be sharing all of the above, I thought today would be an appropriate day to share how I go on vacation without missing a beat on the blog because, well, I just got back from a 5 day vacation and over the weekend I had a post go viral. Yep, you read that right. I still had an amazing week on the blog even though I was resting and enjoying family. So, how do I do it?

How to Go On Vacation Without Missing A Beat On Your Blog

My Secret to How I Appear to Be On Social Media All The Time Without Actually Being There

October 12, 2015

I get asked all the time how I have so much time to play around on social media. The truth is, I don’t, and I’m not. I have two babies that I am taking care of. I am a freelancer and blogger in my spare time. I don’t have time to sit around and play on Twitter or Instagram all day long. Pinterest on the other hand, I can always make time for (kidding!).

How I Appear to be on Social Media When I'm Not

My secret: I schedule everything. Everything.

Twitter and Facebook – So how do I appear to be tweeting all day long? I schedule every tweet and most of my Facebook posts through Hootsuite. A lot of bloggers I follow also use Buffer. I don’t think there is a whole lot of difference between the two. They both schedule and shorten links for you. I love it because I can spend 10 minutes on Sunday night scheduling my tweets and Facebook posts (for the most part) for the entire week. It saves so much time because I don’t have to worry about it during the week and I don’t get addicted to my twitter feed every time I sit down to tweet. It is still important to share other’s tweets and interact with your followers, so don’t forget to do this daily.

Pinterest – For Pinterest, I use Tailwind. I tried the free month trial and was addicted! It is so nice to be able to schedule my blog posts on Pinterest and other’s pins as well. I love Tailwind because they tell you your peak times to pin every day. It is really helpful and I have seen an increase in repins since scheduling through them.

Instagram – There is no app that actually posts to your Instagram for you. There is however a way to save your edited photo and caption and schedule it to remind you to post at a certain time – Latergramme. Since using this app, I have been posting to Instagram more frequently and at the times of day I want to. It is so simple to use and I love it because it helps me schedule my edited photos for the week all in one sitting. Then, Latergramme alerts me when it is time to post and all I have to do is click through to Instagram and paste the caption in the description and post! It also saves a lot of time! I love Instagram and it is probably my favorite social media network. I do spend most of my time on here because I love seeing everyone’s lovely photos and being inspired by them!

So, there you have it! Those are my secrets to save time on social media and give the appearance that you’re always around, even when you’re wrestling a 22 month old and cleaning up spit up from a 5 month old!

Do you schedule your social media? How do you save time during the week?

How To Blog As A SAHM

August 24, 2015

As of April 2015, I stopped working for the web company I had been with for nearly 4 years and went to full time blogging. It was a scary decision because frankly, blogging income can be unpredictable from month to month. I have had good months, bad months and amazing months. It all averages out in the end. I have been asked by so many friends and family how I make money blogging or how I have time to do it with two babies. I will be really honest, it is not easy at all, but I am an avid planner/scheduler and that has really worked in my favor.

Here are some tips for all of you SAHMs who want to blog but are unsure if you will have time:

– Figure out when and how often to post. I try to consistently post 5 days a week (Monday – Friday), but you don’t have to post that often. A lot of bloggers I follow only post 2 or 3 times a week. I also typically schedule my posts to go live at 8a.m. because I have had most success with that time. It may be different for you depending on your location and niche. Figure out what works best for you.

– Create a schedule. This is key. Whether you take photos while the babies are napping and write/edit at night or you wake up early to get it all done before they rise, it is important to have a schedule and stick to it so you don’t fall behind.

-Be consistent. Once you decide what days you are going to post be sure to do it. It can be frustrating and turn readers off if you don’t post consistently. They might quit checking back for new posts.

– Make blogging a priority. Obviously your family comes before blogging, after all, you are a SAHM. Your kids come first, always. Mine do as well. However, if you are monetizing your blog to make an income, it has to become a priority just as a job is a priority.

– Have fun with it. I love blogging. I did it for 2 years before I ever made a dime just because I enjoyed it. It has been an awesome creative outlet for me and it has taught me so much about myself. It has challenged me in numerous ways and I am so thankful for this community. If you don’t love what you are doing, you won’t be successful. Blogging is not a quick way to earn a buck. It takes a lot of hard work for little pay.

New to Blogging? Read How to Start a Blog!

Do you have any other advice for a SAHM wanting to start a blog?

Blogging Tips for Beginners

March 19, 2015

So you have a blog. Now what?

I know every blogger has a set of their own blog tips that they like to share, so I thought I would throw in my two cents and share what has helped me, and what I wish I had known from the beginning.

Social Media is probably my most important tip for you. If you don’t already have a Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest and Instagram for your blog, get them ASAP. Like, now. Promoting through social media is how most people will end up on your blog. See those pretty pins on Pinterest? Those are blog posts. People click on them like crazy and drive traffic to those blogs. More on Pinterest below. It is equally important to share all of your blog posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Everyone is on social media these days and spend a lot more time on the internet. It is important to use these facts to your advantage.

Photos are so important. Make them beautiful. Don;t ever put a picture in your post that you aren’t proud of because chances are, you’ll regret it. Make at least one photo pinnable in your posts. Add text if you want, and always edit them to make them beautiful and to make them fit perfectly in your post. I use PicMonkey for all of my editing.

Utilize Pinterest. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Pinterest has driven so much traffic to my blog, and for that I am very thankful. Start pinning your posts if you aren’t already. Be descriptive in your pin description, and use hashtags, but not too many. I try to use one or two.

Stumble Stumble Stumble and ask others to Stumble your posts. This is a great way to increase your traffic and help other bloggers. Read other tips on how to increase your blog traffic here.

Network. Join Facebook groups, and share other bloggers content. They will reciprocate.

Participate in Link-Ups. Here is a list of link-ups I love to participate in. If you host or know of any great link-ups that aren’t on my list, let me know in the comments! Link-ups are a great way to get noticed by other bloggers and drive more traffic to your posts. You might even find a new blog that you will fall in love with!

Give it time. For some, traffic increases steady and quick, for others, it takes more time. Don’t compare yourself to others.

Be Unique
Don’t bother copying everyone else around you. Do the best you can and be yourself. People will read your blog for YOU.

Stay Out of Blog Drama
I think this speaks for itself. I lose so much respect when I see a great blogger let internet drama bring her down. It’s so silly and really sad. It’s best to just stay out of it. Be kind, always.

Be Consistent.
I’m preaching to myself on this one. I have taken blog breaks here and there and it really messes up my stats/page views. Not cool. I always regret it. Be consistent and stay consistent. If you don’t, people will quit visiting your blog.

Do you have any other tips for beginners? Was this post helpful?

How to Make Your Blog Posts Comment Friendly

July 29, 2014

Turn off your captcha.
It’s amazing to me how many bloggers still use this. Honestly, I usually skip over the comment section if a blog has their captcha turned on, even if I have already typed out the comment. It is so frustrating when you type the wrong letter/number sequence and it makes you do it over and over…it happens all the time and frustrates people, so just turn it off. I’ve never had mine on and I’ve had no serious issues with spammers. If you get a spam comment, all you have to do is click and delete it. Done. No big deal at all.

Write an engaging post.
Engage your audience. Make them ask questions or force them to have an opinion about your post topic.

Ask questions.
I try to always end my post with a question. That is the easiest way to get people to leave a comment. Ask a question that they will want to answer.

If you’re doing all of these things and are still having trouble, here are two tips on how to get more comments on your blog:

Leave comments on other blogs.
If there is one thing I’ve learned from blogging, it’s that if you visit a blog and leave a comment, they will usually visit your blog as well. They may even leave a comment!

Join a Facebook group.
I am a part of a couple Facebook groups. These groups are awesome because they bring new people to my blog that wouldn’t visit otherwise and they are encouraged to leave comments. If you comment on their blog, they normally comment on yours as well.

Do you have any other tips on how to make your posts comment-friendly?

Read how I doubled my pageviews in 2 months!

How To Double Your Page Views In 2 Months

July 8, 2014

I have been working very hard to increase my page views to allow me to work with other brands and grow my blog. Since making this decision 2 months ago, I have double page views since . I am not writing this post to pat myself on the back, but to simply tell you how I did it in case you ever have the urge to gain more traffic to your blog. I don’t claim to know everything about blogging because I’m still learning more every day, but this is what worked for me:

One.
I joined a few Facebook groups. One that caters to blog comments, another that caters to Pinterest and one that caters to StumbleUpon. These helped me gain a greater following and more pageviews just simply by making new connections with the other girls in these groups. It has been extremely beneficial because I have also found great new blogs to follow that I enjoy reading daily. Win/win!

Two.
I participated in a couple of giveaways. I know that some people will write me off for this one, but I know a lot of “big” blogs that host and participate in giveaways often. That is a huge reason that they have grown so much. I know this because from the 2 giveaways I participated in, I gained 300 new Bloglovin’ followers. I like to think that some of those were people who just loved my blog so much that they wanted to follow it, but I know that most of them were from the giveaways. And the best thing is they haven’t gone anywhere. They are still hanging around and that makes me very happy! It also means that my blog has a broader audience and is reaching more people.

Three.
I have started pinning my posts to Pinterest. I wasn’t really doing this before, but I read so many posts about utilizing Pinterest and how most people get the majority of their traffic from Pinterest. I have seen my traffic go up a lot since doing this.

Four.
I focused on my content and photos a little more. I try to write at least one Pinterest worthy post a week. I also try to make photos more Pinterest friendly. I typically use Picmonkey, but I do use Gimp every now and then because I was use it with my job. I still prefer to write mostly personal stuff and I always will because that is the point of my blog. However, there is a balance because I do want to attract people to my blog and give them something interesting to read as well.

Five.
I participate in link-ups. I have a few fashion link-ups and a few “anything goes” link-ups that I began participating in weekly. You can find a full list of them here.

There you have it! Making these simple changes only added a little more time to my blogging but the benefits have been great. Like I said, this isn’t a complete list by any means. These are just a few things that worked well for me.

Do you have any other tips for increasing your blog traffic?