In the current culture, most people have at least contemplated starting a blog. Many have actually done so. Some have done so time and time again. And a very select few have found a way to make money off of their blogs.
Of the final category, some of these bloggers blog about blogging (and somehow continue to make money off of this redundancy. Slightly jealous!). They have lots of clearly tried-and-true steps for "How I made a bunch of money blogging, and you can too!" They go approximately as follows: 1. Buy a domain name, because no one will take you seriously if you don't have your own site.
2. Build your brand.
3. Make a big deal about your launch.
4. Write a ton of awesome content.
5. Interact with your readers.
6. Interact with other bloggers.
7. Monetize your blog with stuff like affiliate marketing or selling "products" (more of that content in the form of ebooks or webinars).
Here's more how I have done it:
1. Start blogging because it's fun.
2. Want a more professional blog that could potentially be monetized some day, so buy a domain name.
3. Attempt to build your brand, but mostly just get overwhelmed and paralyzed by the whole thing.
4. Don't write a thing for months, because since you aren't following the "tried and true blogging rules," what are you really doing calling yourself a blogger, anyway? During this step, it's important to question everything from your content to your general purpose in life.
5. Switch hosting sites and lose all of your content, therefore giving yourself the perfect excuse to start all over and try again! I'll be totally upfront with you: maternity leave and then medical leave plus mental health struggles have really fueled my dream to work from home, so monetizing my blogging is indeed a goal of mine. But my own scrambled little steps toward that end has shown me one thing for sure: the "brand" (topic, content, personality, whatever) of this blog doesn't lend itself to that goal. But you know what kind of blog does? Childcare/Mommy Blogging!
I have spent so long telling people I majored in creative writing but am a daycare teacher and hearing them say, "Oh cool! So you can write childrens' books?" Umm... no. I'll leave that to Sandra Boynton, Don and Audrey Wood, Eric Litwin, and other such gifted individuals. Battle scenes don't work well on cardboard. I'm still trying to teach my kids not to hit, let's not venture into how to gruesomely destroy your enemies in war. But blogging is a great opportunity to finally merge my writing life and my professional one! So why am I telling you all of this? Did I just create this brand new site just to say goodbye? Is it about to undergo a total overhaul and never be the same again? Are you going to miss all of my adventures, rants, and other such randomness? Oh no, my dear readers, you mean far more to me than that!
Instead, this is part of that "making a big deal about your launch" from that first list of blogging steps. I'm going to start a second blog! It's called "Sticky Fingers," and it's all about my adventures with littles while offering encouragement, support, and resources to early childhood educators, caregivers, and parents. (I skipped that first step though and am leaving the new blog on Blogspot, because hey, who wants to pay for two domain names?!)
Do you have any daycare teachers, babysitters, nannies, or moms in your life who could benefit from a little community and helping hand? You know what: just take off that last part. Every daycare teacher, babysitter, nanny, or mom in your life could benefit from a little community and helping hand. Check on your friends and loved ones who spend more waking hours with littles than adults: we are not okay! We are covered in paint and bodily fluids with PJ Masks playing incessantly in the background and nursery rhymes eternally stuck in our heads. Anyway, anyone who fits that bill, please send them my way! I'd love to meet them! If not, have YOU ever thought of blogging? Started a blog or two? Found ways to do so consistently and/or successfully? Leave me some love and drop a comment to tell me about it! Bonus: you can leave a link for other readers to check out your work! Until then: hug a mom or childcare provider for me, and tell them they're doing a great job!
