Get Schooled in Blogging

Every so often, I get asked for tricks of the blogging-trade.  I’ve been on the blogging scene for awhile now.  I started my original blog, Charlotte Mom Favorites back early 2010.  I started the blog because I love to write and had a small audience with the playgroup I started.  So I wrote about mom-stuff that I learned from my friends.  Now, three years later, both the blog and the playgroup have grown.  I still write everyday because I love it, but now I also blog because it’s a job.

I make some money on the blog, I’ve gotten clients my social media consulting business, and I’ve gotten brand ambassadorships because of my ability to connect readers to businesses through the blog.  It’s taken a while to develop this, and I’ve enjoyed (almost) every step of the way.  Blogging doesn’t always make money, and sometimes, that’s not why it’s done.  Whether you blog to share stories about your children, or blog for the bucks, doesn’t make any difference to most of us.  It’s simply fun to read about your stories so we can all learn from each other.

But, if you have a love for blogging, and are looking to promote your blog for increased readership, there are some great resources that I’ve happened upon in my bloggy-journey.

First off, I wanted to share that Content Brew is open for registrations.  This is the best course if you have a blog and (1) are needing to get it organized (2) are looking for content ideas and (3) are looking for tips on increasing your audience.  I took this course early this year, and learned so many great tips.  The course runs February 4-13 and is completely online.  You do the coursework on your own schedule and then participate in a few scheduled chats as you are able.  If you want to learn more about it before you sign up, here’s the recap I wrote after taking the course myself.

I’m also in the middle of the online course Mom Blog to Money Blog, from the woman behind Tip Junkie, Laurie Turk.  I was a little resistant to paying the upfront cost for this one.  It seemed expensive to me at first.  But, one thing I’ve learned in blogging and starting my own business: You have to spend money to make money.  And, it’s always best to do more of the latter.  So, if you’ve had a blog for more than three months, this may be something you’re interested.  It’s not easy to make money on a blog, and Laurie claims she’s making about $12,000 a month from AdSense alone.  (Confession: I made about $12 in two years before I pulled it from my blog).  Clearly, I have something to learn.

Finally, for my bloggy friends in Charlotte: Bloggy Boot Camp is coming to the Queen City!  I try and attend most-area conferences and this is one of them I hope to be at (beach trip complication I’m trying to work around).  Bloggy Boot Camp is highly rated, and for $99 seems worth it to meet other bloggers from the area.  Friends in the business are PRICELESS, and so are the tips that I’ve learned from mine!  If you aren’t able to make it to the Charlotte area, click through for the tour schedule: http://www.bloggybootcamp.com/tour-schedule/

Are there any courses or conferences that you recommend?

*some links in this post are from affiliate networks 🙂