Blog Tips, Grow Your Audience, Mom Marketing Coach |
Using Pinterest to Promote Your Mommy Blog
Last week, we began our discussion on how to use Pinterest to promote your mommy blog.
We advised you to create a free Pinterest business account. From there, we told you to develop a niche for your Pinterest Page so that followers could find your board based on their needs. We then gave you instructions on how to create a Rich Pin, which gets more attention than a regular pin. Finally, we discussed how to write a Pinterest bio that was rich in keywords.
Sorry to leave you hanging, but we have more ideas on how to use Pinterest to promote your blog.
Here are the next steps of the process
Determine the best blogs to pin.
Look at the content you have created. Which articles do you feel would be best for the Pinterest audience? Do a little keyword research by playing around on the website. For example, if you type “potty training” in the search bar, the first thing that comes up is “potty training boys.” The next is “potty training girls 2 year old tips.” The fourth search option is “potty training puppy.”
Do you have any content that would help anyone with those scenarios?
If you have decided to only post articles on your board offering nutrition advice for kids, you may search Pinterest for “hiding vegetables in kids food.” Others have searched for “hidden vegetables” or “picky eaters.”
Do you have any articles that would help anyone feed picky kids?
Although every type of content can be found on Pinterest, you may have the most luck with “how-to” pieces that other moms may pin to reference over time.
Choose an image to accompany the pin.
Choosing the best image to accompany the pin is one of the most critical steps in this process. Some bloggers develop a specific style that they use for each of their images. Having a style helps brand and identify their blogs. Others experiment on what images receives the most clicks.
Regardless of what image you choose, you must include text with your image. Otherwise, your beautiful photo that took 45 minutes to get right will be meaningless to the person browsing Pinterest.
If you have a rich pin, at least there will be some surrounding text to explain the image, but don’t rely on it. We told you last time that it sometimes takes Pinterest a few days to process your request for a rich pin.
Write a description of your pin.
Once a person clicks on your pin, he or she will see a description of what type of content they would receive once entering your website. Write a clear, concise sentence or two about what your reader will learn. Use different keywords to describe your content.
Pinterest allows you 500 characters when writing a pin description, but don’t feel as if you need to use every single character. Use hashtags to describe your pin as well.
Make sure your pins are searchable.
It would be a pity if you went through all this trouble only to find that your pins weren’t searchable. Go to your account settings and make sure the search privacy setting allows users to find your content.
Engage.
If you are an experienced mommy blogger, you know what “engage” means. If you are new to this gig, “engage” means to follow the people who follow you. Like and comment on your followers’ pins. Repin items that would appeal to your audience. Respond to comments on your own pins.
In short, become a part of the Pinterest community just as you did with the blogger community. Bloggers do not work in isolation. They work together to promote each other.
Make sure you have a “pin it” button on your blog.
There are a variety of online tutorials teaching you how to create a “pin it” button on your blog, but probably the easiest way to do it is to WordPress plug-in.
Having a pin it button will enable your subscribers to help you gain a larger following.
Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
Why stop with one Pinterest board for your blog? Have one board highlight children’s nutrition. Create another board to focus on the cheerleading mom community. One board can focus on potty training, and another can focus on strategies to help your child with homework.
Soon you will have created a one-stop-shop empire that will answer all the questions that have plagued parents since the beginning of time. Or at least you will be able to teach moms how to hide spinach in their child’s chocolate cake.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging |
Creating a Business Account and Using Rich Pins
Remember when moms used Pinterest to find snack ideas for Halloween parties that would make all the other moms feel bad about what they brought?
Now, you can create dozens of boards with subjects as varied as fashion, travel, parenting, crafting, household decor, and “Halloween snacks that will make other parents feel bad about what they brought to the party.”
How do you, as a mommy blogger, connect with the millions of Pinterest users to increase the viewership of your blog? Here is part one of our series on how to use Pinterest. In it, we will discuss the importance of creating a business account and using rich pins. We will also start a discussion on the importance of developing a Pinterest niche.
Create a business account.
Even if you are getting started as a mommy blogger, take the extra step to create a Pinterest business account. Look under the settings menu to see how to complete this step.
The benefit of having a business account is that you have access to Pinterest analytics, but more importantly, you can create Rich Pins for your articles.
Learn about Rich Pins
Rich pins make your pin stand out from regular pins. The title appears in bold, and you can include extra information above and below the image. Besides getting more attention visually, the additional text above and below your picture will mean that the text can include keywords that will help users find your content while searching.
Rich pins have the extra benefit of being automatically updated when the linked page receives updates. Rich pins also allow you to include a follow button and brand your pin with your profile image.
Perhaps you think that those small details wouldn’t affect the amount of traffic your pin would get for your blog. Studies have shown that rich pins receive 36% more traffic than regular pins. Target noticed a considerable jump in clicks when they began to utilize rich pins on their content. And if it’s good enough for Target . . .
Learn the benefits of using an “article” rich pin.
As a mommy blogger, we know that you aren’t probably selling particular products like Target. Or at least you are selling products in a less “salesy” way. But rich pins aren’t just for selling items. There are six types of rich pins: movie, recipe, article, place, app, and product.
As a mommy blogger, you will be using the article rich pin.
Article pins tell readers the title, the author’s name, a description of the piece, and the link to your website.
Learn how to create a rich pin for your mommy blog.
Once you have your business account, you can edit your original pins so they are rich pins. Here’s how to do it if you are using WordPress.
First, add the Yoast SEO Plugin to WordPress.
Go to the SOCIAL tab in the Yoast settings, and click on the FACEBOOK tab.
Under the FACEBOOK tab, you will see the text that says, “Open Graph Meta Data.” Click ENABLE.
From there, you will go to this Pinterest page. Copy your site’s URL and paste it into the box that is provided. Click VALIDATE.
That’s it! Please note that it will take a few days for the process to be complete. Don’t expect your pins to change and the touch of a button.
Develop a Pinterest Niche
You may try to be everything to everybody in your mommy blog, but to receive loyal followers on Pinterest, you should consider developing a finely-tuned niche.
Maybe you write one article a week on how to get your picky kids to eat healthy foods. Perhaps this could be the focus of your identity on Pinterest. Your blog can still be about any random topics that you want to write about, but one of your Pinterest boards should be about #pickyeaters or #kidsnutrition or #hidingvegetables.
Tighten up your Pinterest bio
While you are waiting for your rich pins to be activated, tighten up the copy on your bio. Make sure it has focus and is rich in keywords.
Use an attractive profile image. Some bloggers swear that you should use photographs instead of a logo, but there doesn’t seem to be any real data that proves this strategy is effective.
We will continue this discussion on how to use Pinterest to promote your mommy blog in the next few weeks. With the right niche and the use of rich pins, we think your readership will quickly grow.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Blogging, Blogging Success |
Has life been running smoothly lately? Normally this is something to enjoy and celebrate. But for mommy bloggers, this may mean you are struggling to come up with new blog topics.
You wait patiently for your usually precocious daughter to ask you a funny but poignant question, but she has been abnormally quiet. Your son doesn’t seem to be stirring up any trouble at school or in the neighborhood, and your inlaws have been vacationing in Costa Rica. Even your friend who is always complaining about something has little to say lately.
If life seems quiet and mundane, and you have written about all the regular hot topics of parenting already, here are some others to consider. Consider answering these questions on your blog. Ask your readers to interact with you by sharing their own responses to the topics.
- At what age should you stop co-sleeping with your infant?
- What is the best baby carrier for a busy mom?
- Is it ok not to breastfeed?
- How long should you wait to have a second or third child?
- What is the best National Park to visit with a 10-year-old?
- Who are the best TV parents?
- Is there anything wrong with using jarred baby food?
- Do you really save money by making your own baby food?
- How do you get a three-year-old to cooperate while taking family photos?
- When should I tell my kids that my marriage is in trouble?
- What are some craft ideas that won’t make a mess?
- Where can you travel with your kids if you are on a tight budget?
- Do we have to take our kids to Disney World?
- Who is the best fictional mom in a novel?
- How do I get my kids to eat vegetables?
- When and how do you teach your kids another language?
- Will teaching your baby sign language help or hurt with language development?
- How do we keep our baby from crying every time her dad holds her?
- Is it safe to raise a child as a vegetarian?
- How do you divide up holiday time between your family, your husband’s family, and your own growing family?
- What do you do if your child doesn’t like your best friend’s child?
- How can a stay-at-home mom make extra money?
- What are some gift ideas for a boy who only likes playing video games?
- Are trampolines dangerous for toddlers?
- What do you do when your child always wants to wear the same outfit?
- What topics do you tell your kids never to talk about in front of your parents?
- What is the best child-rearing book you have ever read?
- What is your favorite thing about being a parent?
- What do you do when you see a sibling parent inappropriately?
- Should you take an infant to a movie?
- What parenting decision do you regret?
- How do you encourage your daughters in careers when you choose to stay at home?
- Is it safe to use essential oils on your children?
- What is the best dog breed for families with children?
- How do you get a toddler to sleep?
- Do you parent your son differently than your daughter?
- Do you parent your older child differently than your younger child?
- How do you balance privacy with being protective?
- How has blogging made you a better parent?
- How do you explain a family member’s mental illness to your child?
- When should a child start doing his or her own laundry?
- Should you give your child an allowance?
- Should the stay-at-home parent be responsible for all household responsibilities?
- What are you hiding from your parents about your parenting style?
- Should you make your teenager go to church?
- How do you handle a difference in income between two close families?
- What are the best books to read with a preschooler?
- How do you get your child to love learning?
- How many extracurricular activities are too many?
- Do you feel as if you are a good parent?
- How do you help your son if he is afraid of the dark?
- How do you force activity on a kid who doesn’t like moving?
- What do you do if your child seems depressed?
- Do we have to teach our kids that Santa is real?
- Will I disappoint my child if I don’t have an Elf on the Shelf?
- Should you pay for our child’s college expenses?
- How do you save for your child’s education?
- What is the best parenting advice you have ever been given?
- When did you realize that your parents were terrible at parenting?
Hopefully, this list has given you food for thought on what to write about this week in your parenting blog.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
Blog Tips, Mom Marketing Coach |
Automation Tools for Your Mommy Blog
Try to remember why you decided to get into mommy blogging. You may have to think back several years and retrieve what was running through your mind at the time you made your decision to enter this field.
It could be that you chose to be a mommy blogger because you wanted to share your daily life experiences as a mom with others. Perhaps you decided to be a mommy blogger because you needed a creative outlet while staying home with your kids. Maybe you became a mommy blogger because you wanted to earn a little income to help with the family finances.
Probably none of you decided to be a mommy blogger so you could spend more time in front of a computer screen. But how many hours a week do you sit at the kitchen table with your laptop in front of you? Some of you may feel as if you are working full time on your blog without the benefit of a full-time salary.
If you decided to become a blogger to spend more time with your kids, you have to stop and ask yourself if this is really happening.
If you find that your blog is taking all your free time, it’s time to work smarter. It’s time to utilize automation tools for your mommy blog.
Here are some ways that automation tools will make your life easier.
With automation tools, you can post at optimum times.
Weird people who loved taking statistics classes in college have figured out the best times to post on each of the social media platforms. In general, the optimum time to post is between 9 and 12 EST, Monday through Wednesday.
This means that if you are a mommy blogger, the best time to post is during storytime at your local library. The best time to post is when your toddler is most active. The best time to post is when you need to cut up apples for snacks, and when you want to cuddle up with your three-year-old and her favorite book.
Instead of pulling yourself away from these important activities, why not check out Hootsuite or Buffer. Create and manage your posts when the kids are asleep, and Hootsuite or Buffer will take care of the actual posting. Their service is sophisticated enough that you can vary your posting schedule depending upon the social media platform.
Look at Tailwind if you tend to utilize Pinterest more than any other platform. Tailwind allows you to schedule your Pinterest posts and also monitor the results.
With automation tools, you can reuse old posts easily.
Perhaps you have found that retweeting old posts with different images gets you valuable traffic. Consider using a WordPress plugin or Social Jukebox that will allow you to repost old content, perhaps in the middle of the night. Those following mommy blogs may follow different schedules than those following other blogs. If your blog focuses on babies and infancy, a well-timed post at 2 a.m. may attract those who are up with their babies.
Automation tools can manage your subscription lists.
Use technology to make your life easier, not more complicated. If you ask your readers or viewers to fill out a subscription form, automate your welcome emails. Check out how Captain Formworks with either MailChimp or Get Response. These work together to collect information and disperse emails to new followers.
Hire a virtual assistant.
Maybe you became a mommy blogger because you wanted to write, share, and make a few extra bucks. Perhaps all this tech junk that comes with blogging never has appealed to you. If this describes you, hire a virtual assistant to help you navigate subscription lists and posting schedules.
Look for people who are savvy in WordPress. Find someone who is an expert in social media and email management. Look for designers who will help you find your look. You can hire writers to write guest blogs for your website. You may even try to find someone who is an expert in affiliate marketing.
Hiring a virtual assistant will help you free up your time to focus on the part of mommy blogging that you love.
Automation tools can’t replace relationships with your subscribers and other bloggers.
While all of these automation tools work great to schedule your posts, it would be a mistake for you to put your business on autopilot. Make sure you are interacting with people who are commenting on your posts. Your authentic, individualized responses will get more attention than automated messages ever will.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach!
Blog Tips, Marketing Tips |
Affiliate Marketing Mommy Blogger
What got you interested in blogging? Was it the promise of connecting with other like-minded moms? Did you begin blogging as a way to archive the day-to-day life of your children? Or did you become a mommy blogger to earn an extra income?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. But today, we are going to focus on how to make money by blogging.
We will give you eight simple steps on how to complete an affiliate marketing blog. Ready? Let’s go!
1. Create a website.
Look at our earlier post on how to use WordPress to create an inexpensive but beautiful website. Even those who aren’t particularly tech-savvy should be able to read through our steps to create and post a website that you would be proud of sharing.
2. Develop a niche.
Think about your interests. If your children are old enough to form opinions, think about their interests as well. The narrower your focus, the better. For example, is your child a swimmer? Is she interested in golf or horseback riding?
Perhaps you are interested in children’s fashion. Maybe you are into kid-oriented subscription boxes. Really, anything would work as long as there is a product or service that you can help promote with your blog.
3. Make a list of products or services you enjoy related to your niche.
Look at your credit card statement. What store names appear with frequency?
Maybe your money is not spent at traditional stores. Perhaps you spend a lot of money on camps or experiences for your children.
Regardless, think about what products or services you would recommend to a friend who has children with the same interests.
4. Look for affiliate marketing opportunities.
Hundreds of websites will help you find affiliate marketing opportunities based on your interests. Google “affiliate marketing programs for . . . “ and you will find lists for children’s books, homeschooling, and outdoor enthusiasts.
For authenticity, try to find affiliate marketing opportunities for products you love instead of the other way around. Your posts will have a much truer voice, and your readers will trust you more than if you were obviously trying to sell a product you don’t care about.
5. Sign up for marketing programs.
If you were able to figure out how to create a website on your own, signing up for an affiliate marketing program will be a piece of cake. Since each marketing program works differently, make sure you read the fine print.
6. Create content that drives business to your partners.
Write a buyer’s guides, reviews, and how-to guides. Create videos or write articles. Include your unique-to-you affiliate links within your content.
7. Spread your message.
We’re not going to lie. The hardest part of this entire process is finding an audience to interact with your blog. Use social media, email marketing, or a hot air balloon to drive traffic to your blog.
8. Spend your money.
Oh, the joy you will feel the first time you earn an income through your mommy blog! But since you are a mommy, that money will quickly leave your account to pay for tuba lessons, acne cream, or a team pizza party.
This simple step-by-step guide will get you started on creating a mommy affiliate marketing blog. Why would you want to go through so much hassle?
You can earn income while you sleep.
Have you heard of passive income? Passive income is money you earn with little effort. You can earn passive income from rental properties, by selling ebooks, or through affiliate marketing. Passive income still takes work, but once the job is complete, you will still earn money.
You can get paid to learn about the products and services you care about.
Another reason to add an affiliate marketing program to your mommy blog is that it will give you a reason to dive deeper into products or services that are already important to you.
You can become closer to your children while learning about things they love.
If your children love Lego sets, you can spend time together reviewing them, writing buyer’s guides, and producing video content. Your children will get to do something they love, and you will get to spend time with your kids.
You can help others.
Sometimes the goods or services that you promote are for entertainment or recreation, but you also could promote products to assist parents with common childhood problems.
If you are already an affiliate marketer, share your success stories with us!
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach!
Blog Tips, Grow Your Audience, Mom Marketing Coach |
Oh, how quickly things change.
One minute you are picking gum out of your daughter’s armpit, and the next minute you are helping her pick out a homecoming dress.
If you are earning an income as a mommy blogger, this change may cause you concern. It should cause you concern.
Here is why:
1. Your child’s “issues” aren’t quite so cute anymore.
Kids say the darndest things, and people like reading stories about what they say. The internet goes crazy over pictures of round-faced toddlers with crazy hair, and cute videos of toddlers often go viral.
As your child ages, their idiosyncrasies may not be as funny. Their tantrums become embarrassing, and their strange way of saying things becomes less cute and more cause for concern.
If you are earning your bread and butter from sharing these cute stories of your daily life with the rest of the world, it’s time to develop a back-up plan. Or you can have another baby.
2. Your child is going to begin to resent your blogging.
Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers may know that mommy takes a lot of photos and spends a lot of time in front of a laptop, but they are clueless as to the reasons why. Your grade-school aged kid will be much more aware of your hobby.
They will not find it amusing when a friend at church mentions an embarrassing moment that was chronicled in your blog. They will not be impressed when you receive hundreds of likes and shares on the article you wrote about bed wetting. And when your child’s friend finds a funny photo of your kid and shares it with their classmates, your child will become downright angry.
3. Blogging about your older children may be unsafe.
When your children are young, they never leave your sight. You don’t go anywhere without your kids, and your kids don’t go anywhere without an adult.
As your child ages, he or she will have more independence and freedom. This is a natural part of the aging process.
Even though most people are good, there are some creepy people who will see photos of your child online and have ill intent. You can protect your children from these icky people when they are younger, but you will have a more difficult time doing so if they are walking to and from school on their own.
While it’s understandable that mommy bloggers should quit when their children age, it really is a pity. Parenting doesn’t get easier as kids grow up, and people still need advice and reassurance. Even though parents of older kids aren’t as likely to read posts about teething or diaper rash, they would want to learn about issues that affect older kids.
You may be sad when your mommy blogging days end. The blogging community tends to be a close-knit group, and after you quit sharing the details of your day, you may feel as if you are losing a group of friends.
But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. You can take the skills you learned blogging to earn a few extra bucks each month.
1. Change the focus of your blogs.
Perhaps your child is a figure skater or a golfer. Maybe your daughter shows horses. Chances are you have learned a lot about these sports as your child has advanced in skill. You probably have also learned a lot about the expensive equipment that accompanies these pastimes.
Write a blog about being a figure-skater mom. You don’t have to include specific information about your child. In fact, you can protect his or her privacy as much as you like. Other parents will still want to read your stories and advice if they also have a child who participates in those sports.
You can also use your influence and knowledge to create an affiliate marketing program. Write reviews on the best type of bedazzler. Write about where to buy golf clubs for your growing child. Create affiliate links to sell products through your website.
2. Guest write on someone else’s blog.
If you have developed your writing skills through your time as a blogger, you can utilize those skills and find freelance work on mom-focused websites. There are tons of jobs posted on Upwork that are seeking short articles. They don’t pay well, but they will at least keep you active within that community.
3. Assist others with starting a mommy blog.
If you gained popularity as a mommy blogger, you could teach others how you did it. Evaluating and editing someone else’s work may not seem as satisfying as writing your own copy, but you can at least feel good that you are sharing your knowledge and expertise with another mom.
This article is originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach!
