Can You REALLY Make Money Blogging (Without Blogging About Blogging?)

by Carly the Mommy

Meet Caroline:

Money for Women blogger, 3 years in, making a full time income (not specified)

Q: First, tell us a little about you and your blog income journey –

when did you start, what do you blog about, how much time do you put into it etc. I understand that you’re not blogging about blogging, so talking about your income in specific numbers is something you might not do – but IF you’re willing to share how much you earn on average in a month, we’d LOVE to know.

A: Hi guys! I’m Caroline and I blog over at CarolineVencil.com. I started my blog in August of 2015 right after the birth of my third son. I started it because I was insanely lonely and isolated after having another baby and feeling like I had no one to talk to. I was on Pinterest (while up at 3am for feeding time) and saw one of those “how I made $20,000 a month blogging” pins and I was positive that I could do that too. So, in a rush of hormonal fever and obvious sleep deprivation, I started my blog!

Initially it started as a mom blog, talking about how I homeschooled, used cloth diapers, saved money, how my husband was a pain in the butt…. Typical early blogging stuff. None of it was monetizable, so obviously, I never made money in the beginning.

But I kept writing and I always found myself shifting into talking about saving money and making money at home as a mom (both passions of mine since that was what I was doing). So I started shifting into JUST talking about money for women. It’s something I love to do!

It was like striking gold: when you realize that you can make money off of something that you love, something that you’re GOOD AT, and something that people want!

Currently, I work full-time hours: 30-40 hours each week. I have 1 part-time VA to help me with small tasks (like managing my inbox, helping with scheduling to Facebook and Twitter).  I have 3 different segments of my email list: saving money (the biggest portion of my list – about 50%), making money (about 40%), and blogging (which is the smallest at about 10% of my list, and I am 100% ok with that!!). A lot of my time right now is devoted to email since that has had the biggest ROI for me. Building relationships and helping people is my favorite thing, so email really kind of comes easily. Pinterest’s constant changes are stressing me out right now (no lying about that). So I’m trying to focus on SEO and making new pins in my “free time” (what’s that, right?!).

For all of my fellow moms out there, if it makes you feel any better right now, my oldest is watching Puffin Rock on Netflix while my younger 2 are supposed to be napping but have started throwing things at each other… but I’ve got work to do, so they can stick it out for 5 more minutes. No one is perfect so don’t believe that lie. 🙂

Q: Why do you think your blog is able to make money when so many others aren’t? What have you done differently?

A: I don’t think I’ve got any “special sauce,” really. But I know my avatar and their needs very well. I also know that making my own products is where I want the majority of my income to come from.

I have a funnel that I put people into when they subscribe to my email and it converts very well. My tripwire converts at about 20% and my upsell converts at 80%!! It’s really awesome! 🙂

Honestly, I just want to stress this SO much: you DO NOT need to blog about blogging to make money! My blogging people might think that I only talk about blogging, but my money saving people NEVER hear about that. My money saving list only hears about saving money. And they’re the ones who I make the majority of my money from.

It also helps to mention that while another “blogging about blogging” product is basically noise at this point, the people who don’t give a hoot about blogging are like… “where did all of the products for ME go?” There are people there with money burning holes in their pockets who wants to hear about your niche. Whether it’s a blog about making dog tutus or about building a tiny house, people want to give you money to talk about that!

Q: What was your biggest hurdle to earning an income with your blog… and how did you overcome it?

A: I had this REALLY limiting belief that no one would ever care about a product that I made; that no one would care about what I had to say. This held me back for a LONG time.

I never bothered to make a product because of this thinking. Looking back on it, there was a LOT of money that was left on the table because of thinking like this.

Also, it probably didn’t help that I couldn’t sell anything. You’re laughing, right? But seriously. I couldn’t sell to save my life. Which, as it turns out, is ANOTHER limiting belief!

I overcame it by forcing myself to learn from others who DIDN’T suck at selling. I don’t think that many people can say that they are as terrible as me at selling anything, so I looked for people who were rock stars.

I found what they did and modeled it for my own products. I found what words they used that were captivating and tried them out on my own.

Don’t get me wrong! I still fell flat on my face more than once. In fact, there are still times when I fall flat! But it’s ok. I keep learning and growing.

Q: Can you share you best advice for how to make money with a blog?

A: If there’s one thing you can do today it’s to go and find a rockstar blogger in your niche and see what they’re doing to sell (whether it’s through affiliates or their own products).

What do their sales pages look like? What stands out as professional to you? What do you think gives them authority that you could have, too? What captivates you to click on a link?

And, one more thing: make your own way. Just because we’re all bloggers doesn’t mean we need to blog about blogging. If it doesn’t fit your niche, then stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Your readers are there to hear what you have to say, to read what it is that you offer that’s different. Even if you feel like it’s been said 100 times before, it’s ok to say it in your own voice – no one can be you. 🙂

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