Listen to “MIH065: Scaling a Sustainable Virtual Assistant Business with Sasha Eburne” on Spreaker.

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Welcome to episode 65!

Have you ever thought about becoming a virtual assistant, or are you currently wanting to scale your VA business? Sasha Eburne and I talk about this in this week’s show.

Who is Sasha?

Feeling stuck? At a crossroads in your career or emotional life? Even the strongest among us can feel
lost, unsure, ambivalent, or unhappy at times. As a Coaching Professional, I can help you understand how to create your own virtual assistant business and how to do it successfully. I believe that you
have the strength not just to survive, but to truly thrive.

What Sasha and I talked about:

• How she started her career. She was out of a job since the pandemic, started with a small stint in real estate, then a friend shared with her about becoming a virtual assistant. She observed the VA community for about 6 months, and she took the leap and got her first client within 24 hours, quit her full-time job in 2 weeks, and was fully booked within 3 weeks.
• Coaching services she provides. She offers 1:1 coaching, a journey from startup to implementing clients and working alongside them. Now she also helps VA’s scale their business. She curates and customizes 1:1 coaching directly for them, and also offers group coaching.
• What it means to have a sustainable business and how mompreneurs can do this.
  • Finding clients that align with your values.
  • Only working with people you can easily build rapport with and work well with (people that work within the same ethics).
  • Build longstanding growth within your business. You can learn and grow your own business and someone else’s business as well.
  • Become a master at one type of client and audience, then you get niched referrals. Then you can put fewer resources into building your funnels organically.
• Challenges and successes Sasha has encountered in business
  • hurdles: creating a team, not getting paid
  • successes: being able to advance her offerings in alignment with her skillsets and traveling while being a mompreneur
• Join Sasha’s VA Accelerator Challenge Masterclass on January 16-18, 2023

Reach Sasha at: sashaeburne.com, IG: sashaeburne__ , virtualassistant.com.au

Did you enjoy the podcast? Let me know your thoughts. Interested in being on the podcast? Reach out to us here.

The post MIH065: Scaling a Sustainable Virtual Assistant Business with Sasha Eburne appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Listen to “MIH063: Pressure-Free Instagram Marketing with Anjum Bhandari” on Spreaker.

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Welcome to episode 63!

Have you been wondering about what it means to start your Instagram marketing without the overwhelm? On this show, my guest Anjum Bhandari and I chat just about that!

Who is Anjum?

Anjum is a corporate escapee turned entrepreneur. She used to dread mornings and going into her office daily at her corporate job until the day she quit her job to become her own boss. She has been earning from Instagram with less than 500 followers although she started with 0 followers. The difference between her and other online coaches is that she believes in simplicity and doing what you love. Anjum believes that Instagram marketing should be fun and easy.

How Anjum got her start in online business

• We discussed how Anjum left her corporate job to find something she loves instead- in social media. She began as more of a generalist and with time and through trial and error, she found her niche in Instagram.

What are some big content marketing mistakes entrepreneurs are making today?

Instagram has changed so much with reels and video marketing, and entrepreneurs need to adapt to the changes.

Find your zone of comfort, and begin to adapt to the new changes.

Also, don’t focus too much on metrics (likes, comments, etc.) because “numbers don’t pay your bills”. Look at sales and leads. Your content plan should be in alignment with your overall business goals.

What are some beginning steps in getting started on Instagram?

Anjum recommends that we start with an Instagram content plan. Decide on the number of content pieces we want to post per week, then divide it into the types of posts (reels, carousels, static posts).

Now with your plan, choose the styles that are comfortable with you (talking head, lip syncing, dancing) -whatever is comfortable.

Next, create a schedule for batch filming, and then a separate time for batch editing for your captions.

How do we cut through the noise of social media and make an impact in our business?

• Be yourself! That is your unique selling point even if there are many others in the same niche. There is enough audience for everyone, so cater to those who are attracted to you.

What is your biggest piece of advice for newbies?

Don’t overthink the process, just jump into it! Just go ahead and hit the “share” button. Don’t aim for perfection, but aim for consistency.

How to reach Anjum

Reach Anjum and find out more about her 1:1 coaching program and other Instagram services at https://businessandbeyond.co.in/.

Follow Anjum on Instagram @anjumbhandari

Did you enjoy the podcast? Let me know your thoughts. Interested in being on the podcast? Reach out to us here.

The post MIH063: Pressure-Free Instagram Marketing with Anjum Bhandari appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Listen to “MIH062: It's Never Too Late To Start Your Business with Freelance Writer, Melissa Meyer” on Spreaker.

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Welcome to episode 62!

Our guest and I chat about all things entrepreneurship. If you’ve been thinking about starting a freelance writing business you’ll want to listen to this interview as our friend, Melissa Meyer, will have some advice for us.

Who is Melissa Meyer?

At the tender age of eight, Melissa knew she wanted to grow up to be two things – a mom and a
writer. It was a long 30-year journey to realize those childhood dreams. Melissa is now a freelance writer for small businesses and female entrepreneurs. She loves helping women by taking content writing off their already-too-full plates. Her happy place is at her desk writing web content, blog posts, and case studies. When she’s not crafting fun and relevant messages for clients, she keeps busy cherishing her family. Melissa left the corporate world to start her business so she could be home with her kids. She named her business, Bets and Ben Creative, after them. Melissa and her husband live in Wisconsin, raising their 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son.

How Melissa got started and her services

• We discussed how she got started in freelance writing- starting out with office jobs offering admin support and assistance full-time. She left her job after she was unable to work remotely due to company policy changes and decided to come home as a full-time work-at-home mom, taking a leap of faith to begin her writing business.
• Some of the services she provides are: writing “about” pages for women in business (because it can be difficult to write about ourselves), and writing web copy and content. She loves to help women who help people by taking it off their plates.

How her “late” start was perfect

Sometimes our journey of entrepreneurship takes longer than we would like. Melissa shares her “late” start into motherhood and how she took her time in starting her business which initially began as a hobby.

The comparison game is lethal, but Melissa encourages us: “Your journey is your journey, no matter how long it takes.”

She also encourages us that it’s never to late to start over, no matter how far you are in your motherhood journey.

Avoid comparisons and imposter syndrome

Sometimes we might wonder who will actually buy our products and services, but we have to realize that there are many people who need us. Just have confidence in what you do.

Tips on balancing motherhood with business

• Make a small (not a long!) priority list of things to do so that you set yourself up for success and not for failure
• Don’t overwhelm yourself with goals, but set goals that you can control
• Balancing means being kind to yourself, and giving yourself some grace
• Create systems for home and business

Melissa’s Services

Pick up a copy of her copywriting tips, and reach her by visiting her website at http://www.betsandbencreative.com

Did you enjoy the podcast? Let me know your thoughts. Interested in being on the podcast? Reach out to us here.

The post MIH062: It’s Never Too Late To Start Your Business with Freelance Writer, Melissa Meyer appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Listen to “MIH061:Self-Healing with Lauren Nelson, Naturopath” on Spreaker.

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Have you gone to the doctor and been told your labs are “normal” but you still feel like crap?

If you’ve been tired and sick, but don’t understand why, there are ways you can find out how to elevate your health through the power of self-healing. Today’s guest, Lauren Nelson, shares how we can begin understanding our own bodies so that we can better take care of ourselves, our families, and our business. She teaches us how to read our own blood work and look out for some key markers in our blood test that could answer why we are feeling the way we do.

Lauren is a  health consultant, blood work specialist,  and MBSR™ practitioner- a traditional naturopath specializing in blood work. She became a blood work specialist after years of dealing with her own health issues and doctors just telling her she was “healthy” and to lower her stress.

She owns Medella Healing and has helped hundreds of clients get answers to their health struggles by teaching them how to transform their “normal” labs into answers, hope, and healing.

What Lauren and I talked about

It’s always nice to know how other mompreneurs got started and what motivated them to get where they are today.

Lauren shares her self-healing story, and how she became interested in becoming a health consultant and naturopath.

Through her own journey of illness (and helping her own mother), plus learning prevention methods and protocols, she was able to begin passing this knowledge on to others.

The importance of moms in business taking care of ourselves on a daily basis (and not just during checkups)

It’s not enough simply to visit the doctor once a year. We must make constant assessments about how our bodies are feeling and take action when we feel that something is “off”.

Why it’s important for women to listen to our own bodies and be able to read our own labwork, and how Lauren helps us to do that

Lauren’s protocols for helping her clients include showing us how to self-regulate by checking our own blood work and learning how to read it. She strengthens her clients’ healing process by empowering them to read their own data and make health decisions for themselves.

A few of her challenges as well as successes of running a virtual business.

One of Lauren’s challenges is the idea I like to call “changing heels”. We have to change shoes (or hats) to fit the situation. Sometimes she needs to wear her accounting hat, and other times she is entrenched in the meditative work of helping to heal a client. They are both equally important tasks, but very different.

I truly enjoyed talking to Lauren and hope that you enjoyed the show!

Lauren’s Programs

Pick up a copy of her Free Top Secrets to Guide to Blood Work.

How to reach Lauren

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Did you enjoy the podcast? Let me know your thoughts. Interested in being on the podcast? Reach out to us here.

The post MIH061: Self-Healing with Lauren Nelson, Naturopath appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Are you looking for ways to grow your blog without breaking the bank? Maybe you have just begun blogging and need to find ways to grow it while using your budget for other business needs.

No worries- there is good news! If you want to grow your blog, it doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, you can get away with barely spending a penny on marketing and advertising.

Since I first began blogging (in what seems like the dinosaur ages of blogging and web tech- back in the mid-2000’s), I have found loads of shortcuts to saving money on blog advertising.

In fact, I bootstrapped my way from humble blog startups with barely any pageviews to thousands of visitors monthly. (As a mompreneur on a budget, these pageviews meant more potential customers to buy my services and products- which is exactly what I was counting on!)

Back in 2006, I didn’t have access to any of the following social media resources I’m about to share with you. There are just so many more ways to spread the word of your blog nowadays, thanks to social media.

Here are just a few ways I have been landing visitors on my blog without spending a penny.

Five key ways to grow your blog on a budget

Write what your readers want to read

This is the easiest way I’ve gained readership: write what my readers love reading about.

No doubt, this may seem like common sense- and really, it is. If your readers want to know about a topic, they will likely search for it on Google. If your blog happens to be in the search engine results (especially if you have a high ranking for the keyword), your reader will have found an answer to their question. If you are answering their question, you win!

The key to blog growth is to continue attracting readers with great content that answers their most pertinent questions and solves their problems.

For this, you really have to get to know your audience. Once you’ve laid down the groundwork for your blog’s purpose and your niche market, you’ll begin to write content specifically for them.

And guess what? Writing content is free. (It just takes some time on your part). But, it doesn’t cost you a cent.

Join Facebook groups

Not on Facebook yet? Do you have an aversion to Facebook and all the chaos that can seem to transpire as a result of being tied down to too many groups or being bombarded with notifications?

If you’re not that into Facebook then you should start to think of it a bit differently. Even if you’re not using it for personal uploads of family pics and keeping up with your high school classmates, you should still at least have a business presence there.

Here’s why: Facebook groups provide awesome engagement.

If you really want your readers to find you and dig into deep discussions about your main topic, then starting a Facebook group can be quite helpful.

On the other hand, starting groups takes a lot of work, so you may just want to join a group that someone else started. This way, you can chime in discussions, lend a listening ear, and be of help to others who have questions about your area of expertise.

One way I’ve grown my blog is to contribute to user discussions in groups. If someone has a question about setting up their WordPress blog, I usually chip in and give my two cents worth. I also invite them to download free resources on my blog in order to help them meet their goals. This is the way social media becomes an excellent referral tool for your business.

Pin your posts for maximum viral effect

Every blog post you create needs an opportunity to go viral. It’s no guarantee that it will, but at the very least, it should be positioned for sharing success. One of the best ways to do this currently is through a wonderful little tool called Pinterest.

The reason I love Pinterest is that it truly is a straightforward sharing system. I write my post once and I pin it once to my main board. Afterward, I set up my post to be pinned to different, relevant boards.

By joining Pinterest groups and pinning to those boards as well, I’ve opened up my opportunities for virality in a massive way.

After pinning to each board just once, I can then just sit back and wait on my pins to be engaged. This means, other pinners stop and see my post image, like what they see, and repin it to their boards.

And, of course, once pinners are truly hooked on my image title and graphics, they typically click over to my blog from Pinterest, and land right in my corner of the world. Many times they join my mailing list from here and become part of my tribe.

It’s a quick and inexpensive way to grow traffic.

If you want to put a little money into this you can purchase Tailwind to make your pinning life easier, but it’s definitely not necessary. I love Tailwind and without it my pinning would be a much, much slower process, but I have gone years without it and my Pinterest account and blog traffic have still grown regardless.

Start guest blogging

By far, contributing to other bloggers in your niche is a profound way to grow your blog on a shoestring budget.

I love this method because it means you can have a zero-following, a baby platform, and come away with a boatload, or just a few more followers you didn’t have before. And you do this all by posting to someone else’s blog and gaining readership through their platform.

When I first began my homeschool blog this was one of the major ways I was able to grow my blog. I guest-posted on several other more prolific homeschool blogs and boosted my following by sharing my posts with readers at these other home education blogs. This, in turn, gave my blog a much larger platform, boosted my SEO ranking, and referred traffic back to my site. A win-win, and completely free!

Invite guest bloggers

One way to get more readers to your blog while adding more content at the same time is to invite guest bloggers. You might be surprised at how many writers out there are itching to provide content for your blog for free in exchange for the writing experience and credit back to their site.

How does inviting guest bloggers help you?

By encouraging your guest writers to share your blog with their audiences and promote it to their social media and fan base you can expand your own audience. Remember, it’s not just an opportunity for your writer to expand their audience, but a chance for you to expand yours as well.

This is free advertising for both of you and is essentially a win-win.

The conclusion:

You don’t need to have a large advertising budget to expand your blog following. You can grow your blog without huge startup expenses and you can do it minimally.

All you need is time, commitment, and a desire to help others with your content.

I hope these five action-packed ideas will get you moving toward starting to grow your blog on a bootstrap budget. Let me know how these tips have helped you.

Listen in to the podcast episode featuring this article, and leave a comment. Until next time! 🙂

The post MIH058:How To Grow Your Blog on a Bootstrap Budget appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

I’m so glad to talk to Allison Jackson about self-care tips for moms…especially moms in business. How can we better care for ourselves?

(By the way, also be sure to check out my latest podcast episodes at the HER Business Elevated Podcast!)

Mompreneurs wear quite a few hats (and shoes)!

You know the old adage “if the shoot fits, wear it”? Well…this would be the epitome of the mompreneur life: being able to fit comfy sneakers, cozy slippers, or working heels.

We wear them all.

The question, then, is how do we take care of ourselves while tending to our busy, hectic and chaotic lives?

How do I balance three coaching calls, two design clients, a leaky faucet, a sink full of dirty dishes, and a day of homeschooling my daughters?

The true question is: how do I balance these things while maintaining self-care?

Welcome, Allison Jackson of Allison Jackson Fitness- this week’s podcast guest.

Allison is the founder of Allison Jackson Fitness. She is passionate about all things health and fitness, but she really loves sharing her knowledge and expertise to help corporate moms get lean eating foods they love so they can be at their best.

She knows exactly how hard it is to work full-time, take care of the kids and household…plus try to fit in working out, eating right and taking care of herself, too!

Allison has spent the last seven years training and competing in figure competitions — even winning her pro card — so she has a crystal clear picture of what it takes to get to your ideal weight and stay there. Now she’s ready to share what she’s learned and experienced.

What we talked about on the podcast

Self-Care Tips for Moms #1: Get moving!

As mompreneurs and bloggers, we might often find that sitting behind the desk at the computer can keep us more sedentary.

Allison recommends looking for ways to get movement throughout the day. Shoot for 10-12,000 steps.

Just focus on taking a few extra steps. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, for example.

Self-Care Tips for Moms #2: Ways to set goals for our health

Self-care for moms doesn’t have to be rocket science. It’s often just a matter of creating small and easy goals. I talk a lot about creating easy blogging goals, but we should do the same when it comes to caring for our bodies.

Break down huge goals into bite-sized manageable tasks.

• 6 months
• 3 months
• 1 month

Another way to set goals is to track what you eat (five days out of the week).

Simply focus on eating and working out. Setting tiny goals makes a big difference at the end of the day.

Self-Care Tips for Moms #3: Suggestions for healthy snacks on-the-go

As for self-care tips for moms when it comes to eating, Allison suggests focusing on protein. Did you know that women don’t get enough protein in their diets?

So, guess what? Protein bars are great and quickly accessible. Slip them in your purse on your way out the door before running errands or keep a few at your desk while you’re working throughout the day.

Also, don’t forget small snacks like almonds. They keep well and travel well. Almonds also provide both protein and healthy fats.

Allison’s Programs

Allison offers an 8-week group coaching program. She helps with tracking goals and teaching how to eat foods you love and still lose weight.

Find out more about her programs at Allison Jackson Fitness.

You can also reach Allison at Facebook – Instagram – Hacked Snacks Ambassador

Did you enjoy the podcast? Let me know your thoughts.

The post MIH057: Self-Care Tips for Moms in Business appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Have you been toying with the idea of blogging? Are you itching to get your thoughts out there for the world to read and enjoy, but you’re just a little bit afraid of the commitment to start a blog?

I totally get it: it takes guts to start a blog and to see it through for years down the road. Quite honestly, bloggers come and go by the dozens because of one reason alone: blogging is hard!

But if you are just a little bit fired up about your product or service, your topic, and your audience, there is absolutely no reason you can’t succeed at blogging.

5 Reasons to Start a Blog

If you’ve been needing someone to just tip you over on the other side and give you a few reasons to motivate you to start a blog, I’m here for you!

Get paid for writing about what you love

When I explain to my friends what I do, they’re like “huh? So…you get paid to write?”

Exactly.

Not only do bloggers find ways to monetize our writing but we quickly learn to tap into other sources of monetization. Writing a blog post may quickly turn into creating other products like ebooks. (I created mine on Amazon CreateSpace and KDP Select).

My blog posts have also turned into podcasts, where I earn an affiliate commission or advertising promo spots.

Additionally, blog posts can turn into ideas for videos, which can turn into a robust vlog channel making you some nice residual income with Google Adsense. (Here’s one of mine).

If you get really good at writing for your own blog, you can even offer to begin looking for opportunities to write paid guest posts and start earning money to share your content on other sites.

Be your own boss

Why start a blog? Because you get to ultimately create what you want out of your writing career.

What I love about blogging is that it gives me the opportunity to create something out of nothing. I am creating a community and a tribe because I’m writing about what I love.

I get to make my own choices about what content to put out (based on user feedback, of course), set my own hours, attract the clients of my choice, and drive the direction of my business.

I absolutely love all these aspects of blogging!

Create your own schedule your way.

As I mentioned before, I like to be my own boss which, of course, includes creating my own schedule.

I have a fairly complex schedule as a busy homeschool mama and brand strategist, but I love blogging and the freedom it provides me to make side hustle money (or a full-time income).

It’s up to me whether I want to dial it down or up- adding on more blogging or less. I truly get to create my own schedule and blog around my family responsibilities.

Meet awesome people in your niche.

Oh my goodness, have I ever met some pretty fabulous and amazing people through blogging!

If you are looking for an easy way to grow your network and meet awesome people in your niche, blogging is the way to go!

The small virtual communities I’ve found are mainly through:

• following other blogs and commenting
• following YouTube channels I admire
• listening to incredible podcasts and following the hosts on social media
• and of course, social media- Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook

One of my main sources for meeting pretty awesome people is through interviews and podcasting. As I’ve learned the skill of interviewing guests in my niche I’ve also been able to connect with some fabulous mompreneurs along the way and expand my outreach.

Make a difference for other people.

More than anything, I’ve found that blogging has helped me to help others. The thing that excites me the most about blogging is knowing that I’m helping others and making a difference for them.

My homeschool blog is about helping homeschool moms of faith with their specific needs: choosing curriculum, encouragement and support, advice, free resources, and conversations with thought leaders in the home education sector.

This blog at Mompreneurs in Heels is about helping moms entrepreneurs develop their online business from start to continuation: from business idea to blog to content and product development.

I also want to use this as a platform to highlight mompreneurs who are doing it and working their business.

When you find out your business and blogging purpose, it is exciting because you realize that you truly are making a difference for others.

That’s the best part.

Keep learning new things.

Blogging helps me to keep on learning. As I talk to other bloggers, interview guests for my podcast, or just do research for a blog post, I learn something new each time.

Lifelong learning is a goal for me. I wake up each day wondering what new thing I’ll learn. Because I blog daily I research daily…and I just keep learning new things I didn’t know before!

If lifelong learning is big on your list, making blogging a part of your lifestyle can help you to accomplish that.

If you’ve been wondering, “Why start a blog?”, now you know five terrific reasons to get moving on your first blog post!

Do you need help setting up your blog? You can reach out to me and I’ll walk you through the steps. I also help with branding and design services and I’ll be glad to hear what your needs are and help you.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast? What are some of your takeaways?

The post Why Start a Blog? appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

I get it-it’s not easy balancing a full-time blogging lifestyle while tending to family full-time as well. But guess what, Mompreneur? If you want this, you can do it!

On this post and podcast episode (yay for another podcast this week!) I want to share with you 5 mompreneur balance hacks that will help you with your blogging while raising kids.

I have two daughters – and although they are now on the older side- both a teen and a preteen, I have been blogging with them in tow since they were both toddlers. I understand the complexities of a stay-at-home and work-at-home lifestyle and what that means for mom bloggers.

Mostly it means, we have to learn how to balance, or juggle our responsibilities, so that we can at least attempt to get it all done.

Rest assured that although you won’t likely get it all done, that you will at least have made some headway in accomplishing your goals.

What are the hacks I used for the past 14 years to help me balance mom life (and mompreneur life) while blogging?

Make a flex schedule.

Mom-life wouldn’t be the same without a flex schedule. We have to give ourselves time to get it all done (or most of it anyway) and that requires a lot of freedom to move things around in a day (or week).

The way I do it is, although I have a set time to work (my block schedule), I give myself the option to move that block of time around wherever and however necessary.

So let’s say I typically work from 1- 4 pm on weekdays, but I have a dentist appointment scheduled on Wednesday at 2 pm out of town. I would simply just take that 1-4 pm I would normally work on Wednesday and move it back to 5-8 am so that I get the same amount of time and work accomplished, all before my kid wakes up.

(Check out my podcast on time management tips for mompreneurs).

Sometimes I have to move my work blocks to the late evening and sometimes to a weekend. I might even have to break up my 3 or 4 hours into 1-hour chunks spread throughout the week.

For the most part, however, I like to keep my amount of time blogging the same per week. Currently, I am working at an almost full-time pace, breaking up my hours throughout the week as needed.

Cut out filler activities.

This is a big one for me because Netflix gets me every time. But if you can cut out extraneous activities while working you’ll be much more productive.

One thing I’ve learned to do is to only focus on my writing and nothing else. If I’m blogging, that is exactly what I’m doing. Crafting my posts- and not checking social media.

Staying completely focused on one task at a time and not going down rabbit trails – like checking email, for example- can help tremendously in productivity.

Pre-plan your posts.

I love to know what I’m going to write about before I fire up my laptop. The way I handle this is to make sure I have already pre-written a few outlines so that when I’m ready to start blogging, all I have to do is begin.

Writing my post ideas out and creating outlines for them speeds up my productivity to double the time than if I were to research a post, then write it up one post at a time.

I like to batch my work, getting all the research and topics out of the way in one setting, then going back to create outlines for them in another sitting.

Eventually, when it’s time to write my posts, I already have a road map before me and I can just plug in and start writing.

It’s so much easier this way! As a busy mompreneur, you need all the shortcuts you can in order to make the blogging life easier and more fulfilling.

Only write, nothing else.

It’s like I mentioned earlier- focus on only the task at hand. If I’m writing, I’m not checking social media, but neither am I creating a podcast. I’m only writing.

Batching out my activities makes things so much easier. For example, if I’m creating a blog post image for one blog, why not for several? I’m already in Canva, so I may as well create several images at once.

If I’m only focused on writing- which is the bulk of my blogging activities- then I can crank out several posts within an hour’s time.

Focusing on one task at a time truly improves speed and productivity.

Factor in fun.

One of the best things you can do as a mompreneur is to make sure you’re getting taken care of.

What does fun mean to you? Factor that into your life on a regular basis and take care of yourself.

I often like to get away for a walk and have coffee. It’s too much fun to live downtown where walking to a coffee shop only takes 2 minutes!

I love an occasional gourmet coffee at a fancy coffee shop (or just my local one), so I might go out with another mompreneur friend some weekends.

I celebrate small achievements by rewarding myself with special treats that mean a lot to me.

I also like to motivate myself with a daily calendar check-off just to keep me motivated, and this is all part of my fun.

Mostly, I just try to remember that the mompreneur life is not all about work, work, work, and no play. We need to pay our bills, but it’s also nice to put aside some money to spend for pleasure– and to do so regularly to keep our spirits up.

What does factoring in fun mean for you?

Going out to celebrate with girlfriends? Saving up for a cruise for your family? Taking your kids to Disney? Taking yourself to a spa?

Figure out what fun is for you, and reach for it!

Did you enjoy this post and podcast? (I hope you didn’t forget to press play- just scroll to the top!)

Let me know what you think, and be sure to listen in on recent podcasts:

• How I went from stay-at-home mom to full time blogger
• The best way to gain client trust from your tribe

The post MIH055:Mompreneur Balance Hacks for Blogging While Raising Kids appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

Are you a mom who has been thinking about becoming a full-time blogger?

Listen to the podcast here.

(This blog contains affiliate links that help to support this podcast and blog. I stand by all the products I recommend.)

Today’s blog post (and podcast) are for you to get encouragement as a stay-at-home mom as you consider becoming a full-time blogger.

When I first began blogging in 2005 I did it for fun, and not to be a full-time blogger. Two years later, I blogged because I’d just had a baby and I wanted to share a few sneak peeks into my world as a new mom. I loved writing and this was a great outlet for me.

I was already working at home as a web design and social media consultant back then, so I naturally saw how great blogging would be for small businesses. I made sure to include blogging in my clients’ strategies- always. Blogging worked so well back then that websites with an accompanying blog attached always ranked higher in Google.

But for me? I just blogged for fun initially. I wasn’t even thinking about using it in any other way except for my first few podcasts (I share about that here if you want to find out more about me.)

Then it hit me: if this blogging strategy stuff really works for my clients, why not apply it to my own business? How about taking this blogging game up a notch and seeing if I can make this a full-time income with it?

If my clients could see their website’s top ranking in Google for keywords all because of blogging and the marketing strategy we were developing together, why wasn’t I applying this to my own strategy?

That’s when I started taking blogging even more seriously.

Sure, I’d just had a baby and just started homeschooling my oldest- so my life was beginning to feel a bit overwhelming. (Just a little bit!) But I could do this.

I knew I could do it. I had already begun writing for local magazines around town and had started pitching bigger magazines, so I was serious about writing. Why not blog?

It took a few years and a cross-country move to California before I finally settled into my new home and a new blog and podcast all about homeschooling.

It took me an entire year to get my first 1,000 email subscribers, but at the end of that first year of blogging I’d also gotten my first 500 YouTube subs, and I was happy with my 800 pageviews. This was in 2012.

It may not seem like much compared to other bloggers who make it to 100,000 pageviews within a year, but I was happy with those numbers because:

1. I was homeschooling, and that took a lot of my energy reserves. I gave myself a lot of grace during that season.
2. I had a toddler-turned-preschooler. I chased her around constantly and watched her chase butterflies. This was my life and sometimes that meant shutting down the computer rather than blogging.
3. I valued flexibility more than a devoted blogging schedule and routine at the time. After my second move within 6 months, and then a third move 3 years later, I learned quickly how to maintain a life of flexibility. This meant, blogging oftentimes took a back seat.

I am so nostalgic about those days and I am glad I did things the way I felt best at the time. I got the best of both worlds: blogging part-time while raising my beautiful girls.

Today, seven years later, I have worked myself into a full-time blogger role as my children are able to handle a lot more responsibilities on their own.

I no longer have to worry so much about how to get things done: I have more help. My teen and tween daughters chip in with chores around the house and we have at-home systems that work for us while we homeschool, and I work. So far, it is working out well for us.

If you are a stay-at-home mom and thinking of becoming a full-time blogger, here are some key things to keep in mind when it comes to balancing and getting it all done.

Work around schedules and naps.

If you are a mom of littles, being a full-time blogger will require that you schedule your writing times around your baby’s schedule.

I remember those days- how life centers around baby. Usually when baby naps, you nap, or when baby is hungry, you eat together.

But as a full-time blogger, you’ll need to think about how to fit your blogging times into your day. This means when baby naps, that might be a great time to write your blog posts.

When their nap times change and they become toddlers, you’ll start chasing them around and everything else will change along with it! This includes your blogging routines.

My best advice is to take it one stage at a time with your little ones, observe their routines, and fit your blogging around this.

Work on time blocks.

Time blocks are so important. As I mentioned earlier, when baby sleeps, you can blog.

Suzi from Start a Mom Blog tells how she gets up earlier than the rest of her family, doing whatever it takes, to take her blogging seriously. Today she makes a 6-figure income from her blogs, all while raising three kids as a stay-at-home mom.

Choose a nice block of time and be as generous with yourself as possible. (If you know it will take you two hours to write a quality blog post, count on taking a two-hour, uninterrupted time block.)

This might mean that you have to wake up earlier or go to bed later.  When your family is asleep, maybe you can spare a few hours in the early AM to get in an extra two hours of writing. Or maybe you go to be a little later than everyone else.

Perhaps you cut back on Netflix binging (that’s me!)

Being productive means you have to give up something in order to gain something. Rearranging your schedule will be part of the business of finding success with becoming a full-time blogger.

Have an immediate plan of action.

Okay, here’s a tip that really helped me with getting things done faster:

Do all of your thinking and strategizing before you sit down at the computer.

This way, when you sit down to actually write your posts, the outlines and general research have already been accomplished. Do you see how easy this makes things for you?

I used to write for several companies as a freelance writer a few years ago, and this is one of the key strategies I used to write up to five, well-researched, 1000-word articles per day.

I knew that writing this much content would require some type of time management strategy, and this was the best way to manage it: research first, write last.

Delegate, delegate, delegate.

You won’t get it all done by yourself. This has been the hardest lesson for me. I have been blogging for 14 years, and I have done nearly all the work on my own, until recently.

When I say all the work, I mean everything: from my blogging and writing work, podcasting and audio, video editing, graphics, email list, SEO, and social media management.

Did it keep my costs down by doing everything myself? Sure it did. I saved tons of money. I was super frugal and I kept my costs low to run my business.

Did I save time? Absolutely not. This is why it has taken me so long to grow my blogs. Without help, you just grow really, really slowly. If you’re not in a hurry, then it’s okay. But if you want to see quicker or more immediate growth, you will need to get help.

Check out places like Fiverr for reasonably-priced helps, hire a VA on a project basis, and don’t get caught up in the tech if that’s just not your thing. Let someone help you past the blocks that keep you from moving forward to enjoy the parts of blogging you love.

Hopefully, you do enjoy writing, though!?

Accept and enjoy your journey.

The main lesson I’ve learned in becoming a full-time blogger is to enjoy my journey. I won’t always be a mom of littles. Today, I am a mom of a teen and a tween. I have a driver-in-training and a tween who is shockingly as tall as I am. No more littles for me. This means my blogging life has changed drastically.

What I couldn’t do seven years ago, suddenly becomes a cinch. I took my kids with me everywhere years ago. Today, I can walk out of the house to run an errand and not bat an eye as I know my kids are able to hold down their responsibilities at home. This means I have more free time to work on my blog that I didn’t have before.

Okay…maybe not “free” time. I am, after all, still responsible for their education which is a hefty job (as all homeschool moms can attest to.) But my season of life is different today than it was during the years I needed to keep one eye open at night listening out for my daughter’s cries.

Those were sweet years and I appreciate them, but they are over and I am in a different season. I have learned to embrace each season with all of its difficulties.

Today’s season is difficult in its own way- raising teen daughters with values in today’s society– but with each stage and season, as I accept it I appreciate it and I can deal with whatever is in front of me for that day.

So be encouraged, mama! You can do this. You can be a full-time blogger and a stay-at-home mom. It’s a lot of work, but with the proper strategies in place, one step at a time, you can make an income with your blog while enjoying your kids.

Has this post and podcast been helpful to you? Check out the following posts to help you with your blogging:

Mentioned on the podcast

• 4 Tips to Choosing a Blog Topic
• How to find your niche and write about what you love!
• 5 Major Transferable Skills Bloggers Have
• How to Ditch MOM Guilt as a Full-Time Blogger
• How to Start a Blog on Siteground
• Fear of Blogging: Why You can Overcome It!
• How to Keep Readers on Your Blog

To learn more about blogging, join the course

Need hosting?

You can sign up for hosting at SiteGround at a reasonable price. I trust this company and highly recommend them.

Use my referral link, and get started with your hosting for your new blog:

SiteGround.com/Go/MomBloggers

The post MIH054:How I went from stay-at-home mom to full-time blogger appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.

What happens when preparation meets opportunity? You step into your life purpose. Some people call it luck, I call it purpose. But there are some things you have to do to prepare yourself for your purpose.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that a negative mindset will hold us back from success every.single.time.

As moms and women in business, we have to be willing to roll up our sleeves and prepare ourselves for the success ahead.

Getting rid of a negative mindset requires work.

You have to work to prepare yourself.

Nothing you receive in this world simply just happens. Remember Newton’s law? “For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Whatever you do impacts something else in your life.

I have been in business off and on for about 14 years so far. During this decade-long season of mothering and balancing business, I’ve come to realize my limitations and what I can and can’t do at different seasons of my life.

I’ve learned how far I can stretch the boundaries in order to pursue business and how much of my energy has to kept for home life and raising kids. 

Meanwhile, I’ve learned the value of work. One of those values is that I can’t expect a return on no investment.

In other words, no time in, nothing out. No matter how slow-going things seem to be, if I just chop at it a bit at a time, a week here, a month there and a year goes by, I have accomplished something rather than nothing.

And that is an accomplishment, no matter how small. This is how I encourage myself daily.

Consistent work is crucial. The only way we can stay motivated is to encourage ourselves.

This leads me to the point that whatever someone else does to you or around you impacts you. That is why it’s so important to keep a few things in mind as women in business.

Guard your environment.

It goes without saying that negative people and circumstances can adversely affect your success.

Are you finding yourself constantly dealing with a Debbie Downer who consistently gives you the negative scoop regarding your decisions?

Are you around people who are at odds with you, who don’t understand your vision, and who don’t support you?

It’s important for women to guard our environment against a negative mindset.

Hang around thought leaders, positive people who have been successful and are currently successful. I personally love listening to other business podcasts (like Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy or Leslie Samuel’s Become a Blogger).

Seek out mentors and those who can help you along the journey. There are those who will pull you down and those who will build you up.

Spend time with those who will be the best influence on you.

This leads to my next point…

Take control of toxic thinking.

Like many women, over the years I’ve battled with bouts of low self-esteem. I’ve heard many times that those of us who put ourselves out there in the public eye can be some of the shyest people.

I don’t think I’m all that shy but I definitely have my more introverted moments. There are also moments when toxic thoughts begin to dominate my way of life as I succumb to ideas that don’t uplift me.

It might be very easy to slip into this mode of negative self-talk and doubt and due to your upbringing or your cultural environment. For example, places where being demure, polite and humble were esteemed above mannerisms that can be mistaken for arrogance.

Sadly, I’ve seen many women have their self-esteem completely shot down or their self-worth plummet as a result of this type of limited thinking and debilitating mindset.

It’s not so much the geographic area you were raised in or currently live in, but the mindset of the people you hang around with that is the bigger influence.

We must, as women in business, completely take control of toxic thinking, getting rid of it every time it creeps its ugly head in our lives. This is the only way we’re going to see the value in ourselves that truly exists.

When you feel like you can’t be successful, like you can’t make it, you can’t do it, you don’t have what it takes, shoot down the toxic thinking right away as you begin to recognize it.

Well, my friends, I hope this has been helpful to you and encourages you to dump any negative mindset regarding business. You can do whatever you roll up your sleeves and set out to do. Your life is full of purpose and meaning. You can do this!

Also mentioned on the podcast

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What would you like to add to this podcast today? Was it helpful to you?

The post MIH053:How to Dump a Negative Mindset appeared first on Mompreneurs In Heels.