This post may contain affiliate links to items I love, and I am confident you will too! All opinions are my own, however, I may receive a small commission on purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For any health advice I give on nutrition and weight loss, make sure you check with your doctor, as I am not a health professional.

Okay, this is the post I wish I read when I first started blogging. When I first started, I was so excited to write, photograph and merge a passion into a business. Writing, marketing and all-things motherhood are basically ho I am at that core. My degree is in Communications, I lived and breathed entrepreneurship in college, and I still have a small web-design and online marketing company that I take select clients for. That being said, I did not set myself up correctly to create a passive income from blogging in the beginning. I’ve solved that problem finally, after 8 months of blogging, and you definitely don’t need to wait that long. This is the only post you need to read to create a blog that increases in traffic and income each month. And no, I didn’t invest in expensive courses to do this. I may do that soon, but I bought just a few eBooks from other bloggers, which helped tremendously!

I want to reiterate that I am here to help you, not do the same things I did. Seriously, I went months focusing on quality writing and getting published in the Huffington Post, which is great, but nobody sends you a check. You just get a great big pat on the back.

I currently make over 3k a month just blogging and raising my babies. I would never have that opportunity if I didn’t just go for it and start. If you want to know how I make that much money, I break it down in a pdf with FREE TIPS AND TRICKS to make money blogging without teaching people how to blog!! I make no money with blogging courses and very little from blogging affiliates per month.

UPDATE! Since I wrote this post a year ago, I have gotten myself in the 5k range in terms of income for my blog, and a lot of that is because of sponsored posts. You don’t have to have just a lot of traffic for sponsored posts, and I highly recommend you read how I made 10k in sponsored posts my first year blogging.  The strategy that got me this first viral pin, is still the strategy I stand by and use today. I was able to get over 25k page views in my second month of my second blog. Mind blowing!  

I believed I needed to have the best blog articles, best photos and basically a viral blog in order to start making money and bringing in traffic. NOT TRUE. You can bring in high-quality and high-quantity traffic as soon as you publish if you do things correctly.

Okay, let me get you started creating your blog and making money. If you don’t have a blog, this will get you started with WordPress in the right direction.

Pageview Breakthrough: How I Went from 6k to over 17k in One Month

How I Got My First Viral Pin

How To Connect With Brands For Sponsorship on Instagram

How I Went From 0-60 Email Subscribers In Two Days

How I Turned $17.99 Into Over $300 With One Blog Post

 

Writing your first post, isn’t necessarily your first step. 

Now, I want you to make sure you have a Pinterest account set up. This is where I failed miserably. I went straight to Instagram and Facebook for traffic. Sure, you’ll get some views, but not like being on Pinterest, because this is where users are actually looking to read blog articles. This is your place to get the traffic that wants your opinion, expertise, information and suggestions.

I am still frustrated with myself for not doing this right away in the beginning, so if you listen to only one thing I tell you, DO THIS!

After I started my Pinterest, I was still lost on what to do. It took me a couple months of just randomly pinning without much luck till I found this course. It’s not expensive, and it changed my Pinterest life and my blog traffic. I went from maybe 100 people a day, to 1,000 just by implementing her strategies. Update! I now have over 100k page views a month, and I earn over 3k!! Totally worth it! 

I talk about her book more in my post, How I Got My First Viral Pin, and I can’t disclose what’s in the course because it wouldn’t be fare, but I can tell you that her method is unique and based on actual Google Analytic stats on what pins are driving you traffic, and how to utilize that to your advantage. I combine her tactics along with Boardbooster campaigns to keep pins moving. The tactic in the course involves manually looking at specific pins and boards. It IS A MUST!

She walks you through the basic set up of your Pinterest account, how to create great Pins and more way better than I could, so if you are super new to Pinterest, I want you to buy it even more!

You also need a free Tailwind account to monitor your group board stats. I don’t use it for anything else at the moment, though I’ve heard Tribes are great. I just can only master so many things at once. I do look at the group board analytics here though because it tells me which boards have lots of repins, are gaining new followers and more.

Okay, so if you are set up and feeling ready for Pinterest, then you can start writing. You want to create a minimum of 3 Pinterest images per post with a variation of titles and even images. This will give your post more of a chance of catching some good traffic and pinning.

Related Posts:

How I Went From 0-60 Email Subscribers In Two Days

Best Photo Tips For Fabulous Instagram Shots

Take a pause now! Lets think about what you want to write about in your blog, and corresponding products to go with it….leading into affiliate marketing.

If there are products one can buy, that you love or relate to what you write about, sign up for Amazon Affiliates account. Its simple to use, you can search for almost any product, and most people are comfortable buying from Amazon.

In order to make some decent money from their little bit of commission, you want to link products in all your posts and put native shopping ads where they fit. I like these because you aren’t pushing people to buy anything, they are just there, and if someone wants to shop they’ll head over to Amazon from your link, and you will get commission on what ever they buy.

Amazon Affiliates is the simplest method to start making money right away. Affiliate links and sponsored posts are most-likely going to be your main source of income in the beginning. The posts with Amazon Affiliate links I make the most money from are these ones:

The 5 Best Foods To Lose The Baby Weight and Pump Up Your Milk Supply

Delicious Protein Powders Perfect For Breastfeeding Moms

Increase Your Milk Supply Overnight

In all of those posts, I simply suggest items I actually use and love. I suggest them because they work for me, and my audience is interested in my suggestions. That is how you work Amazon Affiliates. You can also do a roundup post of products, like the one below, where I get some sales from as well.

Ultra Cool Gear For Moms and Babies with Budgets in Mind

You may also be interested in working with brands. I personally love Instagram, and I have been able to work with brands even as a small account.

If you’re interested in working with brands, check out:

How To Connect With Brands For Sponsorship on Instagram

If you aren’t that new, and looking to really increase your pageviews and traffic, I am working my way through the book, 17 Strategies I Used To Increase My Pageviews by Lena at What Mommy Does.

So far, some of it I knew, and I am doing. The Facebook share tips and Google Plus info...why didn’t I think of that! That is the best bit of information I’ve found yet to increase your Google rankings as well as get some Facebook shares outside of your own Facebook bog page.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but once I do, and implement some more of her tips, I will let you know my full review and thoughts, and if I think it will help you in your blogging journey.

Have more questions? I’m a real mama, blogging my way through life, so send me an email! Let’s connect and share the journey! hello@joyfulmesses.com

Pageview Breakthrough: How I Went from 6k to over 17k in One Month

How I Got My First Viral Pin

How To Connect With Brands For Sponsorship on Instagram

How I Went From 0-60 Email Subscribers In Two Days

How I Turned $17.99 Into Over $300 With One Blog Post

 

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2 Comments

  1. Um, why do you not have tons of comments on this post! I guess people are emailing you 🙂 I love how you put out there that you are a real person trying to do this. I also got the Pinterest Strategies book, so far (I’m only about halfway) it really is working, I mean amazingly! I haven’t even done much yet. Thank you for breaking it down and for your theme ideas. I have to redo my theme soon, I mean the one I have is lovely but I think I messed it up. I believe purchasing a theme might be the way to really stand out. I’m a mama too and I blog about the struggles of motherhood, identity and contentment. Seriously hard stuff but I know there are so many moms who just need encouragement. If I can get my blog together it’ll be a win-win. Oh I just noticed I cannot see the fields for name, etc. maybe that’s why no comments? maybe it’s my screen

    • Katie Pickett Reply

      Thank you for such a nice comment! I have gotten some emails, which I love getting because then we can connect as bloggers and share tips! I just redid my theme, it was actually super easy and fun! My old one was free, and very simple to set up, so let me know if you want the link to it. I also am glad to answer any questions you have to help, and my new comment section might need some work since I just redesigned everything. Thank you for reading!

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