If You Could Have One-On-One Help With Blogging....

[mom2amor]

If you could have someone help you, who has been working online for over 5 years and watched trends come and go, with anything related to blogging, for one month - what would you want to learn?

This can be everything from setting a blog up, to monetizing, driving traffic etc.

You can't just say you want to learn how to blog - just specifics about what you want to learn first.

I have been online doing blogging and various kinds of Internet Marketing for well over 5 years, and after almost selling one of my mom blogs a few weeks ago - I realized that I could really help other moms who wanted what I had.

I have had many moms reach out to me over the years - friends and women I have never met, except online - asking me to help them start their own blog. Whether they wanted it to make money from the blog, or to promote a small business of theirs that they were in, I have realized that so many people just get overwhelmed and bombarded with information they don't need until they are actually up and running.

I read a lot of threads where people ask how to start a blog, or what they need to do to make money with their blog - and get answers from hundreds of people telling them to write lots of content, build up their traffic....a lot of generic things they can learn online.

But, if you had the chance to learn from someone one-on-one how to do something - what would it be? Would you want to learn right from the start - installing and setting it up? Or, get straight into getting traffic and monetizing? Little questions you would have in between?

Just throw any ideas or questions you would have. You can put them here, or send me a PM.

I will take these questions and use them to see what people need the most. I am trying to put together a course, and possibly coaching, for moms who want to learn how to set up and have their own blog, and I want to make sure I am focusing on what you would need.

Maybe you will get some answers to your questions in this thread itself - not just by me, but from others who have their own blogs. However, some of the learning that goes into building a business with your blog and seeing any kind of success will usually take more than what you can learn in a thread on a forum

So, if you have any questions, let me know! I would love to be able to focus on the things people really want to know about!

[bloggergal]

That's a tough one to answer. There are so many things to consider, and there are so many things people need to know about, but do not necessarily know to ask. Like security, for example. People tend to ask how to set up their blogs, how to monetize them, etc., but rarely ask about how to protect their blogs from hackers until the damage is already done. I speak from experience, here, because I lost a massive amount of work due to hackers. I had foolishly thought that keeping my version of WP up to date was enough. It wasn't.

Another thing I believe is important, but often neglected, is truly understanding why we want to start a blog. What is the goal? What do we hope to accomplish with it over the short term and long term? Early on in my blogging life, I stumbled into the "Adsense Riches" world. Many people advocated setting up tons of blogs with Adsense on them, and if each one made a few hundred dollars, you could make a ton of money. What they didn't tell people is how hard it is to try to maintain a boatload of blogs, drive traffic to them, constantly come up with content ...Oh, and how much Google hates that!

I wish I'd had someone back then who could have shown me how focusing on one or two quality blogs could be just as profitable and a lot easier and more sustainable.

Lastly, I would want to know about ways to monetize beyond the usual affiliate income, advertising, etc. Things like product creation, and the value of developing your own product (ebooks, lessons, etc.), developing membership sites, coaching income, etc.

Good luck with your project!

[mom2amor]

Thanks for your reply! Those are definitely some very good topics! I think any of us who have been doing this for awhile has had to learn the hard way about securing a blog....I have been hacked too. Luckily I knew of people who could help me to get things sorted out, and then they showed me how to make sure it didn't happen again. But that is a huge thing that people do often overlook when teaching how to blog!

I remember the whole setting up a ton of blogs, putting up some keyword rich content and waiting for the Adsense riches to flow in That was shortlived, thankfully, because those sites offered absolutely nothing to their readers.

You have given me some great stuff to add into my training - thanks! It's easy to overlook some of the things that almost become second nature when you are doing it a lot, and just focus on what you think people want to learn!

[emilyallison]

I'm just starting into blogging so I have TONS of questions. After reading your post I'm thinking of the things that I'm currently struggling with and would want one-on-one coaching with. The main thing that is coming to mind is differentiating my blog from others. Since I'm just starting out I want to be sure that I'm creating a unique, intriguing blog that will attract readers (and in my case, new customers and business partners). I know that this depends a lot of the goals of my blog and my target audience, but I'm finding myself surfing other WAHM blogs and I'm getting stuck coming up with personalizing my blog.

[mcw2004]

I would need to know all the basics... I have been wanting to start a blog for the longest time now and I just haven't done it... I think the main reasons would be because I really don't know where to start or really how to start... I don't know where to even began looking to build a website that I could easily maintain and make money from... to be honest the whole thing seems more frustrating every time I read about so it gets discouraging to take on....

I would like to know where to go to start a blog... like for instance many people say use Word Press...but I don't know how to do any web designing with it... I know there are those already pre-made websites that allows you to just enter your content (I think they are called do it yourself sites) but I am not sure if those are good to go with...

I would like to know how to make money from my blog or site and how to properly promote it...

How long should I expect all of this to take... which is better a blog or website... do I need to know web design... do I have to have a social networking page...

I would really like to know everything and anything I can learn... whew...

[Robin Bull]

For me it would be monetizing. SEO and driving traffic and the likes all come relatively easy for me. I know that with time Google will add my AdSense account to my blog, but right now it is only running on my Hubpage account...and that's only because it did it all for me.

[londonmoon]

Probably direct conversion overall since that is what counts the most no matter if you do have very little web traffic a customer purchasing your product or service while meeting their demands means you are doing your job very well.

[mwldream]

I have a blogging course myself (aimed at the weight loss blogging crowd) and what I have noticed not just in my niche but in all of them that trafffic doesn't seem to be a problem its what they do with it.

Far too many are not monetising their website enough and the result is that their RPM's are extremely low. I know of a food blog that makes such a small RPM that with over 2 million monthly visitors I get more in income from an internet marketing blog with 7000 visitors a month.

Plus there is the other side of it of those that don't understand traffic and are scared of doing SEO.

Hope the course goes well.

[CindyBuccieri]

Originally Posted by emilyallison

I'm just starting into blogging so I have TONS of questions. After reading your post I'm thinking of the things that I'm currently struggling with and would want one-on-one coaching with. The main thing that is coming to mind is differentiating my blog from others. Since I'm just starting out I want to be sure that I'm creating a unique, intriguing blog that will attract readers (and in my case, new customers and business partners). I know that this depends a lot of the goals of my blog and my target audience, but I'm finding myself surfing other WAHM blogs and I'm getting stuck coming up with personalizing my blog.

Emily, One way to make yourself stand out is to ensure that your blog posts are providing value, answering questions and solving problems. Additionally, sharing your personal stories will differentiate you from the competition. Stories help the reader connect with message.

[MWriter]

I think the biggest challenges for most bloggers are attracting traffic, building a subscriber list, and developing good content. So, I'll take 3!