BlogWritingCourse

I have been following one of our recent Blog Writing Course graduates very closely since we kicked her out of the nest and asked her to fly on her own.  For one thing, we have a lot in common, so it was easy to add her new blog to my ever-lengthening blogroll.  But also, I was interested to see how she did with the information and experience she got during the 8-week training.

I’m thrilled to say she is doing superbly - - often far out-doing myself in terms of weekly posts!  So I asked her if she would consent to an interview so that I could present to our readers what a real-life graduate of the Blog Writing Course might be like.

Today, I present to you: Sarah, author of the blog: Homeschool On The Edge of Nowhere.

(My questions are in bold print)

Sarah, I’ve been following your blog closely since your graduation from the blog writing course, and it looks like you are doing great!  Tell us a little bit about what your blog is about, and the types of things you write about.

Homeschool on the Edge of Nowhere is about the things we accidentally learn while we are enjoying real life adventure. I include funny and true stories about rural life, frugality, gardening, "school", baking and making, discipline; basically if it happens in our lives it’s fair game for the blog.

What got you interested in blogging?

It started as an outlet for myself as a stay-at-homeschooler mom. I needed something that would somehow be both exclusive from and inclusive to my daily roles as mom, teacher, master organizer, and disciplinarian. Blogging fit the bill very well.

Now that you have been blogging for a couple months, how about looking back for a minute.  Would you say that the Blog Writing Course adequately prepared you for the world of blog writing?

Yes.
Oh, you wanted more than that?
The Blog Writing Course helped most with blog creation and start up. I was able to jump off and write from an informed position and a solidly built structure. Brainstorming practice during the course helped immensely with finding something to write about after the course was finished. I’ve felt ready to deal with potential problems (haven’t had any!) as well as being able to come up with subject material on the fly.

What was your favorite part of the course?

I really enjoyed the camaraderie of participating in a course with other folks interested in blogging. It was great to get their constructive feedback before my blog was even online. I also really enjoyed the breakdown of lessons; they were easy enough to complete and built steadily on one another toward the "finished" blog.

How do you think the experience you are having now with your blog would have been different, if you had tried the process from scratch on your own?

I’ve actually had both experiences and while it’s possible to create your own blog from scratch and enjoy it,  I liked this much better. I now understand terminology I didn’t before, I know about more resources and tools (and how to find them!) for blogging than I did previously. I think the course is especially helpful if you want to eventually make money from your blog. It’s also been easier to keep my blog somewhat more anonymously written than before. I understand more about the blogging community and how to respond appropriately to others in the community, as well. There’s a whole set of manners and rules of conduct that I didn’t fully understand before!

What has your experience been so far with drawing traffic to your blog?  Have you put any of the traffic-building suggestions from the BWC to use?

Traffic has been pretty good, actually. BWC suggested many different ways of building traffic, some of which I’ve used and have found to work for me and my blog type. One challenge I’m currently facing is getting readers to comment! While the traffic is pretty nice, it’s really the icing on the cake to see loads of comments too. Part of the challenge is to write in a way (and on a topic) that folks *want* to comment while not straying too far from what your core blog is about, another fine BWC lesson.

Has the blogging experience been positive so far?  Do you see yourself continuing to blog, at least into the near future?

Blogging has been a fabulous thing for me. It’s allowed me to stretch my horizons and gain support as a homeschooler. I’ve "met" some pretty terrific people though blogging who come from all walks of life and learned neat things from them. I see myself blogging for as long as my fingertips hold out.

A big thanks to Sarah for taking the time to fill us in on what has been going on with her blog since her recent graduation.  I hope you will take the opportunity to head over to Homeschool On The Edge of Nowhere and check out her blog for yourself!

If you would be interested in signing up for the 8-week course that helped Sarah on the road to becoming a blogger, then sign up today to be included in the next Blog Writing Course! 

Until Next Time,

When I first started my blog, Topsy-Techie, I didn’t consider myself a Mom Blogger.  In fact, I hadn’t even heard of the term before.  Yes, I had a blog.  And yes, that blog was about my chaotic, tech-infused life with my family - - but I didn’t know I had a category! Now, of course, I realize that I am smack dab in the middle of the cultural revolution that is: Mom Blogging.

Mommy Blogging is basically a term for moms who use blogging as an outlet for their daily frustrations, struggles, and triumphs.  For stay-at-home and work-at-home moms, it can be an especially important outlet, since daily conversations for them can sometimes be limited to topics such as crackers vs pretzels, who gets reward stars for using their “inside voice”, or inquiries into just who put the whole roll of toilet paper into the toilet.  When you are home with kids everyday, blogging can become your chief connection with the world beyond the four walls of your house. And women need social interaction with other adults!

Moms also make terrific bloggers because they tend to be experts on almost everything.  If it involves medicine, a hammer, a book, a nail file, a newspaper, a paintbrush, an ironing board, a pep talk, a garden hose, or a leotard, we can probably blog about it.  Moms are, by nature, required to be multitalented, so they have a lot to offer in the way of advice and instruction.  They also tend to follow a wide variety of media, and have at least some knowledge about subjects as diverse as politics, pop culture, and psychology.  For this reason, they have a wide pool of topics to choose from to keep their blogs interesting.

When it comes to advertising power, Mommy Bloggers may just have the corner of the market. Because they are often the key purchasing agent for their household, their opinions on products and services carry a lot of weight in the corporate world.  That makes them a big demographic that internet advertisers want to reach.  Google Adsense, Blogher, Adbrite, and others make specific efforts to woo successful Mom Bloggers.  And stay-at-home moms are finding other creative ways to make money off of their blogs as well, such as writing product reviews, cross-posting on paid blogsites, and advertising their own home-made products and services.

Moms blog for many reasons: to keep their sanity, to chronicle their kids milestones and experiences, to vent, to engage in adult conversation, to give and receive advice, to network with moms in similar situation, to make extra money at home, etc.  Blogging validates the challenging, heart-wrenching, and often thankless job of being a mom.  If you are a mom who has been thinking about starting a blog, we’d love to help.  We offer two online courses to get you off and running.  The first course, Get Ready To Blog, is an automated introductory course to the world of blogging for those new to the idea.  The second course, Blogging 101, is a professionally taught course that will guide you every step of the way from setting up and designing your new blog, to writing quality content and growing a readership.  We believe moms deserve to have the best, clearest, and least time-consuming instruction available, and that is just what our courses offer.  So sign up today!

Until next time,

My recent interview with Christine Moers got me thinking.  She talked about using blogging as free therapy, and I think maybe she may have stumbled upon something.  Writing is incredibly therapeutic.  In fact, other than getting my fingers in the dirt, I can’t think of many other things that calm me as much as putting words together into sentences.  I’ve probably been writing for therapy for as long as I can remember.  I know I kept a diary all the way back in the third grade, and I was writing whole stories in junior high. 

When I am emotional, I write about it.  When I need to work something through, I write about it.  When I just want to blow off some steam, I write about it.  Not everyone uses writing to deal with their issues, but for me, it is a sort of lifeline to sanity.  So, I suppose I was destined to discover blogging.  Blogging is basically just “public venting,” if you think about it.  Instead of keeping all those thoughts inside, or just writing them down in a notebook, a blogger makes himself or herself vulnerable and lets the blogosphere have a window into their mind. 

Of course, this can be a precious gift, or a disastrous decision, based on your mood at the moment of posting.  If you are centered, and feeling secure about yourself, an insightful blog post can be incredibly beneficial for everyone who reads it.  If you are overly emotional, and out of sync with your true self, you can say some things on your blog that you might seriously regret later (thank goodness for that terrific edit/delete functionality!).

But overall, blogging really can be therapeutic.  Even if you are writing a purely informational blog, you are still exercising your talent of expression when you post.  The words, phraseology, and tone of the information is all right from the core of who you are.   Even business blogs can have a positive effect on your psyche if you are able to talk openly and honestly about your product or service.  If you feel strongly about the item you are blogging about, then there is no better therapy than letting others know how important it is to you, and why it could be important for them.  Personal blogs are probably the most expressive type of blog, because your readers are getting all-you-all-the-time.  There are no filters, no editors, and no censor between your mind and your audience - - just your words coming through loud and clear.

So, if you have considered finding an outlet for your thoughts, dreams, or insights, you might just be the next big thing in blogging!  You will never know unless you give it a try…so why not sign up for our free Introductory Blogging Course today?  If you discover that blogging is something you want to pursue, you will definitely want to take our Blogging 101 course, which will help you set up a new blog, start the writing process, and build your blog audience.  What can you lose…except some overpriced therapy bills??  Why not blog instead?  

Until next time,