If you’ve been hanging around my blog for any length of time, you know that I was once a Project Manager, turned Accountant that left the workforce to stay home with our children.
Since becoming a stay-at-home mom,we’ve paid off just over $55,000 of debtand are working to get rid of our mortgage.And honestly, we wouldn’t have managed to make all this happen as quickly as we did without the income earned from my blog, thebudgetmama.com now, jessifearon.com.
And two years ago, I did something that totally scared me.I called my husband to ask him if I could spend $300 on a course that was going to teach me how to blog.
Honestly, I was terrified to ask my husband if I could spend$300 from our slush fund on a coursethat was supposed to help me start makingrealmoney with my blog. My husband is a super critical person so I was expecting him to ask me if I had lost my mind thinking that he would agree to it.
But to my surprised he agree!
In fact, he told me that it sounded like the best investment for my blog. I was floored, shocked, flabbergasted (okay, so I really just wanted to use that word in a sentence 🙂 ) that he said yes and that he liked the idea! But then again he’s always been the better business person.
And now almost 4 years later, I earn a full-time income from my blog andthat blogging courseis the key to how I got started earning money.
Now, I know that you might not be a blogger, so you may have no interest in this next part, and that’s totally okay – go ahead and delete this email or forward it to a friend that is a blogger (or is wanting to become one).
That blogging course wasElite Blog Academyand Ruth is getting ready to re-open enrollment for 2018 (she only opens the doors once a year).
Related post: My three favorite blogging classes to take
There’s a catch…
Here’s the thing, EBA is expensive.You already read that I paid $300 but that was 4 years ago and just like all things technology, blogging has changed a LOT in the last 4 years and EBA has been updated to reflect those changes. So even though now the price has gone up, the content has a well and I still believe that it is 100% worth it. The best part is, you get lifetime access so you’ll be able to get all the updates without having to come out of pocket for them!
However, I also know that you may not be ready for the investment yet. So I’m posting this now a few weeks early so you can start preparing your budget now. And I’m happy to answer any questions you have about EBA!
***If you’re just starting out with blogging, then EBA is probably not right for you right now. But don’t worry, if you are just starting out, there is still an amazing resource available to help you get up off the ground –head here to see the details.
Oh and in case you’re interested to see my real results from taking EBA, here they are (remember, I used to be “The Budget Mama” so that’s why you’re seeing thebudgetmama.com on the photos):
Here are what my pageviews were in September 2014 when I startedElite Blog Academy:
Here are my pageviews from March 2015:
Not only did my pageviews increase, but also so did my earnings. Since most people use AdSense, I will share how my AdSense earnings increased from September to March.
September’s AdSense Earnings:
March 2015’s AdSense Earnings:
As you can see, not only did my pageviews increase but so did my income from AdSense by simply applying the strategies that Ruth taught me in EBA. Not to mention that now, I earn a full-time income (over $3,000 a month) from applying the strategies that I learned from Ruth!
Next steps
If you think that EBA may be right for you, head here to sign up for Ruth’s free ebook. But even if you’re not planning on taking EBA, here are some things you can do to start building your blog into a brand:
- Write better. Content is truly king and if you’re not sure who your audience is or what they resonate with, I highly encourage you to check out this book, Secrets of Dynamic Communication. It’s written for public speakers, but the principles apply to writing and this book is the one that helped me hone in my skills and my voice.
- Have a blogging friend review your site. Use something like Screencastomatic to review a friends site for free and ask them to return the favor. Basically you want your friend to be honest and tell you their exact experience on your site – is it easy to navigate? Is the design a appealing? How’s the content? Graphics? Etc.
- Set up a business budget. If you don’t have a budget in place for your blog, you need to get one going. Even if you aren’t earning any money right now, you need to have a plan in place for when you do start earning money. Think about the areas that you want to improve on and make a list of resources you plan to purchase. Do you need to pay for hosting? What about web design? Email service provider? You get the idea. Make a list and put it into action. ***Ruth Soukup even has a small business start-up guide that you can download here.
- Build that email list! Yes, you need an email list if you plan to turn your blog into a business. Seriously, it’s the only ownership you have. Social media is “rented” space because you don’t own it. When it’s your email list, they’ve given you permission to contact that. You don’t have to go hunt and find them. This is my favorite course on building and nurturing a solid email list if this is something that you need to work on.
I hope that this helps you and I’m happy to answer any questions you have about blogging or EBA!
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