Time Management Guide – How to Grow a Blog into a Full Time Business as a Mom

Starting a blog can take 15 minutes. Growing a blog, well, that can take 15,000 hours. Just like any business, it requires hustle in the beginning. Starting a blog doesn’t cost a lot, it’s one of the most inexpensive businesses you can start and the return on investment can be exponential.

It requires sweat equity in the beginning. People refer to sweat equity as the value-enhancing improvements made by homeowners to their real estate before selling to increase profits. In terms of blogging, sweat equity is what you can do to improve your blog without hiring out work or paying for traffic. In the beginning, you have the complete ability to grow your blog to a full time income by consistently investing time into it.

The Time Management Guide – How to Grow a Blog into a Full Time Business as a Mom

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Over the past few years my life has changed dramatically. I started blogging when I only had one child. I’ve been able to grow the blog to a full time income while becoming pregnant with my second daughter, going from one to two kids, becoming pregnant with my third, and going from two to three kids. Each stage of life required me to adapt my blogging schedule and find new pockets of time to work. It has not been easy to balance motherhood with a growing blog.

Both the size of my family and my blog grew quickly at the same time. Before I knew it I had three little blessings in my arms and a list of 30,000 email subscribers with hundreds of emails pouring into my inbox.

I sometimes miss my first few months of blogging. When I could focus all of my time on creating content, designing beautiful pin images and learning new strategies. When the kids were napping or sleeping, I could dive deep into growing my blog.

Fast forward to my current situation, I can spend almost all of my time just answering emails and helping students progress through my courses. Instead of growing my blog, I am growing the blogs of my readers. Which is pretty neat to think about it that way – but I do miss creating content and writing posts! When I create new posts and do Facebook Lives, I have the ability to help hundreds, instead of only one person in my inbox.

So about two weeks ago I decided to make dramatic changes to keep me from drowning in a sea of emails. This post will explain how I’ve come to this point and why I’m changing how I run my blog.

Many people ask me how I do it, so I wanted to make it clear that my schedule and system is always adapting and changing to what stage I’m in. Below I’ll go into detail how I grew my blow and managed my time as a mom of a growing family. 

Don’t have time? Watch the video below!

Quick Time Management Tips for Moms

Before we dive deeply into my schedules, here is a quick overview of the different time management strategies I implemented along my journey. I’ll start with the easiest and cheapest to implement, and move down to what I’m doing now to sustain my business growth.

• Use automated schedulers – Tailwind for Pinterest and this free IFTTT recipe for other platforms.
• Use the Super Simple Weekly Schedule to plan out your week – it’s very popular!
• Repurpose content.
• Do only value-add activities.
• Find quick 5 minute tasks you can do to grow your blog when you have little time.
• Use the Eisenhower Matrix.
• Use the Pomodoro technique.
• Strategize and brainstorm during long drives so you can focus when you work.
• Get a babysitter once or twice a month to help when you work on big projects.
• Ask your hubby or friend to help and make them a part of the blog.
• Implement funnels and automations where you can.
• Get a virtual assistant
• Outsource things around the home – cleaning, laundry, groceries.
• When you really can’t find tim e to blog, ask for guest posts from friends and family or other bloggers to help you.

If you haven’t started your blog yet, be sure to enroll in the Blog by Number course and discover if blogging is right for you!

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Stage 1 – Starting a Blog as a Mom of One

I only had one child and could easily blog during her nap times. She slept in late, until around 9 am and took a long 3 hour nap every day. So if I woke up early, I could easily work from 6AM to 9AM, and then again from 1PM to 4PM every day.That gave me a solid 6 hours per day to work on my blog. It was wonderful. I also had zero emails from customers, because I had no customers.

I could focus 100% of my time on growing my blog, creating content and generating traffic. I sometimes envy beginning bloggers in this stage. You’re free to change directions, test crazy ideas and focus all of your energy on your blog and not in your inbox.

The best thing you can do in the first few months of your blog is to create great content. This will build a solid foundation to your blog so when others visit it, there will be posts for them to read. By writing a lot you’ll discover what your audience likes and also what you like.

You may think you’re passionate about arts and crafts, but after the 6th time trying to clean up all the glitter on the kitchen table, you may not want to blog about it for years to come.If you need a step by step plan for your first year of blogging, the free Blog Plan course has a printable plan that you can use to guide you! During the first 6 months of your blog, this is what you should focus on.

1. Planning your blog through these first steps and setting up a solid foundation.
2. Writing your first blog posts, even when you don’t know what to write about.
3. Learn how to write better blog posts that grab and keep people’s attention.
4. Don’t fall into these common mental traps that prevent you from growing into a strong blogger.

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Stage 2 – Growing a Blog while Pregnant

During the second stage of my blogging career, when I became pregnant with my second baby my energy took a dip. Growing another human being takes energy, so instead of always blogging during my daughter’s nap times, I would sometimes join her for a midday snooze.This is when I started adding in the late night time slot to continue working on the blog. I don’t love working at night. Mostly because it’s the only true quiet time I get with my husband and I like to spend time with him instead of with my blog.

But some nights he would be busy with his own things, so then I would take that opportunity and we would both be working on our side hustles. During this time I continued to focus on content creation and list building.

I knew I needed to build my list and form relationships with my readers. I also wanted a deeper connection with my readers so that I could understand better how to serve them with my blog.

If you need help with content creation and list building, these are the techniques I still use today to grow my list.

1. How to build an email list for beginners.
2. How to create printables and freebies to grow your email list. 

I also struggled with many mental barriers during this time. I had success in growing my email list to 700+ email subscribers pretty quickly, but then I never emailed them. It took me weeks to muster up enough courage to send that first email broadcast.

My blogging friend, Jen Snyder from WomenWinningOnline, had to talk some sense into me to help me press that ‘send’ button. I highly encourage you to get your cheerleader when you start blogging. You need to find that one person who always believes in you.

It may be your mom, your spouse or a blogging friend. But when you face these mental dips, you need someone to help you overcome them. If you don’t have anyone right now, Jen has an amazing membership program called The Society where she coaches female bloggers to reach their full potential. I’m a lucky duck, and she coaches me for free, but I would easily pay her $100 for what she’s helped me with!  

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Stage 3 – Creating Online Products as a Mom of Two Little Blessings

Oh goodness, from the chart you can see that during stage 3 I now had two children + the blog. The blog was growing and I was building my content and list.

I was still only at a 40% capacity level – that means that 40% of the time I worked on the blog was just to maintain its current growth at that stage. The other 60% of the time I could focus on testing new ideas and experimenting.

I still had lots of ‘open capacity.’ Mostly because the blog was still small and my children were great sleepers.Both girls would sleep in until 9AM and take a 3 hour nap at the same time in the afternoon. It was a miracle! I switched from working at nights, to waking up early and working in the mornings.

I would put in a solid 3 hours before 9AM, and then again during their nap time from 1PM – 4PM. I also had the luxury for ‘going off the map’ for a whole month to focus on creating my ebook, Blog by Number. My blog was not as big as it is today, so I didn’t have hundreds of emails or comments to check daily. This was about 6-8 months into my blogging journey.

I focused heavily on list building and product creation. Below I dive into the tips that helped me write my first ebook, Blog by Number, and completely change the direction of my blog! How did I write an ebook after only 8 months of blogging on startamomblog.com?

In college I taught students how to create and code websites, for our wedding I ran a personal blog, and when I became a stay at home mom I started blogging about our life and faith. I knew how to set up a blog, get traffic to it and monetize it.

Instead of sending my readers all over startamomblog.com, I wanted to give them a well put together and concise manual. I wanted them to start their blogs with a solid plan and strategy, so I created the ebook designed specifically for mom bloggers.

1. How to write an ebook in 1 month as a mom blogger
2. How to make your first $100 blogging

For the next year I focused on creating amazing courses and products to better serve my audience. My email list was around 10,000 email subscribers so I could easily poll and ask them what they needed help with.

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Stage 4 – Finding Time to Blog as a Pregnant Mom of Two

Now things started to get a bit more difficult. When I became pregnant with baby number three, my blog was starting to grow quickly. I now had paying students in my courses and customers emailing me daily for advice and help. I was starting to max out my capacity.

Not only did my oldest daughter drop her nap time, which meant I couldn’t blog during the day, I was also less energetic with my third pregnancy. I hustled hard and worked through the fatigue. I equally love blogging and sleep.

Some days my love for sleep would win and I would nap or sleep in late with the kids. And some days my love for blogging would win and I would wake up early and blog until the girls woke up.It was a continuous battle to find time to blog with all the constraints I faced; an active toddler, a curious preschooler, and an enormous pregnant belly.

The blog was making a solid $20,000 per month through the foundation I laid from countless hours of work. But my work on the blog was still extremely active. If wasn’t promoting posts, answering emails or creating content, the blog would stagnate and even slow down. So I knew I needed to set up passive income pillars.

This is when I started focusing on improving my funnels, or honestly, creating funnels in the first place! I also started to ask my husband for more hands on help with the blog. He’s always been a huge support for me, helping me with ideas and strategies. But finally, with two kids and a pregnant belly, I needed a second set of hands on the blog.

Together we looked at improving my funnels and setting up passive strategies to continue growing the blog. We knew that when baby #3 would arrive, funnels would help support us through the transition. It has been amazingly successful at continuing to grow the blog. Here are a few advanced strategies on funnel creation to help you make more money passively with your blog.

1. The simple one time offer funnel
2. How to create a free course to make money passively

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Stage 5 – Struggling to Find Time to Blog as a Mom of Three

This brings me to stage 5 – three little beautiful blessings and a full time blog business. I now have hundreds of emails and comments to reply to daily. I have multiple products to support and relationships to nurture. I also have the best ideas I’ve ever had to help my readers grow and build their blogs. But now I have almost no time to work on the blog.

I’m nursing baby through the night, so only rarely do I have enough energy to wake up early and blog. My middle daughter is dropping her nap time occasionally, and my preschooler is a non stop talker – so I can’t get a moment in during the day to even answer a few emails.If the blog was still in it’s beginning stages, yes, I could still grow it. Or if I had only one child, yes, this could all still work. But it’s the combination of three beautiful children and a huge blog that is requiring me to think of strategies I’ve never thought of before. I have enormous dreams for my blog and the audience that I serve. I get giddy thinking about it! I can’t stop talking to my husband about where I see the blog going.

After 4 months of trying different techniques to continue growing the blog, I know I’ve finally found the right solution. I’ve shared bits and pieces of what I’ve done recently to help increase my capacity – working out and working at the YMCA, getting John more hands-on involved with the blog, and improving my email workflow.

But as soon as I make a little improvement and carve out more time, the blog grows a bit and that time is filled up quickly!   

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Stage 6 – Building a Tribe to Grow a Full Time Blog as a Mom of Three

I’ve maxed out the margins of time I can work on the blog. There is just too much work and too little time for me to do it all. So I realized I have three options:

1. Let the blog stagnate and stop growing.
2. Work myself sick with stress waking up early and staying up late to blog while being a mom to three little ones and doing all the housework. And honestly, be a snappy and crappy mom.
3. Get help and build a team. 

So if you haven’t realized by now, the only way I’m able to write this post right now, is because I’ve started to build my team! Not only is the blog bringing in an income to our family, it’s starting to support two other families too! What a huge blessing is that!!

This little blog I started two years ago is supporting one full time and one part time employee! In the beginning of February I hired my first virtual assistant. I was drowning in emails and she’s helping me with keeping my inbox under control.

I still go through every single email and read all of them, but then I’m tagging specific ones for her to answer. It has been such a wonderful help! And a week ago I hired a full time nanny. Three little blessings under the age of four take a lot of energy.

The nanny is allowing me to have quality one on one time with each child. She’ll play with the girls while I nurse the baby, or she will clean the kitchen and do the laundry while I do crafts with the oldest when little sister naps. Having an extra set of hands in the home allows me to get more than 5 hours of sleep per night. She’s taking care of the housework so I can focus on the kids and the blog.

I have finally come to the point that I admit I can’t do it all alone anymore. I need help. A few weeks ago I had a mini meltdown – balancing three kids, a house full of work and a blog is just too much. It’s too much to ask of one person. Even Jesus Himself built a team of 12 men to help Him spread the Gospel. If God needs help, then goodness, I do too! It’s only been a few days that I’ve had help at home but I wanted to get this post out as soon as possible.

I wanted to let my readers know that feeling overwhelmed is normal. That there comes a point when you really can’t do it all anymore. Below is what I plan to be my typical schedule for the next few months until I feel a need to adjust again.Once baby starts to sleep through the night, I may add in my morning sessions again. But until then, I’m resting because I can’t run on 5 hours of sleep continuously.

• 7:00 AM – Wake up with the kids climbing into my bed.
• 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Snuggles and cuddles
• 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM – Breakfast 
• 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM – Nanny arrives. I can blog / cuddle baby / have 1:1 time with the child that needs it most.
• 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM – I take the kids to the park and have lunch. I may get a 45 min workout in at the YMCA.
• 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Nanny comes back for afternoon session and does laundry / cleans kitchen / entertains the oldest while baby + little sister nap. I can blog and get a few things done.
• 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Hubby arrives home and it’s family and dinner time.
• 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Kids in bed and I can spend a few hours with my best friend! 

I’m praying this schedule works out well. I’ve struggled for the past four months trying to balance it all with a new baby. In the morning, for three hours over lunch and evening times I’ll be the best mom I can be. I won’t be stressed and snappy.

I can fill their love cups because I’m strong and stable. Instead of getting frustrated because they don’t nap or I have hundreds of emails and the laundry is piling up – I’m getting help.

Little note: Today I took all three kids to the park – alone! I’ve never had the courage or energy to do it all by myself. But because I knew I had help when I returned home, I knew I could do this. We spent hours playing in the park, eating lunch and racing the little cars. I could spend real quality time with my little ones without being stressed.

I’ve grown the blog over the past two years to a full time income without hiring any help. It’s definitely possible. But there comes a point when I really just can’t do it all anymore. I hope that by seeing the struggles and different stages I’ve gone through to grow the blog fills you with motivation. I hope it encourages you to know that even if you’re going through life changing circumstances, like moving to a new state, having another child, or even becoming a mom for the first time – you can grow a beautiful and successful blog.

The secret to it all is consistent effort, even if you don’t have the perfect schedule. Don’t let perfection stop you from growing or trying. Continue to test and experiment and adapt – that is how you will grow!

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 An Overview of How I Grew My Blog and the Tools I Use

Below is a quick overview chart of the above information. It breaks down how much time I spent on the blog, what I focused on and which tools I used. You can also see my average blog cost per month as my blog grew.

Here are the services and tools I use for my blog.

SiteGround – to host my blog and keep my website running.

Convertkit – to grow my email list and manage my subscribers.

Divi – to design a beautiful blog and gorgeous sales pages.

SendOwl – for quick ebooks and products.

Teachable – to host my courses.

Deadline Funnel – to improve my funnels and conversions.

The Building Blocks of Blogging – What You Should Focus On

Okay, so you may be thinking. I have three kids and I want to start a blog, how can I do it without getting help? What should I focus on? 

This is a question I recently received from a reader,

“To answer your question about time management: I’m in a very similar position as you. I’m a stay at home mom to 3 little ones, and my blog is *just* starting to make some money. I want to keep that going, but it’s hard to know what to focus my attention on in the little bit of time I have. Content creation, Pinterest (where I get the majority of my traffic), creating a product, etc, etc. Sometimes I just feel like I’m playing whack-a-mole and not actually making progress! 

I’m really struggling with this one too. At the moment I’m working full time and blogging and taking care of my baby on my own (husband is in the Army).

My question is…what should a newbie concentrate on? I have barely 20 hours a week and definitely can’t do it all.”

In the beginning your blog is still new. You don’t have deadlines, hundreds of emails and products to update – you can dedicate the little time you have to grow a solid foundation. Below are the building blocks of blogging you can focus on when you’re growing your blog.

Of course you can move on to the next step when you feel ready. You can even combine a few steps like monetization and content creation by adding affiliate links to your first posts. Let the process below guide you. Every blogger’s growth is a bit different, but I wanted to give you a process if you’re feeling lost.

Build Content, Grow a List, Monetize and Grow

When you’re just starting your blog, dedicate time to building and creating great content. Once you have a few solid posts up, you can work on creating a freebie or two. This way, when you start promoting your blog posts, you’ll have a purpose to your efforts. You won’t just be chasing page views, you’ll actually be growing your email list too! 

If you’re going to be spending the time promoting your posts and getting traffic to your blog, I want you to get the biggest bang for your buck. I know your time is limited, so let’s make it count! If you really want to go above and beyond, add affiliate links to your posts right from the beginning. But on the other hand, if you wait a few weeks and then see which posts do best, you can add affiliate links to those posts and beef them up. I just don’t want to overwhelm you by telling you to tackle it all at once!

It’s okay to grow slow.

After you have a few solid blog posts, a freebie or two and you’re promoting your blog on different channels you can start diving more into monetization strategies. This whole process can take weeks or months, so don’t rush yourself or get depressed when you’re not getting as much done as you want. There will always be more to do.

Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. 

After a few months, or even a year of building your blog, email list and quick monetization strategies you’ll have gained so much knowledge and understanding of your audience. You’ll know their major pain points and you’ll be able to write an ebook or create the perfect product to help solve their problems. If you’ve built a solid brand and engaged email list, then creating your own online product will increase your blogging income.

Fast forward a few more months and you have a solid product and content strategy. Now that you know your product is needed and is selling well, you can create advanced funnels to convert more readers into customers.

Lastly, when your blog just takes off and you can’t keep up with it all anymore, get help, outsource and build your team.

“The Building Blocks of Blogging download is outstanding!  I laminated it.  My new go to source for next steps.  Thank you!” – Lisa

My Biggest Time Management Failure

Starting and growing a blog is difficult, no matter if you’re a mom with little kids, a corporate working mom, a mom with teenagers or all of the above. We all have challenges when it comes to finding time for our hobbies and passions. With careful time management and the right tools, anyone can find time to grow their passion into a full time income. But here is the biggest challenge we all face, and it’s a sneaky little pitfall. Even if you have all the tools in place – you booked the babysitter, or finally all the kids are taking a nap at the same time, or you snuck away to Starbucks for an hour – when you finally have that open window of time to work, you’re paralyzed.

You’re suddenly paralyzed by your thoughts and fears. You keep thinking about how great other bloggers are, how professional their websites look, how many followers they have, or how big their email lists are. And that hour or two you carved out so carefully to work on your blog is wasted because you’re allowing yourself to go into a downward spiral.

The more you compare yourself to others, the more you dig yourself into a depressed mindset. Your energy is suddenly zapped and you give up even before you’ve started. All you can think about is how far you have to go, how saturated the blogging world already is and that nobody would read your posts.

That downward spiral, the comparison game, the ‘poor me’ attitude – whatever you call it – that is honestly my biggest, and probably yours too, challenge when it comes to starting and growing a blog. I’ve fallen into that trap countless times.

Truthfully, think it’s a form of procrastination and a big excuse we give ourselves. I do it too! “Well, I’ll never be good enough, so I might as well not even try.” It’s an out, and excuse and a way for you to avoid the potential of failure.

Stop it! (And I’m honestly just talking to myself here) It’s a silly trap to fall into and one that can keep you down for days or weeks. I am beyond grateful to my husband who always pulls me out of these slumps.

Too often than I’d like to admit, I compare myself to others, to their amazing pictures, blog posts, their professional videos or huge followings. And I slowly spiral into my little self pity pit. My husband is really amazing and he notices the signs when this starts to happen – so he’s there to help pull me out of it. But I also need to be strong and not allow it to happen.

When I feel myself becoming depressed, wasting time in self pity or stuck in the comparison game, here is what I do. Sometimes just one of these actions will help me get out of it, and sometimes I need the whole bouquet of tips to get me out of my downward spiral.

Find Your Cheerleader

#1 – I talk to my coach/priest/mentor/best friend/best support person. Find that one person who ALWAYS believes in you. It could be your mom, your best friend, a pious priest or your husband. Sometimes you just need to vocalize your silly fears and hear someone else tell you that you’re being a goof. That you’re amazing and you can do this. That you shouldn’t compare your day 1 to someone else’s day 1,000. Find your cheerleader! This person will be pure gold to help you overcome these dark mindsets.

Manage Your Self Care Time

#2 – Exercise. The endorphins that are released when you exercise is a natural antidepressant. It doesn’t have to be a 60 minute sweat sesh at the gym, even just a 15 minute brisk walk outside can turn your mood around. Move your body and your mind will change. The absolute BEST exercise I’ve done has been weight lifting. Challenging myself to lift heavier and seeing my body grow is a tremendous confidence booster. I’m building a strong body so that I can be a strong mom. The benefits of exercise are endless! You think clearer, your confidence soars, you sleep better, look younger and overall, your entire life just levels up. You may think that exercising takes away from your ‘blogging time’. But it actually enables you to blog better when you finally do have an hour or so to work on your business. I’d rather think clearly and have amazing ideas for one hour, than feel depressed and lethargic for two hours.

A Restless Mind Can Not Grow

#3 – Work on your most important relationships. When there is something in your life that’s upsetting you – sort it out first before you work on your blog and business. If you’re having a strife with your hubby, go on a date night and work it out. (this could double as your workout session for the day 🙂 Or if your friend said something to upset you, let her know, talk it out and forgive each other. These little strifes and arguments will hinder your blogging success.

Guard Your Mind and Mood for Better Time Management

#4 – Protect your mindset and mood. Just like we tell our children to guard their eyes from evil, so too must we guard ourselves from evil and depressing thoughts. When you find yourself falling into the comparison trap and spiraling down into a bad mood, remember, everyone started at zero. No matter how big some bloggers appear right now, they started with a brand new domain name and zero email subscribers. Just like you. Let their success fuel you – if they can do it – gosh darn, you can too!

Real Life Scenarios and Question from Readers about Time Management as a Mom Blogger

How to Remain Present with Your Kids

I would love for you to share about how you are able to manage blogging full time while renaming “present” with your kids.

It’s been a challenge. Initially I was able to blog while they were asleep, which allowed me to be fully present when they were awake. But when I became pregnant with #3 and my oldest gave up her nap, I struggled to find time. I would sacrifice my own sleep or any of my own time to spend time working on the blog.

I’ve finally realized that I can’t do it all. So I’m building a team. This allows me to be a better and more present mom because I don’t have to worry about the chores or emails piling up. I can focus on the important things, like these beautiful childhood years.

I understand that in the beginning you may not have the luxury of getting help. Here are a few ideas. Could you ask a friend for help and swap kids once a week so you’ll have time for errands or blogging? Or ask your spouse or a family member to give you a few hours to decompress and go to a coffee shop so you can work on your passion? Additionally, make sure you’re prioritizing your time correctly and working on value-add activities?

The way to really see where you’re spending your time is to use time tracking tools – you’ll soon realize you’re spending tons of time browsing social media when you *think* you’re working on your blog.

I get Interrupted all the Time

Also about time management – my issue is that I get interrupted and it breaks my train of thought which is the worst for writing posts. I love writing but with a toddler it’s hard to sit down and write. Her naps aren’t a good time for me and bedtime it worse because I’m exhausted by then.

I had to force myself to become a morning person to continue growing my blog. I would brew a strong cup of coffee and wake up at 5:30 AM with my hubby when he was getting ready to go to work. Eventually, I loved working in the early morning hours because the entire house was quiet. It also allowed me to get most of my work done and enjoy the day stress free with my kids!

I have Too Many Ideas

My issues as a mom wanna be blogger is really corralling the numerous ideas I have. I keep hearing about niching down but the thought of me doing one thing only is hard to grasp. I’m in my mid-40’s, 5 kids, and have many passions and experiences. I’m also thinking I don’t have a product idea and I’d really like to supplement our income. Then there’s the I’m super busy excuse and I’m no expert. I can’t be alone with this self talk 🙁

Decide what type of blog you want to create. There are many successful blogs that are completely niche-less. This post will give you traffic and monetization strategies depending on what type of blog you decide to pursue. 

Dealing with the Overwhelm

What do you do when you’re totally overwhelmed?

The best remedy I have that works for me when I’m overwhelmed is some serious self care. At the YMCA they offer 2 hours free kidzone care while I can workout, take a shower and collect my thoughts. More often than not, I take the full two hours to refill my mom cup. A super hard workout session followed by a hot shower helps a lot. This routine helps when the overwhelm is coming from life, and not from the blog.

If it’s the blog that is causing me to feel overwhelmed, then I need a few hours to work. 99% of the time it’s my overflowing email inbox that is stressing me out – so I would ask hubby if he can watch the kids for a bit while I go to Starbucks and knock out the emails.

Being a mom 24 hours of the day can be draining. So if I need a few hours here and there to refill my cup I do not feel guilty about it. I can not give to my children what they need when I am running empty.

Maternity Leave and Blogging

Did you have posts already prepared for when your baby was born, so you didn’t have to worry about writing posts for a while?

Yes! I had a few of my own posts ready and scheduled to publish, and I also asked many of my blogging friends for guest posts. This was mutually beneficial – I got a little break from posting on my blog and they got traffic and a backlink to their blog!

Traffic and Affiliate Marketing

I wanted to know that how much traffic you had when you started affiliate marketing?

I included affiliate links in my beginning posts right from the start. Here you can see one of my firsts posts that had affiliate links in it. 

How to Sell an Ebook Successfully

Also,  how many posts did you already had when you begin with selling your own ebook?  Was it because you had enough traffic or was it because you had good connections with other bloggers that made you feel that your book will be bought by your connections with these blogger and nonbloggers that you help through facebook.  

The biggest factor that helped to drive a successful launch of my Blog by Number ebook two years ago was an engaged email list. I believe I had around 1,500 email subscribers when I launched the ebook. I had about 20-30 posts on my blog at that time – this helped to bring traffic to my blog and build my list.

How to Create Courses Efficiently

How you produced so many courses in a short amount of time in your first year. You have so many courses! I only have one and it took me three solid months to produce (with full concentration)! I’d love to know how you balance course creation with ongoing content creation for your blog without burning out.

I have created the following courses, Blog by Number, List by Number, Theme by Number, Ebook by Number, Niche by Number, Optins ABC and the PicMonkey Course. I also wrote two additional ebooks, The Income Journey and The Email Bundle.

From an outsider’s perspective, that could seem a bit overwhelming! And it is! I think the biggest success factor that has helped me create these products is having a long planning period. I would take weeks or months talking and planning out my ideas. I would create outlines, do research and plan the lectures step by step. I would write out all of the content for the modules which could take a few weeks. Then when I finally feel ready to create my videos, I would block off a few days and ask for help with the kids and home. During those 3-4 days of intense work, I would record and edit all of my videos, create the sales page and the worksheets.

For me, the video creation and editing is the most intense part of creating a course. And it’s hard to do video recording over weeks and weeks – so I batch it all together to increase efficiency.

Here’s an example work schedule you can follow – doing these tasks in batches has helped me a lot! This plan assumes you’ve already done your market research and have your course ideas ready.

1. Week 1 – Plan and outline your course.
2. Week 2 – Write all of the lectures and modules.
3. Week 3 – Create your printables, worksheets and slides.
4. Week 4 – Record and edit all of your videos.
5. Week 5 – Put the course together on Teachable (that’s what I use and love) and create your sales page.
6. Week 6 – Launch!

How to Manage Your Time with Sick Kids

How does your schedule not get completely thrown off when your kids are sick? The last month I’ve been trying to get this blog thing going, but my son has had various different strains of the cold and sleep has been so hard to get! I would love to get into a daily routine, but it’s hard to form good habits when you’re SO TIRED. I imagine you face this problem a lot in your day to day!!!

When my kids are sick, I barely blog. I’ll answer urgent and critical emails and maybe share a few posts on social media. But that’s why I started blogging – so I can take off when my kids are sick, or when I’m pregnant and tired, or when we go on a family vacation.

It’s honestly why I absolutely love my readers! They are all moms too – so they understand when I’m busy at home with little kids and don’t have a new blog post up.

Take care of your family and yourself first. The blog comes after everyone is happy and their cups are filled. Trying to blog when there is chaos in your home will just result in frustration and poor quality content.

Do You Have an Editorial Calendar

Do you use an editorial manager plugin or some kind of system to help you work on content in advance? If so, how far in advance do you write your material? I’ve heard this can be a good way to cushion yourself in case there are any last minute emergencies.

I had an editorial calendar when I went on maternity leave. I had about 5-6 blog posts planned out and scheduled.

And I plan big projects monthly but I do not have an editorial calendar. I should, I wish I did. And maybe I will be able to do that now that I have help. But truthfully, I write about whats on my heart and what I feel will be most beneficial to my readers that week.

What Do I Outsource?

I would LOVE to read more about things you outsource (maids, any additional child care aside from the gym, etc). I’ve been putting my son in part-time day care when he’s been feeling well and it’s helped me tremendously.

Every mom blogger needs to find her rhythm and process. It takes time because our lives are constantly changing. Here is the outside help I’ve received over the past few years.

Launch blog January 2016 three weeks before baby #2.

• House cleaning help for 2 months after baby was born.
• Periodically ask for help from mom-in-law or my own mom. They would keep the girls for the day while I work. This happened about 1-2 times a month.

Summer 2017 I was going through my third trimester with baby #3.

• Ask hubby to take over the affiliate program, Facebook ads and help me with funnels.
• Periodically ask for help from mom-in-law or my own mom. They would keep the girls for the day while I work. This happened about 1-2 times a month.

February 1st 2018 the blog is growing and trying to do it all is burning me out.

• Hire my first virtual assistant.
• Get deep home cleaning twice a month.
• Hire a full time nanny.

From the timeline above you can see I tried to do it all for a very very long time. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I made the mindset shift that I really can’t do it all alone. So I’m getting help – and good job to you for getting help too! It takes a village!

How to Blog When You Have No Time

For what concerns the blogging schedule…well… I have to admit that I’m a little scared! I’m a mom and I have 2 part-time jobs (one from home and thank God it has a flexible schedule) and it’s already hard enough to match all this with my husband’s schedule who’s a firefighter so it goes on rotation (plus overtime)! I know that I really want this and that I can find some time to make it work but it still scares me! Any advice? 

And… I started my blog two years ago, but things always seem to get in the way and Mom-life takes over. Having said that, my family and my home are #1, so I have the desire to blog and would love it if it actually made money too, but am not sure how to do it and balance it all.

I would advise following the steps in the Building Blocks of Blogging and the free Blog Plan course to make sure you’re working on the right things. Also, this list of quick 5 minute tasks you can do to grow your blog when you have little time will be super helpful too!

How to Blog When You Have No Time and a 8-5 Job

Here is my situation and I am hoping someone can relate:

I work an 8-5 job Monday-Friday. I travel an hour both ways. 

I wake up at 5 am to get myself ready and then my children ready. Get them off to school/daycare, drive to work, tackle homework, extra curricular activities with the oldest, dinner, baths, and bed time. Then I tackle cleaning the kitchen and laundry, if need be, before I get to shower myself. By the time I am finally able to consider sleeping, it is 11:00 pm.

When do others find the time to blog and make it good?? I do what I can on the weekends without pushing my children to the side for more “mommy work”. Any advice and/or suggestions?

The first thing that comes to mind is that you are spread super thin! A full time job, kids with after-school activities and taking care of the home requires a lot of energy and time.

Here are my two suggestions.

1. Can you outsource the house work? That may give you an hour at night so you don’t have to clean the kitchen and fold laundry until your bedtime.
2. This may be an odd suggestion, but could you grow your blog through guest posts? Instead of creating everything yourself, what if you ask friends, family or pay writers to build your blog for you? The entire HuffingtonPost.com is made up off guest posts and it makes millions per year. This post goes into more detail on this type of blog. I know my friend at ProductiveAndPretty follows a similar method.

How to Stay Motivated

I have few question, how do you stay motivated? What is your source of content creation? Where do you get these ideas from??

I love learning, teaching and blogging. In college I used to stay up until 4:00 AM in the mornings coding and creating websites. I started dreaming in If Then statements and Do Until loops. I think hubby and I found ourselves in an infinite Do Until loop 😉

In short, I’ve always loved working on a computer and creating new ideas. When I discovered blogging I couldn’t help but love it. I have the ability to create websites, take beautiful pictures and teach online! It’s the trifecta!

Some moms love blogging because they’re amazingly creative and love to write. Other fall in love with it because of the adult interaction with wonderful women from around the world.

Find your reason for loving blogging and focus on that. If you don’t like doing videos, then don’t force yourself. If you love taking beautiful stock images, incorporate more of that into your blog. 

Another tip is to remember your big why. Why did you start blogging? What is your five year plan? Where do you want your blog to go?

My ultimate goal is to have John not work such long hours and spend every day with us at home. I love working from home and having a flexible schedule, and I want him to experience that too!

Does Starting a Blog Cost Thousands?

Finally, I struggle a little with the motivation to really make it a business because I’m not a business woman  and haven’t held a long-time job of any sort since I’ve had my kids (haven’t had to). I’m worried I’ll fail. I have great tools (genius bloggers toolkit and Building a Framework), but it’s just scary and seems like you have to put in 40 hours a week and spend a bunch of money to make any…

You have great tools are your fingertips! All you have to do now is put in the time to make it work. Yes, blogging does take a lot of time. You’re building a business from the ground up, so it takes time to lay a solid foundation. It’s definitely worth it – you’re in control of your business, hours, products and content. But also because you’re in control of it all, it requires a lot of your time.

You’ll have to invest in some way to grow your blog. You can either invest time or money. When I started my blog I invested a lot of my time. Now that I don’t have much time with three kids, I’m investing my money to continue to grow the blog in new ways. Don’t be scared to grow slow, it’s still better than no growth at all!

Is it Easy to Ask for Help?

What’s your nature? Have you always been someone who can easily ask for help or do you struggle with asking for help?I struggle so much asking for help. I would much better prefer to do it myself. It wasn’t until the third trimester of my third pregnancy that I was forced to let go of this mentality. It’s honestly a little prideful thinking that my way is always superior to others.Pregnant with baby #3 and chasing around the girls while maintaining the blog and home forced me to ask John for more help. When I realized how amazing it felt to have someone help me I slowly started to shed that prideful attitude.It’s also a bit of mommy guilt that I have too. I *should* be able to do it all right? I’m supermom, I can do this! But I kept thinking that if Jesus needed 12 men to help Him spread the Gospel, then maybe I need a some help too. I’ll be a better mom if I’m not stressed and tired all of the time.So yes, I still feel very guilty about having in-home help right now, but I thank God for changing me and allowing me to bless others as I grow my business.

How I Opened Up More Time as a Mom to Blog – Things I Stopped Doing

What are the top 3 things that you stopped doing in order to devote more time to the blog?

1. What a great question! I used to window shop a lot, just browse and walk the isles of Target. This was a waste of time and money too, because it’s almost impossible to *just* window shop at Target.
2. I used to do a lot of scrap booking. I would spend hours creating books on Shutterfly. And I still enjoy doing it, but it’s very time consuming and costly too.
3. I watched hours of TV a day. This habit promptly stopped when my blogging journey started. I traded hours of Downton Abbey for blog posts and pinning on Pinterest.

Goodness, I could go for days and just keep adding to this post. I know it’s a bit meaty and there’s a lot here, so remember to save and pin it! I hope you enjoyed all the tips and printables.

Let me know in the comments below what stage you’re in right now and how you’re growing your blog!