It was really just a way for me to share what it was like going from working status to home status to working from home status. Mostly I just wanted a platform to talk. And talk I did! (And obviously still do)
But then people and companies started contacting me to share information and post about their company, their service; their… whatever. And for the first three years I shrugged them off. But I soon realized that even if I wasn’t interested in reviewing products or services, I still needed to market myself as a writer. It’s essential to the survival of a business. No marketing equals no clients. If you’re blogging and wanting to work with companies, not knowing how to market can leave you watching other bloggers around you getting the opportunities that could be there for you too.
Any way that a blogger can learn to market themselves is a plus. I don’t know many bloggers who have a degree in marketing so most of us, I’m gathering are doing it by hit and miss.
Except, the thing about marketing yourself is that… if you don’t have the time to put into it and you don’t know what you’re doing, you can look unprofessional.
Moms don’t have hours on end to come up with a marketing plan and lets not forget that marketing online is different than marketing offline. We have social media, blogs, twitter, facebook and a tons more options at our disposal. How do you decide which one is right for you?
If only there was a way to do market yourself effectively and without cutting into your precious time.
The solution is as far away as fellow mom, blogger, and business owner; Brandy Ellen (also @brandyellen on twitter) from Brandy Ellen’s Business Solutions has put together a six week Marketing for Success e-course that not only can you do at your own pace but it will give you the tools you need to use social media to network and market your blogging business.
I look at it this way, if you’re soliciting PR for the chance to review a product or service, if you’re tweeting that you’d love to review X brand or Y brand, or if the PR companies are reaching out to you, then you have a blogging business and it’s important to treat it that way. Right down to your marketing tactics.
I’ve networked with Brandy Ellen for over a year now through Rock Your Blog and here at The Guilty Parent. She’s proven that building your blog and marketing with social media is possible, you can be successful at it, and she’s done it without compromising the time she spends as “Mom”. If she can do it, so can you and she’s put together a course that shows you how and allows you to work at your own pace (no sacrificing blogging time or mommy time).
What better way to get your blog headed in a professional direction than to learn how to market professionally and authentically?
Visit Brandy Ellen’s Business Solutions to learn more about her six week Marketing for Success e-course.
**This has been a sponsored post on behalf of Brandy Ellen’s Business Solutions
I’m just realizing, after blogging for four years with only a loyal – but tiny – following, that I do need to market myself. I never realized all that goes into that. It’s not something I’ve ever done or tried to do before (as a newspaper journalist, I had a built-in audience and never thought about it). But now I’m trying to get started on it. Don’t want to do a review blog, though, so that makes it tough I think. Anyway, sorry for going on and on. Thanks for this post – very interesting!
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Moving Out =-.
What a great article, so true that it’s hard to market yourself! I hope my course will help others succeed! I appreciate you sharing!
.-= Brandy´s last blog ..Welcome Monday and a New Week =-.
Yes, I absolutely agree, marketing is so important. But it does take a while to learn all the ins and outs about it. You have to become your own PR person, and I find networking is key. I have never before given out this many business cards or attended more blogging events. It’s all part of blogging. It’s amazing how much is administrative and background work, and how little time there is actually to write posts
.-= Dagmar Bleasdale´s last blog ..Not Me! Monday — Apolo and Vegetables =-.