Today's newsletter is going to be a little different because I thought the blogging life might be interesting to some. For those who want a peek behind the Meaningful Mama curtain, keep reading. If you are just wanting good resources, skip ahead to the bottom where I will link to some of my favorite recipes and activities of all time.
A Peek Behind the Curtain
A quick synopsis of how it all began is this:
Right before the beginning of 2012, I found myself struggling. I wasn't the mom I pictured I would be. I was surviving rather than thriving. We were also reaching out to mentors and counselors for help in raising a uniquely wired kid.
Recognizing I wanted a change and also recognizing that there were many out there without the parenting resources I had been given, I decided to start a blog. The goal was 365 days of blogging 3x a day. Yes, you heard me right. It was crazy.
I wanted to provide a craft or activity idea, parenting tip, and a character building lesson every day. I'm tired just thinking about it, but I did it. Posts were lame - a paragraph got the job done for me, but I was motivated and inspired.
Little did I know, I would love the creative outlet of blogging. Never did I enter into it thinking it would become a business. My heart was to help other moms who might be struggling like I was.
Passion Turned Busines
While having a professional blog was never the original goal, it became a goal. My heart was to continue to help others, and I had to figure out how to do that while also being a mom. I never wanted to say, "Can you kids go away so I can blog about loving you better?"
It meant late nights, and I needed a lot of personal growth. People used to say, "I didn't know you were a writer." The truth is, I'm not. I'm not a writer. I'm not a photographer. I'm not business minded. I'm not a marketing or social media expert. I was none of these things. I was just a creative soul with ideas and a passion for doing mothering well.
It's taken a lot of personal growth and continued education to make my blogging dreams a reality.
Growing my Blog
Growing a blog is a beast. I originally grew through what we did back in 2013 - link parties, where like-minded bloggers would link to each other's content on each other's sites. Certain bloggers would host a link party, and we would add our content so people could find us.
I made a couple critical relationships during that time that helped me grow because I made friends in the industry who found me and generously shared my content on their already big social media pages.
There was a desire to grow in the art of blogging as well, and there was a hustle behind the scenes to get my content out to the masses. I becme a student of SEO (search engine optimization), marketing, and all the other tools needed in the industry. I attended some conferences and made blogging friends where discussions were had about what was working to help improve my site and get seen.
Growing my Social Media
Social media is an even bigger beast. It all started with Facebook where I connected with other bloggers and tried to collaborate to grow. I tried to provide relevant and meaningful content on my page, and I was able to grow to what, for me, was a decent size - around 75,000. It was hard work. You could go viral back then, and that contributed to much growth.
I had similar success on Pinterest - growing to over 100,000.
It took so much work and strategy to grow these platforms and then...algorithm changes. Social media no longer showed our content to the people who chose to follow us. They would show it to a select few, and if those people liked, shared, or commented, they'd share it to a small handful more.
It became a game to try and learn and beat the algorithm.
I did hustle, but the thing with me is that in this business, my goal has to always remain authentic. The game became in-authentic to me - buying followers, or working behind the scenes to try and manipulate people to comment or share. I didn't like it.
Instagram came along, and I was so tired of the game that I didn't really try and missed the boat - the large cruise ship that became and remained Instagram. Oops.
I've grown my TikTok to 25K, but I am trying to evaluate the value there for my readers.
The Blogging Shift to Make Money
As mentioned, I'm not an entrepreneur. My goal was to be authentic and to help others. Sure, I would do a deal with companies I liked back in the day...like make a creative dessert idea using this brand of chocolate...but I don't like selling.
The bloggers who have been able to do really well financially are business minded women and men and were able to shift their mindset into selling - whether it be essential oils, books, courses, or products they created.
I always wanted to make all resources free for my readers, so I never put a price on my printables and didn't try and sell you things you don't need.
I do put Amazon affiliate links on most of my posts to help people find, authentically, the things I was using to create with kids, but you might be suprised to find out that I only make $200-$300 a month on the thousands of links are on my site.
Other than those affiliate links, the only way I make money is from those annoying ads you see on my site. I've even tried to cut back on those to make it all less annoying for you.
You might make assumptions about how much bloggers make, and I'm sure there is a range, but I can say that for me, it's not a lot. It would have been nice to make more, but my husband always encouraged me to do what I love in blogging. I love helping people. I don't love selling things. So here I am, and I'm OK with that.
How You Can Help
With AI and continued algoirthm changes, life as a blogger looks more and more bleak each year. I see people in my various blogging chat groups panicking about the drops in numbers.
I choose not to panic and say, "It will be what it will be," and I keep plugging along, keeping my eyes on my original goal - to be a better parent and to help others.
I am still carrying on, trying to create both new content and update a slew of old posts that need love.
If you like what I do and are wondering how you can best help keep my content being seen by others, here is what you can do to help:
- Comment & Rate - Probably the best help is to comment on the posts you like - both on social media and on my blog. Commenting and rating on ideas and recipes tells Google - this is good stuff, and they move my content up the ladder of importance. Same with social media. When you comment or share, my social media sites see that people are engaged and interested. I'm going to link below to some of my most beloved activities and recipes. If you have tried them or think it sounds like a good idea, I'd really appreciate the support through a comment.
- Share my newsletter. If you find a particular newsletter helpful, share it with friends.
- Share my content. Whether it be a social media post or just a link to a favorite idea or recipe, word of mouth (like most of life), is the best way for a business to grow.
- Shop through my Amazon storefront, where I link to a lot of my favorite products. I only link to things I really love! ANYTHING you purchase while going through my storefront helps me earn commission.
Top Recipe and Activity Ideas at Meaningful Mama
Now I want to share some of my all time most favorite and viral posts and activities.
This was one of my original viral video posts on Facebook that helped me grow. It is such a fun and easy activity to do with kids!
This is a recipe that drives traffic from Google because it has had so positive comments and ratings. It is a go-to recipe for me because it takes just a few minutes to prepare with things I usually have on hand, and everyone loves it.
I was delighted when this post gained traction on Pinterest because it is such an important lesson, and it stems from my character building series, which is so close to my heart.
I believe this post went viral because it was raw. Some of my most successful parenting posts were my most vulnerable ones. I think moms want to know they are not alone in the struggle.
Search for "best Bible crafts," and this is top of the Google search. It does well because it is just a great resource, and people have been generous to add comments of appreciation.
OK - The truth here is that this recipe has never gone viral. I'm adding it here at the end because I think it should. It definitely has gone viral in my personal life. This pie has been made and requested in my church and community more than any other recipe I've made. Secret: It's pretty darn easy to make. If you try it, please comment, rate, pin, and share.
