I started my blog when Erin was a few months old.

In June I’ll be celebrating my six year anniversary – that’s a lot of blogging. Highlights have been many but include a fantasic trip to Disneyworld, a trip to Seaworld, the chance to meet Santa in Lapland and many more.

In December 2010 I wrote the mum blogger eCourse which has been taken by over 1000 mums. Blogging now forms a big part of my work at ACE Inspire.

For more blogging CV’s check out the linky.

In this video;

and more…

For more videos like this sign up to my free blogging ecourse.

In this video;

* Blogger, wordpress, typepad or wordpress.com
* How to pick a domain name
* How to host your blog
* How much does blogging cost?
* How to find a wordpress theme
* How to find a tech expert to build your blog

Sign up for the mum blogger eCourse to view the other 11 videos.

Blogging to make money is an attractive option for stay at home mums who want to make a little extra for treats and holidays. I?m often asked, ?Can I make money from my mum blog?. My answer is yes, but if you?re really serious a much better option is to take your blogging skills and apply them to a different niche.

The problem with monetising a mum blog

I?ve made a steady income from a mum blog (a blog that chronicles your life as a mum) so it is possible, but there are a number of reasons why it?s hard work. Picking another niche will simply make your life easier.

A mum blog tends to cover a lot of topics and while the ?traffic? (readers, surfers) are targeted to a certain extent the only thing they are likely to have in common is the fact that they are parents. The fact they have ?something? in common is why you can make ?some? money. Advertisers want to get their ads in front of as targeted an audience as they can, and it?s the same if you?re doing affiliate marketing (selling other peoples products for commission). If you can come up with a more focussed audience than just ?parents? you are going to sell a lot more units, particularly if your audience is very interested in what you?re promoting.

Picking a niche

Hopefully I?ve convinced you that while mum blogging is fun it?s not necessarily the best way to make money. So what next?
Well now you need to pick a niche that you can apply your blogging skills to. Your chosen niche should be quite tight ie. it doesn?t cover too many topics. One main topic or three smaller topics that are related is ideal. Do your market research to find a niche where there is demand for high quality content but the niche is under serviced.

Market research in action

Think of some areas you?d be passionate about covering on a blog. Research these areas, look at the existing blogs, books and forums surrounding this niche. Try and gauge demand and look out for niches where there are books but no blogs or where the blogs could be improved upon.

Then ask yourself, what might people buy related to this niche. For example, a photography blog could quite clearly link into people buying cameras which are high value products if you want to sell via Amazon affiliates links. If you choose to blog about tea, however, people will be spending a fraction of what they might spend on a camera and you may find it harder to make the blog pay.

Treating it like a business

This is one of the fundamental differences between mum blogging and niche blogging. Once you?ve done your market research and you have a few ideas you need to consider how you will monetise the blogs. There are three main ways you can monetise a blog;

Monetise traffic ? selling banner advertising, sponsored posts

Affiliate marketing ? selling other peoples products for commission

Selling your own products ? products you?ve created ie. music, art, information products OR selling wholesale/imported products

Which of the above monetisation strategies would suit your niche? How much would you need to sell to reach your income targets? Is your niche still a feasible one now you?ve considered monetisation?

Branching out

The best monetisation method will vary niche to niche but once you?ve established yourself as an authority in a particular niche other opportunities open up to you. For example you may decide to pitch a book on your niche topic, or you could start doing public speaking or offering related training.

Develop your skills

Learn as much as you can about professional blogging. Important topics include SEO, marketing, monetisation and basic business skills.

Stay ahead of the crowd and always keep your audience in mind. What do they want next?
What next?

Once you?ve successfully created and monetised your first niche blog you can either apply the same skills to another niche or you can develop your expertise and build an even bigger business around your expert topic.

Ready to get started? Why not join the ?mumpreneur in a month? eCourse for some extra inspiration.

Good Luck!

Have you always wanted to start your own blog but never known how to go about it? Well why not have a look at my new video eCourse.

I have joined up with Britmums to bring to you a new way of learning how to start a mum blog. Blogging can be a great way to document your journey through parenthood or as hobby, and this new eCourse will show you how to get started.

This course is designed for complete beginners and has no techno terms, so is very user friendly. The course consist’s of 35 elessons which are delivered direct to your inbox, great for even the busiest mum as they will always be there ready for when you have the time to view them.

This course details everything you will need to know and do to create a mum blog. So if this is something you have been wanting to do but never known how to do it, join up now.

It’s that time of the month again. The Wikio Top 20 will officially be released on 5th August, but here’s a sneak preview. Congratulations to all that made it. Happy blogging to everyone for another month!

Ranking made by Wikio

Become a Mum Blogger

After 18 months and 750 subscribers The Mum Blogger eCourse has a new home!

Over the next few months I have tons of top mum bloggers lined up who’ll be sharing their mum blogger experiences.

Read the mum blogger experiences of Laura ‘Are We Nearly There Yet Mummy’ and Becky ‘Englishmum’ now.

Please feel free to sign up to The Mum Blogger eCourse or pass the link on to anyone who could benefit from a helping hand.

Hello littlemummy fans and welcome to my ‘intro’ post. Being an avid follower of Erica’s blog I was thrilled to be asked to join the new team of guest writers so here is a little bit about me and what I do.

My name is Julie Gibson and I live in Somerset with my hubby and my 7 year old son. I am an avid reader, blogger and maker of lists but my true passion is baking. I learned to bake as a small child with my Nan who was a picture postcard grandmother – always jolly with an ample bosom and strong bakers arms all the better to hug you with! She was unfailingly pleased to see us even though we turned up all weekend every weekend and when we arrived she would sing that old Gracie Fields song ‘If I Knew You Were Coming I’d Have Baked a Cake’. The funny thing was she always HAD baked a cake – or a tray of fairy buns – or a lemon meringue pie – or mini bakewell tarts (I could go on but it’s making me hungry!). So, now I’ve had thirty something years experience I think I’ve just about mastered this baking lark.

When I had my son in 2003 I soon discovered that I also had a talent for decorating cakes and after a few years of developing my skills with cakes for friends and families I finally launched my celebration cake business Ice Maiden Cakes. I specialise in modern, bespoke wedding cake designs and fun children’s novelty cakes. So now I’m a very busy mummy looking after the family, running my business, holding down a day job and making free and easy with my opinion on my blog and Twitter!

In my guest posts here I will be sharing with you some of my favourite cake designs, family friendly recipes as well as lots of baking recipes and tips and some simple decorating techniques you can do with the kids. I’ll also throw in the odd post on parenting issues and share some of our favourite books. I’m hoping I can encourage shy cooks to get in to the kitchen and give it a go and to help you encourage your kids to have fun with food so if there’s anything you’ve always wanted to have a go at just let me know!

Do swing by my site and let me know what you think of the cakes www.icemaidencakes.com

I’m Kizzy, 30, mummy to three strong-willed and energetic children 10, 5 and 2, wife to 1, mobile beauty therapist, blogger and mumpreneur! I love good food, a small amount of wine and a good gossip!

I have been in the beauty industry for over 12 years and recently restarted my mobile beauty therapy business. I love beauty and enjoy helping people relax and feel comfortable with themselves. Beauty is more than just looking good and I think a lot of people just see the superficial side to it but it goes a lot deeper. Part of what I enjoy doing is helping people feel confident about how they look and how to make the most of themselves as well as helping with peoples overall well being.

As mums we never have a lot of time for ourselves and as part of my business and my blog I aim to help mums find the time for ME time! (Something I really struggle to do!)

I’d just like to quickly say a big thank you to Erica for giving me this fantastic opportunity and I hope I don’t let her down by waffling on too much, which I have a tendency to do!!!

Looking forward to sharing some of my top tips and inside knowledge to help you all find your own bit of ME time!

Hello!

Welcome to my first ever post for Little Mummy. As regular readers will know, Erica has decided to share her blog with a small team of other mummies, and so here I am, one of the new gang. (I love being in a gang ? it?s like the complete opposite of being at school).

My name is Jo Middleton, I?m a freelance writer, journalist and blogger, marketing supremo, fundraiser extraordinaire, and all round wonderful, gorgeous person. And modest. Did I mention modest? Some of you may know me better as Slummy single mummy. I was the one at Cybermummy last year drinking too much hideously overpriced wine and generally sharing inappropriately. Or maybe you remember me from the MADS in September. Yes, that was me making everyone phallic balloon hats and trying to organise late night karaoke from the staff phone behind the bar.

Anyhoo, I shall be doing my best here not to embarrass myself or Erica, and will hopefully be bringing a bit of something different to Little Mummy. Unlike a lot of mummy bloggers, I don?t actually have any babies. I don?t even like babies much to be honest. My daughters are eight and fifteen now, so my sleepless nights tend to be because I?m waiting for a teenager to arrive home from drinking cheap cider in a park, rather than because I?m up breastfeeding every hour.

As well as talking about the joys of living with a typical teenager and a rather melodramatic pre-teen, who honestly seems to believe she is Hannah Montana, I will also from time to time be sharing my thoughts on men and relationships. Not that I could consider myself in a position to give any sort of constructive advice, what with my teenage pregnancy and two kids by two dads. Still, I managed to pass the odd exam, have managed not to appear on Jeremy Kyle, and generally don?t seem to have done too badly for myself, so perhaps – *gasps of disbelief from the Daily Mail readers* – being a young mum isn?t the end of the world after all.

My main aims as a Little Mummy writer are:

? To make you laugh

? To make you think

If I can do either of these I will be pretty pleased with myself. If I ever do both at once, please let me know so I can congratulate myself with a large gin and tonic.

Read more from Jo at her award-winning blog, Slummy single mummy.