blogging

The Number One Reason You’re Not Making Money With Your Blog

image via CreateHerStock
image via CreateHerStock

I have been blogging in some capacity for nearly a decade.

I’d like to say that when I started blogging I did so just for fun or for the love of writing. But that would be a lie.

I first started blogging for the newspaper at which I was working at the time because I thought it would help me make a name for myself at the paper and in the city. I wanted to be Louisville’s top features reporter!

Then I soon started a blog of my own because I had always dreamt of starting a magazine and this was my way of doing so — kinda, sorta —  without the overhead.

My point is from the day I published my very first blog post I did so with a business mindset. But it wasn’t until last year that I started making real money with my blog. LAST YEAR!

So what was my mistake? Failure to launch.

And I bet this is the same mistake you’re making, too.

Allow me to explain.

(more…)

How To Be a Blogpreneur

platform

On Monday I published a blog post stating my case for “Why Writers Must Be Entrepreneurs.” The next day a See Jane Write member very honestly shared this: “I saw the post about writers being entrepreneurs, but I just don’t know how to get started.”

And for this particular woman it is crucial that she get started because she recently quit a soul-draining job to pursue her dreams.

I realized that I needed to design a clear path to help give some guidance for this crazy, but beautiful journey called entrepreneurship, a path that you could follow whether you’d left your day job or not.

As a writer and blogger you need three things to become an entrepreneur: your platform, your people, and your product.

(more…)

My Favorite Blogs on Blogging

fave-blogs-on-blogging

When it comes to blogging, I’m pretty much obsessed. I eat, sleep, and dream blogging. So it should be no surprise that most of the blogs I read are blogs about blogging. Today, I want to share with you a few of my favorites.

(more…)

What’s the difference between a blogger and a journalist?

blackburn institute

On August 27 I had the honor of returning to my alma mater, the University of Alabama, to serve on a panel at the Blackburn Institute, one of the nation’s most unique and dynamic leadership development programs for college students.

The panel I was on was called “How to Find the ‘Truth’ in the Shifting Media Landscape” and was all about how to discern fact from opinion in a world full of blogs. podcasts, alt-weeklies and more.

Despite my experience as both a full-time and newspaper reporter and a freelance magazine writer, I was there mostly to represent the world of blogging.

During the panel discussion an audience member asked, “These days how do you determine if someone should be called a blogger or a reporter?”

(more…)