Week 99er

Have you always wanted to start blogging? Want to know what it takes to get it started and everything that goes into it? We think blogging is the best job we can find - yes, you can even make money doing it! So a couple of bloggers have come together to start answering your questions! Emily from Live2Save2Live and Becky from Week99er will tackle one reader question a week - to help you decide if blogging is for you or not!

Here is this week’s question:

 “I post giveaways and coupons, But, would like to start posting recipes and other special interest what is the best way to go about this?I post giveaways and coupons, but would like to start posting recipes and other special interests. What is the best way to go about this?”

Chances are that if your blog focus is in the “frugal” category, your audience is mainly young moms trying to help their family save money. There are a lot of topics that could interest your readers, including parenting, cooking, clothing, and crafts. The one question I always ask myself is “What are my readers interested in and how can I monetize it?” A great example of this would be posting a recipe that uses ingredients bought with recent coupons. You could mention what coupons you used and, if they are internet printables, you can use your affiliate links for the coupons to get paid for any prints.

Have a question you want answered about blogging? Email them to becky@week99er.com with the subject: Blogging Questions. We will happily answer a question for you every week!

Have you always wanted to start blogging? Want to know what it takes to get it started and everything that goes into it? We think blogging is the best job we can find - yes, you can even make money doing it! So a couple of bloggers have come together to start answering your questions! Emily from Live2Save2Live and Becky from Week99er will tackle one reader question a week - to help you decide if blogging is for you or not!

Here is this week’s question:

"I lost my job this past August, I tried taking up blogging with couponing. How do i get followers? No one seems interested..." ~ Mona R.

The world of blogging can seem very daunting, but don’t be discouraged! It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to build a successful blog. I started in May 2011 and have come far only due to my own hard work and the generous help of others. The short answer to this question is “Facebook.” Facebook is the most popular social site on the internet right now. If you want people to read your blog, you have to use Facebook to direct them there. So how do you spread the news about your Facebook page and get fans? There are three methods that I use.

The most basic way to get followers is to ask your fans to share your page. Talk to your fans. Get them engaged on your page. Be a little personal. If they enjoy being on your page, they are more likely to share your page with their friends.

Second, branch out and build your network. Find a blogging group. Make friends with other blog owners and trade “shout outs” with them. Earn their trust and build a good reputation by using blogger etiquette. The rule of thumb is, if you found a freebie/coupon/deal on another page and want to promote it on your own page, tag that page or link back to that blog post. Bloggers will appreciate it and not feel like you're stealing their content. Also, if Facebook decides to work properly that day, your post with them tagged will show up on their Wall and other fans will be able to see you.

Finally, the best way to gain followers is to have a giveaway or sponsor an item in someone else's giveaway. When I was first starting out, I would have little giveaways with coupons. The bigger the giveaway, the more fans you will attract. I then started giving away loaded coupon binders. Fans LOVE the coupon binders! Note: Facebook promotion rules make it tricky for giveaways to be held on your Facebook page. Try using Rafflecopter in a blog post and direct your fans to your blog to enter a giveaway. There are many blogger groups devoted to giveaways. If you are unsure how to put a giveaway together, you can join one of these groups and all you have to do is give them your information, pay any minimal fees and/or prize money, and they do the work of putting it together for you! Then all you have to do is help promote it. This is the #1 way I have gained fans.

Have a question you want answered about blogging? Email them to becky@week99er.com with the subject: Blogging Questions. We will happily answer a question for you every week!

Have you always wanted to start blogging? Want to know what it takes to get it started and everything that goes into it? We think blogging is the best job we can find - yes, you can even make money doing it! So a couple of bloggers have come together to start answering your questions! Emily from Live2Save2Live and Becky from Week99er will tackle one reader question a week - to help you decide if blogging is for you or not! 

Our first Question comes from Sandra S. from Krazy Koupon Savers:

"I started a couponing blog and I just cannot keep up with all the deals and new coupons chasing two kids and dealing with the daily routine of a stay at home mom it's hard to keep up with the other coupon blogs. so now it's kinda on a hiatus."

Becky: Time management is one of the hardest parts of blogging - I run a home based business and manage the home and blog. I post when I can throughout the day and work on planning the next day in the evening. I find that by posting a certain amount of deals a day and repeating them later, it's helpful for your readers to find them. You have to remember not every reader is in the same time zone as you. Your initial post may get lost in the News Feed, so repeating it for readers will help them find the awesome deals you posted. It also takes the pressure off you to constantly find a brand new deal. 

hat being said, I don't mean you should make a duplicate post - there are programs like Post Planner and Hootsuite that can re-share your post for you. You can find a handful of deals and share them a second time during the day. 

How do you find the deals? That can be harder than finding time - you do the best you can! What I've found helpful is joining a group of bloggers to network with and help each other out. You can create a nice atmosphere helping each other out. I have been in groups where other bloggers find a great deal and share their post with the group. Feel free to re-share their post, but make sure to give them credit for their work! Link back to their original post. If you find a group or a community of bloggers who help each other out it takes a lot of the work off of you. 

Emily’s Note: I don’t have kids but I have a full-time job and this method saves me! I wish I had the time to do more coupon matchups and search more online sales, but I just don’t. I have accepted it and do a lot of reposting of other bloggers’ posts, with credit of course, and it takes less than a minute to do a little rewording.

Just make sure you know what your priorities are, if you need time to focus on your family, life and work - do that. Remember that blogging can take up several hours a day - but it doesn't have to! Focus your time on what is most important to you! 

There is no one way to do this but we have some tips we from a couple of other bloggers. 

Amy D: "I would say wake up early, plan your posts, take time to take care of your kids, exercise, and then work on it for a little while, make lunch, work on it, take a break, and then do it when the kids go to bed. Time management is where it is at--tie up your kids for a few hours then do what needs to be done!"

Bobbie N. from Bobbie's Bargains: "Just do a little at a time as you can.....do up a post, start laundry, do a post, dig earth worms out of kids mouth....what she can when she can.....that's what I do...Mine are older, but I still have a lot of time sucked out of my day to run them back and forth to school."

Have a question you want answered about blogging? Email them to becky@week99er.com with the subject: Blogging Questions. We will happily answer a question for you every week!