A Mommy's Blog Design Studio: How to Make Money at Blogging

This is a guest post by Renee from Renee's Joy Journey.

You have an important message, product or service to share with the world, but after a month (or a year of blogging) you realize your blogging salary is close to $0. You might be asking, "How can I make money at blogging?" If so, you're not alone. Bloggers know they deserve to be compensated for their time, but they lack the key ingredients to creating a blog that blesses both the world and their family's pocketbook.

It's time to learn how to make money at blogging. I'm inviting all fellow bloggers to a 3 Month Challenge: Going from $0 to $1,000 Income.

The #1 Secret to Success is to follow patterns of success. We will research the patterns of other successful bloggers and apply those findings to our own blogs. You can still be original in idea, but also remain teachable. Each week, I will post your weekly challenge. I'll give you up to 10 action steps to apply. Through out the 3 Month Challenge, we will focus on three goals:

Attract loyal readers and customers through a reader-worthy site.
Produce high volumes of traffic to our sites.
Produces a high income.

In addition, my hope is that we can also begin to support each other, the small business blogger. We will look at ways to come together as a community and mutually agree to be a support system. I really can't wait to get started. I'll run this challange from July 15 - October 15, 2011, but you can hop on board anytime.

Get Started by linking up and then proceed to the first week's challenge below. Please spread the word so other bloggers can learn how to make money at blogging.

Week 1- Action Steps

Link-up to the Challenge. (Don't miss out on important eNews updates -subscribe at top right.)
Blog about this Challenge. Share the good news to other bloggers. This will be news-worthy.
Get your Site Reader Worthy: Mission Statement. Choose a Mission Statement and a clear purpose for your site. If you need help developing a Mission Statement, sign-up for the free "20 Day Plan to Live Well" eCourse. Ask, "What is the main message or goal of this site?" Write it down. (For example: "My mission is to help women know God, manage life and home and drink more coffee." "I also want to produce clear, quality articles, resources, products and services that help women live in balance, purpose and victory - their dream life.")
Get your Site Reader Worthy: Title. Does your title reflect your message or purpose? If you want to show women how to cook gourmet food, choose a title like gourmetmom.com rather than Renee's Ramblings. I highly recommend spending the $10/year to obtain your own domain name. This allows you to get the "blogspot" or "wordpress" out of your web address. Do your own research. Check out websites that have 3,000+ followers. Do they have their own domain name?
Get your Site Reader Worthy: Welcome. At the top (right hand corner), you'll want a brief welcome that tells your readers how you plan on helping them. Give them several action steps to take in this welcome such as meet Renee, sign-up for the eNews, and learn more.
Get your Site Reader Worthy: Connect. One of the most important steps to creating a successful site is to have a place for readers to connect with you. Incorporate:

eNews sign-up (Use a source that allows you to send beautiful monthly newsletters.)
Google Friend Connect (offers a newsletter option)
Insert Facebook, Twitter, RSS feed and Email Icons at top of blog for readers to easily connect to you socially (Get free icon HTML here). Use the HTML gadget with blogger).
Have a Contact page at the top of your blog. Let readers, the press and potential clients be able to find your email address, business hours and business phone (if applicable).
"Grab my Button" Visiting bloggers may love you so much, you'll end up on their blogs. That's free advertising. Does a button represent the presentation you wish to express?

Get your Site Reader Worthy: Organize. Get your sketch pad and pencil. It's time to go to the drawing board. Draw a large square. This is your screen.

Choose your design lay-out.
Fill in the Header with title and subtitle (optional).
Insert Social Media Icons at top plus eMail Subscription form.
Insert short Welcome message with action links.
Choose Pages for top navication bar (Home, About, Help Word (Tutorials, DIY,Resources, Reviews), Store (if you want to offer a product), Services (if you want to offer a service), Contact, (Also consider Press Room).
Choose Side Bar Links. You can organize further conent on the side bar. Add the Link Gadget. You can choose a title such as Tools or How To or Top Posts and add posts over time.
Add a Search Box.
Add an Archive Box.
Do you wish to add a Sponsor Area?
Begin to edit (delete) your unwanted gadgets that don't serve a purpose. Begin to add the important gadgets.
Having a beautiful design is very important. Seriously consider hiring a reasonably priced web designer for your blog. I highly recommend A Mommy's Blog Design Studio. I wsasted countless hour (making $0) searching for that new, great freebie design. I never found it. My web designer only charges $40 for a custom design. It's well worth it's weight in gold. Do you stay at a web page that looks less than professional? Make your blog reader worthy.

Free Advertising: Create a short guest post about "Three Tips on Making your Blog Reader Worthy". Submit to Renee at nrmetzler@windstream.net. If your article is selected, you will be notified via email. Want to Sponsor this sight? Click Here.
Bonus: Start Networking. Leave 10 thoughtful comments on other blogs this week. Participate in one social BLOG HOP this week.

Week 2: Action Steps

Get your Site Reader-Worthy: Create a Writing Schedule. How many times per week will you post a high quality article on your blog? Creating a schedule will allow your readers to feel as though you are dependable.
Get your Site Reader-Worthy: Posting Format Plan. What format will your posts take? Creating a consistent format to each post will go a long way in presenting that professional feel you want. Will you be all dialogue? Well you include many pictures and a few words? Will you add one 250X250 picture with each article? Do you want your posts to be elegant, whimsical, professional or modern?
Get your Site Reader-Worthy: Professional Design. Get a custom design for your site for a little as $40. A professional design is essential to giving readers what they want - a beautiful presentation.
Get your Site Reader-Worthy: A Custom Domain. You can sign up for a custom domain right through blogger for as little as $10 per year by going to Settings/Basic/Add a Custom Domain. Having your blog be http://renee-joyjourney.com/ rather than http://renee-joyjourney.blogspot.com/ gives credibility to your blog.
Get your Site Reader-Worthy: Create Powerful Articles. Be Audience Minded when you write an article. Who is your target audience and what do they need? Articles could be: how to, 5 steps to, DIY (Do It Yourself Tutorials), Personal Anecdotes, Poetry, Stories that Inspire, News, Seasonal Relevance such as Back-to-School. Consider adding lists, bullets, and attention getters (at the beginning). Would you want to read your own article? One powerful article per week is better than 5 average articles per week. Look at the simple yet effective article formats for e-How.
Produce an Income: Create a Product. There are two ways to create an income through blogging. One is to advertise either through Google ads (or other large sources) or through personal Sponsors. As a promoter of entrepreneurship, I'd like to encourage a second way for income-that of creating a product that others need. What is your gift? What can you create that others need? Begin to brainstorm ideas of product creation. Think: sewing projects, cards, photography, art, food, books, plans, services, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. We can support each other by buying and selling within our communities. You can take your product to local markets, craft shows, and the internet such as Boutique-mom and Etsy. You can also sell your product directly from your blog by getting a free Pay Pal Account.
Produce an Income: Create a Product. Once you decide on your product, create a high quality sample, take a picture and write up a sales post about it allowing customers to purchase by adding a Pay Pal "Buy Now" Button. Consider having a Grand Business Opening with friends and family to get the word out locally. You may also wish to create your own custom business card f(first 10 are free)and tags. Think of your business as more than blogging. Register your business with the government for sales tax purposes.