So You Want to be a Latina Mom Blogger?

If you want to be a Latina Mom Blogger, a mamiblogger, or monetize your current blog, you may want to read The Digital Mom Handbook: How to Blog, Vlog, Tweet, and Facebook Your Way to a Dream Career at Home. The authors are Audrey McClelland of Mom Generations and Colleen Padilla of Classy Mommy.

They each boast a following upwards of 200,000 readers a month. Yes, a month! And of course, they make money from their respective blogs, or they wouldn’t have authored a book published by HarperCollins to explain how other moms can make a lucrative career of blogging!

Both authors have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, and The New York Times, and they’ve been sponsored by big retail name brands. The two work-at-home moms say they did not start their blogs for the swag (the goodies many companies send the way of mommy bloggers for review purposes) or for the money, but now they’ve got plenty of both, not to mention exposure and lots and lots of work: mainly blogging, vlogging, and promoting their blogs!

McClelland and Padilla admit in their book to having ventured into the blogosphere out of a desire to break out of the stay-at-home mom rut, without having to go back to work full time. They do warn against being sucked into the Internet vortex and confess to spending so much time connected to the digital world that their family time, at one point or another, suffered.

Their tips for the newbie mami blogger:

Find your passion. If you aren’t in love with the theme of your blog, you won’t feel like posting to it!

Just do it. Don’t wait until you have the perfect layout, or the perfect post or you will never blog. Both authors now have intricate sites, but in their book they share their first posts, which were pretty basic, but got them to where they stand today.

Be consistent. Don’t post five times a day, seven days in a row, and then abandon your blog for a couple of months. Whether you blog once a day or once a week, stick to it. Consistency is key. If you went to a store and it kept changing its hours and was often closed, would you waste your time going back?

Find your tribe. Don’t just throw your ideas out there and hope for the best. Make online like-minded friends, network, comment on other blogs, join blogger groups. There’s a huge blogging community waiting for you and what you have to offer. Remember to give back as much as you get out of it.

Don’t forget the familia! If your blog is getting more of your attention than your kids, are, it’s time to turn off your smartphone and your computer for a bit!

Their tips for monetizing your blog:

If it’s review based, and mom’s love reviews, start out by reviewing stuff you have in the house. Just give your honest opinion of your die-hard faves. Share the things that make your life easier and better! Be honest and be you, so other mamis can relate (and companies will take notice)!

Increase the traffic to your site. Most companies won’t send out swag to a blogger if she has an audience of one: her own mom. Blog often, interact with your tribe (see above), post plenty of reviews and tips and promote, promote, promote!

Once you have a good following, write to the PR people of your favorite brands and ask them for products to review. If your stats are good enough for them, you’ll start getting goodies in the mail.

Sell advertising space on your blog. Approach mid- to small-sized businesses (local or national) that are related to your content. Don’t give up in the face of rejection. As your following grows, so will your Klout, pun intended, and eventually you will get cash instead of just incentives.