The Mum Blogger eBook by Erica Douglas promises to provide you with the steps required to create your own blog. In actual fact, it does that and a whole lot more. And it is not just for mums who blog - it is a very valuable tool for anyone interested in starting a blog whether it be parenting, cooking or even business and for those looking to understand the mechanics of blogging a little more. I’ve read it. I think it is excellent, and I would highly recommend it.
The eBook is priced at £25. There is a discount code at the end of this post which gives you £5 off.
Erica’s eBook is broken into 25 short chapters designed so readers can work through it from beginning to end building up their knowledge bit by bit. There is a bonus chapter on monetising your blog for bloggers who consistently get more than 100 readers a day.
I have been given a free copy of this eBook by Erica to review. Erica started her own Little Mummy blog back in June 2006; I stumbled across it myself about a year later, so I have known of Erica for some time although we have never actually met. I am also interested in the book from a commercial point of view as someone who studied business at university, and who is studying marketing now.
Here’s an overview of the eBook outlining the main content and highlighting my favourite points:Chapters 1-5: These chapters include the blogging basics from choosing a name and choosing the look of your blog, to writing posts, uploading images, adding links, RSS and blog reading, blog etiquette and commenting.
These chapters cover the essentials you will need including: tips on choosing a name, an explanation of blogging platforms, domain names and blog templates, as well as a step by step guide to writing your first post on Blogger and on Wordpress. There is an excellent section on how to find photos that are not your own, and everything you need to know when starting out about RSS, burning feeds and Google Reader.
Whatever you decide to blog, about make sure you have something to say. There’s nothing worse than starting a blog and deciding you can only write half a dozen posts on the subject before exhausting your knowledge or sickening yourself of the topic.
Chapters 6 – 10: These chapters include promotion and marketing, joining groups, Twitter and Facebook, HTML/SEO, favicons and gravatars, reviews and competitions.
These chapters cover ways in which you can promote your blog once you have started to establish yourself, including carnivals, writing workshops and memes, and joining groups and networking sites such as British Mummy Bloggers and Twitter. For anyone new to twitter, there is a useful overview of the twitter basics and an excellent section on improving your blog rank through basic Search Engine Optimisation. There are also tips on writing reviews, running competitions and attracting offers.
I’m sure some bloggers think there’s some sort of secret to reviewing nice things, the truth is the offers come to you. You might be a bit disappointed by that news … so I’ve come up with a few strategies that might help attract the offers …
Chapters 11 – 15: These chapters include slideshows, videos, analysing statistics, more promotion and marketing, and combating blog fatigue.
I had no idea how to create a slideshow until I read Erica’s eBook: it covers all the details you need to know in order to create a slideshow, upload it on Youtube and post it on your blog. For those interested in ‘vlogging’, there is information on filming a video, making a movie mix and uploading it to Youtube. There is also an excellent section which explains the basics of blog stats. The section on combating blog fatigue is one relevant to all of us once in a while.
Chapters 16 – 20: These chapters include USP, scheduling, types of posts, more promotion and marketing, the Blogging 80/20 rule, leveraging content, podcasting and creating an email list.You may not have hit the blogging wall, but one day you will. One day you will wake up and wonder why you do it, spending hours writing posts, tweaking them and promoting them all for what? … If you have ever wondered if it is time to make your blogging exit, try these tactics …
These chapters help readers consider what the Unique Selling Position of their blog is and the blogging tasks that create the most success. The idea of scheduling different types of posts for different days is also addressed. The chapter on promotion covers guest posting, mainstream media, and writing for others sites, plus something I had not considered doing until now – developing an email signature with my blog address in it. Another topic covered in the course that previously I had known nothing about is creating an email list.
Chapters 21 – 25: These chapters cover Aweber, building an email list, creating a newsletter, creating an e-course, and eBooks. They are followed by the bonus chapter on monetising your blog.If you don’t already have a USP, you need to figure out what makes you special, or why other people perceive you as special. What do your readers return for? (Clue … it ain’t because there are a lack of other blogs to read.) Once you’ve figured it out, you need to make sure that you continue to offer that.
These chapters provide more in-depth information about using emails lists and creating newsletters to further promote your blog. All of this was new to me; it is not something I have read about before and I found it extremely useful. There is a step-by-step guide to creating your own e-course and eBook, but I am leaving that to Erica!
Erica's book is now available for the discounted price of £20 if you enter the code: SCRIBBLE20
The full price of the book is £25. Visit the e-junkie online shop or hit the buy now button below.
