The “one” thing I did to improve my blog was a huge undertaking :: I shifted the focus of my one-woman-show blog to a blog network and created a magazine-style site. Though it was a huge risk, only three months later, the rewards have far exceeded my expectations, and I couldn’t be more proud of the site, our authors, and the content we are producing for the home business and internet marketing community.
We’ve hit some huge milestones in a short amount of time, and it wasn’t without a ton of hard work, enormous stress, and plenty of sleepless nights, especially at the beginning. But in doing so, I have changed my business model to one that is far more sustainable and scalable than it used to be. Before, if I didn’t write blog posts, I didn’t make money. And if I wanted to increase revenue, the only way to do so was to work harder and more often. 60+ hour workweeks quickly ensued and I was stretched to the hilt. The whole reason I work at home is to enjoy increased work-life balance :: I was failing miserably on that front.
By adding 7 new blogs – ‘content channels’ – back in September, the site is growing and generating revenue even when I take time off. Our community is much better served because they are getting the highest quality content, more so than I could have ever given them on my own. And even though traffic and page views have almost tripled since we started, we are already outgrowing our current setup and I’m having to find more ways to expand.
When I started eMoms at Home, it was just supposed to be a hobby blog – a place to share advice and learn while I worked on building my ‘other business’, a self help community site (which never went anywhere because eMoms took off). Ironically, the site is now evolving full circle into a site remarkably similar to what I first set out to do – create a place where people could go to learn from and support each other. Never in a million years could I have predicted how my blog got here from where I started. But by pushing myself to the limits (and beyond) of what I felt capable of, eMoms at Home is now the fastest growing site in our niche.
I had no idea that blogging was such a powerful medium when I started. A passionate author with a powerful message can move mountains with a blog. My greatest wish is not for fame and fortune (though I do want those too!), but to lead others to greatness by example and inspire others do the same. I’m able to do that now far more than I ever could before on my own.
