Leo Babauta asks a great question in his post Essential Blogging Question:  How Can You Help Your Readers Today.  I think he’s right.  Focus on writing content that’s useful to your readers and all the rest (traffic, comments, links, ad revenue) will occur naturally.  That’s not to say there aren’t things you can do to help it along, but if those things are your focus, and not the content, readers will sense it and move on.

Another question I read this weekend was “who is a mommy blogger?”  Jessica at Jessica Knows has given her thoughts on the definition of mommy blogger.  She makes some interesting points about the moms who receive free products and earn incomes from blogging.  I’ve already given my thoughts on the definition of “mommy blogger,” but I’ll just add here that there seems to be a split developing in the Mommy Blogger world between those who embrace the marketing opportunities and those who scorn them.  What do you think?

Regardless of how you feel about marketing, you probably want to improve your blog.  Even a “pro” like Melanie wants to learn more and is improving her blogs by participating in ProBloggers 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.  I plan on working my way through his assignments in June, when I have a little more time on my hands.  In the meantime, I enjoy reading Melanie’s blog, and those of other participants, to see how they implement Darren’s ideas.  Are you participating in 31DBBB now or plan to in the future?

Another method for improving your blog is to have someone critique it.  Asking for constructive criticism takes courage but can reveal a lot about your blog that you can’t see!  Stop by BlogCoach and ask for a critique by Angie and her readers, or read what they are saying about other blogs; learning from the mistakes of others is a sign of wisdom, right?

Angie also answers blogging questions on BlogCoach.  Recently, she answered a reader’s question about how to transfer blog ownership.  She includes some really useful links and suggests writing a contract to make the transition easier for everyone.  If you are thinking about transfering a blog, you want to follow her links!

While I’m not planning to transfer my blog anytime soon, I am planning to move to WordPress.  One thing I like about WP is all the great themes (or templates in Blogger-speak) you can choose from.  If I were going to stay with Blogger I would switch to one of the WP-looking templates Angie at 5 Vinez Monkeys has discovered.  If your blog is on Blogger, you HAVE to check this out!

Another post you should check out is Organizing Mommy’s article on forwarded emails.  I found it pretty funny and issued several loud ‘AMENS!’ as I read it.  If you have a friend, relative, acquaintance or  co-worker who regularly sends you forwards, I’m sure you’ll nod your head in agreement with what she has to say.

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After much consideration, I have settled on “How to Create the Best Blog Ever!”  An alternate title could be “What I learned during my 10 week internship at Profitable Mommy Blogging with Kelly McCausey” but that just doesn’t have the same kind of ring to it, does it?

When my internship with Kelly McCausey began I had been blogging for about 1.5 years.  I had written hundreds of posts on a variety of topics- mainly related to managing my home and family.  I had a basic knowledge and understanding of blogging but, I wanted to learn more!

Here are a few things I learned in the last 10 weeks:

Create a blog around a topic you are passionate enough about to read, write, eat, sleep and breathe.

Passion is the key ingredient that separates effective bloggers from those who fizzle out.  It’s what attracts us as blog readers and sets us apart as blog writers.

I am passionate about home and family (that’s us to the right).  I love to share stories, ideas, products, tips & tricks about managing my home and family. If you aren’t sure what you are passionate about, read and work through LaTara’s 5 steps to determine a woman’s passion.  Passion about your topic is essential for long term success!

Publish a blog post every single day of the week.

Whether you use an editoral calendar or just wing it, having fresh content every day is vital to build your readership!  If nothing new has been published then readers aren’t going to come to your blog.

This doesn’t mean you have to write every day.  Just post every day.  With small children in my home writing daily is difficult for me.  That’s why I LOVE the schedule and draft features on my blog. They allow me to write posts as I have time and publish them later.

Utilize a variety of writing styles for your posts.

My favorite writing style is narrative.  I enjoy telling the stories of my family’s activities, but narratives all the time can get boring.  Variety keeps readers interested so consider using a list, narrative, an interview, a cross-blog conversation, or link love to change up the flow of your blog.

Use WordPress and pay to have your blog hosted.

My personal blog is on Blogger because, well… it’s free.  And I am all about free!  But after 10 weeks of using WordPress here at Profitable Mommy Blogging I am a WP convert!!

Uploading and postioning graphics is easier.  Plug-ins make a blog more personal and useful.  AND I can write my posts in Google Docs, including links and formatting, then copy it into WordPress without losing anything.  You CANNOT do that with Blogger!

Be social!

Networking brings readers to your blog.  Be active on Twitter (follow me as stephmommybrain).  Join communities like Mom Bloggers Club and Twitter Moms.  Read and comment on blogs both in your niche and out; also bigger, smaller and the same size as your blog.

Respond to your reader’s comments by email and in the comment section.  Participate in memes and carnivals. Building relationships with readers keeps them coming back.

Include affiliate links to products you believe in.

Moms love hearing about products from a friend so why not include product recommendations on your blog?  By using affiliate links your readers (and friends) can learn about great products and you can earn some money.  Just be sure you read the find print when signing up to be an affiliate!

Have fun!

Give yourself a Hot Mama Makeover and then blog about it.  Wear a cute t-shirt about blogging.  Attend a blogging conference or meet-up.  Blogging can be a great source of income but when it gets to be more work than fun consider taking a little break before you burn out and lose your passion!

Those are just a FEW of the things I’ve learned during the last 10 weeks thanks to Kelly McCausey.  Now that the internship is over, I’ll be using these ideas to create the best blog ever!

What do you do to create the best blog ever?

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OH NO!!

Does the thought of shorts, t-shirts and sandals (never mind SWIMSUITS!) strike fear and horror in the hearts of any other Mommy bloggers?!

To be honest, I’ve let myself go this winter.  Birthing my fourth baby gave me the perfect excuse not to exercise or leave my house this winter.  Spending all my free time blogging further contributed to my bad-hair-pajama-wearing appearance.

Well, no more!  With Spring in the air, my baby sleeping through the night and some new blogging endeavors on the horizon, it’s time to make some changes.  It’s time for my IRL appearance and confidence to match my online “appearance” and confidence.

It’s time to step away from the computer and indulge in a Hot Mama Makeover™!!

Thanks to Alice Seba’s FREE Hot Mama Makeover™ guide I feel motivated and encouraged that with just a little effort I can transform myself from a frumpy Mommy blogger back into a Hot Mama Blogger!  If I can do it, so can you!

Here’s what’s included in the guide:

• 6 Steps to a Hotter Mama.
• Tips for Selecting the Right Hairstyle for Your Face Type.
• Creating Your Own Manicure and Pedicure Kit.
• Lip Gloss Guide.
• Many more tips and ideas to help you be a Hot Mama.

Do you want your IRL appearance to match your online persona?  Then join me for a Hot Mama Makeover™ today!  I know you’ll be glad you did!!

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Read these Mommy bloggers and you’ll be inspired, too.

Dawn has taught me that mothering a daughter with special needs isn’t bad or horrible – it’s just different.  It comes with a different set of dreams and victories that are just as valuable as the ones I have for my daughter.

By reading Alicia’s blog I’ve seen that administering daily medical treatments becomes a part of life’s routine. Sort of like brushing your kids’ teeth, there are nights when you just want to skip it and fall into bed but you do it anyway; partly because it’s routine and partly because you know it’s what’s best for the one you love.

Amy has shown me that it is possible to have a happy-ending story.  But just because you no longer live with the label of “special needs” doesn’t mean you forget what it was like.  Someone needs to advocate and work so that future generations never have to experience the same difficulties.

Arianne inspires me through her openness and honesty about life with 3 special needs sons.  Her  unwavering commitment to her sons is an example for all moms and moms-to-be to follow.

I’ve learned from Kate that the children don’t have to be your own and the special needs don’t have to be medical for you to be an advocate.  Hunger can also be a special need and finding creative ways to combat that need in our communites is something moms have done for years; it just makes sense to employ the power of Mommy Bloggers in this age-old war!

Sophie reminded me that I am blessed beyond imagination and that children with special needs can be found everywhere in our world.  She challenged me to think beyond my home, my community, and my country and to give my money and time to meet the needs of children I will never have the joy of meeting in person.

Flamingo Mama has reminded me that sometimes we are meant to go find the children with special needs, make them our own and bring them home to care for their needs.  The process of finding and bonding isn’t easy but anything worth having is seldom easy.

Through Mommy Blogs I have gained a greater appreciation and respect for the trials and triumphs that special needs Moms experience.  I’ve also learned to think outside the box when it comes to helping and advocating for children with special needs.  And for that, I am profoundly grateful.

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“In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer in the comments. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.”

My question is:

On average, how much time in a week do you spend blogging or doing blog related activities?

On my personal blog, I typically spend 10-15 hours a week writing posts, reading around the blogosphere and Twittering.  Most of my writing is done on Friday night and Saturday.  Then I read other blogs, respond to emails and Twitter on weeknights after my kids are in bed.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends.

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Here is our interview:

Leslie, it’s obvious from your website, Work-At-Home Success, that you are passionate about helping Work-At-Home Moms.  Please share with us how and when this passion developed.  How did your passion take the form of a website?

I was a WAHM wannabe that struggled for a long time. I started sharing what I learned or discovered about working at home by building a website in 1998. In some ways it was a like a blog in which I’d share stories and resources.

As I started to work at home (as a social worker, online freelancer, online entrepreneur) I expanded the site. Its always had information about work-at-home jobs, home business and avoiding scams. Over the years I’ve added information about affording to stay home, international telework resources, and a blog.

My goal has to been to help people avoid the pitfalls that I experienced by giving them the information and resources they need to find or create the best work-at-home option them.

You recently published a book based on your website, The Work at Home Success Bible.  Some of our readers have a dream and goal of publishing a book one day.  I’m sure they are interested in hearing what steps you took to make your book dream/goal a reality.

My first attempt at getting published didn’t go so well.  The information in the original concept and the published version was actually the same, but the delivery was vastly different.

On my second attempt, I studied a lot about platforms and proposals. Then I wrote a query and emailed it to agents that said they represented business books. I started querying agents in July or so and by August had 2 who were interested. By September (2006) I had an agent who helped me improve my proposal. The book was sold around June (2007).

Its hard to give time lines because it takes so long to do anything in the publishing world. Adams Media expressed interest sometime around March or April, but it took a few months to get the contract. The manuscript was turned in January 2008 and the book was published in Feb. 2009.

For people who want to get published I suggest you:

• Write a lot and develop your own unique voice.
• Define and create your platform. Today its really hard to get published if you don’t have a ready-made audience (platform).
• Study books on writing book proposals and pay special attention to the marketing section.
• Find agents or publishers that fit your book. I went the route of getting an agent.
• Use the writer’s guides to find sources that publish the kind of book you’re writing.
• Create a query and a pitch that is interesting to read.

Like I said earlier, the content of my first attempt was the same, but this time I wrote like the pajama-clad work-at-home mom that I am instead of like a college student writing an essay.

Everyone experiences setbacks and hurdles in life, how have you learned to handle negative experiences in your business?

Stuff happens all the time. I had a biz op I joined go out of business the first month I signed up. I had a typing business but only had one client. I’ve run ads that have had 0 results. If you can name it, it probably happened to me at one time. But that’s a part of life.

In the past I would have doubts and sometimes give up. But my dream of working at home was too big to fully die. Now I know that set backs are a part of the deal so I usually just get annoyed … maybe angry and then figure out what I need to do about it.

Because of the current economy, a lot of people are starting at-home businesses.  What are the 3 most important things to consider and do when starting a new home-based business?

1. Do your research first. Most people get in trouble because they don’t completely understand working at home. The more you know, the easier it is to pick the right idea for your.
2. Stick with the skills, experiences and passions you currently have. Too many people focus on fast and easy money which either leads them to scams or to businesses they don’t enjoy or take to long to figure out. Tapping into your current knowledge and skill base can get you home faster. Plus you can create a home business that’s fun or fulfills a passion.
3. Make a plan and work the plan. The fastest way to reach success is with a road map that not only has the shortest route, but can be a resource when you need to take a detour (when those set backs happen).

In addition to Work-At-Home Success you also have a blog, Pajama Mama Living , where you freely admit to spending a lot of time in your pajamas.  Boy, do I relate!  Just for fun, describe your favorite pajamas and slippers for us. 

In the winter I have a pair of green fleece pj bottoms that I wear with a sweatshirt. In the summer, when its hot, I usually wear a pair of old cotton shorts and a t-shirt. Living and working comfortably is my motto. My slippers are an ordinary navy blue with extra padding. 

Thank you, Leslie, for giving us some great ideas about starting a home-based business and pursing a book deal.

For more valuable home-based business ideas and tips buy your copy of The Work At Home Success Bible and visit Work-At-Home Success today!

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If so, join Nicole Dean and Kelly McCausey for a FREE seminar Thursday, April 16th at 10:30 A.M. EST.

They’ll share how one of their ‘pre-loaded’ blogs can give you a head start in blogging – as well as, give some great insider tips on how to best customize and promote the ‘pre-loaded’ blog once it’s installed.

No registration required – just use this link and login info on Thursday morning at 10:30am EST.

Click Here to Login to the Web Conference Room
user: Your Name
pass: mm

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The black tee version with hot pink “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” would look very stylish with my fuzzy pink slippers.  It could become my official Mommy Blogger uniform.  It’s just too bad only 1 of my four kids is old enough to read.

Go get your own  “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” uniform at Hot Chocolate Carmel Mocha today!

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First, apply these 5 photography tips and tricks:

1. Fill the frame with the object or person you want people to look at.
2. Try a different vantage point by standing on a stool or kneeling on the floor.
3. Be aware of how the background looks (ESPECIALLY when taking pictures with a kitchen counter nearby!!)
4. Take multiple shots from various angles.
5. Try different amounts of lighting for the same shot.

Then, learn more photography tips and tricks by reading this book:

How to Photograph Absolutely Everything: Successful Pictures From Your Digital Camera by Tom Ang is a comprehensive step-by-step guide that covers basic elements of photography and applies those elements to images of people, animals and landscapes. It even comes with a glossary for amateurs like me!

Armed with Mr. Ang’s step-by-step guide and a new super cute, pink Sony Cybershot DSC-S950 I know I could improve the professional quality of my blog images!

What is your favorite photography tip or trick when taking pictures for your blog?

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Namechk.com solves the problem of creating a username on one social media site only to find it is already taken on another site.

It’s really simple to use.  Just type in the username you want and namechk.com checks 80 different social media sites to see if that username is available.

Go to namechk.com now and see where your favorite username is available!

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Did you say digital camera?  Great, so did I!

Why do I think a digital camera is essential blogger equipment?  Because a picture is worth a thousand words and nowhere is that truer than on a blog!

Take a foodie blog for example.  I can write out the recipe for Chocolate Demise; and it might sound good to you.  I could even tell you that the recipe is included in a cookbook called Death by Chocolate:  The Last Word on a Consuming Passion; and you might consider looking for it on Amazon.

But, what happens if I show you this picture?

Can you imagine yourself taking a bite of that cake?  Do you want the recipe?

Did you just click the link for the cookbook?

Images carry the power to elicit action when words alone might not be enough.  That’s why it’s important to always include a relevant picture with a blog post.  And the easiest way to get a relevant picture is to use your digital camera.

I like to have two different cameras on hand:  a point-and-shoot like the cute little pink SONY Cyber Shot DSC-S950 you see above and a digital SLR camera like the Canon Digital Rebel XSi you see below.

The SONY is great for keeping in a purse or diaper bag for spontaneous photo ops.  The quality is decent and the price is easy on the budget.

I also like having a SLR for taking quality close-ups when photographing food and products.  SLRs cost more but the quality is AMAZING!  If your budget has some wiggle room definitely go for the SLR!

So, whether you are taking a picture of your latest baking masterpiece for a foodie blog or demonstrating before and after shots of a cleaning product for a review blog, a digital camera is an essential piece of equipment for a blogger!

© Chocolate Demise photo by foéÖþoooey

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Today I am wrapping up my cross blog conversation defining “Mommy Blogger” with LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged.  You can read the beginning of the conversation here.

LaTara, once again you have given amazing answers to my questions!  I’m not surprised that you enjoy writing a “deep” thinking blog because you give incredibly thought-filled responses.

In fact, I’m still mulling over your definition of “Mommy Blogger.” I think “a woman who writes passionately about her life and life as she sees it, sharing some good ideas, products, and more along the way” is the best definition of “Mommy Blogger” I’ve heard!

As you stated in the definition, passion is important when writing a blog.  While some variety within that passion is necessary, too much variety can be, well… too much.  Learning to limit our blog topics to our passions while omitting our current interests can be difficult but is necessary in order to better communicate with our readers.

I also love your 5 steps to determine a woman’s passions :

1. She needs to pay attention to those thing that make her want to do something more with it or about it.
2. Look at her talents, skills, and even spiritual gifts. Often times are passions are tied up with those three things.
3. Determine what matters most in life. This is a good way to find passion as well.
4. Pray about it.
5. Ask others what they think. Others can usually see what we can’t because we are too busy looking at what we do wrong.

I think it would be beneficial to work through these 5 steps at least once a year, maybe even once a quarter in regards to our blogs;  doing so would provide a useful reminder of why we do what we do.

Well, I could write about this topic all night but it’s time to wrap up this cross blog conversation.  So, thank you for participating, LaTara, and enriching my definition of “Mommy Blogger”.  I think we can safely say you and I meet the definition of Mommy Blogger!

Read LaTara’s closing post here, but before you go I’d love to hear in the comments how you define “Mommy Blogger.”  Are you a Mommy Blogger?  Do you know your life’s passion?

© photo by cdsessums

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Crissy is the founder and owner of IndieBizChick.com where she provides information and support to women that will help them start and grow their own businesses.

Here is our interview:

Crissy, please share how and when you realized your passion is helping women with DIY internet businesses?  Was there one key aha! moment or were there a lot of little things?

I think that it was something that was always inside of me. I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. (I did live in Alaska for about 7 years, but am now back in Michigan). Michigan as a whole has seen some very hard economic times, but I do think that Flint has been one of the hardest hit areas.  We’ve had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for a very, very long time.

I’ve seen a lot of businesses crumble and watched about half of my city’s population move away to find work elsewhere.  I knew that if you could create a business online, it wouldn’t matter where you lived – your customers could be anywhere on the globe. You could live in a city that wasn’t doing so well economically and stay close to your friends and family.

I wanted to empower others and show them that this could be an option for them.

Your website for IndieBizChicks.com is very well put together.  What steps did you take between when you had the idea and the business we see today?

My website is a continual work in progress! I appreciate your compliments! But it will never be “done.” I cringe when I look back at how it started – it was built in HTML and was static (meaning nothing changed or moved). Now it’s built in WordPress and has a few dynamic elements. I’m always learning something new and as I am figuring out things I apply them to my site. Like I said, it’s a continual work in progress!

As the owner of Indie Biz Chicks you fill the roles of supporter and teacher to the women who join your membership site.  Who has been the biggest supporter, advocate, and teacher in your life in regards to Indie Biz Chicks? And what what did he/she/they do?

Well, I’ve actually faced a lot of nay-sayers. And that has put a fire under me to achieve and succeed, to prove them wrong… that I CAN do this! I will say that my sister has always been a good supporter. She wears an Indie Biz Chicks shirt and tells people about my site. No matter what I do in life, she’ll always be my #1 fan!

What 3 things do you suggest a woman do (other than join Mom Masterminds and IndieBizChicks) to start her own online business if she has no solid idea of what she wants the business to be.  Let’s say she just knows she needs to bring money into her household while staying at home.

Well, you really do need to decide what you want to do. If you want to make money fast, a service based business may be the way to go (virtual assistant, graphic designer, ghost writer, etc). Once you know what kind of business you’re going to have, buy a domain / hosting and set up a site using WordPress (it’s free!). Then, start using social networking sites to promote your biz and find clients!

Thank you, Crissy, for sharing your business story and ideas with us here at Profitable Mommy Blogging.

Be sure to check out the great business resources at IndieBizChicks.com.  While you are there register for the FREE Indie Biz Chicks Conference. You can’t beat good business advice for free!!

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twitClicks.com is a really fun and useful new Twitter tool designed to track the shortened urls you create through twitClicks.com and share on Twitter.

twitClicks tells you how many clicks each url received, where the person was and the follower most likely to have done the clicking.  I especially appreciate the blog explaining how to use all the data you receive to better market your blog.

Watch the video explanation and then come back and tell me what you think about twitClicks.com.  Is it cool?  Will you use it?

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LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged and I are continuing our cross blog conversation today.  We have been defining “Mommy Blogger” through a series of posts here and at Mom Unplugged.  If you missed the beginning of the conversation you can catch up here.

LaTara, I’ve been thinking about your definition of “Mommy Blogger” as being “a woman who writes passionately about her life and life as she sees it, sharing some good ideas, products, and more along the way.” I believe you have succinctly captured the essence of mommy bloggers – passion.

Passion is so important when it comes to writing.  A blogger can fake it for a couple of posts but, you’re right, eventually the lack of passion shows!

For example, I could write a few articles about my childhood memories of owning dogs.  I could be enthusiastic and persuasive; but, after about 3 posts, you are going to realize the topic of dogs is NOT close to my heart.  So, there’s really no point in me making the topic of dogs a theme on my blog.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands this, so I see this types of random posts all too often.  A blogger writes a short series of great articles on a single topic, her interest fades and then she hops on to another topic.  I think you are correct, again, that such theme hopping confuses readers.

I can’t help but wonder if this lack of focus on many blogs is due, not to a lack of passion but rather, to a lack of defined passion.

Let me explain.  As women our lives are full of a variety of interests and topics – parents, spouses, friends, children, work, homes, and faith; just to name a few.  Each one of those topics has some measure of importance to us.  Each one takes up some degree of time, energy and thought.

When we are blogging without a defined focus or passion we write whatever is on our minds at the moment.  As a result our blogs appear to be hopping all over the place as our thoughts move from one area to another.  The topics may be connected in our minds but seem totally random to our readers.

So, it’s important to the reader for each writer to understand her own individual passions and then build a blog around them.  When that happens her writing will be interesting and valuable to readers.

LaTara, my questions to you are: what is the difference between a passion and an interest?  What steps can a Mommy Blogger take to determine her passions?  And once she recognizes a passion, how does she use it to build a blog?

If you are curious about LaTara’s answers like I am, go here to read what she says.

© photo by cdsessums

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LaTara, I laughed when I read your initial stereotypical definition of a Mommy Blogger as being someone who gushes about her children!

I confess, I’m probably one of those bloggers who gushes about her kids.  Though they aren’t my “reason for living,” taking care of them is what I do all day so it naturally carries over into my writing.

Having said that, let me say, I love your answer and I LOVE your second definition of a Mommy Blogger!  Writing about our life’s passions really is what sets Mommy Bloggers apart from the rest of the Blogosphere. 

What is interesting to me is how life’s passions cover a wide range of subjects.  It’s that diversity of passions that shows up on most of our blogs in the wide variety of our post topics.

For example, I am passionate about creating memories with my family, as a result, I blog about different fun outings we take to local parks and museums.  But, I am also passionate about encouraging and equiping other women to care for their homes so I also post tips and ideas describing what I do to manage my home.

Do the two topics, field trips and home management, go together on one blog?  I think the answer is yes, and no.  Yes, they work together as long as I don’t delve deeply into either topic for long periods of time.  But, if I’m blogging about field trips to local child friendly museums 4 days a week and then throw in 1 post about how to clean stains out of your shirt, my blog isn’t going to work well and my readers are going to be confused.

That brings me to my next set of questions, LaTara.  Does a Mommy Blogger have to write about a variety of topics she’s passionate about? If so, is there a limit to the number of topics she can make work on one blog? Or can a mom write a niche blog about 1 or 2 closely related topics and still be considered a Mommy Blogger?

I can’t wait to read your insights!

© photo by cdsessums

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LaTara, this topic has been on my mind since reading your post, “HELP! I Want to Be a Mommy Blogger.”  You have me wondering how many other bloggers aren’t sure if they are “real” mommy bloggers.

I, for one, embrace the label “Mommy Blogger,” which is good thing since I’m an intern for a blog titled “Profitable Mommy Blogging”!

Why do I call myself a Mommy Blogger?

Well, I am a mom who blogs.  I record humourous stories about my young children.  I post cute pictures of my baby (I know, I’m biased.).  I share recipes and home management tips.  I write product and book reviews.  And I host giveaways.  I even share deep thoughts about my faith and issues close to my heart.

Even though I blog about a variety of topics I’m not sure that’s required to be labeled a Mommy Blogger.

LaTara, how do you define “Mommy Blogger?”  What’s required to be a Mommy Blogger?  Are you a Mommy Blogger?

Go here to read LaTara’s answers.

© photo by cdsessums

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Here’s what Shynea had to say about being a Mommy Blogger:

I love hearing about how moms started blogging! Please share your blogging story with us, Shynea.

My blogging journey really isn’t that complicated. I have been privately blogging on LiveJournal since 2003. It was nothing special. Just a journal where I kept a lot of my thoughts and only allowed a few people to read it.

I started publically blogging at PennyPinchingDiva.com in August of 2008. I wanted to learn how to start saving money and how to use coupons more efficiently, so I started following all of these money saving blogs. They were great, don’t get me wrong, but for a newbie like myself they didn’t explain the process as clearly as I needed. I figured, “Hey, I could do this.” And that is how Penny Pinching Diva was born.

In addition to Penny Pinching Diva, you recently kicked off a new magazine style blog, Mornings With Mom. This new blog is completely different from you frugal blog. What motivated you to start a magazine blog?

Mornings With Mom has been a long process. I have been wanting to do a group blog for Christian women for a long time.

I have written for several group blogs, but I never felt like I “belonged.” I never felt like the articles that I contributed made a difference, or that anyone was affected by them. I was always grouped into the “money saving” niche when I loved writing about other topics. I am a woman, and I love my faith, and I wanted to be able to share that love with other women.

Please share with us the steps you took to make your idea a reality? How did you find your talented co-editors?

I have had the idea for this website since September 2008. I first purchased the domain and I let it sit for months. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it.

Then I sent out a tweet in February to see if anyone would be interested in writing for an online magazine for Christian women. The responses I got back were so positive, I decided to go ahead and start the process of opening the site. My beautiful co-editors came from Twitter and Penny Pinching Diva.

Like you, I have 4 young children who require most of my time and attention, what tips do you have for juggling 2 busy blogs and 4 active sons? Where do you find time to be a Mommy and a Blogger?!

I am not an expert at juggling. It has taken me a long time to find a system that works for me. I do all of my writing and blogging at night when all of the boys are in bed asleep, and then again in the morning before they wake up. I also answer emails during the babies’ naps. I do everything around my children’s schedule and it just so happens to work for me. Late nights are my best friend.

Thank you, Shynea for sharing your blogging story with us!

If you are interested in saving money be sure to visit Penny Pinching Diva. Also check-out Mornings with Mom for great homemaking ideas, inspirational stories and encouragement. And, if you are interested in writing for an online magazine for Christian women, I noticed Shynea is looking for new contributors.

Sign up for Kelly McCausey's Blog Internship!

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and the author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income is starting a free 31 Days to a Better Blog project April 1st.  Here’s how he describes it:

Each day from 1st April until the 1st May I will make a post here on ProBlogger that is part of the challenge.

Posts will be designed to each have two aspects to them:

1. A teaching component (theory)
2. A practical component (a task/homework)

Along with the daily posts, bloggers who register for the project will receive a daily email with more information that isn’t included in the post.

You can also read more project news by following Darren on Twitter @problogger and setting up a group on your Tweetdeck for #31dbbb.

If you are interested in improving your blog it’s not too late to sign up.  But you better hurry,  the project starts on Wednesday!

If you missed the project beginning you can still learn from Darren buy purchasing his book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income and applying his advice at your own pace.

Sign up for Kelly McCausey's Blog Internship!

I love how the women of this community invest in and build each other up.  Such a positive atmosphere is refreshing and difficult to find in the world of business!

Through blogs, podcasts, coaching and a forum, Mom’s Talk Network has helped many women achieve success.

Now it’s your turn to help us!

Just visit StartUpNation and cast your vote for Mom’s Talk Network as a Leading Mom in Business.  Hurry!  Voting ends tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Sign up for Kelly McCausey's Blog Internship!