by Sarah Jividen | Jan 9, 2019 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Start A Blog
(This post may contain affiliate links. You can find my disclosure page here.)
My blog sells something every single day on Amazon.
Just this morning I rolled out of bed to find that I had already made $42 while I was sleeping. The best part is that it is completely passive income for me. (I am still smiling about it as I write this).
I am only making between about $3 to $45 from Amazon on my (relatively) new blog each day. Its not much… yet. But still, it is passive income and it’s consistent. Which means that I am making money no matter what I am doing that day.
(Note: I dabble in several different affiliate marketing programs, but for the purpose of this post I want to focus on how Amazon is a great affiliate for brand new bloggers to start making passive income on their blogs. Amazon affiliates is how I started with affiliate marketing and I encourage other new bloggers to use it at well because I think its the easiest ones for new bloggers. Once you get started with Amazon and start making consistent money there are a TON of other great affiliate programs out there as well.)
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways people can make money online. It is a strategy that bloggers can use to earn a commission by promoting other people’s products. For example, if I find a product or service I like, I can promote it to my readers and earn a small commission for the referral.
Of course, bloggers still need to create killer content and only recommend products or services that they actually like and use themselves. In order to be successful it’s best to keep it “non-salesy,” genuine and relevant to the purpose of your post. Otherwise it can be a real turn-off.
Affiliate marketing can be a triple win for the blogger, reader and company selling a product (in this case, Amazon). Each party benefits from the blogger making a useful suggestion about a product or service because a need is being filled for all three:
- The seller sells a product, earning a profit
- A reader gets value by purchasing something they need
- The blogger earns a small commission for their helpful referral.
From this viewpoint, bloggers have a great opportunity not only to provide great content but to also add additional value to both readers and the companies they work as affiliates for.
Why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers:
Amazon affiliates is one of the largest and easiest affiliate programs to use.
If it exists, you can find it on Amazon.
Just as an example, lets say you have a passion for writing about Madagascar hissing cockroaches and you would like to recommend some to your readers. Well guess what? You are in luck because you can buy them on Amazon! So you insert your Amazon affiliate link and viola! You just helped your reader find exactly what they were looking for!
You can pretty much find anything and everything on Amazon. So it makes it really easy for new affiliate marketers to find products easily that fit nicely within their niche. This is a great reason why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers who are trying to monetize their websites for the first time.
(On another note, the key phrase ‘Madagascar hissing cockroaches for sale’ actually gets 480 searches on Amazon every single month. So, there actually is a need for this particular niche and a potential to make affiliate money from it. Just saying).
Amazon affiliate cookies have site-wide coverage, and is not just limited to the product you are promoting.
When you make a referral to Amazon, you only have a 24 hour window to actually make a sale. But the good news is that you will get the commission from ALL the products the customer purchased from the store.
So say, for example, your reader decided not to purchase your recommended product after all… But, they did decide to purchase a $2700 Microsoft laptop computer instead. You get a commission from the sale of the $2700 computer! (I know someone who had a similar thing happen to them as an Amazon Affiliate, so it does happen!)
Shipping is free for Amazon Prime members
Everyone I know is a member of Amazon Prime and gets to take advantage of the free shipping. In fact, almost everything I order is from Amazon because I don’t pay an additional fee to have it sent to me. People are more likely to buy something if they don’t have to pay an additional fee for shipping.
The Amazon return policy is so simple
I feel good about recommending products from Amazon because whenever I need to return something, its so super easy. That way if one of my readers ends up not liking a product that they ordered I know they can send it back no problem. I would never want someone to keep a product that I recommended if they didn’t end up liking it, or just regretting the purchase.
Just remember to keep it genuine as an affiliate marketer:
Only promote products related to topics that you already write about in your niche. And you must actually use and like the product/service yourself. Otherwise it comes off as inauthentic and disingenuous.
Here is a helpful tip for new bloggers who want to start monetizing their blogs: If you started using Amazon Affiliates after you started your blog, then go back to your top 20-30 posts and add affiliate links where they fit in.
For more resources visit my Start A Blog resource page!
Additional Recommended Reading:
by Sarah Jividen | Dec 26, 2018 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Nurse Life, Nurse Mom Life
(This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my disclosure page here.)
How to find time to blog as a busy nurse and mom:
My biggest challenge as a busy nurse & mom blogger is simply finding the time to work on my blog. This post discusses ways that I manage to grow my blog despite having a very busy work and home schedule.
#1. Schedule time to blog
Treat your blog as a side job. How much time do you have to invest in it at the moment? Is it only 5 or 10 hours a week like me? That is better than nothing! Its going to take you longer to build a blog and following but it can be done. Building a blog is a marathon, not a sprint.
A lot of people ask me when I have time to work on blogging. The truth is, not much. The only time I have to blog is for up to an hour while my kids are napping and after I put them to sleep at 8pm. On the days I work 12 hour shifts as a nurse I am only able to blog after I get home and shower, and by then it’s usually 9pm. And I need to try and get some sleep since I’m either up for work or being woken up by one of my children by 5:30 or 6 in the morning!
The most important thing that busy bloggers must do is to be with the little bit of time that they do have. You can actually get a lot done in 5 -10 hours a week if you use your time wisely.
#2. Batch write
Instead of writing 1-2 posts a week, try writing 10 over a period of a several days and then schedule them out far in advance. This process can help you free up a lot of time! My process goes something like this:
- Keyword Research and pick titles for 10 blog posts
- Write outlines for ten blog posts
- Do all content creation
- Optimize all SEO
- Go back and insert affiliate links and internal/external links for each post
- Make all graphic designs for each post
- Schedule posts on WordPress scheduler
This process has saved me so much time and just makes blogging more simple.
#3. Outline your blog posts first
Is your writing method just to start writing and see where it takes you? Unfortunately, that may not be the most efficient way to get things done.
When you are trying to inform and create a structured piece, more planning is generally better. After you do your keyword research and pick your title, try writing down each of the points you want to make. Then you can use those points as headers for the post to break it up into smaller, more digestible pieces to read.
Think of your outline as the foundation that you can build amazing content around. Outlining will make your posts easily for you to write, and that will save you time.
#4. Always have a plan for what you are going to do as soon as you have a free moment for blogging.
If you are going to be a blogger you need excellent time management skills. The second I put my kids down for a nap I know exactly what I am going to spend that hour doing (usually content creation).
I do chores around the house and all of the cooking while my kids are awake. That way I can free up some time to work on the blog when my kids are asleep.
#5. Quit doing time wasting activities
Stop using social media. I know people who spend hours on Instagram every single day, yet they swear they are so busy that they never have time to get anything done! I bet if you quit using social media for 1 week you would find that you are suddenly so much more productive. And probably happier and more in the present to boot!
If you are going to be a blogger you have to get really good at using your time wisely. Be overprotective about your time. My time is the most important asset I have and it is important to me. As a result, I rarely use Instagram or Facebook anymore. Hopefully one day I will be able to source out a lot of my work (except content creation, of course), but until then I’ve got a lot of work to do. There is no time to waste.
I am almost completely paperless, except for my editorial calendar (which I use as a hard copy for pretty much everything that goes into my blog). You can find editorial calendars online, but I have found that by using my hard copy of EPIC blog and my scheduler on WordPress that I stay super organized. I always manage to stay on top of deadlines.
At some point I would love to create my own editorial calendar for bloggers. Until then, my EPIC blog editorial calendar is super helpful!
#7. Listen to blogging podcasts
When you are starting a project and don’t totally have a grasp one what you are doing, there is only one really good thing to do: find people who are doing it well and learn from them!
Anytime I take my children for a walk in the stroller or I am on my commute to and from work I listen to blogging podcasts. Podcasts keep me motivated during the times I am physically unable to blog. Plus I am able to learn from other bloggers who have had some of the same blogging struggles I do.
#8. Make time for rest and rejuvenation
You can only burn that candle from both ends for so long. If you work too hard with no rest then you end up burned out, sick and wondering why you even wanted to be a blogger in the first place. Giving yourself time to rest can also be great for creativity as well.
Additional Recommended Reading:
by Sarah Jividen | Nov 28, 2018 | Blogging, Blogging Resources, Start A Blog
*This post contains affiliate links
Blogging can be overwhelming and confusing for a novice blogger. After all, with hundreds of thousands of blogs already swirling among the internet, how is a new blogger supposed to stand out?
When I was just starting out as a new blogger I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I searched the internet for information for months. Then, I became overwhelmed because there is almost too much information. Who is a new blogger supposed to trust?
Now that I have an established blog up and running I am often asked for recommendations on different tools, training, and other resources available for new bloggers. And I am always asked what tools I use to run my blogs.
These conversations encouraged me to put together a list of recommended blogging resources that have been instrumental in my success as a new blogger (I will add to this list as I continue to try new things!)
WordPress
Admittedly, I did not use WordPress when I was first starting my own blog.
Instead, I started with Squarespace (which is both easy to use and pretty, but not as good with SEO and has no plugin options). After I realized how many limitations I had I finally switched over to WordPress. It was a huge pain in the rear, it caused me a lot of unnecessary stress and I lost time I will never get back.
Here are a few reasons why WordPress is the way to go:
- Its beginner-friendly: you do NOT need coding knowledge to create a perfectly functioning website
- WordPress themes and plugins give you almost unlimited flexibility: Once you are more advanced with WordPress you are able to customize every aspect of your site as you see fit (or you can be like me and pay someone else to do it, the point being that you CAN customize your site more in the future).
- WordPress helps you rank higher in search engines: If your goal is high traffic to your site, then WordPress is the gold standard platform you need to be using. Not only is WordPress already well-optimized for search engines, but there is an amazing plugin called Yoast SEO that helps me make sure my SEO is on point.
- Support is available whenever you need it: There is a WordPress support forum and a ton of online tutorials and courses
(Read more about how to set up a WordPress website on Bluehost here)
A blog host is a company that provides the space on its servers and equipment to store your blog. There are free options out there but I would not use them for the following reasons:
- Free blogs appear less professional
- You would have to have the “blogger” or “WordPress” in your domain name.
- You have less control over your blog when you use free hosting. CSS functions and theme selections are limited, and you have little control over expanding your website’s capabilities.
- Free platforms often limit advertising options, which makes it harder to make money if the future if you plan to monetize your blog.
I recommend Bluehost for several reasons:
- Customer service is excellent.
- Good pricing- you can start your blog for as low as $3.95 a month. Bluehost is one of the top web hosting companies available and for $3.95 a month, its a good deal.
- Free domain
- 24/7 support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
(Read more about how to set up a WordPress website on Bluehost here)
Yoast SEO WordPress plugin
Search Engine Optimization is a very important tool that helps bloggers rank higher on google and other search engines and helps readers find you on the internet.
Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin helps bloggers optimize for keywords, keyphrases and synonyms, and related keywords. When optimized correctly, it makes your website more visible to people looking for your specific content. Your goal, if you want to be a successful blogger, is to rank #1 in search engine results. Yoast SEO Plugin can help you get that spot.
How it works: You can enter the keyword or keyphrase you’d like your post or page to rank for in the search results. Yoast SEO Plugin then runs a check on your content to check whether you’re using the keywords often enough – but not too often – and in the right spots.
(I love this plugin so much that I pay annually for the premium version)
I am almost completely paperless, except for my editorial calendar (which I use as a hard copy for pretty much everything that goes into my blog). You can find editorial calendars online, but I have found that by using my hard copy of EPIC blog and my scheduler on WordPress that I stay super organized. I always manage to stay on top of deadlines.
At some point, I would love to create my own editorial calendar for bloggers. Until then, my EPIC blog editorial calendar is super helpful!
Keyword Planner
If you ever want to rank in a google search you must research your keywords. Otherwise, how do you know if anyone is actually searching for the keywords you are trying to rank for?
Keyword Planner is actually a FREE Google Ads tool for advertisers. However, it also makes a great tool for bloggers to find the keywords that people type into Google.
Pinterest
Did you know that Pinterest is a search engine, NOT a social media platform? (Its actually more like Google then it is Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!).
Pinterest has been so helpful for my blog growth. In fact, many bloggers I know are making a lot (if not most) of their income from pinning on Pinterest.
Pinterest group boards are great for generating more traction to your blog (a group board is a community board where other pinners can pin and, if popular, can give your pins more exposure).
Keep in mind that SEO is the ultimate goal for blog growth, but Pinterest can help you gain website traffic in the short-term.
Check out my Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/mothernurselove and if you are a nurse blogger please join my Nurse Bloggers Group Board!
Pinterest has changed tremendously over the last year and seems to have algorithm updates almost weekly. Mastering Pinterest takes a lot of work and if you want more traffic sooner then you want to invest in a course.
If you want to understand how Pinterest can grow blog traffic you need the Pinterest Ninja Course.
A blogger colleague of mine, Megan Johnson, created Pinterest Ninja to help people increase their blog pages views by the thousands. I did the course when I was on maternity leave and I was able to increase my blog traffic from 0-1000/day in just over one month. Seriously, read some of her reviews. Her course is invaluable.
(You need to know by now – if your goal IS to monetize your blog you must invest in a few courses to help move you forward. Otherwise, blogging is a lonely, frustrating island.)
If you are a blogger, chances are you are super busy and don’t have time for pinning on Pinterest. With Tailwind, you won’t have to find time daily to post Pins. Sit down once a week (or month) and let Tailwind post for you – at the best times every day.
In addition, Pinterest analytics can tell you which content is resonating with pinners. So you can make more of the kind people are interacting with, and make improvements to the ones that aren’t.
Tailwind does all this:
- Schedules your posts
- Posts at the best times for engagement
- Discovers related content you can share
- Connects you with pinners to share content in Tribes (I love Tailwind Tribes- it is a premium feature that gives you additional reach with Tribes boards)
- Amplifies your reach
- And you can measure your results in analytics!
Tailwind saves me valuable time so I can spend more time on other important tasks, like content creation.
PicMonkey allows me to make amazing graphic designs for my blog and Pinterest account. I also use it for making blog post headers, watermarks, Instagram photos, my logo, and so many other things I need a graphic design for.
With PicMonkey I can make my graphic designs easily:
- I pick a pre-sized canvas or customizable template
- I can add fonts, graphics, logos, and textures.
- My designs are auto-saved to the PicMonkey hub for later.
Check out my Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/mothernurselove to see how much I have been able to design with PicMonkey.
Click this link to sign-up for a free PicMonkey trial today!
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform that helps me share email and ad campaigns with my email list. It took me a while to start my email list and I regret not starting my email list sooner!
Mailchimp is ideal for beginners who want to grow their lists and create campaigns because it is FREE until you have up to 2,000 total subscribers (at that point you have to pick a paid plan).
Amazon affiliates
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways people can make money online. It is a strategy that bloggers can use to earn a commission by promoting other people’s products. For example, if I find a product or service I like, I can promote it to my readers and earn a small commission for the referral.
I really think that Amazon Affiliates are the easiest platform for new bloggers to start using affiliate marketing. Its the biggest affiliate program out there and you can find almost anything on Amazon. (Read more about why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers).
Trello
Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, you can look at everything you are working on and where you are in the process.
I am almost entirely paper-free (except for my EPIC blog editorial calendar). Trello makes it very easy for me to keep ALL my to-do lists organized, right from my phone or computer. Best of all, if you start working with a Virtual Assistant or another blogger on a project you can easily add contributors to your Trello account.
Unsplash
Need free stock photos? Unsplash is a website dedicated to sharing royalty-free stock photography from over 100,000 contributing photographers. I use Unsplash photos frequently for my Pinterest graphics and blog header photos.
As a brand new blogger, you don’t need to be spending any money on stock photography. However, as your blog grows you are going to want to look into paying a few dollars for your images (eventually you start to recognize the free photos from the stock photos because everyone else is using them too).
Upwork & Firverr
Upwork and Fiverr are global freelancing platforms where you can hire people online who can help you grow your blog. You can find a freelancer to do pretty much anything you want them to for your blog for a fee.
I just hired my first freelancer through Upwork recently and I was very happy with the affordable assistance I received with a few technical issues I was having on my blog. It saved me hours!
Courses
As with any new business, you will need to invest a little money so you can learn the ropes from people who actually know what they are talking about.
Here is one blogging expert that I can, in good faith, recommend. (If you don’t believe me, look at their recommendations. They are amazing!).
- Nurse Blogging 101: Healthcare Media Academy – If you are a nurse or other healthcare blogger, I highly recommend starting with this one. Creators Brittany Wilson and Kati Kleber are both published, award-winning authors who are also considered the Godmothers in nurse blogging. They are especially great because they go into more detail about patient privacy concerns and other considerations that healthcare bloggers need to be aware of.
I will keep adding to this list as I find additional recommended resources for new bloggers. Good luck blogging and let me know if you have any questions!
Recommended Reading
by Sarah Jividen | Nov 8, 2018 | Nurse Career, Nurse Life
Hello Mother Nurse Love friends!
I was recently interviewed on ‘Your Next Shift’, the most innovative internet show that helps nurses thrive in their careers. I have equally part excited and nervous to finally get to listen to the episode. And I am happy to say that it was a pretty great show. What an amazing experience! Collaborating with other nurse entrepreneurs is such a treat.
My podcast interview can be found here.
In the podcast, I discussed the following:
- How continuing to learn can keep you from becoming stagnant;
- What routine practices can help you stay grounded in chaotic times;
- And why you should never let fear hold you back from what your want!
I’d love for you to listen in – and even better – let me know what you think by leaving a review on the show http://bit.ly/YNSiTunes.
Take care, Sarah
by Sarah Jividen | Sep 25, 2018 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Nurse Life
In 2015 I became a nurse blogger. This venture was born out of my frustration with burnout as a registered nurse and my desire to create a more flexible work-life balance.
For clarity, my niche (or at least the niche I am striving to create) is: “nurse mom lifestyle blogger with an emphasis on self-care and wellness.” My goal has always been to write about things that interest me in regards to nurse lifestyle and living a healthier, more purposeful life (with a little mom stuff thrown in).
I have been chipping away on my nurse blogging journey for about a year, and my (self-proclaimed) title has evolved a bit. I’m sure it will continue to change as I work to find my “voice.”
To explain how I became a nurse blogger, I have to take you back in time a bit…
Once upon a time, I studied journalism.
Way, way back in the day, before I ever even considered becoming a registered nurse, I was a striving college student at California State University, Chico. As a journalism major with a minor in women’s studies, I wrote for our student newspaper, The Orion, and I loved it. Each week I met with other writers to discuss ideas and topics that were going to write about that week. I enjoyed the teamwork and even though I felt way in over my head a lot of the time I absolutely loved the challenge.
Each week I met new and interesting people I would have otherwise crossed paths with. I interviewed athletes, a magician, doctors from the student health center, professors, and lots and lots of students. One time I interviewed a woman who made and sold her own essential oils and she gave me a few samples to take home with me. My 21-year-old brain was fascinated with the people I met.
The internet was in its earlier stages and many people still read the newspaper in print form. So, each Thursday I looked forward to walking on campus and picking up a copy of The Orion to find my name listed above my article.
A bad internship altered my career path.
I loved journalism. But my emphasis was in public relations, which I disliked immensely.
One summer break, I did a 3-month internship at a celebrity public relations firm in Los Angeles. I worked as an assistant to the president of the firm. He had me ghostwriting about how he was like Abraham Lincoln. If that sounds weird, it is because it was. I hated it. I felt used.
At the end of my 3-month internship, I left Los Angeles feeling like I wanted to go in a completely different direction. As I drove back up to Chico to complete my senior year, I considered new career options.
As graduation etched closer, I also started wondering how I was going to survive financially out in the world. The thought of paying my own way in the world and paying off my student loans filled me with worry.
I went from inspired writer to salesperson.
After graduation, I excepted a position selling medical equipment to hospital operating rooms. I thought it was best to follow the path that I thought lead to faster money. Frankly, it did.
Soon I became enveloped in the business of medical equipment sales. And unfortunately, I didn’t write again for another 9 years.
Medical device sales is an extremely competitive and stressful industry. But I continued to work hard. In fact, I was actually very good at my job. I consistently exceeded my yearly quotas. As a result, I made more money every year, which made it harder and harder to move into other more clinical roles.
I wanted to grow clinically and help my patients directly.
Those who know me, know that I’m not even the “salesy” type. However, I did enjoy talking about medical equipment that could improve the quality of life for our patients or even be life-saving in some circumstances. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I really wanted was to be an actual healthcare professional who worked with patients directly.
(On reflection, I am so am grateful for my time in medical sales and I want to go back to work on the business side of healthcare at some point. My experiences have given me a much different perspective than many of my nurse peers. Working in the medical sales industry gave me valuable business and communication skills. I met a lot of great friends with whom I still have close relationships with. My organizational and time management skills are much more fine-tuned and I learned how to be a professional in the workplace. I just think of myself as being a little more well-rounded now!)
Just for fun, I toyed around with so many career ideas.
I took an amazing photography class in Venice (I’ll be a professional photographer! Yay!). I love practicing yoga so I thought becoming an instructor would be a great fit (I’ll become the next big yoga guru!). I even considered becoming a professional dog walker at one point and started writing a business plan! (Dogs are awesome, what can I say?).
After years of thinking about my professional future (and having several near mental breakdowns about it), I jokingly told my husband that maybe I should go back to nursing school. He responded with something like “you can do anything you want, but please do something because you might lose your mind!”
So, I did. And I have been working as a nurse at a major teaching facility for the last 6 years.
I went back to college for a second time.
After three years of nursing school, I graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing and I had a whole new journey ahead of me. I began my career specializing on a neuroscience and stroke unit and earned certifications as a Stroke Certified Registered Nurse and Public Health Nurse. In 2017, I began a new phase in my nursing career as an emergency room RN.
I also complimented my practice by becoming an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist. My intention was to help treat my patients with a more holistic approach using yoga and in-bed movements, guided meditation, Reiki, and essential oils. (I didn’t know at the time, but these were topics that I would write about frequently as a nurse blogger!).
An itch to write came back again.
A few years into my nursing career I had an urge to write again. I missed the creatively I had when writing back in my early college days. In addition, I wanted to create a more flexible career path for myself now that I am a busy mom with two great kiddos.
I also really do have a passion for nursing. I love that I help others for a living and I enjoy the mental stimulation I get at work during my 12-hour shifts. Becoming a nurse has even helped me deal with the craziness of motherhood in some ways because it helps me distinguish things that I should be concerned with things that are not a big deal. (I have my time on a neuroscience floor and as an ER nurse to thank for that!)
Becoming a nurse blogger was a logical next step. I am having so much fun learning how to make and manage a website. However, since I am already a busy ER nurse with two small babies I am very limited on time. I only have 5-6 hours a week to spend on the blog. But as my kids grow older and go to school the time will be there. Until then, I will just keep chipping away at it after the kids go to bed in the evenings.
A nursing practice can take many forms.
As I grow older (and hopefully wiser!) I am discovering that there are so many paths that nurses can take. The sky really is the limit as long as you work hard and are open to continually learning new skills.
My goal is to create a career for myself were I can combine my journalism degree with my nursing knowledge and motherly experience. This is the first “career” I have ever had where I didn’t have to fill out an extensive application and interview for the position. For the very first time, I am warming to the idea of being my OWN boss. And I really like it!
Never in a million years would my 21-year-old college-newspaper-writing- self would have guessed that I would be a nurse blogger. But every experience I have had up until now has been an important stepping stone to this place. And I have goosebumps just thinking about what I can make happen next. Stay tuned for more…
Additional Reading:
