The Blog

We’re about to head into our fourth month of becoming a homeschool family and I’ve been feeling a little discontent. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for about five years now, right before we had our second baby. There’s a seven-year difference between our oldest and him. As a kid, I have homeschooled my entire childhood. I had always had my mind made up that my kids would “get to experience what I didn’t”. My husband was public schooled, so it was never a question when it came time to enroll our daughter in pre-school. We knew that she would be in a public school. Over the first few years of public school, we were incredibly blessed with amazing teachers. I can’t sing their praises high enough. Each of them treated our little girl as if she was their own. They communicated well and they made her (and me) feel safe. When she reached third grade, I began having thoughts of homeschooling our family. At first, I pushed them away, because I thought I didn’t want that for them. Plus, in third grade, our little girl literally hit the jackpot of teachers and had the BEST year. But I couldn’t swing the thought that we needed to shift into becoming a homeschool family.

A couple of Christmases ago, I was frustrated at how unorganized my Christmas season had gotten and the idea of a Holiday planner was born. We had a brand new baby, our first grader had just started at a new school, and life was chaotic. WITH EVERYTHING WE HAD GOING ON, OUR BUDGET FOR CHRISTMAS WAS BASICALLY NON-EXISTENT. So the need to keep our gift-buying on track was crucial! I decided to throw together a Google Sheet to keep track of our budget, who we needed to purchase a gift for, and who we already had a gift for. It worked SO well! I kept the sheet for the following year and have used it every year since! Each year, I’ve thought of something new and helpful to add to the document – Christmas card lists, movie night details, and parties and activity lists. This year, I moved the document to a digital planner and added a place for Holiday menus, recipes, and fun! I couldn’t be more excited about this planner!!

Branding yourself is more than just a pretty color palette and an award-winning logo design. We get so caught up in what it means to “create a brand” that we spend countless hours designing and marketing things that will never give us a return on our investment. It is possible to brand yourself on social media, without focusing a majority of your time on aesthetics. If you’re wondering how to brand yourself or why it’s important to focus on branding yourself rather than your business or products, click here to get access to my FREE Instagram Branding workshop. Now, let’s create an experience for your potential customers by covering three actionable steps you can take to brand yourself today! Keep reading.

Do you ever wish you had more self-confidence? In general, in motherhood, in wife life. I’ve been living a life of pretty much zero self-confidence and I’m kind of over it. I’ve gotten a taste of what it feels like to be a confident woman and I love it! Having a bit of self-confidence enhances everything around me… my mood, the way I parent, how I feel in the dressing room, hanging out with my husband. I can’t even begin to explain the transformation I’ve experienced in my mind by implementing different things throughout the day that boost my self-confidence. I wanted to share a few of those things with you today and hopefully empower you to get your own self-confidence in check. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Longest. Month. Ever. School is finishing up, summer is so close I can smell it, and the day seems like it never ends! We spent our first “real” summer night out in the yard having a water fight with the kids this past weekend. It was GLORIOUS! I am LIVING for the days of no bedtimes and slow(er) mornings! I feel like I am working non-stop to get Live Bold Mama ready to launch and I am SO excited about the chance to set new goals, develop strategies to reach those goals, and get motivated to work the strategies in the process! I’ve got a HUGE vision for Live Bold Mama and without goals to keep me on track, I will never get there. It’s kind of daunting, to say the least… But as a motivated, determined, full-of-all-the-mama energy-I-need-to-make-it-happen kinda woman… It’s totally doable! Keep reading if you want to see how I’m getting it done!

There’s a new buzz word floating around in the atmosphere, have you heard of it? It’s gut health. There are SO many studies out there that are linking all sorts of issues we’ve been experiencing for years, to your gut! I admit, when I first heard about it, I rolled my eyes. Another fad. Another “Keto” train. Not. Even. Interested. But then I watched my friend transform from this super irritable, easy-to-tick-off, yelly, sluggish, forgetful, and foggy-brained kind of person, into this calm, patient, full-of-energy, focused, driven woman and it grabbed my attention so fast! For real. So naturally I asked her what she was doing differently, right? Nope. I stayed in the shadows. Watched her transform into the mom I longed to be. And I didn’t say a word out of fear and skepticism. And maybe that’s where you’re at? You’ve got this desire to be a better mom, have more energy, lose the brain fog, and love your kids with patience and kindness and soft tones. Well, if so, keep on lurking.. I mean reading.. I’m about to lay out all the deets!

Have you ever just read a really great book? You know, one you start reading and just can’t put down? One that has you turning every page with anticipation and excitement? One that truly makes you a better person? I recently finished a book like that and I haven’t been able to stop telling my friends about it! This book rocked my soul. It challenged me. It made me believe that there is actually still good in the world, and it starts with me. If you’re in the market for a really great book. Keep reading…

Starting a lifestyle blog can be SUPER scary, especially if you’re one who stays closed off from the outside world. Sharing your life, what you’ve learned, mistakes you’ve made, literally putting yourself on blast is intimidating. As a four-year blogging veteran (hahaha … for real though … never thought I’d be saying that!), I’ve learned so much and grown so much and I’m here to tell you that, if you’re committed, starting a lifestyle blog will change your life. A lot of people look into starting a lifestyle blog to make money. So before we go any further, let me just say this… if that’s you, go ahead and press the back button on your browser. There are 29,610,573,007 other ways to make a quick buck. Starting a blog requires consistent effort, a lot of work, and a truck-load of passion, all for little-to-no reward in the beginning. Now, I’m not saying you’ll never make money with a blog, because who knows what a little consistency and effort could bring you! However, I am saying that making money should not be the reason you start a blog. Keep reading… You need a passion. | Related: Why you should create a blog for your homeschool A passion is the thing that will get you motivated every morning to sit down and write. You need a strategy and an end-result for your audience that brings value. You need thick skin, a little bit of knowledge, and a whole lot of grace. Starting a lifestyle blog is not for the weak, my friends. But it is something that could make you a better person while giving you the opportunity to change the world, one reader, at a time. So, if you’re still with me, I can only assume that you’re ready for the challenge! That you’re committed for the long haul and ready to get started! As promised, this isn’t a fluffy, step-by-step, what everyone else tells you in a “starting a blog” kind of post. I’ve got 10 things to share with you that they don’t tell you about starting a lifestyle blog. Nevertheless, for the sake of the reader who may need a little help getting going… I will do a quick overview of the steps you should take to physically start your blog. Here we go.   Domain Your domain is the website address that will showcase your blog! Pick something fun and creative, but easy to comprehend (and say). You can use your name, like I have, or create something unique to your readers (like createyourhomeschool 😉 ). Totally up to you! My favorite way to check the availability of domain names is by using GoDaddy Who Is. You can type something into the search bar and it will tell you if it’s available. If it’s not, it will suggest other variations! When you’ve figured out what you want, you can also purchase your domain from GoDaddy! Hosting Hosting, in layman’s terms, is the service that works behind the scenes of your blog to make it show up on the internet. It’s a necessity if you want to start a blog, there’s really no way around it. I personally love BlueHost They have super affordable options for hosting and is a great hosting service for bloggers! You can click this affiliate link to learn more about them and check out their plans. CLICK HERE. WordPress Next, you’ll need a platform to create your blog on. Personally, I use, and will only ever use, WordPress. It’s professional, simple, and easy to navigate. It has everything I need to create a successful blog and I think you’ll be quite satisfied, too! There are other platforms out there, but you’ll need to research those. Basically, I’ve just listed the best one for you. You’re welcome! Theme There are SO many themes to choose from. You can use free themes, paid themes, make your own theme (if you know someone techy), the options are endless. The thing to remember about themes is, when you’re looking for one, look past the colors and photos. Those are customizable and will not download with the theme anyway. When looking at themes, you’re looking at the layout of it, what features it offers, whether it’s responsive or not. You’ll get to design it later! Plugins Plugins are miniature “add-ons” to enhance the theme you’ve chosen for your website. My favorite plugins are JetPack and Yoast SEO. JetPack simplifies your website analytics, which is super important for you to learn to navigate and know if you want to build a successful blog. Yoast helps you learn how to optimize your blog so that it will show up higher in Google’s search results. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is crucial to the success of your blog. Pages You’ll want to create a list of pages that you’d like to showcase on your blog, then start creating them! To start out, I would create an awesome “About Me” page, a “Contact Me” page, and a “Freebies” page. The first two are pretty self-explanatory, but the freebies page may need a little explanation. Basically, you’ll want a page that has nothing on it but a sign-up form for your email list. This way, when someone clicks the “Freebies” link (or whatever you want to call it) at the top of your website, in the MENU section, they’ll have no other option but to hand over their email for the super valuable freebie you’re offering them! | Related: The top five freebies that will convert on any blog Blogs Lastly, starting a blog actually means you’ll need to write some blogs! The Yoast plugin will have you aim for anything over 300 words, which isn’t a problem if you love to write, like I do 😉 However, for the best opportunity to get your blog seen by more people, you need to create something valuable, that’s worth the read and shareable. I would personally aim for 750 words or more. You’ll want to create a few evergreen posts that will become… [read more]

You’re ready to start an email list but have no clue how to get your audience to hand over their email? Well… You’ve come to the right place! When you decide to start an email list (which, by the way, should be a part of your startup blogging plan, not an afterthought), the two biggest questions you are probably going to ask yourself is, how do I get their email? and what the heck do I send them? Today, we’re going to tackle the first question! Let’s get going! Okay, you’ve made the decision to start an email list, you’ve chosen your email marketing provider (I like MailerLite), integrated the service on your website, created a form, and are now ready for the emails to start rolling in! Only… they’re not. You have two things going against you in this day and age. The first, people have an expectation that, in order to give away something of theirs, they need or want something in return. This is where an awesome freebie would come in handy to grow your list. The second thing you have going against you is, people are no longer satisfied with a free printable calendar, coloring page, or worksheet. There’s SO many of those floating around that you’ll be lost at sea if you try to promote it. | Related: Advice for new bloggers who want to start a lifestyle blog I daresay, should someone happen upon your site and see something to that effect being promoted as “free” they’ll just roll their eyes, keep reading what they came there to read, and leave without thinking twice about signing up for your email list. You have to provide something with ridiculously high value in order to convert your audience into raving fans! Here are the top five freebies that will make you stand out in the world of overused, generic freebies! A masterclassThis is a very specific class that you will teach as an expert on a specific subject. The most important piece to the masterclass puzzle is, you have to clearly define what they’ll learn, and what immediate result they will walk away with after the class is over, and then DELIVER what you’ve promised. That’s the piece that will set your masterclass apart and have your audience entering their emails so quickly you won’t even understand what’s happening. A crazy couponThis can’t be a coupon for free shipping or 10% off, it’s got to be good! I mean, you’ll have access to their direct email inbox for a good while, it’s going to be worth it in the long run! So brainstorm what you can do, without losing money on your products or services. Typically, a 25% or 30% discount is a great place to start. You could also do a free chat (like a consultation, but do not use the word consultation… people hate that word!) – If you choose this option, make sure you list the amount of information you’ll provide and in what amount of time, as well as list the value of what that call would cost without an email address. A resource libraryCheck out my resource library here!This is an incredible way to convert an audience! A resource library is basically an area that you only give access to those who are on your email list! It’s FULL of things like workbooks, cheat sheets, training materials, printables, etc. So much value packed into one completely awesome freebie! An exclusive videoThis could be a one-time or multi-part series that you email to your list! Choose a topic that you can really dive into, that leaves your audience wanting more from you! Include at least one actionable step they can take to improve whatever the topic of your video is in their own life, but make sure they know that they need you (and need to stay on your list) to continue learning and growing! A challenge + workbookA free challenge is so much fun! It offers direction, accountability, and support, all of which are so appealing to any person who’s struggling in your particular niche. The key to making your challenge stand out is not only making sure you’ve provided a solid explanation of what your participants will accomplish by taking your challenge, but also including a workbook! Workbooks add so much value to the challenge itself because people know that you’ve taken the time to make sure they “get it”, therefore, already proving that your challenge isn’t just another basic waste of time! So there you have it! Five, super high value, not too difficult to pull off, absolutely non-generic types of freebies to make you stand out as you start an email list for your website!

Okay, I’m not going to pretend like I have the answer to the question how to be bold, but I think I have a good idea of how I’m going to personally live out the word, BOLD, in 2019. Maybe if I share my focus, then you’ll grab some good nuggets for yourself too.