Welcome to my Blog
Discover simple marketing strategies to grow your business without the hustle and headache.
Instagram Marketing Tips From 7 Brands Who Have #NailedIt
Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms in the world with over 500 million daily active users. If you're a small business owner or blogger, it's a pretty good chance your ideal customer is on Instagram. The social media app has over 1 billion users in...
How to Build Your Business While Working a Full-Time Job
Freedom Friday Interview with Jim Traister - November 2, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Jim Traister, founder and CEO of HospitalityFan, a full-service marketing agency. Jim’s team has produced some great results for his customers and they have even...
Quit Her 9-to-5 Job Twice to Build a Business & Life She Loves
Freedom Friday Interview with Laura Stanik - October 26, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Laura Stanik, Founder and CEO of Urgently Good. Laura's team turns dreams for a better society into a complete system for growth - from organizational strategy to...
From Corporate Employee to Founder and CEO of a SaaS Company
Freedom Friday Interview with Hassan Riggs - October 19, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Hassan Riggs, founder and CEO of Smart Alto, a text messaging platform that helps real estate agents nurture leads, clients, and referrals. Smart Alto is a Y Combinator...
The Complete Calendar of Social Media Holidays for 2019
The Complete Calendar of Social Media Holidays for 2019:46 Holidays Perfect for Small Business Owners to Celebrate on Social Media Do you manage the social media channels for your business or the company you work for? If so, you know how difficult it can be to find...
How to Quit Your 9-to-5 Job, Overcome Fear, and Build Your Business
Freedom Friday Interview with Liz Carter - October 5, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Liz Carter, a digital strategist, innovative marketer, problem solver, and badass. Liz helps women business owners reach a new level of success by being more effective...
Quit Her 9-to-5 Job and Built a 7-Figure Brand
Freedom Friday Interview with Brittany Darrington - September 28, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Brittany Darrington, owner of The Corporate Misfit Club, Corporate Misfits Apparel, The BD Team, and Ella Rose Creatives. Brittany Darrington is a serial...
From Failed Business to $60,000 a Month
Freedom Friday Interview with Vandita Joshi - September 21, 2018 This Freedom Friday interview is with Vandita Joshi, a mother of two and a serial entrepreneur. Ten years ago, Vandita finished grad school and joined a typical corporate life in NYC. Thereafter, she...
9 Fatal Pinterest Marketing Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
Are you marketing your blog or business on Pinterest and not seeing the results you would like? Don’t worry, this is a very common issue for many business owners trying to market on Pinterest. Your lack of results is likely due to a few fatal Pinterest marketing...
Pinterest Ads: The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Promoted Pins in (2018)
Pinterest ads, also known as Promoted Pins, are an outstanding way to drive an engaged audience of targeted, eager buyers to your website. With over 200 million active users logging on to the platform each month, Pinterest can no longer be ignored as a place to...
How to Create Pinterest Images That Get Results
In this post, I am going to teach you how to create stunning Pinterest images that generate clicks and repins on Pinterest and possibly even go viral! Do you know what it takes to get traffic from Pinterest? First, you need to add images to Pinterest that link...
Is Pinterest Right For My Business? (14 Niches Perfect for Pinterest)
In this post, I want to answer a question that comes up a lot: "Is Pinterest right for my business?" When I tell other marketers and business owners that 60% of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest and it generates thousands of visitors month-after-month, I'm often...
10 Important Pieces of Blogging Advice for Beginners (in 2020 and Beyond)
Are you new to the world of blogging? Whether you’re yet to get started or you’ve been on your blogging journey for a few months, it’s good to know a few important pieces of blogging advice for beginners that will make your blogging journey easier. Now, it’s important...
Podcast: How I Quit My Job (And Became a Full-Time Blogger)
Last week I got to sit down with Cole Lindbergh, the host of The Kansas City Podcast. Things get real honest as I share my story about taking life into my own hands and grabbing the bull by the balls. You'll hear all the ups and downs leading up to my decision to...
37 Brilliant Pinterest Marketing Tips (to Increase Your Website Traffic)
Did you know Pinterest marketing can generate tons of traffic to your website? It's true! Pinterest is not just for food, fashion, and fitness. Pinterest is actually a powerful marketing tool every blogger and online business owner should learn to use. If you’re an...
The Best Web Host for Bloggers (6 Incredible Reasons to Choose SiteGround)
If you want to start a self-hosted WordPress blog, one of the first steps you need to take is to purchase your domain name and web hosting. Unfortunately, selecting a web host can be very overwhelming for brand new bloggers as there are tons of web hosts to choose...
Podcast: Grow Your Traffic With Pinterest
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure to spend some time with Ken Baker, host of the Go Build Your Business Podcast. Ken interviews entrepreneurs to learn how they're building their businesses. I was lucky enough to be the featured entrepreneur on Episode 42...
The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Group Boards (How to Find, Join, and Pin to Group Boards on Pinterest)
Pinterest group boards are a great way to expose your blog or business to a larger audience and drive traffic to your website. All the Pinterest experts talk about the benefits of group boards, but the conversation stops there. When you’re just starting out, you don’t...
7 Essential Tools and Resources to Start a WordPress Blog
There’s more than one way to start a WordPress blog. Frankly, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. If you’re just starting out, it can be extremely overwhelming to figure out which tools, resources, and software you need to build your blog. To help you overcome...
Should I Start a Blog? 15 Reasons You Should Start a Blog
Blogging can be a fun hobby, a killer marketing strategy, or even a lucrative career. In fact, many small business owners have built successful businesses with a blog and numerous lifestyle bloggers have quit their full-time jobs and replaced their income with their...
How to Use Tailwind Communities (formally known as Tailwind Tribes) and Explode Your Website Traffic
UPDATE 12/1/20: Tailwind Tribes changed their name to Tailwind Communities. If you’re a blogger or online business owner, chances are you’ve heard your peers raving about Tailwind Communities (formally known as Tailwind Tribes). Many bloggers attribute...
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – What’s the Difference and Which is Better?
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org is confusing for anyone to understand. If you’re just starting out and thinking about starting a blog, the .com vs. .org issue alone could cause you to come to a complete halt. In this post, I’m going to clear up the confusion...
Blogger Hacks – 19 Time-Saving Tips and Tricks for Busy Entrepreneurs
Have you ever wondered how people balance running a business with a family and a full-time job? If so, you’re not alone. This is a common question among new bloggers and small business owners. In this post, I’m going to share 19 time-saving hacks. These hacks are...
What is a Blog? (5 Common Types of Blogs & What You Need to Know Before Starting a Blog)
The question, ‘What is a blog?’ may seem funny to a pro-blogger but if you’re new to the blogosphere……this is precisely the question to start your blogging journey. We’ve all heard someone say, “I have a blog” or “I started a website.” But what exactly is a...
4 Lessons Learned From a Year of Blogging
The first month of 2018 has come to a close. It’s hard to believe that just one year ago I was writing my very first website traffic report, Tips and tools that generated 5,344 page views my first month blogging. A lot has happened since that first website...
10 Ways to Make Money Blogging
10 Proven Ways to Make Money Blogging-Pin Blogging is generally regarded as a pastime or hobby, but there’s plenty of ways to make money blogging. There are thousands of real people making money from their blog. A lucky few are even making millions! Ever heard of...
100+ Blogging Tools to Help You Blog Like a Boss
If you’re just beginning a blog or looking to scale your current one, blogging tools are essential to your productivity. Fortunately, we’ve compiled the ultimate list of blogging tools and websites for successful blogging. This list covers resources for all levels of...
12 Crucial Blogging Tips for Beginners
Blogging has been around for a while, and plenty of people have managed to turn entertainment and lifestyle blogs into professional blogs through a mix of trial-and-error and luck. While there’s no perfect way to run a successful blog, here are a few blogging tips for...
How to Start a Blog on WordPress in 2020
It comes as no surprise that blogging is a popular way to earn a passive, residual income, but did you know that it can also boost traffic for your business and create lucrative professional opportunities, too? Many people want to learn how to start a blog, but it can...
9 Must Have (and Free) WordPress Plugins for New Bloggers & Business Owners
WordPress is one of the largest blogging and CMS (Content Management Systems) on the internet. If you’re a new business or blogger, chances are your website is built with WordPress. The best part about WordPress? The plugins! Plugins are small pieces of...
How to Create an Email Course in 5 Simple Steps
Email courses are all the rage right now and for good reason. Free email courses are a great way to build the "know, like and trust" factor with your audience. So, naturally, I jumped on the course bandwagon and finally completed my free Pinterest for Business...
Learn the Traffic Driving Strategies I Use to Grow My Blog
April was a month full of testing, refining, and building on my traffic growth strategies. In this post, I’ll walk you through the elements I tested and share what worked and what didn’t. I also created two short video tutorials to walk you through my best strategies...
Why Pinterest Isn’t Working For You and How To Fix It
Are you struggling to get the insane web traffic from Pinterest you hear everyone boast about? Are you confused about why you aren’t getting accepted to join group boards? If you said yes to either question, you’re in luck. I’m going to share a little secret with you...
6 Ways to Optimize Your Pinterest Account for Better Results
Are you struggling to get results out of Pinterest? Do you hear others tout the power and magic of Pinterest but it’s just not working for you? Well, my friend, you’re in luck! This post is part three of the 5-part Pinterest Boot Camp series. In this 5-part series,...
3 Actions That Transformed My Business
In my last Blog Traffic Report, I shared that I was a “hot freaking mess” in February. (Don’t remember that? Check out last month’s post and learn the 5 Mistakes I Made on my Blog This Month. The beauty of finding yourself at an extreme low is that you have nowhere to...
4 Mistakes You’re Making on Pinterest
Welcome back to the Pinterest Boot Camp series! In this 5-part series, you will learn how to turn Pinterest into a traffic generating machine for your business. If you missed the first post in this series you can check it out here: Is Pinterest Right for Your...
5 Mistakes I Made on My Blog This Month
5 Mistakes I made on my blog this month February Blog Traffic Report This traffic report is extremely difficult for me to write. I don’t know how else to describe February other than, Hot Freaking Mess! Seriously, from beginning to end, it was a total mess. Instead of...
6 Best Websites to Quickly Find Free Images for Your Blog
This is not another exhaustive post documenting all the places on the internet to find free stock photos. I don’t know about you, but I’m a full-time working Mom trying to grow a business. I don’t have time to check out 100 different websites just to find one good...
Answers to 5 Common Questions New Bloggers and Business Owners Have About Pinterest
Answers to five common Pinterest questions_Video Training If you are new to Pinterest, you know it can be very confusing when you first get started. Shoot, it can be confusing even if you’ve been using it for years! To make matters worse, when you try to search for...
January 2017 Blog Traffic Report
My first full month as a blogger is officially in the books! Let me tell you, since going live on December 18, 2016, it has been a whirlwind! Things are moving so fast I have decided to document my results each month and share it with my readers. I will share the...
37 Inspirational Quotes for Entrepreneurs
Being an entrepreneur requires mental fortitude. Whether you’re a newbie blogger, small business owner, or seasoned entrepreneur, you’re going to have bad days. You’re going to experience doubt, worry, and fear. And that’s OK. It’s perfectly normal. In fact, it’s...
9 Facebook Groups You Need to Join Now to Grow Your Business
I am in love with Facebook groups! Why? Believe it or not, Facebook groups have driven a lot of traffic to my website. I talk more about this in my post, How I went from 0 – 500 email subscribers in 30 days! As a business owner, you’re always looking for new ways to...
How To Go From 0 – 500 Email Subscribers in 30 Days!
When I launched my blog my list grew faster than I ever imagined possible! In this post, I outline the five email list building methods I used to grow my list from 0 - 500 email subscribers my first 30 days as a blogger. (Update: Since writing this post, I have...
Why You’re Not Mastering Social Media (And What You Can Do About It)
Are you overwhelmed trying to grow your business and manage multiple social media channels? I am too! Which is why I’m cutting out the chaos and focusing on mastering JUST ONE social media channel in 2020. Read on to learn why I’m making this drastic decision and why...
Ten reasons perseverance, not perfection, is the key to success on social media.
I am a perfectionist. At times this trait serves me well. Other times it’s a major hindrance. In regards to social media, perfection has proven to be a major hindrance. Perfection kills momentum, innovation, and creativity. It’s taken me nearly 10 years of...
50 Social Media Content Ideas – The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
Have you ever felt uninspired and desperate for a fresh idea of what to post on social media? Good news my friend! I’ve created the ultimate social media cheat sheet to solve this problem! This cheat sheet is complete with 50 ideas of what to post on social media....