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11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

Five years ago I was managing two departments at Target. I started off as the Starbucks manager and then a few months later I took on the Pizza Hut/Target Cafe as well. Without an increase in income, might I add. 🙂

I had NO idea what I was doing. I was 23 in college working towards my bachelor’s degree in Journalism and married a month before.

coupon blogger tips - how to be a deal bloggerI was a kid telling a kid what to do. I went from finally getting a  feel for how to manage Starbucks and then it was like I was starting all over with managing a whole other department.

Ironically this is how my childhood was. We moved when I was 12 from Wisconsin to Virginia, and just when I was understanding the new culture we moved to Vermont, then New York, then North Carolina. I moved every year of high school.

Now Here I am running two things again.

I have no other explanation than when things are meant to be they will be.

After I realized I couldn’t work for other people and always felt underappreciated I made the choice to stay home with my two daughters. I knew that with my frugal blood as well as my husband’s we could live the best life on a budget.

And we have.

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I have been blogging for a little over two years now.( I also run MyBJsWholesale) I am nowhere near close to an expert but as your friend, I want to share my experience with you. If you are thinking about joining the crazy insane world of blogging I have some tried and true tips.

I am now making more money blogging than I was when I was working part-time. I work part time hours- about 14 hours a week and make a very nice part time income. The more I learn the more I grow. Never stop learning.

Let’s just say when I started making more than minimum wage I was ecstatic. For a year and a half, I was making less than minimum wage.

 

There is an abundant amount of resources to read about how other bloggers are reaching success whether it be through page views, monetizing, social media reach etc.   There are about 5 for coupon bloggers. Yes, you can take many of the tips and apply them to your own. But when it comes to quality content that must be over 500 words for SEO- you are instantly disqualified as a coupon blogger.

 

A deal is a deal. You won’t reach 500 words.

So remember when reading your resources that some of those things will not apply to you as a coupon blogger. This is where I hope to really dive in to give you better resources into the coupon blogging world.

The competition is fierce. Competition in blogging is there for every blogger no matter what genre you are writing. But for coupon bloggers, it seems never-ending. It seems you type in a coupon and pages and pages of coupon/frugal living bloggers are there.

Don’t let it scare you from starting one. If you are truly called to start a blog and it is going to deal with coupons and deals let your voice be heard. Remember there is only one you.

The trend now is to start a blog because people see it as a fast way to make cash for coupon bloggers.

Wrong. You can’t make cash fast by blogging, usually. Unless you’re Sarah Titus. 🙂

And in her story, she has the most important factor. God. God called her to do something she obeyed and she has been blessed.

 

My Story:

about the frugal farm girl page

There I was at Tops( our local grocery store) bending over grabbing my three-year-old off the floor because she thinks it’s hilarious to act like a monkey at this very moment.

I turn around and see Janet. Oh, Janet who I used to work with back in my retail days.

“Oh, my your girls are so big.”

“Yes, they are.”

“How are things?”

Blah blah blah. That’s how I feel my words are coming out. I’m knee deep in demands of children and at this moment I’m over chasing, calculating, smiling, demanding.

Then here it comes. The question. The big one.

” Are you still staying home or are you working now?”

” Ohh well you know.I run two blogs that show people how to save money. One is specific to our area and I share ways for you to live a great life on a budget. I spend countless hours trying to figure it out and now I get paid to do it.

Except that’s not what comes out.

“Yes, I still stay at home.”

What the heck is a blog? And why would you start one?

It all started for me when I quit my part time job. I knew that couponing would allow us to live with margin in our budget. Yet I have ALWAYS loved to write. All through school writing was my thing.

I also thought that success was my thing too. That is how success looked to me.

I followed a local blog for about two years after my best friend told me about couponing. Really couponing.

My thought was I’m not wasting my time to clip a $0.50 coupon when I can just buy the store brand.

But then I tried it and I fell hard into a deep love. Saving money just became even better.

After watching Hip2Save a thing came up in my newsfeed for a blogging course online.

Destiny.

I took the class and from there on out, I started a little blog called Batavia’s Best Bargains.

My blogging journey has come a long way. One that cracks me up. It’s insane to think how much I have learned the hard way- through trial and error with this blog. I went to college for Journalism. I took one class on website design. I taught myself everything on here.

Starting a blog is like being a mother for the first time.

Everything is brand new, frightening and electrifying. You have no idea what you are doing. When you think you have taken a step forward you go two steps back.

Until they grow.

And when they grow you loosen up.

And you begin to believe.

 

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

 

If you want to start a blog you need to be prepared to give it your everything.

Being a blogger, in general, requires constant love and attention. Being a coupon blogger requires daily love and attention. You know all the things you consider when you get a puppy? Yes, consider those things with blogging. Will you really have the time to invest? If you don’t have the time then ask if you have the money to invest? As a blogger you can spend money to get your blog off the ground a bit more but if you don’t have the money you need the time.

And if you don’t have the time you will just create unnecessary stress and frustration in your life.

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

Expect to end your social life outside your blogs social media.

If you stroll through Facebook right now and easily get lost in your newsfeed be prepared to cut that off. Time is precious for many of us and you can’t be engaging in your own personal life when you need to be engaging with your blogs social media.

If you have kids at home and are starting your blog all your extra time will go to the blog. Of course you can schedule in times to visit with friends but in the beginning, you will see it sucks all your time and all your thoughts. Let your friends know you will see them in a few months 😉

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11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

If you have a spouse sincerely apologize for all the nights you will be staring at the computer screen.

I have talked with many blogging buddies and this has been true. It may make you laugh but it is a very serious thing. If you are married then you know your spouse needs to be first in your life so it will take some adjusting to how you want to go about handling this.

I can’t wait to share with you how many silent arguments my husband and I had when I started my blog.  Communicate with your spouse let them know what is going on. And don’t forget to sneak in a few date nights.

 

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

If you have kids let the guilt go about the T.V. time.

If you have young kids at home and a babysitter is not in the budget that is ok. There is no shame to put a movie on to get some work done. Just be strategic about what you are going to accomplish in that very fast hour and a half movie. ( Too bad they weren’t all 3 hours, right?)

You will have to have a game plan set for what you want to do each day on the blog. Making monthly and weekly goals help a ton to keep your time focused and balanced. It is guaranteed in the beginning you will get overwhelmed and want to tackle everything. You can’,t focus on one thing to grow first.

 

 

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

You may work countless hours for pennies. 

You can share a coupon for your readers and if they print it you will get paid, but it’s about $0.03 per print. Even at 10 readers who each print 3 coupons that are $0.90.

  • Tip: Sign up for MySavings where you can get paid $0.38 per coupon print over a 24 hour period. Or try Escalate where you receive $0.42 per print in a 24 hour period. 

It’s hard to make money blogging if you treat it as a hobby. Give it a business label and it will bring in money as a business.

You have to publish new content daily.

As a lifestyle blogger, you can get away with publishing articles every few weeks. When you start as a coupon blogger to stay competitive and starting you need lots of deals every day. Be prepared.

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

You won’t get a day off.  

If you have the entrepreneur’s heart you won’t take a day off for awhile.  Many coupon bloggers I have talked to within their first year of blogging who have had to take more than a couple days off, have lost traffic and it completely affected their entire blogging experience.

For coupon deal bloggers your audience is most likely following a few different coupon blogs. So you need to keep them engaged by offering new deals that not many other bloggers are.

The hope is many coupon bloggers end up with a virtual assistant. So once you are bringing in income you can decide to go that route. Plus there are many social sharing programs you can pay for. This will free up some of your time as well.

  • Tip: Use a social media scheduler to save time and keep your audience engaged. Post Planner is a great place to start.

But after you have been blogging for awhile and get the hang of it,  you will pay for that vacation with cash because of all your hard work.

 

You will need to build a trust with your audience to keep longevity in the blogging world.

If you are a coupon blogger there are tons of deals where you can post free surveys and contests and when a reader engages you may make a $1.00 or so per person. But sometimes those chances to win gift cards result in your email getting spammed and your cell phone getting weird calls about your credit. Sure you can share those and have your readers try it and then when they realize how strange it is you may lose them.

Sure you can share those and have your readers try it and then when they realize how strange it is you may lose them.

If you are here I don’t think you want to be one of those bloggers. I think you want to share information that will generally help whoever is reading it.

You know the saying “Treat others the way you want to be treated” Well share content that you would want to engage in. It may be tempting because of the money but if you want to build a business that will last honesty will create a community.

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

A community will keep your cash flow throughout the years.

Think about it- social media is ever changing. You don’t just want to be making your money from social media. You want a community of people who want to check out your blog without being fed a deal every 20 minutes.

You want them to come to you. You want an organic search to be your number one.
Because if you are destined to take a seat in the blogging world you are going to get sucked in and you may not come up for air for awhile. Be honest, be you. Your own community of readers will want that.

  • Tip: Get Started by building your email list. Add a personal note to it instead of the typical RSS Feed. I love using Convertkit. 

Don’t go into Debt

This is a very personal thing one I haven’t discussed with any of my coupon bloggers. Yet I know in our own personal life, we are grabbing deals just like our readers. But do not go into debt for your business.  It is easy to get caught up in reading things online and hoping it will all just work out.

Yet, in the beginning, you can start a blog for cheap. It’s another amazing perk. But you can quickly fall into thinking you need to spend a lot of money.

If you are starting a blog to bring in cash, and you really need the cash don’t go into debt with the mindset of I could potentially earn $30,000/month like the blog The Busy Budgeter. You can view an income report that is unlike many of the other income reports where they make $100,000 a month here.

Let those reports be an encouragement that it is possible to make real money but not a discouragement.

11 Insider Facts Every Coupon Blogger Should Know

You will want to give up.

But don’t. If you are meant to do this, things will pan out. The rewards will come after. You may not see the rewards in the beginning, but who knows how much you could be blessing someone with what you are providing on your blog.

I truly believe you must have a passion for it or you won’t make it.  There are many rewards of blogging as well. Currently, my husband and I are going to use one stream of income from my blog to pay off our mortgage in 10 years. You can check out our monthly income to debt ratio reports here on the blog starting Dec. 15th.

I enjoy having my own schedule and now if I need to take time off I can. I love that my kids can be in the same room as me while I work.

I love this piece from Jon who runs Smartblogger I have even taken a few of his courses.

 

“But Jon,” you say. “This sounds too corporate. I just want an easy way to make money online.”

My response?

Don’t start a blog. In my opinion, it’s a terrible way to make a few bucks on the side.

For one, there’s the time investment. I’ve never seen anyone learn everything necessary to build a profitable blog in less than three years.

For two, there’s the chance of failure. Your first two or three blogs you start will probably fail because you make a fatal misstep.

In other words, it’s exactly like starting a business. Exactly.

Can you get rich?

Sure, that’s why many people are attracted to entrepreneurship. If you start and grow a successful business, you can make millions or even billions of dollars.

But you can also lose everything. You can read his story on how he went from $0- $100,000 a month here.

 

Remember if God has called you to start a blog whether its coupon deals, whatever niche, the enemy will be after you. He has one purpose and it’s to destroy everything good in your life.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Use the best weapon to guide you on your own best journey- Prayer. ” quote=”Use the best weapon to guide you on your own best journey- Prayer. Stand firm in your faith, don’t just dig your feet in, move those feet forward.”]

When I struggled with giving up my Batavia’s Best Bargains blog to start this one this scripture I spoke out loud daily. It strengthens me to continue on the path the Lord has already laid out for me.

I am choosing now to move my own feet along it.

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” Deut. 7:9 NIV

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