How I Make a Full-Time Income with Elite Blog Academy

Why I Started Blogging

I started blogging at Redefining Mom® in July 2013 when my daughter was 9 months old. At the time, I knew nothing about how to blog, I didn’t even know what WordPress was little alone self-hosting and how to buy a domain name. What I did know was that I had something to say and I wanted a platform to say it on.

I wanted to connect with other working moms who were going through the same struggles as I was and needed a place to feel like it’s okay. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, stressed out or lonely on your journey. It’s okay to admit you can’t do it all. It’s okay.

You see, I suffered from postpartum PTSD due to birth trauma. When I started blogging, I hadn’t been diagnosed yet, but I knew my dream of climbing the corporate ladder was crashing down around me.

I was sad, overwhelmed, bitter, and a little bit angry. Why did I work my tail off building my career and getting my MBA just to quit? Why did the United States not offer any paid maternity leave? Why was it acceptable for large corporations to not offer flexible work arrangements for new moms?

There had to be a better way and I was determined to find it.

Blogging turned out to be a lot of work, a lot more work than I could have ever imagined. As I got to know more about it, I realized that a lot of women have turned their blog into real profitable businesses. Wait, what? People made money writing about topics they were passionate about? I could do that! If I could survive corporate America, I could do this. Or so I thought.

It turns out, I really had no idea what I was doing.

The Reason I Purchased Elite Blog Academy

By March 2015, my little blog was chugging along with little focus from me. I went months without logging in or posting something new. Social media? Forget it! I was traveling now for my marketing career in technology and I barely had time to spend with my daughter little alone blogging.

That changed the day the White House reached out to me to participate in a working families event. I was considered to be a member of the press because of my blog. I got invited into the West Wing and met President Obama right outside the Oval office! My opinions about flexible workplace arrangements and maternity leave were being heard by the most important people in the world — all because I started a blog!

My visit to the White House sparked a renewed interest in using my blog to transform the lives of women around me. If I was found by the highest office in the country without even trying, what would happen if I started trying?!

I found Elite Blog Academy because I followed the creator, Ruth Soukup, since she started her couponing blog, Living Well Spending Less, back when Extreme Couponing was on TLC and it was the hottest topic around. I was on her mailing list from years ago and kept seeing enrollment emails for this course and started to dig a little bit more into what it was.

It was the best investment I have made since starting in 2013. The course is intense, but it is the best comprehensive course I’ve found on blogging and I’ve spent a lot of money on courses because I am what they call a “course junkie.”

I purchased in September 2015 and I started taking the course serious in January 2016. I finished the course in August 2016, right when I quit my corporate job and was about to launch my eBook.

I learn best when content is laid out in a logical manner and there is a way to see progress being made. I loved the format of Elite Blog Academy so much that I modeled my own course after the foundation of following 12 steps with homework assignments. Each step builds on each other.

This is not meant to be completed in one month.

Running an online business or blog is A LOT of work! You have to be in it for the long haul if you want to be successful.

Ruth shows you how to do that in this program.

Running an online #business or #blog is a lot of work! You have to be in it for the long haul!Click To Tweet

My Blog Transformation: What I Learned From Elite Blog Academy

Elite Blog Academy is broken down into four modules: Refine Your Message, Grow Your Audience, Monetize Your Blog, and Build Your Business.

My blog’s success is closely mapped to each of these four modules. This is why it’s so important to make sure you complete each module in order and DON’T SKIP ANY OF THE ASSIGNMENTS!

Module 1: Refine Your Message

As someone who already had a blog when I purchased EBA, it was tempting to skip the first module. I’m so glad I didn’t!

Let me introduce you to Kate. Kate is the avatar Ruth helped me identify in assignment 3.

Kate is more than a bunch of generic facts like age, gender, location, marital status, number of kids, etc.

Kate represents the hopes, dreams, challenges, and struggles of the person I am trying to serve in my blog posts and weekly emails.

Every day I sit down to write to Kate, I ask myself…

What is Kate’s felt need? What can I write to Kate that will compel her to take a transformative action in her life?

Not everyone who follows you will fit your Kate perfectly and that’s why most people skip over the avatar exercise because it’s hard to alienate people who might be a potential customer.

I struggle with this almost daily.

Kate is a working mom who doesn’t feel guilty about working. She doesn’t want to be a SAHM and she’s confident in her decision. She is a working professional. She’s classified as an older millennial. She has the work ethic of a Gen-Xer but the social ideals of a younger millennial. She started her career several years before having kids and now she’s at a crossroads. She still wants to work and use her professional skills but she feels like the balance of time is always at work and never with her family. She craves a more flexible work environment but doesn’t feel she can achieve that in her current circumstances. She’s looking for a solution that will allow her to work from home and repurpose her skills. She will not keep her kids at home with her when she works but she will bend her work schedule around her children’s needs.

Takeaway: Name your avatar and only talk to her. The more dialed in your message is, the more successful you will be. It may feel counterintuitive but this is the real secret to being a successful blogger.

Module 2: Grow Your Audience

This module is where the magic happens. You’ll start building your email list, networking with other bloggers, and getting your content seen on social media.

Blogging is NOT about your blog, it’s about your email list!

Blogging is NOT about your blog, it’s about your email list!Click To Tweet

I strongly believe I would not be making a full-time income if it wasn’t for my email list.

It’s encouraging to hear a very successful blogger (Ruth) confirm this fact.

Ruth is constantly reiterating that success rests with your email list. Your blog is the start of your funnel. Your blog is an entry point to bring people to your email list.

So often bloggers get caught up in page views and they forget they’re missing a key opportunity. An email address gives you a one-way ticket inside of a potential customer’s most valuable digital space — their inbox.

Think about it, what good does a 30-second page view from Pinterest do for you? (This is the exact reason I created my course, Pin Practical). The chances of a person ever coming back to your blog again are incredibly slim unless you can pop into their inbox and regularly remind them you exist!

Takeaway: If you want to turn your blog into a business, you must have an active and engaged email list.

Module 3: Monetize Your Blog

Show me the money!!!

As I mentioned earlier, I make 60% of my income from my own products and 40% from affiliate promotions. Ruth dives deep into both topics in this module.

Thanks to following EBA’s advice, I have over 6,000 students enrolled in my courses!

EBA shows you how to create your first baby seed launch which is exactly what I did when I launched my first course, Busy Moms Building.

I have since gone on to create an entire product suite under the Redefining Mom brand. I use both the evergreen and launching models to consistently bring in $6,000+ in revenue from my products each month.

In November 2017, I followed EBA’s Product Launch Playbook and the baby seed launch from unit 8 and sold an advanced level course on promoted pins to 20 people before it was even created. This was my beta group.

In January 2018, I launched the course, Pin Practical Promotions, to my email list and 65 people enrolled! I used the tactics Ruth teaches in unit 9 to nail my sales copy. I focused heavily on compelling testimonials from the beta group.

Takeaway: As Ruth says in unit 8, it’s time to rip off the band-aid and launch your first product. You won’t regret it!

Module 4: Build Your Business

This is the amazing part of EBA, your work is never done. My blog is now a business that provides more than a full-time income to my family. I’m still learning and implementing from Elite Blog Academy.

If you really want to be successful as a blogger, you must treat your blog like a business. The entire last module of EBA is dedicated to showing you how to structure your blog like a business.

After I take maternity leave with my second baby, I’ll be working on unit 12, building my team.

As a self-proclaimed, hyper type-a person, delegating is not easy for me. It’s one of the areas I struggle with most in my business. Ruth teaches how to lead effectively and how to hire the right people. I can’t wait to dive in and grow my team!

Takeaway: Your blog is only a business if you treat it like a business and act as the CEO.

Elite Blog Academy Provided The ONE Thing Corporate America Could NOT…

…Maternity leave on my own terms.

A week after EBA launches this year, I’ll be delivering my second baby girl. It took me five years to consider getting pregnant again after my rough transition back to the corporate world and suffering from postpartum PTSD.

Blogging has provided so much to my family and I. I am forever grateful that I found EBA and was able to repurpose my corporate marketing skills in the blogging world.

I don’t feel like I walked away from a career or my MBA. Instead, I believe EBA helped me realize my full potential and take control of my circumstances.

Without EBA, I’d still be facing 12 hour days in corporate, traveling all the time, and barely seeing my daughter.

But now, I’ve built a solid business foundation that has allowed me to continue earning a full-time income while adjusting my schedule to 20 hours a week for the demands of pregnancy.

When my second baby is born, no one is pushing me to put her in daycare and return to a demanding office job.

Since I took the time to build a solid foundation following EBA, I can afford to take time off and spend time with my new baby. The best part? My blog will continue to make money even when I’m not actively working on it!

I get to make decisions based on what’s best for my family and me because of blogging! There’s no other career that allows the flexibility I’ve received from seeing EBA through to the end. I’m so happy I didn’t give up.

You can do this too!

Frequently Asked Questions About Elite Blog Academy

#1 I am completely new to blogging and feel extremely overwhelmed by all of the information out there. Will EBA help me?

I have two answers to this questions.

First, EBA does not show you how to set up the backend of your blog. Ruth begins her teaching by walking you through the strategy behind starting a successful blog. If you don’t have a website set up yet and you’re worried you won’t be able to figure it out once you buy EBA–I’ve got you covered! Check out my free tutorial on how to set up your blog! I personally don’t want the tech side of blogging to stop you from starting. I’ve got ya there!

Second, what I love most about EBA is that Ruth built it as building blocks. Instead of throwing a bunch of advanced strategies at you and sending you on your way, she builds each concept off of the last one. EBA will lead you through 12 different units and 36 assignments. EBA teaches you how to be intentional with your blog so that you don’t waste time spinning your wheels.

Because EBA was built to be taken in 12 unique steps, it stops you from getting overwhelmed with too much information coming at you all at once!

You ready? Awesome! Click here to enroll in Elite Blog Academy

#2 I’ve been blogging for a while and feel like I’ve got the basics (and maybe some advanced strategies) figured out. Will EBA help me move forward?

YES, YES, and YES again! Oh my gosh, I cannot speak enough to this point. When I bought EBA, I had been blogging for 2 years and my corporate career was in marketing. I understood all of the strategies and techniques, the problem was implementing them in a way that actually made me money.

EBA is designed to help beginners, intermediate, and advanced bloggers because it teaches you how to think differently about your blog. When I first opened EBA, I wanted to skip the first 4 units because I felt like I had already built the foundation that I needed. Luckily, I followed Ruth’s advice and forced myself to do every single unit and assignment. I am so glad that I did! I ended up completely rebranding my blog based on the exercises I did in the first 4 units!

It took me eight months to complete the entire course and at the end, I quit my corporate job. EBA is absolutely valuable even if you’ve been blogging for a while.

Click here to enroll in Elite Blog Academy

#3 But seriously, is it worth the $897 price tag?

$897 is definitely an investment and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The course material is no doubt worth the price. The real question, I think, is whether you are willing to take the time to invest applying what you learn in EBA.

If you plan on purchasing EBA and putting it on the shelf like “all those other courses” you’ve purchased, then no, it’s not worth the price tag. If you’re serious about turning your blog into a business, there’s no other course that has been as effective for me as EBA–and I’ve spent OVER $10,000 on online courses in 2017 alone!

Plus, I’m offering some amazing bonuses too, you can see those below!

#4 Can you explain the different packages being offered this year?

Absolutely! This year, EBA is offering three different packages at checkout.

Package #1- Silver: EBA course

Full-Price: $897 or $350/month for 3 months

Package #2 Gold: EBA Course + EBA Live ($697 value)

Full-Price: $1197 (no registration fee, priority registration) or $460/month for 3 months

Package #3 Platinum: EBA Course + EBA Live VIP — includes pre-workshop ($1497 value)

Full-Price $1997 (no registration fee, priority registration) or $766/month for 3 months

EBA Live is an AMAZING opportunity to connect with like-minded bloggers and industry leaders. I attend the first EBA Live in 2017 and it was worth every penny. I’ll be attending EBA Live 2018 (the main conference AND the pre-workshop!). You can read my full review of the conference here: 5 Valuable Lessons From a Successful 7-Figure Blogger

#5 Will EBA make me money?

YES, EBA can totally make you money, IF you are willing to invest the time into completing all of the assignments.

Everyone’s journey to making money with EBA will be different. EBA provides you the framework to build a successful business. The way you choose to implement the framework will be unique to you.

#6 I’m ready to purchase but my spouse thinks it’s not a good idea. Any advice on how to change their mind?

This is a great question because my husband also did not think EBA was a good idea at first. Let me give you a little bit of background about my experience.

When I invested in EBA, blogging was a hobby for me. I had a feeling that it could be more and I desperately wanted to get out of my 10-year corporate tech career.

Look at it like this: what do you spend on your current hobbies a year?

I confess that I didn’t tell my husband until AFTER I made the purchase. When he gave me the side-eye about it, I asked him how much beer league hockey cost and the hundreds of records he seems to buy each year.

Now, here’s the crazy part, my husband’s hobbies have never repaid us a dime, but EBA sure has repaid us 100000x over!

Technically, I didn’t negotiate with him on EBA. After I purchased EBA, I now use the hobby logic on him all the time!

Here’s what the worst and best case scenarios were for me:

WORST: You invest in EBA and find out you just want to keep blogging as a hobby. Cool, you would have spent more than that on your hobby throughout the year anyway.

BEST: You make a full-time income blogging after taking EBA and it turns out to be the best investment in a hobby EVER!

This is how I break it down in my head. Does it help you at all?

#7 How long will EBA take me to complete? How long will I have access to EBA?

It took me eight months to complete EBA from start to finish. The amount of time it will take you to complete EBA is largely based on how much time you dedicate towards working through the course materials. I spent about 10 hours a week on building my blog during those eight months.

You’ll have access to EBA forever! PLUS, Ruth offers a return policy for the first 180 days!

OKAY! I’m ready to enroll in Elite Blog Academy!

 

How Do I Get Started?