Holly Hanna – The Work at Home Woman
“The Work at Home Woman” a blogging success story.
I came across ” TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com” website a few months ago. I could tell immediately that it was a successful blog. I teach that a website will NOT make you successful… You have to do the work, be consistent, love what you do and be persistent.
According to Holly, you must – have a why… (why am I going to make this work?)
Following is the interview I did with Holly.
Is this your “full time job?”
Along with running and managing, The Work at Home Woman, I also provide social media consultation for a small
publishing company named, AWAI. I split my time between the two and I usually work around 30 hours a week.
Do you have children at home?
Yes, I have the most amazing daughter a mom could ever ask for — as well as two rambunctious cats.
Did you have another career before you started this website (or do you now)?
No, The Work at Home Woman is my first and only site. I’ve dabbled with the idea of starting a travel blog, but my daughter is my priority right now, so the travel blog will have to wait.
When did you start The Work at Home Woman?
I launched the site in March of 2009.
How did you start the website? Was it a hobby at first or did you intend to grow it and include advertising?
I got the idea for the site in December of 2007 (and yes, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to monetize it), from there I slowly wrote content and developed the idea. When I felt I was ready to put it all together, I hired a graphic designer to create my vision. Having never worked with a designer before, I naively paid for all of the services up front and in the end was I left with an incomplete and non-functioning site. Luckily, I found a reliable local gal to help me tie up all of the loose ends. So all in all, it took me approximately 15 months to get it up and running.
Can you share a range of what you earn annually?
I have been able to replace what I made as a full-time nurse.
What has been your biggest challenge with the business?
Definitely time. When you’re a publisher and blogger there’s always something more that you can be doing to market and grow your platform. For now, I just always try to remember that these tender years go by fast, and that I need to cherish every moment with my daughter.
What have been your greatest joys??
I have won numerous awards and been featured on many big name publications — which is such such an honor. But for me my greatest joy is having a flexible schedule, so that I can always be there for my family. I don’t have to worry about things like not having enough vacation time or missing my daughter’s school play, because my schedule empowers me to live life on my own terms.
What is the best advice you can give a work at home mom?
Know your why. While I obviously work at home to make money, it’s not why I do what I do. I work at home, so that I can be there for my daughter. When you know your “why” you can achieve greater success, because you have the motivation and drive to conquer what needs to be done.
What’s the best advice you can give an entrepreneur?
Don’t scrimp on proper business tools and platforms — you’ll save yourself a lot of time and headaches down the road if you have the right tools in place from the beginning. I know, because made this mistake more than once.
What are YOUR favorite blogs to feature?
I love career and business blogs, as well as money saving blogs.
At what point did you start to make money from the site? Did you reach a certain number of blog posts and/or followers before you looked for advertising?
It took me about 3 months to land my first paid advertiser. Since I took 15 months to research and write content before launching, I had lots of content on the site from day one. My first advertiser found me from the blog, Mama Bird Diaries (http://www.mamabirddiaries.com/), I had featured the author of the blog, Kelsey Kitner on my site. Kelsey was kind enough to link back to the interview from her site and one of her readers found me and inquired and purchased ad space from me.
How did you find your advertisers?
At first I promoted myself a lot through social media, PR opportunities, blog comments, and email marketing. I also did some warm email prospecting, which worked really well for me. Today, I’m really fortunate to have a wait list of advertisers that I don’t have to spend as much time on prospecting and marketing. Just a word of caution when prospecting, make sure that you’re giving something of value to the contact and that it’s not all about you — it totally needs to be about them.
Is there any other way you make money on the site (other than advertising?)
Yes, I participate in affiliate marketing, brand sponsorship, as well as some ad networks.
You say “Don’t scrimp on business tools” – which tools are you referring to and can you give any recommendations?
Emailing marketing, website hosting, accounting software, email provider, etc. I use Constant Contact for email marketing, Fastmail for email services, and I use a small local company for my hosting, October Skies.
Blogs that Holly reads:
http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/
To read more about Holly and to find out YOUR dream job at home, visit TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com
And now a question for YOU the reader – what is your why?
Please share below with a link to your website so we can learn more about you and help you grow!
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