Got Skills?

Blogging takes skill. Lots of skills in fact. Too many in my opinion.

I think A LOT of moms in my generation dream about the idea of blogging about their family or hobby and getting paid for it. It's a dream job for a stay at home mom! The unfortunate problem is, a blog with great content will rarely get discovered unless they have other skills. Since starting Thriving Home, I have learned so much about what it takes to create and maintain a blog.

Here is my running list of skills that are pretty handy to have if you want to ever start your own blog for revenue:

Web Design/HTML Coding: If you want your blog to stand out among mommy bloggers, it needs to look different than the standard templates. You'll eventually need to know some basic coding (or pay someone to do it for you).

Graphic Design Skills: Want to get your stuff pinned? It's pretty handy to know how to add titles or words to your photos. There is also a ton of stuff on your homepage that you'll need graphics for. A large amount of my time was spent on this in the beginning days of our blog.

Photography: Pictures are so important! It's unfortunate that so many good bloggers get missed because they can't afford to invest time and money into photography.

Business Skills: You have to research and know how to advertise, how to market your blog, where to spend money, etc. It really takes a business mindset to get things going.

Discipline: Sometimes you just don't feel like writing a blog post or messing with the funky design problem you are having.

Creativity: It seems like we are always scheming up new ideas for posts, titles, graphics, advertising, and more. It really takes out of the box thinking.

Good Writing Skills: If you're spellling and grammar is darn bad, its dog-gone destracting to the readers, ya know?

Networking: It helps to know the right people and to be willing to ask for help.

Patient Husbands: Yep- a blogging mom needs a husband who is willing to encourage the hobby and be willing to pick up some slack when mommy is stuck on the computer dealing with a website crisis.

Whew! Seems like a lot, doesn't it?? As we continue to grow our blog, I'm sure this list will continue to grow. This is one of the many reasons I am glad to have a partner in my blogging adventure at Thriving Home. We have found that our skills differ in certain areas so it's helpful to not carry all of the weight.

As I learn more and more of what it takes to be a blogger, I am AMAZED at how many moms out there who can do it all. Well done, mom-bloggers, well done.