On the Wealthy Single Mommy blog, visitors find a wide variety of advice. But it all has one thing in common. It’s geared toward helping single moms live life to the fullest — from parenting, to dating, to building a strong financial foundation.
Emma Johnson is the mind behind Wealthy Single Mommy, and she recently joined me for an interview to talk about her journey from freelance journalist to successful blogger and business owner.
Emma began blogging seven years ago as a personal project.
At the time, everyone seemed to be launching a blog, and she thought, why not her?
She chose her topic because professional single mothers fit right in with her experience. People warned her that single moms weren’t a good target, that they didn’t have money to spend.
Emma didn’t care.
“I didn’t see a voice that was speaking to me, so I became that voice.”
It’s About More Than Writing
In the beginning, it wasn’t about earning money at all. Emma describes her early blogging days as joyful and playful… not driven by financial goals.
But nowadays, her blog is her business.
She still loves it, but it’s a different beast. It isn’t just about writing. It’s about fighting the algorithms, both on search engines and social networks. Adapting quickly to changes.
It’s also about managing people. That’s been a challenge.
As her blog grew, Emma knew she couldn’t do everything on her own. She needed to find balance between her business goals and her true passions, like activism. And for that she needed help.
To make it all work, Emma focuses on her core competence — researching and writing about topics that are important to working single mothers. She does what she likes and is good at and outsources the other stuff to people who like to do those things. But that means working with people and motivating them. She’s had to learn how to find people who are good fit, both in terms of skill and personality.
In 2015, Emma realized that Wealthy Single Mommy could bring in a steady income.
Earning an income from her blog wasn’t something she sought out. The money started finding her.
The popularity and authority of her blog garnered media attention. High rankings in Google brought in substantial traffic. Between the two, people started seeking her out. Affiliates wanted to work with her. Brands wanted to set up sponsorship arrangements with her.
At the time, she was still working as a freelance journalist. She could see that market shrinking. It was harder to land assignments, and the assignments didn’t pay as well.
Her blog on the other hand… she was offering a unique perspective. She was helping people. And she was beginning to see that she could earn a full-time living doing it.
She made a bold decision. She stepped away from journalism. She stopped splitting her energy and put all her focus on her blog.
A Bold Decision Pays Off
Since that time, her blog has been her sole source of income. And between 2015 and now, her income has doubled every year.
When Emma talks about not splitting her energy between journalism and blogging, she is careful to mention that she made a full mindset shift. She stopped telling people she was a journalist when asked what she did for work. She started telling people she was a business owner of a media company.
The move paid off.
Emma is happy to have started her blog when she did.
At the time she launched Wealthy Single Mommy, people’s habits on the internet were different. They would read a post before offering a comment on it. Now, they’ll share a post with their social media following without actually reading what she wrote.
The internet has become crowded. Social media feeds are packed, and it’s harder to get traffic. Getting good rankings on Google requires SEO expertise along with patience and persistence.
It’s a more sophisticated market now, and it helps that she was already established.
When she was getting started, it was possible to build a following through organic social and search. “Now, things rely on paid traffic,” she said.
When I asked Emma about the most important skills a person needs to succeed as a blogger, she answered candidly.
“Writing is low on the list.”
Business Skills Are Essential for Success
She emphasized the importance of being business minded.
You need to study your market and your audience. You need to pay attention to changes. You need to be organized, willing to try new things, and to not let setbacks get you down.
Negotiating is an important skill. Emma’s income comes mainly from sponsored content agreements and affiliate partners. With sponsored content, it’s crucial to know how to find out what’s important to your partner — impressions, clicks, name recognition — and then to negotiate based on what you can deliver.
Networking is also important. Having good relationships with influencers in your industry can open a lot of doors. And having a community of fellow bloggers you can reach out to when you don’t know something can be a big help. Imagine you’re offered a sponsored content agreement for doing a Facebook Live video… but you’ve never done that before. Having people in your network who you can ask, “What should I charge for this?” Or “What do I need to know about this kind of project?” can be so valuable.
If you want to be a successful blogger, there’s a certain amount of vulnerability required.
“There’s no way to learn and grow,” Emma said, “unless you’re really honest.”
Be wiling to talk about your numbers — your traffic, your social media followers, your bounce rates, your subscribers — if not publicly, at least with other bloggers and businesspeople who you trust. It will help you gauge how well you’re doing and give you ideas for how to do even better.
When I asked Emma what trait she attributed with her success, she laughed. “Ignorance,” she answered.
Not knowing what she was doing in the beginning afforded her a certain amount of freedom to try things without worrying if they were right or not. That helped her learn a ton about what it takes to engage an audience.
She talked next about having tunnel vision — coming up with an idea that you really believe in and then focusing on it with everything you have… that can carry you a long way.
You need to be willing to throw things out there, to talk about things that are out of your comfort zone or that you’re so passionate about it hurts. People will let you know if what you’re saying resonates.
That brought her to her next key trait for blogging success: being a good listener. Emma admits that being a good listener didn’t come naturally at first.
“I went into blogging thinking, I’m going to tell this audience what they need to hear.”
But it didn’t take long for her to realize that her audience would tell her what they needed to hear — in the comments, on social media, through email — and when she listened to them and wrote posts in response… those were very successful.
You also have to be willing to be open. Emma explains it like this:
“People want to know about you personally. They want to know you’re a real person… an actual human.”
So open up. Use your real voice. Stick to your topic most of the time. But sometimes, talk about what you did over a weekend or something in your relationship that you’re happy about or that’s making you nervous.
It’s a balance, what you share and what you keep private. But personal posts get higher engagements, so put them in the mix… in a way that’s right for you.
Blogs Can Create Multiple Streams of Income
As I mentioned above, Emma’s blog earns money primarily through sponsored arrangements and affiliates.
In sponsored arrangements, it’s important to listen to your clients. Often, they’re figuring things out just like you. You need to ask about their goals. You need to talk about what’s working on your site and what your audience is excited about. Ask them about past arrangements that have worked. And pay attention to what other bloggers are doing. Things change fast!
Sponsored arrangements take work, but they can be very lucrative. Emma has been paid $15,000 for a sponsored blog post and $10,000 for a Facebook Live video. Those are at the high end of what a successful, well-trafficked blogger can expect. Most arrangements will come in lower, but still be well worth your while.
I asked Emma about using pay-per-click ads on her site. She does. Bankrate is her ad network of choice, which given her blog’s financial focus, just makes sense. When picking an ad network, Emma recommends doing a lot of research. You want to know how payouts are structured, what kinds of ads they run, and how they look when displayed on your site.
Emma went on to say that ad networks aren’t her favorite way of earning money. They bring a couple hundred dollars a month… nowhere near what she earns through sponsored arrangements and affiliates.
When looking for affiliate deals, Emma says it’s good to know the keywords that are attracting traffic to your site and to find good matches based on that. And make sure you understand the details of their pay out agreement before signing anything.
Both today’s online audience and the overall market are sophisticated. That can make launching a blog seem like a daunting task. It takes hard work, patience, persistence, and, above all, a belief in what you’re doing. But mix those traits with a bit of business savvy, and yes, you can definitely earn a full-time income through blogging.
