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The Ultimate Mom Blogger is a series of interviews with moms who stepped out of their comfort zones and into the blogging sphere turning their blogging hobby into their full-time paid job.

These moms are successfully raising their kids while growing their business from home. They are manage of their homes, educators of their children and tenacious mompreneurs, seeking to reach and touch lives through their blogs. Talk about Proverbs 31 women! They have a vision, a mission, and big goals to accomplish.

SO join me with your cup of coffee, sit in a comfy spot and get to know these ultimate mom bloggers that have been an inspiration to me. And most importantly, write down your takeaways and put them in practice!

Meet Mom Blogger Lisa Marie, The Canadian Homeschooler.

Hi! My name is Lisa Marie – I’m a homeschooling mom of 5 kids ranging from 18 months to 12 years. I blog at The Canadian Homeschooler. You can find my About page here. (Although it’s more about my blog than about me).

Tell us about The Canadian Homeschooler blog.

My mission is to connect homeschoolers in Canada with each other and with Canadian companies & resources that will help them on their learning journey.

Let’s talk about setting priorities and finding balance as a mom blogger.

As a busy mom blogger, how do you make sure your marriage, kids, ministry, work and home are in the right order of priority?We know that balancing home, homeschool, and home business can be tricky. What has worked well for you and what has not?

Intentional time chunking has really helped me.

For example, my typical weekday looks like:

Wake up @5-6 am and do Bible time.
Until 8:30am – work
8:30 – do dishes, morning chores, and prep school for the day
9-9:30 til noonish – do school and chores with the kids
noon – lunch and baby to nap
until 2:30 – Kid-focused time/ housework, etc.
2:30 – 5ish – kids have computer time (1 hour each for the big kids while the littles play) & I do computer/work stuff
5-6 supper prep and eating
6-8pm – I am upstairs putting kids in bed. I take my phone with me and do stuff like Pinterest planning, typing up ideas in Evernote, answering emails, etc.
8:-9 – finish up any work I have unfinished for the day
9- bedtime – computer off – it’s hubby time. We watch TV shows together and talk
Before bed, I make hubby his lunch for work and then I crash for the night.

When I DO the specific plan, I am successful with balancing life. Life is peaceful. The house is cleaner, the kids have their schoolwork going according to schedule, my blog is ahead, my husband feels important because I’m not squeezing him in when I can, my spiritual life is better, etc.

When I give into just doing what I want, like spend all day just working on the blog, things go askew and everything feels chaotic. School gets forgotten, the house is upside-down when hubby gets home, the kids are wild by supper, I just feel drained, and I waste so much time.

Organization and planning are a must in the life of a mom blogger, share with us your productivity secret!

1. A plan of all the things you need / want to complete in your day / week / month / year.
2. A day planner to schedule out your day, keep track of what you are working on, and a to-do list to cross things off.
3. A partner (or group of friends) to report to with what you’ve been doing with your time. **this has been key for me, having someone hold me accountable for following my plan**

Let’s talk about blogging!

When you started blogging what did not expect to happen? What surprised you in the blogging sphere?

I have made some of the best friends I’ve ever had – even with people I haven’t really met in real life!

How often do you post on your blog? And what do your readers love to get from you?

I post 3 to 4 times a week. My readers love to get blog posts that help their homeschool journey – advice and insight into homeschooling and Canadian resources they can use.

What has been your most successful way to monetize?

Products I’ve made, sales events, and affiliate marketing.

Do you have a blog accountability partner or mastermind group you belong to? If so, tell us a bit about it. How is it helpful to you?

Yes. I have both. 🙂

My mastermind group helps me tackle big problems or ideas that I need support with.  They each provide a unique voice that gives me see things from different angles and views, which is totally helpful. They are full of resources and suggestions that we all share with each other. Being able to encourage and cheer on someone else helps me want to succeed in my own work.

My accountability partner and I send each other our goals, tell each other what we are working on each day and then check in during the day to keep us on task. She helps me keep focused on what I’m working on (which I need), and I do the same for her. I can bounce ideas off her and since she knows my goals – she is able to tell me if I’m off the path or not. It’s awesome.

I wouldn’t be able to blog without…

A plan of action.

Tell us about your first big blogging A-HA moment. What was it?

I was struggling along with 2 blogs – one was my (now defunct) family/review blog, and this homeschool blog. I wasn’t really putting my heart into either. I happened to win a free blog review from a terrific man named Dan Morris from Blogging Concentrated.

His review was incredibly detailed and his wisdom was incredible. He told me straight up that:

1. I needed to pick a blog and stick to it instead of dividing myself and
2. I needed to do XYZ to my blog.

After much back and forth, he managed to convince me to make my homeschool blog a business blog that would make me money and to get over my anti-ad attitude because, if I was spending the time working instead of spending time with my kids, I deserved to be paid.

With his guidance, I completely overhauled my website, ditched my family/review blog which had really been dragging me down, and set to work to change my attitude. It wasn’t an overnight process – but because Dan essentially forced me to get started, I have been moving ever since. This was the moment I decided to focus with intention and make this my business instead of an extra side thing.

What would you do differently if you were starting again?

I wish I had made my own products sooner!

Give us your best 3 blogging tips for beginner bloggers.

1. Be a learner. Ask questions. Research. Find answers instead of relying on everyone else to solve them for you. Try things for yourself first so you know how everything works. Participate in webinars and read other blogs. Always be learning.
2. Find friends. Join blogging communities that match your needs – whether that be a general blogging group, or a local community, or one that matches your niche. Having those connections can literally make or break your success. Get cheerleaders on your side!
3. Just do it. Instead of mulling it over, debating and planning and thinking…. just go for it. Take the step. Get started. You can tweak and change and grow along the way.

We would love to hear about your own products and affiliate opportunities, freebies and resources!

I create and sell educational resources – specifically Canadian resources for homeschooling families. I have a subscriber library with over 30 printables, including a very popular book report pack and both LEGO challenge and Minecraft challenge cards.

Check out my shop: http://thecanadianhomeschooler.com/shop/

Here are some of my most popular products:

Want to win an Ultimate Mom Blogger Toolbox loaded with blogging boosting goodies? Enter for a chance to win here:
The Ultimate Mom Blogger Giveaway

My takeaways from Lisa’s interview: Lisa realized the potential of her blog as a business and started to focus on being intentional. She also started creating her own products and regret not having done it before. She reminded me that we shouldn’t blog solo but find friends who can keep us accountable and motivated is really important!

Your turn: What are your takeaways from Lisa’s interview?

Ana Willis

Ana is the unhurried homeschool mom of 3, wife, and homeschool blogger.

She loves to encourage, inspire and empower moms to go from stressed to blessed by providing them with the tips, strategies, and resources they need to succeed. Ana is the founder of They Call Me Blessed and the creator of:

5 Days to Your Best Homeschool Years,
Hebrew for Homeschoolers,
Charlotte Mason Online Conference,
The Homeschool Sisterhood,
Grow Your Blog Partying in 30 Days, and
the Beyond Blessed Life Planner.

She leads a vibrant free community for homeschool moms on Facebook and you can connect with her at www.facebook.com/theycallmeblessedblog.

www.theycallmeblessed.org