The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 85. The Benefits of a Blogging Community with Ultimate Blog Membership Students

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

Are you a blogger looking for a community? In this episode, we hear more from four of our Ultimate Blog Membership students. They all share more about their journey of being in the membership and how it has benefited them. They share about how it has helped them build their knowledge, connect with other bloggers, and helped them gain confidence in blogging. Tune in to hear how this community has truly helped them and how it can help you too!Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsApply to the Ultimate Blog Membership! We would love to have you!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode85

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Oh, I am so excited to be here today. This might be my favorite episode that we're ever going to release and we haven't even gotten started yet. But today we have 4 members of our Ultimate Blog Membership who are with us today and who are going to share with you guys their experience about being coached by Jennifer and I each and every month. And the Ultimate Blog Membership is our blogging membership that we have. It's a community that we have created to help bloggers network and connect to one another, to build their knowledge, to build their belief in themselves and each other, and to just have

a place to have a community of people who are like-minded and who are in this blogging industry. And so we are so excited to share these four ladies with you today. And without further ado, I'm going to let them introduce themselves to you. My name is Liz Olverding. My blog is called Up North Nosh. It's a food blog. I create recipes for busy families on the go, simple recipes, not a lot of steps, not a lot of ingredients. I'm a busy working mom myself, and I know how that goes. I took the ultimate blogging boot camp in fall of 21. And then I launched my blog at the beginning

of 2022 and immediately signed up for the membership because I knew I wanted that continuing support and just being surrounded by other, like you said, like-minded bloggers and entrepreneurs that are trying to figure it out as we go along. And it's been a wonderful community to be a part of. Wow. Thanks, Liz. Hi, I'm Christina Catalina, and I have a food blog named When Spelting Sweet Unite. And I share healthy recipes along with some wellness things about my health and weight loss journey. And I also feature savory recipes and sweet recipes. And I joined the boot camp spring of 2022.

And I've been a part of the membership ever since. And I'm glad to be here because it's great to connect every month for growth and just have someone to ask questions to. Hi, my name is Brittany Glenn, and I have a wellness blog called Brief and Balanced. And I'm really here just to kind of target moms to celebrate those small, simple moments of wellness that you can just kind of work into your day while we're taking care of the kids. So I do meals, kind of movement, and then just a mix of motherhood stuff, whether it be a fun activity so you can kind of rest a little bit or just some encouragement or practicing gratitude or whatever you can bring into your day. And I initially joined the

you can bring into your day. And I initially joined the bootcamp, I think it was in January of 2021. And I went through that and loved it. And then I actually had the opportunity to do it a second time that fall, which worked well, because I did take a small break from it before really putting my whole heart into it and getting it up and running seriously. And so that was a great experience to see just kind of the growth of the community itself and the course in that short amount of time. And then, yeah, I've been blogging ever since and I'm here. I'm here for the long run. I love it. Hi, and I'm Courtney Sparkman. I'm one of the newer members of this group. And I launched my blog, Sweet New Roots, in November of 2022. I am a former corporate communicator and writer with about 15 years of experience. And I decided

to let all of that go and to begin a new chapter focused on my passion, which is plant forward recipes and encouraging people to really think a little more about food and the way of health and healing. So it has been wonderful being a part of this community. I went from working in corporate and always being on a team to being a team of one. So having these wonderful members and women to chat with and just bounce ideas off of. In the short time I've been a member has been absolutely tremendous. I love that you said that, Courtney, about just having that community and that you are a team of one and that it feels differently now. It does.

Because we have this. So I think that Jennifer and I can relate to that. Jennifer, you can probably speak a little bit to this, but she started as a team of one, obviously back in 2013, when she started blogging. Yeah. It's a scary place to be because if you go from either a full-time job where you have a boss or you go from just something else like being a stay-at-home mom or anything else, you're used to having answers. And then when you start a business like this, you don't always have somebody to ask,

what's the best way to do this? You can, of course, start getting on the internet and Googling and searching, but you're going to get as many answers as there are people out there. And so I think that is just what always stuck with me was like, once Amy and I connected, we realized how fortunate we were to have each other to bounce ideas off of. We were doing different things, but in the same kind of area of vlogging. And so it was just nice to have somebody that you could actually just talk to and say, like, does this make sense? Is this a good idea? You know, what's the best way to do something so that you can have a little bit of support and confidence in the decisions that you're making as a blogger? Because it can be very scary, honestly, to try to just put yourself out there and try to figure it all out yourself.

Well, and in addition to that, the information overload, you know, like you said, as many opinions as there is, you know, as there are blogs out there, but it's been really nice to just say, what was your experience with this? Or, you know, does this work for you? Here's what I'm doing. What do you think of this? It's just, it's nice. Also, because it's a judgment-free zone. Everybody's here to help each other. That's not always the case in the corporate world. We are all here helping each other and trying to come closer and be the best that we can be at our business. And so it's just a tremendous community. I also like the fact that blogging is... There's a whole technical side of it. And

that is ever-changing. And it changes quickly. And I'm not a techie person. I'm a creative person. So I really like having a place to go ask some of those technical questions too, so that I don't just burn so much time trying to figure it out on my own. We have a great forum page that you can just post a question. And within a few hours, somebody will give you an answer and be like, Oh, I figured it out. This is how you do it. And that's the time saver. And then just being able to move forward with confidence is just priceless for me. Yeah. I wanted to say that since joining the group,

how much time I've saved by not going to Google for answers for things, because I work full time as well. And, you know, I want to build a successful blog business. And if you Google that, you'll get hit with so many different things, you don't know like what road to take. And so just joining this group has just, you know, it's an investment and it's well worth it. Like it just helps me so much. Well, and I feel like you don't even know what's still current. What kind of information, like is that advice even still current? And that's why I really like, you know, Amy and Jennifer that have the years of experience behind you girls to be like, oh yeah, that used to be really important. And now not so much. So just skip that.

And that's, I mean, that's just, that's so helpful as we're like learning and finding our own path. I've never thought about this group saving you guys time. Like, I'm so glad that you're saying that because that is something that... We are so focused on building a community. But I love hearing that it's saving you time, that you know that you have this one place to go to that you can get answers. And knowing that Jennifer and I are always trying to learn

and become better so we can bring that to the members of this membership. That's really important to us because blogging requires pivoting. I hate to say it. If you don't like change, blogging might not be the answer because it's ever-changing. It's always growing. There's always something new to learn. And so being willing to roll with the punches there, I think is almost a job requirement if you want to build a blogging business. I think something that people that are listening might wonder about is when you guys introduced yourselves, you were very clear on what you do and what your purpose is and who you're trying to reach and who you're trying to help. But I know you didn't always feel that way.

So does anybody want to speak to when they decided they wanted to start a blog? Did they have any question about how do I reach people? Who am I going to reach? What am I going to blog about? And how did you go about getting so clear today on what you're doing? Yeah, I'll just say I stood over that a lot. I always felt like I wasn't, I understood what the avatar was.

I understood what niching down means. I understand all these things and I certainly understand the importance of that, but I feel like I stood so long and really I think that the click is just the confidence piece. And I feel like a lot of that has come through this community

because I can sit in a forum or on a call or in a podcast like right now with people like of all different experience and really just kind of shoot off ideas and really learn for myself on how I want to take this route. And that doesn't have to look the same as everyone else. And I think when I was more alone, I worried more about those things because I was so hyper-focused on the growth rather than all the other skills and passions or just the joy I was taking from this process in general. I love your response. That was perfect. You guys are just making me think about things that I hadn't really thought of like that. But when you are alone, I think it almost is more of that comparison of, well, I should be doing, I should be doing.

But I'm going to pride me and Jennifer for a minute on making sure that we remind you that your journey is your journey and it does not have to match anybody else's. It's going to look different. In fact, it should. Because what serves you in your business is not going to serve the next person in their business

the exact same way. It might not serve them at all. And I think that's a really important thing to understand as a blogger is that you have to get really confident in your gifts and how you add value and step into that and know that if Christina is amazing at something, Liz might not be as much. But that doesn't mean that Liz is any less valuable or vice versa. It just means that Liz has a different gift that Christina might not have. That those two people independently can be just as successful. You can be just as successful. We're not building cookie cutter

businesses here, which is the beautiful thing about blogging is that it can always shift. It can always change. And I've watched all of you grow since starting. Since having that dream, I want to blog. We've watched you grow. And that's been an incredible thing to witness and watch. And I love that Jennifer, you asked the question with your niche changing. Because I think when you do start blogging, a lot of times we have this ambiguous thought about what we want to blog about. And you do... And that might be okay to start there.

But in time, you really do need to narrow it down and say, Who am I speaking to exactly? And that can be a difficult process in order to have that happen. But I think it's an important process too. One that we recommend to people because when you know who you're talking to,

then you know how to create content that can find those people too. Well, and it shifts and evolves too. Because I think the people that I was speaking to in the beginning, or what I thought I was doing when I launched this blog in last November, it's completely different now. I mean, I have had some major shifts of long nights with talking to my husband like, I thought I knew, I thought I knew what I was doing. What am I talking to? Who am I trying to reach? And then it's like that process of really thinking through, you know, it's combining like your passion and your gift also with what people need and it's ever evolving. So you have to constantly be reevaluating and ensuring that you're speaking to the people that you're intending to speak with. And then also evaluating, like, is there someone else I should be speaking to if something's not working? Or if you see that

this is a particular interest. So. I was going to say how interesting it is that we're all competition per se, but yet we're also different. Like there's, I don't know, three, four food bloggers in here. There's different wellness bloggers's like, oh, that's something I never thought about or a recipe that I never thought about trying or it's just really cool. I have never thought of you all as competition or any other bloggers. That's so interesting to hear you say that. I mean, I obviously pay attention to what's going on and what my peers or competitors

are doing. But it's so interesting just to learn from other people and to have that connection to the community. But you're right. I mean, technically, I suppose we are all competing for our audience's attention. Yeah. But I think the beautiful thing is that is that we are multifaceted, so is our audience. No matter what your audience is, they're not only going to make Jennifer's

slow cooker recipes. They're not only going to get wellness advice from Brittany. As human beings, I think what we do is we learn from so many different mediums and people and everything that we take these little nuggets from different people that we find in different companies and different brands and whatever. And then we decide what works for me. And so while we might, quote unquote, be competition, the beautiful thing about that is is that the internet is a really big space

and there's room for all of us. So I would love to talk a little bit about if any of you have had this feeling of like, there's not enough room for me. Have any of you ever struggled with that thought of like, somebody else is already doing what I'm already doing? Is this something that maybe I shouldn't do? I just love to hear if any of you have felt that or if you kind of pushed through that from the get-go. I struggle with it every day. I mean, it's really hard not to. And especially like on social media. Now, I mean, not so much when I started, but now a lot of content creators, we all follow each other. And it's like, I cannot look at social media when I'm about to

get into creation mode. Like maybe I'll go on there to see if I had any messages or something, but I have to get right off because it just messes with my whole mind process and everything. And I remember when I first started, I made like a strawberry banana bread recipe and I follow this one food blogger. I followed her since like 2013 and you know, she has a large following and like she posted a strawberry banana bread recipe. And I just remember feeling like, Oh God, I didn't post mine yet. I mean, mine's due to come out tomorrow. I mean, again, I can't compare myself to someone who's been out since 2013. You know, can't do that.

And so I just learned that I have to turn it off. Like just turn that part out. Tune out some social media, stop comparing. I think that's important to set that boundary when you need to. That's like the coolest part of the blog for me is I am like you, Christina, I need to turn off that social media piece. It has messed. It has like deterred my journey for me personally, I feel like, because I like got that in my head. But when I log on my blog, I know who I am, what I want to do. It's exciting.

And that has provided just a big anchor in continuing this process. So yeah, it's a struggle though. Yeah. I was going to say the same thing. The social media piece can really mess with your mind a little bit. And I think to Christina's point, I follow a lot of other food bloggers that are similar. And so you see what everybody else is doing, especially with like seasonal content. So like it's strawberry season. So that's everywhere. And you see like, oh, I just had a strawberry recipe come out. So did everybody else on my feed right now or like around the holidays and stuff. And so it's hard not to have that imposter syndrome a little bit.

But I also have a lot of people that follow me on the blog and in social media, the people that I know in real life. And I feel like that grounds me. I'll run into somebody in public and they'll be like, Oh, we made your whatever recipe the other night. And my kids loved it. And so for me, that's also super helpful. Or even comments

that I get on recipes on my blog when I log in to see like what people are making and what people are liking and what people are saying about it.

And that helps, I guess, clear up any fog that social media might create of imposter syndrome or questioning because I'm like,

I am on the right path. People do like what I'm doing. I do have a gift that people are resonating with and I'm like happy to am on the right path. People do like what I'm doing. I do have a gift that people are resonating with and I'm happy to march forward and continue sharing that. Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's important to also note that we all follow each other and other food bloggers. So what we're seeing, we're seeing strawberry recipes constantly on our feed. seeing strawberry recipes constantly on our feed, probably our average reader is not following all of us, right? So she's, they are not seeing everything that we're seeing, but it absolutely

can be overwhelming. But another thing I wanted to say was, I guess I don't necessarily feel like there isn't space for me, but something that I've started doing and that I did a lot of introspection in the very beginning is why me? If I want to write on a topic, if I want to write a recipe, why am I the person? And am I the person to do that? Is it going to help me build my traffic? Is it going to serve my current audience? And so I do try to be a little intentional about that because there are so many recipes that I want to do. The number of times that I have joked around and said like, I can't believe so-and-so stole my recipe. And obviously this person has millions of followers. I'm like, how did they know I was going to post this this week? You know what I mean?

But if you don't look at it that way, you're just going to continue to run around in circles. There are a million chocolate chip cookie recipes. Am I going to make one? No. But just thinking through whether or not I am the right person to do that. I think that's good advice. Something that we share with you guys a lot in the membership especially is... Let's just use the example of a chocolate chip cookie recipe because that's easy here.

Somebody might make your chocolate chip cookie recipe simply because they love you. They've been in your community. They've been following you. They've been your journey. They're like your hype girl. They're like, if Courtney has a chocolate chip cookie recipe, you bet your bottom dollar I'm making it because I love Courtney. And so they might not even need a chocolate chip cookie recipe, or they might not need a new workout tip or whatever. But because they love you and what you're doing, they might want to do that. And so I think that the important piece is to have that level of authenticity and vulnerability that I feel like is really important when it comes to blogging. I don't think that that means you have to air all your dirty laundry or share everything about your life.

I think that's a very common misconception with blogging is that you have to share everything and you don't. I think you can share the really important parts of you that mean a lot to you that can connect with others that you're comfortable with. And Brittany, I know that you've gotten off social media. Are you still off social media? I'm kind of coming back on just because you do learn that there are some accounts that you really love and you've dismissed them. But yeah, I've taken a

hiatus this year and it's been lovely. Yeah. I think the hiatus is sometimes important. I love what you said earlier that you said, when I log into my blog, I know who I am and what I'm doing. I love that you have that security and that you know who you're serving there. And that's our hope for anybody who starts a blog and wants to continue building this business is that you really do learn who you are and who you're serving. And part of this membership is helping you refine that over time and feel more confident in that. And then turn around and reach your hand out to the newbie coming in and saying, okay, I get it. I've been where you are. I know where you have felt. And I'm there. I've been there. And I can help you overcome that too. That's a big part of, I think, having a community like this is the extension of hands and the sharing of stories.

Because this is not a perfect job. It's like any other job. We have really, really good and amazing days. And then we have days that you've all mentioned this, like that imposter syndrome of why me? Why am I the one? Or the comparison and all that. And so it's having that reminder as a community together that comes together to remind yourself, I still see who you are, even on days that you don't know why you're doing this anymore, or it's hard to muster up the courage to continue to show up. We're going to be here to remind you of why you are here and why you're an important part of the blogging industry. I think you said something really important,

Amy, in that you have good days and bad days in blogging. And if you're listening to the podcast often, or you're seeing some of the blog posts that we write, we are sharing stuff that we think you'll find really helpful. We're sharing things that we want you to learn and we want you to feel inspired and all of that. But as we talked about before, most of us are running this as a one person business. So all of this that we're sharing, I think it's important to note that all this information coming at you, you kind of have to filter out because otherwise you're going to become very overwhelmed.

And I think, I don't know about you guys, but there's been times when I'm like, there's so much to do. I just shut down and I don't do anything. And so I don't know if any of you would be willing to share some of your experiences. Have you hit that overwhelm point? And how do you overcome it? Because obviously, you're all still here. You keep moving forward. And I think that that is pretty natural when it comes to creating a business like this. You're going to have those big ups and downs. And the people that are going to succeed are the people that can figure out how to keep moving forward despite those downtimes. If you guys remember on our last Q&A I kind of had a little overwhelmed meltdown in

front of our whole community. Cause I know. And I wanted to give you a hug, but I have an update. I felt like I was to exactly what Jennifer just said. Like there's so much information coming at us. There are so many steps. There are so many things you can do. And it made me shut down. I was so overwhelmed by it. And it was causing me to lose motivation. I hadn't hardly put out a new blog post in like, I think I put out like one or two in a few months, which is uncharacteristic of me. And I kind of just like leaned on you guys. I just kind of let it all come out. And you said, that's okay. You know, it's okay not to know, not to be able to do everything. Pick and choose what you can do right now or what you want to do. And I think just having some of the feedback from you guys and the comments, it was so helpful. It made me feel like, I don't know, it just gave me this, I can't even articulate it. It just gave me like the confidence boost I think I needed to like lean back into myself and be like, okay, I know, I know what I can do here. And these are the things that I want to do. And it totally reinvigorated

my creativity. And I've written like five blog posts in the last two weeks. I think it just brought me kind of back to basics. And I don't I wouldn't know if I would have like five blog posts in the last two weeks. I think it just brought me kind of back to basics. And I don't know if I would have been able to push through and find that without you guys telling me, this is what I would do and this is okay. And so, thank you. But that's why this community specifically for me is so valuable because I did just hit a wall

and I was able to lean on you guys and you helped me push through. I'm so happy. I really just wish I could hug the computer. What's so interesting is the conversation that Liz is referring to actually helped me as well. Because I remember you talking her through, everybody was here. It's totally normal to feel that way. You can come back to it if you need to. And I had a really stressful week. I had some family in town. I was struggling and the two weeks or so before that, and I was feeling very stressed out, frustrated and nervous. And almost like I had been neglecting my business a little bit because I had so much else going on

and what everybody was saying with Liz and that conversation stayed in my mind throughout that time. And I came back this morning, this is my first day back in a couple of weeks. And it's not always going to be that way. And it's not always feasible to do that, but it was a real struggle over the past couple of weeks. So even just being a part of those types of conversations, maybe they're not directed toward you right now, but you're going to remember the encouragement and the advice that this community has provided. That's awesome, Courtney. Are you a blogger and looking for a community of bloggers to network and learn from?

We are so excited to share with you that we have created a space for people just like you to learn, connect, and grow in their blogging business. It's called The Ultimate Blog Membership, and we would love to have you join us. The Ultimate Blog Membership is a monthly membership that includes two coaching calls each month and a forum to ask questions and get answers from both of us and others in the community. Each month, we have a coaching call that will help you learn how to grow and improve your blog by bringing in guest experts and coaching ourselves on topics that will help your business thrive. The other live call each month is a Q&A call where you can hop on and connect with other members and discuss live questions that you have or troubleshoot any areas that need assistance.

This community has been incredibly encouraging and motivating since we created it in January of 2022. And we are excited for you to apply to join us. If you are interested in joining us, click the link in our show notes for more information and the application to become part of the group. We want to make sure that we can support you the best. So we have just a few questions that we need you to answer to make sure we'd be a good fit. We are so excited to connect with you even more in the ultimate blog membership. Check the show notes to apply today. Also, this just kind of goes to like a bigger concept here because just coming from like the health and wellness world, community is crucial

to propelling yourself forward in life. And in anything you do, whether it's when I was like a registered nurse or, you know, a stay-at-home mom or whatever we're all doing, like if you don't have those connections, you're just kind of stifling some of your potential. Like we talk about overwhelm, Jennifer, and it's like, if we don't have that place and what Liz did in that conversation was the healthiest thing she could have done is have a place, tell us how she was feeling. And it clearly helps so many people, including myself, but you know, you're going to be better after that because you're going to be able to find better coping, you know, or

you're just going to have better like mental health or physical health. And that sounds crazy. Like when we come to talk blogs, but if you don't have that, that place where you can, you know, create those connections and share those experiences and those struggles and stuff, you're really kind of not helping yourself as like a whole person there. And so like this community really kind of just highlights, you know, like strengths and values and stuff of each of us. And when you can hone in on your own, like things like that, that's, what's really going to like, you know, propel you forward. So I don't know, community just in whole, I think when we talk about like blogging, we think of our followers, but community is really who you're surrounding yourself with and what you're doing for others and then receding back to better yourself.

I think that you're right on there, Brittany. I'm in the wellness field as well. And accountability is huge. And what I'm realizing is accountability isn't just in wellness. It's in a lot of different areas of our lives. We need people to hold us accountable. We need people to remind us who we are sometimes because we do have down days like that. And I'm so... Liz, I just want to applaud you for showing up at our last meeting and sharing very vulnerably. This is where I am. And you put yourself out there in a way that could have been up for judgment in other groups. And I'm so glad that we have built a community that it wasn't up for judgment. Instead, it was up for like, okay, how can we rally around Liz?

How can we help her? And to hear you just a couple weeks later come and say, I needed that. I needed all of you in that time. I have chills just saying it. I'm so thankful that we've built that for you guys. Because it's very easy to get overwhelmed on our own. And we can very easily talk ourselves out of what we're meant to do in life because it's hard. And say, well, I'm not cut out for this. Or maybe I shouldn't be doing this or whatever. But having a community that can remind you of who you are on days that you've forgotten, I think is important. So I'm just so glad that you were able to feel safe in this space. I was going to add, I felt overwhelmed coming back from Tastemaker Conference, just learning so much and thinking like, oh my God, I have so many updates to do and I need

to finish this, this, this. And do I even have time to create new content? Cause I have to update this old content and just like hearing you guys talk about, you know, it's okay to grow slow and then, you know, write everything out, get us organized. You know, what really helps is our monthly meetings where you're teaching us something. So like recently, we're having that auditing one. Well, that's something I need to do. So it's like, other than that, I wouldn't have known how to properly audit my website. So everything is just really helpful. I was going to say that too. I really like the format of our group. We meet twice a month for those that don't know. And one of them is a lesson, like an instructional or a teaching

of some sort of topic. And then the other one is just like an open forum Q&A. And I, back to our group, sort of like developing this camaraderie and this, you know, ability to kind of get to know each other and root for each other and help each other. I think that's the power of the open Q&A, because we can kind of just chat and get to know each other a little bit better too on a personal level. And I think that that really adds. I mean, that's why I felt so, you know, able to just tell you guys what I needed. And I really like that. Even though I've only met a handful of you in real life,

I feel like you're my friends. And I really look forward to our calls every couple of weeks. We do too. We love our calls, honestly. It's like our favorite space to show up is with you guys and this membership. And because it is just those real honest conversations. It's being vulnerable. It's holding each other accountable. It's showing up authentically. And that's powerful. I think when we can show up authentically and say what we're struggling with or say what we're not understanding... I mean, let's also hold space for someone who's like, I do not get it. I do not get it. I don't understand.

We mentioned the tech side a while back. I think that when somebody starts blogging, not very many people start blogging because they're like, I love the technical side. That is going to be my favorite part. 100% no. So as you get into it, a lot of times people have this passion and like, oh my gosh, I want to talk about this or whatever. And then they get in and they're like, well, crap, I don't want to do the tech side. That is really overwhelming. I'm talking about myself. Let's be real. But having someone to go to, Jennifer, who we can ask these really technical questions to. And then what you realize is over time, you figure it out. You figure out that tech side. You get that bravery that you're like,

okay, I can do this. I've done this and this. I figured this out. Now I can do this and this. And you just build that muscle that you didn't even really realize you were going to build in being a blogger. And that's figuring out a lot of the backend stuff. But I wanted to reiterate just a little bit more about the membership. So Liz is right. We have two calls every month. One is a teaching. It's either done by Jennifer, myself, or Jennifer and myself, or a guest speaker. We have a new guest speaker. It's one or the other each and every month. And the goal with that is because as bloggers, we always need to learn and be open to other ideas and learn new things. It's not as in every month you have to build upon the month.

So it's not like whenever we share something new that we expect our students to have to learn that thing and master it and become the best at it. It's just another way like, hey, this is something that you can think about in your blogging business to further yourself. Take it, leave it, take parts of it, do what you can. But then we do have that live Q&A every month as well. So people can connect and they can ask questions. We can do screen shares. We do them via Zoom. We can do screen shares. We can help you tackle through a problem. But then on top of that, we also have a forum that our members get

to ask us questions each and every day. It can be every day. If you got a question, they can stay connected to us there. That was something that a lot of our bootcamp students got used to having in the bootcamp. And they want to continue having that support and the membership. And that membership is that way to be able to do that. It's not just support from Jennifer and I. A lot of you have been members from when it started, from when the membership started in January of 2022. And you've learned a ton over this time. And so you're able to help and support as well. I mean, I think as we're all learning new things, then we can all help each other. So it's not just

like Jennifer and I dominating the conversation there. It's everybody working together as a team to help one another. And I think that's a really awesome thing that we're able to provide. New people coming in and just for each other. We learn from you guys just as much as you learn from us. And you inspire us too. I want to make sure that you know that the impact that you have on our lives as well is huge. It's such a blessing to be part of this community, even though we run it. It's a blessing part of this community, even though we run it. It's a blessing to run this community, I guess I should say. It is. I wouldn't even be where I'm at today without you guys. I don't know if you guys

understand how much you impact me, how much you impact us. I think it pushes me to learn more, to do better, to try, to know that we have this community is just invaluable to me. I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate you. I feel like we should have a group hug. Is there anything else that you guys have that if you want to share with somebody who's maybe been blogging for a little while and they are missing this component, is there anything that you would say to encourage them, whether it be about the membership or not? Any words of advice?

I mean, you hear the slap, but just try it. Because whether it was like starting the blog, just try it and then see where it goes. Or, you know, same with like the membership or, you know, when I took my break off social media, it doesn't have to be forever, but just if you feel it, just try it because then you can always kind of, you know, pivot or whatever and go back. But I did try to take a break from the membership last summer because in my mind I was like, oh, well, I could save that money and use that towards like some other plugins and I can maybe find all this on my own. oh, well, I could save that money and use that towards like some other plugins. And I can maybe find all this on my own. That seemed like the easy thing, but that was so much harder.

It always feels harder to make a little bit of investment, but in the end, it's a lot easier. And I would just wonder like how others would feel if they found that community and just, you know, stayed consistent. And sometimes that is obviously investing. And I'd wonder if there'd be a little less burnout or less disinterest in it over time. Because having that really gives you purpose. And yeah, it's always harder to invest, but easier in the end to be true to yourself. We were very glad to have you back, Brittany. Well, thank you. We're very glad to have you back, Brittany.

Well, thank you. Yeah, I think our community provides a lot of motivation for me too. Sometimes we do challenges that stretch me or push me that I like totally wouldn't do on my own without that little nudge from you guys. And like I said, that forum, anytime I get stuck or I have a question or I need some advice is so helpful. And really, it's hard not to feel isolated when you're just plugging away doing this on your own.

So being able to have, like you keep saying, this community where we can all chat and bounce ideas off of each other. And then I'm excited to share when I have wins. and bounce ideas off of each other. And then I'm excited to share when I have wins and I'm excited to come on and get answers to my questions when I'm stuck or curious about something. And I'm excited to hear what's going on with all of you.

So I like that. It's almost like having co-workers, instant co-workers, you know, in a sense. So I would encourage anybody that's feeling isolated or stuck or not sure if blogging is actually right for you to come join us. We're fun. And I also like, I've been in this group for a long time since it started.

And I also love when we have new members because it just breathes new life into the group. A lot of us have been through the blogging bootcamp, but now you mentioned you're opening it up to others that haven't, that are just more seasoned bloggers or also new bloggers. And that's been fascinating too, just to hear other ways of other thought processes and different ways that people are doing things. Yeah. It's great. It's ever, I'm always learning and I love that. It's always advancing my skills. Awesome. I was going to say, my advice would be to definitely make the investment in yourself because ask the questions, why do you want to blog? Why did you want to start this endeavor? And you'll see that this is worth everything.

It's worth your time. It's worth the money. When I think back to what my blog was in early 2022, I was like, oh gosh, I'm not going to... I would have never have seen any growth if I didn't sign up for the bootcamp. Like the stuff that is taught in the bootcamp is just amazing. So I don't sign up for the bootcamp. Like the stuff that is taught in the bootcamp is just amazing. So I don't know. I just, I can't imagine where I would be today

if I hadn't have done it. Well, as someone who joined the community already as an established blogger, but still very much learning, I can say that the community has been amazing. And also when you join, you have access to all of the resources and the trainings and things from the months where you weren't here.

And so those have been also instrumental. I also love the app that we use because it's like instant, you know, it's not like Facebook, but, you know, I can hop on my phone at night and respond to a message or I can see, you know, what's going on or if I have a question about something. Because in this industry, we work crazy hours. We might be working at 5 o'clock in the morning. We might be working at 11. But the great thing is that everybody communicates and responds when they can.

So having that access has been instrumental to me. Because previously, I was doing everything by myself. I would say the first six months of this journey. I was doing everything alone. It was tough. So highly, highly recommend joining the community. I just love hearing you guys coach, quite honestly. That's what you're doing today a little bit is coaching others. And I love hearing you step into that. And we are just so thankful for this community. And we hope to continue to grow it, to continue to network, to continue to build the blogging industry because it's an incredible industry to be a part of, truly. Being creative, being in charge of our own time and our own freedom

and our own schedules is something that I know a lot of us got started in blogging for. And so helping others believe that they can do that too is important to us. And reminding you all that we see so much in each of you. And Liz, I love that you said you love when new members come in. We do too. It does breathe new life. It helps us see what other people are doing and feel inspired all the time. And so we are thankful for all members, old and new, whether you're

part of the bootcamp in the past or not. Maybe you've been blogging for a while and are just missing that key component of having a community and having basically your own cheerleading squad. We would love to be that for you. I just want to say thank you to you guys for taking the time just to chat with us today. If you're listening, this is just what our community is like. And so it's just such a supportive place. And I always get off every single call feeling so fulfilled and so inspired. Same. Same. Okay. Thanks everybody. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with

us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.