By Jill McDonough
A lot of homeschool moms are making money writing a blog about pets. My good friend Stephanie Seger has a beautiful and intelligent blog about being a mom to large breed dogs.
If you would like to start a blog about your pet, you will definitely be inspired by Stephanie’s amazing success.
This post contains affiliate links from which I may receive a small compensation. There is NO ADDED COST to you should you use these links.
Let’s see how she became a homeschooling, side hustling mom.
What’s your side hustle?
I have a blog, Big Dog Mom. Within the blog I also have an online course, Dog Nailpro, where I teach dog owners my method for nail trimming without force, fear, or frustration. My blog, Big Dog Mom, is the home for all things big dog, whereas Dog Nailpro gives me the opportunity to work with dog owners one on one and truly make a difference in their lives.
How did you get into this particular side hustle?
I grew up with big dogs. My mom had giant breed dogs and even showed dogs. I can remember when I was around 6 or 7 years old and the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a dog breed book.
Pure breed dogs have always been an obsession for me. I have always known that the large breed dog world is different from owning a typical-sized dog.
Many years ago I had a business working for Solid Gold Health that made holistic dog food. I was a distributor for them and started a market in the state of Iowa. Through this experience, I got a taste of what business is like.
When my daughter started struggling in school with bullies in 2016, I wanted to homeschool. I thought, “How can I help her when I work full time?” It was obvious that she would do much better if she could get more sleep. I decided to be a stay-at-home mom. By being able to pick her up earlier, she could get started on her homework earlier and then get more sleep.
However, I started thinking that I wouldn’t and couldn’t just sit at home all day. At the time, my husband was reading a financial freedom book by Mr. Money Mustache. He suggested I start a blog.
I started with my overall philosophy that owning a big dog is very different from a regular sized dog. Large breed dogs have special diets, training, breeding, etc. I made a list of all these differences. All of this brainstorming helped me come up with what I wanted the blog to be.
How long have you been doing this side hustle?
From January to May 2017, I wrote and learned how to manage a blog. My site, BigDogMom launched May 2017.
Talk about getting started and the time commitment.
Startup costs were pretty minimal, but not insignificant. There are internet costs, domain costs, and hosting services. You can use themes (the layout templates for a blog) that are free or up to a few hundred dollars. A blog’s cost is as much or as little as you want it to be.
I made money right from the beginning through using Google Ads Sense. Traffic is the hardest part of a blog. In the early days, it’s less about making money and more about just trying to help people and let them know you are there.
I networked through Facebook pages and was on Instagram and Twitter. I also joined a network of pet bloggers which provided many opportunities to expand my reach and audience. Through that network, I worked with dog brands. You need to be present in your niche.
You can decide how much time you want to spend on your blog. I would write a blog post a week. I would also create a video with every blog post. Now with homeschooling I work more during night hours.
A blog won’t grow and make money unless you work at it. A lot of time is spent writing, getting content ready, preparing images, social promotion, and more. The goal is to promote 80% of the time and produce content 20% of the time. That is hard to do though.
Do your kids help you with this side hustle?
Yes. A huge advantage to having a web-based, digital business is that your kids can learn along with you. My kids have helped from the beginning and watched me build it from nothing all by myself. They see what it takes to get a business off the ground. They’ve learned video editing, creating pins for Pinterest, and they’ve even done some of the video work.
What are the pros of this side hustle?
It is challenging. There is a lot more reward and sense of accomplishment because you are learning something from scratch. It challenges your brain. As an adult you can find yourself in a place where you are not growing. The blog has allowed me to tap into what makes me unique. Writing is very personal. I love having connections with others. And the blog is all me.
I get to be home for my family.
My kids are involved with my side hustle. My blog business is educational for my kids, like an elective for them. Entrepreneurial families tend to have entrepreneurial kids. I love teaching my kids independence so that they never have to be employed.
What are the cons of this side hustle?
It can time consuming. Perfectionism can make it difficult. You have to let go of the perfectionism, and you need to just launch.
How do you juggle homeschooling and this side hustle?
My kids are older so for me, they’re independent and I work during night time hours. When the kids are home, I have a set schedule of when I’m working on my blog or videos.
How long have you been homeschooling? What homeschool curriculum do you use?
We have been homeschooling since January 2020 (although we had been thinking about it 3 years prior).
My 11 year old son uses Singapore Math, IEW for writing, grammar and spelling. We use Apologia for Science and Latin through Classical Academic Press. For History we use All American History from Bright Ideas Press. I also supplement with the Drive Thru History videos from WallBuilders. Lastly, for Geography we use Memoria Press. Next year he will use Sonlight Curriculum.
My 14 year old daughter attends Liberty University Online Academy but will also use Sonlight Curriculum next year.
Would you recommend this particular side hustle?
Yes. Definitely. Most homeschool moms have an interest/passion/skill set. Nearly anything lends itself to turning into a blog. There is also podcasting, videos, and writing. Even if you don’t feel like a good writer, a conversation can be transcribed into a podcast or blog post.
With all of the challenges of maintaining a blog, it’s still rewarding at the end of the day.
This has been very inspiring! Thank you Stephanie.
How can my readers follow you and be inspired so that they can start a blog about their pet?
Enjoy her blog at bigdogmom.com
Follow her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bigdogmomusa
Follow her on Instagram @bigdogmomusa
Email her at stephanieseger@protonmail.com
