Nurse Quits Job for Six-Figure Parenting Blog

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

In today's story, she was known as the Pregnancy Nurse. And she did so well talking to expected parents, that she quit her job to run a popular parenting blog. This blog now brings in multiple six figures a year. Welcome to Side Hustle School, my name is Chris Guillebeau. How did the Pregnancy Nurse make it happen?

This might seem like a very crowded space, or parenting blogs, but there are a few clues that I think you can take away from the story. And one of them, I'll just tell you upfront, is that she's been doing it a long time and doing it consistently. Now that matters, of course. But I don't think it's the only one. It's not the only clue.

It's not the only differentiator between this parenting blog that has done so, so well, and many others that just don't, okay? So I'm gonna share my thoughts on why this one's done so well, been so successful. At the end of the episode, it's called Nurse Quits Job for Six Figure Parenting Blog. And that story's coming up after this quick message from our sponsor. Hey, stay tuned.

[Music]

Hilary Erickson was passionate about her work as a nurse, but she also loved writing. So much so that she even enjoyed doing reports at nursing school, even when she was criticized for the creative way she wrote them. Apparently they're supposed to be standardized. So when she discovered blogging in the prehistoric year of 2005, it seemed like a natural fit. Hilary began writing about family health and pregnancy, topics she knew about as a labor and delivery nurse.

Her blog, Pulling Curls, was all about family life. She chose the name because life was making her pull her curls in frustration. In addition to her work as a nurse, she was also a mom of three. So after writing about family health, she added posts on home organization and setting routines. In short, Pulling Curls was a parenting blog with the mission to help families create confident, simple lives, even in the midst of complexity.

Hilary started placing ads on her blog using Google AdSense and later blog her. Remember that? Some people do. Well, she was bringing in some income, but wanted more readers. So in 2014, she began using Pinterest to grow the audience.

That meant writing blog posts about specific problems she could create pins for, and then drive readers to the blog. The strategy worked, and she moved up to better ad networks, which brought in more money. She also used affiliate links and developed close relationships with some companies. But straight up blogging isn't all Hilary does. That's not how she's actually grown this business.

She's used her best experience as a nurse to develop several online courses, including a prenatal course for couples. This course provides three hours of everything you need to know about labor, delivery, postpartum, and newborn care. Since expectant parents are busy, they can go through the material on demand with no deadline. Now, since 2015, Hilary has helped 4,000 couples prepare for the birth of their child, a number she never could have reached if she'd been teaching couples offline. She's also got an online course called The Organized Home and one called Family Systems.

These courses build upon subjects she covers on the blog, and the blog works to drive customers to the courses. As if she wasn't doing enough, Hilary also started a weekly podcast where she shares tips from other health professionals, such as chiropractors and physical therapists, as well as some personal updates. Now, between the blog, the courses, and the podcast, let's talk about some money here, pay attention, Hilary earned about $280,000 in 2020. When you break it down, 22% of her income came from ads, 12% came from affiliate commissions, another small percentage from miscellaneous projects, and a total of 65%, 65% from her courses. Hopefully that all adds up to 100 somehow.

Hilary finally took the leap to full-time self-employment and left nursing last year. She had held off going all in for a long time, but loves the option she has now. And most of all, she's thrilled at the huge difference she's made, helping thousands of families prepare for their baby's arrival. She plans to keep updating the courses and nurturing the community. [Music]

All right, you heard those numbers, close to $300,000 in 2020 from a parenting blog.

Most parenting blogs do not make $100,000. Most parenting blogs do not make $10,000, actually. So Hilary has done quite well. And one reason is the consistency, the longevity. She's been doing this a long time.

She has been working on it without stopping, or maybe she's had some breaks, I don't know, but the point is it's been a pretty regular point of attention for her. So that kind of builds, right? That consistency is important. But also, and I think this is the other key point, because maybe it's not helpful to say, just go and do something for 20 years. The other key point is the courses, because more than 60% of income comes from them.

Now I was looking at the website, PullingCurls.com. For her courses, she's got several price options, typically three for each course, which is very smart. There's also an ideal pricing range, like I was looking at the online prenatal class. I don't need it myself, but just checking it out. You can buy a budget version for $35, the primary version for $99, and then a deluxe version for $197.

Like I said, I think that's very smart. It sounds like a great range. I would imagine the majority of sales are at the $99 or the $197 point. And for family routines or other course, she has monthly pricing. You know, you can pay $15 a month or $49 for a year-long access.

Plus you can upgrade and get another course. I bet a lot of people take that upgrade. So, you know, consistency is important, but also just making some smart decisions about how you structure your pricing and how you offer these courses, that's what's making the difference. Like that's how she's able to be so successful with this blog. And so listeners, by doing this kind of work, you know, you too can have much higher revenue, right?

So pay attention, lots of lessons here. Check out her blog, of course. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. If you want to see the show notes for today's episode, including links to everything mentioned, maybe some other resources as well, just go to sidehustleschool.com/1844. I'm so glad you're joining me this year.

We've got a lot of fun stuff coming up. New episode coming out every single day. It's all completely free. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School.

[Music]

From the Onward Project.