MothersGurukulMom – Lifestyle Blogger India ( Income, Topics, Schedule)

Meet Aplana Deo aka “MothersGurukulMom ” a Lifestyle blogger, writer, and Mom.

In this interview she walks us through her day as a Blogger and how she manages to balance motherhood, blogging, writing and her Life while staying sane.

How to Start a Lifestyle Blog and Make Money? Starting a Lifestyle Blog is very easy, you just need to purchase a Domain name and hosting. Making money involves a strategic approach to selecting topics and spending time researching and publishing valuable content.

The actual money from a Lifestyle Blog can be generated in a number of ways

• Affiliate Marketing – Getting a commission from referring to other people’s products
• Sponsored Posts – Getting money for publishing someone else’s content or writing content for someone and publishing on your blog.
• InfoProducts – Generating sales from eBooks and webinars created by you.

There are numerous ways bloggers make money. Each blogger brings her own unique strategies and products to the table.

In this StartaBlog series we will speak with different bloggers and try and understand the secret code to making a killing online

Let us now delve write into an interview with Lifestyle Blogger Alpana Deo.

Tell us about yourself, your blog, how long have you been blogging?

I am Alpana Deo. I am a mom of two lovely kids, published author of “A Girl In the New Town”, freelance content writer and blogger at www.mothersgurukul.com, podcaster at https://anchor.fm/dashboard.

I am also known as MothersGurukulMom. Apart from this, I am on the panel of Times of India as their NRI Contributor. I am a Management graduate who has now changed into a passionate writer.

I feel while I maintain my website, schedule my posts, work with brands, I am also handling the management aspect.

When I am not writing, I love to do crafts, DIYs, spending time with my family. Currently, I am living in Houston, TX with my sweet family.

I try to keep my articles as simple as I can to give moms a feel of talking to me in person. [su_highlight background=”#fdff99″]MothersGurukul is my blog where I write about my parenting experiences, ups and downs, success stories and also mistakes and learnings as a mother.[/su_highlight]

MothersGurukul started 4 years back out of my passion for writing. Writing starting way before I stepped into blogging. I used to write in school, college. It never stopped but I wasn’t serious about it.

After I got married and came to the USA, I got back to my hobby of writing and started writing travelogues. Later, I started to write for the Austin South Asian Newsletter.

Luckily, I got full support from my readers. I became a regular contributor to the newsletter. I was enjoying my writing journey and started to take it more seriously.

So, I started my own website www.mothersgurukul.com. I have enjoyed blogging the day I stepped into it and I am loving it with every passing day.

Meet this amazing mom

Website: www.mothersgurukul.com

How did you decide on what to name your blog?

Well, when I decided to name my platform, I was very clear on one point – I wanted something with an Indian feel to it. Something like a blend of two cultures.

The word Gurukul was somewhere in my mind. My posts revolve around parenting, kids, and moms. I wanted something that should justify the purpose behind starting this website.

So, the best combination for such a kind of a blog was a blend of Indian and English words.

One of my close friends helped me in finalizing this name. In a regular phone call, I asked her if she would like to suggest one word to go with Gurukul and she said how about MothersGurukul. There I had it.

I instantly liked the combination. And since Gurukul is a word for schools in India and mother is the first teacher or school for her child, MothersGurukul was born.

This is how I grew my Blog from 0 visitors to 100+ visitors ( and growing) per day.

How do find topics to write about? Is it random, keyword research involved?

Most of my topics are from my personal experiences. I am a mother of two. My first article was inspired by my urge to teach my daughter our Mother Tongue.

Sometimes, I find my topics while talking to other moms, or while listening to other kids conversations.

So, overall, my surroundings, my kids are my greatest source of inspiration for my parenting posts.

I hardly do keyword research before I want to draft my post. I think, picking topics that I have experienced give me a strong base and the thoughts are more authentic and first-hand.

What does your day look like? When do you write?

My day is divided into three sections. Morning hours are for kid’s school hours. Once my daughter and son are off to school, I start preparations for lunch. I do 30 minutes of workout every day which includes Yoga and some deep stretches.

My son is a pre-schooler so his school hours are short. If I have to finish outdoor chores then I combine it with his pick-up time. After I get him back from school, feed him lunch and put him for a nap then that’s my most favorite time of the day. It’s my writing time.

That’s when I draft my posts, answer emails, prepare a script for podcast episode, etc. this continues until my kiddo wakes up. It is usually close to my daughter’s pick-up time.

Once she is home, I do not sit on the computer. That time is her time. We talk about her day at school. If she needs help with her homework, her other activities etc.

Evening hours are for parks or outdoors. We do not eat dinner late. It is usually between 7:30-8:00pm.

This gives us a good one hour to spend as a family before we go to bed. During summer break, dinner time gets pushed till 8:30 as its pretty hot outside and we can do outdoor stuff only after 7:30pm.

What does your publishing schedule look like? You publish every
day?

I try to keep my posts ready whenever I can. This saves me time in case of any other writing assignments comes in the middle. I do not post every day but I make sure to publish once a week. As of now, considering my other commitments, I cannot manage to increase the frequency.

How are you able to manage family, blog, work, friends?

Time management, planning, and concentration is the key. When I am with my family, then I am not in front of the screen.

This includes Instagram feeds too. Same way, when I am working then I try to focus on that. I do not watch TV and side by side draft my post.

We cannot avoid socializing so if I have to meet my friends or having guests over and I have a post-deadline coming then I keep the article ready beforehand. I do not like last minute rush.

As I have already mentioned my writing hour which is only 1.5 to 2 hours in a day so I try to use that time effectively with 100% concentration.

With young kids, it gets tough as their schedule is unpredictable. But if we want to follow our dreams then we have to re-schedule our schedule and make the best of our available time.

Why did you decide on the categories you chose? Cooking, reviews, baby tips?

MothersGurukul is a platform for moms, kids. I talk about areas where every mother can be actively involved.

She has to think of answers to kid’s questions, come up with ideas to entertain them in the form of craft and DIYs, think of healthy recipes that her kids will enjoy.

But while doing all this, she has to take care of her own health. Keeping all this in mind, I picked Recipe, Health & Fitness, Craft/DIY as the categories.

How do promote your blog?

[su_highlight background=”#fdff99″]How much time goes in promotion versus writing? Is there a schedule?[/su_highlight]

I totally understand that in today’s world, your work has to reach to the right people. And that’s where promotion comes in picture. I don’t spend too much of time on promotion.

Frankly speaking, social media scares me. I cannot be on the phone or the internet all the time. I know there could be many other benefits by being active on social media but somehow this is something that I cannot do.

Coming to the promotion of my blog so I share my posts on Twitter, Instagram (feed and stories), Facebook. I have joined a few Facebook groups which help me in spreading the word.

Recently, I started sharing my latest posts/ podcasts on Facebook stories. That’s it. Those are basic things that I do.

Some days when I am not writing, I spend those days in engaging on other posts, sharing them.

Is this a business or just a blog?

It is a blog. And I would like to keep it that way.

How do you make money?

I accept paid writing assignments that fall into my niche. I do brand collaborations as well in the form of content creation. Sometimes, I get requests from other bloggers or business who are interested in Guest posting in exchange for an agreed amount.

But one rule that strictly follows is I do not compromise on the categories and nature of my posts just because I am getting paid. If they do not match my niche, then I do not accept it.

I have turned down many such offers. My readers follow me, appreciate my writing for what I write. I don’t want to upset them.

What are your charges for sponsored posts?

How can my readers contact you for sponsored posts?

It is negotiable. But to quote a range then anywhere between Rs.3000 – Rs. 5000 per post or $50-$100 which includes one blog post and social media share.

Those who are interested in collaborating can reach out to me at alpanabapat@gmail.com or through the contact page of www.mothersgurukul.com

How many years does it take to make money?

Do you need a particular number of visits to make money?

I don’t think I have reached to that point where I can comment on that. I know only one thing. One should be true to their work, be authentic, be true, be real. Your work should become your identity.

And it is possible only when you do not copy others.

Do not rush to make money.

First grow as a writer/ blogger, earn respect, love from your readers.

Give them a reason to come back to your writing and take away something valuable. I follow these points and I am glad that I have gotten so much love from my readers.

Writing is an art. Let’s not money define it. Let’s not those numbers become the yardstick to measure your capability.

Any thoughts for someone turning to you for advice on whether they should take the plunge?

I can only say enjoy what you are doing, make up your mind and dive in. Give your 100%. There is no shortcut.

Treat others with respect. Just because you have gained popularity in less time that doesn’t mean that others are less capable.

In case they need your inputs, give them your honest opinion and use your experience and knowledge to help them. No one can steal your talent so don’t be scared in sharing your knowledge.