Nurse bloggers/writers?

Nurses Entrepreneurs

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Hello all,

I've posted along this topic before, but nothing so specific. I know there are numerous entrepreneurial ideas out there for nurses....I'm just wondering if anyone has made either a part time or full time income as a nurse/health/wellness BLOGGER or article WRITER? If so, what type of platform do you use....a regular blog or writing articles for various sites like Hubpages or even publications?

I'm curious b/c I'm exploring all my options. I'm a second career nurse (LVN), with a previous degree in the arts and a background in the publishing world. I have worked as a nurse for a few years, (home health), but am currently a stay at home mom. I love to write, share my knowledge, and help people. I'm great at working one on one with people (hence home health), and am trying to find something I can do down the road that is flexible, nursing-related, and will bring some form of income....part time or other-wise.

Please feel free to share your own experiences in the writing/blogging world. I'd love to have a blog that provides self care info for mothers, general/educational info/advice for child health. I have actually started somewhat of a layout for a blog of the sorts. My mother (a former pediatric advice nurse/RN) was going to also contribute some articles and we were working on a disclaimer.

Anyways, just trying to get a 5 year plan going. I was thinking of offering an e-course, e-book, or online workshop on the blog down the line on a subjet/s that relate to the content. Maybe having a sponsorship program for extra $ and listing related books thru the Amazon Affiliate program. Also, maybe having a small "store" on the blog offering cold/flu season kits (put together by us), or linking up with a site I'd be a rep for (like doterra essential oils).

Overall, I'd want it to have the idea of being a a combo "one stop shop" for self care advice for mothers/women and educational info for child health. I don't want it to be "all over the place."

Ok, sorry this is so long....all my posts end up this way...ha. The ideas are just brewing! :doh:

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I just recently jumped in the game. After getting my bachelors and then my masters, I realized how specialized my job is at this point. If, god forbid, anything happened to my career, I'd like to have other income streams. Many financially savvy bloggers recommend having multiple "buckets" to drink from! Trust me, it is possible but hard as heck to get noticed. I believe we are all very well educated and have a lot to share so why not? The market is getting tight for nursing publishers and bloggers, but differentiating yourself and marketing yourself can really help! I'm not really making $$ yet, but I hope things pick up as I keep writing and learning! ----

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I wrote a short ebook and published it on Amazon Kindle, the sales have not been all that good though, so need to work on my marketing. Not sure where to turn for that though. I created a FB page for it and written a couple of articles for LinkIn but like I said, beyond that, I am struggling. Thing is writing interests me, marketing? Not so much.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Create a blog site where nurses write all the content! With different categories for all nursing specialities! Oh wait, that idea has already been taken... Sorry I couldn't resist...

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Specializes in Author/Business Coach.

I've published a book on how to start a nursing business and I'm currently working on a second.

In addition, I write blogs and articles for a nursing magazine. It doesn't replace my income, but it sure is nice to have supplemental income from it.

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The problem with Wordpress.com is that they won't let you monetize your blog in any meaningful way. I'd recommend starting a self-hosted blog sooner rather than later. Here are several tutorials.

Professional Websites | PBA Nursing

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I wrote a short ebook and published it on Amazon Kindle, the sales have not been all that good though, so need to work on my marketing. Not sure where to turn for that though. I created a FB page for it and written a couple of articles for LinkIn but like I said, beyond that, I am struggling. Thing is writing interests me, marketing? Not so much.

A couple things you can do.

1. Lower the price. Even do a $0 price for a week to gain reviews. Reviews are very important for Amazon.

2. Put excerpts on your blog and link back to Amazon for the full book.

3. Start a mailing list and e-mail people promoting your book.

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any wrote e-bookS?

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Specializes in Medical Surgical, Wound Care, Hospice,.

Very informative and helpful, Rodoon. Thank you for a handful of handy tips!

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
I have set up few blogs using wordpress. Message me if you have any questions.

Few tips:

1) writing articles on what is important to other nurses and not necessary what interest you the most. You can search with google trends or twitter.

2) learn backlinking well. This means becoming involved on multiple message boards that allow you to put your website address in your signature (this site does not and they will ban you if you do). The number of high quality websites that link to your site will tell Google where you belong in pecking order when someone does google search. 95% of web traffic comes from being on first page of google for your specific keyword or niche.

3) Social Media - it will be your best friend in getting your blog on the map. Google does not reward social media sites as much as say established community message board or web established web site that is in your niche but it is increasing becoming powerful. Facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc should be spring board to your site. Remember goal is traffic to your site and not just become well known on social media sites.

4) Speaking of niche - you will do much better if you pick a niche and become an expert in it. The sheer number of blogs out there has eliminated the need for broad based blogs. Users are looking for specific well written, intelligent information geared toward their specific need.

Good Luck

Carl

This is all such excellent advice! Clearly from the voice of experience :)

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I just recently ser up a blog for long term care nurses and nhrse managers. I have a love for writing, sharing information, and networking with other nurses. I am still learning this world of blogging. I am not the most computer literate person, so my husband who is an IT specialist helps with the nerdy techie stuff. I would like to make an i come from my blog, and will work hard to make it a success. I believe that there needs to be more nurses who blog. We all have a wealth of knowledge in different specialities. Sharing this knoeledge will help one another out, and also helps educate new nurses, keeping the future of nursing strong.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
I just recently ser up a blog for long term care nurses and nhrse managers. I have a love for writing, sharing information, and networking with other nurses. I am still learning this world of blogging. I am not the most computer literate person, so my husband who is an IT specialist helps with the nerdy techie stuff. I would like to make an i come from my blog, and will work hard to make it a success. I believe that there needs to be more nurses who blog. We all have a wealth of knowledge in different specialities. Sharing this knoeledge will help one another out, and also helps educate new nurses, keeping the future of nursing strong.

Congrats!! I would love to visit your site :)

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There are definitely a lot of good advice that has been added, but I will go ahead and add my two cents. I recently just started on my own blog NurseMoneyTalk.com. It's a leadership and finance/money blog for nurses. The one thing I will say about blogging is that barring unusual luck it will probably take several years of dedicated work before you can start making any meaningful money from it.

Wordpress is by far the most popular for setting up blogs. I personally use squarespace (from squarespace.com) myself for various reasons. The one thing I will add is that if you are going to uses wordpress don't use the free one but use the one that you will have to pay for. Which would mean that you would also have to buy your domain name as well. Long run it will make your life easier and give you more flexibility.

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