BHB Blogger Coaching Class: An explanation (and why you should join)

You see the link at the top of my site? The one about the blogger coaching class? You’re probably wondering what that’s all about.

I suppose I should tell you.

In August 2012, I started a blogger mentoring program. The idea behind it was to pair veteran bloggers with new bloggers for one on one mentoring and coaching. The idea came to me as I spent the greater part of an afternoon dwelling on all the things I wish I had known when I started blogging. I would have had a different approach to a number of blogging tasks and probably made different choices. But without the guidance, save for what I could find for free on the Internet, I was pretty much left figuring it all out for myself.

While figuring it out for myself proved to be a huge learning experience, and I picked up skills I might not otherwise have learned, I still would have loved to have had the benefit of experience on my side. Someone to go to when I got stuck. Someone to bring me into his or her network. Someone to help introduce me to readers. Someone to honestly critique my site and give constructive feedback.

You know. The things you can get from reading “how to blog” books and articles. Sure, you can join a forum or Facebook group or other sort of online networking group, but if you’re like me, you tend to get overwhelmed in forums and most days, forget to post (and if you do post, *maybe* you forget to check for responses). Those groups can make you feel insignificant and oftentimes, you find yourself not really getting what you need.

At least that’s how I felt.

And I wanted to create something for people like me. So I did. And I called it Bloggers Helping Bloggers (soon to be renamed The Blog Mentoring Network). And it was good. We helped dozens of bloggers, got featured on Yahoo! Shine (thanks to a Babble post written by a longtime BHB mentor), and even ran a live session at FinCon13.

But it needed to be better. It needed to start doing more, reaching more people. You see, we only have a limited amount of mentors which means we can only help a limited amount of bloggers during each session. Turning people away or putting them on a waiting list isn’t my favorite choice so I started to think about what else I could do to help more bloggers.

That’s how my online blogger coaching class was born.

By creating this class, more bloggers can have access to successful bloggers who can teach them some of the basics of blogging. More bloggers can have a live Q&A with the instructors/coaches. More bloggers from different niches can interact with each other (side note: what separates this class is that it’s for ALL bloggers, regardless of niche. We welcome men and women, food bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, personal finance bloggers, and every other type of blogger you can think of. THIS is what makes us different). More bloggers can start improving their blogs sooner than later.

I know that now you’re thinking “Wow, Jana! That’s amazing! But can you tell me the specifics of the class because I’m really interested but I’d like to know what I’m getting into?”

Of course I can. ‘Cause I’m awesome like that.

Here’s what you need to know:

• It runs for 8 weeks, beginning on Feb. 4
• Each class meets at 9PM EST for approximately one hour
• If you can’t attend, there will be a recording of the class available via a password protected post
• Each class is taught by a different successful blogger
• The topics covered are: building a blogging presence, blogging myths, SEO, monetizing your blog, blogging finances and taxes, freelancing, podcasting, and using WordPress to build a good looking and secure blog
• The price is normally $100 but we’re running a discount enrollment fee of just $25
• You will also get a free coaching call AND a free site evaluation included with your enrollment fee

So that’s the basics of the class. You can read all about the coaches and detailed information about each week if you want or need more.

I know that it seems silly to pay for information you can get for free on the Internet. I’ve had that same thought at times. However, with this, you get connections, one on one interaction, and a whole lot more. And sometimes, it’s worth investing in yourself to become the best you can.

Think of this as a gym for your blog, with the coaches as your personal trainers.Sure, you can exercise for free but there are perks of gym that you can’t get anywhere else.

The class provides those perks.

And you can sign up right now.