This week Moms In A Blog is proud to present Heather Bixler of Girly Blog Designz
What made you decide to be a work at home mom?
I wanted to become a WAHM so that I could supplement our income so my husband could quit his second job.
What is the nature of your business?
I do WordPress Design and own a couple of great content websites, I also sell website hosting.
What made you decide that particular business?
I started with WordPress Design because I had hired someone to do a design for me and I hated it, not to mention the customer service was just not there. So I thought I'd try and make my own, and it was a success! I started getting orders within the first week of launching my first design. I have been doing custom WordPress designs every since. 🙂
What has been your biggest challenge?
Finding balance between making time for God, my husband, my family, and work. I also home school.
What has been your biggest success?
Being able to provide enough income to pay off some bills.
What is the best way you promote your business under $10.00? under $50? worth it at any cost?
Free: Word of mouth and I place a link in the footer of my clients website. I distribute free WordPress Themes, etc. Giving away something for free is a good way to get more traffic to your website. I also use social networks, and submit my content to places like stumbleupon, etc.
Under $10: I add content to my business website and I use PLR as well.
Under $50: I have an autoresponder which also includes an affiliate program.
How do you balance work and family?
I try to keep a work schedule.
To what do you attribute your success as a WAHM?
Dedicated to providing quality whether it be content on a website, a design, or website hosting. I am also committed to just being NICE, and following the rules – I don't believe in cutting corners in order to advance to the next level. I do this by keeping God first in my life and business. 🙂
What impact has blogging made on your career?
A lot, ALL of my websites are BLOGS. 🙂
Can you recommend any resources for WAHMS who are just starting out, or perhaps trying to make the transition from the workplace?
Of course! The first thing a WAHM needs when makign that transition is to get a domain name and website hosting. I do recommend ME of course, LOL! Here is my link: https://girlywebsitehosting.com
At Girly Website Hosting we can get you set up with a WordPress website within a day, and we are incredibly responsive and encourage our hosting to clients to ask as many questions as possible. 🙂
What can you tell us about your other ventures.?
My content websites are: and https://csahm.com and my design website is:
Is there anything else that you want to share with the readers?
Yes, I know that starting a website can be a daunting task and a lot of new WAHMS are wanting to go with freewebs, a sitebuilder, or even start with frontpage and my advice would be to turn the other way. I remember when I started my first website I purchase Frontpage and it cost like $150 and I didn't even know how to use it, it took me like 6 months to get my website off the ground.
I say go with a self hosted WordPress blog. It is the easiest and least expensive route.
What is one thing you can't do without in your business?
I can't live without my task manager. It is a total life saver.
What one thing should be avoided at all costs?
Free websites and sitebuilders!
What's the biggest business killer?
Bad customer service and having too much on your plate.
What advice do you wish someone would've shared with you when you first started out?
I wish someone would have said keep learning and don't be afraid to just let things go.