Susan and Chad Maccarelli: Theirs Is A Love Affair That Goes
'Beyond Her Blog' And Includes It Too!
It is genuinely tough and rather overwhelming for eager newbies to figure out the mommy blogging landscape. The fact is the cup runneth over with moms already well entrenched in the industry - over five million in the U.S. alone. That large number can make for a rather imposing mountain to climb to be heard.
Susan Maccarelli faced that mountain herself when she endeavored to launch her personal blog, Pecked To Death By Chickens, in 2013 at the urging of her enormously supportive and enthusiastic husband. “He brought the idea up when we were on a road trip with our kids, convinced that it would be a fun opportunity for me to join the blogging world.” By the time they arrived home, Susan’s husband - a techie by nature and trade - began pulling the technical side of Susan’s new blog together and Susan began mustering the courage and ideas to actually write it. Talk about “marital partnership and bliss” on a whole new, mommy blogging level. Rather adorable, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the dynamic duo’s excitement and wide-eyed blogger dreams did little to generate the traction and fans they had both been hoping for, especially Susan. With lots of pecking and little to show for it, Susan began losing heart. Steps away from giving up fully, Susan began searching for information that would help her learn how to expand her readership, specific to the mom blogging community.
What she found was a bit shocking -- there were little to no resources available to her on the matter. It was a reality that inspired an entirely new professional blog to arise in her. Less pecking and more mentoring, Beyond Your Blog offers a place for mom bloggers to go to learn how to get published ‘beyond your own blogs’ so as to help drive traffic back to your blogs.
Invaluable and incredibly successful (with offshoots galore), Beyond Your Blog has turned into an entrepreneurial endeavor both Susan (and her hubby) initially envisioned, albeit not in the way they had originally planned. But alas, flexibility is the key to life as is the ability to shift quickly, and I know Susan is highly adept at both -- proof being that mid-stream through our interview together, Susan lost her Skype connection completely. Five minutes later, she was Skyping me from a completely different location down the street. This lady is amazing.
Enjoy getting to know her and, might I suggest, taking the opportunity to learn from her through Beyond Your Blog. She’s done the work for you. All you need do is sit back and learn.
What is your full name?
Susan Maccarelli
Where do you live?
Warrenton, Virginia
How many children do you have?
2 Kids - ages 4 and 5 (a boy and a girl)
What is your personal mantra?
“Making the most of opportunities -- both the expected and unexpected!”
How long have you been blogging for?
Since October 2013 when I launched Pecked To Death By Chickens.
Do you blog for any group blogs or websites beyond your own?
Yes, I blog for The Huffington Post, Mamapedia, Scary Mommy, Mamalode, and many more.
When was ‘Beyond Your Blog’ launched?
August 2014. I have 30,000 readers, currently. I publish anywhere between 3-5 posts on Mondays and then promote them throughout the week.
What is the primary focus of your blog?
To teach other mom bloggers how to expand the exposure around their own blogs through the submission of their posts or unique writings to other publishers.
What are three tips that you can share to help mom bloggers gain exposure?
-Put yourself out there;
-For every outlet you submit your work to, have two back-ups ready to go;
-Know what your goals are and choose the sites you submit to accordingly (be strategic).
What are three best sites to help mom bloggers acquire followers?
-Huffington Post
-Mamapedia (for parenting articles)
-Sits Girls
Besides “Beyond Your Blog,” do you engage in other social media outlets such as Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. and which is the most beneficial to you?
Facebook is my primary social media outlet. I also host a group on FB, called Beyond Your Bloggers. I also use Pinterest and Twitter.
How do you make money through your blog?
I consulting on other blogs. I am just about to launch an e-course. I am also an Amazon affiliate.
Are there additional offshoots we should know about?
I do a weekly Podcast - Beyond Your Blog Podcast (Itunes) - of which I love to do.
Do you support – either formally or informally – a particular social cause?
Yes, the Alzheimer’s Association. My husband’s grandmother had Alzheimers. We also support Wounded Warriors.
When all is said and done, how do you want to be remembered?
As somebody who enjoyed life.
It seems to me that Susan has definitely created a life for herself that will ensure she is remembered in the way she hopes. I can tell you that I, thoroughly, enjoyed interviewing her. But then again, who wouldn’t? She’s a blogging maniac, mom, entrepreneur, and professional athlete all rolled up in one and among her biggest fans, sits her husband.
Impressed, I am, by the woman as much as I am, the woman’s blog.
To learn even more, see the following link, whereby Susan is being interviewed by her husband, Chad.