Every once in a while, I switch gears from healthy living inspiration and recipes and talk about the business side of this space.  If you are a blogger or someone who is curious or interested in blogging, read on. The rest of you, no worries, I understand if you skip today’s post and wait for the next new recipe or Healthy Year Challenge update.  But if you have a blog or have ever thought about starting a blog, today’s post is a great one to read.  I have an exciting story to share.

A year and a half ago, I made a decision.  I decided I wanted my blog to be something more.  It was always a place to share my passion for healthy living and help others feed their families real, whole foods.  I loved sharing the struggles and successes I had along my journey.  But I knew I could reach more people if I put my mind to it.  I knew my blog could help even more people and I could possibly earn decent money sharing my passion.

I was actually at a place where I knew I had to make more money with my blog in order to justify the time I was spending on it.  So the decision was made.  I declared:  I’m going to grow my blog.  But I had no idea how I was going to get there.

That’s when I stumbled upon a blogging course called Elite Blog Academy.  It was being promoted by Darren Rowse, who I respected immensely as a blogger.  I’d never spent money on a blogging course before, and I was scared to do it, but I knew I needed help.  I’d been blogging for 4 years and didn’t know how to grow. I was stuck.

I took a chance and enrolled in the Elite Blog Academy Fall 2014 course. It was the best decision I ever made.

Elite Blog Academy (EBA) is blog training course by Ruth Soukup from the blog Living Well, Spending Less. I learned so much through this course.  The course has 12 units and can be done in 12 weeks or at your own pace. I took much longer than the 12 weeks to complete the course.  I had so much to learn and implement!

I credit my blog growth 100% to the strategies I learned and implemented through Elite Blog Academy.

It took work. Hard work.  But through EBA, I learned the exact strategies Ruth used to grow her own blog that reaches millions of viewers each month and earns her a comfortable six-figure income.  I not only learned exactly what I needed to do, I implemented those strategies.

Let’s take a look at my blog’s growth since starting Elite Blog Academy.  

When I started in September 2014, my blog was averaging 50,000-65,000 pageviews each month.  In January 2015, Happy Healthy Mama had 146,620 pageviews!

I hadn’t even gotten half way through the course yet, and the strategies I learned and implemented had already just about tripled my pageviews. This was exciting and extremely motivating for me.

I kept working through the course, implementing the strategies I was learning as I went along.  The more I learned and applied to my blog, the more my blog grew.  These strategies really work! From January 2015 to January 2016, my blog continued to grow. In fact, the growth was more than I ever expected when I purchased the course!  Check out this screen shot from Google Analytics.

The orange line you see above represents the month of January 2015 and the blue line is January 2016.  As you can see, the number of users (people) who visited my blog was over 400% higher in January 2016.  My pageviews grew over 300% with 642,191 pageviews in January ’16!

What about income?

Ah, yes. The increased visitors and pageviews don’t mean much if the revenue doesn’t also increase, right? My blog income increased right along with those pageviews.  Without getting too personal, I’ll try to give you an idea of what kind of growth I’ve seen in revenue.

My plan has always been to return to teaching when Luke was in school full time.  When I started teaching part time last year, however, I realized I much prefer to be able to stay home, even when the kids are in school.  Even the small amount I was teaching, I could see the strain the schedule could impose on my family. I dislike the lack of flexibility to be able to volunteer in their classes, pick them up, attend field trips, etc.

My goal became to have my blog generate at least a teaching income.

When I started EBA, I was averaging around $100 a month, or a bit less, in blog income. (You see why I needed to make more to justify the time I was spending?) Today, I’ve reached my goal of making a teaching income with my blog.  As long as things continue as they are, I won’t need to return to teaching when Luke’s in school full time.

Here’s the thing.  I’ve only implemented a small amount of the monetization strategies I learned through Elite Blog Academy. I now know the income potential is even more than my initial goal and have set even higher goals for the future. Even if my traffic stays where it is, I know my income is going to continue to grow because I will continue to implement the strategies I’ve learned.

In fact, when you enroll in Elite Blog Academy, you get a lifetime membership to the course and forum that goes along with the course, and I’m getting ready to go back through the course for a second time and keep implementing more strategies.  The course is jam-packed with so much information, I know there are tons of things I missed the first time around!

Do you need help with your blog? 

I’m sharing all of this today because Ruth is opening the doors back up for Elite Blog Academy 2.0 on February 22nd.

The links that I am sharing are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase the course, I will receive a percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.  I would never recommend something that I don’t believe in 100%.  

The doors for purchasing this course are only open for a short time, from February 22-26th.  You can sign up to get on the waiting list by clicking on the image below (or the one above). The doors are open! —> Click here to sign up!

Can Elite Blog Academy help you?

I think EBA can help any blogger.  If you are a brand new blogger just starting out, EBA can show you the way and put you on a much faster course to success than I took.  I wish I would have had EBA in the beginning of my blogging journey!

If you are an intermediate blogger, EBA can help you grow your blog even more.  Ruth shares all her strategies for turning your blog into a sustainable business.

Even if you are already a professional blogger, Elite Blog Academy can help you bring your blog to the next level.  If you are ready to change your mindset from a blogger to that of an entrepreneur, EBA is for you.

What to Expect in the Course

Through a powerful combination of practical training videos, insightful handouts, purposeful assignments, and interactive live webinars, Elite Blog Academy will provide you with a concrete framework intended to help you refine your message, grow your audience, monetize your platform, and transform your blog into a successful and profitable business. This applies to any niche in which you blog, by the way, not just food or healthy living blogs like mine.  I have met bloggers from every niche imaginable through EBA.

Through four powerful modules, you will learn how to:

Elite Blog Academy is designed to be self-paced, but should not be completed in less than 12 weeks. Blogging is not for the faint of heart, and this course requires a willingness to buckle down and get to work. That said, for those who are willing to do the work, it also comes with a 100% money-back guarantee.

Anyone who completes the course and has not seen measurable results in both traffic and income growth will get your money back, no questions asked. That’s a pretty incredible promise, but it means that you’ve literally got nothing to lose. Enrollment for Elite Blog Academy is extremely limited, and will only be open for five days, beginning February 22nd.

Edited to Add:  The doors are now OPEN and you only have until Friday, February 26th to purchase the course.  You don’t want to miss the chance to enroll in this life-changing course.  

IMPORTANT—->I am also offering a SPECIAL BONUS if you sign up for this course using the link below, you will be able to join an exclusive Elite Blog Academy Mastermind Group on Facebook, which is made up of some of the best and brightest students from Elite Blog Academy’s first semester.  This is HUGE!! You will have instant access to several bloggers making full-time, 6-figure incomes, ready to answer your questions about the course, cheer you on, and motivate you.  *Just forward your welcome email to me and I will get you an invite to the group!*

Click here to sign up for

Elite Blog Academy 2.0

Keep in mind that every previous semester has SOLD OUT and the course will not be offered again until Fall 2016. If you have a blog or want to start a blog, I can with 100% confidence say that Elite Blog Academy can help you reach its full potential.  I know it was the best blogging decision I’ve ever made.  It was a risk that has paid for itself many times over. Maybe I’ll see you in the forums! 🙂

Edited to Add:

I’ve had several emails and phone calls from blogging friends asking about Elite Blog Academy.  I’m guessing you have questions, too.  Here are some quick and dirty FAQs to help you make your decision!

FAQs about Elite Blog Academy

1.  Elite Blog Academy costs a lot of money. Is it worth it?

100% yes.  This course has paid for itself many times over.  I understand that $499 is a substantial amount of money, though, and not a decision that should be taken lightly.  If you are serious about blogging, looking to take your blog beyond hobby blog status, ready to put in the work, then Elite Blog Academy is worth the investment.  If the cost is not possible for you all at once, there is a monthly payment option as well!

2.  I’m a brand new blogger, will this course be overwhelming for me?

Quite possibly.  It was overwhelming for me and I’d been blogging 4 years when I took the course.  Overwhelming isn’t always a bad thing, though.  It made me realize how much I had to learn! It helped me focus my time and energy on the right things.  There’s a lot of information, but it’s also organized in a way that will take you step-by-step what you need to do to create a blog and a brand that will be profitable.

3. I’ve been blogging for xx number of years…is Elite Blog Academy for me?

Are you happy with where your blog is?  Are you seeing the growth and income you would like?  I’d been blogging for 4 years when I started Elite Blog Academy and learned more in the first few months than I’d learned in 4 years trying to learn it on my own. If you look at other bloggers and wonder how they do it, Elite Blog Academy is probably for you.

4. I don’t feel like I have enough time to blog let alone take a course. Should I do this?

I felt the same way.  But when I made the decision I was going to grow my blog, I decided I’d do whatever it takes to make that happen.  That meant I had to find extra hours in my week.  I cut out television shows and anything else that was a time waster.  If you don’t have a lot of free time, you may have to decide if you are willing to carve out a few extra hours a week for Elite Blog Academy.  You can always find extra time, you just have to ask yourself if you really want to make the sacrifice.

Ready to register for Elite Blog Academy 2.0?  Click here to sign up before the end of the day on Friday, February 26th!