When I first became a nurse, I thought blogs were all about ranting and raving. In fact, that’s what I did with my blog when I first got started in 2010. I got on a soapbox and complained or praised things. It wasn’t until a year or so into blogging that I realized that a blog can be used for so many more positive efforts including personal branding, business, and thought leadership. Ever since then, I have been learning how to blog in the correct manner while promoting the nursing profession and growing my personal brand. In 2012, I realized that I could earn money from this blog thing. I’ve been earning an income online ever since!
I have helped many nurses discover blogging, learn more about blogging, and even encouraged some (like my friend Nurse Eye Roll) to come out of the anonymous blogging and social media closet. I’ve spent countless hours researching the skills, tools, and methods needed to be a successful blogger and have grown a site that attracts over 100,000 visitors every month. It’s time that I start lighting more torches in the world and teach nurses the business of blogging.
Nurses Make Great Bloggers
Nurses don’t often give themselves the credit they deserve. I encounter this often with nurses who state they are no good with technology, even though they use a computer for 12 hours a day. Being a nurse gives you an advantage because you already know so many of the skills needed to become a successful blogger. Nurses are great at storytelling, education, research, documentation, and critical thinking. They also have excellent customer service and communication skills. Nurses are passionate about patient care and are natural advocates. They have a head start when it comes to blogging and don’t even know it.
Why Nurse Entrepreneurs Should Blog
I encounter many nurses that have businesses, but have little to no online presence. They might have a Facebook page or a 3-page website, but they lack a cohesive location that tells a story about their business and their personal brand. Blogs can meet this need and are way easier to start than most people think. A blog is also easy to update with content that can attract localized and national customers to any Nurse-owned business.
Why Every Nurse Should Blog
A blog allows nurses to build a personal brand online. This means that when someone Googles you, your will appear in the manner you want to be reflected. Keeping positive search results in the top fo Google is useful when applying for a job. Potential employers almost always research applicants online and they you want them to see positive and accurate information about you. Beyond just appearing online in a positive light, you can also use blogging to advance your career by becoming a thought leader on a topic. For example, a nurse wellness coach can build a personal brand online through a blog that promotes wellness and demonstrates his or her expertise on issues and topics that relate to wellness. Thought leadership can ultimately lead to new job opportunities, new relationships, and even a boost in salary.
How To Start a Nursing Blog
Now that you’re thoroughly interested in starting a nursing blog (or growing an existing nursing blog) let’s talk about the how! In the coming months, I will be writing more content focused on blogging, social media, and personal branding online. If you’re interested in learning more today, take a look at my Blogging Tools page to see the hosts, lead tools, and some of the other plugins I recommend. If you are just starting out take a look at my guide on How to Start a Nursing Blog to get the groundwork started. However, if you want to get a jump start on things, I would like to invite you to attend a live training session at the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) conference this fall. During a 5-hour pre-conference workshop Kati Kleber from FreshRN and myself will dive into all the tools you need to identify your purpose and brand, start and grow a blog, leverage social media, create and market quality content, and discuss some practical considerations as well.:
- Business basics of blogging
- How to create and market quality content
- How to build a community who trusts you
- Branding and consistency
- Time management, prioritization, and delegation
- Monetization
I hope that you will join us in Las Vegas from September 27th-29th for the NNBA Pre-Conference “Nurse Blogging 101: Growing a Profitable Business and Community.” Take a minute to look at become a member of the NNBA.
By purchasing a membership in the NNBA you will receive access to a network of over several thousand nurses, leaders, and mentors, you’ll have the support, advice, and encouragement of colleagues who share your experience and aspirations. NNBA members benefit from a wealth of resources and services dedicated to advancing and promoting nurses’ success in business.
Do you run a nursing blog? Share a link to it in a comments below. If you’re thinking about starting a nursing blog, what questions do you have?
Thanks so much for this post! I just recently started blogging about nursing. I am an ER nurse and I want to help other nurses feel confident and inspired but I am having a hard time finding my voice! My blog is simplybarbaracasey.com and I’d love any feedback anyone has!
How can I download “nurse bingo”? The link doesn’t work. Thank you.
Try this link. You’ll have to enter your email address then it will automatically be emailed to you.
Thanks for this opportunity to share my blog. I have been a cardiac nurse for almost 30 years. I also have a MSN in informatics. The time has finally come for me to start venturing out of the hospital. I have always enjoyed the Internet especially blogging. However I had no idea that blogging could make money. My site is https://www.healingheartdiseasenaturally.com
My site is on everything heart disease and some natural ways to treat heart disease.
Hi Brittney,
I am new to blogging and I found your article really helpful! I am a Canadian ER RN that moved to Texas a year ago and decided to create a blog to share my experiences. My goal is to inspire other RNs to take risks and challenge themselves in their careers. However I am having a hard time finding my niche and gaining an audience. Im sure your posts will give me some helpful tools. Thanks again!
Great Post Thanks!
I started a nurse leadership blog a while back at http://www.thenurseslounge.com I thoroughly enjoy it! I would love any feedback on this!
Hi! I just started a nurse blog. Literally just did the intro post. Any helpful hints are welcome! I also was wondering if you have any ideas for a new nurse blogger like me. I’d love some feedback if you have time. Thank you!
Congratulations on the blog! Lots of tips and tricks for sure. For starters you can check out these blogging tools. And finally, Kati Kleber and I have started Health Media Academy. This entire site is designed to help nurses with blogging. Check out the posts there for more info on everything from social media to keywords. If you have any specific questions, just ask.
I read your article, thank you for the info. I am nurse health coach and want to start blogging. I can write..thats for sure. but I am lost at the traffic and monetization. Please help
Kati Kleber and I are actually hosting another blogging seminar at NNBA this year. We’re also releasing a book that will totally help with the traffic and magnetization aspect.
The first step to blogging is starting out 🙂 once you have some articles up, you can then start thinking of traffic. Link building is key to getting organic traffic, which you can then monetize. Hope this helps. I’m also getting my feet wet in the blogging sphere.
Inspiring blog you have here Brittney.
I love your blog. It’s vey informative about ways to start and go about your own blog. Im just starting out nursing school and in my blog I want to share my experiences and my journey as I become a nurse. My blog name is Livingnika.blogspot.com
Brittany, I just want to thank you for all of your hard work! I finally got my blog going but still have some work to do! Check it out if you get a chance! http://www.theburnnurse.com
I have learned so much from you! I hope the conference goes well and I hope to get to attend one of your sessions some day!
Amber
Amber, welcome to the blogging world! I’m so excited to see where it takes you.
Such a great post for those of us entering the nurse blog world…just started mine last week, and learning a ton! I think it’s so important for nurses to spread the positive word on professional nursing and to help each other stay motivated and inspired in such a challenging career. Nurses have so much potential to educate and really help people through blogging. I’m loving looking through all of your helpful tips on this subject…thank you!
Michelle, I’m so glad you found some things that were helpful to you. Be sure to leave a link to your blog, I’d love to check it out.
You can find my blog at http://www.nurselovehate.com ? Thanks for your interest!
Great as Post as always! In this time of Value Based Healthcare Care, Nurses ( myself included) really must start speaking to our value on a more consistent basis. Thanks for sharing these practical tips.
Hello Brittney, I’m not a nurse, but my wife is, and I started a site in an effort to empower nurses with a place to safely report dangerous patient safety conditions. http://hospitalsafetyreviews.com/
Love this! It’s so true… Love to see more nurses coming to the blogging world!
I love this article! I’m so excited to see nurse blogging growing. I think hearing each other’s stories and perspectives is so good for the profession! I was always scared to blog as a nurse because of any conflict of interest but I think I’m figuring it out.
This post definitely helped me a lot to prepare for starting to write a nurse blog! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hi Brittney,
I’m a nurse who just started a blog! I didn’t know nurse bloggers were out there. I’m so glad I stumbled on your blog!! I will try to link, find more nurses. Thanks, Kathleen
my website is : http://www.momslosthermind.com
I’m not going to be able to make the conference either…any chance you will do a virtual conference anytime soon?
Hi Brittney!
This is a great article with great resources! I have a new nursing blog…and a lot to learn! I’ll definitely be coming back.
http://www.florenceisdead.com
Brittney, I wish I could go to the Nurses In Business Conference, but I will be on vacation. Would really love if you did a webinar or a google hangout on Nurse Blogging. There is so much to learn, but it is a great way to share information and educate. I have not ventured into the ‘business side of Blogging’ and would interested in that aspect.
Thanks for all your assistance!
Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Nurse Advocate
Website http://nurseadvocate5.blogspot.com/
Hi Brittney!
My name is Brittany (also), I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your article and if I could, I totally would attend your workshop. I really appreciate that you support other nurse bloggers (especialIy us beginners) and was just wanting some advice. I just started a nursing lifestyle blog about a month ago called #Nurselyfe (nurselyfe.wordpress.com), to provide support for everyday nurses like me that are juggling work, graduate school, and becoming an new mom (all at once!). I just wanted to ask you, how can I reach more people? I started a separate instagram account for it, but I don’t think it’s really helping. Thanks in advance!
Hi Brittany,
Sorry for my delayed response. I like to approve comments individually to try to catch any spam that might get through. It also gives me a chance to respond to each comment.
Gosh… traffic. That’s a never ending story.
The first thing you need to do is look for other nurse bloggers and start making friends. You’ve got a great start here! Write thoughtful comments on their blogs, share their content, and many of them will return the favor. This will grow your traffic with each share, and can also help you grow your social media followers.
Speaking of social media, that’s another great way to get people to your blog. Make sure you have created accounts on twitter, pinterest, and (because this is a nursing blog), Linkedin. You should also create a business page on Facebook. I’m a bit biased on this one, but I also think you should have a profile on Next Wave Connect. You can network with many great nurse bloggers there as well as share your own blog posts. Share all your content (in fun and creative ways… not just the title of the url each time). Ask questions about your content. Interact with your audience and build your brand slowly by surely.
As far as Instagram goes, I don’t focus on it as much because it’s difficult tie traffic back to it. There are no links on your posts so it’s really hard to drive people to a specific blog post with an image.
Speaking of tracking traffic, make sure you have Google Analytics installed!
Another key thing is to start thinking about how you can optimize your traffic for search. This means making sure that what you are talking about is actually in your blog title. Example: a blog post about med pass frustrations should have a title like “Nursing Med Pass Frustrations and Solutions” rather than “There’s just something that bothers me about this…” Be descriptive in your blog posts titles and use your main topics keywords through. Later you can learn to start searching for the types of keywords that others are looking for, but for now just making sure you are aware of keywords is a great start.
Happy to answer any other questions that you have. We also have a facebook group for Aspiring Nurse bloggers. Should you choose to join it, please let me know so I can accept your request.
Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely be making a profile on Next Connect and requesting acceptance to the facebook group. Blogging is very new to me so having some guidance really helps.
You are most welcome.
So nice to find a fellow nurse blogger. I am a women’s health, labor and delivery, and pediatric nurse and I recently started my own blog as a way to help others out there! I also throw a little parenting in there once in a while. I am looking to eventually change the name of my blog and transfer everything over, if my blog takes off.
Oh, there are lots of us, Cassie! You can find may of them here:
http://thenerdynurse.com/2015/02/the-ultimate-list-of-nurse-blogs-and-social-media-accounts-to-follow.html
You should also consider joining the Nurse Blog Carnival.
Great blog! I look forward to seeing more from you.
I just started writing a student nurse blog. It can be found at mightynursemegan.blogspot.com
Great blog! I look forward to seeing more from you.
Thanks Brittany. I have already learned so much from your site. I look forward to learning more about blogging for business. My nurse site is http://www.mommybabynurse.com
– Kelly
Love your blog and thrilled to help you in any way that I can.
What do you think is the hardest part of blogging?
Hi Brittney!
Great article! I just wanted to say that my aunt and I will be launching our blog October 1, and you’re definitely an inspiration to us. She is the RN…40yrs and I am the “geek” behind it all. I do all the web design and development as well as all our graphic design, so we make a great team. We would love to be able to develop a relationship and support you as well as other nurses blogs because we think that building a community of experts is so beneficial especially in the medical/healthcare field, and it seems as there isn’t much out there. So lets make it happen!
Thanks Lisa!
Please let me know when she launches her blog. I’d love to read it. I run several nurse blog groups that I’d love to invite her too once she is up and running.
Will do! Look for us on October 1! Its all very exciting, and thanks for your support!
Yes, it is! We are going to cover a lot and have SO much fun!