Jenna Campbell took some time off from her day job to be a stay-at-home mom, but when her kids started school, she wanted to get back to work.
She claims to be an introvert and knows little about technology, so she plunged into the world of blogging. she created Lantern Alley Design Sharing her home decor and DIY projects.
Today, her blog generates six figures a year, mostly from advertising, and a few viral posts have certainly pushed her in the right direction. Most of her traffic comes from social media, and as Jenner says, the sky’s the limit.
Read on to learn:
- How and why she started blogging
- Where does her income come from?
- When she started to really make money
- How much traffic does she get?
- How many hours has she worked on her website?
- Her main marketing strategy
- What she thinks about SEO
- Her keyword research method
- How She Got Some Major Backlinks
- How she creates content
- Her favorite resources and tools
- her main challenge
- her greatest achievement
- her biggest mistake
- Her advice to other entrepreneurs
Meet Jenna Campbell
Hi, my name is Jenna. I live in Ohio with my husband, three kids, and a crazy puppy.
Why she created her own website
In 2012, I quit my job as a purchasing manager to stay home with my children. Six years later, my youngest entered elementary school and I knew I wanted to contribute financially to our family again.
I also know that working away from home with children can be challenging.
I have always loved all things home decor, from reading other home decor blogs to decorating and creating a cozy home for our family.
For years, while I was stuck at home with the kids, I knew I eventually wanted to start a blog of my own, but I didn’t know how or where to start, so I kept putting it off.
Finally, when my youngest was in preschool, I did the research and had the courage to start Lantern Alley Design.
I knew going into this I wanted this Blog makes moneyI have to treat it like a business.
The first year was a huge learning curve. I joke that I learned more that year than I did in four years of college.
I started the blog thinking I would focus on DIY projects, but after a few failed projects, I knew I wanted to do more than just DIY, so I started blogging more about affordable home decor ideas grid.
How much does she earn
Blogging for money is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of highs and lows, but if you stick with it, it can be very rewarding.
After I was accepted into Mediavine, it took me two years before I finally started to see a steady stream of income. Last year I made my biggest paycheck and I’m amazed at what my little blog has accomplished.
I had a few popular posts go viral and that was all I needed to see how profitable a blog could be, no matter what I wrote IKEA furniture or Interior Design Trends for 2024.
The sky is indeed the limit.
These viral posts weren’t as viral anymore and my session count was back to over 100,000 per month, but even without the viral posts I was still making close to 6 figures.
Most of my income comes from advertising on the site, and about 10% of my income comes from Affiliate selling through LTK and Amazon.
I am also currently creating some digital products.
My traffic may vary from month to month. My website averages over 100,000 visits per month. About 70% of my blog’s traffic is social traffic, and the other 30% is organic traffic.
I try to treat my website like a business, so I do try to dedicate at least 8 hours a day to it, but it can be difficult. It just depends on the season.
While the kids are in school, I can focus more on my website. In the summer, sometimes I don’t even turn on my computer.
the best thing is Blogging is something you can work on You can use it whenever you want.
Her main marketing strategy
Pinterest is no secret, but it really helps me get traffic to my website. From there, I can ask readers to join me Email list. I also try to be more present on social media.
When I started blogging, Pinterest was the first thing I focused on and most of my traffic came from Pinterest.
I did a lot of research and found a course called Pinterest Strategies by Carly Campbell that teaches you how to manually pin your pins to Pinterest instead of using a scheduler.
Jenna’s thoughts on SEO
SEO is very important, but I don’t think it’s the only thing new bloggers should focus on. I may be in the minority when I say this, but don’t put all your eggs in the SEO basket.
This is especially true with recent Google updates.
I would definitely use SEO.
There are many courses that teach you how to use SEO for your blog.
I think I just took some information from each course to piece together my strategy. I can’t say that one course was more helpful than the others.
keyword research
My process is a little leisurely. I try to focus on writing for readers rather than Google. But that being said, I do look for keywords that I know I can rank for and try to write as much content about that topic as possible.
I currently use keyword search Help me find keywords. I also like to check out what’s trending on Google and Pinterest.
To do this, you can go into Pinterest Trends on Pinterest. I also know to start posting seasonal content months before the actual season starts so that it can rank in Pinterest when the season rolls around.
link building
Connection building is also important and something I’ve been working on. I have some larger sites (House Beautiful, The Spruce, HGTV) linking back to my site. They just contacted me asking for permission to use my content!
The more useful content you have on your site, the more likely it is to be shared. Creating great content that people want to share is important for link building.
Jenna’s content creation process
I’ve written over 200 blog posts over the years, maybe more. Creating content is easy if you are writing about something you enjoy and are interested in.
I use my own home for inspiration. If I’m painting a room or doing a room makeover, I’ll create blog posts related to what I’m doing.
I also think about what I want to consume as a reader Create a blog post About these thoughts.
I try to post one article per week, but lately it’s been more like two per month. I write everything myself. I am a one man show!
All pictures on my blog are my own. Copyright infringement scares me so much that I try to only use my own photos. If I must use a stock image, it’s usually from Canva.
her email list
I do have an email list, and I’m actually trying to grow it as organically as possible.
Building an email list should be the first thing you do when starting a blog, and I wish someone had told me this when I started.
Maybe they did, and I might have gone all in on the DIY project.
I currently have about 2000 email subscribers and if possible I try to email them once a week with helpful tips.
Jenna’s favorite resources
I can’t recommend a specific course, but I recommend taking as many as you can Blog course try your best. You need to invest in your business to grow.
Start with as many free resources as you can, then start purchasing courses that you think will be beneficial to your business.
I think I took all the courses. I am a course junkie!
My favorite tools are coffee, a good camera, and editing software.
In addition to keyword research content creationphotography is an important tool for me to increase traffic to my website.
Since I specialize in home decor, pictures of well-styled rooms are very important. I use all of my own photos on the blog.
I took classes on how to use the camera and how to edit photos in Lightroom.
If you look back at some of my first posts, you’ll see how far my photography has come.
However, I still have more to learn.
My biggest advice is to make sure your photos are clear, not overexposed, and that the image is straight and not distorted. I use Canon EOS 6D Mark.
her main challenge
My biggest challenge is not giving up.
Blogging has many highs and lows. I have some really good days and some bad days.
Those bad days make me want to throw in the towel, but I know if I keep moving forward, the good days will come back.
Writing a blog is really like riding a roller coaster with your eyes closed!
her greatest achievement
A few years after blogging, there was a little section in HGTV magazine with a photo of my front porch.
When I was first starting out, getting an email from a magazine you love to read asking for permission to use one of your photos was hands down the best encouragement for me.
And, somehow, it’s amazing that an introvert like me, who knows next to nothing about technology, can build a business by sharing what he loves to do.
What she wishes she’d known from the beginning
Writing a blog is not easy. There is a lot to learn, and being a blogger has some great highs and terrible lows.
All I know is that low moments come and go. If it can get worse, it can also get better. Sometimes those low moments give me a chance to take a step back and redirect myself.
her biggest mistake
I really wish I had paid more attention to my email list from day one.
I can’t even imagine how many readers and followers I’ve lost since the first day I started blogging without receiving emails from them.
Unfortunately, last year I actually had to start from scratch with my email list.
My old email provider made some changes and I failed and lost 4,000 email subscribers. This year I have to start from scratch. This is a tough pill to swallow.
Her advice to other entrepreneurs
Don’t give up; just keep going. You can earn a full-time income and create passive income, but it takes time.
It definitely won’t happen overnight, but if you never give up, it will.
