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Did you know that a blog is a legitimate way to make money online?
Blogging can be way more than just a hobby or writing for fun- here’s how to start a money making blog in 2021!
What is a blog?
A blog is a type of website where you can share information, advice, and other forms of valuable content with readers.
This valuable content is the blog posts that you write.
Although it’s (usually) free to read a blog online, many bloggers are able to make money with their blogs.
Think of it this way: having a blog gives you an opportunity to reach many people online, so even if you’re not making money off of the posts themselves- there is a real opportunity to make money in other ways with a blog.
Should I start a blog?
If you’re looking for a way to make money online, you should absolutely consider starting a blog!
If you have knowledge on a specific topic, you can share this with the world.
If you like to write, you’ll have your own little corner of the internet to display your writing.
If you’re thinking of selling products or services online, you can also use a blog to sell these. By writing some blog posts on what you’re offering, you can become a trusted expert for your clients.
A blog is also something you can work on whenever you want (like after school or after your day job), so it’s easy to work it into your schedule.
One thing I will point out is that a blog is a lot of work, especially in the beginning: you’ll need to decide what to write about, pick a website name, and fill your site with blog posts.
And if you’re starting a blog with the intent of making money, you’ll need to start marketing it, too.
That being said, once you have your blog set up and ready to go, it could be a great source of passive income for you! You can continue to earn money on posts you wrote months or even years before.
How much money can you make from a blog?
Blogs are definitely not a get-rich-quick-scheme- they take time before they start earning money. Some bloggers don’t start to make money until their blog is a year old.
Many bloggers end up getting discouraged and give up on their blogs completely.
Bloggers who stick with it in the beginning (and continue to treat their blog like a business) are the ones who see the rewards- and the ones who can make a full-time living off their blogs.
Blogging really is one of those things where you get out of it what you put into it.
If you want to work on your blog part-time, you can make a modest side income for yourself.
If you want to commit to your blog full-time, it is definitely possible to make it your career.
What types of blogs make the most money?
There are a few types of blogs that tend to earn the most money:
Food/recipe blogs
Fitness blogs
Personal finance blogs
Travel blogs
Mom blogs
Business blogs
Eco-friendly/green living blogs
These are popular topics that get a lot of searches online, and therefore, lots of readers.
If you want to write a blog, but you don’t see the topic you’re interested in on this list, don’t worry: a blog topic doesn’t need to be widely popular in order for you to make money on it!
Sometimes, there are less-popular topics that haven’t been written about much, and you could get readers without facing as much competition.
Start with what you know, what you’re passionate about, or what you know you’d love to share with others.
How do you start a blog that makes money?
1. Select a topic/niche
If you want to start a money-making blog, start by focusing on a specific topic (this will be your niche). Once you have your topic, think about the type of reader you want to target.
Who is your ideal reader?
Let’s say you want to write about gardening. Are you writing your posts for experienced, middle-aged, female gardeners? Or, are you writing for new gardeners in their 20s who are interested in growing herbs and smaller plants indoors?
When these readers find your site, they’ll love finding lots of content that feels like it was made just for them.
When your website is focused on one thing, readers will keep coming back to your site for more- and they’ll feel like you’re an expert they can trust in this area.
I started budgeting a few years ago, and fell in love with the freedom it gave me in my life. I learned a lot during those years about saving money, paying off debt, and making more money for myself. As a young woman, I wanted to be able to share what I knew with other women who wanted the same things in life.
And ta-da- this blog was born!
P.S. don’t feel like you can’t start your blog because there are already a million other blogs about the same thing. Your ideas don’t need to be 100% brand new and creative! Your content only needs to have your unique perspective in order to stand out.
You have a perspective on that topic that no one else does! Your writing could resonate with lots of people who like your approach.
Keep your personality alive in your blog, too! Don’t shy away from making jokes or writing in the way you would speak to someone in person. When your personality shines through, people will love it, I promise!
When you’re writing on your blog, it should be conversational and easy to read- not academic or stuffy (or boring, haha!). When it comes to blogging, you can toss everything you learned about writing in school out the window.
2. Pick a name for your blog
Once you know what you want to write about, you’ll need to pick a name for your website.
If you can’t pick a name right now, don’t stress over it!
You’ll want to pick a name that’s memorable and also related to your topic.
If you can, try to keep it short, so readers can easily remember it.
You can try a free website name generator (like this one) if you need more inspiration. This site name generator also lets you know if the website name is available (you need to make sure you’re not copying anyone else when you pick a name).
Brainstorm a list of your favourites before picking the one you’ll use.
3. Pick a blogging platform & host
Want to start a blog that you can monetize? Set up a self-hosted blog– when I first started blogging, I didn’t know what this meant exactly…
You will need a self-hosted blog in order to have full control over your site (which is required if you want to be able to monetize it).
I recommend using WordPress (the self-hosted version) as the blogging platform for your site (the self-hosted version is http://www.wordpress.org – NOT http://www.wordpress.com).
So, you want to start a self-hosted blog? It’s time to pick a host, like Bluehost, for example.
Bluehost is so affordable ($3.95 a month), and their customer service is second-to-none.
I use Bluehost for my blog and I love it! When I was first starting out, I reached out to them with a million questions- and I always got what I needed right away. Their instant chat support is incredible.
Trust me- if you ever have any tech questions about your blog or need to fix an issue quickly, you’ll want to have support you can rely on right away. Just having this support alone makes the $3.95 a month more than worth it for me!
You can sign up for Bluehost here!
4. Pick a professional theme
Next, you’ll want to pick a cute theme for your site (your theme will determine how your site looks to your readers).
WordPress does have free themes you can use, but if you’re treating your blog like a business, you should consider a professionally designed one.
Professional themes are not only gorgeous, but they include lots of extras, like cool features & tech support from the developer.
I use a Bluchic theme for my blog- it was one of the best decisions I made in my blogging journey.
I purchased the theme I wanted, followed a few simple instructions, and I instantly had a professional-looking website.
I didn’t need to waste time trying to change up the design to make it look amazing, and I was able to focus on actually writing blog posts.
Bluchic’s themes are SO easy to use, too- I was able to get the theme set up completely by myself, and I’m not techie at all.
You can check out Bluchic’s gorgeous themes here!
P.S. here is the exact Bluchic theme I use for my blog!
5. Create content for your blog
Once you have your site set up and ready to go, it’s time to fill it with blog posts!
Start with a few topics you can write about it (3-5 is a good number), and then brainstorm some posts you can write about each topic. This will give you a healthy amount of written content to start your blog with.
Think about what your readers will want to read- what are problems you can help them with, or advice you can give them?
You also want each post to be long enough to provide value- but not so long that no one has the time to read the whole thing.
Try to aim for posts that are 1500-2000 words if you can.
6. Promote your blog and get readers
One of the best pieces of advice I got when I started blogging was that 20% of your time should be spent on writing- and 80% should be spent on marketing.
If you write your content and step away, you’re not going to get any eyes on your blog.
You’ll need to put yourself out there, so readers can find you.
There are two ways you can do this: social media and SEO.
One of the best ways to reach people with social media is Pinterest. Pinterest is actually more of a search engine then a social media platform, since users go there to find something.
You can start an account for your blog on Pinterest, and then design your pins for free on Canva.
You can create 10-15 pins per blog post; try different images, fonts, colors, and even titles to see what works for you.
I know what you’re thinking- how am I going to have the time to post all of these pins?
One of my life-savers for marketing my blog has been Tailwind.
Tailwind is an amazing tool that automatically does your pinning for you- you set up a pinning schedule, and then forget about it! While you’re working on other things, Tailwind will be pinning to your boards for you every day.
If you want to save time on marketing your posts (and get back to writing), an automation tool like Tailwind will be one of the best investments you make!
You can check out a course like the Pinterest Marketing Course if you want an in-depth guide on how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog!
The second way you can drive traffic to your site is through SEO (search engine optimization).
This means optimizing your posts so that they come up in search results on Google- when someone searches for a topic, your post on that topic will come up.
Since there are a lot of variables that go into making your posts SEO-friendly, I really recommend using a WordPress plugin like Yoast that tells you exactly how to optimize each of your posts.
7. Create a following
Repeat after me: you need an email list!
Unlike a social media following, you have complete control over your email list.
There are no algorithm changes to worry about (for example, recent changes to the Pinterest algorithm have impacted the number of views pins are getting).
You can use your email list to share valuable information to your subscribers, to link back to your blog posts, and to share any products or services you’re selling.
Keep in mind, however, that if you’re only popping in to people’s inboxes to try and sell them something, they’re probably going to want to hit unsubscribe.
Focus on providing free, helpful content most of the time- then once you’ve built trust with your audience, they’re more likely to get excited over what’s in your paid products or services!
I use Convertkit for my email list and I’m so glad I made that decision. Their platform is easy to use and totally seamless. I’ve never had any problems with my email list- and, most importantly, I haven’t had any problems with emails disappearing in junk folders (this can sometimes be a problem with email list providers).
You can check out Convertkit here!
8. Monetize your blog!
Now we’ll get in to the good stuff: all of the ways you can make money from your blog!
One of the best things about blogging is that there are so many ways you can earn an income from your site- and you have full control over it.
Here’s a few ways you can earn an income from your blog:
- Display advertising. By putting ads on your site, you can make money when people view them. You can start with Google Adsense when you’re blog is new- once you start to gain traffic, you can apply to join advertising programs like Ezoic or Mediavine.
- Affiliate links. If you have experience using a product, you can sign up to be an affiliate for that brand. You’ll get a link that you can share on your blog- when someone clicks the link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission. You can sign up for affiliate platforms (like Awin or FlexOffers) that give you access to many brands’ affiliate programs.
- Freelancing. Your blog is like an advertisement of all of the great things you know and can do! This can lead to opportunities to work for someone on a freelance basis. For example, if a potential client finds your blog and loves your writing, they could ask you to write paid posts for them.
- Digital products. There are so many opportunities here- you could use your blog to sell printables, digital planners, ebooks, courses, etc. Canva is a great free tool for making printables and ebooks that you can sell for a profit. If you want to sell a course, you can use a platform like Udemy to create it.
- Membership site. Once you have a collection of digital products, you can bundle them up and charge a monthly fee for readers to access them on your site.
- YouTube channel. Each time you make a blog post, make a YouTube video that covers the same content (and link to your video in the blog post). This can drive traffic and views to your YouTube channel. Once you reach a certain level of YouTube subscribers, you’re eligible to earn money on your videos’ views.
I hope you’re feeling excited about all of the possibilities that come with starting a blog!
If you’re also feeling a little overwhelmed, I get it- I know I was a little intimidated when I started my blog. It can seem like a lot of info to wrap your head around.
I used The Blog Monetization Course by Chelsea Clarke as my guide through setting up my blog, and it made me feel like a pro (when I had no idea what I was doing haha).
I know there are a lot of free blogging courses out there, but they really don’t cover everything you’ll need to know.
I was actually able to follow this course step-by-step until my blog was completely set up. It is SO comprehensive and covers every detail you’ll need to set up a monetized blog. I can’t even imagine all of the hours of research and tech troubleshooting that it saved me!
You can check out The Blog Monetization Course here and you can check out Chelsea Clarke’s other blogging courses here (she is an amazing guru in the world of blogging).
Tools to help you start a money-making blog:
When you start your blog, there is no need to do it alone! There is so much support out there, both in amazing tools for bloggers and courses that walk you through everything, step-by-step.
Here are the tools I recommend (I have used every tool below for my blog):
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