One of the most searched questions on the internet is how do bloggers make money? So many people out there don’t really understand the art of blogging and when they hear bloggers say they blog full-time they become curious. They immediately want to know if it’s really possible to monetize your blog.
Yes it’s so possible to monetize your blog. I do it. I make money blogging and anyone else can too (you can check out this income report of 19 successful bloggers and have a sneak peak of how they do it). Reading income reports changed my mindset about blogging, I had no clue that it was possible to make more than $10,000. The earning potential through blogging is limitless. It’s all the inspiration I needed to take my blog as my business. MINDSET IS EVERYTHING.
Most people who start a blog want to make money but not all of them succeed at doing that. They either give up too early or they have the wrong approach. As a blogger before you start thinking of different ways to monetize your blog, you need to prepare your blog.
Before we dive in keep in mind that every blogger is different. Some will begin to earn some money from their blog immediately, others six months some two years down the line. So don’t compare yourself with others.
(This post contains affiliate links see disclaimer for more details)
If you haven’t started a blog yet, check out my step by step tutorial guide. Where I show you how to start a blog in less than 30 minutes.
How to start a profitable blog in less than 30 minutes
As a bonus when you start a blog via any bluehost links in the post above I will send you a copy of my ebook The Beginner’s whisper guide for free.
When I started I wished all the information in one place or even someone to walk with me for the first month at least, that’s why I want to help you to start your blog with confidence.
I will show you how to set up your blog professionally, write your first post that attracts readers, how to drive traffic to your brand new blog, how to monetize and much more.
Once you have purchased your bluehost hosting email me juelz@juelzjohn.com and I will send the book asap.
QUICK OVERVIEW ON 9 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOUR MONETIZE YOUR BLOG
1. Self-hosting
2. Blog design
3. Quality posts
4. Good quality pictures
5. Relevant pages
6. Social media
7. Invest in your blog
8. Traffic
9. Social media
1. Self-hosting
Before I launched my blog, I did all sort of research. I read other blogs and observed what other bloggers were doing. One thing in common with all the successful blog is that they are self-hosted.
One of the biggest mistake that bloggers make is not self-hosting their blogs. If you want to be considered serious in the blogging world, you MUST be self-hosted.
It’s honestly hard to monetize a blog that is not self-hosted. Your blog can just disappear like that without any warning and retrieving all the data you had will be a big headache. To avoid such problems why not do things the right way.
To put things into perspective incase you are a little bit confused, if your blog is not self hosted means it’s on a free platform like blogger and wix. Which also means that you actually don’t own anything not even your content which you have worked so hard to put out there. It like building a house on rented land.
Why should you consider going self-hosted?
1. You own your content
Imagine spending countless hours working on your content only for everything to disappear overnight. This has happened to so many bloggers and as I have mentioned recovering is a nightmare. Sometimes it’s impossible.
What happens is, when you are on a free blog all your content belongs to WordPress.com or blogger since you are storing it on their platforms. Purchasing hosting allows you to have full control and ownership of your content which is on the blog.
2. Easy to monetize your blog
Having a self hosted blog gets you taken seriously by brands and companies who might be interested to work with you. You look professional and people are aware that you are serious about blogging, it’s not just another hobby you took up.
With a self hosted blog you will get a domain name which means you won’t have those weird names that ends with WordPress.com. A personalized email address and a unique theme. All this adds to the whole overlook and feel of your blog.
One of the biggest ways that bloggers make money is through ads, some of these free platforms like wordpress.com will restrict you from installing ads on your blog and it’s way easy to do affiliate marketing if you have hosting.
There are so many web hosting platforms but I highly recommend Bluehost. I have been using Bluehost for more than an year now and I have no complains. It’s super affordable, you get a free domain name for a year, their customer service is awesome, you get to create a custom email addresses for free. For example mine is Juelz@juelzjohn.com
I should mention that you don’t need any special skills like coding to do this. Through Bluehost, you can easily install wordpress.org with one click only.
PS. If you already own a blog, you can easily migrate your content and if you have a problem doing so contact the hosting company customer service which is 24/7 and the response is super fast.
2. Blog design
Your blog needs to be appealing which means you need to get rid of all the clutter. It should be inviting. When companies approach you, your blog design is the first thing they see so make sure it’s very presentable and easily accessible. It needs to look professional.
Clear out your sidebar and your footer. Having too many unnecessarily banners will slow your blog. I find it super annoying when am on a website and it takes forever to load. Clutter will be a big turn off to brands and companies.
Your blog theme should be mobile friendly because most people check blogs through smartphones. You need to be to be consistent with your theme and layout not changing it every other day. Make sure your content is easily visible on the phone and avoid so many pop ups.
Make sure your blog is loading fast, you can do this by avoiding the use of heavy and large images as they always tend to slow the blog.
Stick to 2/3 warm colors for your blog to have nice flow.
3. Quality posts
This is very important before you start to monetize your blog. Two of the main ways bloggers make money is by ads and selling products. Both highly depend on your content. For ads, the more more pageviews you have the more money you stand to make. You increase your pageviews by writing valuable content that your audience will benefit from and is looking for. Stop writing for yourself.
For example if you are a mom blogger, some of the posts you can write are: how to increase breast milk, teething remedies and postpartum hair loss treatment for new moms. Such posts stands to do better because those are the things that most moms will be googling and are interested in. Which means more traffic for you.
Build trust with your audience by providing them with content that will solve their problems. If you plan on creating a product later on then put out content that show your audience your are knowledgeable on that topic. Offer free fully packed content and ideas that will make your audience to decide you are their go to person.
People are more likely to purchase your product if they trust you and if in some way they feel connected with you so don’t be afraid to share your story. If your free content is really good they will definitely get the paid content.
Your posting need to be often and consistent. Posting once in three months will not cut it especially if you haven’t been blogging for awhile. Create an editorial calendar that will help to keep you in check. The more you write, the better you become. When you are really serious about monetizing your blog, you won’t be writing for YOURSELF, you’re writing for your readers, so make sure you’re giving them what they want to see. Always have your readers in mind.
Spend time researching the topic you want to write about and focus more on creating evergreen content that will be relevant months after months. When companies approach you, they want proof that you are capable of producing high-quality content so let your work speak for itself. The best place to do your topic research is Pinterest and Google.
I started my this blog a little over a year ago and have grown it to over 80k pageviews using this content strategy. I always try to make sure that my blog posts are more than 1500 words because longer post do very well on google.
Related post: How to write a good post that will attract readers attention
Before you hit publish on any post, proofread it. We are all human, and we are bound to make silly mistakes such as spellings and punctuation. You can quickly proofread your article by passing it through Grammarly which is a free grammar tool. Check out my review on grammarly and learn more about it.
Related post: Grammarly review an online free grammar tool
4. Good quality pictures
Having good pictures on your blog is a must. Good photos will attract new audience to your blog. Pictures alone can do all the talking for you. We are in the visual era, so high-quality pictures are essential. I understand you might not own a camera or even know where to start when it comes to photography I was once there until I discovered free sites that offer stock images.
If stock images are not your thing, you can hire a camera or get a good photographer and Invest in editing apps. Some of the apps are free, so if you are a beginner, you can first practice through them. Also check YouTube for tutorials. I love YouTube you can learn so much and almost everything.
I love using Photoshop and canvas to edit my pictures, especially for my Pinterest graphics. Other editing apps you can check out are light room and pic monkey.
5. Relevant pages
Before you even start brainstorming on different ways to monetize your blog you need to work on some crucial pages. These important pages will help brands and companies to know you better.
They include:
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Work with me page
This entails merely the different ways company and brands can work with you. Maybe through sponsored posts, hosting their banners, mentions, giveaways and so on.
-
About me page
Write an epic about page. It’s no brainier that before a company approaches you, they will first want to know a little about you. So make sure your about page is detailed and of course updated. Show your personality and your passion too.
Some of the things you can include are blog description, your bio, contact and social media links.
Blog description. You can write when, why you started blogging and what your blog is all about.
Bio. You should include at least one picture. People want to see who the face behind your blog is.
Contact. This can be in a contact form or just an email. Have your contact info somewhere people can easily see it. If a PR contact can’t easily find your information, they’re going to head on to the next blogger on their list.
Related post: How to write an epic about me page.
Monetize your blog: Social media
The sixth thing to do before to you monetize your blog is to work on your social media accounts. Some companies wants to know how many followers you have on your social media. Sometimes having a large following is a bonus. Make sure you often post on your social media platforms and engage with your followers too. You can start building your social media platforms way before you launch blog .
Always try to make sure what you post on your social media is in line with your website and avoid a lot of negative posts as they scare people away.
Social media is an excellent way to drive traffic to your blog post too when you have a new blog post you can share it with your audience on there.
If you don’t have a big following don’t over stress about it. We all start from somewhere, and blogging is a journey no one expects you to have everything all together. The most important thing is engagement. Find out which social media platform your audience mostly hangs out in then focus on it first.
For example one blogger might have less than 5k followers on Instagram who are sure engaged to his or her content while another one might have 20k followers who barely engage to the posts. It goes without saying that the first one is more valuable to brands.
7. Before you monetize your blog Invest in it.
Some bloggers are so afraid to invest in their blogs but sometimes to make money you need to spend money. We invest more in things we care about. Therefore if you are serious about taking your blog to the next level, you shouldn’t be afraid to invest in your blog.
For instance, if you are looking for ways to boost your blog traffic there are many ebooks out there to guide you. If you want to grow your Pinterest account and you don’t have the time to do so hire a VA.
I have invested in so many resources which has helped me grow this blog tremendously. I highly recommend Blog by number course by Suzi who is a successful blogger behind startamomblog.com. The second resource I love is Dare To Conquer by Scrivs who makes more than $100,000 just from blogging. See more at the end of this post.
8. Traffic
You don’t need a lot of traffic to make money blogging but you need enough. The more traffic you have the better chances you have of making more especially with ads. With affiliate marketing you don’t need so much traffic to get started. I made $200 in a month with less than 2000 pageviews.
You need a strategy on how to put your blog out there. Create content, promote it on social media (I love Pinterest which is more of a search engine) and slowly work on your SEO game. Facebook groups are another good place for you to start. On Facebook be active and participate in groups. Take advantage of promo days and other threads. On Pinterest create as many relevant boards you can and pin your content on them.
Most companies will ask for your traffic report. Some of the things they want to know are: where most of your audience is from, what’s your average monthly pageviews and who is your demographic.
Related post: 30 ways to drive traffic to your blog
9. Social share buttons
Share buttons are super important to any blog. They make it easy for your readers to share your content. There are so many plugins you can use for that. I use Shareaholic but there are countless options you can go with and honestly it doesn’t really matter which you choose just choose one.
Make sure you have a pin it icon on your images. This is super effective it allows your readers to pin directly from your blog to Pinterest.
10. Create an Email List
Starting an email list is something that every blogger should do. It’s not only the best way to connect with your audience but it’s also a way to monetize your blog. I recommend convertkit which is super easy to use, set up and it can grow your email list fast.
An email list will be very important when you create your first product. You will get one on one feedback from your audience and the conversion rate is high than on social media for selling a product. The people on your list are already your fan, and are going to be much more willing to buy things you recommend, and support you during a future product launch.
I hope you found this long article helpful. Of course there are other things you can do before you monetize your blog but these are the main ways that will make a huge different.
What do you wish you had worked on before you started monetizing your blog? Let me know in the comments below.
RESOURCES I LOVE
Blog By Number Course
I love Blog By Number course and I honestly can’t stop recommending it to anyone who wants to create a successful blog. It’s the first course I invested in before I started blogging and it’s beyond amazing. It will teach you how to build and launch your website successfully, how to write your first post, how to get traffic, how to monetize from day 1 and much more. Blog by number course gives you a road map to blogging. Read all about my blog by number journey here.
Dare to Conquer
Dare to Conquer is more than a blogging course. It’s a community. It’s by far the best investment I have made for my blog and for me. I recommend it to anyone who wants to take their blog to the next level. Want to run a profitable online business? Dare to Conquer is your answer.
It’s comprehensive and has in-depth information on all aspects of running a successful online business. Everything you need to know about SEO, Affiliate marketing, Building a brand , Pinterest, email marketing and much more all in one place. All this information helps you to set a solid foundation with your online business and takes it to the next level. With Dare To Conquer you are set, you will never need to purchase any blogging course or Ebook again.
What I love most about Dare To Conquer are the challenges like how to reach $1000+a month with ads, how to gain your first 1000 email subscribers, launching your blog and getting 10k pageviews and how to create your first paid product.
Still hesitant about diving in? Join the free 12 Day Blogging Bootcamp and get a little taste of what Dare To conquer is all about.
Ebates
Ebates is an amazing cash back program. Who wouldn’t love to get paid for shopping? It has over 2000 stores such as Target, eBay, Macy’s, Apple, Walmart and many more. You will be able to save money just from shopping normal stuff like toiletries. Every time you are doing online shopping, make sure you check Ebates first to see if you can earn some cash back. Sign up for Ebates through my link here and get free $10 bonus after spending at least $25.
Great tips! I’m just getting into Facebook groups and have yet to start seriously working on Pinterest but I’ve definitely seen the benefits of groups so far!
Xo, Kacie
http://www.theprettylittlehustler.com
Author
I love facebook groups they are so awesome