How to Start a Blog and Make Money at Home
Would you like to learn how to start a blog and make money at home? From my perspective, it is the best job ever! As a stay at home, mother of six children, I can not even imagine working out of the house anymore. I like to call myself a “blauthor” (definition: a blogger who is also an author). It is quite the life for us since there are so many days throughout the year, that the children are either off from school for a holiday, home sick, have an appointment or a multitude of other reasons so being a blauthor is fulfilling and lucrative.
Imagine sitting at your desk in the morning, typing away and making a great living while everyone else is fighting traffic or the boss.
Can You Really Make Money at Home as a Blogger?
Can you really make money typing about your favorite topic and putting it out there for the world to see? The short answer is, yes, you can. The success rate for a full-time income isn’t great if you’re not familiar with the business of blogging, but with a good game plan, bringing in another income from blogging is well within your reach.
Based on my experience, the most profitable way to reach this goal it to blog about topics that are related to paid products that you create. You can read more about my approach – the Three C’s to Niche Website Success.
Choosing Your Subject Matter
When is comes to choosing your subject matter for your blog being specific is important. There are 2 basic choices: You can write about what interests you, or you can write about something that you know is popular and profitable.
It’s certainly a lot easier and more enjoyable to write about something you’re passionate about, but, depending on your passions, there might not be a lot of outside interest or money in it. The ideal situation is to find a topic that fits both categories.
A good plan is to write a list of everything you have an interest in. If you have particular knowledge or skills in an area that others with your interest don’t always have, that’s even better.
Do Your Research about How to Start a Blog to Make Money
Reflect on your topics and do some research. Are there plenty of folks who would be interested in your topic? Do they spend money on products in that field? Can you bring value – something unique – to this audience?
If you can answer “Yes” to the questions above with reference to one of your favored topics, then you have a winner!
Strengthen Your Writing
You don’t need to be capable of penning the next War and Peace, but it’s important to be interesting, and no amount of marketing will make up for poor writing.
In the past, you could get away with poor content, but Google is getting smarter all the time, and there’s simply too much competition to be successful with anything less than decent writing.
Don’t be afraid to take a writing class at the local college or learn online if you think that would be of assistance to you.
There is always the option of hiring someone else to do the writing for you, but that can get expensive quickly. This is especially true at the beginning, as it can take some time to start generating enough income for both you and the writers.
Select a Domain, Hosting, and a Blogging Platform
I usually purchase a domain name from GoDaddy but there are other popular registrars for about $10 per year as well. You’ll also need to find a place to host your website, which you can do for very little investment per month. I use WPEngine personally.
TIP: Always buy your domain from a regular domain registrar, separate from the company you use for your hosting. This way, you’re free to change hosting at any time by just pointing your domain to your new hosting company. It makes life easier if you change your mind or want to try a new place.
My Personal Recommendation
In terms of a blogging platform, I’d recommend WordPress.org. It’s so well-supported, with so many excellent free and premium themes and plugins, that it’s hard to recommend anything else.
When I first started out, I used Yahoo and Blogspot for blogging. It worked fine back before 2015 but after that WordPress really started to become a front runner. It is easy to use and with a little work, you can really make it look great. Plus, the WordPress software itself is free. You can
download it at WordPress.org.
There are a lot of forums dedicated to using WordPress and you can always get the help you need in getting started and maintaining your WordPress blog.
How to Monetize Your Blog
It is important to remember that you want to be paid for what you write and create. Don’t be bashful about setting up your site in a way that optimizes your opportunities to get paid! In fact, make it a priority.
How To Start a Blog and Make Money -Consider these ideas to monetize your blog
If you want to learn how to start a blog and make money focus on creating your own information product(s) from the start. Could you make a video, eBook, or audio to sell to your readers? Digital information products are very easy to make and have a high profit margin. Trust me, I have sold over one million dollars in digital products. Many of the the tools you need to create digital products are available online for free.
If you do not want to create a digital product could you offer services or consulting? Provide your readers the chance to work with you one-on-one to get your advice or your service.
Build an Email List
As soon as your start to blog you should also start to build an email list. Over 50% of my income every month if from sales after I send an email! I get about a 500% return on my email investment. Get an account with a popular autoresponder service. I highly recommend Mail Munch and Active Campaign (affiliate link) so you can enable your interested readers to opt in to your newsletter.
The autoresponder service provides the software for them to opt in and for you to contact them by email on a regular basis. This way, you can build more rapport with your readers and make more money.
Sell other related products.
In every topic you can imagine, there are products related to yours that you can sell for a commission, otherwise known as affiliate sales. Find some of these related products online and look for their details on becoming an affiliate. For these products, you can post ads on your website, write about them in your blog posts, or talk about them in your newsletter.
Sell ad space on your website
I don’t have ads on my websites but I know many bloggers who make thousands of dollars per month by showing ads. Product owners in your field are always looking for more places to market their products. Offer space on your website for their ads and charge a monthly fee. Or sign up for programs like Google Adsense, Mediavine, or Adthrive and let their ads appear on your site. You could get paid by advertisers simply by bringing visitors to your site.
Create a Posting Schedule
Consider your topic and competition. If the other bloggers in your field post daily, then posting weekly will make it difficult for you to compete. Some topics lend themselves to more frequent posting than others.
One post a week is the absolute minimum to start out and some recommend 3-5 times a week would be better. Ideally, it’s more effective to publish your posts on a set schedule so your regular readers know when to expect your new posts.
Keep in mind that you can pre-blog and schedule your posts. Most of the popular blogging platforms will allow you to preload your posts, and then they’ll be published at the time and date that you’ve specified. Having a set posting schedule will also keep you honest and current
with your writing. It’s not that easy to say to yourself, “I’ll just do it tomorrow” if you don’t have 2,000 people waiting for your next post on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.
Stay on Target and Consistent
Many bloggers quickly get off track and start blogging about their lives. It’s very difficult to be successful writing about your life, unless you have an incredibly interesting life or you’re an incredible writer. Your friends are sure to read it, but few other people will have any interest.
This is a very tough way to get the thousands of followers you really want. If you want to veer off course now and then, wait until you have at least 1,000 followers, at least.
Promote, Promote, Promote
You can have excellent content, but if no one can find you, it’s all for naught. Try these easy ideas to get started with promoting your blog:
➡ Add your blog address to your email signature.
➡ Start a Pinterest, Facebook or other social media page about your blog.
➡ Post on related forums and include your blog address in your signature and profile.
➡ Learn everything you can. Spend time learning about marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) and taking action on what you learn. These tactics, especially SEO, will bring more readers to your blog.
Need more help learning how to start a blog to make money at home?
Take action today and start using the Blog Post Content Workbook to generate income online. The 21 page PDF digital document helps you to:
- set the intention for your blog.
- follow a working plan
- monetize your blog content in no time at all.
You’ll experience incredible results in your business. You’ll grow your audience tenfold, and position your business to lure in clients that you’re meant to serve. It all starts with a plan!
