How to Start a Blog That Makes Money

Have you ever read a story about bloggers who make money and end up quitting their full-time job? There are tons of people writing about their experience blogging and how much they earn. The concept of blogging as a job is quite simple - you start a blog, keep posting articles, monetize it in one or a few ways, and make money each month doing that. However, the hard truth is although the concept is simple, it is definitely not easy.

In fact, the majority of bloggers do not make any money, ever. And I'm not saying this to discourage you, the reader. If you are determined to start a blog and make money that way, there are steps you can take and become successful. But, keep in mind that the internet is flooded with bloggers, and becoming successful will not be fast. Just like in the case of many other business ideas, you will need to put in the work to develop content that is good enough and market that content. Nothing good comes quickly and you need the persistence to build an audience for your blog. If you still want to go in that direction, I'm here to help. Keep on reading.

Why am I writing about blogging as a source of income?

As someone who has spent the past 15 years in marketing (writing content, blogging, promoting, social media, email marketing, SEO, website development), I have worked with many customers, entrepreneurs, and fellow marketers from various industries, who are looking to do the same - monetize the content they are creating. I have promoted bloggers, launched online programs and products for many of my customers. Simultaneously, I've also been using business blogging as a promotional tool for my marketing agency for the past decade.

I'm very passionate about work, however, I'm also passionate about being a mom. For me, these are extremely rewarding experiences, and I feel very lucky to be able to do both. I am sharing my knowledge and experience here, and I hope this will help as many women as possible who would like to become financially independent, entrepreneurs, so they can also enjoy motherhood and working from home or anywhere.

Do you love writing? What are you passionate about?

If you hate writing or you plan on writing about something you are not really passionate about, blogging might be a bad idea. Most people who do this never survive the pre-profit stage of blogging (this is the stage where you are putting out blog articles regularly, but that content is not getting any attention, and will not be for some time). The only thing that gets people through this stage is a strong opinion and being passionate about the topic they are writing about.

Additionally, audiences always figure out when a written content is lacking passion, and they will not care about your blog. Basically, the quality of your message will always suffer if you write about something you are not interested in.

You still want to start blogging?

Ok, so you understood that blogging won't be quick and easy money, and that, in fact, there is a good chance you will not make much money. But you have also figured out, just like me, how amazing it would be to write what you are passionate about and monetize that at some point to become more financially independent, so you would like to continue with this endeavor. Great! I'm excited for you too. So, here are the steps to take.

Decide on a niche and create a plan

The first step in starting a blog is to pick a niche. This is the most important step - you need to decide what your content will be about. Will it be about a specific industry? Will you be writing about certain skills or specific personal experiences? Whatever it is you have to think hard and pick it now before you start doing anything.

Keep in mind that some of your ideas might not have a very large audience. It does not mean that your blog can't be successful, but it might be a bit harder to see a quick increase in website traffic.

On the opposite side, if you decide to do a blog that covers a myriad of topics, that could also be a problem. Sites that cover too many topics normally struggle to find a dedicated audience.

Finding a niche will save you time writing about topics that won't get any traffic.

Get a domain and web hosting

Domain names are in high demand and there are various new extensions available, but it is best to pick one that has a dot-com extension. If you cannot any of your desired domain names with a dot-com extension, then you can opt for a different one. Avoid getting country-specific extensions - ones that are ".us" or ".ca". I would not pick ones with ".info" or ".name" either because you will likely not get the same global awareness and appeal. It is super-important that the domain name is short and memorable, so do not go for something like "www.howtopottytrainyourtoddlerfast.com". Go for a length of three words max and no more than 15 characters. Additionally, do not use hyphens in your domain (e.g. "www.potty-training.com") because those are frequently associated with spam. Ideally, the domain would include some valuable keywords that are associated with your niche.

There are a million options for web hosting services. When you search online you might find a lot of affiliate links, so be careful with those. It is best to pick a web host with good reviews, with no major problems or downtime, and who is affordable and scalable (when your blogging business grows you may want to have the option of upgrading hosting services to support higher website traffic). I use Cloudways and it's been working well for the last few years and they have a solid technical support.

Setup blog

Whether you are working with WordPress or other platforms like Squarespace, you will need to pick a theme and set up your blog look. Many of these website platforms are user friendly, but if you are not comfortable doing this yourself, you can hire a freelancer to do it for you. Sites like Fiverr and Upwork are where you will find many web developers who can assist with the setup (and even purchasing a domain and hosting) for a nominal fee.

Setup Google Analytics

Having Google Analytics installed on your website/blog is a great way to keep track of how you are doing with your content. You can analyze and track the incoming traffic and how popular each post is. Without some type of analytics, you simply won't know whether your efforts are working or not.

Write good content with relevant keywords

Blogs that make money have few things in common. One of those things is great writing, which also involves choosing keywords that people search for online. By selecting good keywords or key phrases for your content (repeatedly) you ensure your blog is found by your target audience. There is so much to discuss when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). But to begin, focus on writing content that your target audience is interested in ("content is king"). The traffic will be small in the beginning and sometimes for months or a year after you start blogging. As long as you stay on schedule with your blog posts, you should see an increase in traffic. This brings us to the next important step.

Set a blogging schedule

The goal of creating a blogging schedule is to remain committed and consistent with your posts. Having a blogging schedule also makes things more organized and writing about your niche and not getting sidetracked and writing about irrelevant topics. In the beginning, when you are trying to increase your website traffic you should write as many blogs as possible while maintaining the quality of your content. Share it everywhere and once your blog starts getting a lot of traffic you can decrease the frequency of your posts.

Decide how you will monetize your blog

Your blog will not make money right away no matter what everyone says. However, it is important to have a plan on how you would like to eventually start making money with it. Will you sell a book that you are writing or a video course that you have filmed or plan on filming? Will you try to become an affiliate for different sellers or run ads? Whichever path you choose you should keep that in mind when creating your content. Most people opt for earning income through affiliate sales (to begin with). If you go down that path, make sure you disclose that or you risk upsetting people.

Build a sales funnel

Sales what? Sales funnel is a sequence of steps that people from your target audience take that brings them to the end goal - becoming a paying customer. So, an example of this sequence could be: 1). A person visits your blog, 2). They love your content so they subscribe to your emails, 3). You email those subscribers presenting a paid offer (e.g. a book, an online course, or another product or service that you are selling), 4). People make the purchase, 5). Repeat.

To build a funnel, you need an email marketing platform, such as Constant Contact or MailChimp (there are so many good ones), that integrates with your blog. Next, you need to develop a free offer - something that you give in exchange for the visitor providing their email address. You can find some tips on how to create a freebie here.

After that, you need to decide what you will try to sell to them as the next step (digital product, physical product, service, etc.). Once you have figured out these steps, you need to build a funnel that is convincing enough and automated, so you end up in the "gold" passive income stage.

Productivity Tip

When you are blogging with young kids at home, staying productive often feels like a magic trick. I have learned to build my writing schedule around nap time, early mornings, and the occasional independent play session. One of my go-to sanity savers? Simple, screen-free activities that buy me just enough time to finish a paragraph or format a post. This Dot to Dot Book for Kids Ages 4–7 is a winner in our house. It keeps my little one focused while I sneak in some quiet work time.

Don't give up

Once this is all set up, give it some time, monitor, and analyze while pushing more and more blog content. Do not forget to get on social media and share your content with people you know and relevant social media groups.

If you love blogging and your niche you will most likely succeed in earning income from this effort. The most important thing is to keep going, even if it becomes frustrating sometimes. If you end up too busy and cannot write, ask people (friends, colleagues, or connections from your niche) to guest post. Once you figure out which blogs are getting most traffic, commit to doing more on the same topic.

Have questions? Leave a comment below!