Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you would like to start blogging for a living or as a side-income, you must be patient as you create content. Start by creating blog posts about things you are passionate about because you will probably be happy to blog on what you love most. With time, your readership will grow, and then you will start making money by converting your relevant traffic to sales. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make money blogging.
Set up the Blog
You must create a blog which acts as a platform for publishing your content. The process of starting a blog is not as challenging as you may think. You will just have to identify your niche, register your domain name, set up your web hosting, design your blog and then start publishing content.
You can also hire a web designer. Many start-up designers are skilled and highly talented. Just ensure that you spend your time to find the best web designers who can create a brand that reflects your personality. You need a budget for this, which will pay well if you do the right things.
Find Your Target Audience by Creating Useful Content
After creating a blog, pick a niche. One that you understand very well, especially the deep problems that people go through on that niche and solutions to the problem.
You can always learn more on your niche through online research, reading relevant books, watching documentaries or listening to content on the niche.
Once you start posting content, you will need an audience. Your blog’s traffic will only grow if you have the right target audience.
To find your audience, start by creating unique and useful content which is well optimized for search engines. Write excellent and catchy titles. Your blog posts should add value to your audience and even convince them to revisit your blog regularly.
Make your blog post more shareable by adding different types of content such as text, images, eBooks, podcasts, videos, slideshows, infographics and links to other online resources.
Find Readers by Building Relationships
Identify potential forums where your audience can be hanging out. Quora and Yahoo Answers are some good examples of this. Your work will be easy because when anyone posts a question, he or she will let you know the problem they would like to solve.
You can decide to answer these questions by linking to your blog.
First, read the forum’s posting rules so that you know exactly how to do this without breaking rules.
Building a mailing lis is very important and being active social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and more.
Be active in discussions pertaining to your niche. Help others. Share your posts on these social networks. This will help you build your brand.
Online forums and social networks will help you understand your target audience better. You will know more about their likes, dislikes, problems, aspirations, etc.
This will help you create valid and useful content. Also, remember to gather information about your competitors so that you can always be one step ahead.
Select the Right Money Making Options
At this stage, you have to convert the readership that you have created into sales by choosing the right money making options. There are various ways to make money as a blogger, but you must be ready to work smart and experiment with these options to build a long-term income from your blog. Here are the key money-making options.
1. Advertisements
This is the most common method that bloggers use to make money. This involves placing different types of ads on a blog in the form of links, buttons, videos, links or banners. You can either choose PPC/CPC ads or CPM ads.
- Pay per click (PPC) ads are banners, buttons or links that you can place in your blog for readers to click. Each time your reader clicks on the ad, you will be paid.
- CPM ads, also known as “cost per 1,000 impressions” refers to ads that pay fixed amount based on the number of internet users who viewed your ad.
Google AdSense is the most popular network that you can use to place these ads. It’s an easy process. You will just place the ad spaces on your blog, and Google will choose the ads that are relevant to your blog’s content then your viewers can start clicking on them.
2. Private Ads
If you have excellent traffic, advertisers will come to you. An added advantage is that you can also try to contact advertisers yourself. Just create an “advertise with us” page and list the types of ads you need as well as the cost per month. Also, mention your Google PageRank, Alexa rank and other stats that buyers can be interested to know. Private ads can always be in the form of links, buttons or banners.
3. Affiliate Income
With affiliate income, you will link products that are on sale on some online retail stores, such as Bluehost and then if anyone follows your link and decides to buy that product, you will earn a commission on the sale.
There are different affiliate marketplaces where you can find products in your niche to promote. You can also try out different companies’ in-house affiliate programs – which tend to pay better.
4. Digital Products
Online courses, eBooks, personal images, videos, music, apps, themes, and plugins are just some of a few examples of products that you can sell online.
5. Services
You can start selling your own services. This includes coaching, mentoring or consulting services. Your blog can also be a perfect channel for making money from direct services, but you must first build your credibility.
Do you know of any other ways you can make money blogging or online? Name some below.
