Ever wonder how websites, TV shows, radio shows, etc. make money? It's pretty simple actually. They generate a following, create good content, and advertisers pay them to post their ad to their large following!
Blogging is the exact same process. If you're looking for some extra cash in your pocket, you like writing or teaching about something you are passionate about, and you're able to create decent and readable content, then blogging is your best bet!
But how do you get started blogging? I'm going to show you the quick steps for how to make money blogging for beginners. Whether you've started a blog already and need some extra guidance, or whether you have no idea where to start and want to get going with your first blog, read on.
How To Make Money Blogging
Follow this 5 step process and your blog will be making money in no time.
Step 1: Choose your blog niche/topic
The very first thing you will want to do is determine what your blog topic, or niche will be. This is probably the most important step in getting your blog up and running, but at the same time can cause people to go around in circles deciding what to blog about.
When deciding what to blog about, pull out a pen and paper and write down the answers to a few questions like:
- What do you like to do for fun?
- Where do you find yourself spending your free time?
- What would you like to learn more about?
- What are you really good at and knowledgeable about?
Write down a list of 5 – 10 answers for each of those questions. The idea here is to find something that you won't get bored with, while also having a niche that you are able to keep writing about.
The more detailed the better. For example, if I were to say my topic is about “health”, I'd find myself competing with every blog and website out there about nutrition, weight loss, building muscle, sleep, etc. So you want to narrow down even deeper. I'd say go two steps deeper than just “health.”
For example lets say you like the topic “health.” But you want to focus on nutrition, and to narrow it even deeper lets focus on vitamins. Your website niche would be on Vitamins. You would then blog about different vitamin types, why some are good and why some are bad, recommendations, reviews, case studies's, etc. It's a narrowed enough topic, yet gives you a list of topics within that niche that will capture an audience.
Task: Write down 5-10 answers to the above bullet point questions to brainstorm your blog topic/niche. Pick your top 3, and go two steps deeper on each of those three. Choose the one with the best potential audience and where you have the most interest.
Step 2: Setting up your website
Now that you have your topic figured out, next step is to set up your website. Don't worry, you don't need to know how to code or any of that mumbo jumbo. If I can do it, so can you!
There are a list of website hosting services that will allow you to set up your blog. You want one that is user-friendly, allows you to sync with other apps or services like emailing services, etc., and one that will be long term. Once you get it up and going it will be a pain to have to switch it all over to another platform down the line. Here are a few of my recommendations:
- Wix.com
- Shopify.com
- WealthyAffiliate.com
I personally recommend using WealthyAffiliate.com due to their wide range of tools and no need to pay for any additional services like emailing, content building, keyword research tools, etc. They've got it all included plus great training's on how to build your online business!
Task: Do your research on the suggestions above, and determine which website building platform fits you best.
==> Click here to read my detailed review of WealthyAffiliate.com
Step 3: Create your first blog post
Your very first blog post could be about multiple things. But probably the most important blog post to create (and to revisit and edit from time to time), is your “About Me” page.
Your About Me page is what gives you credibility, and what shows your true colors and your reason for creating the blog. The best “About Me” pages have a compelling story and background that tells the reader why they created the blog and what their real reason behind it is. This is where you really get to relate to your audience.
Your About Me page is probably going to be one of the most visited pages on your website, so you want to make it sociable and presentable.
Once you have your About Me page set up, its time to start blogging for real! Start with questions you may have had about the topic when you were first learning. If your topic is Vitamins, start listing blog post topics and questions that a general reader might ask such as:
- What is….?
- Top ten best practices for….
- Why everyone needs to….?
You get the idea. Most blog posts range from 500 words to 1,500 words. The key is to make the content relevant and flow naturally.
Step 4: Marketing your blog for free
The best way to market your blog for free is by far using social media. By creating a social media page for your blog on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, you can get a good following over time by posting all your new posts on each of the websites.
By using social media and posting your new posts on each social media page, you also gain favor in search engines and helping get your website ranked on searches.
Another benefit of using social media and posting regularly is you can also insert products and links to ads you eventually will make money off of (discussed on next topic).
Second best way to keep a constant flow of traffic to your blog is through email marketing. By setting up a few pre-made emails about your blog topic with email marketing platforms like ConvertKit, you can automate the emails each time someone signs up for your newsletter or email list.
If you really want to get the ball rolling, you can set up a page on your website that is just for signing up for your email list, and then having Google Adwords send traffic to your page to sign up!
Step 5: Making money with your blog
Most people will get to this point and scratch their head. But honestly its very easy to set up. You will make money from your blog in most cases through 2 different ways:
- Placing ads on your website
- Including affiliate links to recommended products
Placing ads on your website
There are multiple advertising companies' that will pay you every time someone clicks on an ad placed on your website. The most known and used is Google Adsense.
Once you set up a Google Adsense account, they will give you instructions on where to copy and paste the code on your website (don't worry you still don't need to know how to code, just copy and paste). Then they will place ads relevant to the visitors on your website, or relevant to the content on your website. Each time someone clicks on the ad, you get paid!
Including affiliate links
An affiliate link is a special link that a company gives you that takes anyone who clicks on that link to the companies' website. This link is attached to you so they know where the website visitors came from.
If one of your readers click on a link you include in your blog, and decide to purchase a product from that recommended company, you get paid a commission.
Using sites like ShareASale.com, Rakuten, ClickBank.com make it easy for generating these affiliate links, and allow you to have a one stop shop for all your affiliate commissions. You can also reach out to individual companies' by going to their websites, and usually toward the bottom of the website they have a page for “Affiliates.” You can generate a custom link this way as well.
Consistency is key to making money blogging
The most important key of all is creating consistent content. In order to get paid, you need traffic. In order to get traffic you need to have lots of good content, and you need to get your website ranked on google and other large search engines.
By not focusing on making money and focusing on helping out the reader by providing good quality information, your blog will naturally start to make some money in no time!
If you want some added help with getting your blog up and going, I recommend trying out one of these blog training courses. They provide great insight and are taught by some of the top blogging experts around.
