I still remember like it was yesterday, sitting in school, thinking about how cool would it be to write a book someday. I didn’t yet know how or what the book would be about, but I already knew then that it was something I wanted to do. I was convinced (and still am) that writing a book is the best way to get yourself heard without actually having to directly argue with anyone.
As I got older, I came to the realization that maybe I am not yet ready to write a book. I thought that if I wait a little longer, I’ll have more wisdom and experiences to share, which will make it a much better read.
Besides, I was beginning to discover for myself the world of blogging. The more I browsed the Internet, the more fascinated I became with them.
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There were blogs with thousands of posts, with topics related to technology, marketing, animals, cooking, weight loss, self-development, and anything else that you can think of. Moreover, after doing some extensive research, I saw that people were making money blogging, A LOT of money.
At some point, I came to the conclusion that I need to jump on the bandwagon too. I love to write and I would love to make money that way. This would mean getting paid for doing something that I love. Additionally, this would mean that I could work literally from anywhere in the world, just as long as I have a laptop and an internet connection. The “personal freedom” was the most exciting part for me.
So, starting a blog was what I did.
Now that I have been blogging for many years, I want to share with you what I have learned so far. I am hoping that my experience will help you understand that blogging, if that’s what you are interested in, can be your opportunity. So if you are currently thinking about how to start a blog and make money from it, you are on the right page.
Getting ahead of myself, I must say that blogging is one of the slower ways to make money. But hey, if you are really passionate about something, then it shouldn’t feel like work. It’s incredibly easy to start a blog, and as long as you are consistent with creating content, you will make money sooner or later.
Still interested to know how to start a blog and make money from it? Then keep reading on.
How to Start a Blog
1. Pick a niche
Picking a niche is the very first thing you must do. It is also the most important decision that you will ever make regarding your blog.
When a niche is chosen in any online business, there are usually two roads to take. Both roads have their pros and cons.
The first road is the road of passion. This means that you will pick a niche around something that you truly care about, something that you love to think and talk about.
If you are into golf, you could create a blog about golf. If you are into cats, you can make a blog about cats. If you are into technology, you can create a blog on technology. You get the point.
The second road is the road of income. What this means is that your blog is not necessarily going to be around something you care about, but rather something that is hot, trendy, popular, and as a result, profitable.
So how can you tell if a niche is popular? Well, to begin with, use common sense. What do you think is more popular, fitness and health or the different variants of a strawberry plant?
But just because something is more popular, does not mean that you should make a blog about it. If you write about fitness, you will most likely need to compete with a gazillion other fitness blogs. As a result, it may take you years and years to grow a following.
On the other hand, if you write about strawberry plants, you may be one of the only blogs out there on the topic, having almost no competition. Yes, the number of people interested in this topic will be a lot smaller, but at least you will be visible on the internet. And by the way, I haven’t actually checked what is the status of strawberry plant blogs, it’s just an example.
So which road should I pick? – I hear you asking. Well, you have to make that decision for yourself. Some people say that if you want to make money, then you should look at your blog as a money-making machine, meaning that it doesn’t matter what the niche is. All it needs to do is to make you money. The approach is as “businessy” as it gets.
Creating a blog solely to make money is not the best option, in my opinion, but I do understand where the people that do this are coming from. Some niches are incredibly hard to make money with.
If you ask me how I chose my niche, I chose it purely out of passion. I did not even think twice about what it would be.
On the one hand, my blog’s niche – self-development – is an extremely crowded and broad niche, making it very hard for me to attract a specific audience. But on the other hand, I am convinced that if I would have picked any other niche, or even made the current one more narrow, I would not be able to create content for it on a weekly basis. I would simply run out of topics to write about and would lose my interest.
If you are asking how to start a blog and make money from it, then you must really focus on choosing the right niche. Because once you do pick your niche, you cannot change it, you can only start a new blog. Therefore, choose it wisely.
2. Find a web hosting
People often ask whether they can start a blog for free. The answer to that is you cannot start a blog completely for free, but it’s pretty damn near free. All you have to do is get a domain name (the address of your website, such as www.example.com) and a hosting that will host your blog on the internet.
Of course, you can spend a lot of money on some really fancy domain name and a super expensive hosting, but you don’t need to. The domain name that you choose can cost about $10 and the hosting shouldn’t cost much either for the first couple of years.
Personally, I use Bluehost and that is what I can recommend. Their hosting is dirt-cheap, yet it is more than enough. If you buy from them, you also get a domain name for free, and their customer support will help you out whenever you have any problem or need something fixed.
If you purchase through my link, they will pay me a small commission for it, but it comes at no extra cost for you. I am just sharing something I personally use.
As soon as you purchase their hosting plan, you can start setting up your blog. All you have to do is go to their “One-Click Install” section, find “WordPress”, type in your chosen domain name, and click on “Install”. And that’s it. Your website is up, congratulations! It’s that simple.
P.S. If you have any questions about WordPress and setting up your blog, just drop them in the comment section below. I will be sure to answer them there.
3. Get a free theme
When you first start, it is enough that you pick a free theme. There are plenty to choose from. In fact, the theme you see right now on this blog was also free. I did edit it over time, but the core look is still the same free one.
Many people get caught up on how their blog looks right from the start, but honestly, the design isn’t something that should worry you then. Your focus should be on content creation.
The design can be improved with time as your blog grows. And if you can’t code yourself, you can hire someone on Fiverr or Freelancer to do it for you. These services are quite cheap.
4. Start writing
There really isn’t anything else technical to setting up your blog. It’s a very easy hobby/online business to start. The hard part is creating excellent content.
First, you have to understand that 99% of the information is already out there. Somebody has written what you want to write about. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying your best. You will differ from the rest by having your own unique writing style and by providing a lot of value, hopefully.
It’s also very important to keep in mind that blogging is a long road. It will take time for you to take off, and not everything you write will be good. For this reason, it is important to write as much as you can, so that something would stick.
Create a publishing schedule yourself. Be consistent with it, do your research and never give up. Your job from now on should be to create as much content as possible. Make it EPIC content!
How to start a blog and make money from it
Now, the fun part. Everybody wants to know how to milk the blog for money. Everybody wants to know how much money can be made before they go spending even a minute of their time on it.
Honestly, because it takes time to grow your blog, I always say that you shouldn’t be thinking at all about money when starting. However, if you do want to know how much money can be made blogging, then the answer is – a load! No joke. But like with all things, you need to be willing to put in the work. Most people give up waaay too early.
But don’t take my word for it, do some research and find out how much your favorite bloggers make. You will be happy to know that some of them make a seven-figure income from their blogs.
That being said, please don’t focus on money. Focus on creating epic content and providing value upfront to people. Focus on giving rather than getting.
I always say that you should look at any business model as a circle, a circle with three equal parts: money, time and effort.
1. If you want to have a business that doesn’t require much time grow, then you will have to spend an extra amount of money and effort on it.
2. If you want to have a business that doesn’t require much effort, then you will have to spend an extra amount of time and money on it.
3. Finally, if you want to have a business that doesn’t require much money, then you will have to spend an extra amount of time and effort on it.
As you probably guessed it, blogging falls under the third category. It requires almost no money, but it requires a lot of your time and effort in order to be successful.
1. Affiliate marketing
If you are thinking about how to start a blog and make money from it, then affiliate marketing is probably one of the most popular ways to do it.
In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is when you share with your readers some product or service that you like, and when your readers buy that product through you, you are paid a commission.
I always say that affiliate marketing is a win-win-win situation: your audience learns about new and interesting products, the seller gets new clients, and you are paid a commission.
But again, keep in mind that affiliate marketing is not about throwing your links out there and waiting to become rich. No, it doesn’t work that way. If you share products that you haven’t tested out for yourself or you don’t know anyone else that has, and they turned out to be crappy, your readers are going to figure this out and they are never going to trust you. So make sure you know what you are promoting.
If you want to separately read more about affiliate marketing, then make sure to check out this post. There I share a lot of information, including some of my earnings.
Also, I get asked sometimes how I learned about affiliate marketing. At the time of starting this blog, I actually purchased a course on affiliate marketing. It was expensive for me at the time, and I ended up having to borrow money in order to be able to afford it, but it was totally worth it. The techniques taught there are what I have used to make money with this very blog. The course is pretty much everything you will ever need to know about affiliate marketing. The course is called Affiliate Marketing Mastery (again, an affiliate link that earns me a commission with no extra cost to you).
2. Create products
One other way you can use your blog to make money is to use it as a platform to sell products. You probably won’t do that right from the beginning, but it is something you can definitely include in your blog with time, once you have a big enough following.
You can sell your own books, online courses or even physical products, such as t-shirts and hats. It’s really up to you what you do with your blog. The key here is to remember these opportunities.
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3. Do consultations or coaching
Finally, if you are trying to figure out how to start a blog and make money from it, then consider the fact that eventually, you will probably be doing coaching and consultations. This comes naturally to most bloggers. I mean, it only makes sense since you become an expert in what your write about after a certain period of time.
With time, your audience will begin to ask questions and will want individual consultations from you. They will see that you are knowledgeable on the subject that you are writing about, and as a result, will want your help.
In conclusion, there are many ways to monetize your blog (there are certainly other ways too). It’s really up to you how you do it and how soon you do it. Look at how others are doing it, use them as examples and experiment, but don’t copy them. They are unique, you are unique, and everybody’s story is different.
Just remember to be consistent and to stay positive no matter what. If you have chosen to make a living doing something you love, then I don’t see any reasons why you shouldn’t be able to succeed. Keep crushing it, as Gary V. says.
Hopefully, you now know where and how to start a blog, and how to make money from it. If you have any other questions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.
Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
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June 17, 2018 at 21:06
This is very good advice. There are lots of guides out there with clickable titles but when you actually go into read them they’re not full of anything useful. Thanks for the info!
Mel ★ meleaglestone.co.uk
June 18, 2018 at 07:42
Thanks, Mel!
June 18, 2018 at 02:14
This is a great post on how to start a blog and then make it profitable. It’s true that the information is already out there but the great thing about blogs is that you can customize your content in your style and writing from your perspective! Blogging is so much fun. I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s now time to monetize!
June 18, 2018 at 07:42
Great to hear that you are loving it! 🙂
June 18, 2018 at 04:53
What an interesting post! When I first started blogging I had no idea you could make enough money to live off of. This was a great post. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
June 18, 2018 at 07:41
Thanks, Lavanda!
June 18, 2018 at 05:06
I am a big fan of Bluehost too! “Their hosting is dirt-cheap, yet it is more than enough” is true, and my favourite is their responsive customer service. Keep crushing it! 🙂
June 18, 2018 at 07:41
Thanks a lot, Anastasia! 🙂
June 18, 2018 at 06:19
We have similar passions! As a professional counselor, I blog to share my knowledge with others. Thanks for this post; very informative. I’ve been struggling as a new blogger, but at one point, I’d like to monetize my blog.
June 18, 2018 at 07:40
Good luck, Cassie!
June 18, 2018 at 22:56
Making money from a blog is always such a plus. It doesn’t happen over night but it definitely can with the right practices towards your audience.
June 19, 2018 at 05:02
Very true, Becca!
June 19, 2018 at 02:38
thank you for sharing these tips and suggestions. i did not know much about the profitable side of the blogging world
June 19, 2018 at 05:01
Thank you, Nina!
June 19, 2018 at 04:49
Really really great tips! I have a friend and am going to forward this to her, she is about to launch a new blog.
June 19, 2018 at 05:01
Thank you very much, Noelle, I appreciate it!
June 19, 2018 at 05:50
So many great tips here! Taking them to my blog!
June 19, 2018 at 06:03
Thanks!
June 19, 2018 at 13:42
Really great and useful information, I just started a blog, and I find this post really helpful
June 19, 2018 at 13:47
Thank you!
June 19, 2018 at 14:00
Thank you, Jelena, I appreciate it!