Blogging is a great way to make money!
Whether you’re looking to create a small stream of income or make a full-time income from blogging, it’s totally possible.
What I love about blogging is that while it requires diligence and consistency, there really is no limit to how much you can earn.
I started blogging when my twins were less than a year old.
As you can imagine, I didn’t have a lot of extra hours to spare every day.
My hands were full (quite literally)! I worked on my business early in the morning, at night, and while my twins were napping.
I was a newbie with no prior experience, and my success came by trial and error.
So mama, believe me…my journey was not smooth in the beginning.
But I have had great success and I enjoy helping other moms just like you to learn how to earn money blogging.
If you’re new to blogging, don’t let all of your unanswered questions be the reason you refuse to take the leap.
I’m here to share how bloggers make money doing what they enjoy. And I want to help you do the same!
First Things First
If you’re brand new to all of this, the first thing is starting a blog and getting it ready to start publishing content.
The fastest and budget-friendly way to do this is with Bluehost.
I personally use Bluehost and recommend it to my course students and my service-based students because of it’s reliability and prompt customer service.
Check out my post on how to start a Bluehost blog.
How Blogging Works
I should first start by saying that having a passion for writing is great, but that alone doesn’t equate to earning a solid income. There are three things to keep in mind if you want to make money blogging.
Create Quality Content
Make no mistake, mama. The competition is high!
There’s a mix of bloggers putting out high and low quality content everyday. You have to ask yourself where your content falls between both extremes.
Instead of creating posts that mirror what’s already out there, successful bloggers are giving their audience what they really want and need.
By this I mean they aren’t publishing watered down posts hoping to make a few quick sales. They’re focused in on reaching long term goals and building a business that’s sustainable.
They’re committed to delivering content that covers topics in depth.
Let me share an example. Let’s say your blog covers how to care for a child with special needs. Here are some ways you can hook readers with your blog content:
- Write longer posts that cover each topic in more detail
- Write step-by-step guides
- Diversify your blog content with video tutorials that enhance learning
- Offer creative ways for your readers to interact with each other and find support (a Facebook group for example)
- Establish an FAQ page on your site
These are just a few things you can do, but you can get as create as you want.
What works best for other bloggers isn’t going to guarantee it works for you. But when you find something that works, you can stick with it and keep improving!
Recommended Reading: Topics to Write About On Your Blog – The Simple Step-by-Step Guide
Promote Your Content
Even the best content will not be valuable to your audience if they never see it. Creating the right type of content is only a prerequisite to making income from blogging.
You have to promote your content to your target audience! Rather than trying to promote your blog on every social media channel out there, I suggest you tailor your marketing strategy to your specific niche.
Having just a couple platforms that you focus on may produce better results than promoting on 5 different channels. Having more channels isn’t always the best choice.
My suggestion is to use Pinterest to grow your traffic and use Facebook to grow your brand and audience.
An Audience
A successful blogger also has to be crystal clear on who their audience is order to build one.
An “audience” is simply your followers, readers, or subscribers that tune into your content on a regular basis.
Making a buyer persona will help you pinpoint who exactly your target audience is.
You want to steadily increase this number over time. It’s those faithful followers that will be most likely to buy from you as you grow your blogging business. Not all of them, but a percent of them.
Building a Relationship With that Audience
There’s a better chance of connecting with your audience if you actually get to know them. That’s what it’s all about, right?!
You won’t reach your income potential if you don’t build an audience, and if you don’t build a relationship with that audience.
Just like in any relationship, you must nurture your relationship in order for it to grow stronger. Online relationships take just as much work.
Some simple ways to start that relationship building is by:
- Start an email list – this is a more personal connection you can make with your audience and they can email you their questions and challenges giving you insight to their problems.
- Tailoring your content – create content for your audience and less for Google or SEO purposes.
- Do some social listening – go to Facebook groups and read the posts and replies. Get to see what your target audience is asking the most and need help with the most.
Ways to Make Money as a Blogger
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s move on to how it’s possible to actually make money blogging. You can do one, all, or a combination of these strategies to create a nice stream of income.
1. Freelance Blogging
This is what I do!
It was actually the first blogging method I choose when I first started. I set up my website, choose a niche, and began to market myself to potential clients that I wanted to hire me to write for them.
And a short time, I was earning $600 or more per blog post!
You can use multiple ways to find clients that will hire you to write their blogs for them. Over time, you’ll want to sharpen your writing skills and knowledge so that you become an established writer and expert in your niche.
As you build your portfolio of high quality blogging work, potential clients will find you credible and want to hire you as well.
The most common question I hear from new bloggers is “How do I get my first client if I’m new to all of this?”
Thankfully, the answer is not giving up! Every writer had to start somewhere.
In my post called How to Start Freelance Blogging (When You Don’t Know How to Blog), I outline how to become a freelance blogger with no prior experience blogging!
2. Display Ads
Using ads is a great strategy that does yield results overtime. Here are a few things you need to have established before advertisers will consider placing their ads on your blog.
- At least 25,000 sessions each month to your blog
- A good reputation
- A good blog design
I use ads on some of my blogs. It has taken a while, but I’m now able to generate about at least $1,000 each month from the ads.
To boost your income from ads, check out this post.
3. Sponsored Posts
A sponsored blog post really isn’t much different than a “normal” blog post. The tone is pretty much the same.
The only difference is that the blogger is paid by a brand (the sponsor) to create the sponsored post.
The blogger is usually promoting the brand’s products or services in some way. There is usually at least one link to the brand’s website located within the blog post.
Any blogger publishing a sponsored post is required to inform their readers in the blog that they are reading a sponsored post.
Since blogs are still highly relevant and a great way to grow an audience, brands are looking for bloggers that have influence and a sizeable following to help them extend their reach.
Leveraging the network of another person or company of influence is an excellent marketing strategy companies rely on for brand promotion.
4. Sell Products and Services
Once you’ve identified your audience and gained their trust, you can begin to sell them products and services that are relevant to what interests and benefits them.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have a homeschooling blog. You could offer homeschooling materials (workbooks, printables, or children’s books) to your readers.
Basically, any service or tangible product that would help you readers accomplish their goals.
If this is right up your alley, learn how to make printables and sell them!
Blogging Success Tips
I learned quickly in the beginning of my blogging journey just how critical it is to have a few factors in place to grow my blogging business the fastest way possible.
These tips may seem simple, but they really are key! If you apply these tips to your business, you’ll have success. It can also take years off of your learning curve!
1. Set Goals
At first, blogging can feel overwhelming or even confusing. But it’s actually a lot like advancing through college. You have to make decisions about your profession and where you want to be in the coming months and years ahead.
Then you have to work backwards to set specific daily and weekly goals that will help you to reach those goals. If you leave your success to chance, you’ll end up highly disappointed.
2. Be Consistent
You can have the best blogging plan ever, mama. But truthfully, that alone just won’t cut it. It’s better to do a little (with consistency) than to do great things to grow your business only once in a while.
The saying is so true. Slow and steady wins the race!
I’m not saying you should not have multiple goals or larger projects. But just make sure you’re focusing on accomplishing those things consistently over time so that you can see results.
For instance, if you decide to use social media as a tool to market your blog content and find new clients, make sure your strategy is solid. Posting a few times a week may not yield the quality results you want.
3. Automate
Building a business that yields an income means you have to put in the work. But it’s very challenging when you’re raising children.
Automation is not a blogging law, but I highly recommend it. I mean, anything to make your business (and life!) flow easier, right?!
For me, it was a no brainer. Even though my twins are in school now, I still want to use my time in the most effective way.
Five years ago when I first started, I had to squeeze in caring for my twins, cleaning my house, running errands, and time with my husband into each 24-hour period.
Believe me! There were times when I wanted to put off working on my blog just so I could get a solid eight hours of sleep, and other times I wanted to throw in the towel entirely.
Automation helped me through those rough patches. And it will help you too, mama! There are a ton of free and affordable resources for bloggers to run their business with ease.
And the best tool to start automating your business is Tailwind. Tailwind automates my pinning strategy and this is a big chunk of my traffic.
Start Making Money as a New Blogger
There are a ton of opportunities to make money as a blogger, mama! There are thousands of bloggers out there making money. And you can too!
As you know, it takes time. It doesn’t happen in a week or month. But with consistency and an effective strategy, you will be successful. Don’t lose momentum.
Whatever your reason for wanting to earn an income from blogging, keep that in mind each day.
You only have the chance at success with blogging if you keep learning, working at it, and don’t give up.
I’m here to help you succeed at this, mama!
Let me know your blogging questions. What are your biggest struggles? What’s holding you back from starting or keeping it going? Share in the comments below.
Don’t forget to pin me!
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