You want to start a blog and make money but can’t pull the trigger yet.
You don’t want to invest all this money into a web host and other blogging resources just to have your blog sit there with no audience, no traffic and making no money.
I get you, mama.
This isn’t the first blog I have started. This is actually my second. I do have other blogs, but most of those are contributor blogs where I only manage the blog.
To help you get that fresh blueprint on how to start a blog and make money off on the right foot, I’ve rounded up ten simple ways you can have a successful blog from the start.
If you have started a blog yet, check out my super simple tutorial on starting a blog!
How to Start a Blog and Make Money
1. Understand Blogging Terms
Now, before you start your blog, you need to understand what a blog is and all the terms around blogging. This is a whole new world for brand new bloggers.
What is a blog?
A blog is a place to share your thoughts and let it be public for all to see. Blog’s are usually hosted on a platform like Bluehost and is created from a content marketing platform like WordPress.
You can use this blog for:
- A diary of sorts
- To catalog your journey (running journey or weight loss journey)
- To offer a service like freelance writing
- To make money
Other terms you need to know are marketing features like social media automation tools.
These are tools that can help you promote your blog all over social media. I use Tailwind to share my pins on Pinterest, so I don’t have to manually pin all day. This frees up time.
You also need to know about email marketing tactics.
As a blogger that wants to generate income from their blog, having an email list is essential to getting started successfully.
For more help check out this guide of 39 blogging terms you should know!
Want to start your own mom blog that makes money? Make sure to check out my free start a mom blog course!
2. Pick The Right Niche
Personally, the right blog niche is something that you can write about for years to come. It’s something that gives you motivation, inspiration and makes you excited.
I absolutely LOVE blogging and writing, and the two blogs I have are about those topics. There is also no shame in choosing a blog niche that is known to make money.
While you can turn practically any niche into a monetized niche, it’s easier to pick a niche that is already popular. You can quickly see if your niche is popular by using BuzzSumo.
This is a site that shows the social shares of a particular topic or even a particular blog.
Here are the results for “yoga for kids.”
Your niche can change over time as well. So don’t feel like you need to figure it all out right in the beginning; pick a few topics and see what resonates with your audience.
I did this for one of my blogs, Smart Mom Ideas, and it worked out great. I went from blogging about frugal living and organizing to pregnancy and postpartum and my pageviews more than doubled when I did that.
This shows me I’m on the right track of what my audience is seeking.
For this blog, over the summer I tried to open up my niche to include more “work at home mom” content like planning your day, goal setting and more.
While I like this type of content, it didn’t take off as fast or as much as I would have liked with my audience. So, I’m back to blogging and will revisit the work at home mom content later.
From what I can see on Pinterest, the best niches are ones that are visual and geared for moms – health, DIY crafts, parenting, pregnancy, food, beauty, and home decor.
3. Figure Out Your Blogging Voice
The successful blogs out there are ones that are unique and authentic. People go to their blog, follow them because of the type of blogger they are. One thing to realize is that people don’t follow blogs, they follow bloggers.
So, on your blog, you can portray yourself any way you want, but of course, being “yourself” is the best option. When I first started Twins Mommy, I was reading a lot of blog posts from other big bloggers.
I realized I started adopting their blogging voice. I used the same tone and sometimes references. Once I realized that I began to be more myself.
Your blogging voice can change too.
For my freelance writing blog, I feel I’m more professional when I blog. I don’t use slang, and I am not playful on that blog. For Twins Mommy, I am more chatty and more down-to-earth when I write.
This is based on the audiences for my blogs. Once you figure out who your blog is for, then you can adopt the appropriate writing voice that is still YOU!
4. Write Content That Helps
A blog is no longer a diary once you can help others with their problems. Many moms and many people start blogs as a diary. They want to blog about their family life so that their extended family is up-to-date with what’s going on.
That’s okay.
But, once you change your mind and want to make money from blogging, you have to change your content so that you’re helping others. Give a reason for others to come to your blog and read your content.
From your niche, you need to figure out blogging ideas that help solve a problem with your audience.
Let’s do an example!
Say you want to start a blog and make money in the frugal living topic.
Start thinking about the problems people are having with saving money.
- They have little money to start with
- They have a big family and find it hard to save money
- They don’t know how to budget
- They don’t know ways to minimize their life
- The mom is pregnant, and now they need to budget for a new baby
There are many ideas to help you figure out WHY they would want content about living a frugal life. From here you can start creating blog post topics for your new blog.
73 Easy Ways to Start Saving Money When You Become Parents
The Simple Way to Start a Budget for a Large Family
43 Household Hacks That Will Save you $500 a Month
These are just ideas off the top of my head. Of course, make sure that when you come up with blog topics, that you can write about them by having had the experience or can link to resources.
5. Gain a Tribe and Grow Your Traffic
To start building a successful blog, you need a loyal following. This is your tribe and they can help you grow your blog traffic.
The first steps to building a tribe is to be on social media!
Only focus on one or two platforms. For me, I focus on Pinterest and Facebook.
I always say that Pinterest brings me traffic and Facebook brings me a following. For you, it may be Instagram and Facebook. Whatever you choose, choose one or two social media platforms that you know your audience hangs out on.
Social media will be the place you will gain traffic. There are other ways to gain traffic for sure, but for brand new bloggers, social media is where it’s at (and it’s free!).
Once you have some social media profiles you can start promoting your blog on social media. You can introduce yourself and share your brand new blog if you want (before you have blog posts).
This starts the social chatter in social groups and it’s the beginning of blogger networking (i.e. getting to know others in your niche).
6. Create Content People Want to Read
To start seriously growing your blog traffic, you need to promote and share your blog posts. This content should be helpful and just for your target audience.
Finding the right blog idea for your blog can just mean checking out other blogs in your niche. I don’t mean COPY them; just get inspiration from them. You can even check out blogs outside your niche to get blog topic ideas too.
How many blog posts do you need before you launch?
This is personal preference. Some bloggers recommend ten, others twenty and still others say 1. I started this blog with only one blog post. But, after blogging for a while I know the value of having bulk content ready to be published.
If you create 10 blog posts and drip out your content every other day or every two days a week, and then spend time promoting your content, you will get traffic quicker than if you just published one blog post.
It happened to me many times.
So, it’s up to you, but I suggest having more than one blog post before you launch. The type of blog post you have also matters.
Very engaging and share-worthy content are ones that have lots of resources.
These tend to be packaged up in a list post – 45 Tips to Get Toned Arms.
For more help, check out my content masterclass for bloggers.
7. Start an Email List
Successful blogs have email lists.
As a brand new blogger, do you need an email list? It depends on your overall blog plan.
If you plan to monetize your blog and maybe create a product or free courses, then an email list is perfect for you. It helps grow your audience, and it’s an awesome way to get to know your readers.
Many of my subscribers email me and tell me their blogging story. I love hearing from my subscribers!
It helps me be a better blogger and serve them better with my content!
I do caution starting an email list in the first three months of starting a blog. Email marketing is a whole new ball game with new terms, new tools, and new marketing ideas.
8. Serve Your Audience
This is key for many successful bloggers.
What does serving your audience mean?
It means the blog posts you publish, the Facebook Lives you do, the social media postings you create, the emails you send and the networking you do with other bloggers are all ways you are serving your audience.
You might notice that a lot of successful bloggers share a TON of free content – from free eBooks to free guides to free videos and more.
On Twins Mommy, you will find a ton of free resources to help you. I even give training in my Mom to Mompreneur Facebook group.
I want to serve my audience as much as I can.
And, when you do this, it can help grow your brand and income.
People will buy from those they LIKE, KNOW, and TRUST.
And an easy way to start serving your audience is to be available to them. This means replying to your blog comments and emails. It also means answering questions in Facebook groups and getting to know your email list subscribers.
9. Start Making Money
A blog can be successful once it starts making money. This is an important step for many bloggers and it’s okay if your intention of starting a blog is to make money. The reason I started blogging was to make money.
There are different ways to make money blogging, but two popular ways are using affiliate marketing and offering a service.
Check out my video on getting started with Amazon affiliate marketing. This can help you set your blog up for this strategy and help you make your first dollar blogging.
Another way is to offer a service. When I first started blogging, this is what I did. I started a freelance writing business, and it’s been highly successful these last years. I’m so fortunate for that as it has opened the doors to other ways to make money.
I now offer products to my audience as a way to help them become successful too!
10. Hold On To Your Why
Blogging is hard mamas! I’m not going to lie.
I’ve heard stories from moms that started a blog a year ago and aren’t making money with it. I’ve heard others say they started making money their first month.
There is no “one way” to do this.
I shared with you my tips that helped me become a full-time blogger. I make a living blogging, and I want to help you too. That’s why it’s important to hold on to your why.
Remember the reason you started blogging in the first place. Maybe it’s so that you can bring your hubby home, so he doesn’t have to work 60 hours a week at a job he hates.
Maybe it’s so that you don’t have to put your child in daycare since it’s already eating up most of your paycheck.
Maybe you are struggling to pay your bills, and you just need a helping hand to get you up and running!
There are many whys to starting a blog; just keep hold of that while you face success and failures in blogging (as many do).
Take It One Day at a Time
Blogging is a journey so take it one day at a time. Plan your day for blogging and sit down to plan your blog traffic strategy so that you can start a blog and make money!
Over to you – what do you feel is the most important step in this list? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!
And don’t forget to pin me!
6 Comments