Whether you already have a blog that you want to improve and make money from or you want to start from scratch and make a small business out of it, there are a lot of opportunities for you in terms of monetizing and the creative side of blogging. However, even though blogging is so wide-spread nowadays, people still need some guidance when it comes to starting, running and operating their blog.
Here are some tips on how to start a blog:
Figure out what you want to blog about
Discovering your passion is the key to successful blogging. You don’t want to be stuck with a topic you hate. Brainstorm a bit, write down what you love to do and what your hobbies are and find a sweet spot on what you are comfortable writing about and doing long-term. Define what your voice will be like – you can base this on your preferences as well – and figure out what your mission is.
Create a brand
Creating a blog name and logo is just a small part of your brand. You have to figure out what your story is and how you’ll connect to your audience based on what your brand is representing. Brainstorm some ideas and test them to see what works best. Once you are done with the creative part of this, you can proceed to be consistent with it and use it as often as possible.
Select a blogging platform
A blogging platform is an important part of your blogging life. What you decide upon depends on what you need, what your skills are and your personal preferences. Some options for you are WordPress, Blogger, Wix, Tumblr, Square Space, Ghost, Medium etc. These are very different from each other – check out the most popular blogs on each platform to see how they operate and what they look like. Your best bet, if you are a beginner, would be WordPress since it’s text-based and search engines love it.
Be patient
Blogging fame and success will not come overnight to anyone. But this does not mean that you should give up immediately. Be patient with your blog and with yourself. Stay on schedule, post regularly, be present on social media etc. If you want to run your blog until it takes off and still work at your regular job, you can hire writers for you – but make sure that you use plagiarism checkers like Copyscape and WriteMyX to be safe. All of this will result in success after a while.
Create quality content
Content is king. You won’t be successful with blogging, if you create mediocre content. This is why you need to pay attention to that element. Create long posts with informative content that will be of some use to your readers. Don’t forget to proofread it with services and edit your posts thoroughly to make sure that there are no mistakes.
Build your community
Once you start posting, you’ll have to spend a lot of time networking, commenting and working with other bloggers. This is important because the audience will not just come to you. You have to work to bring them to you.
“When I first started out I made a mistake of not networking. That was a big fail and now I spend 70% of my working hours commenting, engaging on social media, talking to my followers and reaching out to various influencers,” says Michael Perry from 1Day2Write.
How to monetize blogging?
Advertising
This is the most common way of earning money from blogging. Whether you are hosting ads from Google Ads or working with a brand to promote their products and services, this is the easiest way to earn money once you’ve garnered an audience.
Offer Services
Bloggers often offer their services on their blogs. Be it writing services, programming services or simply editing like on OriginWritings – it’s all possible. Advertise them properly and market yourself as a freelancer and you’ll be able to earn money from your skills.
Sell products
Businesses sell their products on their blogs or use their blogs as an advertisement tool for their e-commerce stores. Figure out what works best for you. If you don’t have products to sell yet, you can always make merchandise with your logo on it, quotes from your blog or funny messages.
Affiliate marketing
This is another common way to earn money from blogging. What you are supposed to do is place links to third party websites and if anyone clicks on your links and makes a purchase, you earn money. It’s really simple and effective.
Conclusion
Earning money from blogging is easy once you get the hang of it. You might be a little scared in the beginning, but after a while, you’ll be more than happy to do everything blog-related like networking and writing. Remember to constantly update, test, work on your blog as it grows and be patient – success comes to those who are willing to put the hours in.
