I won't lie and say that when you start a blog, you will automatically make money; however, with hard work and with these resources, you too can make a money blog this year and earn some extra cash in time.
As simple as starting a money blog sounds, it takes a lot hard work; but this doesn't mean you can't make money. Starting a money blog requires planning and dedication. I started this blog with no idea of what I was doing. It was when I wanted to start making extra cash from home that I decided to get serious and start earning money.
My goals were to make a few hundred dollars because I wanted to keep it realistic; and with kids and planning a wedding at the time, I knew I couldn't invest time to my blog then. During my honeymoon, I read this book called How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul and it made sense to me, it spoke to me, and I started from there.One thing that I had to do that I've never done before was:
To be honest and stop all excuses and execute.
OK, so maybe it was technically three things, but this book gave me the motivation I needed to turn my blog into a profitable one. I knew I wanted to try and help people with finances, as well as create a new adventure at home! I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, leave my insecurities behind, and turn this blog into what I envisioned.
I was so overwhelmed with all the blogging information out there; one way to stop the information overload was to ask fellow bloggers questions and get their advice. I also learned that blogging groups and communities can be helpful, but can also set you back. I also learned that I couldn't make a money blog successful alone; I needed support.
As my blog grew, the money grew; I decided that after taking Elite Blog Academy, I would show my readers my online income reports each month. I did this because I wanted to show my readers what course had helped me, and I also needed to hold myself accountable. I also wanted small bloggers, like myself, to see that it is possible to make money, even if you have low pageviews.How can you start a money blog this year and make it work?
Research firstThe truth is that there is tons of information when it comes to blogging. There are eBooks, courses, and even coaching services to help you achieve blog monetization. I know I've read and taken courses that have helped me, but some courses aren't as helpful; and when you start reading every single book about blogging, you will find that many are just saying the same things.
The same can be said about blogging courses out there, you will probably want to buy every course because you want to succeed; but at the end of it, you will have wasted much of your time and money because you will realize that it is telling you the same information you have read before.
Researching on your own and not believing everything people tell you is important. I learned the hard way that though blogging groups are very helpful, they can also be harmful. You see, many blogging groups are managed by bloggers themselves, though these bloggers are usually helpful, some of them are simply there to make money off other bloggers naiveness and eagerness to earn money online; mostly new bloggers.
"Buy this course.""Learn ALL about SEO with this course.""Use this advertisement agency!""Don't use this hosting company, use the one I use!"
I'm sure you will hear these comments, and many more; the truth is that they just want you to buy their products so they can make money, they could care less about you and your success. Again, some courses, coaching services, and eBooks are great; but just like real life, you have some bad apples who seems like it can be considered fraud.
For many reasons, you have to do your own research and not always go by hear say from everyone you meet. To help you get started, always ask a trusted blogging friend that is not trying to make money off you, someone who just simply wants to help you. That being said, if that friend has an affiliate link, be a good blogging friend and use his or her link! 😉
Researching will be the most important thing you will do if you want to start a money blog. It is important that you do this first before you end up burnt out and wasting money. Believe me, the time you do researching will pay off in the future, and you want to start your blog off on the right foot!
Below are links to sites with free information regarding starting a money blog:
Elite Blog Academy Blog – Though I am so happy I decided to take this course I will say that the blog part of this site is full of amazing FREE information for those of you who are trying to take your blog to the next level. I know this course is expensive, but is worth it. The good news is that you can take advantage of the FREE resources including a blog planner (which I use) while there.
How To Start a Blog – Beginner's Guide for 2017 -This post is full of great information, all free of course!
ProBlogger – This site you will use heavily and continue to use because it is so resourceful for us bloggers.
YouTube – Youtube is a resource for almost anything in life! You can find helpful videos to help you blog.
Amy Lynn Andres – I have to say that this was one of the first sites I visited to help me start my money blog. Make sure you sign up for her weekly Useletters!
Smart Passive Income – Another site that has been around and is full of helpful information for all levels of blogging.
Reading is your friend!If you don't like reading, then blogging might not be for you. When you research, you will find out that many of these sites will guide you to books that are very useful. I, for instance, told you that I read How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul, but the truth is that there are so many helpful books out there; some are free, and some are very affordable.
If you are a Kindle Unlimited member, you will find some amazing eBooks to read at no cost to you. For $9.99 a month, I am able to read some of the best blogging books around; and if you are a new blogger, maybe Kindle Unlimited will work for you. If you don't want to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you will be able to find some good free blogging eBooks that are very helpful for beginner bloggers.
Set up your blogSetting up a blog is not as hard as you might think. The problem is that you are going to have a hard time deciding if you want to have a free no-hosting blog, or a self-hosted blog. This is followed by which is the best hosting company out there, and this is where it gets overwhelming sometimes. I started my money making blog with BlueHost, and if you ask other bloggers, they will say go with another one and so on and so on.
If you are looking to start your blog with out spending any money, you might want to try Blogger.com, WordPress.com (not WordPress.org), or Weebly! I started blogging using Blogger and WordPress, and look at me now! eh?! These are absolutely free, but before you go ahead and use them, please find out all the pros and cons about them. You can learn more about Weebly pros and cons here.
For example, you can't add advertisements like ads when you use WordPress.com, however, you can with Blogger.com. I have not used Weebly personally, but they are limited with the blog theme layout. With Blogger.com you can pick themes, and you can place ads but your control of the blog is limited.
Blogger belongs to Google, and if you don't know anything about Google, I don't know what to tell you, but I can judge you! There has been rumors of Google shutting down blogs. On that note, I have never heard of this happening to anyone I know or to me. My blog, as of right now, is still online.
Since I have used them both, I recommend always starting self-host site; but if you are trying to see how this blogging works, then try creating a blog for free. Now, personally, I recommend Blogger vs Free WordPress because you have more control. Yes, WordPress has nice themes, but Blogger is for beginners, hands down. You have more options and control.
Self-hosting is the way to go if you are planning on growing your blog and you want to earn a nice income. I started to make my money when I created this blog when I decided that self-hosting was the right way.
Before you start your blog, free hosting or not, let's start thinking of a name for your blog. Now finding a domain company is not hard at all. As a rule, I tend to keep my domain and my hosting companies separate. I also use NameCheap for my domains, and believe me, I have a few domains! NameCheap also has hosting packages that are affordable too, just in case you are looking for cheap hosting services.
Keep in mind that some people will try to sell you a host company to make money, and that is OK. For this reason, I always suggest and recommend that YOU do your own research (I sound like a broken record), call or contact web-hosting companies and find out every detail that you need before you make your purchase.
If you are going to create a site to sell products, or to sell apps, or just a personal blog, you need to find out what hosting company and package is going to work for your blog and business. I started with BlueHost, and as I expanded my online business, I went with LiquidWeb. BlueHost is very affordable, but you have to pay up front, there is no monthly installment payment. Another popular hosting site is SiteGround, and they are very affordable and very helpful.
If you just want to start a mommy blog, there are so many free resources that will guide you to start. Below are FREE blogging resources to help you start your own blog:
Start A Blog 101 – This is a free step by step course to help you get your blog started! It is full with free printables and videos too!
Start A Money Blog – This is a post that contains a step by step guide if you are interested in hosting your site with BlueHost.
What to do next after setting your site upIt is time to start writing your content that will get you traffic. I am going to be honest here, you have to write good content, great content even, content that is going to drive people to come to your blog. Just because your blog is now running, you are not going to become a millionaire overnight, this is where the hard work comes in. I never said blogging is easy, and if you followed my journey, you know that it takes time and work to start making money.
This is when all your research and reading comes into play. You are going to implement what you have spent hours learning and researching, you are going to write great content and start growing your blog.
You are going to:
Yes, you are going to do all of the above and use what you have learned from researching, reading, and you are going to make this blogging thing happen. Your post content is going to have catchy titles that are going to stand out and drive people to your blog. Your visuals are going to be helpful and conversational to bring people in. You will start your blog with the best content, the best photos, and the best layout so you don't go back and fix them later.
With the resources in this post, you will be able to find and learn what is best and what works, and what I mean when I said you will do better than just OK if you want to make a money blog this year!
Good resources to help you build good content: Sites to create great image:This is something that I never did before, and now I am regretting it, I never thought of building my email subscribers. This you will start doing now because I don't want you to make the same mistake I made years ago. To build your subscription rate, you need to subscribe to email companies, and there are plenty of them out there.
Since I love to start you off with free, I will tell you that opening an account with MailChimp will be the best thing to do. Others will recommend ConvertKit, and other companies, but since you are starting out, why do you want to pay for those services when you are not making any money?
The smart thing to do is to start with an email company that is going to offer free services at first until you are ready to handle email marketing, or you reach the free limit of subscribers allowed`. Also, some of these companies are not cheap either.
Check out this resource to learn how you to grow your email subscription:The 2017 Guide For Growing Your Email List 1K in 30 Days
Continue to build trust with your audienceAs you continue to write and grow your email subscriptions, you will start gaining readers' trust. Start by offering a freebie, not just any freebie, a useful freebie. Now, this is where I'm going to sound crazy, but if you decided to make a blog because you just want money, your readers are going to know and not trust you.
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */]]>You have to invest time to start making money on a blog. What I am giving you is the tools to start making a money blog. Never on this post did I say you will start making money right away! A money blog is a business, and with the tools provided, you will start earning money at some point. For this reason, it is important to start writing and start earning your readers' trust.
Using ads to earn moneyIf you want to add ads from companies such as Google Adsense and Media.net, you can, but this doesn't mean that you will start earning money. Ad incomes start generating with blog growth; and to make a nice income, your pageviews must be high. As time passes and your blog starts to grow, you can start joining other ad companies. Keep in mind that your blog must be at least 30 days old to sign up with these companies.
Again, I would continue to write and focus on email subscriptions and earning your readers trust before worrying about money.
Social MediaSocial media plays a critical role in growing a blog; for this reason, you need to make sure you set it up, but if you don't have great content, then you need to focus on that first. Open a Facebook page, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Now, I'm not going to go into too much details about setting this up, but I will give you resources about social media growth.
This can be very overwhelming, and below you will find some courses and resources that are free and helpful when it comes to social media.
Build an Engaged Facebook Page from Scratch – This is a free course where you will learn how to set up a Facebook page and gives you a better understanding about Facebook and growing your page.
The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Pinterest For Marketing – This is a great post; of course, this is from a scheduling company which is a very good company, but I want you to focus on the information it gives regarding Pinterest.
ConclusionI believe that this post is long enough and full of information, maybe too much. But before I let you go to start your money blog, below is a list of more free resources available to help you grow your money blog with the option of purchasing. Also, I want you to remember that there are always budget friendly options, which is what I am providing in this post.
But at some point, you are going to have to invest money in your blog, and this will pay itself back in the future. Think about this.
Latina mom of 3 married to wonderful Greek gentleman. Living in southeast PA and trying to juggle family and a household while trying to earn an income from home. Follow my stay at home journey as I discover how to earn money and save money so we can continue to live debt free.
Latest posts by Joyce @ My Stay At Home Adventures (see all)Source: How to Make A Money Blog This Year
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