Are you tired of the 9-to-5 grind? How’d you like to be your own boss? If you’re looking for a new income source, along with the freedom to set your own schedule, look no further than the internet. With close to 4 billion users, the opportunities are endless. Let’s find out if you can you make money blogging?
Why do people use the internet anyway? The main reason is to obtain information: tips and tricks regarding health, relationship advice, how to make money, and how-to tutorials. The web is a vast repository of information. You can tap into this reservoir by providing valuable content in return for a loyal following and a handsome income. How do you provide useful information? By blogging!
When blogging became a thing in the 90s, blogs were a place where people could share their thoughts, opinions, and life experiences. Today, however, blogging is a way to educate, inform and yes, make money. Having an online presence will increase your brand, visibility, and ultimately, your reach.
The internet is also the number one marketing tool for both public organizations, and solopreneurs, which is great news for you because you can easily market your products and services using a blogging platform, while providing great information to your readers. Everybody wins – your visitors get educated, and you make money.
Affiliate links ✔️
Table of Contents
5 Tips To Turn Your Blog Into A Business
1. Blogging As A Business
Think of your blog, or your website, as your hub. It’s where your followers can find you, and all the valuable content you create. It’s important to view your blog as a serious business that you’ll build from the ground up. The first step is to build and design your website.
[Read More: How To Build A Blog On WordPress]
After your site is up and running, your main focus will be on building content. Regular, worthwhile content, delivered weekly will build your following, and position you as knowledgeable and trustworthy. Educate your readers, providing tips and tricks, solving their specific problems, while watching your blog traffic increase over time.
With persistence, you’ll build a consistent source of income from those loyal followers regularly visiting your blog. With a bustling blog full of amazing content, and a devoted fan base, you’ll slowly start to generate income. Can you see how it’s all about building? Internet entrepreneurs are builders.
Here’s a summary:
1. Build a niche website
2. Build your content library
3. Build relationships
4. Build trust
5. Build income
2. Become An Expert In Your Niche
A niche is a specialized segment of the population you direct your marketing to. This subset of the market share common interests and concerns. Your posts will be centered around these shared interests, focusing on solutions to their unique problems. Do this effectively, and watch your traffic gradually grow.
It’s all about delivering beneficial content. That’s the key to getting your readers coming back for more because they’ll see you as an expert able to come up with solutions to their particular problems . You’ll be seen as a teacher. This is how you gain trust with those you’re marketing to, and we all buy from those we trust.
Up-to-date content- that is fresh – is the best marketing message you can send your followers. It tells people you’re invested in your business, and that you take it seriously. This increases the know/like/trust factor that is so essential in any marketing funnel. This funnel includes the steps a potential buyer goes through before completing a purchase or sale. You can read more about funnels here.
Consistent blog content also lets your readers know you’re interested in them and that you care about their problems. That’s why you’re committed to sharing pertinent information on a regular basis.
3. Affiliate Marketing And Money
There are several ways to monetize your blog. Many bloggers use affiliate marketing. Advertising is another popular method of generating income. These methods are not exclusive, by the way, and are used in combination with each other.
[Read More: How To Get Started With Affiliate Marketing [Step By Step]
You can also sell your own products and services. Products could include physical products or digital products in the form of downloads. Or maybe you’re a coach and are selling your coaching services. The possibilities are endless. The point is, there are a variety of ways to bring in income from your blog.
Ways To Monetize Your Blog
1. Affiliate marketing: This form of marketing is a win-win for everyone involved. You promote a merchant’s products on your blog in the form of affiliate links and banners, earning money for both you and the merchant. Check out my favorite affiliate network HERE.
2. Advertising: This could be merchant banners you post on your site, or Adsense or Adwords advertisements you display within your posts or on your sidebar. When someone clicks on one of those ads, you get a small commission. Small streams of income, such as this, can lead to a steady stream of income as the traffic to your blog grows.
3. Services: Many businesses don’t sell products but promote their services, such as, health or life coaching, photography, pet grooming, lawn care, relationship counseling or financial advising. The list goes on and on. Selling services is profitable as it requires no overhead or inventory costs. Let your content advertise for you.
4. Products: Products could include digital downloads in the form of tutorials, eCourses, ebooks, or other educational materials. Physical products could literally be anything: clothing, jewelry, skin care, crafts, supplements, pet supplies, camping gear, luggage, and even food. You get the picture.
Now, of course, you could be an affiliate marketer and advertiser, promoting your products and services all at the same time. Once you become an authority blogger, meaning that you’ve garnered respect and gained a significant following, other opportunities will come your way.
This could be in the form of guest posting on others’ blogs, along with podcast sponsorships, and free product reviews. If a company sees that you have a lot of engagement on your blog, they’ll want you to showcase their products for them. This is great because you’ll get to try their products for free.
4. Interactive Engagement
Google and other search engines like Pinterest and YouTube love interaction. The more engagement you have on your blog in the form of comments, the faster Google will see your blog as an authority site, ranking you ever higher in the search engines.
Comments also add relevant content to your site, making your posts more interesting and engaging. The more content you have, the better you’ll rank, meaning your blog can be found easier in the search engines. Also, the more interaction you have, the more you’ll stand out from your competitors. Don’t forget to answer each and every comment. This shows your readers you care.
Reader comments appear below blog posts so the more posts you deliver, the more engagement you’ll receive, leading to even more traffic, more readers, and more online sales. Unique, relevant, and useful content is the best way to gain traction in the online blogosphere because content is what draws curious people to your site. While there, they’ll hopefully leave a comment, share your content, and click on your links.
Engagement on social media is a great way to promote your blog so share every single post you write. Using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest is essentially taking advantage of free advertising. Why not get others on board promoting your awesome content for you. And don’t forget to comment on other bloggers’ posts, and share their content on social media.
Check out my #1 automation tool HERE
5. Persistence And Patience
Any worthwhile endeavor requires a regular dose of persistence and patience, and this includes blogging and internet marketing. I look at it this way: time is going to pass anyway so start making your dreams of financial freedom a reality. Start building today.
Making a consistent income blogging will take a couple of years, so be realistic when beginning your online journey. You have to be in it for the long haul, and persist through the days when you’re unmotivated, don’t know what to write about, or aren’t seeing the interaction you’d hoped for. You’ll have many of these days, and will have to persevere until there are less and less of them. Eventually the day will come when your blog starts making money.
Know that achieving success online will take a high degree of perseverance, but also know that many bloggers are killing it online. Some are millionaires, some have been able to quit their jobs, many are living comfortably, while others continue to climb the ladder in hopes of future success. And remember this – you’ll learn a boatload of skills along the way.
[Read More: 10 Affiliate Marketing Myths Debunked]
Learn Internet Marketing
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Key Points
The blogging world is replete with opportunities to make money online. Get your website up and running, create content, monetize your blog, interact with your audience, and repeat, repeat, repeat. Blogging takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication, but if you stick with it, you’ll achieve a level of success you previously only dreamed of.
Are considering building a blog? Do you already have a blog but are wondering how to monetize it? Let me know in the comments:)
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Thank you for the information in this article. I find it to be very useful as I just started blogging myself. I will admit, I did think this would be easier than it actually is. Every time I turn around, there is either something new to learn or something I have missed.
I am curious – have you used Facebook to promote your page? And if so, how did you go about gathering followers?
Thanks for reading. Blogging is a great model but you have to put in the time and effort. And it does take time for the search engines to recognize your website. That’s why creating content regularly is so vital because Google takes notice if you’re posting consistently.
I have a Facebook business page where I post content, which is one of the best ways to get organic traffic. I appreciate your comment!