2018 was a really bad year for me. I spent 45 days in ICU battling pneumonia, sepsis, followed by a tracheostomy, toe amputations, and a few weeks in rehab to learn to walk and wean off the trach and oxygen. It was a nightmare. My pneumonia is still holding on in one lung, six months later! You can read about my ordeal and #neardeathexperiences on my blog at LivingWithDana.com.
THIS IS WHY I BLOG!
Due to these health problems I have turned to blogging as a way to earn a living. I have read everything I can on the subject. I’ve had blogs before but I had never monetized them. That’s the term used when you make money from your blog.
WHERE TO START?
How can you make money from a blog? There are several things you can do. I am writing this blog to help you get started and hopefully I can shed some light on any areas you are unsure about.
- Affiliate Marketing: A simple explanation is that on your blog you link to a product for sale on another site and if someone clicks on your link and buys a product, you earn a commission on that sale. Sign up for affiliate programs.
- Advertising such as through Google AdSense
- Events such as online or summits
- Recurring Revenue from continuity or membership programs
- Promoting Your Offline Business
- Services such as coaching, consulting, writing, copywriting, design, training, freelance.
- Products, physical and virtual, such as eBooks, courses, software, reports, T-shirts, etc.
- Donations
- Syndication
- Selling blogs: you build it and sell it, usually for a popular niche.
Affiliate marketing: Refer people to your favorite website host. I use Bluehost and highly recommend it if you want to set up your site quickly and easily. Throughout my blog you’ll see many affiliate links that lead to products I support. If you click on an affiliate link you don’t pay extra for your purchase; instead, the merchant pays ME a commission for qualified purchases. The merchant thanks me for promoting — marketing — their products by paying me a commission.
You, too, can set up a blog and earn money through affiliate marketing. If you do some research, you’ll see that you could start earning money a few months after starting affiliate marketing. Some people earn enough money from affiliate marketing that they can quit their “day job.” Will that be you? Earning money through blogging and affiliate marketing takes an investment of time, in my opinion.
WHAT DO OTHER BLOGGERS SAY?
Jon Morrow, of Smart Blogger, says that even if you’re passionate about something and spend a lot of time writing about it, you still might not make any money. He says about your unique chosen blog topic: “Nobody but you gives a damn about” [topic] and “Even if they did care, they wouldn’t spend any money.”
Yikes! How do you overcome those objections?
Morrow says, “You need a large audience who buys things. Without that, nothing else matters. It’s a prerequisite for everything else.”
Check out what else he has to say at SmartBlogger.com.
WHAT SHOULD YOU SELL?
What do bloggers buy? You can be sure that they need to buy a package with a blogging host. Bloggers preferably buy WordPress themes instead of relying on the free themes. And bloggers need an email service provider.
Let’s go over these blogging necessities and see how they fit in with earning money on your blog. Keep reading my blog!
If every other blogger is trying to make money selling these same necessities, what can you do?
HOW DO YOU SELL STUFF?
Make your blog content stand out. Write content that keeps your visitors coming back such as list posts, how-to posts, serial posts — posts that your readers will bookmark, share and follow. Make your content valuable to your readers.
My blog content is based on my theme “living the sweet life.” It’s a lifestyle blog. I survived several #neardeathexperiences recently and as I work to put my life back on track, I look for the sweet spots in life, and share them! Who doesn’t want to have a sweet day?!
How to Start A Successful Blog
Read everything you come across about blogging. You will notice there are huge differences in the income earned by bloggers. Some bloggers had to wait a year or two before they were earning an income from their blog that allowed them to quit their day jobs. Others started earning money right away! I need to build my income fast because I get discouraged and bored if I don’t see results from my efforts quickly.
And, I knew I wanted to write about things I love: cooking, organizing, home decor, DIY crafts, fishing, my cats, traveling, reading, movies, fashion, and more. Basically, I write about the sweet things in life, things that mean a lot to more. If I can make your life a little sweeter, then I’m happy!
I use Bluehost for my website. It took a few minutes to set it up, that’s all! Very easy! CLICK HERE to check out what they offer. They are a great host for my WordPress site.
Here are some reasons why you should choose Bluehost:
Free SSL Certificate Included
Every website hosted at Bluehost is given a free SSL certificate. Protect your website visitors with one click.
These are all important web hosting services you should look for in your web host. Check out Bluehost! Use my affiliate links, thanks!
WORDPRESS SITES
Bluehost can host your WordPress site. Don’t use one of those free WordPress sites. You know why? Because at anytime, the free WordPress site can go away. Then where would you be? After spending hours in building your free site, poof, it’s gone.
So use my Bluehost affiliate link
and get your site up and running in just a few minutes!
Once you have your own WordPress site hosted on Bluehost and you see how easy it was to set up, then you might agree that you want to share that information with others who are looking to start a blog. That’s what I did! And you can get your own Bluehost affiliate link to share with others and start earning a commission each time your referral purchases a plan with Bluehost.
Through Bluehost affiliate marketing, you get a commission of $65 – $125 per qualified sale, the last time I checked. The more your referrals turn into sales, the more commission you can earn.
Do You Need A Niche?
What are you interested in? What are you good at?
Make sure you pick something you have a real interest in, otherwise, you will get tired of your blog very quickly. And during the first few months of blogging, you need to make sure your passion will fuel you. It’s helpful if you have someone who can help you write posts, but that person should have the same passion as you do on the subject.
Is what you are interested in going to make money?
If you are blogging to make money, you need to write about what people want to read.
You need to help people SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS.
That’s why I think lifestyle blogs are great: you can write about lots of topics, help people solving problems and test out different niches that you love.
You can learn a lot from successful bloggers.
Look for my weekly posts about strategies to earn money blogging. Thanks for reading!
This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission from qualified purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra. If you like these products and order them through my affiliate links, thanks so much! Want more information? Read my Disclosure Statement.
