One of the best ways to make money from your passions in life is to write a blog. Blogs are a great way to explore you favorite interest areas, spread specialized knowledge, and help people become interested in something you love. Everyone knows SOMETHING about SOMETHING, even you! When I first started blogging, I simply documented my training experience as I learned to become a truck driver. I then started writing about what life was like on the road and from there, I actually started making some money and gained quite a following. You can write about pretty much anything, though. Your hobbies, parenting, cooking, computers, traveling, knitting, gardening, working on cars, sports teams…. whatever you want!
If you write a great blog, build a loyal following, and become a “thought leader” in your own little niche, you can certainly turn your blog in a way to generate income. It won’t be quick or easy, in spite of what many “guru’s” out there will tell you, but it is absolutely 100% possible to earn a full-time living as a blogger. Here are some tips on how to create a blog and make money in your spare time.
Learn How To Make A Blog
Starting a blog may be a little intimidating if you don’t have a lot of technical skills. When I first started I knew how to perform a pretty killer Google search, but building websites? I didn’t have a clue. The most popular blog creating service is called WordPress. They have plenty of free resources including premade blog templates by website designers that can easily be customized for your needs. With WordPress’ templates you can easily create a beautiful blog that reflects your style and the content of your blog no matter what level of technical skills you currently have. You can start playing around with WordPress for free here. If you’re feeling completely overwhelmed and need some help getting your WordPress site set up, have no fear! You can either sign up for a training program like this one, or you can use one of the many free tutorials that are available online. For example, the video below will show you how to build a WordPress blog step-by-step with no steps skipped in under 2 hours. Just follow what they do on the screen and you’ll have a phenomenal blog up and running today!
Find A Good Blog Host
The next technical piece in how to create a blog and make money is to find a good blog host. If you use a WordPress template you will need to find a website host that is affordable and able to host a WordPress template like Site Rubix. I recommend Site Rubix not just because they offer WordPress hosting but they offer a range of tools that can help bloggers be successful. They offer plugins to support website ranking, traffic and reader analysis, and a high degree of security. They are also incredibly easy to use, so they are a great place for a beginner. Site Rubix is actually included in your subscription to this blogging and affiliate marketing training program which is how I recommend you get started should the funds allow you to do so. If you just want to get going with a cheap but reputable web host, here is a video on how to get set up with HostGator hosting:
Create Valuable Content
Once you have created the platform to host your blog, you will need to create valuable content. Content is all the things that you post on your blog and can range from standard blog articles to photos and infographics to videos. Your content needs to be relevant to your subject matter and offer valuable information to your readers. When you are thinking about how to create a blog and make money think about content that you can use to attract readership and ultimately begin to sell products. I very highly recommend you read my article on the CTPM process of making money with a blog. That article will give you very specific and detailed information about how to create a blog that truly SELLS.
Build An Audience
In order to make money with your blog, you need an audience. Building an audience is the toughest part when looking into how to create a blog and make money. If you have great content, it’s a great start. However, you can have the best content in your industry but if people don’t know you exist, then you will struggle with building an audience. So once you have built your site with some great content, you will need to start marketing. There are a ton of ways to market your site online from social media marketing to mastering SEO to banner ads. How you market your site all depends on your industry, what type of readers you are trying to attract, and what you’ve found works for you. There unfortunately is no shortcut here – it can take many months or even a couple of years to build a loyal and passionate following, but once it grows to a certain point, things snowball and growth becomes exponential.
Find An Affiliate Partner
Once you have built a large audience, you will be able to then find an affiliate partner. Affiliate partnerships are based on you directing your traffic to a company’s products. For example, if your blog is about organic foods, you can recommend products like coconut oil by your affiliate partner, and whenever someone then buys coconut oil or even other products from that company, you are a paid commission. The more people you are able to send to you affiliate partner, the more money you can make. Affiliate marketing is a great method for anyone who’s looking into how to create a blog and make money.
Mastering Conversion
Finally, when learning how to create a blog and make money, you have to also learn how to master conversion rates. Conversion is a term for when you are able to convert your readers into customers. This is done by offering valuable content that directs them to the affiliate products and helps them engage with your affiliate partner’s brand and subsequently purchase products. The more conversions you have, the more money you make. However, if you are anything like me, you don’t like things that are blatantly advertised. So one of the keys things to remember is that if you are going to have a high rate of conversion, it has to be very organic and the recommendations need to flow naturally.
Sell With Passion
When really thinking about how to create a blog and make money, you should also think about why you want to create a blog to make money. Granted, extra money is very nice, but ultimately, what I’ve found most people going into affiliate marketing with their blogs are looking for is a way to work a job they love, explore their passions, and share their knowledge with the world. Some of the most successful bloggers never intended to even make money from it. When I first started, I was simply writing about my passion and my life as a truck driver, and since the sole purpose of the blog was to help other new or perspective truckers, it was a huge hit. Ironically, focusing on making money is usually what prevents people from making money online! As I said, the most conversions happen organically, so really my best advice is when you are thinking about how to create a blog and make money, you should also be thinking about how you can create a blog about something you enjoy, know a lot about, and love sharing with other people, then how to take that passion and monetize it through some great relationships.
Getting Support
There are many websites online that promise to help you build a profitable blog but most of these are costly and overpromise and underdeliver. The truth is building a blog that is profitable takes an average of 18-24 months before you really start making money. That’s because it takes time to build a loyal following, gain trust from your readers, and find the right products to sell. So when you are thinking about how to create a blog and make money, make sure that you have realistic expectations about how much time it takes to make a profitable blog. If you do decide to partner with someone to help, make sure to partner with a trusted website.
I personally can vouch for Wealthy Affiliate. After looking into several different companies to help take my passion to the next level, I found that Wealthy Affiliate offered all the technical tools, business advice, and expertise I needed to understand how to create a blog and make money. Wealthy Affiliate was also very realistic and did not make grand promises about how I would become rich overnight. Instead, they helped me build a sustainable business that I have been able to grow through hard work and dedication. Now I just work as an affiliate marketer, make a great income, and have the entrepreneurial freedom to pursue the things I love.
