Making money from your blog is no myth. While you may not become an overnight millionaire from blogging, this can be turned into a profitable job where dedicated content creators earn from the time and effort spent on their content and marketing. Your blog itself should be free, but the discussions you have and the information you share will gives you the tools to monetize. Think of your blog as a springboard for lucrative opportunities that can happen on and offline. Here are 5 ways to start your path to profiting.
Pick a Niche that Profits
Find where the next wave is and jump on it. Your blog should be like a business, and you want to market it where there’s a demand for your content. If your blog is about a TV show that was cancelled five-years ago, you’ll probably still have readers – but are unlikely to profit off of such a small niche. Think about an industry that is constantly changing, growing and coming up with crazy new ways to make money. Fitness, fashion, technology, real estate, parenting: there will always be a large audience for these subjects. When choosing a niche for your blog, the industry you choose should have new trends to talk about, new technology to experiment with and a growing audience who wants to learn more about your world. Find a way to work your blog into the everyday lives of your readers so you can learn how to meet their needs.
Create Killer Content
Your plan begins with your content, so you need to create killer content. Keep your blog focused, without charging readers for content they can access elsewhere for free. Your posts should cater to an audience who can transition from readers to customers. Think about creating engaging posts that grab attention with visuals and great titles. As you contribute useful information to your blog topic, readers will rely on you for answers and you can make your way up to the level of an influencer. This alone can lead to professional consulting, especially after you have built an audience that speaks to your credibility. This will open the door for using your blog to attract new clients if you are interested in consulting or being hired for your skills. Think of what you can offer clients that doesn’t exist on your blog yet.
Growth Your Audience
Now that your blog has quality content, you need a quality audience. A quality audience consists of engaged readers who share, comment and request your content. Many will jump at the opportunity to contribute feedback or suggestions if you ask. Your site will need regular traffic, so you will want to think strategically about the best places for readers to reach you – whether that’s at a convention or on Twitter. Go where your fans are and stick around until they know your name. Offering a freebie like a coupon or special product in exchange for an email address will help you build contacts to reach out to in order to keep up engagement. A little bit of self-promotion can also go a long way with a Facebook ad campaign, LinkedIn publishing or sharing a blog link in a trending discussion.
Offer The Something
Offering products on your blog allows you to get creative and learn who your most loyal fans are. Give your readers something that they need or will buy because they trust you and are now more likely to buy your product over someone they don’t know as well. Your offers can be digital items, physical products, exclusive information or services. Digital items can include apps, games, software or templates. A graphic design blog may sell digital items like downloadable fonts or customizable website themes. Physical products can be shipped to customers and put in their hands. For example, a wellness blog may offer customized yoga mats or supplements. To offer exclusive information with a price attached, think about different types of educational material you can offer. This may be an e-book or seminar with a live Q&A. Bloggers who build credibility and trust with their audience can also benefit from offering services for hire such as consulting new businesses on PR and marketing tools.
Affiliate Marketing
If you don’t have products or services to offer, work on building your audience and site traffic so that others can pay you to promote their products. A DIY blogger could be paid by a brand to use one of their new products in a project (even if it’s to build a new product). If you endorse a product that generates revenue from your web traffic, you can make a commission off of the sales from the vendor. This is a good starting place if selling products and services is a longer-term goal that you aren’t able to meet just yet.
Making money from a blog is a great way to increase passive income, but it takes a lot of work in the beginning. The best thing to do is to stay positive, be flexible, and start sooner than late
