If it turns out that you can indeed earn money from a blog, why not? Everyone wants to earn money while doing what they love. Although the world of blogging has many competitors, the internet still has a place for newcomers to be successful. Start by finding and choosing the right blogging platform then start creating your own content and products, then start earning money. After a while, your life will be more enjoyable and productive than working in an office as a regular employee.
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Part 1 of 3: Start a Blog
Step 1. Do your research
Look for a trusted, safe, and professional blogging platform. Consider which platform is the most profitable and can realize your blog plan? Which template is the most eye-catching and not tacky? What topics should you create for your content and what has never been created on the internet can you create?
Any blogger who has made money will tell you that you shouldn't make money the main reason for starting a blog, because that would sound the same as starting a gambling habit and hoping to one day win big. So find a platform that can let you do what you love, find out who your rivals are, and get to know the new environment you're in
Step 2. Plan your blog
Now you're ready to start a blog, and in no time will start creating content on a regular basis. But before starting, it's a good idea to plan what content and ideas you will include on your blog.
- Ideally, you can fill a market or need that has not been met by anyone. The world of the internet is vast and most people are reluctant to buy something they can get for free. They want to be inspired, learn new things, and laugh. The only way you can get lots of visitors to your blog is to offer something that no one else can. So, find out, what is unique about you? What do you know better than most people in the blogging world? If you already know that, make a blog about it.
- Before you go any further, decide on the name of your blog, what content should you focus on, and who are your target readers or visitors? After you determine all that, then you can start.
Step 3. Create a blog design or hire a designer
To make money, you have to invest something first, be it money, effort, and/or time. But if you calculate it well, this investment will not be much with the results you will get. If you can, create an attention-grabbing blog design. This is important, because if your blog doesn't look good, visitors won't be interested in seeing what it contains. If you can't come up with a good design, hire someone you think is a design expert.
Again, do some research and find out what designs and aspects are working well and visitors like to see? What kind of settings are the most user-friendly? What colors are suitable for certain content?
Step 4. Be patient and realistic
In 2013, Tumblr had 101 million blogs. Wordpress and Livejournal each have 63 million blogs. And that's not including Blogger, Weebly, and all the independent websites out there. So, the market you are entering is not a market that is empty of competitors. While blogs that are able to succeed and make money are very few among the hundreds of millions of blogs. So, if you want to blog to make money, don't give up, but stay logical when planning and managing it.
If you can finally earn money, it definitely won't happen in a day, week, month, or even a year. You have to build a reputation for your blog and yourself before you start making money. After all, no one wants to spend money just for smiles and sweet promises
Step 5. Create good, useful and readable content
No matter how good your content ideas are, if you create them in a bad style and are hard to read or follow, no one will want to visit your blog twice. Make your content good. Here are some things you should pay attention to:
- You also need good writing skills. If you're not good at spelling and using good grammar, study to get better.
- Consider the length of your blog. You want good, thorough content, but you also can't keep people reading for too long and bore them. If the content you are going to create is going to be long, break it up into separate pieces of content.
- Use pictures, because everyone likes pictures, but of course good pictures. In addition to writing skills, you may also need photography skills.
- Discuss something that really grabs everyone's attention. No one wants to know about the unimportant things in your personal life. Discuss something on your blog so they will want to read it. Also, make your content interactive because it will make visitors feel engaged when reading your content.
Step 6. Keep working as usual
Remember, to be successful, you have to work hard to manage it like a normal job. But you have to have an income, right? So, stick with your current job, and take your time to manage the blog at night. Of course you will be busy every day, but this is only temporary. You can resign from your job if you have started to make enough money from blogging.
Part 2 of 3: Creating and Improving Content
Step 1. Create a blog about just one thing
Or maybe two. In order to get loyal visitors, your blog must cover something specific consistently, and can be searched easily. You have to be able to embrace a certain demographic. For example, if you have a great story, create a blog about it. You must have something discussed.
Advertisers won't know what they can do on your blog if you don't have a specific theme or topic. What kind of person do you want to attract? What's interesting about your blog?
Step 2. Build credibility and a niche
Create really good and unique content that doesn't have a lot of strong competition. For credibility, there are several ways to build it:
- Time. If you are consistent, over time your reputation will grow.
- Never steal other people's content. If you are inspired by other content, cite the source of that inspiration. Maybe the owner of the source will respond well.
- Do some research. Imagine that you are writing a newspaper article. You want to check the facts as often as possible. You want to make sure you know all the points of view of the story as a whole. So, before you release a content, make sure the content you write is true.
Step 3. Put your URL in various places
If you've done all of the above, then you've started managing your blog consistently and joining the blogger community. Now, start putting your blog link into your community and in various places or websites. Make lots of friends, and get involved in various forums or activities. When your friends link their blog to you, give them your blog link too, and let this symbiotic relationship develop.
For example, someone writes an article about how to make potato cakes, and then you also make the same article, but with a slightly different variation on the recipe. Try to comment on the article you read and say that you also have a similar article but with a different version, then ask for his opinion. Do not forget to put a link to the article you mean
Step 4. Work hard
Money making blogs are blogs created by people who maintain them 30 to 40 hours per week. You might think that a blogger just sits at home in a nightgown and waits for inspiration to just pop up. No. A blogger has to take pictures, process them, write notes, look for references, draft articles, edit articles, manage emails, and also look for inspiration. Managing a blog is no different from a regular job, just in a more relaxed environment.
Over time, you'll also be dealing with advertising, sponsors, lawyers, agents, fans, interviews, and technical stuff. Remember, over time, managing a blog will become your regular job
Step 5. Take the course
Creating a blog or writing is not a rare hobby. You can take courses available in your area. You may find it unnecessary. But if you want to get serious and make money blogging, it's a good idea to learn everything you need to know, and one way is to take a course. You'll know the technicalities of creating a website, and also understand good marketing techniques.
You don't have to go to school anymore to get this kind of knowledge. Such courses are usually available informally outside of school. Or it may be held in the form of a workshop that is only done once
Step 6. Create a media kit
Now we will discuss about how to earn money. Since this money won't just show up, you should create a media kit to let advertisers know the ins and outs of your blog. In essence, you should briefly explain what your blog is about and why they won't regret doing business with you. Here are a few things you should include:
- Name, address and blog tagline
- A brief description of the blog and yourself
- Your target readers or visitors and the number of visitors, fans, and the like.
- Significant achievements such as awards, cited by other media, and so on
- Contact info
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Ad options
Make sure you list all of these things briefly and clearly, and feel free to show off a bit. You're selling your blog and your skills. Update this media kit regularly
Step 7. Promote your blog
This is the step before making money: promote your blog so that your visitors can increase quickly. And of course, the more visitors, the easier it is for you to sell ads. Here are some ideas:
- Tweet and post on Facebook about your blog articles. Make the most of social media.
- Use StumbleUpon. This service has millions of users and they are all looking for interesting and specific content. Enter your website there and maybe someone will be interested and want to read your blog.
- Create RSS feeds. With an RSS feed, every time you release new content, your loyal readers will be notified.
- Share on other websites. If you use social media or have an account on another website or forum, promote your blog there too.
Part 3 of 3: Making Money
Step 1. Improve your blog's SEO ranking
No matter how good your content is, it won't do any good if your blog can't be found and read. You have to make your blog easy to find. It's easy: get Google to like your blog. The higher your blog ranks on Google, the easier it will be to find your blog.
- Most of the tricks are in SEO, or Search Engine Optimizer (search engine optimization). When someone searches for example "How to make potato cakes", you certainly don't want an article on your blog about that title to be on the third page of Google search results.
- Using the right keywords is also a key factor. If you know what words people search for the most on Google, you can use those words to make your blog easier to find. The more popular words you use, the easier it will be to find your blog. The important thing is to use these words appropriately and as necessary on your blog and don't just enter these words.
Step 2. Get involved in the community
If you enter your URL on another page and leave it alone, then you will not be taken seriously. You want to make friends while maintaining your reputation and getting in and staying in a community. So, interact. Chat with other bloggers, answer the emails you receive. Be active and interact with your readers, and become a real writer like a normal human being. The more involved you are in the blogging circle, the more solid your blogging world will be.
When you do something significant for someone else, they may do something for you, for example cite your blog or mention your name and include a link to your blog
Step 3. Know what you should and can sell, and at what price
This is also important. If you really don't know how to determine the value of your blog, take a look at blogs that are similar to yours. Contact the owner or author and ask for their opinion.
- Another way to do this is to visit BlogAds.com. This website has a list of blogs sorted by category and popularity. You can search for blogs that are similar to yours and search for price references you want to find out.
- You will also need to make contract renewal options and package offers. If you get ads for six months, do they get a bonus? What if they take up more than one ad slot? You should also maintain communication with advertisers when their ads are posted on your blog.
- Also think about how you will receive payments. What payments do you receive, and does the payment medium you use have interesting features and help you promote your blog?
Step 4. Place an ad
Okay, now it's time for you to place an ad. There are several options to choose from, here are the two main ones:
- Place an ad. Best place for this? Google Adsense (the biggest), Kontera, AdBrite, Adgenta, Text Link Ads, and Tribal Fusion.
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Affiliate program (you have a product, link to their website to buy it). Examples are Amazon Associates, LinkShare, eBay Associates, Commission Junction, and AllPosters.
Then you have to think about what kind of ads you want to put up? Banners? Normal writing? Paid links? Boxes, badges?
Step 5. Find sponsors
You can also search for people who want to place an ad. But if your blog is already well known, sponsorship can be one source of income from your blog. You simply know who will be willing to accept your offer.
Your media kit will be very useful for this purpose. When you find a suitable company to partner with for your blog, you just have to convince them that they will benefit more from working with you
Step 6. Create a product review
There are many businesses that are willing to pay you to discuss and review their products. PayPerPost, PayU2Blog, SocialSpark, ReviewMe, and Sverve are some of the options available. Choose the one that matches the topic of your blog. If not, the uniqueness of your blog will be a little questionable. So, make sure you keep your blog relevant.
Each of the websites above have different offers and products. One review can pay you USD 200 (around IDR 2,400,000), while a small one can pay you around USD 20 (about IDR 240,000). The money you get is not very consistent, but at least it's still income
Step 7. Create exclusive content or features
One way to make money without selling ad slots is to load exclusive blog content or features. This means that most of your blog content can be accessed by anyone, but there are some that can only be accessed if they pay, usually by becoming a member. Those who buy will feel special, and you receive money. Make sure you have an offer that is worth the money they pay.
Step 8. Create and sell your own product
Many people create and sell their own products on their websites. If you enjoy cooking, you can write a recipe book, both in ebook and/or in print, that is unique and you may not include on your blog. If you teach people how to start a business, you can create a guide. Make a product that is the hallmark of your blog.
