Starting a blog can be fun, exhilarating, and exciting, but it can also be somewhat intimidating too. You are, after all, putting yourself out there. And not only that, but you’re doing so in what some call a saturated marketplace.
I’d like to quickly pause for a second and tell you that I don’t believe in saturated marketplaces. Yes, there are a lot of bloggers out there in the blogosphere, but there’s no reason you can’t stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself or brand. You are unique and you have a unique perspective and new creative ideas to offer. If everyone thought in a glass-half-empty sort of way, most likely this world would be missing out on a lot of awesome companies.
You have something new and different to offer, and you can build a group of followers who adore you.
OK – un-pause. I just had to get that out.
I want you to remember that there is so much potential for bloggers, even completely new bloggers.
Related:
–Start a Blog like a Boss (your comprehensive how-to guide)
–Starting a Blog? Do These 5 Things First
–The 3 Keys to Blogging Success
Before you start a blog for the first time, you should make sure you prepare properly.
HERE ARE 8 THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING:
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DO NOT START A BLOG BECAUSE YOU THINK IT’S EASY MONEY.
You’re just going to let yourself down if you think that. Blogging is not easy money – far from it, actually. This especially goes for new bloggers.
You may have come across dozens of income reports out there that show high revenues (10K+/month) from bloggers. Some of the more senior bloggers who have been blogging for years may work limited hours now and still make good money – but that wasn’t always the case. It’s important to realize that those bloggers did not get to where they are over night. It took a lot of tireless work.
After you have been blogging for years, have a loyal following, and you have a lot of traffic coming to your site, money may come a bit easier than it did in the beginning. But, you have to start somewhere. Just like anything else worthwhile in life, it’s going to take time, patience, hard work, learning, dedication, and then more work.
And although there is upfront work when creating a blog, typically without pay, you have to remember that there is the potential for high earnings. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to make your blog successful, you too can be one of the high-earning bloggers.
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DO NOT START A BLOG WITHOUT A PLAN.
Planning is an essential part of having a blog. Sure, you can start a blog on a whim and write about your travel experiences across Europe. That probably won’t be a moneymaking blog though, unless you’re famous and have a large following. 😉
The point is: If you want to make money blogging, you need to make a plan, on every level, before you start a blog. When I say every level, I mean you need to think about your blog strategy, your short term and long term goals, how you plan to make money, the types of blog posts you want to write, your goals, your blogging schedule, how you’re going to track your blog using analytics, and so much more.
Making a website is fairly simple, but writing all the content, determining how you’re going to make money and then actually doing it – that’s a whole other story.
You need to come up with a comprehensive blog plan.
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DO NOT START A BLOG ABOUT A TOPIC FOR WHICH YOU ARE NOT PASSIONATE.
I love trying new Pinterest projects as much as the next person. Just because you did one crochet project and kind of liked it doesn’t mean you’re going to want to start a blog about it. Similarly, just because you spray-painted a wine bottle once and repurposed it into a flower vase does not mean a DIY blog is right for you.
You should be utterly and completely 100% passionate about your prospective blog topic.
Think about it this way – what do your family and friends tell you you’re good at? What do you love doing? What could you talk or write about for hours and hours?
If you are into fitness, for example, and your friends praise you for your unique workout routines, maybe you want to start a fitness blog.
You need to come up with a blog topic that you can write endlessly about. Try this brainstorming activity: Jot down 10 blog post titles for potential future posts – and make sure they are related to the blog topic you’re considering. If you can do that, you’re on the right track.
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DO NOT START A BLOG ON A HOSTED PLATFORM.
Before I delve into the difference between a hosted and self-hosted platform, here are a couple examples of each.
WordPress.com and Blogger are hosted platforms. They do not require a hosting provider. WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform, and if you chose to go this route, which is the best route in my opinion if you want to have a moneymaking blog, you’ll need to also choose a hosting provider. There are several hosting providers including Siteground and Bluehost. I currently use Bluehost and would highly recommend them.
There are several stipulations to using a hosted platform, like WordPress.com or Blogger, which is why many successful bloggers use a self-hosted platform instead.
Similar to Blogger, you could start a WordPress.com site absolutely free. If you do this, you would have a domain name or URL that encompasses the word “wordpress” in it, such as abrickhome.wordpress.com. If you want to make money blogging, you want your blog to appear professional and legitimate by having a URL that is only YOUR domain name. My URL or domain name is abrickhome.com, which is much more professional than abrickhome.wordpress.com.
It’s important to understand that you could still use WordPress.com, a hosted platform, and upgrade by paying for a custom domain. This would alleviate the issue I mentioned above. However, you will still not have the flexibility and control that you do over a self-hosted platform, like WordPress.org.
The biggest issue with using a hosted platform is that they have several limitations on blog monetization avenues, whereas with a self-hosted platform, you have the ability to partake in unlimited monetization avenues.
I cannot stress how important it is to have flexibility and control over your blog. As a money-making blogger, you will most likely want to have revenue coming in from multiple avenues so you can reach your full-earning potential.
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DO NOT OVERLOOK THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
If you’re going to blog, I hope you like social media because it plays a large role in blogging. If you’re not already a Pinterest addict, you’ll probably become one. Pinterest can be the largest traffic-driver to blogs. Pinterest is by far the largest traffic driver to my blog.
After you prepare several blog posts and have a blog you’re proud to show the world, you’re going to need to promote it in order to generate traffic. If you thought people would just find your blog, sorry, no. That’s just not going to happen. You will become a marketer for your blog.
That’s the cool thing about blogging. Not only are you your own boss, you do everything. From writing and editing posts to designing your own graphics to promoting your blog on social media, you’ll be wearing several hats. Of course, one day if you choose to outsource some of these tasks and are making enough money to do so, that’s awesome. Usually when you first start a blog though, you’ll be handling it all.
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DO NOT IGNORE DOING UPFRONT BLOG-RELATED RESEARCH.
Please do your research before you start a blog. If your goal is to make money blogging, it’s first and foremost important to understand how other bloggers are making money. If you don’t understand ads or affiliate marketing, two of the main avenues of generating revenue, take the time research and understand how they work.
A good method of uncovering some potential future affiliates is to look at other bloggers’ income reports. I mean, really read and examine them. Who are they partnering with? Where is most of their money coming from? Not every blogger uses the same monetization avenues. Sometimes, bloggers may stray from using ads because it redirects their readers off their site. This typically happens with bloggers who have their own product set. Instead of posting other companies’ ads, they post advertisements in their blog’s sidebar about their products only. This completely makes sense if you offer your own high quality products.
That’s really the beauty of blogging. There are so many ways to make money. You’re not limited by just one thing. So, do your research so you can make a blog plan about how you want to make money blogging.
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DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED BY COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER BLOGGERS.
When you start comparing yourself to other bloggers, you may get discouraged. And that’s just not beneficial for you. You’re probably looking at the bloggers who post high-income reports and after your first couple months of blogging, you’re not going to be in a place near where they are.
Instead of comparing yourself to other bloggers, compare yourself to you. That’s right. Keep a monthly analytics report that documents how well your blog is doing. Are you generating more traffic each month? If you’re declining in traffic, is it because you focused less on promotion that month and more on designing an eBook? It’s so important to not just keep track of how your blog is doing, but understand why these things are happening. If you had a really good month and got a ton of traffic coming in from Twitter, why is that? Did you mention a big name company who retweeted your tweet, thus driving a brand new audience to your site?
When things like this happen, you should make sure to keep track of them. Then, brainstorm how you can continue growing your blog.
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DO NOT LET PERFECTION GET IN THE WAY OF VERY GOOD.
I saved the best for last. I remember an exceptionally smart person telling me this over and over when I used to work in the corporate world. He basically beat it into my brain and now I’ll never forget it. And my goodness, it hasn’t steered me wrong yet.
You’re going to come up with several good blog names. You might think for days or weeks about the perfect blog name and then… keep thinking some more. If you keep thinking you can come up with something better for weeks and weeks, please, NO! Thinking that way will only keep you grounded, unable to spread your wings and fly.
You have to be able to come up with something very good, make a decision to proceed, and start doing.
This approach does not just go for blog names, but in fact, every decision you make with your blog. Writing can be a never-ending task. You could edit and re-edit a post a thousand times, and never think it’s done. By continuously editing and never pressing the ‘Publish’ button, your prospective readers will never know about the awesome idea you outlined in your unpublished post.
Please do not let perfection get in the way of very good. You’ll never know what could have been.
Now, are you ready to get your blog launched?
I outline exactly what you need to do to start a blog in a no-nonsense step-by-step tutorial.