Real Ways To Make Money Online Blogs
Real Ways To Make Money Online Blogging
Real Ways To Make Money Online Blog Sites

I get many, many reader questions about how to start a blog and make money with it. There are already a lot of articles about blogging posted here, but I thought it would be a good idea to create a page to get you started down the right path.

In my nine years of blogging I've learned a lot, but I've also made lots of “newbie” mistakes that you can avoid! So, speaking from personal experience, below is an overview of what I suggest if you want to blog professionally.

Keep in mind that blogging professionally will require an investment of time and money, and it's also not a fast way to make money. That said, it's very rewarding and might pay off well if you just stick with it.

Here are the top 7 awesome ways to make a good blogging income: 1. Online Courses and Workshops. Here at Smart Blogger, we make most of our income from online courses and workshops — over $1 million per year — but we are far from the only successful blog doing this. Buying and reselling wholesale items is a straightforward, low-risk way to make money online. You buy products you want direct from manufacturers, usually brands that are already credible on the market, at a discounted rate, then sell them in your online store at a higher price.

Can You Make Real Money With a Blog?

Absolutely. Blogging is my full-time job and more than pays the bills. However, I wasn't able to claim “full time blogger” as my job title until around 2013. It was then that my blogging income finally surpassed what I ever made working outside the home.

So yes, you definitely CAN make real money! But don't quit your day job until you see that you are, and it proves to be a consistent income stream.

Blogging is one of those things you have to work at and work at, experiment constantly, and never stop learning about before you see real results.

And, not everyone likes a challenge, nor does everyone enjoy putting hard work in for a long time and not seeing much return on their efforts. So you really have to enjoy the process.

What Can You You Blog About?

Before getting into how to start a blog, you need to do some thinking. You should have a general idea of what you want to blog about.

You can blog about anything you want! But, if you want to get traffic/earn money, your blog needs to cover a topic people are actually interested in and also a topic you are interested in.

For example, my blog is about working from home. People are interested in that. I'm interested in that, too. It's been a perfect fit!

You could also start a food blog. Or a crafts blog. Or even a money-saving blog. The sky is truly the limit.

Many people are initially tempted to just start blogging about their day to day lives. This is fine if you just want to blog as a hobby, but it's not fine if your ultimate goal is to earn a living with your blog.

You have to remember that while your day to day life may be interesting to you, your friends, and your family, it is not interesting to people who don't know you. Therefore, you'll likely never get much traffic nor make very much money with that kind of blog.

If people are interested in the subject matter, you can get traffic, earn money, and work from home on your own terms. But again, it takes time and patience.

Don't Set Up Your Professional Blog on a Free Site

If you plan to blog professionally, it's best not to use a free blogging platform.

When you're set up on a free blogging platform, you don't really own your blog. You're just setting up on someone else's property and you're at their mercy if they decide they don't like your blog (and sometimes they do delete blogs when they decide that).

So, I'd suggest avoiding Blogger, WordPress.com (different than WordPress.org), Weebly, etc. for your professional blog.

It's smart to be set up with a self-hosted WordPress.org blog if you want to be a professional blogger.

When It's OK To Use A Free Platform

If blogging is a completely brand new concept for you and you just want to play around a bit first, it's OK to set up a blog on a free site. There's nothing wrong with learning the ropes and getting a feel for what blogging actually is on a site like Blogger, where there's no money investment required.

But again, if you find you really like blogging, move your blog, or start a new one, to self-hosting.

Already Set Up On a Free Blogging Platform?

Is your blog already set up on a free platform? Don't worry — you can get moved. You can either attempt to move yourself by simply Googling how to do it, or you can let a professional do it for you.

This won't be free, but it will save you a lot of headache and time.

How To Start a Blog – First Step, Get a Self-Hosting Account

You'll need to host your blog somewhere. The idea of “hosting” is confusing to new bloggers, but basically your hosting account is just a way for you to make your blog/website accessible via the internet. If your domain isn't connected to a host, no one will be able to visit it.

For cheap, fast, and easy hosting for brand new bloggers, many people recommend SiteGround. You can buy your domain name and host at SiteGround all in one. This is so much easier!

And hosting at SiteGround only costs you $6.99 a month for the least expensive plan, which should be fine if your blog is newish and doesn't get a ton of traffic yet.

You can always change your plan later if you find that one isn't working for you.

SiteGround is one of the least expensive, uncomplicated, and fastest ways to get a blog up and running today. Plus, they offer a money-back guarantee good for 30 days after you purchase your plan, if you decide blogging isn't for you after all.

I have step-by-step instructions here for getting a WordPress blog up and running with SiteGround (should take ten minutes or less to do).

Who Do I Use For Hosting?

Note that I personally use Liquid Web. They're a little more expensive than SiteGround, but I have excellent up time and their support is phenomenal.

As my traffic grew, I ended up needing to use a pricier service. Their standard plan is about $1.62 per day. I use their Storm VPS.

I would definitely recommend looking into Liquid Web if you get more than 100,000 page views per month on your blog. Their support is very helpful and will answer any questions you might have to get up and running.

Install WordPress On Your Domain

Once your domain name and hosting account are set on SiteGround, you're ready to install WordPress and start building your blog!

SiteGround makes this pretty easy for you. If you can't figure out how to do it on your own, you can simply contact them via live chat and have them do it for you.

Once WordPress is installed, you should be able to type yourdomain.com/wp-admin or yourdomain.com/login in the address bar of whatever browser you use and put in the credentials you set up when you installed WordPress.

If you are seeing your WordPress dashboard when you type in your domain name followed by wp-admin or login into your address bar, that means your blog is online!

Pick a WordPress Theme

Your WordPress theme will have a direct effect on what your blog looks like. WordPress comes default with the Twenty Nineteen theme and it's fine and functional, but a lot of people like to experiment with other themes.

There are lots of great free themes and there are also some very sleek, professional paid ones.

Like most people, I started with a free theme and upgraded to a paid theme. I personally use the Genesis framework and my child theme was purchased from Restored 316, a designer with tons of beautiful, feminine themes and step-by-step tutorials for setting it all up.

You have to purchase the Genesis framework separately (around $60) and install it first, and then install your child theme. These are usually also around $50 to $75. So, for a professional theme, you shouldn't be out more than $100.

Even though the really nice themes cost money, they are usually NOT revolving charges like your host account and your domain.

Once you've paid for Genesis, it is always yours. Same with any child themes you might purchase.

Install Some Plugins

Plugins are things you can use on your WordPress blog to help it function in different ways and do different things.

Some are necessary, and some are not. Some are free, and some are not.

Don't get

Real Ways To Make Money Online Blog