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It’s Not As Easy As You Think!
You’ve heard about blogging. But, have you ever wondered, “How do people make money blogging”?
Being a blogger isn’t as easy as many of those “Make $10,000/month by blogging!” pins promise you!
Yet, so many people are starting blogs without realistic advice and without really knowing what they’re getting into!
So, why are you considering starting a blog?
I’m sure the answer is because you need to pay off student debt, you have extra bills to pay, or you just don’t earn enough from your 8 to 5 job.
Accurate?
Me too.
But, the good news is that blogging really isn’t that difficult! Once you figure your way with creating your first website you’ll be on the track to financial independence!
In this quick article, I’ll run through 5 key principles you need to lock down to reach financial freedom and retire early just by blogging!
But, before we dive in, be sure to glance at a handful of my other popular blogging articles, to jumpstart your success!
months it takes before most bloggers give up
Pros and Cons of Blogging
PROS:
- Blogging has amazing passive income potential. That’s essentially the reason why people are getting into this niche of income earning! It takes a great deal of effort up front, but you can reap its rewards for many years to come.
- You are the boss. This is one of the biggest reasons why so many people get into blogging. You make your schedule, you are in charge of your success, and you get to keep your profits!
CONS:
- Blogging can be discouraging at first. It takes awhile for Google to trust new websites, it takes awhile to build email subscriber lists, and marketing may take months to create a following on social media. Check out [this article] to learn more about what to expect as a new blogger!
- Your success is up to you. Only have 2 hours to spare a week? You’ll see other blogs surpass yours because others quit their jobs and have 60 hours a week to dedicate to blogging – but, be careful to not compare your success with another blog!
1. Start With A Professional Theme
If you have done your research, you’ve probably heard this, along with making sure you’ve got a great hosting platform.
Click here for a free step-by-step guide to setting up a hosting platform!
Why get a professional theme for your blog?
For starters, professional themes…
- run faster and are less glitchy
- are regularly updated with new features
- exude professionalism and make you look less like a newbie blogger
- have customer service and allow you to take control of the look of your blog
I have had tremendous growth once switching to my current theme!
In fact, I wrote a full article detailing my switch to the Extra theme by Divi Themes.
(Psst!: Click here to read all about it and the skyrocket of growth that followed!)
Anyway, this element is key to do early – anyone can have a professional looking blog simply based on having a clean and blog-supported theme!
To maintain success of your blog through the long term, be sure to do your research and choose your theme wisely!
2. Have a Long-Term Plan
Being a blogger is NOT a 3-month gig. It isn’t even a 1-year gig!
For example, it usually takes an average of 8 months for Google to even trust your website to start allowing it to come up on front pages of searches!
That being said, many don’t earn a lot of money their first year of blogging, and that is completely normal.
Problem is, we all get caught up in the rare occasions of people who earn 5 figures a month by blogging, and think it will be easy to achieve.
Unfortunately, due to the amount of people starting to saturate the blogging field, your chances of earning a big buck each month is not that likely at the beginning…
But, with time, it is absolutely possible.
I’ve been blogging for awhile now, and only now am turning a regular profit! And, it is nowhere near what my original goal was…
To set up a long-term plan, I suggest the following:
- Write weekly, monthly, and 3-month goals for your blog. Create a handful of goals that are beyond achievable and some that are obviously achievable. It will keep you motivated and keep you pushing harder for success!
- Get an accountability partner. An accountability partner is someone who is there to keep you motivated and in check. This could be a fellow blogger in your niche or even a spouse or friend!
- Do one thing different each week to benefit your blog. This could be writing a different type of post than usual, sending out of unique email to your subscribers, trying out a new theme like the one I mentioned above, or even reaching out to a blog to [guest post]!
3. Keep Track of Your Expenses
Of anything, I highly suggest you keep this in the back of your mind as you begin your blog!
Keep an Excel page or even a written page of everything you spend on your blog, and all your earnings for each month as you start making money blogging.
Thing is, once tax time rolls around, you’ll be flipping through old emails, tracking down receipts, and trying to add up totals of profits.
Trust me on this: TRACK. YOUR. MONEY!
So, for example, one way I track my profits is through a free app called [Personal Capital].
Through this app, I keep a budget, track my assets and liabilities, and can watch my income grow with my blog. I suggest you get an app like this early on so you can start tracking your money right away!
4. Don’t Have Unmet Expectations
This is HUGE you guys. And this is the reason so many people stop blogging!
If you’re doing your research on starting a blog, you probably are really excited and motivated!
You are ready to start earning massive amounts of passive income and you’ve seen plenty of people succeed!
However, there is no guarantee that you’ll reach incredible success as fast as any of those pinners on Pinterest are promising you.
Therefore, to have a profitable blog that will earn you passive income to become financially free, you need to first be completely fine with the idea of putting months of effort in without seeing those big dollar signs.
Tell your spouse, accountability partner, or family that this will be worth it in the end but for now, it may not seem like it.
Problem is, too many people give up right before the blog exponentially grows, both in traffic and in income!
So, be sure to keep this to heart as you start out! Or, if you’re a seasoned blogger, I hope this can encourage you to keep writing and trust in the process!
5. Don’t Spend All Your Earnings!
Let’s ask this again: Why do people make money blogging?
Let the crowd exclaim, “to be financially free!”.
(You may have thought, “to finally quit my job!”, or “to make enough money to pay off these darn student loans!”, but I’m sure your answer is similar)
The first way you can trip yourself up with your blog business is by spending your earnings, especially if you aren’t making a big profit yet.
Thing is, you will have yearly expenses for things like hosting, social media marketing, and themes. If you spend all you make, then how will you pay those expenses come a few months down the road?
It can be exciting when you make your first $100 in a month, or when you earn your first $500!
However, be sure to save enough up to cover your yearly expenses, and to not spend before setting up a budget first!
A few ways to use your profits to improve your blog:
- Purchase a year of Tailwind so you don’t have to manually pin on Pinterest anymore
- Save up for a new theme like my favorite Extra theme that’s built specifically for bloggers
- Buy books/audiobooks about blogging to boost your success
- Invest your money incrementally in one of my favorite free investing apps to make profits off your profits
Let’s Summarize!
Everyone is always so excited to hear about blogging as a passive income option, but few really know how to make money blogging!
Blogging can be extremely rewarding for the long term, but it takes a great deal of effort and motivation up front.
I’ve experienced the hardship of no profits for a few months and the difficulty of maintaining a blog when life throws obstacles from left and right.
But, hopefully these 5 principles to a successful blog will help motivate you to get started, or, to keep moving forward!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
Scarlett
All advice and opinions provided in this post are reflections on experience and are for educational and entertainment purposes only. Affiliates were used in this article. Please see our disclaimer page details.
