This post contains affiliate links. See affiliate disclaimer here.
Alright so technically I was short $5.87 of making $3k, but saying that I made $2,994.13 last month is a bit of a mouthful. So by rounding it up, I’m not trying to be dishonest, I just want to make it easier to read. But beyond this, you’re probably wondering how I was able to do this as a stay at home wife.. with no college degree.
Well early last year, my husband and I had heard about creating a side hustle (a job apart from your 9 to 5) from many online entrepreneurs. There were plenty of ideas, like writing articles for money, making an online class, starting a Youtube channel, etc. but nothing really seemed to quite fit. That is until we listened to The Side Hustle Show (a podcast) which interviewed Rosemarie Groner from The Busy Budgeter.
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How to Start a WordPress Blog in Minutes
This woman had gone from just blogging about her passion for fun to blogging full time and making $5k a month. And she had done this in just a year.. which is great in the blogging world (since it takes some years), buuut.. we wanted this sooner.
Silas (my husband) had been working plenty of energy draining and soul sucking jobs (no joke), for a number of years and I was tired of seeing him coming home exhausted emotionally and physically. We both wanted change, and this podcast (which you can listen to here), literally changed our lives. It was packed with so much information on how to get started that without it, we’d probably be in the same place we’d always been: stuck.
Now I go into the tips that we learned from Rosemarie and I also give some of my own strategies that I used to gain huge traffic to my site in my guide on how we used Pinterest to get nearly 2 million pageviews a month in our first year of blogging. But here I’ll give you some tips on how to get started with a blog yourself and tell you what I did in June to make my numbers rise.
IMPORTANT Side Note: Down below I have a list of 15 TOP questions that will answer basically everything you wanted to know about blogging.
Here are the questions included…
- So what do I blog about? How do I find my niche?
- I feel like there are too many people in my niche. Should I even bother?
- I feel like my niche is too small. Will anyone read it?
- Where do I even start? It’s overwhelming!
- What are the first steps in starting a blog?
- I feel like I’m going to FAIL as a blogger. I do not have confidence in myself for this. Any advice?
- How do I make money with my blog and niche?
- How do I get people onto my site so that I can start making money?
- I don’t have the money to buy hosting, what should I do?
- I need to be working because I need the money, should I still consider blogging?
- I’m not tech-savvy… Is this complicated?
- How do I find the right name for my blog?
- Where do I find the time to blog?
- Where do I find topics to write on?
- I don’t feel like I’m a good writer, what should I do?
You can check out the tools I use to have a money-making blog here!
How to Start a Profitable Blog
Quick Note! If you want to see the tools I use to have a successful blog, then click here to check them out! They’ll help you too!
Starting a blog and making money sounds like something only outgoing people and social media experts do. But to be honest, I’ve known so many bloggers who started theirs in the middle of a divorce so they could stay home with their kids, and I’ve know some who started a blog just so they could travel full time. So starting a blog to create income doesn’t have to be a famous person’s thing, it can be your thing. It can be your project. And to be honest… it definitely beats the 9 to 5 job (maybe that’s an understatement).
So here are the steps we took for starting a blog and making money fast (or at least faster than a year).
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Step 1: Do the Work Before
I can’t tell you how MUCH this helped us. What I mean when I say “Do the work before,” isn’t the obvious “find a niche,” “create a catchy blog name,” or, “figure out your audience.” Yes those are all important, but you can read that from so many other bloggers out there. What I mean is, once you’ve done all that, start creating content for your blog before it launches. Say.. 25-50 blog posts, so that when it does launch, people have more than just a couple of articles to read on your site.
There’s also another reason for this, but I’ll get into that in step 4.
Hey! If you click here, it’ll take you down the page to where I show you the tools I used that helped make me $10,000+ a month blogging!
Step 2: Hosting
Full Disclosure: If you click through one of my referral links for Bluehost web hosting and make a purchase, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep Chasing Foxes up and running and providing new content weekly.
Now many people think that they can easily start a blog for free on WordPress.com or Blogger. But you DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS. If you start a blog on a free blogging site, you won’t be able to make income from them. Signing up for ad networks and affiliates will be impossible.
So what do you want to do? You want to sign up for hosting. Hosting is basically like renting a space on the internet so you can have your own site. It allows you a lot of flexibility to work with companies and not have to worry about a site like Blogger kicking you off for no reason at all (I’ve known bloggers who’ve had this happen to them).
Bluehost is what I use, and I wouldn’t recommend them if they weren’t a good company. They’re helpful and will guide you through the process if you have any trouble. Also, they have a special deal for $2.95 a month, which I haven’t heard of anywhere else. It’s really awesome!
Now some people might be worried that they have to pay for hosting because they’re on a tight budget. I was at the exact same place when I first purchased hosting with Bluehost. But I realized something; if I put money in now, I was going to be able to pay myself back multiple times over later. And I have; because I went with Bluehost for my hosting, I can now make enough to support two people and travel full-time.
You can sign up for Bluehost here and get hosting for just $2.95 a month.
PS – If you want a step by step tutorial for setting up a blog with Bluehost, then check out my post that’ll show you exactly how. It’s super easy!
PPS – There’s a video tutorial in there if you’re a visual learner!
Step 3: Picking a Theme
Now whether you’ve heard about WordPress (a blog platform used by many) or not, Bluehost let’s you install WordPress. Once you’ve done that, you can choose one of their themes, but just make sure to choose one that’s very visually appealing. It probably goes without saying, but the better looking your blog is, the more viewers are going to see it and come back because you look legitimate.
Want to start your own blog? I created a free tutorial to show you exactly how to start and set up your blog on a budget (and in minutes!) You can start yours for just $2.95 per month (you can only get this low price through my special link) with Bluehost. Also, if you’re wondering if you actually need hosting or if you could just make money on free blogging sites like Blogger, I’d seriously recommend going with sites like Bluehost. Free blogging sites can delete your blog at any time. It happened to Michelle from Making Sense of Cents when she first started out. It’s also the only way to actually start making income too since you’ll only get accepted with advertisement and affiliate companies if you’re hosted.
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Step 4: Sign up for Adsense and Amazon Affiliates
In my post on how I made $500 in May, I give a rundown on what both of those two things are. They’re both free and once you understand them, I suggest signing up for them as quickly as possible. Especially Adsense since it’s probably going to be your top money earner.
Now in step 1 I told you that there was another reason for creating content beforehand, and this is why. Adsesne is Google’s ad service. They’ll display ads on your site for people to see. And when those ads are on your blog, you’ll start to gain income from them. However, Adsense can be picky about who they accept, so you’ll want to have some good content on your site before you sign up. That way they can see that you’re legitimate, not just some person who started up a blog, threw a few posts up there, and then never did anything with it again. They want real traffic seeing their ads, otherwise it’s useless. So make sure you have enough content up so Adsense doesn’t turn down your blog.
Step 5: Make a Pinterest Account
This is literally the key to everything; making money, getting lots of traffic, everything.
I’m sorry, I’m not trying to direct your to different places to annoy you, but if I went into everything I did to get huge traffic numbers and money on just one page, it’d be way too long and you’d get tired of reading my post. So I’m going to direct you to my guide on how to use Pinterest for your blog. It goes into why you need a Pinterest account, how to get a large audience, how to create a pinnable pin (seriously easy), and how to get people to click through to your content. So read up and take notes, this is exactly how I get the majority of my traffic and income.
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Step 6: Email List?
Many people wonder if they should start their email list right after they launch their blog. But guys… those first few subscribers are the most important ones you’ll have. It’s been shown that the ones that stick with you even when you’re just beginning will be your most loyal readers and they’ll be more likely to buy from you when you offer them a product.
So Which Email List Builder Should I Use?
Well you could use a free service like Mail Chimp, but there’s a couple things you should know.
First, there have been so many times where I’ve heard bloggers complain about how they regret starting out with free services like Mail Chimp. Because when they decide to switch over to a more efficient email list builder like Convertkit (Oh also, you’ll get a free 1-month trial), it take hours for them to transfer their entire list. It’s a complete headache and takes DAYS to do.
Now the reason why I suggest Convertkit is because their services are SO EASY to use! I am not tech savvy… at all. In fact, I get seriously frustrated when something takes way to long to figure out. But with just one video tutorial, I was able to easily understand everything. Convertkit is seriously intuitive and simple.
Now the monthly cost for Convertkit is $29.99 a month which is basically 5-6 Starbucks drinks in a month. I get it, it’s so much easier to sign up for something free when you’re first starting out, but the ease of using Convertkit is so worth it (and you won’t have to deal with moving all your subscribers over later)!
ALSO, if you click through my special link for Convertkit, you’ll also get a a FREE 1- month trial!
PS – Feel free to check out my post on how to start an email list! It’s super important for having a successful blog!
Now for What I Did in June
I Hit New Pain Points: WIIFM
In the same post I keep on linking to (I know, you’re probably tired of hearing about it), I talk about hitting people’s pain points. People’s pain points are the problems or lifestyle changes they want to make now. They don’t want to read about how cool your dog is, they want to know how they can lose 5 pounds in a week. They want to know how they can start to get out of debt.
It’s called WIIFM: What’s In It For Me? They want to know how this blog post can change something big or small in their lifestyle. And they want to know how they can do it now, not at some point in the future. So give them a title and subject that let’s them know how they can solve a problem
Now with all of that said, this month I’ve tried quite a few posts that help people’s lifestyle and what I’ve noticed brings in a lot of traffic are home DIY organization, cleaning, and home decor hacks. Everyone has a home (whether an apartment or a house), and almost everyone wants to know how they can improve it. Whether that’s through preventing messes, getting it clean, or making it look great with Dollar Store DIY projects and organization ideas.
So again, find out what’s hitting a reader’s pain point, experiment, and right down notes of your success. This helped us out greatly in June.
A/B Testing
For those of you who don’t know what that is, when you create a post and then create a pin image for the post, you create two of them to see which one does better. For me, I do a/b/c/and d testing. I make multiple because you never know which title or which image is going to do better and then make that pin take off like wildfire.
In June, I had too many times where I thought one pin would do better than the other, but I let them both run for about a week or two and it turned out that the other one did way better. You have to test, otherwise you’ll never know if your post had real potential or not.
Prayer
Now this may turn some of you off if you don’t believe in God, but we seriously couldn’t have gotten as many page views without his direction. In so many moments, he helped us realize what we could do better and what we could do differently to get more traffic. We know without a doubt that he’s helped us get the income we needed; he’s beyond blessed us. And that’s why I say prayer has definitely helped us with our blog taking off. If you believe in Him, then I suggest making him apart of the process.
Lastly, Remember Two Things
Apart from the methods I’ve used in the last few months, those are the only things I’ve done differently to actually make a change and increase my viewership and income.
Now this may be overwhelming for those of you who are new to the idea of blogging, but I promise you that if you put the work in, really pay attention to what is and isn’t working, and follow my tips and strategies in this post and others, you’ll be able to work from home too.
And even if you feel like it’s a lot of work (it is), just remember 2 things:
- Putting a lot of work into a blog definitely beats working a nine to five or not making any location independent income at all. Seriously, I had to tell myself this when I was tempted to get a stupid part time minimum wage job (Remember? I don’t have a college degree), and it’s paid off in a huge way.
- In a year from now, you’ll wish you had started today. That was a bit of advice I had read and took to heart. Even now I wish I had started a year ago.
Now I hope I was able to help you, and if you have any questions, just let me know in the comments down below! I’ll be happy to help you out.
Here’s the quick list of the tools I used to make $10,000+ a MONTH with my blog:
If you want to quickly start up your own blog for a cheap price (only $2.95/mo through my special link here), then I would definitely recommend Bluehost. It’s what I used when I first started out, and you need a hosting service if you want to make money through your blog more easily.
Check out my step-by-step guide here that shows you how to sign up quickly.
One of the BEST ways to make money blogging is with affiliate marketing. Basically, you recommend a product you love and when they click through your link and make a purchase, you get a commission at no extra cost to them. And a great place to learn is with the online course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. The creator, Michelle, makes over $50,000 a MONTH through affiliate marketing, so she definitely knows what she’s talking about.
Read my review of the course here to learn more!
Also, you can check out my interview with Michelle here.
If you want a course that will take you by the hand and teach you how to become a full-time blogger, then I would definitely recommend Elite Blog Academy (or EBA). They only open up once a year though (in early March), so it’s best to sign up for their waitlist here and they’ll let you know as soon as the cart has opened.
Read my review of Elite Blog Academy here.
One of the most important things you can do as a new blogger is to start up your email list right away. It’s what I wish I would have done when I first started out because then I would have a LOT more subscribers (and having an email list is the biggest way to make money blogging).
The email provider I use is Convertkit since they’re SUPER easy to use and give you 1 FREE month to try it out.
Read my Convertkit review here.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is one of the most important ways to get traffic to your blog. It’s basically optimizing each blog post so that it shows up in people’s search results on Google. And if you’d like to learn more on how to do that, then check out Stupid Simple SEO. It’s a course that opens up a few times a year and has REALLY helped us out!
Read the review of the course here!
If you’re new to creating images for your blog, and don’t have the money for Photoshop, then I would definitely recommend PicMonkey.com. I started out with it when I was a new blogger and still use it to this day! Also, the monthly price is the same as just a couple Starbucks drinks.
Now for the Most IMPORTANT Questions Answered on Blogging
Here I will be going over THE MOST asked questions I’ve been asked about blogging. So check them out and let me know if there was anything I missed!
- So what do I blog about? How do I find my niche?
- I feel like there are too many people in my niche. Should I even bother?
- I feel like my niche is too small. Will anyone read it?
- Where do I even start? It’s overwhelming!
- What are the first steps in starting a blog?
- I feel like I’m going to FAIL as a blogger. I do not have confidence in myself for this. Any advice?
- How do I make money with my blog and niche?
- How do I get people onto my site so that I can start making money?
- I don’t have the money to buy hosting, what should I do?
- I need to be working because I need the money, should I still consider blogging?
- I’m not tech-savvy… Is this complicated?
- How do I find the right name for my blog?
- Where do I find the time to blog?
- Where do I find topics to write on?
- I don’t feel like I’m a good writer, what should I do?
Side Note: Throughout these, I’ll be sharing photos of my travels since blogging as allowed me this incredible opportunity. 🙂
1. So what do I blog about? How do I find my niche?
First of all, you want to grab a pencil and a piece of paper (or open a document on your computer), then start writing down your interests and passions (I know, sounds like a no brainer, but there’s more to it, I promise!).
Also, write down your skills (and this doesn’t have to be something you learned in school). Are you great at certain aspects of parenting like getting your children to sleep through the night after just a couple months? That’s a skill!
Then, group together the passions, interests, and skills that all match up. What is the common theme? This is going to help you figure out the kind of topics you want to write on. You can also study other bloggers in the same niche and how they’re able to make it work.
Now if you’re into multiple things that don’t seem to line up, then know that there usually is a common factor in between them all. So for instance, if you like budgeting, but you also love to cook, you can connect them both by writing on recipes you can make – for under $5 or $10. – Just so you know, it really IS ok to blog about more than one topic; we do and it’s turned out very well for us! You just have to find out who you’re writing to and find ways to make the niches fit together. So for instance (going with the example above), does your ideal reader love to find smart ways to save money, but she’s a bit of a foodie? Well, how can you help her explore her foodie side while still staying on a budget?
You don’t have to be an expert…
You can also look into the topics you find yourself regularly talking or reading about. And it’s ok if you’re not an “expert!” I wasn’t when I first started blogging. But you become an expert as you write and learn more on the topic over time. As you search for the questions that aren’t being answered and learn from the bigger bloggers, over time you’ll gain more experience and become a well-trusted voice in your niche. YOU can become the expert.
Quick Note on Making Money with Your Niche: It’s a common concern to want to make sure that they can actually make money with their niche. I get it; unless you’re blogging as a hobby, who wants to write long-term and not see income (no one)? And if this is something you’re worried about, then head down to question #7 How do I make money with my blog and niche?
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2. I feel like there are too many people in my niche. Should I even bother?
The easy answer is… yeah! Totally! My husband and I both write on very popular subjects and were able to get over 150k people on our site in our second month after our blog launched.
I understand that there are bigger bloggers that are successful in the niche you want to write on, but you have to realize that there are millions of people on the internet, and those bigger bloggers do NOT have a monopoly on all of them. You can totally have a blog on DIY and get a great following of people who aren’t readers of these other bigger bloggers.
Also, you can look at the blog topics others are writing on and see how you can provide value where they don’t. And you can do this in TWO ways. So for instance, let’s say a big money blogger is writing on “How to Start a $1,000 Emergency Fund Quickly.” Well, they might not be discussing an important aspect that you see as obvious. And that could be the fact that they aren’t mentioning how you can save $1,000 faster by focusing on creating a separate bank account so you don’t dip into your savings.
The SECOND way you can do this is by looking in the comments section of that same post. What questions are people asking that the blogger didn’t answer in the post itself? Find those questions, answer them yourself, and write a more comprehensive blog post that will create a loyal readership.
You want to find ways you can out-perform the other bloggers so you can start seeing bigger results faster. Don’t blend in – stand out for the quality of your work.
3. I feel like my niche is too small. Will anyone read it?
Heck yeah! I know people who have a blog on Medieval history and have a HUGE following! Talk about niche!
(Another great example of a smaller niche blog would be Bridget from Cowboys Specialist. She was able to gather a great readership for her niche, Country Western Lifestyle, and monetize it within a year and a half!)
Now there are two parts to this and the first part is, find where those people are congregating. Facebook groups are an AMAZING place to find people in very specific niches.
Side Note: Forums are as well, all you have to do is Google “XYZ Niche Forum.” Example, “Medieval History Forum.”
All you have to do is search for your niche under ‘Groups’ and then join ones that have a high activity rate (which you will see in the description of the Facebook group saying something like, “7 posts a day” or “10+ posts a day”).
Once you join a few, you can start seeing what kind of questions people are asking and what people are talking about. This will give you a good idea about what people in that niche are actually interested in, instead of shooting in the dark hoping that people will read your blog post.
Then you can start showing yourself to be a helpful person in the group by answering their questions (or finding answers for them for the ones you don’t know). Once you’ve started doing this, then you can start sharing your own in-depth blog posts on the topics that get asked and discussed the most frequently (as long as it’s not against the group owner’s rules).
You want to become an expert to the members in those groups by providing high-quality content so that you’re their go-to when it comes to being a helpful resource.
The second part is dedication. It can (not always) take a bit longer to gain traction with a smaller niche. But if you’re consistently putting out high-quality posts that give your readers a lot of help, then you’re going to gain a loyal following.
Side Note: Down below, I also talk about how to get people to see your blog so that you can start making money in question #8.
PLUS: You can also start up your own Facebook group as you create a following so that you can keep them updated with new posts and create your OWN community of people who love you and love interacting with each other and get readers onto your blog (and groups are favored by Facebook which means they’ll be showing up first in people’s feeds a lot of the time as well as your follower’s Facebook notifications).
Last thoughts on starting a small niche blog… getting subscribers (people who give you their email so that you can send them out newsletters) will keep people interested in your blog and coming back over and over again. It’s something I wish I had done straight away when I was a new blogger.
Also, here’s another reason why you NEED an email list when first starting out: 99.9% of the people who go onto your site are going to leave… and never come back.
So if you can get those people to sign up for your weekly newsletter (let’s say by giving them a free offer – also known as a freebie – so for example, a list of 10 tips that will help them lose 5 pounds in a week), then you can update them every time you publish a new blog post. And when you do that, then, of course, they’re going to come back to your blog.
ALSO, if at some point in the future you decide to sell an ebook or course or some other kind of product, you’ll have an email list of loyal readers who will buy from you. And a great email provider (which is a service that allows you to gather people’s emails and send a newsletter to them) to start off with would be Convertkit; they’re great for people who aren’t tech-savvy, like me!
4. Where do I even start? It’s overwhelming!
One of the best things to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed on where to start is to write down just a few things you want to focus on and research over the course of a few months until you’ve mastered it. So for me personally, it was… writing 25-50 blog posts and put my focus into using Pinterest for my blog (which I talk about in question #8) and learning as much as I could with that ONE social media platform (I didn’t go focusing on Facebook, and Instagram, and Twitter, just Pinterest).
I also focused on blog topics that other big bloggers were writing on that would get my blog a TON of readers. So what pins on Pinterest had gone viral and why? What were they about, what did they look like, what kind of titles did they use?
You want to get very focused on just a few things until you’ve mastered them or you feel that you can add one or two more things. This is a great way to make sure you’re getting rid of that overwhelmed feeling and staying on track towards your goal. It also keeps you from getting discouraged and helps you move onto the next BIGGER thing (like affiliate products – which I’ll talk about down below).
Last thought: Make sure that the things you’re focusing on are going to give you the biggest results sooner. So for me, I wanted to get a lot of readers onto my site and fast, so I put my focus on Pinterest which gave me over 150,000 readers in my second month. Crazy right?
5. What are the first steps in starting a blog?
The first steps of starting a blog depend on where you are in the process. So for instance, if you have an idea of what you want to blog on, but haven’t bought hosting for your blog (hosting: basically a place to rent space on the internet for your site), then that’s your first step (which I show step-by-step here – it takes minutes; super easy!)
If you have bought hosting, then your first step would be to set up the look of your blog (the design/how your blog looks, menu items, a logo which you can easily create with Picmonkey.com for free, colors, etc.). Then get the necessary WordPress plugins (plugins are apps you can easily add to your site that will give your blog certain benefits) that would protect your site from hackers and show how many readers your site has had each day (ex. Jetpack and Google Analytics).
Next you would start brainstorming around 5-10 blog post ideas (doesn’t have to be all in one sitting – it can be over a few days), and start writing them out. Lastly, you would publish those posts and start sharing them on sites like Pinterest (which I talk about more here).
And as I mentioned in the last question (Question #4), you want to write down just a few things you want to focus on for a few months (this could be 3-6 months of your time), so that you don’t get overwhelmed. It’s very important to do this so that you are more directed and you’re getting to where you want to go faster (if you haven’t read the answer to question #4 yet, then definitely check it out – I go over what I focused on in my first few months of blogging that led me to where I am now).
Lastly, make sure to find people who inspire you. When first starting out, it’s important that you find bloggers who have been where you’re at and have actionable and helpful content for you to refer to. Being new to blogging is difficult, but when you have the right people guiding you along, it can go a LONG way!
6. I feel like I’m going to FAIL as a blogger. I don’t have confidence in myself for this. Any advice?
I was there and I TOTALLY get it! I had never done anything like blogging before, so my confidence was at an all-time low. I really didn’t believe in myself and I know that if I had bought into the lie that I could never make it as a blogger…
I wouldn’t be where I am today… Writing this to you in a cute coffee house in an adorable neighborhood in Medellín, Colombia (also, if you want to see our travels, then definitely check them out here on Instagram!)
So here’s what you need to do. Find big bloggers who had a hard time starting their blog (like Sarah Titus who was a single mother of three who made $10,000/mo blogging within a YEAR). It’s good to understand that you’re not alone and that there are others who have gone before you and did it too. I’m sure they struggled a LOT with their self-confidence as well!
Then, write out the lies you’ve been telling yourself about how you feel like a failure and won’t make it blogging. Next, argue with them and replace it with the truth. “This is untrue because if X person can make it as a blogger while working a full-time job and taking care of a kid, then so can I! I am able to make it as a blogger because there is literally nothing holding me back.”
And you know that saying that goes, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars?” Even if you’re shooting to make a certain amount of money after a certain amount of months and miss, you’re still going to land farther than if you had done nothing. Especially if you’re working hard and staying focused on just a few things at a time… how could you not see results (this was something I had to reason against when I first started)?
You also want to keep in mind the quote, “In a year from now, you’ll wish you started today.” That was what my husband told me when I wanted to quit (that’s right, I wanted to give up… just a few months before things took off).
7. How do I make money with my blog and niche?
Riad Yasmine… one of our favorite traditional Moroccan inns.
Now there are two parts to this…
The first part is that you’re completely new to blogging and you don’t know how a blog makes money. If this is you, then here are the basics. 🙂
Ad Revenue: This is where you can join ad companies like Adsense by Google (great for beginners!) or Mediavine. Once you join, they will display ads on your site and you will get paid for how many people click on the ad and how many people see the ad. It’s the most passive and easy way to make money blogging!
Affiliate Products: When you join an affiliate program, you agree to promote a certain product or products. And when someone clicks through your special tracking link (that the program gives you) and makes a purchase, you’ll get a commission at no extra cost to them. Some great examples of this for beginners would be Amazon or Target’s affiliate program. Just make sure it’s something you’ve used yourself and love! That way you don’t recommend something that hurts your reader’s trust in you.
Products: Creating your own product, whether it’s an ebook or a class (written or video), on a certain topic is an amazing way to make income with your blog. Especially if you have a smaller niche, but I’ll talk about that more below.
Sponsored Posts: A sponsored post is where a brand will pay you to write about them and/or their product. A good way to find sponsored post opportunities are on sites like blogher.com.
For the second part, I’m going to discuss how to make money even if you have a smaller niche (or even if your niche isn’t small!)
As you learn how to get readers onto your blog, the most immediate way to make money is through ads, especially since it’s SO passive. However, offering your readership affiliate products and your own products (which could be an online class or written material) is also a great way to make money with your blog.
So for instance, if you’re writing on herbal remedies to improve health, you could create a downloadable PDF that will show people the different herbal remedies that they can start off with as beginners and what it does for their health.
And as an affiliate, you can also promote other people’s herbal remedy kits on Amazon (as an example).
Lastly, you want to look at other blogger’s in your niche and see how they’re making money. What products are they promoting and creating themselves?
Side Note: Just make sure that as you’re creating a following to promote products to, you also have an email list with someone like Convertkit (great if you’re not tech-savvy). Convertkit helps gather people’s email addresses (when they sign up for your newsletter) and allows you to send them emails weekly.
Promoting to your email list is the BIGGEST way to make money with your blog. These people trusted you enough to give you their email which means they’re probably going to trust you enough to buy what you’re sharing with them. Also, they’re already there, so you don’t have to get new people onto your site and HOPE they buy your affiliate or personal product.
8. How do I get people onto my site so that I can start making money?
Fez, Morocco has some incredibly beautiful winding streets.
The ONE way I got readers onto my site fast as a new blogger was Pinterest. I was able to get 150,000 readers in my second month of blogging.
Side Note: If you’re completely new to Pinterest, then here’s is a quick guide to each term I’m going to use:
Pin: This is an image that a person on Pinterest can save for later (example: recipe, DIY project, etc.). Each pin links to a blog post that contains that recipe or DIY project.
Now for those thinking, “I just see an image when I see the pin. How do I actually get to the recipe?” – You will want to click on the pin image. Once it’s made big on the screen, you will click again and it will take you to that person’s site with the actual blog post.
Board: Think of this as a cork board where you can pin pictures and ideas and thoughts to (like the one below!). You can create different boards (such as a DIY board) and save a DIY pin onto that board.
Pinning: This is the exact term for saving a pin image. You can do this by clicking on the “Save” button when hovering over a pin image.
Now if you’re on the Pinterest app on your phone, you can tap and hold your finger on the pin image. When you do this, the other pin images will disappear, and a few options will pop up. Then you can slide your finger (while still keeping your hold) over to the image of a pin. You can see this below! 🙂
Repin: This is how many times a pin has been saved by other people. Think of repins like Facebook likes or shares.
Now getting over 150,000 people onto my site so quickly was such a blessing. But if you’re just starting out, then smartest thing you can do is sign up for a free Business Pinterest account. Then, you’ll want to create 10-20 boards that fit within your niche.
Each board name should have very specific keywords (keywords are words people are searching for on Pinterest). This is just so that when you pin your own images onto those boards, Pinterest understands what that pin is about, and will show it to more people. So for instance, if you have a health and fitness blog, your board names might be “Weight Loss Tips” or “Diet Plan.”
Side Note: You can find these keywords by using the Pinterest search box. Just start typing in a word like “Hair Styles” and see what pops up. The first search results are the most searched for on Pinterest.
Next, you’ll want to pin 10 of other people’s pins onto those boards and make sure that each pin has 800+ repins (which you can find at the side of the pin when you click on it). This just shows Pinterest that you’re pinning high-quality content and helps the boards to do well (in this case, “do well,” means that Pinterest will show the pins you saved to more people). ALSO, you’ll want to make sure each board has a pretty cover and follows a board cover theme (color or image theme) to attract new followers.
Here’s an example of where the repin number is on a laptop or computer.
And here’s an example of the repin number on your phone.
You’ll also want to make sure you’re pinning other people’s content to the different boards daily (30+ pins spread throughout the different boards). This is just so that Pinterest sees that you’re spreading the love and you’re an active Pinterest user (not just someone who wants to only share their own pin images).
Then, you’ll want to start practicing pin making. There are sites like Picmonkey.com which allow you to create images for free. BUT, for a small monthly charge (the price of a few Starbucks drinks), you can get more design abilities and fonts (and not have to see their ads which tend to slow things down).
You can practice pin making by looking at other people’s pins (pins that have done well) and creating images inspired by theirs.
IMPORTANT Side Note: Just make sure you have 4+ different bloggers for pin examples. You DO NOT want another blogger to see that you’re solely using their pin style. And you want to make sure it’s not a full-on copy of their image, but inspired/similar.
Then you’ll want to try out similar fonts and images that you see from their pins so that you can get a feel for how others make pins (there are some great tutorials on YouTube for this if you want more tips and tricks!).
Then, depending on how much you want to start off with, you can a/b test pin images (or a/b/c/and d test like how I do). A/b testing is where you create two (or more) different images and see what does better. Doing this will increase the chances of people clicking through to your blog. This is very important for getting readers.
Another thing you’ll want to do is join other people’s group boards.
So what are group boards? Group boards are boards where the owner of the board allows others to pin with them. So let’s say you get on a group board that is favored by Pinterest (which means Pinterest will show the pins that are saved onto that board to other people more often) compared to your personal boards… well, then your pins are going to get seen more. That’s the magic of Pinterest.
ALSO, another reason why it’s good to make aesthetically pleasing boards with topics everyone likes is because group board owners will check out your Pinterest profile and decide if you’re someone they want contributing to their board.
Last Note: Just make sure that the majority of your boards are your own boards since Pinterest favors your personal boards more. So for instance, 30% of your boards would be group boards while 70% would be your own boards.
Now how do you find and sign up for group boards? Two ways: first, you can go onto some of your favorite blogger’s Pinterest accounts and see what group boards they’re on (the board will have a small circle on the bottom left corner showing three people’s profile images).
Two, you can go on PinGroupie and search for group boards that fill your niche AND have a great following and repin rate (a high repin rate means that the group board has an active following that is pinning a lot of the content from that board). How do you find those two? Well at the top, there are drop-down lists and you can search for group boards with a high amount of followers and/or a high repin rate.
Important Note: Do NOT be intimidated by how big of a following someone has or how exclusive it is. When I was just a new blogger on Pinterest, I had a small following, but I asked to be a part of as many group boards as I could and got accepted to many. Yes, I was denied many times, but I still got onto huge group boards with huge followings. Had I never taken the chance, my Pinterest account would never have been as big as it is right now. Pretty crazy right?
Once you find the boards you want to join, email the board owner (if there’s an email provided in the board description).
If they don’t have that, go to their site and contact them from there. However, to find the owner and their website, you will need to click on the three images at top (these are just a few of the board’s contributors). Then there will be a drop down box which will show you ALL of the contributors. The VERY first one is the board owner.
Then you can find their blog in their profile’s description, click on it, go to their contact page, and ask them to get onto their board.
Now if they don’t have this either, comment on one of their most recent pins and ask to join (or send them a direct message on Pinterest).
How to write the RIGHT kind of group board request: There are a couple of ways to do this. The first way is if the group board says they’re open for contributors (or doesn’t say otherwise). You can find this in the board description at the top.
You want to be very polite and professional, saying that you love their content and would like to be added onto their board. Then let them know that you won’t spam and you will follow their rules.
Lastly, let them know that if there’s anything you can do for them, to just let you know. This way they know it’s not just them giving and you taking.
Second way: If the board is closed to contributors, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t apply, but you should apply differently. Them saying that the board is closed to new people in the board description is a boundary. So you don’t want to make them feel disrespected by ignoring that boundary. You want to acknowledge that it’s there by saying something along the lines of, “Hey, I saw that your board “blank” was closed to new contributors. But if it ever does open up in the future, I would love to be considered as a contributor.” Again, being professional and polite goes a long way.
After that, you’ll want to join a pin scheduler like Tailwind which will pin your images for you to the boards you want. It’s a GREAT way to save time.
One Last Way to Get Readers Onto Your Site: Also, if you want to learn how to get a reliable and CONSISTENT readership from Google to your site, then you should seriously consider taking this online course called Stupid Simple SEO created by SEO expert, Mike Pearson (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization – basically, you’re creating blog posts that will be at the top of a Google search page). We’ve taken it and it REALLY helps get a lot of readers onto your site. You also get access to a private Facebook support group with Mike, downloads, checklists, & email outreach templates. It opens again on May 13th-17th, so be quick! If you need more info, check out our Stupid Simple SEO course review.
9. I don’t have the money to buy hosting, what should I do?
Full Disclosure: If you click through one of my referral links for Bluehost web hosting and make a purchase, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep Chasing Foxes up and running and providing new content weekly.
We were in the SAME spot when we first started blogging! We were living paycheck-to-paycheck, so even buying something like hosting was a commitment for us.
Hosting: It’s like renting out space on the internet for your blog. So instead of going with a free blogging site like Blogger.com (which is basically impossible to make money on), you purchase hosting so that you have FULL control over your personal site.
So we cut back on the wants like getting coffee out or those extra items at the grocery store (sometimes we don’t realize how much money we spend on things we don’t need). And pretty soon we were able to pay for Bluehost.
And the best part is… I don’t regret it. Getting hosting for my blog was the BEST thing I could have done since it allows us to make income (instead of using a free blogging site where making money on it is VERY hard).
Think of it this way; you’ll be able to pay yourself back MULTIPLE times over what you spent on hosting. We sure did!
You’re basically making a small investment now so that you can have greater time and money freedom later.
And you can get hosting for your blog here for $2.95/mo with a FREE domain name. Just make sure it’s through my special link so that you can actually get that amazing price and free domain. 🙂
Also, feel free to check out my step-by-step guide that will show you how to easily create your own blog here!
10. I need to be working because I need the money, should I still consider blogging?
DEFINITELY!
Just a few months before our blog took off, I wanted to stop researching and blogging. I wanted to get a job so we could actually not feel like we were coming up for air every time payday came around.
Here were the things I said to my husband, Silas, out of desperation…
“Maybe I could get a part-time job at the Dollar Store since that’s close by (side note: we only had one car).”
“Even if I just got paid $500 month, it would still be something to help out.”
But his answers were things I could never forget because, without them, we’d still be stuck in northern Indiana right now.
He asked me where I wanted to be in 5 or 10 years down the road? Working at the Dollar Store and surfing Facebook at night? Or did I want to be traveling the world and working when I wanted to work? He told me that he knew I could do it and we were going to make it out together.
If it wasn’t for his encouragement and help, I honestly don’t know when we would have made it out of our situation.
This is something called opportunity cost…
Now the definition of opportunity cost is, “The loss of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.”
In my situation, opportunity cost was giving up the easy money I could have made working a part-time retail job, for the chance to make more than I had ever made before. Sure it hurt at the time, but it was so worth it!
I totally understand when sweeping the idea of blogging under the rug feels like the easiest thing to do. It’s hard when you you’re facing serious financial struggles and need to make ends meet.
But guys, I’ve known moms going through a divorce who started blogging and made a full-time income and were able to stay home with their kids. And I’ve even known people with full-time jobs who started a blog as a side-hustle and quit when their blog started making more money than their job.
You CAN do this!
Bali is a beautiful place!
11. I’m not tech-savvy… is this complicated?
Thankfully Bluehost and WordPress have made starting a blog a lot simpler. Now if you had come into the game 10 or 15 years ago… then yeah! It would be SERIOUSLY challenging. But thankfully, things have become a LOT easier, which is great for non-tech-savvy people like you and me.
PLUS, if you are having any sort of trouble with setup, there are people directly on the other end of Bluehost who are there to help you out as well as TONS of free tutorials (video and written) to guide you along. These two factors make the tech side of blogging simple and unintimidating.
12. How do I find the right name for my blog?
If coming up with a blog name is hard for you (it was for me!), then you’ll definitely want to check out my husband’s post on finding the RIGHT blog name for you. It’s filled with great advice, no fluff, I swear!
13. Where do I find the time to blog?
One of the simplest two ways to find time to blog is to narrow down and cut out.
You want to narrow down on your focus right away. You want to find the main few things that will get you to where you want to go the fastest (like how I talked about in the question, #4. Where do I even start? It’s overwhelming!). So basically, the most important things.
Then you want to cut out the unnecessary. Get rid of the blogging tasks that keep you overwhelmed and aren’t going to get you to those pageview (number of readers on your site) and income goal.
NEXT.
Narrow and cut down in your personal life. Are there home tasks or errands outside the home you could delegate to someone else? Would you be willing to cut down on media time (like on Facebook or Netflix)? Because while those things are fun and entertaining, they’re going to keep you away from living a life with time and money freedom. They’re going to keep you away from spending more time with your kids, spouse, friends, family and dreams. They’ll also keep you away from getting ahead financially and paying off the house or credit cards and/or student loan debt. There are SO many things like this that keep us away from living our dreams.
So find what those things are and cut the time you spend on them down or all together.
You’ll also just want to analyze your life in general. There are probably things taking up too much of your time or mental bandwidth throughout the week. So make sure to narrow in on the most important things in your life right now so that you can blog and have more freedom later.
Time blocking is another great way to make time for blogging (Time blocking: a type of scheduling where you dedicate a certain amount of time to a certain task, instead of just giving yourself an undisclosed amount of time to work on something).
If you just keep yourself to 1 hour doing a certain blogging task and 30 minutes for another blogging task, you’ll be able to work on the blog and not feel stressed out. You won’t be expanding the time it takes to finish something.
And the same goes for outside of blogging too. If you can time block your daily or weekly tasks or other parts of your life, then you can create more breathing room for blogging.
And lastly, there are going to be times where you’ll need to sacrifice. I remember there were nights where I would stay up a couple of hours after my husband had gone to bed just to work on the blog. Those extra hours you work will make a BIG difference in your success. And it will get you there faster too.
It’s all about the small sacrifices now for BIG rewards later.
14. Where do I find topics to write on?
In question #2. I feel like there are too many people in my niche. Should I even bother? I go into detail on how you can look to other bigger blogger’s blog posts and see where they’re not adding value.
This is a GREAT way to start brainstorming up awesome blog post ideas. You don’t want to copy them directly, but you do want to understand that the bigger bloggers are writing on those topics for a reason. And that reason is that they know that the topic they’re writing on is popular and will help out their big audience. They understand what’s going to pull in A LOT of readers since they’ve been blogging for a long time. They know what people want to hear about.
Another great way to brainstorm blog posts is to go onto Pinterest and type in a topic like, “frugal living tips” or “weight loss tips,” (depending on your niche) and see what the popular pins at the top of the page are. These pins are popular because their topic hit home with a lot of readers. Then you can go into the person’s blog post and see where you can add value.
Also, just keep a notebook or a place on your phone where you can write down blog post ideas as they come to you while you’re just living life.
Last Note: Just make sure that the blog posts follow WIIFM, which stands for “What’s In It For Me.” Readers want to know how this blog post can change something big or small in their life. And they want to know how they can do it now, not at some point in the far-off future. So give them a title and subject that lets them know how they can solve a problem by reading your blog post.
You can sign up to get my FREE viral blog post checklist here!
15. I don’t feel like I’m a good writer, what should I do?
I feel like this is almost EVERYONE when they first start out, so don’t feel discouraged!
When you’re a new blogger, you’re just finding your voice and discovering how you like to write and what you like to write about.
And one of the best ways to quickly get better is to read a few different bloggers throughout the week in your niche as well as outside your niche.
This is a great way to get a feel for how others write and what their “blog voice” sounds like. Bloggers like Lindsay from Pinch of Yum (who is an amazingly talented and funny writer) who sound SO natural. But when asked about it in an interview, she talked about how she had to read multiple other bloggers to find her own blogging voice. Which was CRAZY for me since she sounds like a complete natural!
So as you start in this process of becoming a better writer and learning how to tell stories and relate to your readers, one of the best things you can do is study the bigger bloggers.
I want to let you know that if you DO start a blog, I’m here to help you along the way. So feel free to email me at contact@chasingfoxes.com!
PLUS! If you have any questions that weren’t addressed here, please let me know in the comments down below!
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Chasing Foxes was started in 2016 as a way for Grace and her husband, Silas, to start traveling. However, they started to realize that they had a passion for improving themselves, and wanted to help others level up their lives as well. So whether it's with cooking, travel, or staying healthy, they want to help you better your life bit by bit, as they do the same.
Regards for helping out, excellent information.
Thanks in support of sharing such a pleasant thought, paragraph is good, thats why i have read
it completely
Thanks for sharing!
Tremendous things here. I’m very glad to peer your article.
Thank you a lot and I’m taking a look ahead to contact you.
Indeed your post is one of a kind and I am so encouraged by your post..I have tried making money online through blogging and affiliate marketing for some years now but it’s not working out tho it was all on free blog..I have about 40+ write up’s on relationship,lifestyle and career, got about 100+ views on a free platform but I couldn’t make any money from it so I deleted all my post and lost my followers, I have learn from your post so I’ll follow it up and I’ll also need your guide on how I can earn through it
Thanks for sharing! Starting my own blogging journey and doing a lot of research! One thing I’ve been trying to figure out is whether or not I should spend time creating a lot of content before launching my blog. Time to put in the work!
My ultimate goal is to earn what I’m making at my full time job. Once I get there, I’m going to work from home full time! Reading stories like this are giving me hope that it is truly possible!
Hey there!
first i just want to put it out there that this is the VERY FIRST TIME EVER that ive commented on anyones blog!
i absolutely love how this article wasnt the generic “pick a niche, decide on a name” like SO MANY others ive attepted to read! You honestly gave some really good advice and i thank you for that! ive been wanting to start a blog of my own for way too long now haha but always talk myself out of it at the end of each day… the biggest issue im having is the money to start part. my husband thinks it will be a waste of money we just dont have, so ive been attempting to come up with ways i can make the money i need to get started but anyways thank you so much for your fresh new perspective, tips and advice on how to get started i really enjoyed the read and for once actually read the entire thing
oh p.s. just wanted to give you some readers perspective <— i think thats the right word for what im trying to say lol, like i said before i loved your blog/article but when i got to the end and was wanting to leave a comment i had to scroll for what felt like an eternity through other comments before i was able to get to where i could create a comment of my own and to be honest i almost just said f-it lol but here i am
Thanks a lot for the wonderful honest information. Really love reading your blog posts. Awesome stuff.
You are so welcome Racheal!
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable info. It really did help. Especially the A/B testing. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this post. I’m sure as most people know, there is a TON of blogging help out there, but they all basically say the same thing. I really enjoyed this article. It gave me different advice that you don’t always read about. Keep up the good work 🙂
This post is literally awesome. I LOVE your honesty and how you tell it how it is. I just started my blog about a month ago and I’m trying to do what you suggested with post lots of content first before messing with affiliates. This post gave me a lot of confidence though so thank you! I can’t wait to read your others!
Check out my blog! goinwiththeflow.net
So I’m reading this a little late in the year but I’m completely inspired by this. I’ve always been pretty good at writing and I’m a critical thinker… I am a new mom and have looked at how I would do so many things differently to prepare for having a baby financially, mentally, emotionally Just everything. I’ve honestly never read blogs so much in my life since realizing I was going to be having a baby… I would love help putting a blog together to make extra income so I can be home with my daughter more. And the fact that you thanked God… hunny I’m all ears.
I think this has been my favorite post so far. You are the first blogger, with regards to starting a blog, mention God in their post. I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m glad to see you are including Him and giving him the glory due. He will bless you for it just like he already has.
Thanks for this list! I’m still working on posting content regularly since I just started my blog, but am inching my way toward monetizing it soon. I love that you included prayer as a tip since I am writing a Christian blog! Glad to see there are plenty of believers in the blogging community. Thanks again! 🙂
Thank you for your encouraging and informative post! It inspired me to start a blog!
Wow. I read your posts on how to blog. I’ve always enjoyed writing and now I love to see that if I work hard I could make a real income with this. I’m completely new with blogging. So I read one of your post last year and I went ahead and started with bluehost and WordPress I found it complicated so I got discouraged and didn’t try. I was also applying to nursing program and I tried to focus on that. Now I wasn’t accepted to the program because it’s very competitive and I work full time so I didn’t study enough.
So now I’m back on wanting to have a successful blog. So I have do something I love writing and sharing with people, and also focus on my studying. I’ve been feeling very good about starting the blog I have actually launched my blog. But I have no posts yet I just started.
This is what I really wanted to tell you. The ending of this post when you mentioned God made me feel great and really relate to you. I am a huge believer and I have tons of faith in God. And like you said. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be who I am. I hope once I have my website full of posts I’ll share it with you.
thanks for sharing all of this info. it’s overwhelming for me at this point as i am trying to figure out where/how to return to work after being a SAHM for 18 years. i SOOO appreciate your sharing your faith and TOTALLY agree with you there. thanks for the reminder to seek HIM.
You know how sometimes you read a post, then at the end you get to the point where you are still confused? Well THANK YOU because this is probably one of the most helpful post I have read in a while that did not confuse me a thousand times 🙂 I have just started my blog and you guys are so helpful! Thank you again and Happy Thursday !
I normally do not read articles, however this one is fairly different from others that I had no patience for.
I am truly thinking of starting a blog. My current job has me pulling my hair and I know I could do so much more with my time. Thank you for making it simple.
Hello Grace, Thank you for your blogging advice. I needed this to go to the next level in my life. Now I know this is blogging but I was going under feeling lost, depressed ect.. You helped me this is new for me but I believe I can do it again thank you.
before starting a blog you should be focused on your passions because your passions will keep you motivate and lead you in the right direction.
Hi,
I just wanted to say, I really enjoyed this post and I’m going to check the other links in it. I am a stay at home mom, and I also have. O college degree. I have been thinking about starting a blog for a few months now as a way to help bring in income, my husband works tons of hours and I can’t afford to put my kids in day care to go work a crappy minimum wage job. I like to write and feel like this could be a great creative outlet for me and also a way to stay at home with my kids, and be a hands in parent. I am really excited to try this venture and your post had really inspired me , and prayer had also been apart of my strategy also, so thanks for the great tips
Awesome post!! Thank you for sharing! It has a ton of great ideas!!
Loved loved loved this post! I totally took notes!!! I am wanting to do the same with the 9-5 and focus more on my blog. I haven’t been consistent over a year now and it’s painful!!! I seriously took some notes on this post. I love Rosemarie as well and will be adding your blog to frequent blog read list!!!
I love your post .. I really feel like i can actually start a blog. I do have a question though, your article says to create 20- 50 blog post before launching your blog. But does mean that i need to post all my blog post at once ???
Hey Tyesha! And you can totally post them all at once when your blog has launched. 🙂
Hope this helps!
I love your blog!! It teaches so many things! I started a new blog recently and still writing post before the launch day 🙂
I’ve noticed that on your Pinterest’s account you have a different image that the one that appears on the top of this post. How is this possible? I think it is helpful to select a different image for Pinterest because of the amount of space it could take from your website. Please, could you tell me how I can add a different image?
I’m so glad you like it!
As for images, Pinterest gives you the option to upload any photo you want that’s saved on your computer. And the same goes for your blog. So you can upload two different pictures manually onto both of the sites. I hope this makes sense! 🙂
I’m wanting to start a blog about preparing for retirement, fixing up a lake house diy style, with maybe a little investment info thrown in. I need to know how much time does it take and how many post do you make in a months time to keep your readers coming back? Thanks for all the info you have given.
Hey Pam! Those sound like great ideas!
When I first started out, I would spend 50 hours a week and write around 20+ posts in a month. The more good content you put out there and the more time you put into something, the faster you’ll start to make profit off of it.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi! I just read your article and its amazing. It gave me hope that maybe I can do this too. The only thing that keeps stopping me is what I should write. I’ve been known as a hopeless romantic. I am a stay home mom who has a son that is a yr old. I’m also a wife to a husband who works crazy hours. I have so much materiel on a lot of subjects but I don’t know where to begin. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you so much. I wish nothing but the best for you.
Hey Cyn! You said that you have so much material on a lot of subjects. What kind of subjects would these be? 🙂
First of all, thank you for this post. It is just what I’ve been looking for. This is something I feel I can actually do! Yay!
But what about first time mom stuff? I have a3 month old and I feel like this is something people can relate to. Soooo Many problems come up that you never think about and that frankly no one talks about. Any suggestions?
Hey Melody! You can definitely blog on first-time mom topics! I’d definitely widen it to other topics as well though. That way you have more topics to write about when you feel like you’ve finished with first-time mom posts. 🙂
Hiya! What a great post, thank you so much for sharing! I’ve always been able to write but my problem is coming up with something to blog about, seriously, no clue but I know for sure that I really want & need to blog & make extra cash. My husband was injured badly while over in Iraq & had to medically retire & his Dr’s won’t allow him to work & trying to live on his pension has been more than difficult. I just have no clue what to blog about. I need help/advice please! Again, thank you!
Hey Kristin! I’m so sorry to hear about this! I think in your case, the best thing to do would be to experiment. Pick a few niches (like money, DIY, food, etc.) and start writing about them. If you find that you take a shining to one or more of these niches and not the others, then scratch the non-interesting topics and put all of your focus into the ones you like/love. I hope this helps you!
This post was so inspiring to me! I always have felt like a blog is something I could do. I love to help people with tips about….just about anything. And I would love to be able to add extra income. You are answered prayer…thank you.
Hi Guys,
I too, have read so many articles about starting a blog. But, I knew yours was different when you added PRAYER! You see, I have prayed for Him to lead me in the way I should go and He did. I will study your strategy, then follow your steps…one by one. Thank you so very much and I will get back with you when things are coming together! God is good!
I had a quick question about posting/linking other ideas from other bloggers. For example, when you post about ways to organize your kitchen and link other blogs because you show their ideas. Do you have to first contact them and ask them for permission before using their site/ideas and linking it at the bottom? Thanks so much!
Hey Katelyn. As long as you give credit and link back to their original post, it shouldn’t be a problem. 🙂
So glad I found your blog, love it! I’ve been contemplating blogging for a while now and upon finding your blog on pinterest I believe that’s the confirmation from God I needed. I have a lot of ideas and a business to include. I think my main hesitation is my writing. Like you I have to just prayer and seek God’s direction. He will perfect my writing and all of the details for my blog. Thank you!
Hi SILAS & GRACE,
I am excited and scared at the same time about this blogging thing. In step one you mention to write 20 to 50 articles before going live with my site. Would I do that in word and save for later or right on the site (Bluehost)? Sorry if you answer this question somewhere else, I guess I haven’t gotten to that info yet.
Thank you so much for reaching out to those of us that want to learn more about bloggging, Rhea
Hey Rhea! You can put it into a Word or Google Document! Whichever works for you. 🙂
I would love to start a blog, but I’m kind of scared if it would work…Is there anyway I can get in touch maybe via email that maybe you can pitch in your advice and opinions as to what I’m thinking of maybe blogging about?
Well Lupe, what are some of your interests and passions?
May I ask how many hours you spend on blogging per week? Just trying to get an idea of the level of time commitment to have this amount of success. Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice!!
Hey Stephanie! I blog around 20 hours a week, but I’ll be upping that to around 30+ hours a week. If you can’t put that many hours in right now, that’s fine, do whatever you can. 🙂
I think I am completely lost. How does writing information in an article and pinning it to pinterest make any money?
Hey Susan! I have ads on my site which means that the more people that see the ads, the more I get paid. So if I advertise my blog posts on Pinterest, I get traffic to come through and get paid from them seeing the ads. I hope this helps you! 🙂
THIS! This is what I have needed to find real inspiration to step out and give this a go! THANK YOU! For breaking it down and making it easy to understand and even if it’s do this, then jump over here and do then, then jump another hoop to do that – that’s REAL business and how things HAVE to be done! You ROCK! I appreciate this more then words can express and am looking forward to jumping feet first in to this!
WOW! I’m so glad I could inspire and help you out Kelly! I really tried to make sure I was providing valuable and actionable info for people just like you. You can do this!
This is a great post! I’ve thought about blogging for years and always put it off, claiming I didn’t have the time or ideas. I find that this is still partly true for me. I can find the time, but I have so many different things I want to do that I can’t decide on ONE. I actually plan on following through with a blog this time around and I found your post really helpful. Thank you!
Hey Sally! You seriously don’t have to decide on just one. We didn’t and it’s been great for us since different niches do better at certain times of the year. That means that when our money tips aren’t doing good during Christmas, our DIY hacks are. Hope this makes sense! 🙂
I LLOOVVEE to write short stories, and my friends feel like they are very captivating stories. Would it make sense to start a blog publishing my stories or is that silly?
Hey Ashley! I would totally start off trying to promote your stories on social media like FB, Tumblr, etc. Then once you’ve gotten a following, you can put up a site for your stories. 🙂
Hey Silas and Grace,
I enjoyed reading your post! I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now. I just didn’t know where to start(it seemed a bit scary) until I read your post. I have started writing some posts and once I get enough, as you suggested, I am going to start up my blog! I just have a few questions to help get me started.
I originally wanted to start a blog about early childhood education, but now I realize that I would love to write about other topics that interest me. Is it possible to write about multiple topics? Or is it best to keep it to a general theme?
I am also currently working full time outside the home. In your opinion, is it feasible to start/run a successful blog and still work full time? I don’t mind working nights and weekends doing something that I enjoy! I would love for this to be an opportunity to work from home as my husband is in the military and we move frequently.
Thanks for your help and your wonderful post!
Hey Lyndsey! I’m so glad I could help and inspire you!
Multiple subjects is a GREAT idea! It allows you to reach into many audiences and get more views than if yo had just stuck to one. I say go for it!
Yes, it definitely is feasible to start one while working full-time. I know MANY bloggers who started their side hustle while working full-time and after a year or two of going after it, they were able to quit and make their side hustle a permanent job.
I hope this answers your questions! Happy holidays!
Hi! Thanks so much for the information. I would love to start blogging about my fitness journey and a couple of other things. But what if I am not a great writer? Do I like writing? I mean it’s not my favortite thing in the world but if I get paid and help people along the way that would be awesome.
Hey Melissa!
To be honest, when I first started out, I wasn’t the best writer either. In fact I was horrible at gaining an audience and creating posts that would get attention. I think one of the best things you can do is to read other people’s content that has to do with your niche. Study them and how they write about weight loss and what value they add. And if they’re lacking value, add value where they don’t. Give tips and advice that they don’t, then you’ll become people’s go-to for fitness tips.
Also, don’t worry about not liking writing. I wasn’t crazy about writing blog posts either when I first started out, but I soon began to have fun with it (especially since you can put a lot of your own personality into each post). It’ll grow on you pretty fast, especially when you start to get feedback from readers. 🙂
Last note, people love it when you give them tips and advice for how you’re losing weight. They feel like they’re on the inside scoop. I think your niche will do great! And then you can branch off into health advice, awesome recipes, workout posts, etc.
I hope this helps you out! Happy holidays! 🙂
I so appreciate your willingness to help! I have 2 questions: 1) Does the blogger always need to have experience in the topic he writes about, or can he simply pick a topic of interest, glean information from various sources, then post his findings with perhaps comments…much like a research paper? 2)How important is the Elite Blog Academy to successful blogging? Also, I am listing my short-lived blog site from the past. I did just notice a problem with “wrapping” on a blog or two…hmmm….not sure how that happened! Content would be more inclusive in a new blog. Thank you!!
Hey Rebecca, no problem!
Well, for question one; I think experience is best, but if there’s a niche you’d really love to write about, then I think studying some of the best bloggers in the same niche can help you out immensely. You can see where they lack in giving value and good advice, and then write on the same topic, but add value where they didn’t. I hope that makes sense!
Second, as for EBA, I think it all depends on how far along you are in knowing how to market your blog and turning it into a business. I’d definitely suggest it if you need to be guided into turning it into a money making blog! It can help you out a lot!
I hope I helped you out, and if you need anymore help, feel free to message me! 🙂
Wow! Thank you so much for this information, these are great tips that I’m sure I would have never thought about or figure out on my own. I am an English teacher and I want to have a location independent ‘job’ ASAP… I just wanted to know…. how did you decide what to write about before launching your site? How long did it take for you to have ads on your website? And, how many people should be visiting a site to get these ads? Thanks again for sharing all this info with the world! God bless you!!
Hey Anamaria! I’m so glad my tips helped you out!
I decided to write on these topics because my husband and I wanted a blog that reached many niches and many audiences. As for ads, it took a couple days to get approved by Adsense, and then I put them into my blog with the Adsense plugin (it’s super easy!). And you don’t really need an audience to get ads on your site, you just need a good amount of content that provides good value (not small 200 word blog posts).
I hope this helps you out and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask me!
Happy Holidays!
Hi! This is seriously an awesome post that doesn’t get into too much until you want to. When it gets so technical my eyes start to roll back in my head with how confusing it gets. I’m a gemologist and have worked in the jewelry sales industry for about 5 years. Would simple how to buy certain types of jewelry and gemstones, as well as for certain occasion be a good topic? I see a lot about engagement rings but would the whole broad subject be something people would be interested in?
Hey Perrin! I’m so glad I could help you out and not overwhelm you (and I totally get what you mean)!
To be honest, I’m not quite sure. I feel like you could definitely attract people to your site with other subjects that branch off of the jewelry (such as “How to Have the Perfect Engagement (or engagement party),” or, “The Best Gift to Give Your Spouse,” etc.). Once they come onto your site, they’ll see the great quality content you provide and then go onto other subjects that your write on. I hope that makes sense!
Happy Holidays!
I absolutely love your post and advice to everyone!! I have recently decided to stay at home with my baby and I think blogging would be a great way to have a perfect work life balance. My passion is making fondant cakes and I have a great following on facebook but I was wondering if I should blog more about life in general instead of just cakes?? I’m not sure if cake making will have a big following.
Hey Nicole!
I’m so glad my advice could help you!
I think blogging about cake making is a great niche! You can also study how to make other types of cakes and teach others how to do it too. Also, baking tips are much loved in the Pinterest community.
Send me your Facebook page, I’d love to follow! 🙂
I have a bachelors degree in Psychology and it is getting me no where. I have been sensing that God wants me to work from home and put the creative skills he’s given me to use. I keep talking myself out of it because I’m scared that if I start a blog it will fail. What if I never get any traffic? What if the audience I want to speak to isn’t big enough? What if I run out of ideas for posts?
This post inspired me to get out of my head and start writing! My blog would focus on advice to young married couples. I want them to know that they are not alone in whatever they are going through. Theres been plenty of times that I’ve searched Pinterest or YouTube for answers or ideas pertaining to being young and married, and I often wind up empty handed. I am slowly realizing that I am going to be the one to put an end to that. Thank you so much for inspiring me and giving me hope for my own blog! I am going to start working on some content tomorrow :).
WOW! I am SO glad I could help you Shanequa! This is so wonderful to hear and I love it when people like you actually want to add value to other people! So excited and PLEASE keep me updated on your blog when it launches! 🙂
I am assuming you would have to write the money you earned off on taxes, how did you do that?
Hey Alex! For taxes, we’re just going to hold back around 30-40% so that we have enough for taxes when that time rolls around. I hope I was able to answer your question properly.
God works in mysterious ways. I was up one night, couldn’t sleep, overcoming an illness and I just logged in to pineterest and your pin came across my feed. I have been researching blogging for about a month now and have read several “how to start a blog” blogs and they all dove right into getting a bluehost account and how to actually “physically” set the blog up. Very few went into how to actually start with content, name, etc. To me setting up a blog is the easy part. But deciding what to call it and what to write about has been the struggle for me and something I have been in deep prayer about. I really appreciate the fact that writing content was the number one recommendation in this post. Your blog was also the only one that mentioned prayer and that stood out to me more then anything because prayer makes the impossible possible and strengthens the faith in those things unseen or things yet to come to fruition. I am so grateful to you for this blog. I am on over thinker and this has given me a pretty simple guide to get started in this. So I am going to stop overthinking, narrow down my content, and start writing my post. I will keep you posted. Thank you again!!
Hey Starlett! I am SO sorry for getting back to yo so late! I have been pretty busy and the comments totally fell behind.
I am SO GLAD that you found this post; I really love helping people out when it comes to starting a profitable blog. And thank you so much for you kind words. I know that God really helps us out and I’m glad he helped you out by giving you this post.
Keep me updated! I’d love to see your blog when it’s up! 🙂
I love this post and it is so helpful and informative. I’ve wanted to start blogging as well as we now have a baby on the way and I want to get out of the 9-5 and have more flexibility when s/he gets here. My biggest hangup is this: how do I make my blog unique? The things I’d blog about (decorating, home repairs, preparing for baby, eventual mommy-hood) are already on hundreds of other blogs. What’s to say someone picks mine over the hundreds of others? Any advice?
Hey Ashley! Congrats on the baby! 🙂
The best way to make your blog unique is to look over the blogs that are doing the exact same kind of things you want to write about and see where they’re not providing value. So let’s say they’re doing a cool home repair, try doing the same thing, but doing extra things to make it even better. I hope this makes sense!
There are a ton of blogs that do the exact same kind of thing I do, but because I provide value in a bigger and/or different way, I end up getting a following. I hope this helps you! 🙂
Another stellar article! As a new blogger, I greatly appreciate all the great information you are sharing. I am finding great tips as well as encouragement when I feel like giving up. Thank you for your willingness to share your craft!
Hey Nicole! Sorry for the late reply! I’m so glad I was able to help and inspire you out! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Is it possible to be anonymous on a blog? Great information by the way!
Yes it is LH, and thank you! 🙂
Ok, I just wish you could be my mentor and hold my hand through all of this! lol 🙂
This process of starting a blog can be SO overwhelming that I stop myself before starting. I question if I have anything worthwhile to say at all. I question if anyone will ever read it. I question whether my lack of know-how (of blog/tech stuff) will keep me from success. I don’t know how to take good pictures, which is important for posts. What if my aesthetic isn’t good enough? Anyways, you get the picture. Before I even begin, I stop myself. 🙂
The second thing I wanna say (or ask) is about content. I really like the idea of having a bunch of posts ready before even starting the blog.
BUT…
I feel like anything that I have to say—that is remotely worthwhile or interesting—is from someone else’s blog, Pinterest board, or link. I have nothing original to offer, just recycled info I got from Pinterest. All of my cute decor projects, yummy recipes, organizing hacks, etc. are literally directly from someone else on Pinterest. ? Do you have any thoughts on that? I don’t want to just re-use everyone’s ideas, ya know?
I would seriously LOVE to supplement our small income, especially as we are planning to have kids in the near future and I HATE the 9-5 with a burning passion. But my lack of knowledge, originality, and confidence has me all scared.
Any and all advice would be SO appreciated!
Thank you so much and honestly, you do NOT need to be tech savvy to start a blog (I wasn’t). In fact, I think my post that’ll guide you step-by-step in creating one will make it super easy for you. 🙂
As for pictures, I don’t take any of my own photos (I don’t have time), unless they’re food or some travel posts. I just go to sites that have free photos like Pixabay or Pexels; they have some awesome choices. 🙂
As for originality, you don’t have to make everything original. You can do similar things that other bloggers have done that attract a lot of people. Just mimic the big guys and you’ll start to get an audience (I promise you that). And once you get the trick of things, you’ll start getting inspiration for original pieces from yourself. 🙂
I’d say start now before you have little ones. Get it up there and go through some of my other posts under the menu item (How to Blog). This will give you a TON of information in starting one and being successful. I promise, you can do this!
Hey! So I would love to blog but I find it so overwhelming and just am not sure if I would have that much to talk about. I absolutely hate my job and would love to quit but as a recent college grad I’m having a difficult time with finding employment that will satisfy my financial needs. Can you help me?
Well Elizabeth, I’m so glad that you’re looking into ways to get out of the 9-5.
I think starting a blog is the perfect thing to do! It can be hard at first when you don’t have a lot of time or energy to work on it, but it pays off when you start to make great income from it and quit your job. Now if you need any help in starting one, I just recently created a post that’ll guide you step by step in making a blog. Super easy!
If you need any more help, just let me know!
I tried to leave a comment/request for advice last week, but it apparently didn’t take? How can I contact you directly if you are still taking requests for guidance?
Hey Yukiea! In order for a comment to go through, I have to approve it. I’m going through all of the comments right now, sorry it’s taken me so long, I’ve been pretty busy. 🙂
Great “How to” post! I started a blog last August because I felt led to inspire people to be free to dream again! God is totally all over it! But I haven’t written since April! Just because I have been busy. I didn’t know how to make money blogging, so it took a back seat. I’m a full-time single mom and I work long hours and I take two night classes at my church. I really want to work from home so I can be more apart of hw time with the kids after school and dinner time, etc. I just don’t know how to squeeze out more time to kick start this! Do you mind checking out my blog and just giving me quick tips based on what I have? I totally built it on my own. So, I understand I may have to change a lot. But I would really appreciate it!! ? thanks!
http://www.thisdreamersrealities.com
Hey Rachel! I’m so glad that you’ve started your blog! It’s look great so far! However, I think the best thing to do is perhaps make it a bit brighter as the background images gives the blog a more dim/dark look.
Also, try creating different categories for your blog posts (ex. Faith, Money, Parenting, etc.). This’ll help people navigate your blog better and find the exact topic they want to read about it. 🙂
Thanks for this post! I have always wanted to start a blog! I am in the News business so writing has always been a passion of mine. I have two blogs previously but would love to do this as a side hustle. Not too sure what niche to try and hone in on–but this was a great starting point.
Hey, I’m so glad I was able to help you out Meredith! And when you decide on a niche, check out one of my most recent post that’s a step by step guide on creating a profitable blog with Bluehost! I know it’ll help you out! 🙂
Hi Silas & Grace!
I loved this post because it’s recent, one of the only ones I’ve ever read all the way through, including most of the comments. Trying to learn from the questions of others and your responses. I tried to start a blog a couple of years ago…right after the beginning of our multiracial blended family, moving to a different state, and a new baby…so…yeah, it never even took off really. However, I had a big problem then, as I still do now: How do I zero in on a niche? I have multiple interests and am good at many things – being a mom/bonus mom, baking, understanding medical insurance plans and billing, DIY crafts, candle and soap making, etc. My true passion however, is traveling, with photography at a close second. I want to show others how big and interesting the world is outside of their selves and current environment. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to travel the way I’d like to in order to make this passion come to life in the form of a blog they way I envision it. And it may be that I am unable to fully get into that portion the way I’d like until we are able to actually travel more, but still incorporate it into a blog I can start now about home life in general? I do want to blog about both, but it may end up being mostly home/family life stuff with a bit of travel and then move into more travel-based as the kids get older. Holy cow, thinking about where to even start again is scrambling my brain. 😀 Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Hey Yukiea! You have a lot of passions and that’s awesome, especially for a blog. I think all of those subjects would wrap up very nicely into a blog. I think if you put your own spin on home life (first see how other bloggers are doing the same niche, and then fill the areas that they’re forgetting about.. or just do it better), it could be very successful! My main subject is lifestyle and it’s done pretty well so far!
Now if you need any help with getting a blog up and running, I just created a post that has a step-by-step guide on creating one. It’ll break it down for you and make it super easy! I hope this helps you out! 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I used to blog for money but I stopped about 4 years ago. I did make one a thousand in one month and most months are much less. It was very time consuming for me but I did not do most things you listed here like Adsense. I have a blog now (again) that I just started recently to try promoting my Ebay and Etsy store, I need to grow it though.
Hey Ces, I’m glad I could help you out! I look forward to seeing how your new blog goes, so keep me updated! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your post. It gives me a lot of information how to start a blog step by step. It very understanding. I have an idea about what I’m gonna put in my blog. I like to share about female lifestyle + recipes. Its about how I’m going to change my lifestyle to healthy and more feminine. I’ll implement and modify other bloggers ideas and put it in my blog.
I’m so glad I was able to help you out and that sounds like an awesome idea Mya! If you need anymore help with starting a blog, I just created a step-by-step guide that shows you how to do just that! 🙂
Hello Silas & Grace,
I’ve been wanting to do a blog but not understanding so much of it cause I am computer illiterate. I’m the worse at it but it is something I would really like to do so I’ve been reading and working for months on what to do and haven’t gotten to far when I found your page. So very inspiring and helpful. I have some questions but would rather email back and forth if that would be possible. I don’t get a lot of computer time as I am raising 5 grandchildren under the age of 10 at the moment(the oldest will be 10 in April). I just had neck surgery and it will be December 2017 before I can start looking for a job. So I need something to bring in some money to help pay bills. Please let me know if you will be my mentor on my journey. Thanks. Oh I love the name of your blog.
Hey Christine, I’m so sorry to hear about this! If you email me at contact@chasingfoxes.com, I’ll be glad to answer any of the questions you have to the best of my ability, but as for being a mentor, I’m pretty busy and the tips and mentoring I would give would have a cost per hour.
Honestly I think that this morning I was meant to see this. I started a blog last month and have really liked the idea. I’m 21 years old and married to the love of my life. I don’t have a college degree and I work part time as a server at a local resturaunt. I’ve been inspired by so many blogs by specific people that I decided I wanted to do it. I want to start a blog and succeed as a writer and so I dove right in. It’s in the beginning stages but this post has really motivated me to keep pushing through the start up phase. I just wanted to say thank you for posting this. You have no idea how much this helped me and again I truly believe I was meant to see this post this morning. I put bible verses in my blog posts because I know and love God, without him I know I wouldn’t be where I am In life right now. I think that this was definetly him connecting me to you. I know I want to work from home when My husband and I start having babies! I want to put my best foot forward and do this. If you want to check out my blog I’ll put it down below, and tips you have for me are greatly appreciated. Im definetly greatful for you! My blog: Picketfencesandpeonies.wordpress.com
Hey Cassandra! I’m so happy to hear that you’ve started your blog! This is going to open up so many doors for you! God really does help us out so much and I know as well that you led you to this post. This post was truly meant to help people out like you who wanted to make a change in their life and give actionable tips! I can’t wait to see where your blog goes, so keep me updated (also your blog looks great, and you and your husband make a handsome couple!).
As for any advice, I’d like to direct you over to my post on how I made Pinterest my full-time job. It has some of the same points that the $3,000 a month from home has, but it also has new ones as well that I think will help you out a lot! 🙂
Thanks for this simply put, informative post! I have a blog name and domain, and am in the process of writing posts. I still have to purchase a WordPress theme too. That in itself is overwhelming, but I am certainly motivated to do it now. Thanks again!
Hey Melanie! I’m so glad I could help you out! Also, I think my post on how to start a blog (a step by step guide) will help you out a ton. When purchasing a domain name, you also need hosting (hosting is like renting a space on the internet, you need it to be able to have your blog on the internet) and this will show you how to sign up with Bluehost (my personal favorite hosting site) which also has WordPress installation (for free). And at the end I give some tips when it comes to designing your blog with a theme.
I hope this helps you! 🙂
Thanks so much dear it is so helpful. I love the prayer part it is crucial in our lifes. God bless you.
I’m so glad I was able to help you Lulu! And if you need any more help, I just created a post that guides you step by step in creating your own blog. 🙂
Silas & Grace
Thank you for sharing. This was very inspiring . I get inspired a lot but do not actually start on projects I’m inspired to do. I have to just do it this time. This blog might be the push I needed, because i know God brought me here to read it. I am currently working at a job in customer service because my family needs the money . It’s great to help the members in providing answers to their inquiries but I have no passion for the over all job. I’m chained to a desk and get a right up for being a minute or two late . I feel stuck and i cant even be at home with my child when she get there, oh and the 1.5 hr sit in traffic here and back. I just can’t. I’m going to begin writing my notes and ideas tonight and also research different hosting options. I pray this works.
Chantel, being able to do what you want and having time freedom to purse your actual life goals and be with your child is EXACTLY why you need to do this! It’s so important to start your side hustle now and not at some point in the future. Yes, it’ll take up a lot of your free time, but just think about how much more free time you’ll get when you quick you day job and you’re able to wake up when you want to and stay at home! I seriously believe in you and I’ll be praying!
Also, I just created a new post on a step-by-step guide that’ll help you get your blog up and running! Check it out, I think it’ll help you out a lot! 🙂
Thank you for your post. Like almost everyone who has committed about wanting to start a blog, I do too, for a while now. I feel like I have alot to share about many things. What has stopped me is a couple of things. First, I really didn’t know how to start, but your post has taken care of that, again thank you. Second, my confidence. It’s pretty low. I read some blogs and they seem to have it together, their pictures, the way they use their words (vocabulary) to write post or stories. I don’t know if I could write well enough to keep people’s interest. In other words, I don’t want to sound stupid. Do you know of any bloggers that has had that problem, and made it work.
Hey Marianne! I’m so glad I could inspire and help you out! As for helping you start out, I also just created a post on how to start a blog and it’ll guide you step by step. 🙂
Secondly, don’t feel discouraged about your confidence! There were many times that I wondered if anyone would take me seriously as an entrepreneur/blogger and if I could even make it. So many bloggers had so many more skills than me, and it was hard putting myself out there and learning so many new things! But you should probably know that many bloggers that have made it first got their inspiration and help from other bloggers who had made it too. In fact, I got my inspiration from The Busy Budgeter and she told me almost everything I needed to know, such as where to get my photos (like sites such as Pixabay and Pexels).
When you first start writing blog posts, I’d suggest looking at other bloggers who have written on similar topics that you’re about to write on and see how they talk and write. And pretty soon your own blogging “voice” will come naturally as you progress. I promise it’ll get easier and it won’t take forever!
I think a great quote (from a famous blogger) to remember is, “Don’t judge your beginning to someone’s middle.” I hope this helps! 🙂
Thank you! This was truly inspiring. My quickest blog ideas would be about taking care of ill parents, moving them into your home, depression, grief, loss of parent, coping, finding faith & God, asking for help, picking your battles, etc.
Does this sound like something that would be of interest for a blog? I know it needs catching titles & all that.
Thank you and I think this sounds great Karrie! Lots of people are dealing with the same kind of things and need to know that there are others out there that are going through it too and they need help. I think you can definitely make this work! 🙂
Thank you for sharing such transparent posts! I love bloggers who share real value in every post! I hope to be like that with my blog too. This post has been so helpful to me and I have followed much of your advice. I just launched my blog Smart Cents Mom this week! I’ve been working on it for months so I’m anxious to see results
Thank you so much! And you are most welcome Ashleigh!
Also, your blog is looking great! Love the style! Very fun but professional! 😀
I enjoyed reading your post. I feel like God lend me to your post. I was going to give up on blogging because I felt insecure since I didn’t know what to do to make one. I’m a stay at home first time mom with a 5 1/2 yr old baby boy. I was thinking of joining a free blogging site like blogger but I rather own my blog. I feel like being a blogger is like being an author of a book. I have talent for writing, but struggle with grammatical errors sometimes ugh lol.
Hey Tatiana! I’m so glad I could help you out! And when your blog is up and running, send me a link, I’d love to see it! 🙂
hi my names mayra i just turned 20, I have really bad depression and anxiety it’s gotten worse and I can barely go outside now, I feel awful because my family is financially struggling and I can’t help, now I like art a lot not as much as I used to and DIY stuff and cooking and my nephew who just turned 1 but I literally don’t have a clue how to make a blog about these things? they’re all already online I never come up with my own things I find them online so what’s the point in reblogging about something? I have no clue what to blog about basically please help
Hey Mayra! The best thing I would suggest to do is to look at other bloggers that do the things you like to do, and then take a twist on one of their projects. Do a different paint color or try their DIY strategies on a different piece of furniture. And the same for cooking. Get good ideas from others and see where you can offer something that they can’t to potential readers. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hi, I don’t know why mi comment never been published ?. I wrote to you like almost a month ago and I thought you didn’t wanted to answer me and now I see that it never been published.
First of all, I apologize cuz my english is not good enough but I read your post and I really like it, it helps a lot i been trying to convince myself to do a blog for a long time and I never did it cuz I’m not sure what’s gonna be the theme; I’m a very disperse person so I don’t want to do a blog that talks about everything and nothing at the same time; i really really enjoy to write but I need to define what kind of blog i’ll start and I would like you to help me with that; last year i decided to leave my life in Mexico city to move with my boyfriend here in Dallas Tx; my passion definitely is theater i use to be part of a company in Mexico i really enjoy to be on stage but also playing with lights, sewing the clothes, write and direct so i can say i love to create. In Mexico i studied photography and even that I like journey, art photography my favorite is product/publish (i’m not sure what’s the name on english) so I have a few ideas but I don’t know how incorporated all these ideas for a single blog. I also been thinking in a blog where I can express all my experience cuz this life is all new for me, moving to an other country, have to deal with a different language, been in a hood that even is full of Latin people has a big multiculturalism, and of course a new life sheared with an other person that sometimes I want to kill him and sometimes I feel i can’t live without him. I hope you can help me to choose the direction of my blog.
I thing your post is very helpful cuz I been reading a lot of tips but theme leave me like in the begin and reading you is like “come on, take my hand and we gonna make it!” So thanks for that.
Besitos ?
Hey thank you so much for you kind words! And I’m so sorry that I didn’t get to reply to your first question.
I really do hope you have some great experiences there in the states! I’m living in Mazatlan right now so I totally get how it feels to move from everything you know that’s familiar and have a language barrier. But I suppose that’s apart of the adventure! 🙂
I know a blogger who blogs on photography. His name is Darren Rowse (here’s his photography blog), but he also has a blog called ProBlogger.net which SERIOUSLY helped me out when I was just starting.
Now I’m not sure how to direct you in the way of what you should write about exactly. I’m not sure what your’e passionate about the most, perhaps you could give me a bit more insight?
Hi. I just read this and been looking into blogging and using Pinterest and Instagram. I am very new to it but would like a mentor if your able to help me out Please email me
What would you like help with specifically Danusa? 🙂
I’m wondering about Bluehost, do you literally pay $3.45 a month or do they bill once a year? also when i checked it out you pay more than $3.45 for other things like security and domain privacy. Do you recommend the basic 36-month or one of the other packages?
Hey Ashleigh, you pay $3.45 for 3 years up front (there are other plans of course). My husband and I had to save up a few paychecks since we were on a tight budget, but it’s definitely worth it. They’re so helpful and professional.
You don’t have to get those added things, I even had a BlueHost representative tell me that it wasn’t necessary. And I’d recommend the 36 since it’s great for beginners. 🙂
I love this article! I’m an aspiring writer and stay at home mom, and I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for financial reasons too. You don’t earn a paycheck for doing nothing! My question is, how do you get traffic to your blog when you first start out? The fear of failure is basically what’s holding me back.
Pinterest! It’s the biggest way I drive traffic Jessica. Listen to the podcast I link to up above and it’ll tell everything. In fact, listen to it 3-4 times and take down notes. This is what got me on the road to making $3,000 a month. 🙂
I have looking into blogging for a while and came across post that wasn’t you to buy all type of things to get started which was discouraging. I am not a writer at ALL. I want to be able to stay at home with my toddler enjoying and watching her grow. Not to mention we need an increase in income. Did i mention I’m not tech savvy? Where do I get my content from? How do I copy it to post? If I post a picture does the content from the picture post as well? How much time do you spend working on your blog? I also feel that when I post I will jump around from subject to subject, who wants to read that? I want to focus on mommy daughter activities and dressing alike, debt and staying organized in limited space. Those are just a few I like. Please help with any suggestions. I’m off work for another week and this would be a perfect time to start.
Hey Tamara! I totally get you! Working from home so you can be near loved ones is a big thing!
When you say “How do I copy it to post?” What do you mean exactly? And I’m not quite sure what you mean when you say “IF I post a picture does the content form the picture post as well?”
I spent 40-50 hours a week creating content, creating pins, getting on group boards, and putting myself out there. It’s a lot of work, but SO WORTH IT. I used to think about how I could be spending 40-50 hours a week at a job that doesn’t get me anywhere in life, and that helped spur me on so that I could keep on going on. Now you don’t have to spend 40-50 hours a week working on the blog. It might take you a bit longer to make it, but just give it any time you’ve got and you’ll be able to work from home someday soon.
Hello! So this is the second post I have thoroughly read from you – Including all the comments and I am almost starting to feel stalker-ish lol so I thought I may as well say HI! And start asking a couple of the questions I still have. I started seeing your blog pop up on my Pinterest Feed all of a sudden a few weeks ago and frequently (seeing as you launched with 40 posts i guess I see why) Plus I LOVE the name – I don’t know why exactly but I just do!
Once I read your previous post on blogging (150,000 subscribers) I was hooked – like everyone said it was by far the most helpful post! It made me think that maybe other “how to start/make money from blog” ect were not so helpful because now it seems they were holding onto the real secrets. So here are my (hopefully quick) questions
1) When you launched with the 40-ish pins did you have any in reserve so that you could make sure to have future content w/o delay?
2) How did you network/get on bloggers boards w/o having your blog launched
3) With your pins do you delete the ones from the post that are underpinned? or leave them . also i like the uniformity of your pictures, its how i first started recognizing that you were coming up on pinterest so much
4) what would you say you spend/divide your time on when working on the blog… research, writing, networking??
I have had my soon to be launched blog in the back of my mind now.. always writing down ideas but never really doing anything with them. I stay home with my kids while my husband works but money is getting to tight and debt trouble looming around the corner, so its now or never! I just really didnt see how i would have the time (between the kids and selling on eBay which is my small contribution to our income) to get this going but after finding your posts i am more motivated than ever. Thank you so much again for your posts and you really are a saint for taking the time to respond and help all these people for free 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words Tiffany! 🙂 I’m glad I can help you out! And here are my answers in order. 🙂
1. At the time I didn’t, but soon after launching, I was able to start up a reserve of posts for future events such as spending time with family during the holidays, traveling, sick days, etc.
2. I just sent out a message to their emails or blog contact forms letting them know who I was, how much I loved their content and how I’d love to join their group board. Then I let them know that I’d follow every/any rules they had. It’s a very polite and respectful way to ask. 🙂
3. After 2-3 weeks, I start to delete the ones that aren’t performing. And thank you!
4. I spend a lot of my time writing, creating pins, and putting myself out there on Pinterest. But I also do network with a couple other bloggers and work with them as well. 🙂
You are most welcome! I’m so glad I can be of help to you! And don’t give up! I know plenty of mothers who are bloggers with kids and made great income! I believe in you! 😀
Hello I just quit my job about a week ago. The truth is they worked me to death and I’m 46 years old. I just can’t handle that hard work physically anymore. I have looked at lots of work at home jobs and I just don’t trust any of them. Last year I had a break down and had to reach out for help because I was a mess mentally. I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ptsd (from a past abusive relationship) and add . I just recently prayed to God about if I should share my story. I do have hobbies such as making jewelry,sewing baby blankets, just any kind of craft that I feel like I can make. I am just wondering if sharing my story could be something I could write about and others being interested. During that break down I really did not want to be around anymore. I felt like others would be better off without me. Please tell me what you think.
Hey Michelle! So sorry for the late reply! I’m so sorry to hear that they did this to you! And I’m praying for you! I think people would definitely be interested in your story, and as for your crafts, I know plenty of women who were able to make it work on etsy. I could shoot you some stories if you’d like. Also, I say start researching and reading how other bloggers who have gone through things you’ve gone through have laid out their blog and attract an audience. It’s the best to go about it. Study your “competition” and go from there. 🙂
Can you blog about your crafts you make and sell? Thank you.
I actually did on my post 7 Beyond Easy Crafts You can Make and Sell Online. I hope this helps!
I just started a blog and would love any advice to help make it better.
What parts of your blog are you looking to make better? 🙂
I have wanted to try blogging in hopes of making an income from it. I have tried doing a free account and blogging book reviews because I am always reading, but if go onto a pay site do you think that is an overdone blog? It seems like there are millions of book reviewers out there? Do I need to find a new topic?
I don’t think that’s overdone at all! Then you’ll be able to set up Adsense and start making income once viewers start rolling in. You can also make income from referring great books off of Amazon. I say do it! 🙂
“Silas (my husband) had been working plenty of energy draining and soul sucking jobs (no joke), for a number of years and I was tired of seeing him coming home exhausted emotionally and physically. ”
Mine, too. It’s killing me. Thank you so much for this information! I can do this! And regarding prayer… Praise God! I believe you may well be the answer to mine!
itsjustabowlofcherries.blogspot.com/ <~ Temporarily! 50 Posts Then BlueHost!
PS The song Overcomer (Mandisa) just came on. *\o/*
Yes! That’s awesome Charelle! You can do this! I’m proud of you! 😀
Hello,
Just recently lost my job and I am now 14wks pregnant. I’ve always thought about starting a blog and now seems like the prefect time minus no start up capital. My fingers are crossed and I really hope I can do this. I really don’t want to have to go find a 9-5 but am keeping that door open just in case, i guess. I dunno. I really want to stay at home with our daughter (my step daughter when we have her), our other child on the way and spend more time with my hubby when he is home. 🙁 we just moved too and Im super stressed out because I always covered the majority of the housing bills while he took care of other major bills and insurance through his job. We’ve always been a team and I really want to continue to do that, but I’m sick and tired of the retail struggle.
You recommended already having / posting content for your blog, do you use a blogging schedule? Do you post all your content at once? How does that work? I’m really trying to wrap my head around this so I can really try hard to make this work for me.
Hey Danielle! I’m so sorry to hear about all of this! I’m definitely keeping you in my prayers (if that’s alright). Also, sorry for the late reply, my husband and I have been very busy of late.
As for a post schedule, we work on making 4-5 posts a week (but some 1-2 of those posts go into a reserve for times where we might not have time to put a post out). And we release our posts and pins for Pinterest at night when it will be most likely seen by others (more people on in the evening). I hope this helps. 🙂
I loved this post! Thank you! My husband and I moved recently and we are trying to save for our honeymoon and we just can’t seem to do it and I can’t seem to find a part time job. I have thought about blogging in the past but this has got me thinking even more!
Well I’m glad I could help you Meagan! And when you have that honeymoon, I hope it’s special! 🙂
Thanks for such an informational post! I would love to start blogging, my problem is i dont know how to narrow my topic so that the WIIFM makes sense. How did you go about narrowing and getting over the notion of feeling that everyone blogs about that topic? My passion is Crossfit, healthy living, relationship advice, job hunting ahhh so much that ive experined i want to share!
It’s ok to blog about the same thing other people blog about. You just have to offer your readers what your “competition” isn’t giving them. Research and see what they’re writing about on the topics you like. See where they’re lacking and start giving your readers actionable information. It’s the best way to make a readership become a loyal readership (also, let your humor and personality shine through, this is your blog so you can write however you want!).
This was so helpful! I’ve read so many of The Busy Budgeter’s blogs about starting a blog, but I honestly enjoyed yours better. Hers are super super detailed and great, but I feel like yours did better to relate to me. Thank you so much!
Wow! I love The Busy Budgeter’s blog so that comes as a high compliment! Thanks you so much Caprice. 🙂
Hey,
I read your post and few of the comments too. I am glad finally I got someone who has an answer to my question. I have been writing on stuffs I had experienced, its like I can write when I can feel it. And there I am stuck! I am left with no topic now, though I have no blog to post my write-ups but I had make sure I am with many things before I start, but its just not working. I am confused ! I don’t know how exactly is the blog created and how frequent one needs to be. Hope you be able to help me!
Hey Anne, sorry for the later reply! My husband and I have been so busy of late.
I would suggest looking at other bloggers who blog about similar subjects that you write on and see what they talking about. Then add value where they don’t. See where they leave out good actionable information and create your own post on the subject and give your potential readers what they need and want.
This is what I had in mind when I was writing this post on How I Made $3,000 From Home Last Month. 🙂
I’ve been wanting to start a blog for awhile. I have ideas and just hadn’t gotten around to it because it was so daunting. However, I really like your tips and I guess I’m going to give it a try again. I work 1-7pm and my hubby works 6-2pm, so we never see each other, I am ready to be home again. I already use Pinterest and I have ideas to build up interest, so I am going to give it a try. Writing out 20 to 25 posts before I go live is a great tip. Are there any other posts or blogs that helped you along the way to getting started?
Hey Sara, so sorry for the late response. I would definitely check out problogger.net and sidehustlenation.com. Both are great and have given me plenty of ideas and help. 🙂
I at times feel stuck in my job, but want to be giving and doing so much more. Could you tell me how to schedule my time in order to balance my work beyond the 9 to 5? I really want to be able to be home with my girl more, travel, and work more with our church. Writing as been a challenge for me, but things that I’ve written, I’ve done pretty well. This seems simpler, because you’re giving more of your own opinion. Thanks so much for the advice.
Hey Staci, I’d be glad to help you, but I think I need to know a bit more about you and your schedule. If you want, you can email me at contact@chasingfoxes.com, let me know what your schedule looks like, and I’ll be happy to help you. 🙂
So how do you get paid or who pays you ? I had never really thought about blogging until I read your post and it sounds awesome. I was just saying how I rock at the whole stay at home mom thing on my days off and we wish we could afford for me to stay home. I already have a Pinterest board so that’s one thing out of the way lol
Hey I’m glad I could inspire you Melissa! And I think I should direct you to this post that goes into more detail on who pays me and what other steps you can take to get more viewership to your blog. 🙂 Hope this helps!
hi! i came upon your post and loved everything you mentioned on it and its helping me a ton on how i would start a blog. i stopped working about a month and a half ago and struggling to look for a home job. the only problem for me is that i do not have any type of social media, no instagram, facebook, twitter, or snapchat. what would you suggest? do you suggest i make social media accounts in order for me to gain more traffic? i do have a pinterest account but thats basically it. any suggestions? thank you!!
Hey Claudia! I would suggest creating a business Pinterest account. Just Google “Business Pinterest” and it’ll pop up. Then start to create your following and get on group boards. That’s how my blog was able to take off so fast with views. And once your Pinterest is up and going with a great following, you can start to branch out onto other social media sites.
Hope this helps! 🙂
I loved this post! It’s made me think about starting a blog again. My husband is in the military and we have our first little one due in a couple weeks so I am going to be staying at home with her. I would love to get started to even bring in a little extra income a month. I have interests in a lot of things and life experiences but was concerned with it being all over the place…military life, pregnancy/kids, cloth diapering, saving money, DIY, recipes, fitness/nutrition/meal prep. I am a personal trainer so fitness is a big part of my life but doesn’t really fit in with the family life of all the other topics. Do you think that’s too much? It would give me a lot of different content to fall back on but also makes it difficult coming up with a blog name.
Hey Candace! Congrats on the little one on the way! And as for the fitness working with the other topics, I know that there are plenty of moms who would love to know how to keep in shape even when taking care of their kids. So perhaps you could show them some tips and tricks on staying trim even when busy?
And I honestly don’t think that’s all too much to write about, I really don’t. If you get creative with the category names and have them coincide with one another smoothly, I think you can become a very inspiring blogger to many people out there! 🙂
Wonderful, helpful blog. Love it! So many others leave out many of the steps. You have help me understand more on the system of blogging in just one article, than having read hundreds of other articles put together. Thank you for being so concise. And, I loved your section about God. I like to think he led me to your site! Blessings to you.
Thank you so much Robin for your kind words! I’m so glad I could help you!
Also, when your blog’s up, be sure to send me a link. I’d love to see it!
This by far has been extremely helpful. I had been thinking about starting a blog. I didn’t want to start it for the sake of making money but because I’ve been through things that I feel are worth sharing. Now, that you’ve broken it down that I can get paid for sharing my life experiences an knowledge, why not give it a try. Thank you for your in depth, step -by- step tips
Thank you so much Ebony for your kind words! I’m so glad I was able to help you!
Also, when your blog is up and running, send me a link, I’d love to see it! 🙂
This post was so inspiring to me! I always have felt like a blog is something I could do. I love to help people with tips about….just about anything. And I would love to be able to add extra income. You are answered prayer…thank you.
I’ve always wanted to start a blog!! But just like many other newbies I haven’t the slightest clue what to write about. ?
I could use your help on that. Plus the income would help me a lot right now. I lost my job and I’m struggling to get back into work mode.
Hey Michelle, I think I need to know a little bit more about you. What are your passions and interests? That’s usually where an awesome blog topic comes from. 🙂
When I say this post is exactly what I needed at this very moment… I am not exaggerating one bit. I have gone through dozens of articles trying to “figure it out” and THIS is it. I can’t say thank you enough. GOD IS GOOD, YOU ARE WONDERFUL!
Two quick questions?!
1 Can the sponsorships tell if you have blog traffic or a lack of it? Like even if I have good content, will they see I’m a newbie and say “nope, not enough viewers yet” ?? Also, Can you recommend any others besides Amazon and Adsense?
2- Is A/B (or ABCDEFG & so on…) testing the SAME post but with a different pin image, and that’s the only difference? When doing this, how do you track what does better?
I can’t say thank you enough!!
Thank you so much Taylor! I’m so glad I could help you out! 🙂 And yes, He is good!
And as for your questions..
1. I do believe they have a way with telling how much traffic you get, but I think it’s still fine to reach out and see if you can strike a deal with any of them. No harm right? And Media.net is another great ad network. As for affiliate marketing, check out any online store that you like (Target, Forever 21, Macy’s, etc.), and see if they have an affiliate program (you can Google it as well). That’s how I’ve found other affiliate networks. 🙂
2. Yep! It’s the same post just with different images.. but I usually just use the same image, but with different titles. You never know what’s going to grab a potential reader’s attention. 🙂
Hope this helps you out!
my head is spinning. I have been searching for something like this for a while ! I worked as a Property manager for years but with 4 kids and some health issues , I need to be home . However , you realize our situation. I have tons of Great info to write about , I just don’t know where to start – I am not tech savvy – I have a Pinterest – but just to save favorites ! I’d love to have a blog – This would be a answer to prayer 😉 I’m re- reading your article – I also coupon heavily – I taught classes so that would be a great subject too – I just need to get it all set up initially I think ;( the blog , the Pinterest , and um , whichever other venue I guess . and the running of them … my mind is on fire —- im excited and afraid – please pray for me … for this and unspoken – you don’t realize if I can do this what a door you will be opening , a life / lives you’ll be changing ….. Amy
Hey Amy! I’m so glad I was able to help you! And it can be quite a bit of work, but it is SO worth it!
And let me know when your blog is up and running, I’d love to see it! Keep me updated!
Hello Silas & Grace,
Where do I start? I’m Evon Robinson. A 54 year old woman from a small town of 3 colleges who finds it impossible to find viable work. I’ve worked two very taxing jobs; one at a hospital in dietary for 3 1/2 years that nearly ruined my feet, and another as a cashier at a local grocery store, who got rid of me after a back injury at work. Neither was good for me. 🙁
I took a copywriting course to escape the rat race, but only made $450 last year at it. I have been very discouraged with it, partly because my husband can’t understand my dream to make a go of an online business. He thinks I’m playing and don’t want to contribute to the household finances. Says I just don’t want to work (work for next to nothing for someone else for a 2-wk paycheck) 🙁
Ignoring his attitude and following my passion I decided to start a FaceBook closed group called “Barefoot Journaling Chronicles” on April 21, 2015 with a charter membership of 5…currently running 296. (My purpose in starting this group was to grow a following for a blog later to connect it to.) I started out posting our group invitation on my various writers groups. Now there are about 11 or so new members who join every month from comments I leave on the various journaling/scrapbooking websites, you tube videos, and pinterest posts I post on our wall every week/month. A few leave here and there, but I’m growing more than I’m shrinking. 🙂
I even provide a short story writing contest with prompts people can use to get started every quarter. My members have 3 weeks to come up with a short story from the prompt(s), submit the story by the deadline, we take 2 weeks to vote, and the winner receives a prize I create around their story. I’ve even created pen pal swaps for those interested in participating in a bit of scrapbooking fun.
I have a website I started for copywriting on Weebly, and my idea was to ‘gut’ it and remake it into a blog and rename my domain name. The link is http://www.evonrobinsoncopy.com
My group link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/evonrobinsoncopy/
Journaling/scrapbooking/short story writing is my passion!!
Sorry this post is so long…but I also want you to know, I think God wanted me to find you today. God bless you both. I believe in the power of prayer!! <3 And thank you for stepping out to help those of us who are lost in wanting to use the talents God has blessed us with. Community is something we all need. I hope to provide that through my closed FB page/website blog.
I think I need to bring in some online income before I get busy with this…so my husband doesn't get upset with me further. Need some money coming in NOW, not several months from now. 🙁
Any helpful advice you could give would be most appreciated. Thank you for listening.
~Evon
Hey Evon! I’m so glad that i was able to help you and I’m glad that your FB group and blog is starting to take off. And as for making money fast, perhaps you could offer your members a service for proofreading their work for a fee? Other than that, I would suggest just hitting it hard and setting out time in your day to work at your blog and create a Pinterest following. Practice with Picmonkey on making awesome pins. There are a TON of Youtube tutorials out there that will help you. 🙂
Thank you Silas and Grace for the info…Another question for you…How long did it take you to get up to $3,000 monthly? Wondering how much investment I need to make in money and time. Just curious. Thank you for your time… 🙂
Hey Evon, we got up to $3k in 3 months. 🙂 And you’re most welcome!
Wow…that’s awesome!! Hey do you know anything about Wealthy Affiliates? Thanks!
No I haven’t, but I just looked it up and it looks very intriguing! 🙂
It’s me again…Thank you for the quick response!
How many blog posts did you start out with (you gave the advice to have 25-50 ready when I’m ready to launch.
How much did you make in your first month? Also how many blog posts do you create a week/month? I see your topic range is pretty wide. But lifestyle links them altogether. Nice job!
How much time do you allocate for your blog (and answering questions, hee hee). Is the $3,000 before or after expenses?
I’d love to have you teach me more about blogging! I can hardly wait to get started sharing what I know about journaling/scrapbooking/short story writing. It’s truly my passion!
Blessings on all your endeavors!
~Evon 🙂
Hey Evon! We started out with around 40 ready to go posts. 🙂
My first month I made a few cents shy of thirty dollars, so nothing to write home about. 😉 And I create about 5-6 blog posts a week.
Before my husband quit his job, I would spend anywhere from 50-60 hours a week on the blog. Of course time flies by fast when certain posts take a bit of time to create. So it’s not as bad as it sounds. Now I’m a bit more relaxed since we have a steady stable of blog posts that are doing well and bringing in traffic. 🙂 Oh and the questions aren’t so bad… just so long as you don’t get behind.
And no worries, I’ll be creating more posts on blogging in the near future, so I’ll keep you and others updated. 🙂
Have a great week!
Hey Silas & Grace,
Evon here…I like your stock photos. Great attention getters! Do you buy them or make your own?
Also…do you ever run dry on topics to write about? Where do you get ideas when you go dry? I’m wondering if I’ll run out of new ideas for my topic/niche. Hmm…lots to think about.
And I’m figuring that I would wanna get started soon and not wait till I feel I have all my ducks in a row…any helpful advice?
Hey thanks for letting me dip my toes in the water before diving in head first! 😉
~Evon
Hey Evon!
We get our photos from domain free picture sites like Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, a stocksnap.io.
When I’m having trouble thinking of topics to write about, I usually search Pinterest and see what other bloggers in my niche are writing about.
I think getting all your ducks in a row is a huge part of your success. For about 3-4 months I worked on creating content, researching, learning how to use PicMonkey, creating pins for Pinterest, etc. It’s what led to my blog taking off so fast after I launched it. Also, if I were to have launched it without doing all of those things, I think it would have been a lot harder to continue with it when I found I was having little to no success at first (also, God was the major factor as well, but I think that goes without saying. 😉 ) I think pray about it and see how God leads you. 🙂
And you’re most welcome! I’m glad I’ve been able to help you! 🙂
Hey Silas and Grace…
Evon here again.
Did you do any training before you started your blog…or did you just read other bloggers posts to figure it out? Is there a science to this? I have no idea about tracking or anything really…but I want to learn more. It would be a fulfilled dream of mine to do this (as a money maker) from home. I’ve done the building of it for a year with no pay…would like to see some profit coming in to pay the bills, even just a bit to start.
I have seen other blog builders say you don’t see an income for 3 to 5 months…What was your income your 2nd month?
I’m middle aged and didn’t grow up in the age of computer technology. I just missed it and had to retrain myself at 44, ten years ago. Felt like Rip Van Winkle, waking up from a 20 year nap…UGH!! I missed soo much, you have NO idea! I’ve since done pretty well coming of age techie-wise a bit just playing with pinterest, my closed group page on FB, creating my own website for when I was doing copywriting a couple years ago, etc. So I’m not as terrified as I woulda been back in 2005.
With that said…I’m not all knowing either. Lots to learn, I suppose, but I also don’t want this chance to pass me by, thinking I’m not ready into the next year either. Just a bit gun shy, wondering if I have what it takes to dive into this full boar.
I’d like to learn all I can before the big dive tho..
Thank you for being here for me!
~Evon
Hey Evon, so sorry for the later reply, my husband and I have been very busy of late.
And I would fully suggest the Elite Blogger Academy. It’ll show you everything you need to know to get started and turn your blog into a profitable income source. It’s $399 however, they have a monthly plan for $49 if you can’t pay it upfront.
My income for my second month was $500, so it’s definitely possible to see some good income in the early months.
And you’re most welcome! You can definitely do this Evon. With some willpower to work hard and smart and determination to make it happen, I know you can do this! 🙂
Wow, this post inspired me to get started! I have a “freebie” blog that I haven’t kept up with in quite a while. http://powerlovesoundmind.blogspot.com/ I would really love to blog full time – and especially get paid for it – now that I have the time. My question is, my posts were mostly just “musings”. I hope they were somewhat inspirational, but not something someone would seek out. I could write on topics such as you have to the right here -> but, no offense, everyone does! How do you set it apart? Not say the same thing about organization and weight loss that everyone says?
I’m going to go back and click on your links to see about hosting and adsense and listen to the podcast. I can’t wait to get started!
Hey Eyvonne! When it comes to getting people to your site and reading your posts, I think that you want to start off with looking at who you want your audience to be; who you’re writing for. Then start to find their pain points, see what you’d like to help them with. Whether that’s marital, money, or normal relationship issues. I hope this helps. 🙂
I’ve been considering starting a blog and I’m really trying to do my research before I even attempt it. Your post was really helpful and pointed me in the right direction. I was just wondering, do you use content from pinterest and then post your sources or do you come up with all of your own content? I’m a pinterest addict, but I’m not sure I can come up with enough content just on my own to fill a blog. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much Trudie! And I’m so glad I was able to help you. 🙂
I do both when it comes to content. I create some of my own content, and other times I reference other people’s posts (like for instance, “10 Amazing Pizza Recipes for a Busy Night” I know, a horrible example). Also, there’s nothing wrong with creating posts like this, there are many major blogs that do this all the time. 🙂
I love love this. I’m so happy for you and your family! I only hope I can put in the work and reap my own benefits.
I’ve been a broke pet mom, starving artist, side-job worker for almost 2 years.
I love to write. I’m naturally drawn to poetry but I also am crafty & cook (vegan) so I LOVE to write about those accomplishments. Now let’s see if I can channel that energy to blogging and tutorials…
I’ve pondered it for a while, but I really need a change. A boost. In both my life, morale, and wallet.
Thank you so much for sharing, this has inspired me immensely. ?
-Alexa
Thank you so much for your kind words Alexa! I’m so happy I could help you out!
Also, when your blog is up and running, let me know, I’d love to see it. 🙂
Thank you so much! I have always want to start a blog. I would like to view your website for examples so I can understand more on how to start if you don’t mind.
That’s perfectly fine Jeanea. I’m glad I was able to help you. 🙂
I have been dreaming of starting a blog for quite some time now and have finally come up with the perfect name..I came across your post and it really helped me with wanting to get started right away! I am looking into the basic plan with bluehost and was wondering about the additional items that I would need vs not need: domain privacy protection, site backup pro, sitelock security? These were the options that were automatically checked with choosing the basic plan with bluehost but do have extra fees. Could you provide some insight into what you would recommend getting vs not getting ?
To be honest Lauren, just take what the basic plan gives you. I talked to a guy from Bluehost and he told me that those already checked items where probably everything I would every need. However, I would suggest getting the Jetpack WordPress plugin when your blog is up and running. It’s just an added measure of protection from spammers and headaches. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hi I am a single mother to 5. I’ve been looking into starting my own blog for a couple different reasons, one to help myself and two to make some money without having to pay for child care. I have went to college for 2 years and get my associates in psychology, I am 3 classes away but I couldn’t afford to pay for classes and supplies to continue.. So now I’m home with 5 kids and need to get an income without paying out because then I’m not making enough to be working and profiting from it. I love to help others in many ways. But I could use some advice on starting a blog. Thanks i also wanted to let you know I’ve read over 50 similar posts on Pinterest but this is the only one I’ve read all the way to the end and commented on.
Hey Tracey! I’m so glad I could help you! I’m just curious though, what are some of your passions and interests? This is a great way to start looking into what to write about.
As for making blogging work for your lifestyle, I would suggest finding any time you can to work on the blog. Here’s a great source; Sarah Titus is a single mother to 3 and has a lot of great advice! I hope this helps. 🙂
I’ve been toying with the idea to start a blog also. My husband’s income is enough so that I’m able to be a stay-at-home-wife/mom and I’ve been doing some DIY fix-ups, sewing, new recipes etc around the house. I’ve had a part-time sewing business for a couple years (I make purses, curtains, baby bedding, banners etc….). But I’ve only advertised on Facebook or made items for friends/family. My friends have been encouraging me to set up an Etsy shop and now that I’m not working outside of the home and my son is getting older (thereby easier), I feel like I’m ready to take the plunge. My question is: do you think I should jump in with Etsy or blogging first? Or do both at the same time?
Hey Cami! Since your main passion is DIY fix-ups, I would definitely do Etsy first.
Check out this awesome post from The Penny Hoarder on how this mom was able to start up a money making business on Etsy! Definitely a great read!
I read your post this morning. I was really impressed how you simply explained the details. I want to start a blog, however my question is the market and Pintrest so saturated with Blogs it is still possible to be successful financially with blogging? I am optimistic there is still room if one can become an expert in the subject areas they are blogging about. What are your feelings on these concerns?
Hey T.K.! Yes, there is still a TON of room for new bloggers to be successful with their blogging income.
Just think about how you can help you audience where other bloggers aren’t (depending one what the blog topic is of course). My husband and I started this up a few months ago and it’s really doing great, don’t get intimidated by how many other bloggers are out there. You CAN do this! 🙂
Good Evening,
I really enjoyed your post. It was easy to understand and makes a person feel it is attainable. I started my blog (www.greatisinme.com) April this year and I’m still getting the hang of it. It is for motivation and encouragement. I will most definitely use some of your tips especially WIIFM. Thank you kindly and be blessed.
Thanks so much Keisha! And I’m so glad I was able to help you!
Also, your blog looks, AWESOME!
Thank you so much for your post. I have always wanted to start blogging and actually started with the free sites. Let’s just say a waste of my time. You have shared with myself as well as others some vital information and I am grateful. May our God continue to bless you in all that you do.
Thanks so much Taquita! And I’m so glad I was able to help you out! 🙂
Hey Silas & Grace,
Such an inspiring post. I’m a newbie blog, & to see that you’re making income (good income @ that already) is exciting. Do you mind listing where the payments came from?
One last question: How long did it take to set up your blog before launching? SO much to learn!
Hey Sorayah! I’m so glad I was able to help you! And we got our payments from Google’s ad service, Adsense, and the Amazon affiliate program. 🙂
And it took us 2-3 months, but it could have been done a lot sooner (we took our time with the blog and getting the design finished). Hope this helps!
I would love to start blogs. What is the first things to start with. Than what is the second steps. Please guide me one steps at a time, thank you.
Well the first step is to figure out what you’re most passionate about (this can be just one subject or multiple). Then of course you need to figure out a blog name (buy your domain name and hosting once this is figured out), find out who you want your audience to be, and what social media site you’ll start off on. If it’s Pinterest, then start up a Pinterest business account, link it to your blog, and start practicing on PicMonkey making pins. There are a TON of Youtube tutorials on how to use it.
I think another great step is to start studying what other bloggers in your niche are talking about. What’s working for them and what’s getting them a ton of repins.
I hope this helps! 🙂
Prayer. I love it! That made me like your blog even more!!! God is good!
Thank you so much Ashley! I’m so glad I could help you out!
Also, your blog looks great! 🙂
I love these tips and have read and reread this article over a few times ?Yes I have always wanted to start a blog as I am a SAHM. Yes I have procrastinated and come up with reason after reason why I shouldn’t start NOW. Example: I need the fancy camera, I need to be a better writer, I need an audience base, blah, blah, blah. But this article has got me excited about blogging and put things into such a positive and approachable perspective so thank you for that!! As for a bit of advice from a pro as yourself… I am a bit of a Jill of all trades so when it comes to narrowing down a niche that’s a tough one. But I feel moms do everything so why should I be tied down to one? Fitness, cooking, organizing, decorating, personal and relational growth, keeping kids entertained… Can that be a thing? Or is this too broad? Thanks for any advice you can offer!!
Wow! I’m so glad I was able to help you! And I DEFINITELY think that could be a thing, it’s true, moms really do everything!
Thanks for your post. I, too have been thinking about starting a blog. I am a senior with some health problems, learning to cope with them and also on a very tight budget. I have many interests and would enjoy sharing those with others. I have been reading a lot of posts about blogging , trying to glean ideas and info that would prove useful to my endeavor. Some articles are confusing and overwhelming, but your post is informative, encouraging and inspiring. I will be studying your post very closely. Thank you for giving GOD the glory for your success, for we know that all good things come from our creator. Hopefully, within the next few months I will be able to put some ideas together that loosely resembles a plan for my blog. Love and prayers to you and yours!
Hey thank you so much! And I’m so glad I could help you! I look forward to seeing your blog when it’s up and running!
How do you get paid? How often? How often do you post?
Hey Bronwyn! I get paid from Google Adsense (Google’s ad service) once a month and Amazon’s affiliate program once a month as well. 🙂 And I post almost every day of the week.
Thanks for the great ideas and encouragement. This may be obvious to most people, but I was wondering where to have my 25-50 blog posts stored before I launch a blog?
You can store them in a word doc or a Google doc. I prefer Google docs since if the computer gets smashed by a truck or it’s stolen, all of my posts will still be there no matter what computer I log into. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hei, thank you for your help. I’ve always wanted to do something from home but never came across something so interesting and inspiring.
Indeed I have an idea now. I’m a widower in her middle 40 and have been doing motivational talks here and there for free. Now I’m gonna have to use that yo make money. Hope I’m on the right track.
Hey I’m glad I could help you Grace! I can’t wait to see your blog when it’s up and running. 🙂
Hi Silace & Grace ,
You have already received so many compliments ,so add one more from my side.. 🙂
Loved the post ..!!! After reading so many blog post on the same topic,I would say yours is best ..
I like the ”Pinterest” Idea specifically ..I never read about it before..
I will definitely be using your tips on my blog ,Hope it will work on my favor too..
Finger Crossed 🙂
Thank you so much Sonal! I’m so glad I was able to help you out!
Also, I just checked out your blog; I love the design! 🙂
I loved your post! I signed up with Bluehost. I tried getting google ads, but they rejected me. I was approved for yahoo ads. I’m definitely going to try your Pinterest A/B testing. I’m not trying to get rich from blogging, but be able to finish my college degree and earn a little bit of money.
I”m so glad Yahoo ads accepted you! And blogging is a great way to earn some income without over exerting yourself when doing school full time. 🙂
And I check out your blog, looks awesome!
Good tips. I’ve been thinking about blogging for a while. I don’t need it to make money, although money is of course nice. I think my niche is kind of weird. I was thinking of apologetics, cultural analysis from a Christian point of view and collage advise. I’ve written down at least half a dozen ideas. I was planning on writing at least 10 posts before I even stared setting it up. I feel silly doing it. What do I know, and who would want to read it? But I keep feeling this nudge.
Hey Alchemist! Thanks for the feedback! I’m so glad that you’re doing the work beforehand, and don’t worry about who would read it. There are so many people online that you can definitely do a niche like that and have an audience. I’ve seen so many smaller niches thrive online, things you would never have thought of before. You can definitely do this, just join groups on Facebook that have that niche topic, engage and take part in their community and you’ll start to have an audience.
I hope this helps you!
Hi Silas & Grace,
I’m a young woman in her 20s who went to school for fashion and it has always been my passion. I have experience styling for a magazine and working in fashion marketing. I’m also really interested in health and nutrition/and beauty tips/ home remedies. My boyfriend is constantly telling me to start a blog but I guess my issue is that A) I really don’t know where to start and B) I feel like they’re are just SO many blogs out there already like this. Everyone I know has a fashion/ styling blog these days so I give up and think “what’s the point?” I don’t want to fall in the mix of being like everyone else and failing. Any advice? Thank you!!
Ok Nicole,
A) Start by writing down each topic you want to blog about (beauty tips/home remedies, health and nutrition, fashion, etc.). Take down notes on how they correspond with each other and how they could fit together in a blog. Then start writing down titles for posts you could do on each subject. Think about what the pain points are in each category; what do people most want help with (ex. What essential oils will help take care of acne or wrinkles; people want to have clear skin and look young). And from there, you’ll have a good idea of where you can put your knowledge and expertise on the subject and help people out (Also think about your audience, who are you writing too? Because if it’s millennial girls, then they’ll want to know about essential oils for acne, and probably not aging.. if you get my point here).
B) Yes, you’re right; there are a lot of blogs out there like this. But then there are so many blogs out there that are like mine. You have to ask yourself what you can bring to the table that others can’t. What can you do to go further than all of those people you know who have a fashion/styling blog? What can you do better? Also, it has a lot to do with your personality; let it be seen on your blog. People don’t just fall in love with your content, they fall in love with you. Be fun, engage your readers and they’ll soon become a loyal audience. It’s ok to have something similar to others, but you can still be different than the rest. It’s your own take on the subject(s).
I hope this helps and I seriously believe that you can do it! It’s so worth it; being a blogger is fun and there’s so much freedom that comes with it. Just remember to provide value to your readers so they come back for more!
You are truly a beautiful person for offering your assistance and expertise to potential bloggers. Like the previous readers I am totally captivated by your blog. Of the many many that I have come across yours wreaked of sincerity. You are truly blessed. I agree that keeping God first is the key to anyone’s success. I have been encouraged many times by my son to start a blog, but like these readers am having trouble letting go of procrastination. I would like help with subject matter and compilation to get started. Your input is greatly appreciated! Thank you again for your genuine support.
Hey Pamela! I’m so glad I was able to help you. As for subject matter, it all depends; what are you interested in? What’s your passion? Let me know! 🙂
Hello Silas and Grace!
Yesterday at Sunday family dinner my daughter found your Pin and comes over to me and says, “you have to read this RIGHT NOW!” I am in the middle of building an online spiritual mentor business and know that blogging is a main part of my business. The content you have provide has been the best I have seen so far because you have simplified it in a way that makes great sense! I have done webinars and ebooks that take forever to get to the process of how start it. Thank you sooooo much for paying it forward and helping those of us who know this is something we are meant to do! And obviously my favorite tip was Prayer! I have not come this far without His help and won’t get to where I want to without Him! Thank you for sharing your success and your faith! Gratefully, Kaelen ps…my website is still really under construction but slowly getting there! 🙂
Wow, thank you so much Kaelen! And tell your daughter I said thank you too! Your kind words me a lot to me! So glad I was able to help you!
Also, when you blog is up, send me a link, I’d LOVE to see it! 🙂
Hi,
This is such a great post! I have been thinking about starting my blog for a while already, but I am still in the really early stages, doing research and trying to figure out all the technical details. So first of all – thank you for all the great advice, especially the tip to have a whole bunch of blog posts ready before you launch, I haven’t read that anywhere and it sounds really smart!
I also read the Busy Budgeter and I know she really recommends the Elite Blogging Academy as well. Can I ask – how long does the course take? Did you take the course before you launched your blog? I ask because I am wondering if there is a point to starting my blog before I have a chance to enroll in the Blog Academy (if I start the blog within the next month or two and then have to wait a few months until the next session starts).
Thanks so much for your input!
Cippi
To be honest Cippi, it just depends on your pace and how fast you’re going with each course. Some may take you longer than others, there’s no definite time frame for you to finish.
As for when I took the course, I started it about a month before. It opened up I believe in February for a short amount of time so I had to jump on it.
I’d say get started on your blog now, sign up for their waitlist and join when they open up again. I hope I answered your question right, if I didn’t, let me know!
I needed to hear the WIIFM advice! Something I definitely need to work on. Thank you! I also know that consistency is key and I’m struggling there!
Hey Denise, I’m so glad I was able to help you, and if you have any questions in the future, just let me know. 🙂
Also, your blog looks great!
Thanks for the shout and so happy to hear about your success!
Thanks so much Nick! Your podcast has really helped me out. 🙂
I have a wordpress website and none of the templates were right for what i wanted. So i stopped using it and that was a year ago… I have hundreds of pics and posts ready to ho but have yet to find a good system that is easy for me to use. I just want to insert pics and text and wordpress was so NOT user friendly. It was a major bummer.
Well Leigh, when it comes to WordPress, if you didn’t see any of their themes that you liked, then checkout other people’s WordPress themes (that they created themselves). There’s a TON of them out there and if you’d like, I can point you in a good direction. As for it being user friendly with pics and text, I am able to do this with WordPress, would you like me to show you how? 🙂
I don’t know if they would, but as for myself (and I’m sure others out there), I wouldn’t mind a tutorial 🙂
Then I’ll work on one as soon as I get the chance. 🙂
This was an amazingly friendly and easy read. You make people feel inspired and like I could actually do this. Im a single mother of five kids, including a recovered Autistic. Im just starting to learn about prepping, i love diy and crafts, cooking, and hacks/money saving stuff. I think my issue is Im like Oh! I wanna do this and this and that and this in my blog…is that doable? or should I choose one thing or….?
Nope, you should totally go for all of those subjects, they correspond with each other really well. However, you want to have one overlying theme for them all, and that can be anything from, recipes, diy, and hacks that are all simple and easy for any woman to do or, recipes, diy, and hacks that are great but budget friendly. I hope this makes sense, and let me know when your blog is up, I’d be glad to check it out! 🙂
So thinking about it more. I think my blog will be about the Prepping aspect…getting more self reliant and useful but itll be shown through how we do it from start (everyday family) to more self reliant and prepped. So each blog can be about something we did like OH today we made ketchup! heres the recipe. Man we wont buy that in store again! Then the next day can be Oh this is how we made our own candles and oil lamps! Little things like that. I can include the kids. I can include it how Im doing it on the budget and as a mom/woman. So the tying theme would be Learning How to be Prepped and Efficient. Does that make sense? Is there an email I can email you at when its up?
I love this idea Danielle, it’s sounds great! And yes, send it to my email, contact@chasingfoxes.com. I’ll keep an eye out for it! 🙂
Hi, I’ve been thinking of starting a blog for awhile. My question is, with all of your small monthly fees for everything; how much does it typically cost? I’m still in the thinking phase..hopefully it doesnt scare me from even trying 🙂 I’m a stay at home mom & student with 3 kids. And thank you for you help! I loved the tips offered here.
Hey Sheena!
To be honest, the only monthly fee I have is for BoardBooster (which is an automated pinning system that you can set up to pin at certain times), which is free the first month and then $5 for 500 pins a month, $10 for 1,000, and $20 for 2000 pins, etc. etc. We pay a bit more since we have quite a few pins going out, but if you’re just starting out as a blogger, than this is a great budget friendly option.
But that’s been our only monthly expense. Of course as you get more and more traffic, you’ll need to upgrade to a bigger plan on Bluehost so your site can handle all of the visitors. But beyond that, there shouldn’t be many other fees (especially when first starting out).
I hope this helps!
I don’t really understand what BoardBooster does/is, is it for pinterest? Also in your article you say pay $3.95/month for Bluehost? So monthly would be $3.95 (bluehost) plus whatever you choose for BoardBooster; so cheapest would be just under $9? Sorry, I’m on a budget so really have to plan the expenses… Also do you really need Board Booster? Oh and Bluehost is the site where you would run your blog from, right?
Hey Sheena! So sorry for the late reply. PicMonkey does work with Pinterest and here’s an awesome post done by The Busy Budgeter that explains it.
And actually, Bluehost is $3.95/month, but you sign up for three years up front. We were on a huge budget ourselves when we signed up so we had to save up a few paychecks just to make sure it was covered.
Technically BoardBooster isn’t necessary, but if you want to save yourself A LOT of time and have something do the work for you, then I highly suggest it.
And yep! Bluehost is where you start and run your blog from. 🙂
I absolutely love this! Great tips and advice! I’m somewhat of a writer. I’ve had a few short stories and poems published, awhile ago. I’m a mother to 3 boys, 8 year old twin boys who are both Autistic and to a 4 year old boy. I’m an Autism advocate, wife, DIY-er, I love crafts, seamstress and absolutely love to read. Since the twins were diagnosed I really wanted to start a blog similar to “a day in the life of”, what it’s like to have two kids that were special needs. A place where other families with our diagnosis can read and know they are not alone.
Amber.. that sounds awesome! Once you get a loyal audience, then you can start having fundraisers for autism research and help. And I’m so sure that there will be plenty of parents touched by the help and encouragement you provide them with.
If you start this blog up, send me a link as soon as possible, I’d LOVE to see it!
I’m so glad I found this blog post. Not only is it recent but it seems realistic and doable (with consistent work). I’m a wife and mother to a toddler, and I work a full time job. My husband is a police officer and works pretty much everyday. I have been trying to find ways that I can make extra income so that he doesn’t have to work extra jobs. I’ve blogged in the past but it has been hard to keep up with, especially now. I love the tips you provided such as doing the work ahead and writing about topics that people want to read about, and praying. I’m interested in getting started again with blogging. Thank you for sharing your tips and info. It is very helpful.
Hey Melissa! Thank you so much for your awesome comment; I’m so glad I was able to help you!
Also, when you start up a blog again, send me a link, I’d gladly check it out. 🙂
Thank you for posting this. These seem like practical tips that produce legitimate results. I have two questions if you would not mind giving your input. The first would be is it foolish to think a person could have a successful blog while attending college part-time with two small children? (one of which would be my “niche”. I am a special needs mother. Also I have been enrolled in college a few semesters now and have my “routine” somewhat down)
The second question would be do you believe it unwise to attempt a blog if a person is not tech savvy, like at all.
Thank you for your time.
Hey Crystal!
I do not think it would be foolish at all! I know so many bloggers who started their’s when their life was crazy (divorce and trying to take care of 3 kids, or even running a daycare at home while trying to take care of the entire family). It might mean that you will have to work late at night a few times, but it’s definitely worth the sacrifice. Silas and I made a TON of sacrifices, but now that we’re at a place that we want to be, we’re so happy that we went without at times and stayed up late with the blog.
As for being tech savvy, it’s honestly very simple. Also there are plenty of tutorials out there to help you (if you need links to some, just let me know). And of course there will be some trial and error (I wasn’t super tech savvy when I started myself), but what you need to learn and know is easy to remember.
I hope this helps you!
I want to do this, I’am 72 yrs old & I need help doing this blogging, you are talking about! Can you help me & show me? I am very visual, show me & it helps me to get it quicker. I am not even sure where to start first. Does it cost to get the help, if so is it expensive to get started? I am on a very low fixed income, I have tried to do other jobs that claim to be a “Stay at home jobs”, always a scam! It’s so frustrating! I sure would appreciate your help.
Hey Millie! I’m so happy that you want to start blogging! Tell me, what subjects would you like to blog about? Once I know this, then I’ll know how to help you better. 🙂
As for the expenses, it doesn’t cost a lot to get started out at all. Silas and I were on a very tight budget when we first started so we know where you’re coming from. Also, what kind of help were you looking for (when you asked “Does it cost to get the help”)? Were you thinking from me or from someone else?
Look forward to hearing from you!
This post has really inspired me. I’ve wanted to start a blog for a long time and I have tried a few failed attempts so I really wanted to do my research before starting another. But there is such a flux of information out there, it’s hard to know what to read and what to follow. I really like how you mentioned having posts ready before you even start. That’s a fantastic idea. I also really like how you mentioned exactly where to go and what to get in order to get ahead. I struggle a bit too with content worthy of people’s attention. I want to blog about crafts, home DIY, organization, life, maybe some fashion. But I’m scared that’s too much, like it might be too scattered. Also, I do have a full time job at the moment, and although I would love to quit and just blog, I want to make sure it’s going to work for me first. So I’m afraid I won’t have enough time to research enough for my posts. I tend to be pretty picky and I look at a million things before finally deciding on something because I’m afraid I’ll miss something better and that takes a lot of time!
Do you have any suggestions for me?
No, I don’t think that’s too scattered at all; those subjects correspond with each other quite well!
And as for time, I would definitely suggest substituting any time that you would have spent on social media/TV with time working on the blog. I had to do that (I was a bit of a Facebook addict sad to say) and I’m so glad I did. If I hadn’t, I would still be stuck in the same place I was, hanging out and wasting my time on FB not getting ahead.
I really do believe in you, you can do this. Also, once your blog is up, send me a link, I’d love to check it out! 🙂
Thank you so much! Your post is the first how-to blog post that clearly told me how to actually get started without signing up for something I can’t afford. What a wonderful treat! Again thanks so very much!
Hey Carol! I’m so glad I was able to help you! I can’t wait to see your blog when it’s up! 🙂
Silas and grace, i am so thankful i found your site.i believe it is providential ,i knew it is because of what you wrote on the last part of your blog about really praying and asking His guidance on everything .truly,He gives what is the best for us.and i believe that He is leading me to something that would make use of everything i have learned in life and help others in the process.its the very essence of life, to help one another.i hope you can help me get started,i already have 2 interesting topics that i can blog about.
Hey Doris! Once your blog is up, I’d love to see it! And if you have any questions about getting started, just let me know. 🙂
Love your post! I kinda gave up trying to make money from home and just got inspired by you to try again- thank you! I too appreciate the “Prayer” tip- truly great advice because it works!
Yes! I’m so happy you got inspired again Krystal! You can do this! Seriously, it’s so worth it!
Also, when your blog is up, send me a link, I’d love to see it. 🙂
OH MY! This post is hands down the best I have read! It ACTUALLY had me thinking from the very beginning of the article whether or not I should try to do this to WFH and focus on college and my daughter more. When you sais Prayer…Amen Amen. It’s so good to hear that in a post and see it. God bless you. I am going to pray now to see if I should give blogging a go, because I just don’t think I can do it. But He will give me the grace to, if this is what I should do. God bless you, ma’am. I’m subscribing to your site & trying to find your actual Pinterest page.
xo
Hey, thank you so much Adriane! Your words mean so much to me! 🙂
And if you start a blog, send me a link, I’d LOVE to see it!
This was honestly so helpful. Like comments above I feel like I was talking to my future self. This really encouraged me not to give up on my blog and my ideas that I want to share with the world. One of the places where I am stuck is the actual launch of my website. I have purchased a domain and I have a host but to get my website going and designing is where I’m unsure of where to go. Any suggestions ?
Definitely get in contact with your host, they should be able to help you with designing your site the best. If they don’t, let me know and I’ll direct you to some other good sources. 🙂
Dear Silas & Grace , thank you for your great support and advice,having ablog is it necessary to make the process in English language or it depends on the interested readers ,or on the topic. and I have to know the mechanism of receiving the payment.
Hey Mohamed, if you’re looking to market your blog towards a primarily western audience, then having it in English would be for the best. However, if your blog is intended to have a non-English speaking audience, then I would say to choose the language that best fits them.
As for payment, Google would pay you through direct deposit (into your bank account). I hope I’ve helped you! 🙂
Your article is inspiring. Been wanting to start my own blog but dont know where to start. Hope with what you have shared would help me kickstart this long overdue plan.
One thing that caught me is how you acknowledge the one who really provides all. That sets you way far from the rest. Thank you!
Hey Veronica! I’m so glad I was able to help you and yes, He’s the One who provides all of the success. 🙂
Amen
Hello, Thank you for the information. I’m still a bit confused though on how you actually make money blogging. I assume it is via the ads but who actually pays you and is it via pay pal or some other form?
Hey Christine, so sorry for the late reply! I’ve been so busy of late.
As for getting paid, Adsense (the ad server that puts ads on your site) is owned by Google which means you’d get paid by Google. 🙂
Love your post! I have started a blog but am completely lost about putting ads on it. I am an amazon affiliate tho and most recently figured out how to make that work!!! I still have a long ways to go before it’s where I want it to be, but I’m happy with the progress I’ve mad.e
Thanks for the info 🙂
Hey Brooke! What I did was sign up for Google Adsense and once I was accepted, I added the Google Ads WordPress plugin. After that I believe you have to enter in a code from your Adsense account, if I’m wrong (it’s been awhile), then don’t worry, the Google Adsense plugin has instructions to follow. 🙂
And I check out your site, it has a great start and looks awesome! Love the photo of you and your family by the way! 🙂
I will definitely be checking out your other posts and applying everything I can! And listening to that podcast on the way to work tomorrow. My blog is 6 months in and I’m ready for it to get noticed! This is very inspirational 🙂
That’s awesome! Also, love your blog; looks great! 🙂
Just starting out and so happy I crossed this Pin. Im alrwady very heavy into pinterest, working on my blogspot, but definitely need to make the jump.
Im taking this to heart and starting now. Thank you. For all great advice.
Hey, you’re so welcome Kim! Also, your blog is looking great!
I get the steps, but I’m having trouble in putting the info together for my own use. Can you help me out? Thanks! I’m having troubles coming up with consistent content that people want to read. I have pretty frugal things that I’ve come across to help me, but I’m trying to understand on what it is that reaches out to people that keeps them to become loyal readers.
I will totally help you, but first I want to say that loyal readers come with time (and sometimes they come instantly if they like a certain post of yours). The thing is to come out with regular great content so that the reader who had been on your site before is constantly reminded of your blog and then it becomes a go-to after that.
As for content that reaches out to people, it all depends. For your blog, it’ll be different than another person’s blog. So what is it that you’re interested in or want to write about? What’s your niche?
Prayer! The best tip yet! Love!
Thank you Carrie! 🙂
Silas and Grace,
I am so glad I found this post today. It’s just what I needed as a new blogger and has helped me see that I need to start writing more posts, I’ve been so busy learning how to do this that I’ve totally neglected the most important part, posting. I am taking your advice and getting more posts ready pronto. I started my blog at the beginning of June with 4 posts, a far cry from the 25-50 that you recommend , so I need to get busy. Thanks for opening my eyes!!!
Hey, no problem Melissa! I’m so glad I was able to help you! Also, your blog looks great! (And love your hair in the photo by the way) 🙂
I am very excited about the information posted. You have really nipped my questions in the butt. I’m a stay at home mom with 4 kids and one on the way. I homeschool all of them and have been looking for an stay at home job to earn extra cash. I am so tired of my husband over working to provide, he’s a truck driver and never home. So the thought of earning extra money, without the gimmicks; is awesome. However, my question that I didn’t read, is how did you come up with a domain name that will attract readers? It’s so many out here, so how to get them to want to click on yours or even find it for that matter.
To be honest Nakisha, my husband and I kept on thinking of catchy blog names for about a week or two. It was a bit of trial and error since so many of them were taken already. You just have to make sure that your blog name isn’t too long or complicated; make it something that people can remember. 🙂
As for finding your blog, I would definitely suggest making a Pinterest account with a link to your blog and pins directing readers to posts from your blog. People will see your great content and start to remember you. I hope this helps and if I didn’t answer you question just right, let me know! 🙂
Hi! Im not even sure how I came upon your blog. One thing I do know is that it was meant to be. This was exactly what I needed to read. I’ve come across so many how to blogs. This one has got me ready to sit down and really get the ball rolling. WIIFM has definitely opened my eyes. I am too a military spouse, just going through our first permanent change of station, mom to a 2 year old, & full time work from home (not my dream job) but it pays. I’ve been “thinking” about starting a blog a long time ago, but ever really thought I could be successful. This blog has changed my outlook completely.
Hey, I’m so happy I was able to help you out Tara! And I understand, that was a huge part of why it took me awhile to get to this point. It’s so easy to feel like we can’t do it or won’t make it (as a blogger or anything like it). But once you have people helping you out and giving you great advice, it becomes so much easier!
What I’d suggest is have someone encourage you along the way, and that can be your husband or a friend you make. That’s another reason why I was able to become a full time blogger; my husband was helping me and telling me I could do it. 🙂
So I’m back! I’ve got my site, I’m in the works of creating 25-30 posts! Thank you so much for your response! I told my husband about the idea and it was amazing to hear his response and him backing me 100%. I guess the only person that needed to believe was myself! Which I feel like this blog did for me, made me believe in myself. It’s so easy to get discourage and feel intimated with all blogs already up and functioning but everyone has something to offer! I Will definitely be referencing you and this blog in the future of my posts! Hope that it is ok! 🙂
You go Tara! I’m so excited for you and happy that your husband is on board! I think a quote that helped me when I was beginning out as a blogger was, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone’s middle.” You’ll get there! Also, send me a link to your site, I’d love to see it! 🙂
I have thought of starting a blog a dozen times and have read a ton of how to’ s but I’m not sure what to write about or what to call it. Any suggestions? I would love any thing you can tell me
I’d love to help you out Jen. Just tell me, what are a few main topics/niches you’re interested in or passionate about? 🙂
Thanks for this post, I agree with Alicia above, there are so many but ones like this are the best (that get straight to the point). I have so many ideas, especially since I’m a military wife and mother of 5 – ages 1 to 18. My hesitations are: I’m so not technically savvy, and creating that WIIFM content. Sharing my experiences, hacks, moving, our life isn’t enough. I’m having trouble tapping into what the readers “takeaway” would be – aside from some “food for thought”.
Thanks
Renee
Hey no problem, WordPress is definitely a widely used source for bloggers, and Bluehost provides great help when figuring things out. They’ll walk you through set up and it’s super simple to understand.
As for WIIFM, I get what you mean; when you’re not used to it, it can be hard to think of subjects that people would want to click through to read. But when you start putting posts in the light of, “What would make a person want to read this?” Then it gets a lot easier. For instance, you could write a post on how to survive (or thrive) in a long distance relationship. In this post, you can begin telling readers how you’re a military wife and what you’ve done to keep the love going.
Or since you’re a mom, you can write about money tips and hacks that can save people a lot of money. Or perhaps fun activities to keep kids busy during the summer. Just remember that it’s all about how you word it (for ex. “5 Pro Tips on Surviving a Long Distance Relationship,” “5 Hacks That Will Save You A Ton of Money at the Grocery Store,” or “5 Hacks Every Mom Should Know to Keep Their Kids Busy This Summer.”
And of course, not every post has to be like this, but you do want some posts like that which will bring an audience to the rest of your amazing posts. I hope this helps. 🙂
What about making new friendships? Helping the kids adjust to the new location and school? How do you do all of that every time? There are so many aspects to moving a lot and having a successful family and marriage.
Thank you! I have to say I have read so many “hot-to’s” on how to start blogging that my head is spinning. This one is different and really made me want to read every single word because it was so relatable that it was almost like my future self encouraging and coaching me. I have already started writing down my ideas for posts so that I can go back to add content. You hit the nail on the head and I want to thank you and God for finding your blog post.
Hey Alicia! Comments like yours really make my day! I love helping people out and it’s great when I hear that info I provide give people what they need to get started. Send me a link to your site soon, I’d love to see it! 🙂
Ive always wanted to start a blog because i have always liked to write. I was thinking of making on about military spouses and departures or relationships but i dont want that to be the only topic. What should i do? And where do I start
Hey Adriana, this is a bit of a hard question for me to answer seeing as how I don’t know you personally. What are some of your other interests and passions? 🙂
Thank you for the great read! Like so many others am really tempted to start a blog i have a ton of partial ideas but nothing i think anyone would be interested in.. Could you help me with a name? Ideas maybe, beauty tips hair makeup, and home decor, are what i love oh yea possibly real estate tips… Any help would be great!!
Gosh to be honest Jessie, I’m not great with thinking up names for blogs. Even coming up with Chasing Foxes took quite a bit of time. Especially when you think of a good one and you find out it’s already taken. I think the best thing to do is to start looking at other bloggers with similar topics and see what they call their blog. 🙂
Thanks for your post! I have considered blogging as well and I was wondering how you make sure you aren’t “taking” another companies information without permission. For example if your explaining the way you do something and you mention the brand or the store you got it from do you have to ask permission first? And when you use an image for a pin, are they all your images? Hope this question made sense! Thanks!
Hey Laruen! As for your first question, it’s perfectly fine to mention a brand or store in your post. Nothing wrong with it unless you’re taking ideas from them and claiming them as your own.
For the second question, “If I’m doing a roundup post, I end up using the images from ideas I’ve found (Example, “10 Fixer Upper DIY Ideas”). As long as you give them credit, it’s perfectly fine! And when I’m not doing roundup posts, I use domain free images (images that anyone can use) from sites like Pixabay or Pexels. I hope this helps!
And if you’re still planning on starting a blog, I just created a post on how to do it! I break it down step by step and it’s super simple! 🙂
I already have a Pinterest account.. Should I make a second one for my blog page?
Hey Mallisa! Yeah, creating a Business Pinterest account (Google it, it’s free) for your blog will give you more clout on Pinterest. 🙂
Help! I never have time for anything anymore. Need something new.
Where would you like to start and are you interested in blogging? 🙂
Need help I wanna start but all of this seemed to be a foreign language to me!!
Hey Angela! I’d definitely check out my post, How Pinterest Became My Full-Time Job. This will totally guide you on how to get started. 🙂
Thank you for making this. I understand about the blogging part and have ideas on what to write and how to start, what I am not understanding is how you get paid. How does that work? Where does your paycheck come from? Thank you!
Hey Trishia! To put it simply, I get paid from showing ads on my site and through commissions from advertising certain products on my site. I hope this helps you out! 🙂
This was fantastically written. I am looking to move my writings towards blogging and I have been very timid to do so. Your blog was simply written, it has encouraged me to do a little bit more research but to tackle this head on. Thank you for sharing this list. It is truly appreciated!