We read a lot about how to start a blog, the correct niche, what works, and what doesn’t. What nobody tells you is that the road can be bumpy and it’s not that easy to write and make 10K a month working from home. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it.
I’m not making money yet, what I’m sharing are a few steps to make it easier, and what I would like to know before I even started it.
Here are some tips on what worked for me so far.
Choosing the right plan and platform.
First and far most, choosing the website to host your blog will be a huge deal. I worked with most of it since I have been blogging with different platforms for 14 years. When I started, I used Blogger, which has a simple interface, and it’s easy if you want to test out your content and your niche.
I turned to Wix to host my Portfolio for Creative Writing school and it was chaotic, I couldn’t work with the columns.
So when I decided to have my website and blog, I got WordPress basic, and once I started seeing a growth in my audience I upgraded to a Business account, that allowed me to choose in a variety of themes, Yost SEO among other important plugins
The niche is the most important aspect.
When I first started, I had plans to write about my experience as an ESL writer in the USA, who has just graduated with a Creative Writing Degree. It worked while I was at school, but I didn’t have much to say after. I didn’t get any jobs in my field and decided to go full-time blogging. In the meantime, I learned about the audience I wanted to focus on and saw good potential if I stick to the subject.
In the meantime, I realized that people like reading about: Food, Travel, Functional tips, like moving, adapting, creating, and Trash reality tv shows we all watch.
Do your research about what you would like to talk about, your audience and what can you write about the subject. If you like Beauty and Fashion, make sure to be on point with what you writing, don’t derail. I do that a lot, as while I write about immigration and how life is here for an outsider, I also talk about the tv shows I enjoy watching.
In the past couple of months, I learned how to focus. My blog is a lifestyle blog and I write about my life here in America as an immigrant, the food I eat, and the places I visit.
Social media is your friend (some more than others)
As I’m still learning how to use Pinterest, I’m focusing on learning as the fantastic tool everyone its been telling me it is. Scheduling Pins has been a blessing and Canva is an amazing tool. What its been keeping my audience steady is some Twitter accounts like @usblogsretweet and @allthoseblogs where they do daily sharing threads with blog following and comments. Twitter has been my major traffic tool.
Schedule your pins to save you time.
Recently in my extensive research about how to improve the traffic on the blog, I learned about Tailwind. I’m still using the free version, but you can subscribe and schedule up to 400 pins a month. Marketing is what takes most of my time, as I do everything myself. Researching, writing, editing, posting, sharing, making pins, publishing it, tweeting, retweeting, engaging. It’s a full-time job. And only my ego gets paid.
Participate in blogging groups and engage in social media.
Being part of blogging groups will help you to stay motivated and learn more about what works or not. You will find out the necessary tools to improve traffic and realize it’s hard for most of us, beginners. I’m a part of a few Facebook Groups like Blogging for beginners and Creative Bloggers, where I receive daily updates on other people’s progress and some people asking the same question I had for the longest time and getting a few different answers.
Keep a posting schedule.
When I first started, I was posting once a month. And not sharing with anyone. I had no confidence about what I was writing and didn’t know that it is indeed a business. It’s not a hobby and if you want to succeed, but you will also have to put some time and dedication into it.
Unless you started with a whole team, that you can delegate tasks, so it doesn’t get hard on anyone. You will have to have a schedule and work it like a company to see results like a company.
Post your own pictures, if possible.
I’m trying to take photos related to what I’m posting, it’s better for the SEO. Most times, I use free stock image websites like PixalBay and Unsplash. Be careful of copyrights.
Create a Seo strategy and google analytics.
When you apply for the Business Plan at WordPress, the website offers you the plugin Yoast SEO, to help you to improve your chances to improve your traffic. Google Analytics will help you with extensive information about where your traffic is coming from.
Don’t believe the hype. It’s hard and it cost money to make the wheel go round.
I have seen plenty of pins on Pinterest on how to grow your income to 10K a month blogging from home. I’m not even close to selling anything on my website, as I’m still applying to affiliated links this week, and the blog its been running for 10 months. I would not know how long it will take for me to make some income.
Successful people tend to let you know they made it, they just don’t want to tell you the struggle it is. There is no point in being honest. And believe me, their advice is never free. All this free information comes with a course on how to make that money. I understand that it’s a business, but don’t trick me with a Pin that says one thing, and when I got the page, it’s all about your sales.
What they also don’t tell you, is that you have to invest money in all these tools that they tell you to use.
Believe in yourself as a random influencer believes in herself.
First of all, believe in yourself and your content. There is nothing worse than finding a boring blog that says everything the same way the other ten thousand are saying. Be creative, be bold, be loud. I follow some blogs for a few years now, and they all have one thing in common, they are original and have original content.
One of those is from Molly Yeh https://mynameisyeh.com/ She lives on a farm, cooks, and writes about her simple life, I follow her journey since 2015 and she inspired me a whole lot. Molly got her cook show called Girl Meets Farm, on FoodNetwork and that’s only one example of how far a successful blog can take you if you are true to yourself.
About two months ago, I worked on a dinner event bachelorette party, with Chef Demeatrie, and the guest was just a super normal girl, who asked to take photos of the table we had just set up. “I’m an influencer”, she said and my mind immediately led me to “Great for you, for believing in yourself”
I’m not an expert. I keep learning as I go.
My blog is still growing and I’m constantly improving. The steps above are what works to improve my traffic and get noticed. This week I will work on Affiliate marketing and Legal pages to add to my blog. I will let you know how it goes, as I promise I won’t sell classes next week!
Be Safe! Stay healty!
J.G Snelly
I’ve just begun blogging and I’m so thankful for this post. I am using Wix at the moment, I’m really reconsidering that. I am definitely looking back at everything you mentioned. This has been very helpful.
Yay! I hope your blog is a huge success and don’t forget to send me the link! WordPress is definitely the way to go!
Sadly there are so many posts on pinterest claiming how it is possible to gain good knows how many followers in a very short period of time. When I don’t think it is possible, unless you spend loads of time and money.
It takes forever to gain followers and traffic! Some affiliated marketing doesn’t even want to deal with you if you don’t have a huge amount of views. I wrote this because after seeing many pins about how to make 10K in six months, I was thinking about what was doing wrong. I feel the same as you! Unless you spend a lot of money and all your time, it’s too hard and even discouraging sometimes!
Agreed, at the end of the day it’s far more important to produce content that you are happy with with a few people who like reading it.
It is definitely a labor of love! Something I find everyday. But I love it and love learning things from my fellow bloggers like you. Great Post!
Your points are so very valid. Blogging is so much harder than anyone lets on. Everyone has some success story to fill you with or some product that will help you. I understand where you are coming from. Great post!
You are a expert I think,post your own images is a good idea I get https://tamilsolution.com/