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It’s nearly 2024, and you may be wondering, “Are blogs even relevant anymore?”
We’re here to tell you they totally are and you can actually make a lot of money from blogging. If you’re looking to start a blog that’ll actually make you money, this post will show you the exact steps setting up a successful blog and steps to start earning money.
Why You Should Start a Blog
1. You can earn passive income. Blogging allows you the opportunity to make money from anywhere at any time. Whether you’re working from home or traveling, you can manage and keep up with blogging anywhere you go. We literally earn money from our blog while we are sleeping, which is pretty insane to think about.
2. You can write about anything you want. Creating your own blog allows you to write about things they you love and are passionate about. This makes the process so much more fun and motivating.
3. You can create your own schedule. Blogging gives you the opportunity to do it full time and gives you the flexibility to earn money on your own schedule.
4. If you’re craving something creative, blogging could be for you. When we started our blog, we were looking for a creative outlet. We felt like blogging gave us the opportunity to express all the things we loved most — home, cooking, baking, and everyday life!
How to Start a Successful Blog in 2024
1. Decide What You Would Want to Blog About
Choosing a topic or niche for your website is the first thing you should do. It’s important to write about things that you’re interested in. Once you know the topic you want to write about, things get a lot more clearer and the ideas start churning.
Some topics you could focus on are:
2. Choose a Blogging Platform
When we first started our blog, we had no idea what we were doing. We created a website with Squarespace and quickly learned that it was not the right platform to start a successful blog. It didn’t have a lot of the features we needed to set up a solid foundation and to help us grow.
That’s why we now use and would only ever recommend you use WordPress.
It’s the best blogging platform out there. It makes creating posts and designing your website so much easier.
When you’re setting up your WordPress account, it will ask you whether you want a hosted account or a self-hosted account. You will absolutely need a self-hosted account. This allows you to completely own your website and customize it however you like.
3. Choose a Website Host
Bluehost is the BEST self-hosted website host on the market. We absolutely love it. They work so hard to make sure all their customers are happy and that their websites are functioning properly.
Whenever anything goes wrong or we have a question, they are so quick to answer and help us with anything we need until the problem is resolved.
Another reason we love Bluehost is that it’s super cheap. Their most basic plan is only $2.95 a month. If you’re just starting out, the basic plan is great, but they also offer a Choice Plus plan for $5.45 a month which gives you access to more perks.
Go to the Bluehost Website
Click the button that says “Wordpress Hosting”. Bluehost will allow you to connect your WordPress site to their hosting platform.
Choose a Plan
We recommend starting out on the Choice Plus Plan. It makes a difference when you’re starting out. You get more website storage and it makes your website faster which is super important.
Create a Domain Name
Okay…things are getting real. At this point in the process, it’s time for you to choose your website name. We recommend creating a domain name that your readers will remember when they visit your site. Keeping the name simple is always a good idea.
If you can’t think of a name just yet, don’t worry. You can choose one later.
Fill Out Your Personal Info
The last step to setting up your self-hosted website is filling out your personal information.
The extra upgrades and add-ons that Bluehost may try to get you to add to your plan aren’t worth the money in the beginning. As long as you have your 12-month or 24-month plan, you’re good to go.
Once you finalize your password, you’re free to start designing your website.
Bluehost makes the process so easy! You'll have your site up and running sooner than you think!
4. Design Your Website
There are so many theme options to choose from. You can shop a bunch of WordPress website themes on Etsy or even choose the themes that WordPress provides.
Here are some website themes we recommend:
5. Start Blogging
Once you have everything set up and ready to go, it’s time to start writing!
It’s super important to stay consistent when blogging. Finding time to post 2-3 posts a week is ideal when you’re first starting out. The more you post, the more content you have to share on platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok.
Plus, being consistent and posting more than one blog post a week will trigger better ranking and SEO. The more consistent you post, the more your site will be trusted.
Ways to Earn Money from Blogging
Ads
Ads have the ability to make you so much money! You earn money for every CPU or sometimes if people just view the ad on your page, you have the potential to earn money as well.
The easiest Ad program to get accepted into right off the bat is Google Adsense.
Once you reach 50,000+ sessions/month, you can then apply for Mediavine, which earns you significantly more money.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are embedded links that readers can click on to go to a product page. If they purchase the product, then you earn a percentage of money from that sale.
Here are some affiliate companies to work with:
Printables
Printable or digital products are an easy way to make money on your blog. You don’t have to worry about getting an actual product or keeping up with inventory. People can purchase your digital downloads, have them sent to their email and they have access to them forever.
Examples of digital products:
Products
You could even sell physical products or merchandise on your blog. The more traffic you drive your blog, the more sales you could potentially get on your products.
Courses
Online courses are one of the most lucrative ways to earn money. You could create one course, teaching people about a topic you’re passionate about.
Services
You could provide services through your blog. This could be consulting services, coaching services, design services and so much more.
Top Tips for Creating a Successful Blog in 2024
1. Stay Consistent
Like we mentioned earlier, staying consistent is the key to having a successful blog. What helped us and motivated us the most on being consistent was knowing that we were starting something we were passionate about. Everything we write about on our blog is something we love, spend time learning about, and spend time teaching people about.
Find what ignites a passion inside of you, write about it, share your expertise and post about it two, three, four times a week.
2. Create Goals
To stay motivated, we always write out our goals. Whether that’s a monetary goal, a numeric goal or a personal goal, creating goals and a plan for achieving them will make it more real.
In the beginning, that may look like:
Whatever you’re goals are, be specific and create a step-by-step method on how you’re going to achieve them.
3. Do NOT Give Up
Most importantly, DO NOT GIVE UP!
We’re going to be honest, blogging may look easy from the outside looking in, but once you’re committed to making it work and treat it as an actual business, it’s hard work. Yes, you have the potential to make money while you sleep, but the hours you’re awake, you’re working on growing your blog, writing posts, pushing it out on social media sites and hustling to make it work.
In the beginning, you may not see the reward of high traffic or revenue, but it will happen. You just have to be vigilant and believe you can do it. Your first encouraging blog post comment, your first affiliate sale, and your first ad revenue will keep you going.
Every small step you take is leading you to the place you want to be. Keep going!
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