How To Make A Living Blogging

How To Make A Living Blogging Ah, the blogging dream. You, in a coffee shop or sitting on a beach, earning an income. You discovered how to make a living blogging and its smooth travel from here on out. Whoa, now.  Lets slow down and think things through. You might not be able to spend the rest of your life tapping out blog posts on your laptop swinging in a hammock as the sun sets behind palm trees, but you can still make a living blogging on more realistic terms. Make A Living Blogging, Without The Myths I bet youve heard a few myths about how to make a living blogging and instead of thinking about those bogus promises rationally, youve adopted them as truth. Thats a bad move to make if youre going to quit your day job and bank on blogging. What are the myths you often hear? The most important thing to do is to just start. How many times do you hear the advice to just get started or something about the longest journey begins with the first step? The most important thing to do is not to just start. Its to have a plan on what youre going to do before you start. There are so many things to consider before you sink time into a blog or freelance career.  What are you going to write about? Will you have a niche blog? Will you write for other blogs? How will you monetize your blog? Will you have ads?  Will you have a product or service to sell? How much income do you need? Will you need a part-time job? You have to start, but perhaps you should start blogging before you quit your day job. Get a feel for it. And, more importantly, make some serious plans. Figure out what youre going to do before you make the leap. Do some research.  Ask tough questions and provide honest answers, and then start. Start knowing where youre headed. Even if your direction changes, you didnt start out by wandering around, lost. Working for myself will be much easier than working for someone else. Making a living as a freelance writer and blogger isnt easy. This isnt a story of you not working for the man, and sleeping in until noon every day, wandering over to your computer and tapping out a few thousand words before taking a nap. Its not like a regular job; you cant clock in and clock out. Blogging Myth: Working for myself will be much easier than working for someone else.Freelance writing and blogging means you have to have discipline to self-start and make the chase every morning. It means you will need to get a handle on what to charge as a freelance writer and blogger. You cant undersell yourself with your own pricing structure. It means working directly with clients; no more hiding behind the company or policies. It means organization, the best tools, and learning how to work when you dont feel like it. It means you will still be taking ordersnot from your boss, but from your client. In effect, you might be working twice as hard for every dollar you make. Thats not a bad thing. There are lots of benefits in working for yourself, but easier isnt one of them. I have to have a hugely successful personal blog or it wont work. As youll read below, huge amounts of traffic on your own blog are only one small way you can make a living as a blogger. You do not have to have a blog with massive amounts of traffic unless you plan to fund a winter home in the Bahamas solely off of ad clicks from traffic. Be honest. That kind of outcome happens to very few writers and bloggers, mainly the ones telling you they did it and getting traffic and clicks from bloggers like you who want to figure out what they did. Thats a pyramid, and not everyone is at the top. Traffic is important, particularly if youre selling a product or using ads or affiliates for income, but not everyone needs a million hits a month to still make a decent living off of their blogging. Just tell me the formula and Ill go do it. Making a living blogging is, sorry to say, without a clear formula. What works for one blogger wont work for another. What works in one niche wont work for another. What works in one year wont work the next. Trends change, blogging changes, available tools changethere is no one-size-fits all formula for success. This is what you dont want to hear, butfind what works for you. This comes about with trial and error experience. Its not usually fun. Be cautious when reading about a sure-fire way to make money on a blog, because theres no guarantee that will work for you. I only want to blog on my blog. Dont put all of your income eggs in one basket. It will take time to make your own blog an income-generating behemoth (if ever). It is foolish to restrict your blogging to one income source only. Find many ways to make a living blogging so that you are on secure ground should something change. When you are new and starting out, you dont have the luxury of being a purist (unless you have a trust fund to live off of). Make A Living Blogging On Your Blog Ideally, youll make a living off of your own blog property, where you call the shots. Your blog is about more than personal writing freedom, though.  If you dont love your own writing, youre going to have a hard sell making your clients love the writing you do for them. Your blog just happens to be the perfect place to find your voice, figure out blogging, and learn to love your writing. You Need More Than Great Writing If You Need Significant Traffic Great writing isnt all that youll need. What do you think of when someone talks about making money off of their blog? You think ads and affiliates.  For ad revenue or affiliate links to really work, you are going to have to build serious traffic. And, even then, youll likely need other sources of income from your writing or even a side job. How do you build that traffic? Build traffic to your site by participating.  Commenting on other blogs and participating in social media networks and groups is vital to building traffic to your own blog. Take marketing strategy seriously. Weve talked about several methods of marketing that are both creative and powerful when it comes to bringing traffic to your site. Whatever method you choose for your blog, take it seriously and dont leave marketing your own blog up to chance. Write regularly. Were big cheerleaders for regular, planned content using a tool like an editorial calendar to make certain it happens. Write so search engines and readers have something new to read whenever they visit. Learn about search engine optimization (SEO). Learn all you can about what good SEO requires, and take the steps to make it happen. Get the plugins, do the research, do the writing. Be patient. Guest blogging. Writing on others blogs is a great way to tap into their audience and introduce yourself to new people. Find blogs you enjoy reading and would be able to write great content for. There are many websites that  list reputable companies  that offer ad campaigns and services, but youll likely have to show you have significant traffic. If that is the route you wish to go, do your research well and choose a company with a good reputation for both payout and privacy. Ad Revenue Isnt The Only Option But maybe that isnt the route you want to go. Maybe you dont want ads on your site.  Dont forget what else your blog has to offer, besides the potential for ad revenue: Your blog is your proof. Its a resume, its samples of writing, its proof to clients that you know what youre doing and have the experience. Its your writing portfolio. Your blog is a publishing house. It is a way to generate income off of your writing from ebooks, self-published books, and magazines. You can create written content, fiction and non-fiction, that others might enjoy reading and would pay money for. Your blog is your brand. This is where you run your PR from, your updates, your news, and where you create that unique online personality. Your blog is a place to offer subscription content. Depending upon your niche, your audience, and the level of expertise in the content you share, you could offer paid memberships to portions of your blog. People will pay to get regular access to your site as long as you keep the content high quality, publish frequently, and offer something unique they cant find elsewhere. Your blog is a chance for affiliate links. Writing reviews or other blog posts that allow you to include links to affiliate sites is another way for you to earn extra cash from your blog. While you might not get rich right off the bat, it is extra income. A niche blog is particularly good for affiliate links. Your blog is the home base for your product or service. Having a product or service that you sell on your blog is a fine way to create steady income and build a business. It should fit well with the niche your blog is in. It might be paper or ebooks, coaching services, an app, a WordPress plugin, T-Shirts–anything. Dont overlook the power of your own blog when you think about making a living as a freelance writer and blogger, but dont let that be where you stop your efforts to make a living blogging. Your blog is your home base, but writing is your skill. That skill is portable. Make A Living Blogging On Other Blogs Writing for other blogs can go beyond guest blogging without pay. There are some blogs that will pay you for content, just as any other freelance client would. The trick is finding blogs that will pay you for your writing. This doesnt happen by accident. Block out time to find blogs that will pay you to write for them.   Rather than a hit-and-miss approach of saving bookmarks as you find them, create a list of search terms and make an effort to block out time to find a place to blog. Whether you use a spreadsheet or an organizing app, sift through the resources and note where, what, and how they want you to write for them. Save the links, decide which blogs youll write for, which ones pay and which ones are unpaid guest blogging. In other words, be purposeful about finding blogs that pay just as you would any other paying client, and organize your results so that you can organize your plan of attack. Get in the habit of being paid. It should be obvious that if you dont get paid in a timely manner, you should not write more posts until you do get payment. Youve agreed on a set amount before you start? Then thats what you should receive. Some blogs might offer their writers a percentage of the ad revenue, or other payment options. Know what you need, and dont let the myth of its good exposure convince you to let slide a previous agreement of payment. Make A Living Blogging As A Ghost Blogger Ghost blogging is controversial. Its the practice of being paid to write blog posts for another blog without receiving any recognition or rights to your work. Payment varies, from as low as $20/600 words and up. Once youve submitted the post and received payment, your writing is out of your hands and youre done with it. You will likely find more paid ghost blogging opportunities than you will paid blogging opportunities. Most people who ghost blog dont make a big public announcement about doing it. Its a controversial practice, and if you do an online search on ghost blogging, youll get a slew of popular bloggers decrying the practice for its lack of authenticity, claiming that it hurts other writers and bloggers, and that it cheats the reader. Such claims have elements of truth to them, perhaps, but sometimes impending bills and payments speak louder than a call to authenticity.  You have to make your own decision on whether or not youre comfortable writing for another blog without receiving credit. The Reality Of Ghost Blogging If youre ready to try your hand at ghost blogging there are a few things you should know. Though getting paid for your writing is a good feeling, there are aspects to ghost blogging that you will need to come to terms with before diving in. You dont always get to write about the things you love. You may luck out and be able to find blogs to write for that cover topics you enjoy talking about, or are an expert at. Chances are pretty good, though, that youll find yourself writing about things you didnt give much thought to, you cant believe anyone would read, or you have zero interest in. For example, are you ready to write about choosing the perfect houseplant, or how to take care of goldfish? (Sometimes youre relieved your name isnt associated with the post.) Thats ghost blogging. This means youll need to come up with a system that makes sure you get your work done. You cant miss a deadline. You will have to force yourself to write on things that arent fun, you will have to do research that takes up time, and you will have to deal with feedback from the client you may not agree with. Its not all that different from other forms of freelance writing except one thing: your name isnt on it.