If you are working for a regular company where you have to fulfill your 8-9 hours of work and then go home after a long journey just to get paid a salary, we are confident by saying that you are tired of this. Very tired.
The problem with traditional jobs is that most of them involve a regular payment that barely helps you to make ends or live without being able to have some savings for personal projects, trips, or any other idea in your mind.
As a result, people end up searching for side hustles that could allow them to have some extra cash, maybe find something new to enjoy, and why not? Maybe make more money in the long run.
Most side hustle options you will find nowadays are developed online instead of relying on the usual business model or system, which is a huge benefit compared to a few years ago.
Among them, blogging has been at the top for more time than we can remember, and we know what you are thinking, “there are too many people with this side hustle already.” But what if we tell you it isn’t too late but rather the best time to get started?
Besides, you can bet for this side hustle with the idea of a future stable and great income stream that could help you to leave the job you hate. Are you up to know more about it? This is what you must know and do.
Breaking Down Blogging: How You Actually Make Money
We are confident there isn’t a need to introduce you to blogging since, right now, you are here reading the result of it, and after it has been around for so long, you must have the concept a bit clear.
However, we will still go over the simple yet crucial concept for one reason: You don’t understand what it involves from head to toes.
First, to refer to blogging, we need to remove a few letters and get the main word: Blog.
To keep it simple, a blog is an online journal or site where ideas, recommendations, or general information regarding a topic are shared. It can be found on a website that is usually referred to as a “blog” only.
It usually can contain text, images, videos, animated GIFs, and scans of old diaries, journals, or other hard-copy documents.
One of the beauties of a blog is that the owner can make them private or public to share information with a limited group or engage the public.
Also, one of its characteristics is that it presents content in reverse chronological order. The newer content appears first, and the content is sometimes called entries or “blog posts.”
Blogs are usually run by one person or a small number of people who present information in a casual style. It isn’t formal like the usual websites you visit when researching for companies or some services.
This takes us back to what actually blogging is: The action of creating and writing a blog—that simple.
You just need to create a website that will be used as your blog and start sharing content on a specific topic, area, or niche, depending on the approach you want to give it.
Taking our blog as an example, you will find information about money, making it, reviews, recommendations, a few quotes, and much more.
We cover lots of topics and areas, but you can choose to aim for one or two easily.
But How Do You Make Money?
“How can I make money from a journal I write every day or week?” That’s the question you must be asking yourself right now, and we get it; it usually doesn’t make sense to earn money in this way.
However, it is possible. If not, no one would be investing their time in it.
The process of making money with this side hustle lies in your content, consistency, and the readers you generate and read your blog posts regularly since they will be the key for future revenue.
Now, we want to let you know this can be a wild ride considering everything involving this side hustle since it isn’t as simple as telling you, “this is how you make money.”
Instead, we have to go over a few details starting now!
For starters, blogging is entirely related to SEO and traffic.
The entire idea of blogging is to generate the readers we previously mentioned, but to do this, you need to rank your blog on Google and other search engines so users can find you.
For it, you need to work around writing optimized content, add more videos and not only text, keep it simple, and ensure your blog’s platform works properly and is user optimized.
Once you generate the readers and have regular visits, you start to monetize your blog by relying on different methods of earning money:
- Selling online courses or workshops.
- Offering books and e-books.
- Affiliate marketing.
- Advertising.
- Selling your services (based on your profession, job, or what you have in mind).
- Merchandise.
- Coaching and consulting services.
- Create paid content for premium users.
We could mention many others, but these are the main ones bloggers decide to rely on today.
You could say that making money with blogging is about aiming for other sources of income or options you would also consider side hustles.
However, what makes blogging different is how much you can offer in just one place. In other words, it isn’t necessary to focus on one of the previous options, but you can, instead, offer more than one.
For example, suppose you have a blog about music where you share your recommendations, opinions, and your own music. In that case, you could easily start selling your songs for very low prices or maybe offer online classes and workshops to learn an instrument or to sing.
Or maybe you can just add all of them based on the readers’ base you have built with your blog posts.
Obviously, the money will come from their direct purchases or decisions to hire your services. Still, when it comes to options like advertising and affiliate marketing, a third party will be involved for your income.
How to Start Blogging: Costs & Investment
Whenever you are about to start a new side hustle or job that doesn’t involve a third party that guarantees your payment without you having to invest, the journey comes with many insecurities.
In the case of blogging, the issue will lie in how much you might have to spend on it.
Just in advance, it isn’t a fortune, but we know some people will run away just because they have to invest a few bucks. That being said, we will get started with the short steps of how to start and how much it will cost:
- You need to choose your niche or topic.
No, unlike what you thought, this won’t be about starting right with creating it. Instead, you need to plan carefully what you will do in your blog.
You need to choose a niche you like to know what your blog content will be about.
A great example is the previous one we gave you about ours. It focused on money, reviews, and more. You can choose the same, similar ones or aim for a completely different option.
- Pick your blog name.
Make sure it is easy to find and search for users while also being memorable that will allow readers to want to go back just because of it.
And, of course, it should be related to your blog content or the niche and topics you chose.
- Start signing up, getting hosting, and domain.
This is where we start with the part when payment is needed.
In order to create your blog, you need to register in platforms like WordPress to get your domain (www.domain.com, for example) and the serves or hosting to maintain your blog live.
Unlike the options you might find, WordPress is definitely the best option since it is the king on websites and any type of page you try to create.
When it comes to hosting and domain, you might need to hire another service like Bluehost, HostGator, and similar ones, which come with monthly or annual plans.
- Customize the blog.
Once you have created it and gone through the process of hosting, domain, and all that, it is time to focus on how it looks.
We almost recommend taking your time with this because you have to ensure it works well for mobile users, can be easily visualized, the colors aren’t too distracting, and consider other details that will make it enjoyable while reading the content.
- Begin to write and post.
When finishing the technical steps, you can start writing your content and sharing it to build your blog.
During the first couple of weeks, you should do your best to fill the blog with content so readers can find more when visiting it and won’t feel empty in terms of how recent it is or the lack of content.
- Promote your blog.
Make sure to use social media and other platforms and advertising methods (if possible) to generate traffic and visitors that can transform into regular readers, future leads, and potential clients when you start your monetization.
- Monetize now.
Choose among the previous options we gave you (or maybe others) and do your proper research about how to get started based on the one you prefer.
With the steps done, we need to talk about the costs now.
Well, you will be happy to know that starting a blog isn’t expensive, but it does require some tools and investment.
For hosting and domain, you can start by paying about $3 monthly during the first year or so since a different plan or option will be needed when you get more traffic and readers.
As for a platform like WordPress, the personal plan that is paid annually is $4 per month and already included a free domain for a year and hosting.
Others like premium, business, and e-Commerce cost $8, $25, $45 a month when paid annually, respectively. However, the first one is usually perfect to start and change when your blog starts generating results.
Now, this is the big question: Should you choose WordPress for the domain and hosting included?
If you want to aim for the cheapest yet great option, you should definitely do it to get serious from the very start.
The difference with using a hosting or domain from another service or website is that it might offer better optimization or even free options based on what you want to do.
Thus, you ought to review a few of our articles about Bluehost and other alternatives.
On average, people spend between $100 to $250 a year when starting, or about $15 per month when paying monthly plans.
As you can see, it isn’t expensive for a side hustle that can mean more money and financial freedom in the future.
Is It a Piece of Cake to Fill Your Bank Account?
What many people won’t tell you about blogging is that it kind of needs some talent or, at least, lots of practice and learning to make sure you are getting the best out of your effort and side hustle.
Writing optimized content that is engaging and generates traffic and readers isn’t that simple. In most cases, you have to be good at writing or learn how to be and get better over time.
Also, you have to learn more than just writing.
SEO, advertising, monetizing methods, and much more. With this mention, you can expect it to be a bit exhausting, but the good part is that all this can be learned in your free time.
It doesn’t have to be a huge issue as long as you take the time to approach it.
Besides, just think about the revenue you can get even in your first year of blogging.
Most bloggers, regardless of the topic they write about, can earn between $250 to $2-3k during their first year, and this just continues to increase the more audience you have, the methods you use, and your worth as a blogger.
Therefore, we would say that the work ahead of you is definitely worth it.
Our Final Thoughts
If you ask us if you should give this side hustle a try, our answer will be the same every single time: Absolutely.
We consider that people who aren’t trying it because there seem to be way too many blogs are only afraid of having to invest more time and effort than others in the past.
However, this is a complete lie since blogging is a great option now that people spend more time at home and surfing the net searching for who knows what.
Therefore, don’t be afraid of giving it a try, especially considering its affordability for at least a year or two while you get used to it.
Although we say a year or two, don’t get us wrong, you can make money much quicker than in 12-24 months, depending on the time you invest and the results you achieve.
Get started now. The longer you think about it, that’s when you will definitely lose opportunities.
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