How to Make Money Blogging in 2020 (Step-By-Step for Beginners)
The First Step to Make Money With A Blog Is To Choosing A Domain Name & Web Host
When choosing a name, make sure that you have a short, catchy, and easy name.
No pressure, right?
Now, this of course may be a bit difficult.
As you probably will to be the only one who has thought of that catchy name for your domain name.
Be willing to have several back up names just in case the the one you choose has already been taken.
Setting Up Web Hosting
In order to make money with your blog, and to really monetize the website, you will need a web hosting service.
Now, it is TRUE you do not NEED to own the website to make money. You can still make money as an affiliate marketer. You can use the website as a means to offer an affiliate offer and make money.
So, with this technique, if you have NO MONEY — but want to create a website to promote an affiliate offer — this is a good option.
However, owning your own website, by working with a web hosting service, will allow you to monetize the website through ad services such as Google Adsense.
I cannot speak highly enough of BlueHost. They are without a doubt MY FAVORITE Web Hosting. I wrote an in-depth article on why I consider BlueHost to be perhaps the best web hosting company to work with.
Or you can register with BlueHost (this is an affiliate link) HERE.
Start With WordPress
WordPress is without a doubt the best option when creating a blog.
Not only does WordPress offer a plethora of themes, but the number of people that visit blogs powered by WordPress are over 20 BILLION!!!!!!!
WordPress is hands down the best option for anyone looking to create a blog.
Now Our Domain and Hosting is Done So lets Move Forward.
1.Choose a Profitable Blogging Niche
2. Level up Your Content Skills
3.Grow Your Email List with Pop Ups
4.Begin Monetizing with Affiliate Programs
1. Choose a Profitable Blogging Niche
Let’s start with a little brutal truth, shall we?
- Passion does not equal profit.
- Neither does expertise.
- Hard work doesn’t guarantee anything either.
For example:
You can be the world’s foremost expert on square-shaped tomatoes, wake up every morning with a burning passion to educate the public on their vast superiority to normal-shaped tomatoes, and work until your fingers bleed and your eyes fall out of your head, following all the right tactics for growing a popular blog, and…
You’ll never have a chance in hell at making any money
In other words, you need a large audience who buys things. Without that, nothing else matters. It’s a prerequisite for everything else.
2.The Best Content Is King
If that’s hard to understand, think about it this way:
Lots of bloggers sit down and think, “What will I write today?” They jot down some thoughts, doing their best to be helpful, original, and entertaining. If they’re disciplined, they might even stick with it for a few months.
But it almost never works. Here are a few reasons why:
What you want to say isn’t what other people want to read
You weren’t using a proven content framework
It’s not the best post ever published on the topic
Granted, it’s not your fault. Until today, chances are no one ever told you about any of those requirements. You thought you just had to write interesting stuff and publish it.
No, grasshopper. No.
The truth is, having good ideas and powerful words isn’t enough. You have to create the best content ever published on blog topics lots of people are interested in learning more about. And that brings us to the three levels of content creation:
You know what content is popular in your niche, and you write exclusively about those topics
You’ve mastered frameworks proven to make your content more popular (list post, how to post, etc.)
Your content delivers more value to the reader than any other post published on that topic
You’re probably thinking, “Geez. That sounds hard.” And you’re right, it is.
I personally spent about three years honing my skills by writing for other sites before I started my own blog. It doesn’t have to take that long — I’m just a perfectionist, so I wanted to learn from the best people in my space.
3. Grow Your Email List with Pop Ups
Chances are, you see pop ups as an annoyance.
They get in the way when you’re trying to read. They ask you to hand over sensitive information like your name, email address, and phone number. Sometimes you have to deal with multiple pop ups on the same site, and it makes you feel hassled and uncared for.
And all that sucks. In my opinion, you have every right to be annoyed.
But here’s the thing…
That’s where the money comes from. The best predictor of the revenue for a blog is the size of their email list. Here’s a breakdown of our revenue at Smart Blogger comparing revenue device from email to other sources.
The rule of thumb is you can expect to make $1 per subscriber per month. So, if you have 10,000 email subscribers, you should be able to make about $10,000 per month.
So obviously, growing your email list is a top priority. You might, however, feel conflicted about using pop ups. What are you supposed to do?
Here’s a different way of looking at it:
If a visitor comes to your site and doesn’t give you their email address, the chances of them returning are nearly zero. You’ll never have another opportunity to help them.
If you believe your content is the best, and you believe you can help them over time, I believe you owe it to them to be as pushy as possible about staying in contact. In other words, not using a pop up is unethical. A little annoyance is a small price to pay for change.
And remember, that doesn’t mean you have to be extremely pushy or spammy. You can absolutely use pop ups in authentic ways.
But you absolutely must use them. Assuming you want to make money, anyway.
4. Begin Monetizing with Affiliate Programs
So, you’re operating in a profitable niche, and you have traffic and an email list. What next?
Lots of new bloggers jump into creating a course or book or community of some sort, but that’s a mistake, in my opinion. Before you start selling things, you need concrete evidence those things are what people want to buy. Otherwise, you’re risking wasting months or even years of your life trying to push a product no one wants.
The simplest way to obtain that evidence:
Affiliate programs.
By seeing what your audience buys from other people, you can get a much better sense of what they might want to buy from you. If you promote a product and it converts well, you should think about creating a similar product. If it doesn’t convert well, you should probably move on.
In other words, affiliate programs offer are a form of market research. As a bonus, you just so happen to get paid commissions on the products your customers buy in the process. So not only are you learning what your audience wants to buy, but you’re making money from your blog at the same time. Pretty sweet deal.
