The best and easiest way to make money from your hobbies is to write a blog. Online journals are a great method to share your interests, to learn more about them and to share your knowledge with others.
Your information can help others who are looking for help and information in certain areas. Everybody knows SOMETHING about SOMETHING.
Basically, you can write about anything you like. If you are a mom, share your experience with parenting or cooking or whatever area you are interested in or have some experience in. If you are interested in cars, you could write about car tuning. Any sport is a great subject to write about.
Being a nurse, I started my first blog on natural remedies for diseases where there is “no real cure” provided by doctors or the medical world. I made some fantastic experiences within my family using natural remedies for specific diseases and started writing about it. After a certain time, people started asking me questions and when recommending products that helped my family, I made some money and gained lots of followers.
If you have helpful and informative information to share with your blog and start building a following in your own “niche”, you will automatically start generating some income with your blog or your niche.
IS STARTING A BLOG A FAST WAY TO EARN MONEY?
The start of a blog or a niche won’t be easy or a fast way to make money if you haven’t got any previous experience in the area. Don’t believe what some Gurus out there are telling you! Yet it is entirely possible for you to earn a full-time income as a blogger with affiliate marketing after a certain time of dedicating yourself to the development of your blog.
The most important thing for making a blog profitable is to write informative and helpful content for your followers.
Here are some tips on the best way to make a blog and earn money in your spare time:
Learn how to make your first blog
You don’t have a lot of technical skills, and you think that starting a blog might be too complicated for you? Building beautiful websites seems to be only for skilled and trained IT-programmers?
When I first started, I didn’t even think that I, as a nurse, could build a website from scratch. I could do some proper Google research and research on medical platforms, but I had no idea how to write a blog. There are platforms like WIX that seem to make it easy to start a blog but beware – as soon as you are getting more experienced you will need a platform that allows you to expand your business.
That’s why I do recommend a CMS (Content Management System) called WordPress. It’s the most popular blog creating service out there, and you won’t be restricted in any area down the line. It’s the best choice to start. Lots of free resources and premade templates are included which you then can adjust to your personal needs.
With WordPress’ blocks and templates, you can style your blog and create not only informative content but add a great look to it.
If you would love to get some help when creating your first WordPress website because you are feeling overwhelmed by starting the adventure all by yourself, you can get a 10-lessons-training course like this one for free here. You’ll get 1 website for free and can try things out.
Otherwise, you can check out the free tutorials online and copy what is shown.
My recommendation is to start your first course here because for 7 days you can ask any question you want and somebody from the community will help you along the way.
Check out what's included in the course
Choosing a Name for Your Website
Before you can think of a name for your website, you definitely need to know what subject you want to write about. The domain name represents in short what your blog is about. Therefore ask yourself: what is your interest, what do you do in your spare time?
If you have no clue what to write about, ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. What makes me happy?
2. What frustrates me?
3. What would I like to do?
Basically, if you find the answers to the questions above, you know your niche or the subject you would like to write about.
With the questions “what makes me happy” you can find the things you really care about.
The question “what frustrates me” shows you the area where you would like to see improvement or where you maybe can offer better service because what’s out there on the market is not up to your need or level. So there is undoubtedly a demand on the market because you are not the only one who feels like that.
The third question is about what you would like to do. Just dream out loud and get your phantasy rolling! In the end, you might be able to combine the three, and you have found your perfect niche.
Bear in mind that there are millions of people with problems who are searching for a solution online.
- Give them the answer
- Present them quality information
- Be helpful and
- The money will follow you!
As soon as you know your “niche”, you can start searching for a NAME for your website.
Sometimes domain names are already taken. Therefore check out the availability of your name here:
Blog Hosting needed: Where to find a good Host for your Website
After choosing the best Content Management System for your Website that allows you flexibility down the line (WordPress) it is crucial to find a good Host where you can basically “store” your Website. The host must
- be affordable in price
- offer assistance for beginners
- keep your Website safe from hackers
- offer 24/7 support
- offer fast support
- include plugins to support website ranking
- offer reader analysis
All of the above and much more is being provided with Site Rubix. It is very easy to use which is especially necessary if you are a beginner.
Site Rubix Hosting is included if you sign up to this blogging and affiliate marketing training program which I can highly recommend.
Hosting the first 2 Site Rubix websites is totally free. However, if you want to host a premium domain, then it’s not entirely free. You can decide down the line what you prefer.
Create Great Content for your Website
Ever heard of the slogan “Content is King”? This phrase says it all.
Content is everything you post on your blog ranging from written articles to photos, youtube videos to infographics. All visual things are a great way to introduce your audience to the subject you are writing about.
Your articles and any information you present need to be of help to your audience and must be somehow relevant to the main subject of your blog.
If you, for example, have a blog about tuning cars and then you post some info about gardening, this wouldn’t fit together, and your audience could get confused because they rather expect to find all kinds of information about cars and not of plants!
Therefore: Keep it stupid simple! If you have several subjects in mind to write about, you can always start a second website at a later time.
Do you think you can’t really write articles? Don’t worry, you’ll become better by practicing it over and over again. You can start playing around with WordPress for free here and check out whether it would be possible for you to learn blogging, which I am convinced you can.
Don’t be afraid, first, it can be a bit overwhelming, but with the help of the community inside the training platform, you will achieve far more than you can now imagine!
Once you’ve got content on your site, you can attract readers and followers and start selling products. This is when the real fun part begins!
What makes good Website Content?
Valuable content for your readers is the most essential part of your blog. Always keep in mind that people are looking for help on the net.
1. Helpful content: Your content needs to answer questions people have or teach them new skills
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2. Original content that is not found anywhere else or at least some aspects of the topics are new
3. Trustworthy content: The information must be honest and reliable.
4. Optimized content: Your content needs to be straight to the point for your audience but also SEO-friendly.
What does it help if you’ve got the best info out there, but nobody is finding it?
Learn the skills needed to create valuable content with our helpful training>>:
Build an Audience
If you help people with valuable information, you will automatically build an audience. An audience is required if you want to earn money with your blog.
For the beginner, building an audience is the toughest part of internet marketing!
Even the best content does not help if people have no idea that you exist or cannot find you on the net.
After you have created some helpful content, you need to start marketing your site.
You can do this in multiple ways starting from social media marketing to mastering SEO. Not every niche is suited for social media though. It all depends on your website subject.
The most important part here is: Just concentrate on one or two ways to market your blog. You cannot be mastering everything. Just learn mastering one or two platforms and marketing will work for you. Take the one that suits you and your blog best.
Unfortunately, there is no shortcut here. It can take weeks and months until you have a big audience and many followers which eventually leads to sales and income.
At this stage, ENDURANCE is KEY, you will get there if you persevere. Once traffic starts coming to your blog, it eventually gets more and more until the growth of your audience becomes exponential.
Earn Money from your Blog
Earning money from your blog is where the real fun part starts.
As soon as you have some content on your site and traffic (audience) is coming naturally to your blog you can begin searching for Affiliate Partners whose articles you can promote on your site.
Affiliate partnership is a great way to “sell” products because you basically only redirect your customers to the company’s product on their site.
If you, for example, promote a healthy product for weight loss from your affiliate partner and your customer buys the product, you will get a commission for referring that customer to the company. The more people you can send there the more money you earn.
The big advantage is that you don’t need to buy any inventory or have to handle returned goods. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the affiliate partner.
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way for bloggers to make money and start with their online ventures.
How does Affiliate Marketing work? An Overview
Optimize Conversion Rate
Conversion is a term that’s used for your audience or readers as soon as they buy a product and become customers.
For you to earn money, you need to learn the skills to convert your readers into buyers.
You do this by presenting valuable content to your audience and promote the necessary products for the goals the reader wants to achieve.
In promoting affiliate products to them, you earn a commission. The more conversions you have, the more money you make.
When you advertise a product, you need to keep several things in mind. Never promote a product just because you are receiving a high commission.
Be honest, recommend products you used yourself and know that they are good and help your audience. Keep in mind, a customer you have helped will always come back whereas if you only take advantage of him in selling him rubbish will not come back.
Therefore my advice is that your recommendations need to flow naturally.
Passion and Money
Extra money is great, and becoming a self-employed online entrepreneur with earning a full-time income is even better.
Before you start writing a blog to make money, you should really think about the subject you are writing about. The most successful internet marketers who monetized their blog started their blog out of a personal passion.
They loved talking and writing about their hobby and loved to give advice to their audience. Some of the most successful bloggers originally didn’t intend to make money from it. It just started flowing because they had a vast audience and basically were even asked for instructions.
My first website was about natural remedies that helped in certain situations. I felt it was necessary to get the stuff out there because some helpful natural resources that help are just not being investigated nor promoted because the Pharma Industry can’t make money from it. Therefore I just posted my personal findings which helped my family members. A true testimony cannot be denied even though it is not “proven” by randomized studies. (Btw. only believe statistics that you have manipulated yourself!).
My blog has become very successful but was actually created out of my frustration because the good stuff is not being offered to patients. Also, I could share my knowledge of natural remedies I had gained over the years in working as a nurse.
Therefore ask yourself what is your passion, what frustrates you and what would you like to do?
It is much more likely that you succeed when you find your perfect “niche”. Ironically, focusing on making money is usually preventing people from making money online.
Therefore, choose a niche you love, you know a lot about, and you like to share with others.
Sales will come automatically.
Get Help and Support
Hundreds of websites out there are promising help and support when you first start out with your business. Most of them are costly and promise stuff they don’t keep.
A simple online course doesn’t help either because I can guarantee that you get stuck somewhere along the way and then there is nobody you can ask.
Also, it takes time for a blog to become profitable. On average it takes 12-24 months (shocking truth) until you see real money coming your way. It takes time to gain a loyal following, build trust and also find the right products to sell.
Don’t get fooled by some get-rich-quick-schemes of some Gurus.
Make sure that you have realistic expectations concerning the time frame it takes to make a blog profitable.
If you need support along your way, decide to partner with someone with a trusted website.
I personally can recommend Wealthy Affiliate. After buying several courses (which didn’t help me when I got stuck because there was no-one to ask), I was searching for an affordable coaching program and stumbled upon this company.
Wealthy Affiliate offers all the technical tools, training, and especially personal support 24/7 which helps you out immediately if you have a question or are getting stuck.
Wealthy Affiliate did not make any promises of becoming rich overnight but helped me build my very first website, make my first money online and helped me grow through hard work and dedication.
Are you ready to invest in yourself and take the time to learn the stuff you need to learn? Do you want to be supported personally?
If yes, then get your access to Wealthy Affiliate here >>
