Is blogging dead? Can you really make money from doing a blog? I’ve told you this before and the answer is still yes! You can totally make money from blogging. I had the chance to do a live interview with my friend Janssen from Everyday Reading where she shares her tips on creating a loyal following and having a profitable blog. So, here’s how to make a living blogging!
If you haven’t heard of Janssen or Everyday Reading, you should go check out her blog! Her business is brilliant and one that I really admire. She does such an amazing job at doing business the right way, so we can learn a lot from her and apply her tips on blogging and building a profitable brand that she has done for so many years now.
The idea of blogging is not new to Janssen. She has been blogging since 2006! So she has 16 years of experience blogging and has learned quite a few tricks on how to build a loyal following and make a blog profitable. So, let’s jump into her 3 tips on how to make a living blogging.
3 Tips on How to Make a Living Blogging
When you’re starting a blog, you want to make sure you really niche down on what you write about. This advice even applies to your business. It’s not your job to solve all the problems for everyone. Think about one problem you can solve for one person.
To help Janssen decide on what her niche blog topic would be, she asked herself this question: What could I talk about forever? And her answer was books. And that’s how her blog was born and it has grown into a big and beautiful thing ever since. So, what could you write or talk about forever? Use that to guide you on your blogging journey.
Profitable Blogging Tip #1: Create sponsored content.
What is sponsored content, exactly? Have you ever seen a post on Instagram that one of your favorite influencers posted about a specific product? They usually have “#ad” somewhere in the post. This is an example of sponsored content.
You can do this same thing on a blog post. However, companies are leaning more toward Instagram for influencers to advertise their products simply because it’s a quicker return than a blog. This is due to the different functions of each–Instagram content is usually most relevant for 1-2 days whereas blog posts are more evergreen and can be relevant for years. That being said, brands are more interested in Instagram because it makes them money faster. However, sponsored content is still being used by bloggers to generate revenue.
Profitable Blogging Tip #2: Use affiliate links.
Using affiliate links on your blog is a much easier option than sponsorships. There are three reasons why Janssen loves affiliates:
- You do not have to wait for a brand to deem you worthy to sell their products. You can start making money using affiliates as soon as you want.
- There’s no cap to how much money you can make with affiliates.
- You can say whatever you want when using affiliates. Meaning, you can be more genuine in your opinion of the product rather than “sales-y” like how you may come off when doing sponsored content (because sponsored content has to be approved by the brand and affiliates do not).
Pro Tip: If you publish a blog post using affiliates, link to it and talk about it on your Instagram story. Talk about what you’re promoting and leave a question box so people can ask questions about the product. This will help them feel more comfortable about trying something new, and it will help you make more money too!
Profitable Blogging Tip #3: Generate ad revenue through page views.
This is a cool way that your blog can be making you money without you having to do anything. If you get really good at knowing how to word things (e.g. your headlines) in your blog posts and make sure your SEO (search engine optimization) is really good, your blog posts will get more views and therefore your ad revenue will go up.
Another nice thing about ad revenue is that you only have to create the blog post once and it’s there forever. You don’t have to keep re-creating it in order for it to be relevant. Just think about what problems you can solve for your customers and write a post about each one. Then you can have people looking at the blog post for years and years which will bring you more ad revenue–all happening on its own. It’s a magical thing!
Click here to read my blog post on how to create the best blog post in 7 steps.
How to Use Your Blog for Your Email Marketing
Janssen and I both recommend you have an email list. And it’s so much easier to have an email list if you have a blog. If you have a collection of blog posts on a certain topic, your email campaign is already created for you.
Just sequence the blog posts in an order that makes sense and the actual body of the email can give a tease of what the blog post is about. You want your emails to be valuable, and if you’re sending them blog posts you’ve written on how to solve their problems it will be valuable for them. Click here to get more tips on how to get started with email marketing.
If you’re worried about coming off as spammy, remember each person signed up to receive your emails because they find your content valuable. And if they no longer do, then they can unsubscribe. It’s up to them, so as far as you’re concerned send them all the content that will help makes their lives easier and happier!
How to Make a Living Blogging
Alright, biz sister, I hope you enjoyed this post on how to make a living blogging! Janssen is so amazing, so make sure to follow her on Instagram @everydayreading. And there are really so many more good things on the podcast episode you won’t want to miss, so make sure to give it listen!
For more tips and tricks on running a successful biz, follow me on Instagram @iammichellegifford. You can also join my Money Makers coaching group if you’re looking for more support. We have courses, coaching, and an amazing community just waiting to welcome you!
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