I began my blog in 2018... and it changed my life ...
Due to this blog, I am now able to work from home full-time, hire an assistant and an editor, and invest in things that make me happy.
I started my blog simply because I wanted a place to write about things that were important to me. I didn't even know you COULD make money from it. But once I found that out... oh it was OVER WITH. I knew this was what I wanted to do... no clue what else it would've led me to.
How long did it take me to make money?
If you mean any money at all, it didn't really take that long. I started bringing in a small income using affiliate marketing after just about 3 months once I started actively trying to.
Now I make money from various ways using blogging and I couldn't be more excited about it!
Now that 2022 is here, I want to share how you can ACTUALLY start making money using blogging. Because it is still a very real way to make money!
How To Start Making Blog Income in 2022
Create quality
Don't just post half-assed paragraphs with no thought or originality and then expect to get readers and get money from brands and affiliate links. It is just simply not going to happen. You have to give your best to receive the best.
Promote
I still suck at this but PROMOTE YOUR BLOG. Share it in IG stories, on Twitter, on Facebook... wherever you have a presence. Start talking about your blog on all of the things. Make sure you are constantly trying to find ways to level up your content and give good information, etc.
Start with affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways of making money with blogging and other social media because it is simple to get into. All you really do is find a brand you can rock with that has an affiliate program and you incorporate the products or service into your content. I talk about blogging all the time, so promoting blog resources I find helpful with affiliate links was a simple and awesome way for me to start making money using blogging.
Twitter engagement
Twitter is THE best place to promote your blog (in my opinion) aside from Pinterest (will mention in a second). Spending 30 minutes to an hour on Twitter engaging with other bloggers and promoting your blog and talking about things related to your content... a good way to build a community. If you want to know more about how to build your community on Twitter, here is my blog post on that HERE.
IG Stories
You can use links on IG stories now and so there is no excuse for not utilizing IG stories in a bigger and more real way. Get active in other people's stories and utilize stories to find content your audience wants to see, promote the content you've created, and build connections with your audience.
Pinterest Mastery
Pinterest is a POWERFUL tool for growing your blog and I cannot stress enough how impactful it was for me to learn how to use Pinterest to really propel my blog forward. Promoting both your blogs and affiliate links on Pinterest can be POWERFUL. In order to learn how to really master Pinterest, I used Nadalie Bardo's Pinterest Popular Course and it literally spelled out how to use Pinterest for your traffic and so it is definitely a well worth investment!
SEO & Keyword Search
I hate SEO (or SeArCh EnGiNe OpTiMiZaTiOn). I hate it... but it is extremely important when trying to grow your blog because you want your content to be searchable. You want people to be finding it on google search on a regular basis, so make sure you are learning about and working on SEO (would you guys like a blog post about SEO?)
Learn and understand how to build a community online
All of what I just said is important, but learning marketing and how to build a community online is way more than just posting on Twitter and on your IG stories. Building a community is about relatability and connection.
Email List Focus
A big part of building your community and making sure that you are getting your content read is building and maintaining an email list. Email lists are very personal. Someone gave you their EMAIL address and permission to send them emails about your brand or business. Nurturing this list can be the difference between consistent viewers and randoms who come and go with no real interest.
Reach out to brands
One of the main ways I make money right now using my blog aside from affiliate marketing and selling my own services is reaching out to brands. I utilize my blog to build an audience that is interested in certain stuff. So brands that fit the narrative will pay me money to talk about their content on my brand and it really can bring in a good amount of money. Especially if you followed the previous steps and are able to gain a good audience that is interested in what you have to offer.
These steps are simple, but they are definitely effective and if you actively work on each of these, you will see a difference in the growth of your blog and should start to see some money coming in soon!
If you are interested in a social media manager for your blog, go to our workwithme page, and let's see if we can work together!