After many years of blogging, I have some blogging tips to pass along!
I know some of you are blogging in your spare time, hoping that it will eventually help you generate an income (if it isn’t already).
Blogging is a great way to earn money and certainly one of my favorite revenue streams since it’s the only one I have where I’m in charge.
Drawing from my own experience, here are a few things that may help you if you’re new to the blogging world. Note this was originally published in 2012, and things have changed drastically since that time.
The content has been updated to reflect my views on things now.
Be Consistent
The most important of all the blogging tips is to be consistent.
I see a lot of new bloggers post very inconsistently. As in, write ten posts this month and then get burnt out and post none the next.
This doesn’t work because it will confuse whatever readers you do have. They need to know you’re going to show up regularly or they may stop showing up to see what’s new.
This doesn’t mean you have to post every day. Instead, try to stick to a schedule of posting at the very least a few times per week.
Even posting just once a week is better than posting at random times throughout the month, taking long breaks in between. Your potential loyal readers just need to count on the fact they’re going to hear from you if you want them to stick around.
Get Your Own Dot Com
If your ultimate goal is to earn a full-time income with your blog, you are far better off to have your own dot com set up through a hosting account that you pay monthly for.
Sure, these free sites like Blogger are great in that they are easy to use and you don’t have to pay, but make no mistake that you don’t really own your free blog.
If Blogger doesn’t like what you put up, they can take it down in the blink of an eye. This can be a disaster if your blog generates an income for you, so don’t take that chance!
If you want to blog professionally, I recommend using a provider like BigScoots (this is who I use, and they are amazing as well as affordably priced!).
You can read more about starting a professional blog here.
Your Competition Isn’t Always The Enemy
Don’t be afraid to get out there and network with other bloggers in your niche. I think that, as humans, we are sort of programmed to instinctively view our competition as the enemy … the “bad” guy.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way. I feel that I can honestly say the relationships I have formed over the last couple of years with other work at home bloggers have carried me far in my efforts.
I have made friends with many of my so-called “competitors” and I have also learned from them.
We share each other’s content with our own individual audiences, we write guest posts for each other, we take time to comment on each other’s posts and also link to each other often.
Instead of being fearful and suspicious of your competition, reach out to them and explore how a friendly relationship could be mutually beneficial. You might be surprised by how much you can both help each other out!
Don’t Be Afraid to Invest Money In Your Blog
Starting a blog that you would like to earn money from is in a lot of ways like starting your own business. And in business, it takes money to make money!
Investing in your blog is like investing in yourself! I see so many new bloggers that want to go the free route because they don’t like the idea of investing money in their blogs, and they just immediately dismiss the idea as “out of the question.”
I have invested money in my blog and it’s been money well spent. Paying for things like website graphics, domain names, WordPress themes, hosting accounts, e-courses, and newsletter services are totally acceptable.
You will not likely come across any major, well-known bloggers who blog and pay nothing at all. But they probably also make more than they pay out, so it makes sense to wait to invest until your blog is actually bringing in some sort of profit if you’d prefer.
Don’t Let Anything Take the Fun Out of Blogging
Blogging is supposed to be fun if you like to write, and earning money is the bonus.
For a while I became so wrapped up in trying to learn about SEO, backlinking, keywords, etc. when I first started blogging because I wanted to do things the “right” way.
The end result was all that stuff made my head spin and I lost my enthusiasm because it turned my blog into something that was mostly stressful for me. I didn’t enjoy writing articles only to worry about how many keywords I’d put in and where. That’s just not fun to do!
I am not saying don’t take the time to learn about that stuff because it is good to know. I’m just saying don’t let it take the fun out of blogging.
Take the time to learn all you can about blogging, but do it in smallish doses — otherwise it’s going to seem too overwhelming and you’ll give up before you can reap any benefit.
Set Up a Newsletter Right Away
The biggest mistake I made when I first started blogging in 2010 is NOT having a newsletter for my audience set up until 2012!!
It hurts me to think about how many visitors I had in those two years that may have liked my content, but never came back because I didn’t bother to capture their email addresses to let them know what’s going on in my corner of the internet!
Don’t let that be you. Once I set up my newsletter, everything changed.
My casual visitors turned into loyal followers who would come back every time I emailed them to let them know what is new over here.
As a result, I got more traffic. I made more money! It was a game-changer.
Many of these subscribers also became my customers. I sell work at home e-books, and I’ve taken advantage of my newsletter list by letting these subscribers know about my books, when I have something new, and when there is a sale.
Flodesk is the service I recommend for getting your newsletter up and running.
No, it’s not free, but I only pay $38 a month and if you use my link, you can use the service for $19 a month for the first year.
Flodesk is MUCH cheaper and (in my opinion) more user-friendly than any other newsletter service you’ll find!
Get Yourself On Other Platforms
In 2024, the blogosphere changed drastically. Artificial Intelligence is now everywhere, love it or hate it.
We can no longer type a simple query into Google search and get links to websites as top results. AI just gives us the answer!
I’m sure you can imagine how this has hurt bloggers who rely on Google search to send traffic to their sites. It’s not been good.
In fact, some bloggers have had to shut down completely and find other ways to earn money.
This is why your newsletter (mentioned above) is so important. It may seem dramatic to say so, but my newsletter is the ONLY reason I am still able to support myself and my family with this blog.
If I were relying on Google to keep bringing visitors here, I’d have had to close up shop a few years ago. Google is unpredictable. I can’t count on Google to keep favoring my site no matter what I try to do to please it. I’ve learned this the hard way over the years.
If you can collect those emails, you can contact people directly anytime you want and get them to go to your site. You aren’t dependent on just Google to help you get that traffic.
But, you also need to have a presence on other platforms. Social media is a good idea! Set up accounts for your blog on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Anything you already use and are familiar with is best so you’ll have a better sense of how to get traction.
Create content that will get shared and reels that will go viral. Spend time on these platforms so you get a feel for what will do well. Look at what others are doing that seems to do well, and do that.
If you aren’t comfortable with video, you can use Canva to create things for your social media with a click of the button! It’s not expensive to use and very easy to learn. Most of it is just templates where you can fill in the blanks with your own wording or photos. The rest is done for you.
It is and never has been a good idea to rely on one platform for traffic, just as it is and never has been a good idea to rely on one stream of revenue for your blog/brand.
So spread yourself around, and do it early!
Those are my blogging tips! I hope it helps you if you’re new to blogging.
Recommended Blogging eCourse
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – I invested in this eCourse a few years ago.
Within the first month of implementing what I learned, I had increased my affiliate earnings by almost $2,000 over what I normally earn!
Well worth it if you have a new blog and want to monetize it, yet you don’t really know how. Affiliate marketing is one of the most non-invasive ways you can make money from your website, and this eCourse walks you step by step how to do it.
Good luck!
Anna Thurman is a work at home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. Her findings are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.