Working from home is the new reality for millions of Americans since the coronavirus hit our shores. Some of us are lucky enough to have jobs that can be done remotely. However, many more are unemployed, unable even to look for a traditional job until this crisis is over.
This has led people to create a huge variety of online businesses. The gig economy is surviving better than the traditional economy, and people who thought they would always be employed full-time are learning to work for themselves.
One of the most consistent ways to make money online is by starting a blog. Blogging originally began as a way for people to share their thoughts with whoever was interested, but quickly became a lucrative business strategy. Blogs provide some sort of service – guides, advice, or simply entertainment – and the more readers they have, the more they earn.
Here is how to go about starting a blog that brings in a good income.
Create an independent website
There is one way to ensure you don’t make any money blogging: creating a basic blog with a .WordPress domain. WordPress.com provides a simple platform for blogging, but you will need more than that if you want it to be lucrative. You need to use the more complex (but still simple) WordPress.org CMS.
Furthermore, you need a service for hosting a WordPress site. Web hosting provides you with space on a server to get your website online.
To get an independent domain name, you will need to lay out some cash, but it is very affordable and the whole package shouldn’t cost much more than $3 per month.
Find a niche
The so-called blogosphere has been incredibly crowded for years. Millions of people have created blogs on just about every topic you could think of. This is disheartening to many new bloggers. What can you add that hasn’t already been written?
The reality is that, in order to provide original content, you need to narrow down what you are going to discuss. If you choose a broad topic, like technology or entertainment, there are thousands of massive websites that already do this, employing a range of writers and pouring resources into it. However, if you choose a much more specific topic, such as a blog about GarageBand or guides on the best high-end headphones, you will be able to provide value that is not saturated elsewhere.
Considering that there are billions of people online, even niche topics can attract millions of readers. Your specialist blog can reach enough people for it to be lucrative, without getting lost among the behemoths.
Monetize
Actually making money from your blog is fairly easy. Firstly, you will need to install Google AdSense. Google will code targeted ads into your website and pay you for visitors who click through.
Beyond Google AdSense, you can partner with affiliates to promote their products. These products should be connected to the field you are blogging about. If you guarantee your readers you are only recommending products you believe in, they will click through and make purchases which will bring in commission.
The more readers you attract, the more money you will make, as a significant proportion of them will click through.
Creating a lucrative blog is one of the most consistent ways of making money online. You too can succeed in this, during these difficult times.
If you are a blogger or an online business owner looking for ways to set yourself up for success, you might find these resources useful:
- If you need to deal with legal matters, highly trained professionals at FVF Law can offer you legal advice and help you run your business successfully.
- In today’s world, customer retention is becoming more and more important. Read on to find out Why It’s Important To Know What Your Customers Want
- Working from home is a fast-growing trend, which is why you should consider Setting Up A Home Office