How to Start Your Blog and Make Money Online as a SAHM
Take it from me; you can learn how to start your blog and make money online even as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM).
I know everyone has heard of Linda Ikeji.
Okay, fine, maybe not everyone but at least Nigerians.
Well, if you haven’t, here’s all you need to know about her: She is a millionaire who got her money by blogging.
Hold on!
You may not be as rich as she is, but blogging, if done correctly, is lucrative.
What is Blogging?
A blog is simply a website that usually contains written information.
It allows users to interact, share opinions and discuss various topics.
Every website on the internet is a blog.
The only difference is that some are for companies, academia, health institutions, etc., written formally, while others are owned by individuals and are informal.
So informal that you don’t even need to be an excellent writer to start one.
Blogs are usually made for sharing personal experiences, connecting with others, finding a community and, of course, make money.
Just like YouTubers, some bloggers are full-time while others take it as a side gig.
All in all, if you know how to blog right, you can make some cool cash.
And who has extra cash ever hurt?
Alright, let’s go on to the main stuff!
How Do I Start Blogging?
When one is thinking of blogging, it seems almost inconceivable and broad.
But really, you don’t need much to start.
Note that I said ‘to start’.
As we go on, you will know why I said that.
It’s so easy to start that you could be a blogger immediately after reading this.
Simple, right?
So, here is what you need to do:
1. Choose a good niche;
There are so many niches you can choose from.
Before you think of starting a blog, know what you want to write about.
It has to be something you have a passion for, and you enjoy writing about it. Let’s say you’re into the fashion business as a stay-at-home mom, you can decide to write about what you do, and show behind the scenes with your blog.
Your niche could be finance, lifestyle, mum life or parenting, education, food, etc.
Your niche determines the name of your blog.
Read this next:
How to Make Money as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM)
2. Choose your blog name:
A name says a lot about your blog.
For example, this blog you’re reading – A Mum and More says a lot about it at first glance.
First, you will know that it’s for mums, and second, you will see that it encourages mamas to be more.
Your blog name should be related to whatever you want to blog about.
Your blog name could also be your name.
This way, it allows for more flexibility on things you can post.
If the name you want is unavailable, you can:
- Try a different top-level domain (TLD). That is, instead of using example.com, you could try example.net or .org or whatever else.
- Put dashes between the words. For instance, website-example.com
- Add other words to the domain name. So, instead of example.com, it could be theexample.com
Minor tweaks can make a whole lot of difference.
Note:
- Spaces between names are not allowed.
- Dashes (-) are the only characters that are allowed.
Once you’ve chosen a domain name for yourself, you need to get web hosting.
Web hosting is the only way for your blog to be on the internet.
There are so many web hosting services/ companies out there.
Work with the one that suits you.
3. Get a content management system:
The most popular content management system (CMS) for blogging is WordPress.
There are others too, but WordPress is the people’s choice.
Not only is it easy to use, but it also has a lot of plugins that will help your blog in the long run.
Also, you can easily design your website yourself using WordPress with no codes required.
4. Complete the Necessary Content:
Some pages are static and have to be on your site every time.
Of course, you could change them when the need arises. Those pages are:
i. The About Me page:
This is where you write about yourself or the company.
Make it interesting.
You can add personal touches like your picture, hobbies, etc.
ii. Contact Me page:
This is the page that leads readers to how to contact you.
This is especially important because it helps foster a good relationship between you and your readers.
iii. Disclaimer page:
You need to have this page to monetise your blog.
iv. Terms of Service:
This is to lessen potential liability, especially if your blog is selling products.
v. Privacy Policy:
If you’re going to take information from readers like name, credit card number, etc., this must be on your blog.
5. Write and Publish Your First Post:
So now, we’re finally done with all the formalities.
Thank God. It’s now time for you to write and share with the world!
However, there are some rules you need to follow. They include:
- Be original – don’t copy the work of others.
- Precision – Your content should hit the nail on the head. Whatever topic you’re writing on should be well-defined.
- Length – Your posts should be about 800 words and above. This is so that it can be optimised. If it’s too lengthy, your readers may lose interest and skip a lot of it.
- Paragraphs and sentences – these should be short. In fact, as a rule of thumb, each sentence shouldn’t be more than 20 words.
- Value – your content has to be valuable to keep them coming back.
If you don’t have time to do to write your articles, you can hire freelance writers.
Helpful article:
How to Become a Freelance Writer and Get Paid From Home
6. Market Your Blog:
This is a solemn aspect of it.
Marketing your blog makes it more visible and drives more traffic to your site.
You need to be able to optimise your blog so that it’s more visible on search engines.
Also, you need to make use of other social media platforms to drive traffic.
You can use Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Quora, etc.
Marketing drives more traffic to your blog, which will translate to more money shortly, and readers.
Marketing your blog is the trickiest part of blogging.
You can also do this by engaging on other blogs, writing on other blogs and writing email newsletters to keep your readers coming back.
Unto the next course!
How to Make Money as a Blogger
There are so many ways to make money as a blogger. The most common are:
1. Selling ad spaces:
This is the easiest way to make money.
You don’t need to wait for a company to call you and offer sponsorships.
You can sell space to a few of your friends, fellow bloggers and others who may want you to advertise their products.
However, you must note that your pay or the amount you charge is dependent on the number of readers you have.
For example, at the moment, Kylie Jenner is the highest-paid Instagram influencer.
So that also applies to blogging.
2. Do affiliate marketing:
This is where you act as the middle man between consumers and companies.
If someone buys a product through your link, you get paid a commission agreed upon by you and the said company.
For example, Amazon has a lot of affiliate marketers.
These marketers don’t get paid until someone buys an Amazon product through the link on their blogs.
3. Sell your products:
If you have products you want to sell, your blog is an excellent place to sell them. You can sell your fashion pieces to your readers if you’re in the fashion industry.
It could be old stuff around the house (link to sellable items), it could be books, etc.
4. Sell Memberships:
If you don’t want to offer complete information to everyone, you can sell memberships.
Here, you give them a premium gist.
You can also use this means to get people to subscribe to email newsletters.
5. Downloadable PDFs, worksheets, ebooks, etc.:
You can make some materials downloadable and for a price.
This is cheap as it cuts all shipping expenses too.
Conclusion
Blogging takes time.
Some start early to rank on Google and even start profiting off it.
Others take a while longer.
A huge blogger said that he didn’t make a dime off his blog in the first four years.
While this isn’t something you should pray for, it’s just to keep you motivated.
Make sure that you’re consistent and ensure that you give valuable content.
This will attract more readers, increase the return rate of readers and help you get optimised faster on search engines.
Who is ready to be a blogger?
PS:
Remember that motherhood is a journey made easy when we have the right people in our corner. ?
So, click this link to go to the fantastic world of motherhood http://bit.ly/AMumandMoreFBFamily
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I’m rooting for you.
Keep being #fabulous?
Viv?
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