How To Start And Make Money With A Blog For Beginners

When I browse through our cyberspace, the magnitude of people searching for how to start a blog and making a living out of it are countless. Most of them don’t even know what blogging entails and that’s why after three months of blogging, they quit because they weren’t making a dime. Years ago, nobody would have thought that blogging will soon become a business cause its original purpose was to create a platform where people can update about their personal life, like an online diary.

Today, blogging is no longer a dairy but a passive investment that can give you the life of your dream. Starting a blog is very easy, but remaining a blogger months to come isn’t. It’s even harder if you’re yet to make real money from it. I took interest in blogging years ago and my first blog was a huge failure. I was ignorant and greedy. Without hesitation, I joined the wagon of these gossip bloggers, hoping to start counting millions of dollars like Linda Ikeji. After three months, I gave up.

I wasn’t blogging for the passion of it, I was after the gain and when it wasn’t coming forth, I began to doubt if indeed money can be made through blogging. I see many people today, start a blog and the first niche on their mind is entertainment, a saturated niche that requires much more than two hands and one laptop. As an experienced blogger, I will try to deter them, to help them choose wisely and instead, they will give me millions of reasons why entertainment have been their calling, even before they were born.

It’s good to blog about what you’re passionate about, but if you dream of making money as a blogger, then you need to treat it more like business and not as a hobby. In fact, you might even need a business plan before you start your blog.. It will be like a map that guides you to success.

This article is going to be very lengthy and detailed. If you’re serious about becoming a blogger and making money from it, you’ll surely read to the end.

HOW TO SETUP A BLOG

1. CHOOSE A PLATFORM

The first step to starting a blog is deciding your blog platform. The two most popular blog platform here in Nigeria is Blogger and WordPress . If you’re to seek for my advice, I will always recommend WordPress because of its flexibility and functionality. You can do virtually anything with WordPress. Recently, most pro bloggers who were on blogger platform have ported to WordPress, to better help with their content management. Sometimes, commenting on blogger blogs can be World War III. It can be tiresome!

2. SECURE A DOMAIN NAME AND HOST

Before you start any business, you will first get a business name and, secure a shop. The same applies to blogging. After you’ve decide on a blogging platform, find a reputable domain registrar and hosting company. This isn’t free and that’s why many people usually go for the free platform. To start a blog, to appear serious and professional, you need a custom domain. I have helped countless of people start their blog and when I see them succeeding, it never cease to put a smile on my face. With
N10,000, you will be able to secure both a domain name and a hosting plan here in Nigeria. Every business needs finance to start, if you want to start a blog and make money from it, treat it like business.

3. SET UP YOUR BLOG

After you have secured your domain name and host, the next thing will be setting up the blog. If you know nothing about web designing, them you’ll have to hire a web designer to help you out for a fee.. Since I started blogging, I have helped many people start their blog and make money. I help with both designing and developing. Make sure you hire a reputable web designer, not because his fee is cheap, but because he can deliver a good job.

FACTS THAT WILL INTRIGUE YOU

Now, the next section is going to be in a questioner format, these are frequently asked questions that prospective bloggers have asked me countless number of times on whatsapp.

Q. Henry, after setting up my blog, what next? How do I start making money immediately?

After creating a blog, you won’t start making money immediately. You will start earning the moment you monetize your blog, either by
Adsense, affiliate marketing, e-book selling etc. The first choice of monetization is usually google Adsense, however, I usually advice you have lots of quality and unique contents before applying.

Q. How much money can I make in a month through Google Adsense?

This depends totally on how much traffic you’re able to drive to your blog and your CPC. There are other bloggers who get over 5k views daily and yet, can’t even make up to $5 because of low CPC. There’s no limit to how much you can earn. I also know lots of bloggers that make as much as $100 per day.

Q. How can I drive traffic to my blog?

Opening is blog is easy, but real work begins when it’s time to drive traffic and increase earnings. As a new blogger, you will not start getting organic traffic immediately. You might have to wait for three months, six months, even a year. In that initial stage, get ready to promote your blog and posts by sharing your links on social media and forums.

As you do that, learn about on-page and off-page seo . This is the main tool you need to succeed as a blogger. However, the king of them all is content. It’s believed that the more content you have, the more traffic you might attract. Don’t also forget that google loves sites that always update their site.

Q. How often should I post?

To be a serious blogger, update your blog at least three times a week. Don’t focus on quantity, quality matters a lot. Starting a blog is not a bed of roses, but if you keep pushing, you’ll scale through.

Q. Which NICHE/TOPIC should I delve Into?

This is usually a hassle and also one of the factors that determines how successful or the range of your success. Some niche will take a year before it starts breeding forth money, while some can take only three months. It all depends on you and how much time you put in. Take a look at the graph below.. When choosing a niche, go for one that’s profitable, one that you’re passionate for and one that’s not saturated yet.

THE BITTER TRUTH ABOUT BLOGGING

Here’s is what most people will not tell you; blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. In fact, you might not make a dime in your first three to six months. At that stage, you’re still struggling to find your balance in the cyberspace. NAIJAPARY is not yet stable, but there’s huge improvement in traffic and earning because of consistency. Indeed, hard work pays.

One of the reasons why we have so many abandoned blogs is because their respective owners think that they will start making millions overnight. After hearing about a blogger that bought an SUV jeep through blogging, they delve in thinking it’s so easy.

One thing that must come first is passion. If you have this desperation to make money, you might end up scaring it away. Take your mind off money for an least, three months. Focus on creating contents that solves life problems. Start a blog with the sole aim of making positive impact. You’re not only writing for Google, you’re writing for humans who are looking for a way to bring solution to their problem.

Right now, I’m solving the problem of blogging. You’re on this page, probably to know what blogging is really all about and how to make money from it. You have a problem and I’m here, trying to solve it. That is what blogging is all about. It’s about helping. It’s about solving a problem.

When you forge ahead with the right mindset, making money becomes easy.

MISTAKES YOU SHOULD AVOID AS A NEW BLOGGER

• Setting an unrealistic
• Publishing schedule
• Not Using Headers/Whitespace
• Using Click Here Instead Of Real Keyword
• Not Using Images
• Not Answering Your Comments
• Not adding a share buttons below Your post
• Littering everywhere with ads
• Not being consistent
• Not dropping comments on related blogs etc

SKILLS YOU NEED TO SURVIVE AS A BLOGGER.

To Start a blog, a successful blog, then you need some awesome skills that will make everything easier. If you lack those skills, sorry, but blogging won’t be for you and you might have to consider other career options. These skills will not just help you run a blog, they will help you make crazy money from your blog.

1. WRITING SKILL

How good can you write? Nobody is a born writer, but we can be a writer by determination and practice. When I started blogging, my writing skill was horrible. Honestly, It was nothing to write home about. I’m not yet prefect, I get better each time I write.. To survive in the blogosphere, hone your writing skill.

2. BE A WORKAHOLIC

When I started this blog, I was no longer able to sleep for complete four hours. It was stressful and I once screamed out in depression. To start a blog is easy, but to deal with what comes with blogging isn’t. You need to work like you’ve never done before. You have to share your post to all the groups you’re in on social media. You have to leave helpful comments on others blogs and forums just for attention and views. Believe me, it’s not easy.. But if you’re determined to make this work, you’ll not regret it at last.

3. SEO

I talked about this before, and I will still talk about it again. You need to know how to effectively optimized your post for search engine. There will come a time when you won’t have the strength and time to share your post around your circles, that’s the moment Google becomes a friend. There are lots of resources on Google and YouTube.. Learn as much as you can about SEO and implement them. Success is not by accident.

4. BE PATIENT

Please, try to be patient. This is what you need the most in this journey as a blogger. Don’t be discouraged when you’re not getting enough views and comments. Don’t be sad when you’re not making money yet. Focus on the impact and you’ll smile at last. Starting a blog is not about the money, it’s about making a little impact and hoping to reap positive rewards from it.

HOW TO REMAIN BLOGGING

Lots of bloggers have quit, not because they gave up, but because they could no longer afford the expensive data. Before you start a blog, ask yourself; how will I remain blogging? Do I have the finance to keep subscribing to my bundle data pack? If not, diverse a means to tackle that problem.

Being online is costly, that’s why I need another source of income as a new blogger. When I started, I knew that if I do nothing, I will soon be kicked out.. So I took up freelancing in web designing and article writing. This skills helped me stay afloat. It’s not easy being a blogger, a freelance and a mentor to logs of prospective bloggers out there.. Believe me, it’s stressful. But the gain is worth the pain.

Remember, your blog is an investment. If you do this right, you will be earning even when you decide not to post months to come. My mentor hasn’t updated his blog for over eight months now, but he still cash his Adsense earning every third week of the month. The gain is worth the pain.

Find another means to get money, find a way to remain blogging. It’s good to start a blog, but it’s definitely not good to end up stranded because of expensive data.

IN CONCLUSION

Nothing is easy, nothing has ever been easy. But with passion, hard work and consistency, we’ll be able to reach the pinnacle. As your journey as a blogger, be open to learn new tricks everyday. When you learn, implement them and see improvement. It’s one thing to start a blog, it’s an entirely different thing to stay blogging and make money from it. With the right mindset, you’ll succeed!

If you’ve any question, don’t hesitate to ask by using the comment box below.. Also, share this post using the social buttons.