How to Become a Full-Time Blogger

Buy a Domain & Self-Host Your Blog

Now if you have made up your mind of quitting your job and start your blog, what requires next is to buy a domain name and spend some money on hosting.

If you are interested in converting your passion into profits, go for self-hosting. There are hundreds of hosting providers in the market. Your self-hosted site will load your website with all the features that a normal WordPress blog or a blog with BlogSpot cannot offer.

With a self-hosted site, comes a suite of extensive tools that will enable you to measure the desired conversions, track page visits, optimize SEO for the website and make your platform look attractive to the readers.

You can add affiliate links to your website, and when someone clicks that link while reading your content, he will be directed to a different webpage. For every click, you will be getting an amount.

Hosting platforms also enable you with a security certificate that will increase the trust level of your audience. You can show it to the entire world that your website is SSL-certified.

If you sell digital products to your audience, you can also integrate your blog with seamless payment gateways to accept payments from your customers.

All these privileges can be enjoyed if you create your blog with a reputed hosting platform like Bluehost or HostGator.

Choosing a domain name also matters in attracting more audience to your site.

Ask me “Why?”.

The reason is very simple. If you are making the domain name ‘catch’ and ‘interesting’, people will be more drawn towards exploring the content of your website.

Such is the case with a website called ‘MoneyConnexion’. You can get a clear idea of the content from the name of this blog but once you step in you will experience how the blogger has emphasized on earning and saving money in different ways. It will keep you hooked to the platform as a reader.

Make Your Blog Your Brand

Try to use the blog as a marketing tool for your business. Sounds a little eccentric? Let me explain how.

Suppose, you have a work experience of 10+ years in the field of finance, and now you want to start your own blog to educate people about the financial hacks like mutual fund investments, insurance policies, and other money-making opportunities. Through your blog, you can express your viewpoint by writing about all the major topics related to the finance domain.

Your blog will eventually be better regarding content quality than the blogs of a few hundred who don’t have relevant experience in your domain.

Your content will captivate your audience, and they will feel more compelled to go through your content. Through your writing, you are not only expressing your writing expertise but also showcasing the acute knowledge of yours in that subject only. If possible, you can collaborate with major finance companies and start promoting them through your content pieces.

In fact, through blogging, some people have become consultants in various fields. The famous blogger, Neil Patel, has become a digital marketing consultant for the blue-chip companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, NBC.

Through his blog, he acquires a lot of customers and tries to help them promote their business across various channels. His blog also helps millions of freelancers to get a comprehensive idea on digital marketing and the latest corporate hacks.

Select a Niche

Majority of bloggers face the problem of choosing a definite topic around which the blog will be created. I always recommend creating a blog on the subject in which you have proficiency and sufficient knowledge.

You can choose from several topics to write about, or you can blog about a particular one. If you are interested in technology, start blogging about the latest tech innovations on the market. If you are a gadget-freak, blog about mobile phones, cameras, and tablets.

If your sole motive is to make money, then you can choose any topic for your blog.

By identifying your niche and determining the key areas where you are knowledgeable, you can start writing for your blog. Choosing a subject for your blog will also help you to chalk out the right audience for your brand and devise a content strategy for your blog.

For example, if you are writing about beauty products, your relevant audience will be women. As a blogger, you have to understand the type of words to use in your blog to attract your female readers. You must think of certain tactics to keep your audience engaged with the content you are creating.

Suggested: How to Choose a Niche [The Right Way]

Create a Content Plan

One of the most prolific reasons why most of the bloggers fail to achieve the desired result in terms of money and traffic is that they don’t prioritize in publishing content that is valuable and distinct.

You must give your readers the content that your audience would treasure for a long time. How?

Write about subjects that will bring joy to the readers. If you feel mundane while you write about a specific topic, then others probably will feel the same.

Create compelling and engaging content with the right stream of words. If possible include illustrations in your content.

Explaining a topic with significant infographics is more credible than rambling on the same for more than one paragraph.

Another important point to consider while creating content for your blog is to search for other articles on the same topic. Try to read books related to your content domain. Start researching the topics. Collect ideas from various websites and try to express them in your own words.

To stand out in this intense competition of bloggers, you need to adopt a unique writing style. Your blog should be the voice of your inner thoughts and expressions. TIP: Proof-read your content before publishing to check its flow and make it error-free.

Mark specific dates on the calendar for each type of content you are going to publish on your blog. Use Google calendar tools or CoSchedule to fix the dates of the blogs that are going to be shared on social media channels like Facebook, Quora, LinkedIn.

If you are doing guest-blogging, keep a record of the name of the blogs that are getting published on other platforms. It would help you to keep consolidated information on the blogs you have published in your own website and client website.

Build a Network

Through networking, you can start building relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Networking is a pragmatic concept that will enable you to gain popularity as a blogger in minimal time.

As a newbie in this industry, generating traffic on your own, finding own audience and flourishing at an accelerated speed is not that easy.

Building a strong connection with other bloggers relevant to your domain of writing will help you grow faster and achieve success in the long run.

Initiate communication from your end by sending a courteous email to each one of them. Some business partnerships are done through the exchange of good-humored texts over an email thread. It becomes easier to increase the popularity of your blog once you start connecting with other writers.

Each and everyone has a separate thought process. Mutual exchange of views might help in the comprehensive growth of your blogging business. Don’t try to be narcissistic. Instead, see how you can help out other bloggers.

Monetize Your Blog

Recently, I came across a part-time blogger from India who is running her blog on fashion, food, and lifestyle. She asked a common question to me on Instagram, ‘How to monetize my own blog on fashion?’

Here’s the answer I shared with her.

‘There are multiple ways of making money as a full-time blogger. Across internet sources, you will find various ways of monetizing your blog. But these six ways are the most prominent ones lately.

• Affiliate marketing is the best way to make money from a blog by becoming affiliates of thousands of online merchants like Amazon, CJ etc.
• Another popular way to earn from your blog is through Google AdSense and other Ad networks.
• Selling your products online (like courses, manuals) will help you earn money as well.
• Working as a brand influencer for famous brands, through paid sponsorships, you can promote their products on your website.
• Writing as a freelancer for different companies. Many startups hire freelancers for their projects, and you can whole-heartedly engage yourself in those projects.
• Online tutoring and consulting. Through your blog, you can make money by providing consultations in the field of your expertise. If you are a photographer and running your blog, you can teach the newcomers in your domain about how to click the high-quality pictures.

Prepare a media-kit template & forward it to the companies you’d intend to work with. Build a recipient list and start sending emails to them on a regular basis regarding the latest posts, most viewed posts or any services you are offering etc.

At the end of the day, you need to treat your blog like a business. If you have the mix of everything mentioned above, you will soon start making money from different sources.

Socialize Your Blog

Apart from depending entirely on organic traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to deliver visitors, it is highly advisable to start promoting your blog on social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Quora, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Social media is an essential tool for marketing your blog. Your followers will become aware of your latest publishing and through enticing social media posts; you can start recording direct traffic on your blog.

As a blogger, LinkedIn is one of my top traffic sources, and it brings me an impressive count of visitors every month. I recommend designing attractive images, making sure the headline and title of the used images are catchy and sharing the same with my valued connections.

Set Realistic Goals and Work Hard

Setting long-term goals can be the best thing for your blog. List all the goals you wish to achieve within a specific duration of time.

For example: if you wish to receive 5000+ visits on your blog page every day by the end of the 3rd month, then work accordingly to achieve that number.

Creating a blog is easy but maintaining it is a tough task. Start studying about the other bloggers and how they have made it big in the blogging world. Run your eyes through the pages of successful stories on bloggers. It will guide you on the right track, and you will get a strong idea of what works on a blog and what doesn’t.

Quitting a job with a higher salary to immerse yourself completely in the world of blogging needs enough courage and guts. For at least a year into your new business, you might have to slog for hours after hours to discover the winning formula for your blog. You might have to indulge yourself in those brainstorming sessions where you will develop new ideas for your blog.

You have to study a lot about blogging and its related topics. For the first time in your life, you might be experiencing sleepless nights. So, being passionate will drive you every single day to work harder than the previous day.

Final Words

Moreover, it is advisable to start your blog if you love to write since it gives you the flexibility of working anytime from the comfort of your home. You don’t have to work for your crummy boss or stay late in the office for meeting the project deadline.

Through these simple steps, you can build your own make money blogging business and live on your terms for the rest of your life.