From home organizers to trading advisors, bloggers are making millions of dollars, and so can you.
Want to Start a Blog and Make Money? (Who Doesn’t?!)
So, you want to be a blogger? Join the club! Everyone (and their dog) has a blog these days. Then again – even in 2024, blogs are all the rage.
The last time you decided to Google something very specific, chances are, you were led to a blog that had you hooked.
This happened to me when I was browsing looks from the 2024 MET gala (because – why not), and it led me to The Blonde Salad.
I subsequently learned that the blog was set up by one Chiara Ferragni in 2009. She was a law student who preferred capturing and sharing her camera-friendly, bold, quirky personal style. She titled her first blog post ‘Here I am’ and called her blog ‘The Blonde Salad’ to portray her mixture of interests in travel, fashion, beauty, and food.
Since then, the blog has led to half a million monthly visitors and a $20 million dollar Chiara Ferragni chain of clothing and accessories. Chiara now says “I started as a blogger but it’s not so much that anymore, I do so much more.”
When you think about it, we’re all curious creatures with a million different interests. And with 8.2 billion of us wandering around, that means there’s plenty of space for endless content niches on the internet. We’re hungry about content – and happy to compensate the bloggers behind them.
Sure, there are the blog giants such as Mashable and Huff Post.
But there are also individual bloggers on top of their game.
Abby and Donnie Lawson make $41,000+/month from ‘Just a Girl and Her Blog,’ talking about lifestyle and organization.
Heather and Pete Reese’s travel blog, ‘It’s A Lovely Life’, makes them $170,000+/month
John Lee Dumas’s podcast on interviewing entrepreneurs makes $195,000+/month.
And stock trader turned blogger Tim Sykes earns $1,000,000+/month sharing investment and trading advice.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Stay-at-home mom with a babbling baby? Student in a Master’s degree? Retired Marine? Serial Side Hustler? If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur considering starting a blog, let no one talk you out of it.
Great content is foundational for great marketing – it’s how you can build (and retain) the target audience for any business.
The time to begin your blog is now.
Why Start a Blog in the First Place? (Besides the Glamour, of Course)
You know that image of a blogger sipping cocktails on a beach while their laptop practically prints money? Yeah – that probably won’t be you. But there are some actual perks to starting a blog:
1. You Get To Be Your Own Boss (Insert Evil Laugh Here)
No more answering to “The Man.” Work in your PJs, or take a random Tuesday off – YOUR blog, YOUR rules.
2. You Get To Share Your Passion (and Maybe Some Cat Pics)
Whether you’re a tech geek, a foodie fanatic, or just really, REALLY love cats, there’s an audience out there for you!
3. You Get to Make Money (Cha-Ching!)
Okay, this is the part you’re really here for, right? While it takes time, effort, and a bit of business savvy, you can absolutely earn a living (or even build an empire!) from your blog.
There’s Only One Cardinal Sin
When it comes to choosing your blog topic, there’s only one thing you should NOT do: Pick a niche you’re not truly passionate about.
You can write on almost anything and create a blog that blows up. But building a blog does take intention, consistency, and time.
When thinking about profitable blog ideas, solopreneurs often get stuck. They forget that the connection with the target audience, and quality and speed of execution matter more than their ‘big idea’ or personal preferences.
Choosing your blogging niche doesn’t have to be a pain. Try to think of what you are REALLY good – What do people always ask for your advice on? It also helps to keep the reader front and center – and think about what they need, rather than what you want to post about. Your blog is a tool, and its users and readers are the true superheroes. So don’t go around in circles when it comes to your blogging niche.
Can’t decide what to pick? Here are some prompts to get you going:
- What topics do you think are “evergreen?” Food, fashion, personal finance, lifestyle, blogging about blogging…?
- What would your aim be? Education? Entertainment? Money?
- What can you write about extensively and authoritatively?
- Can you see yourself creating at least two blog posts per week for at least a year?
- Can you see yourself marketing your blog?
- Are you excited at the prospect of managing freelance writers, SEO experts, and other creatives?
- Do you want to expand to multiple niche websites?
- Would you be happy to reinvest your blog earnings into your business?
Pro tip: While a broad niche can get you a larger audience, it’ll also get you more competition. Try to get as specific as you can; last year, micro-niche blogs (think ‘eco-friendly pet products’ or ‘vegan fitness’) saw 25% – 50% more engagement compared to their broader niche peers.
If you still need help with a niche, here are a few hot contenders for 2024 (but remember, the best niche is one you’re passionate about!):
- Technology and AI (Because the robots are taking over, and someone needs to write about it)
- Digital Marketing (Help businesses navigate the online world and watch the cash roll in)
- Personal Finance and Investing (Everyone wants to be rich, right?)
- Health and Wellness (From fitness freaks to kale smoothie enthusiasts, this niche is booming)
- Sustainable Living (Save the planet and make money? Win-win!)
- Travel (Live vicariously through your travel tales—once you can afford it, of course)
The Million-Dollar Question: How to Make Money Blogging
Here’s the truth bomb: wanting to start a blog and actually making money from it are two VERY different things.
If you’re building a blog as a financial venture, I would recommend thinking of it as an asset from Day 1 – aka – your blog is something that should make you money. (You have enough “hobbies” and this ain’t one of them)
Getting started without breaking the bank is easy. You need a free platform such as Blogger, or if you’re going with a self-hosted WordPress site, about $12-$17 for a domain name and $5 per month for hosting. Of course, you’ll also need a laptop and Wi-Fi, which is a few hundred dollars.
What’s harder is figuring out how you will monetize your blog.
- Will you use Google Adsense, displaying ads on your site, like Mashable and Huff Post do? Those pop-up ads can be annoying, but tastefully displayed ads placed strategically on your blog can generate passive income as your traffic grows.
- Will you launch a product line for your readers, like Chiara Ferragni did? Or a DVD subscription, like Tim Sykes does?
- Will you become a sales superstar (Without the Pushy Sales Pitch)? If you’re good at recommending new products to friends, Affiliate marketing might be for you (plus, you get a cut of the profits). You can use a combination of affiliate marketing and product promotions, like Abby Lawson, Heather and Pete Reese, John Lee Dumas, and so many others do.
- Will you build a Paid Membership Site?
- Will you launch a course? If you’ve got a knack for creating awesome stuff, sell directly through your blog – E-books, online courses, coaching services, merchandise—whatever floats your boat.
- Will you have sponsors fund your literary venture?
- Will you become a Brand Ambassador? As your blog gains traction, brands might approach you for sponsored posts or collaborations. Just remember to be transparent about sponsored content—your readers will appreciate your honesty.
Once you begin gaining readers and followers, there are myriad ways to monetize your blog.
Which brings us to the next crucial part: getting your audience! (Ugh, the Hard Part)
If you want to hit the bull’s eye with your readers, here’s how to do it in 4 steps.
- Start by crafting a reader persona that’s basically your ideal buyer persona’s twin but with a focus on the headaches they’re dealing with. Your mission is to create content that’s the aspirin to their problems.
- Keep an eye on your website’s performance. Which posts are getting high-fives from your audience, keeping them coming back? Which ones are just gathering dust? How can you give the winners a place on your socials, and give the duds a makeover?
- Mingle with your audience on social media. There are often gold nuggets of feedback hidden in the comments.
- Tools such as Facebook Insights and HubSpot can give you the down-low on what makes your posts tick.
Takeaways
Starting a blog and making money from it is totally doable, but it takes work.
In 2024, two-thirds of bloggers earn less than $100 a month from their blogs, and
about one in 10 makes $1,000 – $9,999 a month. One in 25, however, will make more than $10,000 a month.
There are a lot of changes – and opportunities – on the horizon for those who want to be at the top.
Google AdSense just updated its policies to favor high-quality content, making work more rewarding for great bloggers. Besides nailing the top blog monetization methods, small businesses are partnering more and more with micro-influencers in their niches for cost-effective, highly targeted marketing. New formats such as ‘audio blogging’ on Apple Podcasts are throwing the playing field wide open. And of course, AI-powered writing and design tools are changing everything.
Readers will always be hungry for more.
The real question is, where do you step in?
