The digital revolution swooped us all off of our feet. This affected a lot of professionals in different ways. While some people lost their jobs to the change, many found it to be the recipe for success. Â The writers of our world had a similar reaction to digitalization. Since writing and reading was transferred to online platforms, this switch to virtual reality instigated our writers to write online as well. And this led to Blogging.
Blogging, as many of you know, is nothing but writing content about a topic of your interest in a blog that is a website. Initially blogging was all about writing for leisure or pastime. The topics were random and solely dependent on the writes mood, and it wasn’t something you could make an income out of. But with the emergence of internet, where you received endless services, Blogging started being perceived as a marketing strategy, and this changed the game entirely. Bloggers started making an income out of their writing, and a portal of endless possibilities was opened. Now there are a lot of bloggers out there, and countless sites which make good earnings. Educational blogging is a genre that is a student favorite, obviously. These blogs provide vital information or tricks and hacks to the students who are looking for help. They also feature posts about JEE main or NEET 2018 is also on rise.
Now some of your blogger readers are probably wondering how you could make a profit out of this, and start earning for what you write. So, therefore, we are going to enumerate the steps to having a successful and cashing blog.
The first step to making income out of blogging is to create a blog and write content which is useful and attracts visitors. The content of the blog doesn’t necessarily have to be creative or innovative (now this doesn’t mean you can write just about any irrelevant topic and expect a paycheck at the end of the month) but lists that is an aggregation of a certain topic that might be useful or interesting to a reader.
For instance, students who want to know about JEE main or NEET 2018 search for topics that relate to the subject, and not something about fashion or lifestyle. Hence, the strategy here is to figure out what your audience wants, and once you have your unique selling point in focus, you can start selling it.
Now let’s be clear about one thing, blogging for business over blogging for pleasure are two different things. Business is serious, you have to attract a target audience in order to make an income out of your writing. For this, you need to research in depth about the topic and do a fact check before you put anything out there. You have to really invest time to get the blog going.
Once you have content ready though, remember that your content alone cannot keep your business afloat. Now your next step is spreading the word out there. Gain some fame and credibility for your blog, share your content via social media, and advertise your posts on sites.
For example, if you have written a post about best MBA Colleges in Mumbai, you can share the link of your blog on the exams page on Facebook; this page has a lot of traffic from your target audience. These definitely increases your numbers. You can also find different reacted sites that might help your blog gain publicity.
Now that you have built an engagement with your readers, start making that money already! But this isn’t an easy task, it requires resilience and patience. And while monetizing your blog, don’t forget that you have to experiment with different income streams to get the expected profits that you desire. Having done my research, I am going to list out a few ways you can generate ncome. Now, remember, although the list is a bit long, you can focus on a handful of the ways first, no need to get intimidated by the numbers.
Money by advertising:
This is where it all begins for a blogger. Sort of like how newspapers and magazines sell advertisements to keep the print running, you have advertisers advertise their products on your blog.
- Ad Networks
- Sponsorships
- Ambassadorships
- Job Boards
- Directories
- Newsletter Advertising
- RSS Advertising
- Work Links
- Video Advertising
- Podcast Advertising
- Competitions and Giveaways
Selling your blog
Syndication
Donations
Promoting offline business:
Many businesses make a profit by advertising on blogs, and this is again a tested and proven method for earning an income for a blogger.
Events:
- Workshops, Seminars
- Online Summits, Conference Meetings
Recurrent Revenue:
This method of offering services to readers is a way to pay the bills.
- Private Communities
- Premium Content
- Coaching
Products:
Selling products seem to be the most effective method for earning money for many bloggers. This product can be subdivided into Virtual and Physical products.
Virtual:
- eBooks
- Courses
- Software
- Reports
- Apps
Physical:
- Books
- Merchandise
- Teaching Material
Other Services:
A few deviations from your original blog plan also prove helpful.
- Freelancing
- Teaching
- Consulting
- Copywriting
- Consulting
- Speaking
Now the basic foundation to the success of your blog has been laid out. Once you have accomplished that, a few other pointers need a bit more explanation as you move forward:
- The traffic on your blog will attract publishers who can publish your work, and this acts as a source of income and this also gives you good exposure.
- Featuring your blog on sites and advertisements is a plus since this again is good exposure for your blog. It puts your work on display and drives in decent income as well.
- Get involved in events and participate. Be known in the blogger community. Be heard! This helps you make a name for yourself, attracting good attention to your blog. And this might help you find sponsors too.
- Once you have found your target audience, that loyal band of followers, the next lucrative step is to make subscription services. You can make your blog premium too, this helps your blog stand out as the top go to place in your niche
- Guest blogging is always welcomed! There are lot of businesses and start-ups starting their journeys, and they need promotion. Provided they don’t deviate from your style or voice of writing and don’t invite any kind of negative publicity, guest bloggers from such budding business ventures are a good thing for you. Having quality content on their sites with backlinks is again a good marketing strategy.
- As a blogger, you can launch products, have a franchise maybe. Release eBooks, or merchandise, and make money out of it. This is an influential way of making income while blogging.
I conclude this post with a disclaimer.: Blogging might seem easy and effortless. But, it is excruciating and daunting! Many professionals have tried and failed miserably. So, if you really want to get into blogging, you have to be prepared for the tribulation and pure luck that rule the profession. It doesn’t turn into a success overnight. But once you make it, it is truly rewarding to make sales on the basis of the content that you write.
