Weblogs started showing up in the late 1990’s and were best described as online diaries. Since then, blogs have dropped the “we” and have become a significant influence on pop culture and our society. They’ve been adopted by everyone from corporations to politicians and have generated billions in revenue for bloggers and tech companies that create blogging products and services. This post talks about why you might consider starting and blog and then walks you through the steps of starting one of your very own.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This doesn’t cost you anything, but it means that if you click on the link and complete a transaction, that company may pay me a small commission as a way to say thanks for referring an awesome customer. I talk more about affiliate links below.
Reasons to Start a Blog
First, let’s consider why you’d even want to start a blog in the first place. I’m a fan of lists so here are 3 good reasons you should start a blog.
How Do Bloggers Make Money?
Bloggers make money by selling things on their site, either directly or indirectly, to their audience. Direct sales might include physical products they create, like t-shirts, books, artwork, etc. Direct sales could also include digital assets like ebooks, audio downloads, or access to their copyrighted video content. Bloggers can also sell their time in the form of live online courses or coaching.
Indirect sales come in the form of ads and affiliate marketing. These are basically ways of being paid by the product creator to promote their product on the blog. Ads can come in the form of clickable banners on the site (i.e. blogger is paid for each click) or it may be an entire blog post dedicated to a product, in which case the product owner pays the blogger to use their platform effectively as a commercial. The other form of indirect sales, affiliate marketing, is when a product creator partners with the blogger to link readers to the product site. If readers visit the product site and purchase the product, the product creator pays the blogger a commission as a thank you for the referral.
I use affiliate marketing on this site, but it’s not to try to sell you random stuff. I’m promoting and vouching for tools and services that I’ve actually purchased and used. I will never promote any product or service on this site that I don’t honestly believe would be beneficial to my readers. Period.
Some Things to Consider
Yes, there’s potential to make money in blogging, but that shouldn’t be your immediate focus. Objective number one should be content. What are you writing about? Once you figure that out, focus on making it good. Create engaging content that makes people want more and makes them want to tell other people about it. Whether the goal of your blog is to entertain, teach, or just tell stories, be genuine and ensure that you’re giving your audience quality.
If you go to a blog and the most recent entry was from 2 years ago and the one before that was a year before that, you’re unlikely to come back because the content is stale. In order to build and sustain a following, you’ve got to keep your audience looking forward to something. Let’s say your blog is about sports history, for instance. No, the core stories aren’t changing. The Colts still lose Superbowl XLIV, but consider the different perspectives you can take from people that went to the game, from either side, the city of Miami leading up to the game, maybe a “where are they now” piece. Get creative.
I'm in! Tell me how to start a blog already!
Congratulations, you’re a blogger! Thank me later. Or now. You’ve got options. Happy blogging!
