a vintage typewriter

The Truth About Starting A Blog For Money

ByClorinda

So many people online talk about starting a blog some have even said “it is not rocket science” but the truth is that when you first start using WordPress it does seem like you are in a rocket science class. Looking back on the days when I first started using WordPress and the amount of stress and confusion I was under. It was hard!

There are two major topics to consider when starting a blog. The first is that using WordPress is a learning curve, and the second is the amount of consistent writing you have to do.

Learning how to use WordPress is frustrating at first, but after a time, everything makes sense. Still, finding a theme for your site that is free, has a clean layout and some necessary features available, in the free version, can take time. All this and much, much more. Every time you overcome one milestone, you will inevitably come across another milestone. After you have a handle on WordPress, you will have to write, write and then write some more. I have written this article, to be honest with everyone starting as a new blogger, but it is not in any way meant to discourage new bloggers.

Table of contents

This website has affiliate links that I earn a commission from without any extra cost to you. This means that if you click on a link and purchase something, I might make a little money. You will not be charged extra, and some of the affiliate links I use have discounts so stay tuned!

Do you have the time to write every day?

If you are at home with no work you still have a full day of things to do, alternatively, if you have a 9 to 5 job, the last thing you want to do is come home and work some more! So do you have the time and discipline to write for an hour or two hours every day?

Firstly you are never, and I mean never ever going to have the “time” unless you make the time! Secondly, I hate waking up early every morning, but I am the freshest and full of ideas at that time; also my days are packed to the brim with things to do, and at night all I want to do is sleep. This is the case for many, many people.

Yep, you guessed it I now wake up two hours before my usual waking hours to write, and then I try to write some more in the late afternoons. It is the only way to build your blog at a consistent pace and add to your blog portfolio. Every blog you write is another chance, another viewership opportunity, and in essence, it is another brick added to the building of your business.

How much do you have to write

Some people will tell you that you need to be able to write a hundred posts on the niche of your blog or else do not try. Some will say that you should write at least sixty posts before publishing your site.

The good news is that you do not need to write a portfolio of articles before publishing your site. It is better to publish your site and then post your blogs consistently as you write them, and this is recommended by my favourite entrepreneurs Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler. By continuously writing posts and publishing them on your site, you are sending a message to Google’s algorithm that you are a new consistent source of content. It will almost inevitably take you at least a year before you start making some real money from your site.

So write and publish as you go along!

You do not need to be able to write a hundred posts on your site before you start.

You can learn and grow as you go along, meaning you do not need to be an expert on the subject just willing to learn, and you do need to write consistently.

So your objective should be about sixty posts when you first start writing on your blog. You should achieve this in two to three months because the longer you take to write your content and publish it, the longer it will take for Google to rank your posts.

Write your posts and fire them out!

It usually takes a year for Google to consider your website worthy of its attention, and another thing to note is that every post published will also take an entire year before it ranks. So if you write ten posts in a week and publish them, a year from now you will reap the rewards. Alternatively, if you write ten posts in two months, then you will have to wait longer for viewership results on your site.

Content is king so if you can write helpful posts that are over a thousand words long and get people to your site then that is an achievement to be proud of!

Writing consistently will not be your only hurdle

Yep it will not be your biggest problem. You will need to do keyword research on each and every blog post before you write your post.

The reason here is that if you just randomly post your content without keyword research on Google, your posts may never rank for two reasons. Number one, someone else could have written a post on your topic, and you will have to sift through their post to see if you can write a better, more informative post or not. Number two, you need to find out if there is search volume on your topic.

When you start blogging, you will probably just brainstorm your ideas just before you write your blog, but it will quickly lead to writer’s block and a lot of frustration. For me making a blogging plan is much more tedious than actually writing.

So you may think “okay, I will just make a plan with keyword research how hard can it be?” Well, it is not hard, but it does take time. I spend hours doing it, sometimes I can come up with countless ideas at once, and other times it takes a long time to do the keyword research.

Blogging consistently in your early days is hard

There are multiple reasons for this. When you first start blogging, you will have anywhere between 5 to 10 a day, sometimes less, and sometimes no views at all. It is hard to persevere when your blog is in the ghost town phase because after you have written twenty articles and no one is visiting your site, you will start to have all sorts of self-doubt eat away at your subconscious. I faced it too!

You will check your site stats only to find out no one is coming and then you will inevitably think “maybe my writing is bad”, “maybe I could have done a better job of my website” or ” who am I kidding, no one will want to read my blogs”. It happens to the best of us, and you have to just continue to write irrelevant of all these doubts. To accurately assess your website value is to wait for an entire year after you have written the first thirty articles on your site. I do mean a year after the thirtieth article is published.

Can you do all this and more without getting daunted? If the answer was yes stop reading this post and go make your website. 😉

Another issue to address is that many people will start a blog halfheartedly and because they have little confidence in their capabilities, they will be embarrassed to tell friends and family about their new business venture. The reason is that new bloggers are uncertain if their family members will be supportive, understanding, willing to listen to the possibilities to become understanding, and most importantly, encouraging.

It easy to tell people your success story, but few people will pat you on the back for trying to get somewhere. Either “own it” and tell everyone or tell the people that matter to you. It helps to have someone to talk to about your blog, and it helps further to have them look through your site for ideas and things you missed.

You will not make money in your first month

When I read a heading like “how to make money your first month blogging” I laugh. Not only is it nearly impossible but even if you got 25,000 page views your first month blogging, the ad company would take an entire month to pay you the money. Furthermore, you do need approval before even AdSense puts ads on your site.

The quick way to make money is to add a “Hire me” page. Everything else takes time.

Some people say banner ads while others say consulting, but you need a massive following or views for any of that to work. In short, if you want quick money, forget blogging as a quick fix! You can make some money at the end of a year, but making money in the early stages is much more impossible than people have led you to believe.

Most blogs fail

According to the Forrester reports only 3% of websites are successful and a whopping 97% fail at user experience, here is the source. The reason is one of or some of the following:

  • bad spacing
  • illegible text
  • bad formating

There are many reasons your site could fail, and in any business there is always risk. Are you willing to take the risk anyway?

A quick breakdown of everything in this post

If you are here for two seconds then read this list and use it as a gutsy guide for starting a blog:

  • you have to force yourself to take the time every day and write for at least one hour daily
  • you will have to write at least a thousand words or more per post
  • you have to make a blog plan with keyword research
  • you have to fight your inner and possibly outer demons to persevere
  • you have to have no expectation for income in your first year
  • you may not be successful

Conclusion

The truth is that anyone can start a blog, but being successful at it will take time, perseverance and hard work! You have to make up your mind and be in it for the long haul. Being a writer by profession is not required, but regularly writing is a must. So roll up your sleeves and get serious about your website. It may not be easy, but few things are, and as you can see, it is incredibly hard for me to be too negative.