If you’re like me, a person pursuing side gigs and passive income, you’ve probably considered blogging. There is a plethora of videos and tutorials on how to have a successful blog and make a six figure salary doing it. Well, I am not one of those success stories, and there are a number of reasons why. In fact, now that I’ve explored the world of blogging for the last couple of years, I’m starting to wonder if I’m cut out for it at all. If you’re interested in having your own blog and seeing what you can make of it, here is some friendly advice.
Be Realistic
First, be realistic. A tiny percentage of people actually make money from blogging. And those who do spend hours building and promoting the blog and finding a number of revenue streams. I’ve done a fair amount of research and work, but it feels like the need for promotion is endless. I’m not a salesman. I don’t enjoy marketing myself or my brand. That’s going to make it hard to get traction.
Be Consistent
If you’re not posting consistently, people are going to lose interest. I try to post once a week, but if you’re serious about blogging, it should probably be double that or more. And speaking of consistent, what’s your brand? or niche? Are you focused on one thing? My blog is all over the place because I’ve got too many interests from traveling to skoolie life to upcycling. Without just one focus, my blog is somewhat inconsistent and messy. Still I can’t pick just one thing to focus on. I guess we’ll just consider it a lifestyle blog.
Be Compelling
Is your content compelling and interesting? Are you offering some kind of service or tutorial that people need? Think about what the average person is searching for on the internet and offer them your expertise. Most of my blog posts are just regurgitating things that have already been said. This is not going to stand out or gain a lot of subscribers. Without excellent content, the odds of you gaining traffic is minimal. And without traffic, you can’t expect to make much money blogging.
Be Saavy
The internet is inundated with people doing the exact same thing as you. What’s going to set you apart, and do you know how to use all the tools at hand? I’m not terribly tech-saavy, so SEOs and hashtags and keywords intimidate me. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with all the tools available that can help you reach a larger audience and get your voice heard.
Be Proactive
Blogging is a lot of work, and without constant posting and promotion, the odds of you gaining a large following are pretty small. If you’re intent on having a successful blog, expect to spend several hours making great content and then sharing it with the world across a variety of social media platforms. Is all the work worth it? Only time will tell.
Memorial Day Weekend SaleDespite my lack of commitment and small following, I still enjoy blogging. I treat it mostly like a hobby and try not to put too much stock into it. However, I’m going to try to ramp things up and start posting more interesting content and see if I can’t gain some traction and maybe make a little money through affiliate marketing and Google AdSense. I’ll let you know how it goes in about 3 to 6 months!