What is a blog?
From Oxford Languages
blog
blɒɡ
noun
a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
verb
add new material to or regularly update a blog.
write about (an event, situation, topic, etc.) in a blog.
How to create a blog
1. First, find the content management system (CMS) that meets your needs.
I’ve explored blogging since 2014 and have stuck to WordPress.com (as my content manager system) because of its ease of use and intuitive user interface (UI) on desktop and mobile (unlike Wix.com). You can alos use WordPress.org if you want to be more flexible in your blog theme templates. If you’ve heard about Squarespace, I find it more appropriate for the media-heavy blog because of its available themes. Still, WordPress can handle media-rich content and plain words (like my blog), so I’d still recommend it. I’ve been on the platform for nine years, and it delivers.
Additional Resource: 22 WordPress Alternatives & Why You Might Want Them
What to put in a blog?
Because your blog is your little corner on the internet, you can use it as a platform to solve a problem or showcase your skills. When you want to solve a problem, you publish niche content. For example, if you want to help people get better at writing codes, you make your blog about writing codes. If you want to help people learn more about Japanese recipes, then produce content about Japanese recipes. If you want to help people get the most out of their Disneyland trips, make a blog that showcases everything about Disneyland (like producing content on what to wear in Disneyland during summer, winter, spring, and fall…How to get discounts. Where to park.) If you want to help people gain success in their gardening, you can create a blog about gardening. When you want to showcase your skill, say in photography, then publish your photos in your blog. If you want to showcase your writing skill, publish your written content (like poems, essays, and everything under the sun) online.
Read More: 101 Most Profitable Blog Niches & Finding One That Works for You
Can I make money from blogging?
Here’s how you can make money blogging (from Google AdSense):
- Ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Physical or digital product offerings
- Subscriptions
- Coaching
Ads. If you want to create a voice online, I don’t support having ads on your website because they just add clutter. That’s why you won’t see any ads on my blog. How to remove ads? If you choose to remove ads, you need to have a premium account (meaning you have to pay for annual subscription). But I also told you I started to have my blog on WordPress in 2014, right? I was still in college then and short on funds. I just used the free WordPress (with ads) because my goal then is to build the habit of publishing content online and build my audience. I only decided to have the premium account in 2019, when I already had a job. Since you are still exploring and starting in the blogosphere, don’t be deterred to start just because your website has ads. What’s important is that you start to do the work and the rest (audience and money) will just follow (if you do the work).
Affiliate marketing. Take for example, writing book reviews. If I want to make money through affiliate marketing, I can put a link of the book sold somewhere else (say, Amazon) in the blog post, but first, I have to be a part of an affiliate program. If you want to know more about affiliate marketing, this is a helpful resource.
Physical or digital product offerings. This just means that you sell something (worth buying) in your blog. But these days, you can sell products through social media accounts.
Paid subscriptions. If you really have something worth talking about, and you want to provide exclusive content for your smallest viable audience, then they might be willing to subscribe to your paid content.
Coaching. If you have a niche knowledge to share with your audience, say you want to teach them how to write scientific papers that can be published in a journal article, then people might be willing to pay to learn from you.
How do I make money from my blog?
I don’t.
Earlier, I shared with you that I already pay a subscription on WordPress (to remove ads), and subscribed to a domain name annually to make my website personal and professional. It costs me ~125USD annually. This means that I don’t make money from my blog and instead spend to keep it online as www.jessa.blog (ad-free).
So why did I start a blog? Here’s my story.
However, I make money elsewhere with the help of my blog.
And it did not happen overnight.
I started to make money with the help of my blog after six years of shipping work online (experimenting what works and doesn’t) and building the habit of publishing content even when nobody reads it.
How?
(1) I already bring in my skill in writing which I honed since gradeschool. (2) At the same time, knowing how to use and navigate WordPress is a skill which I learned since 2014. (3) On top of that, I took an online certificate course on how to work on SEO (search engine optimization) because a good SEO practice makes your website visible in the ocean of web content.
Having these three things, I applied for editing/proofreading WordPress blog posts through Upwork. After almost 100 job application rejections, somebody gave me the benefit of the doubt. Ever since I had that client in 2021, my momentum in freelancing continued today. I used my blog as my online portfolio, to convince potential clients that I already have the skills in writing, WordPress, and SEO. You can check my Upwork profile here.
So what’s the takeaway?
If you want to make money from blogging, you better start experimenting with putting up your content online today. Think about the things you’d like to share with the world, topics that resonate with you. You’d be surprised how you don’t offer any novel ideas around and that so many people have already built their presence long before you started. But that’s okay. Because the long tail isn’t an excuse not to start today.
If you want to be better at something, and hopefully make money when you’re already good at it, here’s what I have to say. Just remember, do the work first. Earning from your work will just follow, once you’re already good at it.
Some tips before we say goodbye
- Do some research. Search for blogs with topics that interest you, and learn how they present their content. What does their website look like? How do they categorize/group their content? What are the recurring themes/elements in their website?
- Learn how to work around your chosen CMS. If you decided to go with WordPress, you can get 25USD off on your first purchase using my referral link.
- Choose a general topic you’d like to be known for, or maybe three. Just don’t do so many things or you might be too overwhelmed to continue. In my case, I blog daily about life, work, and the future. This means that everything you’d be reading from my blog is about those three things. I also offer various content in my blog which you can explore here. Feel free to emulate how I did it. Because don’t babies copy everything before they became good at something?
- Choose the frequency of your posts. If you decide to publish content once a month, once a week, or daily, stick to it even when you noticed that no one is reading your content. Of course, spreading the word to your friends, encouraging them to check out your website, helps (for a moment). But being consistent with doing your work is what would help you stick in the ever-growing web. Seth Godin’s book The Practice taught me a lot about shipping the work.
- Choose your smallest viable audience. This is something you’d learn from entrepreneurship but also applies to putting out your ideas online. Since anyone can publish their content for free, all of us get to share the same pie with varying slices. Having a million subscribers shouldn’t be your goal, because you might end up only pleasing people and lose track of what you initially intended for your blog. Instead, delight your smallest viable audience–the people willing to listen to what you say, and are willing to pay for whatever you sell because they trust you.
jessa 