07 Sep The Harsh Truth About Blogging for a Living
Being able to make a living from blogging might seem like a dream if you have a natural talent and passion for writing. But, while it’s possible to make money as a blogger, you will need to be realistic. Very few people can make a full-time living with a blog, and building a successful blog is about more than creating great content. Let’s take a closer look at what life really is like as a blogger so that you can get a clearer idea of what you can expect.
Blogging is Hard Work
If you’re great at writing, you only have half of the job down. A blog can take a lot of time to get off the ground, and it will largely depend on how much effort you put into it.
You will probably have to start and maintain multiple social media accounts to get attention, even a YouTube channel. It is those who are ready to do the work who get the best results, so don’t believe that people will just find your blog even if you have the best content on earth.
Traffic Does Not Equal Success
Don’t assume that all you need to make money with blogging is to have a lot of visitors. These visitors could be very unfocused and leave the minute they get to your site. There is also no point in having people visit your site if you have nothing to sell or advertise. You will need to spend as much time researching monetization methods as you do on generating traffic if you want to be successful.
Chances are you’ll need to use a combination of native ads, sponsored posts, and AdSense ads. Affiliate marketing can also work but you have to be careful to not make it too obvious.
The best way to get affiliate sales is to be helpful. If you run a personal finance blog, for instance, a natural choice would be to use a coupon plugin that will allow you to get a commission every time someone uses a code. It will not look like you’re trying to push something and no one will come after you for peddling a product. Still, you can expect a good portion of the people who come to your blog to want to make savings, so you should be able to get a few commissions that way.
You Never Know when the Floodgates will Open
There’s no certainty with the world of blogging. No matter how much you plan, there is no guarantee that your blog will gain traction. This means that you could be working for months and months before you see any signs of activity. With that said, it only takes one post to appear in the right place for your site to get massive attention.
This is why you will need to reach out to other blogs and try to get your content featured there. You should also learn how to build an SEO-friendly blog to increase your chances that one of your posts will get found on the search engines.
Conclusion
These are some of the things you need to understand about the world of blogging before you get started. Blogging can become a full-time career, but it demands a big personal investment and a sound strategy, so be ready for that.
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