If you want to work from home and for yourself, you may wonder if blogging is an easy way to do that. While blogging is easy in some ways, it’s tough in other ways, like earning money.
Be sure you know what goes into starting and growing a blog. That way, you can decide if it’s worth putting a ton of time into before you see a financial return.
But first, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
Before Starting a Blog
Blogging is not that easy, and a lot of work goes into it before you even get your blog up and running. So before you decide to start a blog, consider what you need to do before even thinking about making money.
Choose a Niche
You can start a blog where you post about anything and everything, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Especially if you want to eventually make money from your blog, you need a niche.
The niche can be anything from personal finance to pets to photography. You can also choose a sub-niche, like cat care rather than a more general pet blog.
Selecting a niche will help you decide what types of posts to write and publish on your blog. I’d suggest choosing a niche you enjoy and know a lot about because you’ll have to write a lot of articles before you can expect to make a good amount of money.
Name Your Blog
Once you know what niche you want to cover, you can come up with some good blog name ideas. One option is to name your blog after yourself, which is what I did with this blog.
You can also name the blog based on the niche you choose. Include the overall topic in the name and add other words that sound good with it, such as words that start with the same letter for some alliteration.
Look on a domain registrar like Namecheap to see if the name you have in mind is available. If not, I’d recommend looking for other name ideas.
You can use domain extensions other than .com, but that one’s the most popular and recognizable. That will make it easier for you and your future readers to remember your website name.
Select a Website Host
After you nail down your niche and blog name, you’ll want to set up a website hosting account. You can go with a lot of different hosts, but I chose SiteGround so that I could use WordPress as the actual website software.
The right website host can make a big difference in how fast your website runs and how often it goes down or has other issues. If you choose a host and it doesn’t work out, you can always move to a better host.
But for now, choose some host so that you can get your website up and running. SiteGround is affordable, especially if you only need to host one website.
When Starting a Blog
Now, you’re ready to get your blog up on the web. This part of blogging is easier than you think, but it can be difficult the first time you start a blog.
Install WordPress
You can use a lot of different blogging platforms, but my favorite one is WordPress. If you choose SiteGround as your website host, setting up WordPress is super easy.
They offer one-click WordPress installation, so you don’t have to download the software and upload it in your hosting account. You can then get your website up within a few minutes.
Plus, the WordPress content management system (CMS) is free to use. All you need to pay for is a website host and a domain to connect to the website.
Write Your First Posts
One of the ways in which blogging is not easy is that it involves a lot of writing. When you’re ready to launch your blog, you should publish at least one blog post.
You can publish a few more so that if someone visits your website, they can check out multiple pages. However, you don’t have to publish a ton of articles all at once.
It will most likely take a while before you see any amount of traffic. I’d recommend at least writing and scheduling a few posts when you first launch your blog so that you can promote a few pieces of content right away.
Research Monetization Options
Another thing you should do when you start your blog is figure out how you’ll use it to make money. You can monetize your blog in a lot of ways, from display ads to affiliate marketing to freelance services.
Think about how much time you have to work on different things, such as offering services to clients. Ads and affiliate marketing are the most flexible, but they also take much longer for you to turn a profit.
On the other hand, if you want to make more money soon, services are your best bet. Luckily, you can choose a few options and create content that will promote your blog accordingly.
After Starting a Blog
Once you get your blog up, making money doesn’t just suddenly become easy. Consider a few things you need to do to turn a profit from your website.
Set Up Monetization
If you’re starting your first blog, you can’t start monetizing it right away. You need to get your website up first so that you can establish your online presence.
Once you have some blog posts published, you can start certain income streams. An easy one is affiliate marketing because most affiliate programs don’t have a minimum traffic requirement.
You can also join Google AdSense after you have about 20 or 30 blog posts. If you want to offer a service, you can write a service page and start marketing it right away.
Other monetization methods are better for more established blogs. For example, I wouldn’t create an online course until you build an audience since they can be expensive and harder to sell to new readers.
Continue Publishing Content
Even if you write a few blog posts when you start your website, you can’t stop there. You need to keep publishing articles on a regular basis so that you can have more chances at ranking in search results.
If you’re short on time, publishing once a week is a good schedule to aim for. However, if you want to make money blogging faster, you’ll need to publish more often than that.
Of course, you can do all of the writing yourself, which is what I do. At this point, blogging is easy because I’ve written so many articles for myself and my clients.
However, if you’re a beginner, you may want to take things slowly. That way, you can learn how to write blog posts and optimize them for search engines.
Promote Your Blog
One of the most difficult parts of starting a blog is marketing it. I didn’t promote my blogs for years, partly because I did’t realize how important it is.
But sharing links to your blog on social media or in an email newsletter can be a great way to get traffic. And getting more traffic will help you start to make money from your website.
You can also pitch yourself to write guest blog posts on other blogs or to be a guest on podcasts. Then, you can get links back to your blog to start getting traffic from an established audience.
Is Blogging an Easy Way to Make Money?
Blogging can be an easy way to make money, but it can also be very tough to make money from your blog. Luckily, it’s one of those income streams that gets easier as you go.
Here are a few things to consider when it comes to making money from a blog.
It’s Flexible
One thing that can make blogging an easy income stream is how flexible it is. You can work anywhere and anytime as long as you have access to the internet and a computer or smartphone.
Plus, you can choose a niche that you love and know a lot about. Then, you won’t have to do a ton of research for every new blog post you write.
I know I often get tired in the middle of the day. As a freelance blogger and blog owner, I can work on content earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon when my energy is higher.
Use Your Experience
Another way that blogging is easy is that you can use your experience. Sure, you may not know about blogging, specifically, but you can start a blog about almost anything.
That means you can write about things you know and love. If you do that, you can share photos of yourself and the products you talk about on your blog.
Now, you can start a blog in a niche you know nothing about, but you won’t have this same benefit. I’d recommend hiring expert writers who do have relevant experience so that you can publish quality content.
As AI writing tools get better, personal experience will become even more important.
Passive and Scalable
A lot of people think blogging is easy because it offers a lot of passive income opportunities. However, a lot of those “passive” income streams still take some active work.
Sure, you can make money from page views if you use ads. But you still have to put in the work to write good blog posts and promote them so that they get the traffic you need to start making money.
Still, most blogging-related income is scalable. That means that as your blog gets more traffic, you can start to earn more money due to more ad impressions and clicks or more affiliate earnings.
Is Blogging a Fast Way to Make Money?
Making money blogging can be easy after you get started. But it’s not a super fast option unless you decide to focus on writing blog posts for clients.
If you want to turn your own blog into a business, consider what can delay your first paycheck as well as turning a profit.
You Need an Audience
You could spend all of your free time writing blog posts. But you won’t ever make a cent if no one actually reads those articles and clicks on your ads or affiliate links or books your services.
It takes time to build an audience, especially one that trust you enough to buy what you sell or recommend. You might get the occasional affiliate commission early on.
But if you want to increase your income and make it more consistent, you need to build a loyal audience. That can take months or even years, so don’t expect to make any money for a while.
It Takes a Lot of Content
Another thing that can take a while is writing all of the articles necessary to build your blog. When I started my first niche blog, it took about four months to even earn my first $0.70 from Amazon.
I’d published at least 10 or 12 articles at that point. And I had to publish a lot more content before I started to see higher and more regular commissions.
Unless you have a massive budget and can hire a team of writers, you have to do all of the work. And if you have other responsibilities, you can’t just write all day, so you need to be patient.
Delayed Payouts
Once you make your first commission, you won’t necessarily get paid right away. Most affiliate programs and ad networks won’t pay you the same day or even the same week.
Plus, a lot of them require you to earn a minimum amount before they’ll pay you. For example, Amazon pays you after you earn $10, and even then, they pay you two months after the end of the month when you hit that threshold.
Google AdSense pays you the following month, but you have to reach $100 in ad revenue to get paid. Other programs are similar, so you can’t just quit your job as soon as you start to make a good amount of money from your blog.
How Quickly Can a Blog Make Money?
It can take about two years from when you start your blog for it to start making money. You may see results within a few months, like I did, but those results were very small.
On the other hand, it could take you a lot longer than two years. It all depends on how you monetize your blog, the niche you choose, and how much you promote your blog.
Can You Make a Full-Time Living Blogging?
You can make a full-time living blogging. I’ve made my living this way since the beginning of 2019, but most of my income has come from writing for clients.
However, there are plenty of bloggers who make a living from their own content. It won’t be easy, but it is possible to turn your blog into a business that pays your bills.
Is Blogging a Good Side Hustle?
Blogging can be a great side hustle for anyone who likes writing. But it still isn’t the easiest or fastest way to make money, especially if you can only work on your blog a few hours a week.
So make sure you can wait before your side hustle starts generating income. Otherwise, you may want to choose another side hustle.
Final Thoughts
Blogging is easy if you have a lot of writing experience. But making money from it is a lot harder, and it’s certainly not a way to make money fast.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try, though. If you want to start a blog that eventually makes money, enroll in Affiliate Marketing Superstars to learn about that blogging income stream.