How Can You Monetize Your Message? — Blogging For Success

Can you still make money from blogging?

Are you considering a career in writing? Or maybe you are already a writer or blogger. Blogging can be rewarding and highly lucrative, especially if you know how to monetize your blog.

You may have a message you'd like to share or an area of expertise you would like to teach. The global pandemic may have caused you to evaluate your life. You may even have lost your job, pushing you to look at alternative sources of income.

Or it could be that you want the flexibility to spend more time with your family, which a nine-to-five job may not provide. Finally, maybe you love to write!

Whatever motivates you to write, here are ways to monetize your work!

Steps to Becoming a Successful Blogger

1. Be Clear About The Purpose of Your Blog

Making money should not be the only reason for blogging. It would help if you had a clear purpose for wanting to blog.

Your reasons for doing anything will affect your level of commitment and success. For example, I blog from a passion for writing and a message I wanted to share — one of personal growth and transformation.

Be clear about your desired outcome for your blog.

• To teach a skill?
• To inspire readers through your personal stories?
• Make an impact?
• Engage in a political arena?
• Maybe you have a mission to make a difference in the world.
• To inform?
• Write reviews?
• Or to write about traveling?

Your desired outcome for blogging should align with what you value. Successful blogging has to start with an interest in more than money. Blog if you also enjoy writing or have a message or area of expertise you are passionate about sharing.

2. Who Is Your Audience?

In this digital world, you now have unlimited access to masses of people. Anyone at any time can read your work. Blogging is about engaging an audience.

Unlike talking to someone in person, the challenge is that you don't benefit from instant feedback. Blogging requires you to attune to the needs of your reader. As important as asking yourself why you want to blog, why would someone want to read your blog?

It is essential to understand that blogging is to meet the needs of the public. If all you want to do is "talk" (write) without 'listening,' blogging is not for you. Blogging is about communicating. And sharing is a two-way street.

3. Become The Expert

Once you've decided on your subject area, list things you can write about that topic. Again, finding a niche is vital. It should not only be what you know but also something you enjoy.

You may know everything about cameras because you worked in a camera store. But if it's not something you're interested in, blogging about cameras won't be fun.

Find a subject matter that you know and enjoy. It's much easier to write something about which you are passionate and informed.

There is no getting away from the need for excellent, engaging, helpful content! For content ideas: "Everybody Writes Your Go-To Guide to Create Ridiculously Good Content."

4. Know Your Audience

Once you know your niche, it's time to learn about your audience. For example, if you are passionate about travel, be specific about your target. Millennials or baby boomers? And what precisely do you want to write about traveling?

Maybe it's about working while traveling. Narrow it down further. Perhaps it's about getting work visas in different countries or all aspects of living and working in a particular country.

5. Your Unique Voice

Find a way to set yourself apart by building your brand. In blogging, nurture a unique voice.

If you are passionate about DSLRs or cameras best for vlogging, how can you set yourself apart from the other bloggers online who write about DSLR cameras?

How can your message be different? If your idea is similar to another blogger's, why not use a different writing style? For example, throw in some humor on a technical topic. Being specific is more effective than trying to be all things to all people.

Become an expert in your subject area. Your unique value proposition is the essence of your brand. It's what sets you apart. The core benefit or solution to your audience's problem is that you can solve it!

What You Need To Start Blogging

Tools You Need

You will need a laptop, reliable wifi, persistence, and a vision to start blogging. You will also need a website or landing page to write your blog. Finally, you need a company such as Bluehost or Godaggy to host your website.

An Avenue To Convey Your Message

You will also need an email marketing service to collect contact information as you branch out by offering services through your blog. Again, you should use a paid email service instead of a free one because it looks more professional.

Depending on your budget, a laptop can run from $300.00 to $2,000. If you want to carry your computer, one that is light and with a smaller screen may work better for you. Laptops range from 10 inches to 17-inch screens. Or you may prefer blogging on a desktop computer.

Your Website

Create a website that is easy to navigate. Start with one to three pages — a homepage to encapsulate the essence of your message, a blog page, and an opt-in page.

In building your website, I would recommend using WordPress. It is popular and has a wide selection of themes. In addition, your hosting company offers a few themes without you having to buy one.

I would suggest buying your WordPress theme instead. This ensures you own the website you're creating and have all the rights to its content.

Write your blog posts using perfect spelling and grammar. Grammarly software is excellent for checking for errors. It is more thorough than the spell and grammar check on Word. Another helpful software is Hemmingway Editor.

Hemmingway Editor checks for run-on sentences and passive voice and grades the level of your writing. Write at a level suited to your target audience.

Social Media

Where does your audience 'reside'? Which social media platform do they use?

According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of adults in the US use social media regularly. Facebook and Youtube are the most popular social media platforms.

According to Statistica, Instagram attracts younger audiences (Millennials and Generation Z). Baby boomers are more inclined to use Facebook.

What are the reading habits of your audience? Unless you are well-known, readers will not deliberately search for your website. So you need to go out and reach them. Post your articles on sites beyond your website.

Extend your reach with a presence on numerous social media sites and youtube. To create a presence, you will need a compelling message posted regularly. At least once a week, if possible.

Post your blog articles on various social media sites. Sites such as medium.com allow just about anyone to publish their articles. The key is to drive traffic to your website. And then keep them engaged. Blogging is a great way to build your brand and your presence.

Allow For Engagement

Be relevant to your target audience by addressing a pressing issue they may be facing. Allow for engagement by posing questions in your articles. Allow for feedback.

If you allow for feedback, ensure that you respond promptly. Feedback will give you insight into your audience and their pressing needs. Convert your audience into advocates!

Your blog posts should be relevant, well-written, and easy to understand to optimize your site and increase readership. Using software such as Grammarly and Hemmingway Editor will ensure the content is grammatically correct and easy to read.

For a wider audience, it's best to write at a grade eight reading level. But, again, it depends on your audience. If you target a post-doctoral readership, it's a different audience altogether. The ideal length of your blog posts should be about 1600 words or a six-minute read.

6. Have A System In Place

How many blogs are you going to put out each week? Regularly posting good content is a must. Blogging once in a while will not cut it. Be realistic as to how often you can produce a good-quality blog post.

If you have a full-time job, you have less flexibility. Keep to a scheduled writing time before turning it into a full-time job. For your blog to be successful, you need to build a following. To do so, your readers need to see consistency.

Decide how often you will post a blog. Where will you post? This is when you must learn as much as possible about your audience.

7. Keep Track

Use a tracking system that can post a scheduled article and track readership. One that will analyze who is reading your posts. Odoo and Hootsuite are apps that do these efficiently. Once you know your target audience, you will need to employ search engine optimization (SEO) tools to attract a larger readership.

To put it in a nutshell, Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing your new website's visibility to the website's traffic. A good SEO strategy results in your website ranking higher on google.

If someone was to do a google search on a subject you've written on, employing a good SEO strategy allows your website to show up higher on the list.

Show Me The Money

Having a blog post will not make you money. How you can make money through blogging is through the following ways:

• First, YOU MUST have an obvious contact form on your website/landing page.
• Extend your social media presence: Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
• Create a YouTube channel. And allow for YouTube ads.
• Finally, add affiliate links to your blogs.
• Include ads on your blogs (e.g., Google AdWords)
• Submit articles to other publications.
• Start writing on medium.com.
• Create a course on your website related to your subject matter.
• Sell eBooks on your blog posts.
• Start charging for membership.
• Provide coaching.
• Webinars.
• Sponsorship
• Recommend products or services (whereby you receive a commission) other than affiliate links.

Grow Your List

If you want to monetize your blog, your opt-in page is essential. It allows you to collect emails and extend the relationship between you and your reader. For example, you can have clients subscribe to your newsletter. Or you can offer a free e-book or e-course.

Benefits Of Blogging

There are many benefits to blogging. Freedom and flexibility are the most obvious. And, if you are a full-time blogger, you can decide when and where you blog.

Blogging For Success

Blogging allows you to share your message and generate income. It is an excellent springboard to many sources of revenue. The objective is to get people to read your posts and return for more. They will continue seeking you on other platforms if they find value in it. And pay for your message!

Blogging can be rewarding if you aim to make a difference in your reader's life. Successful blogging is always about solving a problem for your reader. Essentially, blogging is an inexpensive marketing tool allowing you to engage with an audience.

If you feel compelled to write or create an income from your writing but self-doubt plagues you, read Sahil Patel's great article below:

Recognize that you need support in your writing journey, as is exemplified by Umme Salama's article

And if you want to start writing and need some tools to write on Medium specifically, find them out on Jan Sebastian's

Don't stop writing, even in chaos and constant interruption! As Bev G 🧙‍♀️does.

Ultimately, your purpose for writing is reader engagement. Tyra Jaide

Some other tips on writing on Medium by Melanie Rockett