How to Start a Blog and Make Money *UPDATED*

I completely changed my life the day I decided to learn how to start a blog. I had no idea at the time that the decision I was making would pay off all our debt, (including our mortgage), allow us to become financially free and retire my husband at the age of 30 years old.

I left my corporate career as an industrial engineer to stay at home with my baby but wanted to continue to contribute to the family finances. I tried multiple ways to make money from home as a stay at home mom. After many different ventures, I finally learned how to start a blog and make money from it.

My friends and family asked me to help them. Then my readers begged for my advice to help them start profitable blogs too. I’ve taught over 100,000 amazing students in my free and paid courses to achieve the same dream of running a successful blog.

This in depth guide will show you exactly how to start a blog, what tools to use, how to write your first blog post, how to get traffic and how to make money with your blog. Phew, that’s a lot!

Along the way I’ll give you insanely valuable freebies and downloadable PDFs so you’ll have all the resources you need to get started quickly! There are also insane coupons in this post so you can start your blog for 50% off or more!

How to Start a Blog in 12 Detailed Steps

Step 1: Choose Your Passion

What can you just not stop talking about and all your friends know you as “the person” for that topic?

Step 2: What Should I Blog About?

Find where your passions, strengths, and a profitable need intersect.

Step 3: Decide on your domain name

What will you call your blog? So many people get stuck on this step, that I created a perfect little companion guide to help you make the right choice!

Step 4: Choose a hosting plan

Use a fast and reliable hosting company. This is the foundation for your little home on the internet, so you want to pick the right neighborhood to live in!

Step 5: Install WordPress

This is the platform that most successful bloggers use.

Step 6: Log in to your new blog

Get familiar with the dashboard of your new WordPress blog!

Step 7: Install a theme

There are thousands of free and paid themes to choose from to give your website that personalized look and feel. I’ll show you exactly what I recommend down below.

Step 8: Write your first blog posts

Create 3 to 4 pillar posts to establish your blog and niche.

Step 9: Invest in yourself and grow quicker

When you get stuck, invest in ebooks and courses to help you.

Step 10: Get and increase your blog traffic

In the beginning, you’re going to want to follow specific steps to promote and drive traffic to your new blog.

Step 11: Decide how you want to make money with your blog

There are tons of unique ways to monetize your blog while still being super helpful to your readers. Learn the right way for you.

Step 12: How to find time to start a blog

So many times I hear the excuse, “I just don’t have time to start.” And I totally hear you. But imagine where you will be a year from now if you just start today. I’ll show you the productivity tips I followed to build my blog while raising 3 babies at home.

Who is this guide for?

I help and serve moms on their blogging journey. But this guide can be used by any busy female who desires to start a successful blog.

• It’s for the stay at home mom who wants to contribute to the family finances.
• It’s for the working mom who wants to spend more time with her kids.
• It’s for the moms of grown children who want to share their advice.
• It’s for the grandmas who want to stay connected with their family and leave a legacy online.
• If you’re a woman, this guide is for you.

Mostly because I’ll cover in depth how to use platforms that work well for female topics. Now if you’re a male and you want to blog about women’s fashion or postpartum healing or any other female topic, keep reading, this is for you too!*This post contains affiliate links. This means I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through one of my links. If you do, thank you for supporting our little family!

Starting a blog is not difficult, you can have your website up and running in less time than it takes to make a really good cup of coffee. (an reheat it in the microwave a few times because the kids asked for a snack and you forgot about your coffee)  

You also don’t need to know code to start a successful blog. I’ve had numerous grandmas reach out to me to help them set up their blogs from scratch. And by golly, if they can learn how to blog at 65 years old, you can do it too. No excuses! Even a grandma can do it!

This in depth guide will walk you through it step by step. Let’s get started!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means I receive a commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through one of my links. If you do, thank you so much! Please see my Disclosure for more details. 

Now that you know what a host server is and why you need it, which hosting provider should you use to start your blog?

Should you start a blog?

Your growth potential with blogging is almost unlimited. You can grow a blog that makes over a million per month, which may require a bit of a team, or you can can solopreneur it all the way and hit $100,000+ per month. These stories are real. The possibility is truly endless to where you can grow your blog.

Even as a busy mom you can make $10,000+ per month with your blog. It.is.possible! My students are doing it, and you can too.

I’m a very encouraging person. I’ll be here to help you accomplish your dreams. But I’m also a very honest person. And I want to give you just a little forewarning, it does take time and consistency to build a blog. I’m not saying you’ll hit these numbers in your first month of blogging, but it’s definitely doable within your first year.

 At the bottom of this post as a bonus I’ll showcase successful blogs from a variety of niches so you can read their stories.But before we focus on others, let’s first get your blog up and running!

Step 1: What Should You Blog About?

What do you love to talk about? What do you want to learn more about? What do you stay up late doing when the kids finally go to bed?

Let that drive your decision on what you want to blog about. You don’t have to be an expert yet, as you blog you’ll become better and better! Find a topic that you can talk about for a long time to come!

Fantastic, now that you know you want to start a blog, what in the world do you blog about? And how do you know for sure that it’s a good and profitable blog topic, or niche.

How to find profitable topics

Here is a quick litmus test to find if people are spending money on your topic.

• Search on Amazon for books under the topic you want to blog about. If there are books written on your topic with plenty of reviews, it’s a topic people want to learn more about.
• Additionally, you can do a quick search on Google. If the topic you want to blog about has search volume behind it. Is there an audience for what you want to blog about. 

Just remember, a higher search volume may also mean more competition. But if you have unique advice and you’re passionate about the topic, your voice will shine through.

You should also think about this…

What are you super passionate about? What can you not stop talking about? That’s one part of the puzzle. Now, secondly, have other people paid for help on the topic you’re passionate about?

For example, I love trying out new face creams, washes and masks. If I could spend the entire morning in my bathroom testing out new products, I would love it!

Almost daily I walk around with a face mask. My toddler has started to call me ‘mommy alligator‘ because I have this green mud mask that I love! So I would love to blog about skin regimens and products. And yes, people have definitely paid for help on this particular topic.

Those are the two most critical parts to choosing a blog niche.

Make sure you are passionate about it and can write about it for a long time, and secondly, choose a niche where other’s have spent money.

Don’t think you have what it takes? If you have discipline and a good work ethic, you can grow a super successful blog.

Step 2: Niche Down

The best way to know that your passion will turn into a blog that makes money, is to find the sweet spot of your passion, a profitable need and your strengths.

The most important of the two are your passion and a profitable need.

You may already be an expert on the topic; but your strength will increase the more you blog.

For example, you are super passionate about cooking healthy meals for your children, but you’re just not that great at it yet.

It’s definitely a profitable niche because other moms are looking for advice on this topic too. But you’re not the best cook, yet. The more you blog, the more recipes you’ll try, and the more practice you’ll get – and the better you’ll become!

I also encourage you to niche down. The more niche your blog, the better you can help your audience!

Step 3: Decide on Your Domain Name

Once you know what your blog niche will be, you get to decide on a fun new domain name!

Choose something that is easy to spell and easy to remember.

You can either make it cute and funny, like PregnantChicken.com, or very direct and to the point, like StartaMomBlog.com.

Don’t stress too much about getting the perfect name for your blog – what you blog about is much more important than the name you choose.

And even if you pick the perfect name, there will be a day that you don’t like it that much anymore – it has happened to me!

I know many beginning bloggers who get stuck on this step for weeks. Please don’t! You’ll get much more traction with action.

Choose a easy to spell and generic blog name and start blogging! You can always purchase a new blog name in a few months if you really want to.

Create a Logo for Your New Blog

Once you have a name for your blog and it’s up and running, you can start working on branding your blog by designing a pretty logo. I’ve used multiple programs over the past years to help me design logos. And I recently found TailorBrands that has a step by step process for designing your own logo. If you’re not very tech savvy and would like help, their logo maker creates elegant logos and it’s easy to use!

Step 4: Choose a Plan to Host Your Blog

Over the past few years I’ve used and tested out many different hosting companies. I run multiple blogs and I use three different hosting companies right now. I do this (and incur the extra cost) so I can give you an honest review of each hosting company. I want you to make the best decision for starting your blog.

Remember, as your blog grows and makes more money, you’ll move to a higher hosting plan or to a different host altogether. The decision you make today is not permanent. Don’t stress out about it. My biggest piece of advice would be to just get started. No solution is ever perfect, there are always pros and cons to every decision. But rest assured knowing that you can change your decision as your blog grows.

BlueHost – Best for Beginners

BlueHost is great for starting your blog. Over 2 million websites are powered by BlueHost. If you’re not very tech savvy, the user area and backend of BlueHost is super easy to navigate. Starting your blog takes just a few clicks with their easy installation process.

Bluehost Overview & Perks

• Cost: $2.95 per month ($7.99 per month after first year)
• Free Domain: ($15 savings) and you can start your blog even if you don’t know your domain name yet! I love this because it always takes me forever to decide on the right name for a blog!
• Free SSL: You need to this be secure online.
• Free Backups: So if you break your blog accidentally, you always have a backup!
• 24/7 Chat Support: For when you can only work on your blog late at night after the kids are in bed.

Other Bluehost Features – Do you need them?

• SiteLock Security offers monitoring and business verification for your site. If you’re selling and offering services on your blog, this is a great feature to have!
• Codeguard Basic keeps multiple backups of your site. If you ever break anything, you’re a one-click backup away from a previous version of your blog.
• Bluehost SEO Tools – I love this SEO tool feature! It’s super cheap and gives you a lot of great tips to help increase your organic traffic from search engines. Just check out the in depth report it can give you for your blog.

Bluehost SEO Tools also gives you a list of keywords to target. This helps you know which words your site is ranking for and which terms could be quick wins for more traffic.

 In the short term, social media and Pinterest will be your biggest traffic drivers. But long term, you’ll need to develop a solid SEO strategy to build your blog into a business.

Need a click by click guide to help? Watch this video as you start your blog. I’ve included some fun bits to delight you – there’s a little surprise at the end.

Let’s get it started!

Bluehost is an all-round excellent option for beginning bloggers to start and grow their business. It’s super affordable for any budget, has great built-in tech support, and includes everything you need in the beginning to build a fast, secure, and simple blog online!

A Common Mistake when Starting a Blog

Compared to direct sales business or other work from home positions, blogging is very inexpensive to start.

For about $5 per month you can set up a professional, self-hosted blog. That’s peanuts compared to starting a brick and mortar store!

There are free platforms out there, such as Blogger and WordPress.com, and they are great for hobby blogs – but if you really want to turn your blog into a money making machine, you’ll need to have a dedicated blog that is self-hosted.

In plain English, it means you control all of the content on your blog and you have complete ownership of it.

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

That’s why you need a self-hosted blog with WordPress.org (not wordpress.com – the free platform). This is a very common mistake new bloggers make, it’s easy to confuse the two platforms.

When you self-host your blog, you have control of the content and you own your site. You’re also able to monetize it – which I know is one of your goals for starting this online adventure!

Additionally, to justify the free version of wordpress.com, there will be ads placed on your site that does not bring you income and can look a little off brand. But if you self-host with WordPress.org and a reliable host, you have control of any advertisements you put on your site, if you so choose.

Lastly, and this one is a biggie, on the free wordpress.com platform you can’t customize your site, you can’t add plugins to supercharge your blog and your site can be taken down at any time if you violate the Terms of Service.

So yes, signing up for a self-hosted blog with WordPress.org and a reliable host will give you complete control over your content so you can grow your blog into a huge success!

Find the right host for where you are in your blogging journey. It’ll be less than $100 to start your blog and get going.

What other business is THAT cheap to start up?

Keep in mind that popular direct sales business can easily cost thousands of dollars to just sign up. With a blog you can create your own business for a super affordable price.

I’m very excited about this because I remember as a little girl working hard with my mom or aunt painting ceramic figurines and selling them at the local monthly craft fair. It took hours of work, inventory and money to make a few dollars once a month.

We live in an amazing time today that you can make sales while you sleep. It’s a great time to live in!

Step 5: Install WordPress

As I explained earlier, your hosting service is your landlord and WordPress.org is your apartment building.

WordPress is free with BlueHost hosting.

So let’s set up this apartment building as your new site.  

When you sign up for a reliable host (shown above), the sign up process will guide you through setting up your site – it’s super simple!

Step 6: Login to Your New Blog

Now use the username and password you chose and login to your site below.

Just navigate to http://www.YOURNEWDOMAIN.com/wp-admin

Step 7: Install a Theme

You are welcome to start off with a free theme provided on the WordPress.org dashboard, but they all have limitations. If you want to start off with a free theme, Kadence or Astra theme is a great place to start!

Step 8: Write Your First Blog Posts

The best types of blog posts you can write if you’re just starting your mom blog are pillar posts. There are in-depth, long articles that give a great solution to a problem your audience faces.

You can always come back and edit these posts and add more internal links to them. But before you launch your blog, make sure you have the following setup:

1. 3-5 Pillar Posts
2. A clear blog menu
3. A good profile picture
4. An About Me page
5. A Disclosure Page – if you are using affiliate marketing
6. A way to contact you (you can add this to your About Me page)
7. Links to your social media pages

In the Blog by Number course I give you multiple blog posts that are essential to write before you launch your blog.

• You’ll get the fill in the blank blog post template to increase your traffic from search engines.
• Copy and paste the template to boost your affiliate sales from launch day.
• My secret method to grow your email list overnight while giving you free content! *my favorite tip!

Now that you’ve learned how to start your blog, you’re ready to write your first blog post! Congratulations, I know this might be a scary step, but let’s to it together.

I encourage all of my students in my Blog by Number course to write three different types of blog posts when they are just starting.

• A blog post dedicated to grow their traffic
• A blog post to help them make money
• A blog post that grows their email list

I also provide them with three templates for each of the posts above. It’s smart to write a variety of different types of posts on your blog. They should all fall loosely into your niche, but they could have different purposes.

For example, say your niche is helping new moms with the problems of breastfeeding.

• Your traffic post could be, “How to Breastfeed a Newborn.”
• Your money making post would be, “The Best Breastfeeding Pump for Working Moms.”
• And your email list post could be, “The Breastfeeding Meal Plan to Boost Your Milk Supply – free PDF”.

You can see from the example above that even though you’re talking about the same topic, each blog post has a distinct goal.

Think of your blog as a hub of advice and help. The more people can benefit from the articles on your blog, the larger audience you will build.

When someone is skimming a post, they’re looking for what’s in it for them. Of course you can share a bit about your life and journey, but always focus on helping your reader.

Step 9: Invest in Yourself

As you grow your blog and learn how to make money, the best shortcut you can take is to invest in amazing ebooks or blogging courses.

Thousands of students are in the Blog by Number course designed for moms who start blogs. It will save you weeks of time and research to learn from experts.

You’ll grow faster, get more traffic and start making money sooner with your blog.

Just make sure to take the time to implement the material you learn!

Step 10: How to get Traffic to a Blog

As you build more and more content on your blog, you’ll need to work on gaining visitors.

If you produce amazing content that helps other people find solutions to problems, you’ll do great!

I use Pinterest, Facebook and my email list to get most of my traffic.

After you’ve learned and mastered how to start your blog and you’ve created the essential pages, it’s time to learn about traffic. How do you actually get people to visit your blog?

I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s easier to make money with your blog than it is to get traffic to your blog. Once you have traffic and you’re building an audience, you’re golden.

Remember that as you go through this section and work on building traffic to your new blog. You’re working on the hardest part of blogging. You’re bringing people to a brand new blog. It’s hard work, but once you know how to do this, you’re very close to making money with your blog.

As with monetization, which I’ll cover in this guide too, there are strategies you can follow to be successful. Let’s uncover the proven traffic strategies that will help you build an audience on your new blog.

Traffic from Pinterest

The easiest and quickest way to get traffic to a new blog is through Pinterest. It’s a visual search engine and users go to Pinterest looking for blog posts. That is pure gold for bloggers!

To give you a quick reference point, in the beginning Pinterest brought in about 90% of my traffic. And for fashion, craft, kids activity, home decor, food or fitness, Pinterest can bring in loads of traffic to your site. The more visual your niche, the more traffic you can get from Pinterest. Now, the platform is about 40% of my traffic, with the other sources being SEO, Facebook and my email list.

You may be a bit confused how Pinterest works. How do you actually get your blog posts on Pinterest? This is also known as pinning on Pinterest. Do you only put your posts on the platform once, or do you do it over and over again?

Pinning your posts to Pinterest is easy and there are multiple ways to do it. In short, here is the process to follow. I have more in depth tutorials on exactly how to use Pinterest, but these are the essentials you need to know.

1. Create a Pinterest Business account (it’s free)
2. Setup your profile and main category niche boards
3. Create 1-2 pin images for each of your blog posts and freebies
4. Pin those images to your Pinterest board regularly
   1. Your frequency will depend on how many pins and boards you have.
   2. If you have 100 different pins and 10 different boards, you can easily pin 50+ pins a day. But if you’re starting out with 10 pins (two pins for each blog post) and 10 boards, you’ll pin a bit less per day.
5. To pin your images on Pinterest you can either use:
   1. A browser extension (Pinterest Save button)
   2. Social sharing buttons (SumoMe, Bloom)
   3. Scheduling programs (Tailwind)
   4. Adding the pin manually to Pinterest
6. You can also join Group Boards and Tailwind Tribes to get your pins seen by more people

This is exactly how I schedule and automatically pin my blog posts to Pinterest. When I first started my blog I manually pinned my blog posts to the platform. But as my blog grew, I needed to free up time to work on other things, so I invested in Tailwind to automatically pin my pins for me. Now I only spend about 30 minutes per week setting up my queues.

What Makes a Great Pinterest Image

Since Pinterest is such a visual platform, you’ll need to create stunning pin images with great headlines to stand out. Here are my favorite tips to create great pin images and the programs I use to make them.

A Great Pin Images has:

1. High contrasting and bright colors
2. Easy to read title
3. Catchy title that evokes curiosity
4. Attention grabbing image related to the post
5. Your blog name or logo on the image

You do not need to brand your images and make them all look similar. That works for some bloggers and you’re welcome to try it. I’ve found success by testing and trying all types of different styles. Don’t be afraid to experiment; creating pin images should be fun. It’s like digital scrap booking!

All of the images below work well as Pinterest images. The IKEA image is a true blog post image to entice readers to click through. The other two images are printables, and readers love to repin these images because they like to save the information for later.

Great Pin Images Examples

And ideas to blog about if you’re just learning how to start your blog.

Love playing with your kids?

Are you creative and always think of unique ways to keep your kids busy? You could blog about kids activities! Susie, a mommy blogger keeps her toddler busy with cheap and smart ideas. She also makes a full time income with her kids activity blog!

Are you the funny mom?

If you’re snarky and have a great sense of humor, you can share that on your blog! This little post I did went semiviral on Facebook. I have the hardest time writing humorous things, but sometimes it works. If humor comes naturally for you, your blog posts will share quickly!

Does your home look like a magazine?

Love IKEA hacks? Home decor and room makeover blogs are spreading like wild fire! Christy makes a full time income from her home decor blog! You can do this too!

How to Create Stunning Pin Images

Here are the programs and resources I use to create my pin images. I jump around between all of them depending on my mood and how quickly I want to create a pin.

Canva – if I want to push out a pin in 30 seconds, this is the program I use. I can easily duplicate a previous design, change a few things, and have a new pin image in record time. In this post on how to create printables, you can see a video tutorial using Canva.

PowerPoint or Google Slides – if I really want to invest and tweak my pin image, I use PowerPoint. I’m very old school and love Microsoft products. I also lived and breathed PowerPoint and Excel when I was in corporate America, so it’s nice to continue to use those skills as a blogger. You can watch my tutorials on using PowerPoint here.

If you need more help on how to use Pinterest and get traffic to your new blog, here is my Guide: How to Use Pinterest.

Traffic from Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is just a fancy way of saying “traffic from search engines.” Since Google is the biggest search engine, it mostly translates to “traffic from Google.”

So how do you actually get traffic from Google? How do you get your blog posts to show up on the Google search pages? I’m here to show you how, but it may come with as bit of disheartening news.

The reason I covered Pinterest first was because traffic from Pinterest is easier than SEO traffic. SEO is a long term game and it takes months, if not years, to get steady traffic from Google.

If you’re just learning how to start your blog, I would focus on structuring your blog posts correctly, finding the right keywords and gaining backlinks. Don’t worry, I’ll cover each of these foreign terms below. Just keep in mind that “working on your SEO” won’t bring in traffic overnight. It’s like taking your vitamins, it’s essential and you have to do it daily but you won’t see the results for months.

Pinterest is like a 15 minute workout, it has both short term benefits and long lasting effects. Facebook on the other hand is a diet coke, just a quick boost without any long term traffic benefits from that one post.

SEO Frequently Asked Questions

SEO is a long term game and it takes time for Google to take your blog seriously. The norm is about 18 months before you’ll start to see your rankings increase. Of course, if you hustle, create great content and get fantastic backlinks, your site can be picked up a bit sooner.

When you are just learning how to start a blog, follow the basic SEO principles. Don’t try to cheat the system and pay for backlinks or followers, Google is smart enough to pick up on sneaky activity. In time, if you write amazing content, people will naturally share your posts and link back to you as a reference.

Traffic from Facebook

Facebook can be a great platform to connect with and build an audience. I’ll be honest with you, it’s not my favorite platform for consistent traffic.

There are niches that do very well on Facebook. Take for example Meredith Masony from That’s Inappropriate. She has millions of followers and gets hundreds of people watching her Facebook Lives. But it took her years to grow that audience.

When you’re just starting a blog, I would encourage you to create a Facebook business page. But instead of focusing your time on Facebook, I would focus on Pinterest and SEO for the majority of your traffic.

You can’t be on all platforms at once, so take one at a time and master it.

I personally like Facebook for the following reasons:

• My die-hard fans follow and engage with my page
• I can do Facebook Lives easily to help my audience
• I can poll my audience quickly without emailing my entire list
• I can “test out ideas” to see if my audience is warm to it

Only about 10% of my blog traffic comes from Facebook.

People go to Pinterest and Google looking for blog posts. When people use Facebook, they’re on a social platform and want to primarily see what’s going on with their friends.

When you’re just starting your blog, focus on the power of Pinterest and the long term game of SEO. Remember that other platforms like Instagram and Facebook are social media platforms, not resources that people use to find blogs.

I would advise using social media platforms to connect and engage with your audience. But to focus on getting consistent blog traffic from search engines like Pinterest and Google.

Remember, getting traffic to your blog takes time. So please don’t be discouraged if you’re only getting 10 page views a day. Every piece of content you create, every pin image, every new strategy you implement is a brick in the foundation of your successful blog.

Step 11: Make Money with a Blog

As you’re learning how to start a blog, do you also want to know how to make money with your new blog? You’ve invested in a self hosted blog instead of using a free blog site. Of course you want to make money with it! Blogging will require a lot of work and your time is valuable. Eventually you would like to monetize your blog, right?

Blogging is one of the most profitable ways to make money from home.

I have some really good news for you! Monetization is easy. Like I’ve said in the sections before, the hardest part about blogging is building and engaged and loyal audience. That takes time.

Think about it like a normal, real life relationship. If you’re married, how many months did it take for you before you started dating your husband, before you got engaged, before you walked down the aisle. It took multiple dates, gifts, long conversations and special shared experiences before you were able to say yes to a commitment.

It’s similar in the blogging world. It will take time to build loyal relationships with your readers. But once you do, it will be easy to ask for a commitment (or a purchase in blogging terms.)

Many bloggers give up in the beginning because they’re not making money. But I honestly think they’re focusing on the wrong things. When you’re just learning how to start a blog, focus on serving, helping and giving.

As a beginning blogger, your moto should be “serve, help and give”. If you focus on that, you’ll soon have readers begging to give you money. I’ve seen it again and again.

The nice guys finish first in the blogging world.

It’s not a get rich quick scheme. It’s growing rich by serving. The more people you serve, the faster you’ll hit your goal.

Don’t give up before helping 1,000 people. That’s your goal when you’re learning how to start a blog. Help 1,000 people. Because once you’ve done that, it will be super easy to monetize.

This takes a lot of pressure of you as you’re starting out. You have a dedicated goal. And once you reach that goal, you can increase your focus.

I almost don’t want you to get distracted with the monetization techniques below. There are a few that you can do on day one right when you’re starting your blog, but the flow will be small until you build an audience.

I’ll cover each way to make money with a blog below. Bookmark this article so you can come back to it after you’ve helped 1,000 readers through your blog. Yes, you can implement a few of the monetization strategies below on your new blog, but don’t let it distract you from your ultimate goal.

There are numerous methods and strategies you can use to make money with your mom blog.

Here are the top methods to monetize a website:

1. Advertisements
2. Affiliates
3. Sponsored Posts
4. Products
5. Services

Most successful bloggers invest in multiple methods to build a strong business. One of the methods is building a strong email list, here are the exact steps how to build an email list for beginners, it’s how I built my email list to over 50,000 subscribers. Here are examples of how other moms make money blogging. And if you want to know how I make over $30,000 with my blog per month, I share all of my advice in my Income Journey ebook!

You can deep dive into all my posts on how to make money blogging here!

Affiliates

Making money with affiliates can be one of the first methods of monetization you use.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is promoting a product and getting a commission if you send a buyer to the affiliate company. Here is an example. Let’s say you’re an affiliate for Amazon, and you’re promoting this amazing Vitamix blender, if someone purchases the Vitamix blender by going through your special affiliate link, you’ll receive a “finders fee” or commission from Amazon.

It’s free to sign up for most affiliate programs. And each company has their own program and set of rules.

A few key things to remember when doing affiliate marketing is that you have to disclose that you’re using affiliate links at the top of your blog posts. You’ll also need a disclosure page on your blog. You can go to Termly.io to generate a free one, or to make sure your tushy is covered 100%, you can pay for a personalized disclosure page from a professional.

If you want your affiliate blog post to convert and generate sales, you’ll need to write a honest review about the product. If you’ve never used it or can’t provide real life images of it, it won’t convert as well.

Tell a story to increase affiliate conversions

But if you can tell the story how the Vitamix blender helped your baby get the vitamins he desperately needed when he was suffering from food allergies, you have a real life example how the product helped you solve a problem. Those types of blog posts convert well!

What companies have affiliate programs?

Thousands of companies offer affiliate programs. The easiest one that most bloggers start with is Amazon. You can sign up for free and promote any one of their products. Here is how one mommy blogger wrote an in depth post on baby play mats and generated over $1,000 per month from one blog post.

Other companies that have great affiliate programs include:

• Amazon
• ShareASale
• FlexOffers (offer tons of affiliate programs in different categories, lenovo, khols, macys, etc)
• Commission Junction (overstock, jcrew, gopro, lowes, barnes&noble, etc)
• Clickbank
• Rakuten
• eBay
• AffiBank
• Shutterfly
• Target
• StitchFix
• Bloomingdales
• BigLots
• Walmart
• TJMaxx
• Burlington
• Dillards
• Macys

If there is product that has changed your life, just do a quick Google search to see if it has an affiliate program. Most likely it does and you can sign up and promote it on your blog.

Once you have a loyal audience and you send them to your fantastic product review, you’ll get conversions and make sales. And they will benefit from your experience and get the right product for their needs.

Services

When your just learning how to start a blog, offering services could be a quick way to make a money. Your blog can serve as your online resume where future clients can see your work.

There are many services you could offer. What are you already good at that you can do for others online?

Here is a quick list of service ideas:

• Virtual Assistant
• Consulting
• Freelance Writer
• Proofreading
• Virtual Playdates
• Online Coach
• Home Décor Personal Assistant
• Online Personal Stylist
• Facebook Live Exercise Classes
• Voice Lessons
• Virtual Party Planner
• Cooking Assistant / Recipe Reader
• Sleep Training 1:1 Help For Your Baby
• Breastfeeding Support Group
• Working Mothers Coach And Motivator
• Healthy Living Coach
• Personal Diet Mentor
• Yoga Or Pilates Live Classes

One of my dear friends is a freelance writing mom. She’s built up her reputation so well that she can charge up to $1,500 per article.

In the Blog by Number course I show you how to easily set up a page on your blog so you can accept payments for your services. It’s simple and you can start making money from day one.

Ads

Advertisements may be one of the most popular methods to make money with a blog. Although it’s not the most profitable. You’ll need to generate a lot of traffic to reach $1,000 in ad revenue per month.

It also clutters up your site and provides a subpar user experience. I don’t highly recommend putting ads on your site, but I’m not completely against it.

Test it out for yourself. But please incorporate other methods of monetization as well and don’t just rely on ad revenue to sustain your blog.

Below are popular ad companies to use on your blog

• Google Ads
• Media.net
• Mediavine
• Sovrn
• AdThrive

 Some of the companies above do have page view minimums and strict requirements.

Products

Online products such as ebooks, courses or membership sites are highly profitable and a fantastic way to monetize your blog. The downside is that it takes a lot of skill and knowledge to write an ebook or create a course. You could use amazing platforms like Thrivecart to make the tech side a bit easier.

While ebooks and online courses take time to create, you can start with selling small digital products and still benefit from huge profit margins.

If you’re an expert in a particular field and people constantly ask you for advice on that topic, then bundle it up into a course and share your knowledge with the world!

Online courses and ebook are also very popular. Readers love the convenience of receiving an ebook instantly without waiting or paying for shipping. They also enjoy taking online courses from the comfort of their own home, while drinking a cup of coffee and wearing their pjs.

Ebooks and online courses are so popular because they are convenient. You can learn at your own pace with instant access to all materials.

And more often than not, you have access to the course instructor too through email or a private Facebook group.

Here is a nice list of online products you can create and sell on your blog:

• Calligraphy Course
• Online Art Classes
• A Children’s Ebook
• Step By Step Exercise Videos For Postpartum Recovery
• Motivational Videos For Overwhelmed Moms
• Online Language Classes
• Healthy Recipe Ebook
• Online Videos To Organize Each Part Of Your Home
• Budgeting Calculator
• Weight Loss Motivation Email Course
• Daily Affirmations
• Bible Verse Of The Day Email Sequence
• Learn To Play An Instrument Course
• Dog Training Course
• Time Management Course
• Public Speaking Course
• Discipline Your Child Ebook
• Money Saving Tips For New Parents
• Becoming Debt Free Ebook
• Essential Oils Course
• Story Time Videos For Kids
• Speed Reading
• Emotional Intelligence Ebook
• Increase Your Joy
• How To Draw / Paint / Craft
• Small Spaces Gardening Ebook
• Jewelry Making
• Dance Course
• Self Defense
• Photography 101 Course For Moms
• Marketing / Business / Leadership
• How To Use Photoshop / Excel Etc.
• Learn How To Massage Course

I know many mom bloggers who have ebooks or courses in the above niches and are making a full time income with their blogs.

This is how they are making a full time income from selling online products:

• They’ve put in the effort and built a strong following
• They’ve clearly and efficiently organized their teachings into a beautiful ebook or course
• They’ve made  it easy to learn about and purchase the product
• Ultimately, they’re offering value to their readers and transforming lives

It’s very possible to make a full time income from your blog. It won’t be overnight. It will require a lot of work. But the effort compounds and grows.

The first dollar you make with your blog will be your hardest dollar to make. After that, it’s just scaling and growing.

Sponsored Posts

Do you ever hear of blogger’s getting free stuff from companies? Like a cool new stroller for your growing family? Or a Taga bike? (just a little note, if anyone from Taga reads this, I would love to do a sponsored post on your bike. We live right on a 30 mile bike trail and I’d be happy to use it with my little ones!) Well, it’s most likely that the blogger received a free item in exchange for a sponsored post.

What is a sponsored post?

A sponsored post is a dedicated blog post written based on the requirements given by your sponsor. It’s not a regular blog post where you can write about what your heart desires and it’s not a post that shouts “buy me now”. It’s a blog post with the purpose of bringing more awareness to a product through the power of your influence.

The sponsor company could either pay you for your blog post or send you free product. Each contract is different. The larger your following and influence, the more money you can request for a sponsored post.

Are you seeing the trend? Blogging is not about making money, it’s about building an audience and a loyal following. Once you have that, making money is easy.

Below is a list of large companies that offer sponsored post opportunities.

• Blogher
• The Blogger Network
• IZEA
• Mode Media
• Collectively
• Social Fabric
• The SITS Girls

Sponsor companies also look for very niche blogs. If you have a small but very passionate following, you can pitch to large companies. A small dedicated blog with a strong following could win a sponsored post over a larger, more general blog.

Sincere advice when monetizing your blog

In a nutshell, those are the main methods to make money when you’re learning how to start a blog. I would advise focusing on growing an audience and serving them first. Then, once you’ve built a relationship, it is easy to monetize.

Help others. Pour your heart out. Be real. People crave authenticity online. I know as a stay at home mom I’ve had many very lonely days at home with a little kids. Days where I have longed to connect with other women and feel like an adult again. Reading blog posts and knowing that other moms are going through the same struggles encouraged me. It was nice to know that I wasn’t alone.

There may be someone out there who is going through the same struggles you are right now. Share your story and your journey. The internet makes it possible that you can help someone on the other side of the world. Someone who just desperately needs it’s going to be okay.

Help first. Remember, blogging is getting rich by serving. The more people you serve, the faster you’ll be able to make money online.

Step 12: How to Find Time to Blog

If you’ve read this far into the article, fantastic, you may be a bit overwhelmed right? How on earth will you be able to do all these things while still living your life?

Don’t worry! I have my best time management tips below so you don’t have to feel lost or overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to start with a plan.

Have a Plan

In the 12 Month Blog Plan (shown below) I’ve carefully laid out each action you have to do to start your blog, increase your traffic, grow your loyal followers and lay the foundation for monetization.

Over 33,000 students have downloaded and used the blog planner to help them organize and start their blogs.

The blog plan includes and editorial calendar so you can plan out future blog post to stay focused.

Focus on 1-2 Daily Goals

Once you have your plan filled out and printed, stick to it. Set 1-2 mini goals each day moving you closer to your monthly action item.

Don’t get distracted by spending hours on social media. Reward yourself with social media time after you’ve completed your goals for the day.

Keep your daily goals small and attainable.

Focused daily goals could include:

• Write your About Me page
• Write 1,000 words for a new blog post
• Create and pin 5 new pin images
• Finish and implement 2 lectures from a recent course
• Do keyword research on 10 topics for future blog post ideas

When Life is Crazy, Focus on 5 Minute Actions

There will be days when life is just too hectic to even think about your blog. The kids will be sick, the house will be a mess and the car will break down. Some days are just not blogging days.

When you find yourself in these crazy times, use this list of 50 quick 5 minute actions you can do to continue to grow your blog.

Blogging is not just about writing 2,000+ word blog posts. It’s about daily connecting and building your audience. Just like with a friend, you don’t need to have a girls night (big blog posts) every night to connect, sometimes a sweet and caring text (social media update) will be just fine.

Blogging Frequently Asked Questions

After helping moms start and grow their blogs for the past half decade, here are the most common frequently asked questions I’ve helped to answer.

Bonus for Starting Your Blog

Want 200 money making keywords to grow your new blog? This list of 200 low competition, high volume keywords are perfect to make money through affiliate marketing with your blog! 

Just start your blog through one of my affiliate links above, send me your receipt, and I’ll send you the bonus gift of “200 Money Making Keywords!”

Get Featured on my blog!

Want to get featured on my mom blog? This will give your new blog a solid backlink and bring traffic to your new blog! Whoo hoo!

Just start your blog using the links in this post and follow the steps in this free guide. Additionally, if you use my affiliate link to start your blog you’ll also get the 200 Money Making Keywords!

Use this post and this helpful guide to publish your first post!

I hope this enormous article has helped you understand how blogging works. If I missed anything, please shoot me an email and let me know! I’m happy to help with any questions you have!

Why do you want to start a blog? Leave your reply below, even if it’s just a few words!