I don’t do gimmicks or get rich quick schemes. Just wanted to make that perfectly clear. If you think you can make money with a WordPress blog overnight, then sorry I can’t help you.
Now it could be possible to make a small amount of money with a WordPress blog in 48 hours. Note the word small. Tiny might be a better word and you probably won’t get your hands on the money until 6 weeks later.
So as I said. Not a get rich quick scheme.
That said, WordPress is still my favourite way to make money online.
The Right Mindset To Make Money With WordPress
You don’t need to be a terrific writer or a technical genius to make money blogging with WordPress. But you do need to be willing to learn and make the most of your skills.
Hate writing, keep it to a minimum and use your blog as a conduit for your videos and podcasts.
Struggle with tech? You can produce a blog like this one without any coding skills. You just need to be able to follow instructions and apply some dogged determination to get the job done.
If you’re really scared about all things techy, I can even set up a blog for you.
Blogging isn’t for the fainthearted. If you’re going to be put off every time you hit a problem, maybe blogging isn’t for you.
The people making a full-time income from blogging have worked for it. They’ve worked hard. They didn’t just wake up one day with sand between their toes and a bank account full of money.
As my Gran used to say: “If it was that easy everyone would be rich”.
How Much Money Can You Make From WordPress?
I’d be really surprised if you could find an honest answer googling this question.
There are people making a tonne of money from blogging on WordPress and there are some people making no money at all.
Which of these two types of bloggers will be making the most noise about their earnings? Yep, you’ve guessed it, those 6 figure plus earners.
I’m going to come clean with you. My 7-figure income business I mention on my homepage was a business selling physical goods. I’m really proud of that income but I had to pay for goods, staff and premises out of my turnover.
Now making money from blogging has much lower overheads, (stuff you have to pay for), but those big ticket earners are a little coy about how much they spend on advertising. I guessing for some of at least, it’s a lot!
For most people, with enough time and some hard work, you can make a living out of blogging. You may add to your income with a blogging related services such as copy-writing, digital marketing…
It could be a good living. Will it be a 6-figure income with sun, sand and sangria? That’s down to you and a sprinkling of luck. I’d rather you kept your feet on the ground. Keep it real and aim for $500-$1000 first.
How To Make Money With A Blog For Beginners
I’ve pulled together my best beginner posts to take you step-by-step from setting up your blog to making your first income.
Read them all or skip ahead if you’ve already started your blog. Just make sure you’re knowledgeable about tags, categories, plugins and the techy stuff that makes your blog function correctly.
How To Earn Money With WordPress
- What Is A Blog?
- How To Start A Blog, Beginners Guide
- Design Your Blog – How To Choose A Theme
- Before You Write Your First Blog Post
- The Stuff You Need To Know
- Blog Traffic From Pinterest
- Blog Traffic From Google
- How To Make Money Blogging With A WordPress Blog
#1 What is a blog?
If you’re a complete beginner to blogging, start here. Get the lowdown on everything blogging related…
Lesson 1
What Is A Blog? And How Does Blogging Work?
#2 How To Start A Blog, Beginners Guide
This second lesson will take you through the start up process from coming up with your money making blog idea, to finding your domain name and signing up for a host.
If you don’t start your blog, you’ll never make any money!
The Secret Of Getting Ahead Is Getting Started
Mark Twain
Follow these easy steps and start something!
Lesson 2
How To Start A Blog in 2019 (The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide)
#3 Design Your Blog – How To Choose A Theme
A professional looking blog will make all the difference if you’re serious about making money.
One of the best ways for new bloggers to make money is affiliate marketing. Having a terrific looking blog makes a huge difference to getting accepted as an affiliate.
Lesson 3
8 Blog Design Tips For Beginners (Get A Blog That Rocks)
#4 Before You Write Your First Blog Post
You do need to get organised when you’re starting a blog. If you love records and planners, you’ll have so much fun!
If not, well this post will help you out…
Lesson 4
Write Your First Blog Post (But Do These 7 Things First)
#5 The Stuff You Need To Know
Unless you want to flounder around looking like a total newbie for the next few months, get up to speed with this post.
These tips could make all the difference. Understand your permalinks and WordPress settings. Learn the difference uses for categories and tags.
Lesson 5
Permalinks And WordPress Settings (The Stuff You Need To Know)
#6 Blog Traffic From Pinterest
You could write the best posts in the World but that doesn’t guarantee someone is going to read them. You need traffic!!!
To begin with your best source of traffic will be social media. It’s best to pick one social media platform and do it well.
I get a big chunk of my traffic from Pinterest. These posts will give you the lowdown. You can work out if Pinterest is a fit for you and your blog.
Lesson 6
What Is Pinterest? (Marketing Tips For Bloggers)
And
Pinterest SEO (Learn How To Sky Rocket Your Blog Traffic)
#7 Blog Traffic From Google
Google is so important for anyone with a web presence. But you’ll find that Google hates new bloggers and it will be a while before Google sends any traffic in your direction.
That doesn’t mean you can ignore Google. All it takes is a few tweaks to your blog posts, a little bit of keyword research and Google will eventually send you some traffic.
Lesson 7
SEO For Bloggers (Or Why SEO Sucks But You Should Do It Anyway).
#8 How To Make Money Blogging With A WordPress Blog
This is the bit you’ve been waiting for. There are no shortcuts with WordPress.
To make money with a WordPress blog you have to go through all the start up and launch process, write your posts and discover how to attract traffic.
Good traffic is the essential ingredient to making money from your blog.
All set up? Already building traffic? Then it’s time…
Lesson 8
How To Make Money Blogging For Beginners (A Guide To Your First $100)
Bonus Lesson: Start An Email List
It’s far easier to make money from a blog if you have the means to build relationships with your readers. The money is in the list.
By this I mean convincing people to sign up for your email list. It’s a way for reminding people to keep returning to your blog and reading your posts (and ultimately buying your recommended products).
It doesn’t mean spamming people. Oh no! You only want people to sign up for your list who are genuinely interested in your advice. Otherwise it’s a complete waste of time – for you and your readers.
That doesn’t mean everyone on your list is going to become a source of income, but they may become fans of your posts and share your words with their own followers. This will help to build your following of interested people.
Being helpful and growing your influence are the most important aims of your beginner blog. It’s a vital step before you dive in and start making money.
Bonus Lesson
Writing To Your Email List (What To Put + Finding Your Writing Style)
The Types Of Blogs That Make Money
The joy of blogging is the sheer variety of different types of blogs. You can literally blog about anything. But do you need to stick to a set list of topics to make money?
The usual list of money making topics is:
- How To Make Money
- Personal Finance
- Health & Fitness
- Food
- Beauty & Fashion
- Lifestyle
- Personal Development
It’s a limited list and really not that accurate. I’ve seen this list on a few blogs and it’s so restrictive! The first one, ‘How To Make Money’ is tough to write about unless you have some experience.
The rest of the topics are popular but the list is by no means complete. What about sewing or survival? Both are really successful blog topics.
How does parenting fit into this list? There are tonnes of parenting blogs and some of them make good money from blogging.
Your blog needs to fulfill a need.
If you’re a one person blogger, I figure the types of blogs that make money are ones that fulfill a need. That make be getting your child to eat peas, loosing a bit of weight or making a patchwork quilt.
Basically someone has a need and your blog provides the solution. The more essential the need – getting a date when you’re a 40 year old virgin, advice that works to run a three hour marathon, the greater the value attached to your topic.
It needs to be a popular topic.
There’s another factor that comes into play – popularity.
No-one is going to pay much for a bread making recipe. Does this mean bread making is a lousy money making blog topic? I doubt it. Pinterest has consistently high search traffic for bread making topics.
Advertising isn’t my favourite way of making money from a blog but for some topics it makes sense. If you hit a topic that generates huge amounts of traffic, advertising can be an easy passive income way to monetise your blog.
There’s no paint by numbers answer to picking a blog topic.
I still stand by my view that a money making blog needs to fulfill a need, must be reasonably popular and should be something you want to write about. It helps if you’re knowledgeable too.
It’s also important to have a clear idea of how you can make money for your blog topic.
Your niche doesn’t have to be narrow. Some blogs do well with a range of topics. BUT there’s always some link between these topics.
Know who you’re writing for.
Successful bloggers have a clear idea of who they’re writing for. You don’t see young fashion and tips for teething babies on the same blog. Or a blog about exotic travel next to a piece about where to find the cheapest burger.
It sounds obvious really yet it’s so easy to get wrong.
If you’re stuck for blogging inspiration, this post may help:
What To Blog About? (10 Ideas For Blogging Inspiration)
Conclusion
If you’ve made it through all 8 lessons and you’re well on your way to making money from your blog – congratulations.
There’s a lot to take in isn’t there! Not ready to start your blog yet? Pin this to find my course later.
Pin and come back to complete the course!
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