How do I make money as a writer? Make money blogging! Part 3
Long before there was TheWriteOneBlog.com, I ran a blog that focused on celebrity entertainment called TheMusicHotSpot.com.
Within the first few weeks of starting The Music Hot Spot, I quickly realized how much time and dedication it takes to run a successful blog (emphasis on the word successful). Blogging requires you to come up with an idea, create a blog post (sometimes requiring you to do research), choose a picture, video or some other medium that will compliment your post and then lastly it requires you to market.
Sigh. Now that was a mouthful.
When my blog was created, it was during the period when blogs like PerezHilton.com and BryanBoy.com were becoming popular.
Blogs were allowing everyday people to make money from sharing their thoughts and opinions. Through the offering of advertising on their blog it became possible that a writer could make money solely from blogging or at the least it could serve as supplemental income.
While my first blog still exists (in a now dormant stage), I ran it with a few bouts of dormancy for about two years. At that time, I had a general idea of how to make money from my blog, so I made a few dollars here and there.
However, after seeing the success of others, I started to give more attention to the potential of using my blog as an additional source of income.
If I told you there are people who write on a plethora of subjects and are calling blogging their full time job, what would you say? Would you want to blog ?
When writers ask me the best way to market themselves, I usually say blogging. It’s an extension of your personal brand that allows your readers to connect with you. As a writer you’ll need to connect with your readers in some way outside of your book. Blogging is a great way to introduce characters, different aspects of your life, and excerpts from your book. If your writing blog garners a reasonable amount of traffic, that traffic can translate into an income for you.
Now I’ll be honest…when I started my company, blogging was not a part of my business plan. However, money aside I found it to be the best tool for my business outside of social media. It provides me a steady stream of traffic to my blog, allowing me to engage with my audience on a daily basis. If you already blog, then you know that creating one blog post every day takes a considerable amount of time (a shocking amount of time). So if you’re going to sit down and blog anyway, and its not costing your reader anything, why not configure your blog in a way that allows you to be compensated for your time and effort? Are you with me?
Now let me be the first to say; content is king!
No no, let me rephrase that good content is king!
Your audience will not be fooled! Well thought out and helpful posts are what creates a successful blog with engaged readers.
In Part 4, I will discuss content a little more but also start to delve into the advertising aspect and why there’s a tremendous amount of effort needed to be a “successful blogger”. In the meantime, are you making money from your blog? Please share in the comment section below.
In case you missed it:
How do I make money as a writer? Part 1
How do I make money as a writer? Part 2
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I'm noticing several trends in web/blog/social media. Most people don't want to read. People who love to read (myself included) don't have much time to read. Those of us with many writer friends (most of whom have blogs) don't have time to read blogs.
This may be why Pinterest became so popular so fast. After a hard day working (and writing) I just don't have the energy to keep up with all the blogs. I would rather just try and catch up with all my friends books, rather than try to keep up with their blogs.
Even on Facebook, BIG PHOTOS get the most LIKEs. Even the thumbnails with some text get passed over. The more the Facebook post looks like a PInterest pin, the better. Whether it's a Stupid Pet Photo, a Hotel Bar, a dancer … doesn't matter.
I actually said something similar to my son earlier about photos getting the most likes on Facebook. I for one love Pinterest, but that too is becoming cumbersome in combination with all my other social media. lol. I will say this…I don't read other blogs nearly as much as I used to. I honestly just don't have the time. But…if someone links a blog post on Facebook I feel is worth reading, I will take a few minutes to read it. To go looking at my blogs myself, I don't do it as much. With that being said there are people who aren't as busy that are reading blogs. Their is web traffic to prove it. But I do agree, picture sites are on the upswing i.e, Pinterest and Instagram.