Have you been thinking to start your own blog? This article will guide you on how to turn your blog into a business with these 15 tips.
Blogging has become a personal platform for so many people to express their voice, passions, and even generate money. In this article we will go over on how to turn your blog into a business with these 15 tips.
1. Decide On The Best Niche
First thing on the agenda in order to turn your blog into a business, you need a blog.
If you want to monetize your blog, It is best to focus on a subject that you are familiar and passionate about.
Bloggers have carved out their niche in technology, product reviews, and the unlimited other topics that they are passionate about.
Many bloggers have found great success writing a blog about their daily routine which involves their children, cooking, cleaning and running around to get everything done.
The list is endless but in case you need a push consider starting a blog on fashion, gaming, gardening, outdoors activities, cats or animals in general, crafts, interior design, DIY projects, photography, art or even commenting on local and international news.
The list is endless, we just wanted to give you an extra push to get you thinking of the possibilities.
When writing we suggest to use Grammarly which is an excellent tool to help you catch any typos and errors.
This helps you establish credibility and give you ease of mind concerning spelling while you are busy creating.
Grammarly is very easy to install and it will detect any error and make suggestions to correct any possible errors.
Check out Grammarly to streamline your editing process.
2. Find a Hosting Solution
Then it’s time to put off brainstorming and start working. Ideas need execution to be valuable.
It is the reason most people fail.
Getting started can become a huge deal in our mind but after you have formulated your plan, it’s time to choose a platform to showcase your blog.
We see many first time bloggers use WordPress or Blogger.
However, using a service that offers hosting as well is a great place to start.
For example, BlueHost will provide you with free hosting and 24/7 customer service support, which comes in handy for beginners.
Read our article How to Start a Blog, to get started.
3. Create Your Design and Branding
After you’ve developed the premise of the blog and where it will be hosted, it’s time to be consistent with your design and branding.
Design is a major focal point when considering how to create a business blog.
The use of good images is very important on.
The right image can invoke the right kind of emotional reaction from your reader and ultimately help create an emotional connection to you as the writer.
This of course will allow you to grow your audience faster and keep them coming back.
If you are a talented photographer you can take and use your own pictures in order to maintain the design elements of your site.
To make sure your pictures look flawless we found that PicMonkey does the job!
Make sure you check it out, as it can make a real difference in making your own pictures look professional and ready to publish.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy solution, you can purchase photos from a variety of royalty free services such as iStock.
There are even completely free images that you can use.
Pixabay and Pexels are among the most popular free image sources.
Also note that infographics, graphic illustrations, graphics, schemes, screenshots, tables and wire-frames will make your blog more shareable as these images are more easily digestible.
If you want unique image content and haven’t cultivated the skills for yourself, then you may want to look into a freelancer.
Fiverr is an exceptional place to hire a graphic designer or even a photographer for some original work.
If you happen to strike a good relationship with someone on Fiverr you can continue to use them.
Do not forget to add social sharing on your articles to help your audience to share your content.
A very good way to get this done, especially if you are using WordPress is Social Warfare which makes sharing any content fast and easy.
Now that we covered the important setup details on how to start a blog, we are ready to look into how to make your blog into a business.
Check our very popular article on ways to Monetize Your Blog: 100+ Money Making Methods.
4. Be Creative with Blog Titles
Use humor or strange titles, use pictures that can cause a question in your readers mind, use sarcasm or smart commentary. Just be original.
While clickbait has somewhat of a negative connotation attributed to it, it works nonetheless.
Reader like to read original content and will avoid what they’ve read on other sites before.
Of course you want to make sure that on anything you publish on your blog you make sure to use a service such as Social Warfare to allow you your audience to share your content and help you grow faster.
Streamline sharing your content with Social Warfare.
5. Take to Social Media
We suggest that you create a separate page for your blog on your social media.
Do not use your personal page as it will not look professional. Use the same name you used on your blog and create Facebook, twitter, Instagram and another social media account.
Once you publish your content on your blog make sure you share it on all your social media.
At the beginning, if you are eager to jump start your audience growth you can do small paid ads on the social media to drive traffic and get likes.
Read further on how to use Instagram to make money.
6. Utilize SEO
After you’ve branded yourself on social media it’s time to bring in an audience through search engines.
Search Engine Optimization might require you to take an e-course or watch a few YouTube videos to begin to understand the intricacies of the internet.
Ultimately once you get this one down you will get consistent traffic from Google Searches.
Once you begin using SEO keywords, it will take a lot of the mystery out of how to start a blog business.
7. Explore Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a tool that allows you to better understand your customers.
Google provides this free tool to help you track your digital marketing effectiveness and see different metrics concerning your sites traffic.
This is quite advanced and you might need help to set it up, but once you do you can track everything on your blog.
You can see what articles are more popular, what are the peak times for your audience, how long do people spend on your blog and many more valuable information.
Knowing how your audience behaves will allow you to optimize your growth and learn much faster than guessing.
It will also save you money, allowing you to optimize your strategy from drawing in more viewers.
Read more on how to use Google services here.
8. Start Collecting Emails
Soon after you launch your blog you will want to investigate how to capture information from your readers.
To turn your blog into a business you need to collect emails.
We are sure you visited hundreds of sites that immediately ask your email address to subscribe to their newsletter.
Sometimes right when you take your cursor to the X button on the top right the Subscribe Message pops up!
On other websites you can sign up by scrolling all the way down and leaving your name and email.
ConvertKit is an amazing tool that will guide you on how to set it all up.
Once you start capturing emails, make sure you have an automatic thank you that goes out to all your subscribers.
Remember to send an update every few months.
You can even try to engage your subscribers by asking them what type of articles they want to see more of, or even create simple competitions and offer prizes given to you by companies that you review.
Ultimately when you are building is a healthy list of subscribers you can use to advertise products for affiliate companies.
Make sure that if you claim that you are not selling their information, stay true to your word and not sell their emails to companies.
Check out the free trial for ConvertKit here.
9. Learn to Monetize Your Blog
Now it’s time to figure out how to how to start a blog business and get paid.
Once you establish yourself a good following and you blog starts to look populated with your articles, you can begin to review products, either for money or simply for receiving a free sample of that product.
This is much easier than you might think and it is usually the first step many bloggers start with when establishing themselves as influencers in their area of blogging.
You can even negotiate a deal with the business owner to either track any sales that come from your network, or get a fixed fee to do this.
Most of the time at the beginning this type of exchange involves a sample product for an article which reviews the sample and recommends it to your audience.
This is a good tactic to use as it can also allow you to take a break from having to create original content and just simply review a product or a service a few times a month.
Check out this step by step guide to learn how to set up a blog.
10. Consider Paid Advertisements
Once your social media and your blog grow to a respectable size, you can begin to offer banner ads to relevant companies.
For example, if you are into gardening, you can reach out to your local flower shop and offer them a banner on your blog for a month.
To get businesses to agree to try you out, you might have to offer lower prices at the beginning and as your audience grows you can up your prices.
Also depending where on your blog you will display the ad, the price may vary.
Learn how to add to your monetization strategy to boost your blogging profits.
11. Start Using Affiliate Ads
One of the best methods to grow your online income from your blog is to begin investigating and choosing affiliates that you can promote in your blog.
This is a relatively easy route to take, as there are countless opportunities out there for affiliate marketing.
We suggest trying your affiliates before you recommend them you your audience.
This will give you peace of mind and help you become a stronger influencer.
Having worked hard to gain people’s trust is not something that comes easy and you shouldn’t take it lightly.
You do not want to jeopardize it by connecting with a subpar product or service.
Regarding your options, as mentioned before they are countless but again zoom in to the content that you prefer to write about.
Your best bet is a good mix of strong brands and new brands.
By promoting something people already know and trust it is a fairly easy way to get your audience to commit and purchase from that business.
At the same time, you want to be a source for the new, up and coming products that everyone wants to know about.
The newbies might even be more giving with their commissions.
Being that new companies rarely have marketing budget, they end up relying on bloggers and in return they offer a good portion of their profits back.
Check out our guide to bring in more income streams from your blog.
12. Sell Your Own Products
To turn your blog into a business make it your own personal e-shop where you can sell your original work or products.
If you like to design or make art of any kind, if you are into cooking, crafting, writing books, anything is a possibility.
Once you grow your audience you can show of your products and integrate a payment method on your blog for purchases.
Do not limit yourself to just products. Many bloggers are experts in certain services, such as business consulting, CV writing, editing etc.
You can create packages and offer those on your blog or even on sites such as Fiverr. The more exposure you give yourself the higher the chance you will get clients.
Click here to find freelance professionals with Fiverr.
13. Start Making Videos
Video is one the most successful methods to engage your audience when considering how to create a business blog.
Especially when you do a review for a product or service you can increase the chances that your audience will engage and follow through to buy from you if there is a video review.
Even if you are not an expert, you can share your process of learning a skill, and people will come to watch your trial and error videos.
The more real you keep it the more likely people will relate to you.
All you will need for this is a camera (even your phone will work), a tripod to secure it, and some practice.
We suggest that you script what you want to cover to make sure you do not forget anything.
You can even create a channel on YouTube and link your blog to that.
There are many, free or low-cost video editing services, and if you want, you can even look into a freelance video editor.
Click here for more information on how to make your blog stand out.
14. Offer E-Courses
If you have extensive experience in a subject and you want to pass the knowledge on to others, do it!
Your audience will greatly appreciate this service and it will definitely drive a lot of traffic to help turn your blog into a business.
Keep in mind that while a lot of information can be found free on the Internet, people feel a sense of credibility if they pay for a service.
Click here to see how we earn money from our blog.
15. Have a Schedule
Everyone likes small comfortable routines.
Make sure you create a calendar and stick to it.
Begin by setting a schedule to publish content two to three times a week, and remain consistent to keep your audience coming back.
Once your audience knows what to expect it will be easier to keep them happy.
It will also help you get on schedule, and like any other business, blogging requires consistency and reliability.
Make sure to check The Six-Figure Blogger’s Ultimate Guide to Success for expert tips!
Conclusion
Your blog will not grow overnight, but when it does it might even become your full-time job!
Once you begin, you’ll begin seeing all of the options open up on how to turn your blog into a business.
Click here to start your blog today!
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