Do You Want to Make Money Blogging?

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Do You Want to Make Money Blogging?

by: Heidi Suydam

Are You Feeling Frustrated Trying to Juggle All the Things?

I constantly refer to myself as a “beginner blogger”, maybe because blogging is a long journey and I am still figuring it out. #thesosblog was birthed in 2014 at the time it was more like a hobby for me.

In 2019 I started pursuing blogging as a career, with a goal to earn an income. 

Guess what?
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I love it!

I love working on my blog, creating blog posts, and sharing guest posts from other bloggers. I love connecting with my readers and blogging buddies. I love it even though, right now I am a one-woman show. Everything you see on the blog, sent to my email list and socials is all me. Every. Single. Thing.

Being a one-woman show means prioritizing and knowing when to press pause on some things in order to take care of other things. Juggling everything all the time is exhausting enough but when something requires extra attention, like a website update or a deep SEO check, it can feel impossible.

It is possible! I can do this and you can too!

​Sometimes I feel like I am the only one-woman show out there. With all the advice about hiring this person or that person to do time-consuming tasks or tasks that “don’t make you happy”. Believe me, I want to and I will as soon as I can.
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Solopreneur: an entrepreneur who executes all duties related to their business, on their own.

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash

Content creator, content manager, website designer, website developer, social media content creator, social media manager, photographer (except when my girl Maggie can take some pictures for me- thanks Maggie!), graphics designer - you get the idea. It’s all me, for now.

Most of the time I don’t mind being a one-woman show (I do have a little control issue so there’s that!). However, it can be overwhelming a lot of the time. It can also feel scary when you have momentum going on socials and know you need to focus on something else. 

​You don’t want to lose the momentum but you really need to focus on a task that will require your undivided attention for large blocks of time. Writing blog posts like this can fall into that category too, right? Creating new blogs, deciding what to blog about, researching topics, facts, and keywords. It is time-consuming.

What about all the other things? The social media posts, the social media interaction, the live story posts, keeping all those platforms active for the algorithms, promoting your blog? Will it all get messed up?

No friend, it won’t.
You need to prioritize, press pause, and trust the process. 
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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or on the page in this case. Making money blogging.

Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash

Or even how to start making money with your blog. Is it possible and how can you do it, right? That’s the million-dollar question (pun intended!) everyone is asking.

You may be wondering how can I even help you. If I am a one-woman show, does that mean I am not making money online? If so, how am I going to help you make money? What will I have to say about making money blogging?

All of these are good questions. Let’s just get them out of the way right now. 

• Can you make money with your blog? Yes. I have no doubt about it.
• How can you make money with your blog? There are several ways I will list some in this post.
• Can you make money with your blog right now? That answer is a little trickier - more about that later.
• Am I (Heidi the author of this post on #thesosblog) making money? It trickles in at this point. No, I am not making money to live on but every day I am setting myself up to start making money (secret bonus tip right there - “every day”). 

If you are tempted to click away from this post because I am not making $5 or $10K a month with my blog, please read  just little more before you click away only to go spend more time on google searching for how you can make money blogging.

Read on I am confident this post and information will help you.

In a 2014 post Lifehacker.com reports 

“a survey of 1,500 ProBlogger readers who said they're trying to make money by blogging, found that 9% make between $1,000 and $10,000 a month and 4% make over $10,000 a month. But the vast majority makes less than $3.50 per day. (Most of these were blogs less than two years old, though.)”

In the same article on Lifehacker.com, it is reported that a survey conducted by blogger.com of 1000 bloggers 81% never made $100 from their blogs.

Don't be discouraged, friend, keep reading, I promise it gets better...

How is this 2014 data still relevant today?

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

How is this 2014 data about making money blogging still relevant today?

Because I am living it right now in 2020, my guess is you are too.

I am committed to telling you the truth. Not to discourage you but to help you. If you read the full article from Lifehacker.com and others that are more current, such as How Much Do Bloggers Make, The Surprising Answer dated May 19, 2020, you will discover making money from blogging is possible!

Most of it has to do with quality content, consistency, and longevity.
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Blogging is not a short term, quick money-making plan. It just isn’t.

Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash

"New bloggers often make the mistake that creating a blog and posting some articles is enough."
​-Janett Novak, Fit Small Business

One of my favorite quotes is “blogging is not for sissies”. I've always wondered who said this first and my best guess, after researching it is Susan Hanley on Computerworld.

I agree wholeheartedly.

On your blogging journey you will have many days of discouragement. You will also have many days full of joy as people read, use  and share your content!

As I read those statistics and more from more recent years I realized something. If those statistics about how much money bloggers really make are true either Pinterest is FULL of the 4% or maybe some of the money-making blog promises are a little inflated?

No disrespect at all! Every blogger I know is trying to make it work and I am not above thinking up a good title that will hook a reader into reading what I write, selling e-books, courses or offering free printables. I have an e-book for sale right now,Some Real Truth About Blogging,  and offer free pdf printables too. It’s part of what we do as bloggers.

What I am committed to though is being 100% honest, no big up-sell and when I do sell something to make it very affordable. 

My heart is sincere to help others avoid wasting the time and money I have wasted through the years. I have been at this for a while, part-time then full time and have spent more than my fair share of time in online courses (some free some paid), signing up for all the pdf courses (some free some paid) and listening to all the podcasts and webinars (most free with a big up-sell at the end with a promise to get the real info if I can pay) about how to make this work as a business.

One thing I know for sure. This can work. For me and for you. We can do this!

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Another thing I know - there is a whole lot of fluff out there to sort through and it is very disheartening to wast time on "free" webinars only to be told I can't get to the real info unless I can afford to pay a price that frankly, I just can't pay.

My heart for other bloggers, like me, who want to learn the ins and outs of this business, to grow our blogs into money making blogs began to grow and I made a commitment to share what I learn for free (or almost free!). On my search for the real info I began to gather things here and there. Then finally came across a few successful bloggers willing to share some real, valuable, actionable, practical information!

I want to help you. No more wasting time and money.

Here on #thesosblog you will find bare-bones, straightforward info that will be free (or almost free) and will not waste your time (I hope!). My goal is, if you are here forblog and biz help you will always find something that will help you right now for free (or almost free!).

So here it is, the bare bones about juggling it all as a one-woman show.
​You can do this! 

You can build your blog and business and start making money blogging by doing what you can when you can. Even when it feels scary to get off the hamster wheel. Sometimes you need to.
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There is room at the table for everyone.

Photo by Nadia Valko on Unsplash

I always say there is room at the table for everyone. I really believe that. Even in the great big world of blogging. Where people talk about saturation and try to discourage us from even trying sometimes. Don’t let that get you down. I believe we still can make our blogs stand out and become profitable. 

There is room at the table for you, and for me.

You have to make your room at the table, pull up your own seat. Constantly staying on the hamster wheel, running fast to nowhere is not the way to do that. ​

Consistency & Quality are the way to pull up your seat.

Your audience is out there. They will find you and love you when you are consistent and give them quality content they can count on! There are a few more things to it - for some real truth about that check this out - Some Real Truth About Blogging (ebook). A 20-page pdf/ebook full of helpful tips, real truth, live links you can access immediately and more.

Consistency is very different than spinning your wheels.

Consistency does not mean you can’t ever prioritize one task over another. I think in this fast-paced social media age we think we have to have our hands on every task every day. We have to keep our story running, we have to post every day at the same time, we have to respond to that message right away, we have to take another picture of ourselves. We have to, we have to, we have to...

I don’t know about you but when I am operating like that I feel beat. My family suffers. I stay discouraged because there is no real return for my business. Personally, yes because I have made many great connections and even real friends through social media. Here is a secret though - I think I would have made those connections without running myself into the ground. I love social media! I just have to balance it with what will pay off long term for my blog.

What I have discovered is this, consistency doesn’t look like what we have been duped into thinking it is. Trying to outsmart algorithms and keep up with the Joneses (or in this case the super bloggers - remember they have assistants who help them). 

Consistency means setting your pace and keeping up with that.

If that is once a week, or once a day with your blog and socials, then do that. You set your pace and keep up with it. Your consistent effort and quality content will get you your seat at the table.

I have 5 tips to help you keep your momentum and your sanity. 
This is a FREE downloadable, printable PDF. 

How can you make money with your blog right now?

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Earlier I mentioned a list for ways to make money with your blog right now.

• Affiliate Marketing (affiliate links)
• Sell Digital Products (e-books, courses, printables)
• Sell memberships for extra content

For more information about affiliate marketing, how blogging really works, tips and tools for blogging read Some Real Truth About Blogging (ebook) on sale now for $6.99 (because you made it to the end of this blog post you can use discount code SOSBLOGFAN for $3.00 off!).

Yes, $3.00 off! Making the e-book $3.99. With code: SOSBLOGFAN .

Why am I charging at all? When my commitment is to share what I know for free (or almost free!). Well $6.99 is almost free already but also writing and producing an e-book was a labor of love for me. As a writer, it is my first real "book" ever, although as a blogger I feel like I have written volumes already (can you relate?).

​Charging this small fee will places a value on my work and over time is a small way to pay for my time writing, editing, designing, promoting...you get the idea, remember I am still a one-woman operation here.

Keep blogging friends. You can do this! 
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You may also enjoy these posts from #thsosblog:

3 Sustainable Beauty Items for Everyday Use | 5 Tips to Help You Juggle It All FREE PDF |
12 Short Instagram Captions that Inspire Engagement | Fun in the Sun Summer Amazon Haul

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