So many people are becoming aware of the potential income earnings from running a blog. The downside is, not a lot of people know how to even successfully start one. Truth be told, there is a wrong way and a right way to launch a blog. This post is laid out to give you simple and easy to follow instructions on how to launch a money-making blog. If you are hoping to bring in additional income from blogging continue reading along so you can learn exactly what you’re going to need to succeed.

*This post contains affiliate links through which I may make a commission. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Full-time blogger

Before I started blogging I read a ton of blog posts on how to turn a blog into extra income. The one thing I made sure to do before following any advice was to check each blogger’s credentials.

I scoped out their blogs and I read their income reports. If I was going to take advice from another blogger, I wanted to make sure they were someone whose advice I wanted.

While I don’t share income reports, I do want you to know that I was able to make $1,000 per month within 3 months of starting The Fun Sized Life. If you want to learn more about how you can take my totally free training on how to make your first $1,000 online.

Making money overnight

Every blogger will be quick to tell you that if you’re serious about running a blog and making an income from it, don’t expect to make money overnight.

It’s true that blogging takes some time to learn and understand, however, I almost feel like I did start making money overnight.

The key to making money with a blog faster is to really know what you’re doing before you get started and don’t be too scared to just start. There will always be more to learn and you won’t get it right the first time.

My three biggest tips for fast blogging success:

• Invest in training right away
• Treat your blog like a job (make time for it every day)
• Don’t expect perfection (I am re-writing this post for like the 800th time)

1. Get a quality host

There are a lot of free blogging platforms, and while they can be a great place to start, most of these platforms are not set up to run a successful money-making blog.

The most affordable hosting platform is BlueHost. BlueHost was who I used when I first started my blog. I loved the affordability as well as the rave reviews I had read about it.

SiteGround is another great option for when you are first starting a blog. From my understanding, SiteGround has the potential to optimize your site with faster speeds when your traffic starts to go up!

That means SiteGround may be best for the long-term, but BlueHost offers amazing affordability for someone who is just getting started. (PS Don’t worry, you can switch hosts whenever you want!)

2. Start your email list!

So many people (myself included) struggle to see the benefits of having an email list right away when you start your blog. Let me break down for you why this is something you need to have on your to-do list right away:

• You can connect with your audience on a deeper level
• Helps you conduct market research to know what your readers like
• Gives you a place to share promotions and sales you offer in the future
• Allows you to have full control of who you connect with (social media is changing all the time)

It’s so crucial, that I created a mini bundle called The Biz Bundle for people hoping to start a successful email list and social media.

Personally, I use ConvertKit for my emails. They make everything so simple and is the company that I use to walk you through all of my tutorials on how to improve your email list.

3. Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are definitely my favorite (and the fastest) way to start making an income from your blog.

What affiliate links basically are is recommending something you love to your readers and then earning a commission from it.

Just imagine if Netflix paid you $5 every time you recommended a movie or show to someone! That’s how amazing affiliate marketing is!

I have taken two courses on affiliate marketing and both are highly informative: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers.

Although both courses were highly informative, Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers is more affordable and super easy to understand!

How to find affiliate links

When you are first starting your blog, I recommend trying out a site like ShareASale. ShareASale makes it very easy to browse multiple different companies that have affiliate programs. Just be sure to go with programs that you know and have tried.

When using affiliate links, it’s also very important to always remember to disclose that information in your posts, emails or social media shares. You have to let people know that you are sharing affiliate links and that you may make a commission.

4. Working with brands

Once you have established a solid blog and a good following you can start to look into working with brands. You can actually start working with brands right away, however, you are more likely to get paid when you have a larger following. (Including your email list! Get started now.)

Finding brands

When it comes to working with brands you can research brands you love, reach out to them, and negotiate your own contracts.

Working with brands this way requires more effort on your part, but can yield a higher paycheck. If you feel like you are really wanting to understand all of the ins and outs of working with brands, I highly recommend the course, Pitch Perfect.

Pitch Perfect will guide you through how to find brands, how to approach them and how to charge!

Helping brands find you

If you are just starting to launch your money-making blog, and aren’t quite ready to start pitching brands, the easier route would be to sign up with companies like Acorn or Linqia. 

These companies basically work as the middle man between you and brands.

Brands will contact these companies and then the companies will reach out to you.

A good part of this is that influencer companies manage the payments so you don’t have to worry about that part. However, because they are acting as a middle man, this also means they will be taking a percentage of your earnings.

5. Focus on one thing at a time

The best way to see success with anything in life is to hone your focus in and don’t spread yourself too thin.

For example, you might want to start just learning how to effectively write emails for the first few months of running your blog. When you feel ready, start branching into affiliate marketing.

Taking the time to slow down and focus on one thing at a time will help you gradually become a blogging master.

Whenever we try to do it all, we end up accomplishing almost nothing. Kind of like when you start cleaning your room and end up moving from room to room putting things away only to have your room still messy at the end of the day.

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