How To Start A Blogging Business: Top Tips & Ideas To Make Money With A Blog
Want to start a successful blogging business? This guide will walk you through all the steps, from choosing your niche to monetizing your blog.
Blogging as a Business Opportunity
Blogging is a great way to start an online business. You can use any kind of blog platform to get started. There are many free platforms out there, including WordPress.com, Tumblr, Blogger, and TypePad. But if you want to make money, you’ll need to pay for a premium account. Even if you do not have any technical knowledge, you can create your own website using a web hosting service. But if you really don’t have much experience, you may want to consider hiring someone who does.
Who is a blogger?
The term “blogger” generally refers to someone who writes regularly online about their interests. A blog is a website where authors post short articles and frequently update their posts and comments section. These posts often include links to other web pages that relate to what is being discussed. Blogging is a great business tool for anyone interested in sharing their knowledge and opinion.
Why Start a Blogging Business?
Thinking you might like to try your hand at making money online?
It's easier than ever to take advantage of the digital economy & technology available to us, and start your own income-producing hobby or special interest blogging business.
Why start a blog?
One of the top reason to start a blog is to help people learn things that you know.
What are you an expert in?
What do you like to offer helpful advice about?
Your blog can be about anything that interests you, or anything you consider yourself an expert on.
What qualifies you to be an expert?
If you have experience in something, or if you have mastered a skill, then you can likely transition into expert blogger and cover the topic in detail.
Your blog can be on any topic you like, provided you know a lot about it and love to share.
Most people are already sharing online in some way or another.
If it's your tendency to craft carefully written posts, upload and share content to Youtube, Instagram, or another popular social media platform… then you might as well take it a few steps further, and set things up so that you can make money by teaching others and talking about what you know.
What type of special interest blog can you run?
That of course depends on what you like to talk about, what you have expertise in, and what you're good at.
The more readily you're able to produce valuable blog posts and other types of resourceful & helpful content at a fairly rapid pace, the more appealing this will seem, and the more likely you will gain a loyal following online.
What are the basic, income-generating elements that you should have in place if you plan to make money by sharing content online?
Google Adsense, or other forms of pay-per-click advertising like Mediavine.
You've probably noticed that most prolific bloggers, whether they operate as an individual, or a company, have ads that show up in various spots on their blogs.
The ads generate small payments each time people click on them.
Affiliate links.
The Amazon affiliate program is well qualified in the league of top affiliate programs and is also one of the most popular methods for generating sales commissions each time someone purchases through your link.
Etsy is another platform with affiliate income potential that people know, recognize, and are likely comfortable purchasing through.
Ebook sales.
You can write, publish and sell your own helpful ebooks. This will take a bit more time, but how much time and how much you sell your ebook for depends on the amount of work you put in at the outset. But on the other side it is fairly easy to start an amazon ebook business.
Blogging Business Model
How to Know if Blogging Business Model will be a Fit for You
Some people really take to running a business online, and make a ton of money doing it.
Mainly this is because they've discovered how to manage their blog like a full-time business, as opposed to just occasionally publishing a post that you share with a small group of friends.
It's hard to know if you'll love, as opposed to loathe, blogging if you've never done it before.
However, there are definitely a few good indications based on your online habits.
Here's how to tell if you'll likely enjoy, and be good at, running an income-generating blog online:
You already love to share tips and information.
Are you known to type out long and detailed posts on social media sites like Facebook?
Has your personal story unfolded like a reality TV show that people readily tune in to read about or watch online?
If you're already inclined to be a sharer, then it's likely that you can easily make the transition to blogging.
You're comfortable using technology, and tend to be a quick learner.
People who don't mind logging in and out of different sites, having lots of windows open on their computers, copying and pasting links and blurbs of text, and have a good handle on basic word processing programs such as MS Word, will likely take to blogging.
Writing is your thing.
People who love to write will likely enjoy blogging.
If you tend to write long and detailed emails, type out social media posts that never seem to stop, and/or are likely to correspond with pen pals via email, then making the transition to blogging again will be fairly simple and feel natural and right to you.
Why start a blog?
Why not just keep sharing on Facebook?
Mainly a blog can be the home base for everything you share online.
All of the links that you post on different sites, including Facebook, YouTube if you post and share videos, and share via email each time you contact your readers, should lead back to your blog.
Blogging Business Skills
What Types of Business Skills Do You Need to Have as a Blogger?
Seriously considering becoming a blogger?
This is one of the most economical methods of generating income as a small business owner.
All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and a dream. And, well… you'll also need a few other things, but still comparatively less than if you had a physical business selling physical products or serving customers face to face at a store location.
So what kind of skills should you already have nailed down if you'd like to segue into the role of blogger extraordinaire?
You should know how to type and use basic features of a word processing program.
You should know how to send and receive emails.
You should know how to create HTML based emails that include links, special type treatments, and images.
You should know how to log in and out of, and manage, your own private space or profile on a website.
You should know how to write and communicate effectively, and you should enjoy doing so on a frequent basis.
You should know, and be willing and permitted, to accept and send online payments.
You should know how to manage a social media account, including writing, posting and deleting, sharing links, uploading images.
You should know how to type, log into websites, upload images, capture screen shots, and share links from your phone, to make the life of an on-the-go blogger easy and profitable.
Even if you have zero technical skills, you can still create a beautiful blog fast in 30 minutes.
Other skills that you may wish to have, or be able to outsource to a virtual assistant, include:
Creating social media graphics, including editing and resizing the images, adding text to the images, and compressing images to be of a smaller, web-friendly size that won't take forever to load to your blog, website and social media pages.
Managing an email newsletter or sending emails from a list manager such as Aweber
Writing informative articles.
You'll definitely want to include lots of information-rich articles on your blog.
This starts with being able to offer tips, hints and advice in writing.
The quicker you can do this, the more content you will be able to produce and share on your blog which will attract new subscribers to your email list.
Writing and creating sales pages.
The ebooks and information products that you sell online via your blog should be hosted on a sales page that you create and publish.
You can do this very easily inside your blog software such as Wordpress.
Simply create a new "page" and then add details such as an SEO headline, lead-in paragraph, intro to the product, image of the ebook cover, details of what's included, a sales pitch covering how this will help your reader solve a problem, pricing psychology, and a buy button that links back to an order form on e-junkie, gumroad, warrior plus, or another site where you sell ebooks from.
Creating PDF files that you upload to your ebook-selling member site, set up as a product, and share the link for people to buy.
Be sure to choose a PDF creator that makes links clickable, so you can lead people back to your site, other helpful sites, and affiliate products that you place throughout.
Blogging Business Ideas: Popular and Interesting Niche Blog
Thinking that a blog will be the way to go for you?
Great! So now you'll want to narrow in on a topic that you can post on your blog.
There are a few different approaches to take with this.
One, if you already know that you'll be a prolific blogger, then you can set up your blog to include different categories of interest for you.
So if you're a person who enjoys reading, learning about, and sharing information on natural remedies, DIY projects, and crafts, then your blog can feature each of those categories.
There is literally a spot where you can create and select a category by each new post.
A few, but not all, of the major topic categories that bloggers typically share information on include business, cooking, health and wellness, home and family, self improvement, and weight loss.
There are many sub-categories of these topics, and there are even micro-niches.
For example, someone out there has (or had?) a blog that ONLY shares pumpkin waffle recipes.
You can't get much more niche-specific than that.
You may be familiar with these types of blogs.
Just like those publishers have a following of loyal, rabid fans, so can you!
Types of Bloggers
Mom bloggers - sharing stories, writing "diary" style entries, posting parenting tips, recommending products, publishing recipes, posting DIY projects step by step, and more.
Online business bloggers - teaching other people how to make money with a blog by selling online courses. Posting articles, sharing tips, recommending software programs, offering a service.
Cooking bloggers - posting food pics, sharing recipes, publishing instructions and food techniques, sharing affiliate links to cooking products.
Natural health bloggers - posting remedies, recommending products, sharing articles, including recipes, selling ebooks.
There are many more types of blog that include different styles of writing and different types of media shared.
The "funny jokes" niche certainly has its place on social media, as you may have seen.
Related: Importance of Facebook Business Page
Whatever niche you choose, or even if you opt to have several blogs that you post to, be sure of the following:
Post only accurate, well sourced information.
Avoid making any claims that could land you in legal hot water.
Include disclaimers at the end of each post, and on a special legal page of your site.
How to Make Your Blog Popular and Attractive
Hoping to make good money by posting to a blog?
Once your income generating strategies are in place, the next step is to go gangbusters with your blogging effort.
Your "blogging for business" goals should be:
Post detailed blog entries, and share often.
These don't have to always be your own thoughts.
The writing that you share can be a combination of helpful articles (using the list format for easy scrolling), personal essays, product recommendations, advice column content, cute, funny and interesting videos, and other types of content.
Get people noticing and clicking through to your blog posts from links that you and other people share on social media.
You must be consistent with this, as well as consistent with posting fresh articles on a frequent basis. Daily is ideal, but bi-weekly could be good if you're just starting out as a solo operation.
Get folks to sign up for your mailing list. You should have a permission-based email management software set up so that you can put a form up on your site. Visitors enter their info and are added to your email list of contacts.
Attract the attention of people who want to learn new things.
They have questions, they want to know how.
You have answers. This is simple, really. You pose the question in the title of the blog post. Then you answer it by sharing details in the body of the post.
Keep your readers coming back for more.
How to do this?
The best way is to become a bit of an internet sensation. If you fill your headlines with intrigue, you're likely to get people clicking on through, hitting your blog article where you can entice them to sign up.
So if you're posting about your dog and what his different tail wags might mean, you might come up with a clever lead-in about Telling Tails: Discover the Meaning Behind Your Dog's Nonverbal Communication.
Wondering how to capture and keep attention on the blog articles that you post?
One way is to reveal a bit of your personality.
Your "brand" needn't be a contrived thing, or plotted out way of speaking.
These days, most bloggers just write in their natural voice, and this brings out their personality, opinions, and interests, for like-minded people to flock to.
The more you share in the same way that you would if you were posting on Facebook sharing with friends, the more likely people will be drawn to you and want to come back to visit again and again.
You can keep them excited to hear your next blog update by making sure to grab them on the way out.
Just offer a simple PDF download of an eBook that covers some topic or other that you know a lot about, and that other people would want to learn more of.
So for example, you're a licensed yoga teacher looking to launch a wellness and self care blog, then just put together a nice package of instructions on how to do basic yoga poses, with pictures.
Infuse a bit of your own, natural personality in the writing and pictures you choose.
The blogging world is competitive, but if you're consistent and persistent you’re your content publishing strategy, it's sure to yield positive results for you.
Blogging Business Plan: What Should You Know About SEO?
Back when the internet was just a wee babe, website development experts had a lot to say about SEO (search engine optimization).
Most everyone back then was talking about keywords and where to insert them into the header and other strategic spots on your website.
But now, keywords hold different weight.
Sure, you can tuck them into all the little nooks and crannies of your website or blog, such as your links and images.
BUT blogs have revolutionized keyword placement and made a lot of the arduous work obsolete.
So you can still use popular terms that people are searching online, and you can still look up who's searching for which keywords on any given month.
But as long as you put your keywords or keyword phrases into the top header, title and description of your blog, post titles, pages and headings of your blog (meaning H1, H2, H3 headings and so forth), you're pretty good to go for getting found.
How to know what your blog's main keywords are going to be?
Well, that really depends on what your research brings up and your decision on which phrases to focus on. Let's use the industry of "PLR" or Private Label Rights Content" as an example.
There are a few different keyword phrases that will bring you different types of customers within this niche.
This is what some might look like:
PLR articles
PLR content
PLR ebooks
Private label rights
Health PLR
Self Help PLR
Done-for-you content
Done-for-you courses
Prewritten content
DFY content
Whatever keywords and phrases you include in the main index's top header, blog title and description will likely hold more weight.
But also, different post titles might drive traffic to your site based on the combo of words you publish there.
If the article is about using PLR (private label rights) content to attract the right readers, then you don't have to be too crafty about keywords, just as long as those phrases are utilized in a detailed and informative article that has them in the title and subheads.
You can also pay to run a Google Adwords campaign and "bet" on certain phrases driving the right kind of traffic (translation: the ready buyers) to your blog.
What if your keywords aren't attracting the right kind of traffic?
Honing in on the right audience means speaking their language.
If your readers aren't buying, you may be using keywords that speak to a different audience than the one that's likely to buy from you.
This isn't nearly as catastrophic as it sounds.
You just head back to the SEO drawing board, and do your homework finding better keywords and keyword phrases.
So, using the PLR audience again… if you find that you're getting lots of sign-ups BUT not so many sales conversions are happening, then you might do some sleuthing to see which keywords are being used by your competition.
If, for example, you know that someone who sells what you sell get a large list and tends to win a lot of affiliate contests, then you might peek at the keywords they use in their own blog page and article titles, to see what works for them and whether it can work for you.
Don't be afraid to change your keyword strategy, or to start posting articles that focus on a different set of search terms than what you were doing before.
Being experimental with your approach to online marketing is all part of the fun.
Where to Get Content for Your Blog?
So we're talking about how to make money online using a blog.
As you've probably heard, one of the best ways to get more signups that convert into sales, is to publish lots of high quality content, and publish often.
"Lots" is vague, though, right?
You could feel like posting once per week is "lots" but in the grand scheme of the online publishing world, it really isn't.
Do you want your blog found?
Do you hope to have thousands of people on your mailing list who buy things from you, or click your links and buy things that you are an affiliate for?
Then think of blogging as your full-time job (assuming it is), and post at least one new entry each day.
Even better if you can get your blog built up with lots of good content, fast.
If you have a source of prewritten content and you can get someone such as a VA to post high volumes of articles, then you're more likely to climb your way to the top as an expert in your industry.
What you do of course depends on your own, personal preference.
You might be a casual blogger, or you might be "all in" with your publishing effort.
But if you do go in, know that monetization is a very important step in the process.
Think of a site like Buzzfeed, or Huffington Post, that utilizes the power of their members to generate the content.
People log on and create their own articles, hoping to be recognized.
Their site has a more complex content management system.
So if you compare a site like that to your own little startup blog, you might feel dwarfed, and want to give up. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Just like a real, physical business, the more you put it out there, the more momentum you will gain over time.
If you establish a following and keep getting more people to jump on your list because they regard you as an expert, then you can work your way up to making a decent living.
As a beginner blogger, after the initial enthusiasm wears off, you may find yourself wondering how you can possibly keep content production going.
One way is by taking content creation shortcuts that don't involve you writing from scratch.
Here are some perfectly acceptable, alternate methods of finding and publishing content to your blog without having to start from square one.
Host guest blog posts and guest content.
Some active bloggers in the internet marketing realm rely heavily on clicks and sales of their information products. They encourage affiliates to share the advice they offer, and post links to make half the sale.
The really serious moneymakers will even have the content prewritten for you to share on your own blog, making changes if you like, with your affiliate links to their products embedded right in the content.
This is a really great way to post fresh content without having to write it from scratch.
Host an advice column. Let your email subscribers and social media friends know that you're taking questions related to the area of expertise covered in your blog. So for example, if you're an expert on fly fishing, you might begin fielding Q&A sessions from readers that will act as content fodder to keep your blog content going.
People will love this, and people who are in search of info on fly fishing will come upon your blog will benefit from the information and regard you as an expert. And it will get you plenty of search engine love if you post consistently.
Buy articles as PLR and post them with some changes.
PLR stands for private label rights content, and you can get low-cost articles on just about any topic, with the right to publish these under your own name.
You can also edit the articles, cut and paste the content into different forms, such as ebooks or courses; or break them up into mini ebooks that you give away to grow your list. PLR articles can become your own blog posts with just a few changes, including modifying the headline, switching around the points, adding in your own examples, or deleting certain parts.
Write an ebook, and share portions of the ebook as blog posts. Believe it or not, trust in online purchases has grown by leaps and bounds. If you're selling information that someone wants, and for a few dollars to boot, you can bet that ebook sale will come through.
Also, smart phones have taken things to new levels of distraction. So if you post part of your ebook as a few blog articles, with a "Take this info to go!" link, they can check out and have the full version in ebook form, in their email in mere minutes.
Blog Monetization Requirements
Your preference for setting up income generators on your blog is entirely up to you. Some people test out blogging first, to see if they like it.
This is probably the best idea, rather than putting in all of the work to join affiliate programs and write ebooks, only to find that you have no patience for blogging anyway.
However, if you already know that blogging's your thing, and you're excited to get the monetization going, then here's what you should have in place to plug your blog into profit:
A PayPal account.
PayPal is the most common method of safely and securely sending and receiving online payments.
Things you can do easily with a PayPal account and the ability to follow simple instructions include: invoicing online; setting up unique products that people can pay for online; taking payments for recurring subscriptions; receiving affiliate income.
Your best bet is to create or choose a bank account that you can link to your PayPal account, select the business level of account, and follow their instructions so you can be set up to send and receive payments online.
Blogging software.
If you know something about publishing websites, you certainly are not limited to a blog. However, people who have basic computer knowledge will find that managing a blog offers a relatively simple learning curve.
The most popular choice for setting up a blog is wordpress.com.
One advantage to using platform like this is that if your blog goes to the next level, you'll be able to hire a virtual assistant to help with post publishing, changing the design, tweaking SEO, and other important elements of blogging.
Google Adsense, or another form of pay-per-click advertising.
Just know that "Google Ads" is for people who want their blog or website to appear in the Google ads that show up on other people's websites.
You will likely just want to place Google ads on YOUR blog that other people see when they read, and are likely to click. Each time they click through, you make a small sum of money.
The more visitors that click your ads, the more money you make, which is why bloggers put a lot of effort into driving traffic to their blogs.
A method of selling ebooks and paid information products.
E-junkie.com offers a low flat monthly membership for having your own account on their site where you can set up individual ebook products, upload PDF ebooks to sell, and connect each product to a sales page that's hosted on your site, and a method of payment, typically PayPal.
Other common sites set up for this purpose include JV Zoo, Gumroad, and Warrior Plus.
Email List Management Software.
You've probably surfed a topic online, found an article on someone's blog that you then clicked, and were prompted to sign up for a mailing list. You want something like this set up on your site so you can capture new leads. These are people who want to hear from you via email, and will likely purchase products from you as well.
Aweber and Mail Chimp are two popular companies that offer a tool like this, known as permission-based email management software.
Depending on the membership level that you select, you can use this software to manage multiple lists, send out scheduled and instant broadcasts, and set up autoresponders that automatically email your readers a message that you write in advance and set up to send at regular intervals.
An active affiliate program such as Amazon. Many people search the internet to learn more about products they may want to buy.
Or, their exploration into a niche topic, such as yoga, might lead them to your blog which shares information and recommends products.
As an affiliate of Amazon, if you share your link then you can receive a percentage of the sale each time someone buys through your link.
For more advanced online business owners, you might look into hosting a membership on your site, where people play a flat fee to log on as your member and manage a profile on your site, download information-based gifts or resources, and more.
To set something like this up you would need a software like Amember or InvisionSoft.
However, this is something that bloggers don't typically venture into until they are well established in their online business, have a sizeable email list and following, and are ready to commit to a more labor intensive, time intensive income-producing activity.
Blogging Resources & Tools
DIY Programs to Know as a Blogger or Website Owner
Do you want to make money with your blog?
Then you really should be up-to-date on the technology. There isn't anything that you can't teach yourself, provided you're inclined toward using computers in the first place.
Some people hate computers, and if that's you, then having an online business may not be the best choice for you.
But assuming that you're in this because you're comfortable using different programs, typing emails and posting online, then it's going to be pretty easy to get updated on online business.
Just make sure to have patience with yourself for mastering the learning curve.
Here's a list of tasks that you'll be managing (or you'll need to outsource) as a new online business owner.
After each task, you can review a list of marketing tools, memberships or programs that will help you accomplish the work.
Blogging Task:
Writing sales content, writing articles, blog posts, email campaigns, ebooks, courses, email challenges, video scripts, others:
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
For editing and manipulating, resizing and compressing images & for creating banners, social images, infographics:
Canva
GIMP
Cloud Storage - for keeping files safe:
Dropbox
Zoom
Making HTML Web Pages
Adobe Dreamweaver
PDF creation - PDF Maker, Adobe PDF, Others
Publishing a website or blog
Tools needed:
Web hosting and domains:
Blogging - posting daily blog entries and blog pages using a content management system.
Platform: wordpress.com
Collecting email addresses and marketing via email - Aweber, Invisionsoft, Mail Chimp
Creating surveys - Survey Monkey
Selling tangible, physical products online: Ebay, Amazon, Etsy
Selling information products such as ebooks, e-guides, courses, planners, journals, workshop content, PLR, images, other
For ebook sales: e-junkie.com, gumroad.com
For taking payments: PayPal
Affiliate sales of physical products:
Amazon.com
Etsy.com
Affiliate sales of information products:
JV Zoo
Warrior Plus
Amember software
Blogging Email list
How an Email List Makes You Money in Your Blog Business?
You may have heard many a marketer like Igor Kheifets say, "The money is in the list" but what does that MEAN?
It means that if you take the time to connect with other professionals in your industry who appreciate what you do (and possibly vice versa), these connections will be more likely to sign up for your list and buy whatever it is that you are selling.
"The money is in the list" means that if you've just written the e-guide to end all e-guides, you're going to want to cash in on your hard work.
So if you have 50 people on your list then you might hope that half those people buy the ebook which means maybe you'll pitch it for $100 but just one person ends up buying.
But if you had 5,000 people on your list and you sold that very same ebook for $10, AND half the sales converted, then you just made $25,000 selling a single ebook.
That is a hypothetical scenario, and you're far more likely to experience a 20 to 30% conversion rate if whatever your ebook is about happens to be the "it" topic of the month, and you promote it like crazy.
But I used the whole numbers to show that the money REALLY IS in the list.
So if you don't have one, you can't expect to make much money for all the hard work you put in.
Another way that an email list can make you money is if you offer a commission incentive in the form of an affiliate program.
Then, the people who work in the same or a complimentary niche as you do might be inclined to promote your products to the people on their lists.
So now, even though you're giving away a portion of your sales, you've saved yourself time because someone else put in the work to promote a project that you've already completed.
One more great reason to run an email list is that the more times you connect with engaged readers, the more likely they will convert to paid sales over time.
It's the old marketing adage, we're more likely to buy from a brand we know and trust than a new person we aren't familiar with.
Another way that an email list can make us money is if we set up sales funnels. If a customer just purchased an information product from our website, he or she might also be in need of something else that's related to said product.
So for example, if you sell ebooks that teach Wordpress Basics, and your customer bought one, maybe the next step is for your customer to invest in a paid, professional blog theme.
You can set that up as a sales funnel upsell that the customer will see from the product download page where they ordered your products.
And the main point of contact where you reach out to let your customers know that these items are available for them to take advantage of some savings on, is, guess where, from your email blast that you send out to your entire list.
Blogger Taxable Income: How to Claim Online Business Income on Your Federal Taxes
If you've never made money online before, maybe now you launched a blog and some Adsense income has started to come in.
Perhaps you set up some ebooks for sale, and you also have advertised your virtual assistant services for people to purchase from you via PayPal.
So a bit of freelance income is now coming into the coffers.
But the looming question is, how do you report this on your income tax returns?
Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you have not yet taken steps to protect yourself as a limited liability company (LLC) with its own separate tax ID number, it's no worries.
Your online business income might still be pretty low if you're reading this.
And even if it's climbing rapidly (yay for you!), you can easily claim your earnings by filling out a 1099-MISC form under your social security number.
You will also want to run a Profit and Loss sheet for each quarter, to make sure that you're taking your business deductions as needed.
You may want to head over to the IRS website to see what the minimum annual income is for filing if you're never had to do this before or if you were previously unemployed before launching your income-generating website.
Items that count as a business deduction include computers and software purchased; your internet connection; your phone if you use it for business; your website hosting; any membership fees you pay to belong to certain business-related websites; any office supplies purchased, and others.
There is even a square footage space calculation that you can claim if you work in an office inside of your home.
If you take PayPal payments, and most do, though there are other acceptable payment options such as Stripe, you should be logging in to download reports of how much money came in versus how much went out each month. You don't want to report more than you actually brought in.
So for example, let's say you made $1500 this month but paid $300 out to your affiliates. You'd want to factor that into the overall business expenses before reporting the total amount.
As your online income grows, you'll want to submit quarterly business income tax payments to the IRS based on the amount that you bring in every 3 months.
Blogging Income: How to Set Up Automated Ebook Sales
Are you interested in selling ebooks to create another easy and fun, passive income stream from your blog?
If writing is your joy and your natural ability then ebook creation and sales will be the right kind of blog monetization for you.
Of course, you certainly don’t have to write ebooks yourself if you don't want to. There are many ways to source content for your ebook. These include hiring an intern and editing the ebook; hiring a top paid ghostwrite to make your ebook incredible from the first draft; and purchasing done-for-you content that you piece together, edit and add your own stories to, which then becomes the first draft of your ebook.
You can even resell ebooks that have been purchased as MRR content which stands for Multiple Resell Rights.
Whether you write your ebook yourself from scratch, or you pay for the content; or you hire someone else to write it for you, you'll definitely want to take note of these must-know steps for setting up an ebook to sell automatically from your site.
Before we begin, let's first talk about a good reason to make sure your ebook sales are automatic.
One, because if you decide to run ebook sales manually, you could run into major problems keeping up. After, all this is the internet.
People from any part of the world that has an internet connection may find and decide to purchase your ebook. You'd ideally want the transaction to go smoothly with little to no need to interact with the customer.
To do this, you must have a method for setting up automated ebook sales. This sounds intimidating but it's actually really easy.
Let's cover the process in a few simple steps.
After running through these and doing each one, you should be good to go.
Step 1: Make sure your business PayPal account is activated.
Like most everything online, PayPal is ever-changing. So by the time you read this, there could be some interesting option for selling ebooks via PayPal that we don't have today. For now, just know that a business level PayPal account is the way to go.
Set your account up by logging into PayPal and following all of the prompts. They will ask you for a company name and a bank account to associate with your account. You'll need to verify the bank account by identifying a micro transaction of a few cents that they apply to your account.
Step 2: Make sure you have a way to send automated emails that go out instantly after a product is ordered through your PayPal.
Unfortunately you can't do this directly from PayPal. Your customer will be expecting to instantly download an information product file.
Choose a service such as Gumroad or E-Junkie.com.
Their fees are extremely affordable and your ebook sales transactions will be nearly hands-off, unless something goes wrong.
So set up your service account with one of these companies, and be prepared to pay a small fee. It could be a percentage of each sale, or it could be a monthly fee that repeats.
You will be linking your PayPal to this account so that secure payments can come through their service.
Step 3: Log into your account with the info product selling platform.
Let's say it's e-junkie.com. Once your account is set up with your name, address, company name, tax ID and other details, you must set up a product that will be associated with the sale of this particular ebook. So create a new product.
Fill in all details such as product name, price, what's included, refund policy, and automated email contents that go out when people order. Then upload a PDF file of your ebook. This will be the final step that ensures your customer receives the correct item once their PayPal payment goes through.
Step 4: Place links and order button code anywhere that you would like people to be able to order via a secure link and check out via PayPal.
Your first ideal spot would be the product sales page. This is a single web page or blog page that contains an energetic sales pitch covering all details of the product. You'll want to include a compelling headline and strongly persuasive sales letter copy.
At the bottom is where you'll tell people about a limited time offer - some kind of sale or bundle package that makes this irresistible to them. Add the HTML button code that you grab from e-junkie or whatever the product website is that you opted to go with. Publish your page.
Step 5: Advertise your ebook everywhere.
You can write blog posts announcing the launch of your new info product. You can publish emails that encourage people to sign up and download this item. You can share a social media post that tells people about your ebook. And you can pay for social media ads that lead back to the sales page link where people can buy.
Where to talk about and share the link to your ebook's sales page:
Your blog posts - inside the text, and at the bottom of any related articles you publish
The right sidebar of your blog
Emails that you send out to your list
Social media profiles, pages and groups
In the description area of any related videos that you publish on YouTube or another site which talk about the ebook.
Please note: people will be more likely to purchase your ebook if you put a limited time only sale price in place. You can also throw in bonuses to sweeten the deal. Maybe they also get a related, downloadable planner; complimentary coaching hours; a special tech tool; or something else.
You can choose to keep your ebook sales page a permanent fixture on your blog or website by linking to it from a main page or from the top navigation. Or, you can decide to share the link and talk about it for a limited time during one season.
Then you can move your focus to something different once the sale is over. Wait for a certain length of time, could be six months, could be a year - then promote your ebook all over again.
For as long as the content is relevant and helps your readers learn something or solve a problem, you'll make sales year after year.
Blog Traffic From Pinterest: Using Pinterest to Get More Clicks and Sales
Do you want to know how people make money posting on Pinterest?
Although the format may seem unusual at first, Pinterest is just like any other social media site. The object of these sites is to make interesting and compelling posts that lead back to your blog.
Once at your blog, people can read an article that addresses a problem they may be experiencing. Then they can sign up for your mailing list, order a product, book you for services, or something else.
The first thing to know going in is that images rule on Pinterest. You can easily see this as soon as you set up your account and log in. It's not really too different from any other website, though the whole concept of "pins" may throw things off a bit for you until you get used to it.
So log into your Pinterest account, and set up some categories of interest (boards) for yourself.
Once Pinterest knows what you want to see, your feed will begin serving up pins from different Pinterest users.
If you see something you like in the form of an interesting pin and lead-in headline, save it to your board where other people will see it as well.
Also attached to the same pins that you save to your board are links, at the bottom, which lead back out to the "real world" beyond Pinterest.
As a Pinterest user who creates pins of your own, that little link at the bottom of your pins will be very valuable to you.
You're trying to get people to love your Pinterest image and headline so much that they click that link (instead of saving your Pin, or in addition to saving your Pin), and ride the link back to your blog, sales page or website.
So, to summarize how to make money from Pinterest:
Your Pin that you create should share an awesome graphic with a really intriguing lead-in line. It could be something like "This ancient remedy is called Nature's Pencillin by some" with a picture of wild mushrooms or something that makes people stop and look.
Then the link that you share should lead back to an article on your blog which talks about said remedy and includes your affiliate links to Amazon products as well as PPC ads.
Or perhaps the remedy is available for purchase from a sales page that you write, and share your product affiliate link.
Youtube Blogging Income: Setting Up YouTube to Make Passive Income
If you really want to hook your blog up to passive income opportunities, then don't overlook the potential to make money using YouTube.
One reason YouTube works so well is that video content ranks extremely favorably. If you post pages or posts to your blog or website and embed videos onto those pages, you'll be increasing view to your YouTube channel of videos that you post and share.
If you upload videos that relate to whatever you sell on your website or blog, then the description text of your video should include a link that goes back to your website. This will help your website or blog posts pull up in the search ranks when people type in keywords that relate to what you offer.
Another way to monetize YouTube is to connect your Google Adsense account with your YouTube account, and then activate ads to appear on any videos that you publish.
Video content on YouTube is heavily policed, so you'll want to be sure that your videos don't contain content that is illegal to share. Some musicians enforce copyright laws to prevent people from putting the songs that they created onto their YouTube channel.
You may wish to include a copyright line along with your videos that expressly state that any copyrighted content is owned by the creator.
The easiest way to find the proper wording and when to use this line as well as what to say would be to search YouTube for their copyright law information. You definitely don't want to land yourself in hot water by posting content that belongs to someone else.
Even if you don't yet sell ebooks or other types of products and services that you advertise via YouTube video that lead back to your blog, you can also post specially themed videos that you embed into individual blog posts. We'll use pets as an example since that's a highly popular topic and people like to see videos of pets.
You can upload funny animal moments to your collection of YouTube videos. Make sure that the video includes pay per click ads. Also make sure that your blog post contains clickable ads so that people might click them while watching the video from your post where it's embedded.
Yet another way to make money using YouTube videos is by spending a good amount of time and effort creating instructional videos. People often want to know step by step how to do things. So let's say you're an avid outdoorsman and you want to show people how to tie different types of knots.
The easiest way to relay this is by video. So you make a video of yourself fashioning different knots. Then you upload the video to YouTube, monetize it, and share the link or embed the video from your blog and social accounts.
Blogger Partnerships: How to Do a Business JV (Joint Venture) Online
Do you blog for bucks?
Is your blog the vehicle for selling information products, such as ebooks, planners, journals, templates, social images, and other great forms of content?
The marketing niche really lends itself to joint ventures of all kinds. So if you're in the business of selling information products online, you can jump right in with a joint venture.
If you're just getting started with online income then you might feel like the term Joint Venture sounds intimidating. Where would you possibly find a willing and able business partner? Isn't this serious stuff that only experts should dare venture into?
Oh, there's that word again - venture. This is a joint venture. It's actually a really smart way to do business online. You and your joint venture partner can decide the details and terms of your JV (Joint Venture).
Before we go into the finer points, let's talk about what exactly a JV online might entail. Let's say that you're a writer. You want to sell an information product. Your friend, who is also a writer, has her own area of expertise that compliments yours. She also has a product to match what you've created.
Suppose your product is website design templates, and her product is done-for-you social images. You could decide to pool together your offerings and each present your list with a special coupon for the package of your content and her content, bundled together.
There are definitely forms of software out there that readily enable you to quickly and easily set up a joint venture. Some ideal spots to set up a JV product to split profits with a friend include Warrior Plus and JV Zoo.
Your JV partner doesn't even have to be someone you know well. It could be a casual, somewhat trusted friend within your field of expertise. If the JV doesn't make you millions, it's not a big deal. You just end the sale and move on to use your product that you created in some other capacity.
Blogging Checklist: 7 Common Beginner Blogger FAQ
1. What kind of blog do I need?
The first thing you should decide what type of website you want to build. Do you want to have a static site (no web server) or do you want to use WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc.?
You could also just write directly in HTML if that's what you prefer.
2. Where do I host my blog?
If you're using a hosting service then you'll need to sign up for them, otherwise you'll have to pay monthly fees to get a domain name.
There are many different types of websites out there and each offers its own advantages and disadvantages.
If you don't know much about programming and CMS' then maybe a free platform is best for you, but if you want to learn how to code then you may want to opt for something else.
3. How do I create content?
Now you have to find some good quality images and videos that express your idea well enough to be worth sharing with others.
Once you've got these, you can post them wherever you'd like.
Many people share their posts on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., but if you don't have any followers yet, it's probably not the right fit for you at the moment.
4. When should I publish my blog posts?
Publishing your content regularly helps build interest in it and increase the amount of people who view and comment on it.
Try to keep your posts updated weekly once you begin to gain traction with your audience.
Don't forget to respond to comments and questions, that way your readers can feel connected to you.
5. What to expect after posting my first few articles?
You might notice a spike in traffic immediately after publishing your first article, but this isn't really indicative of anything.
If you wait around for more than a month or two, your traffic should steadily increase over time.
6. Should I charge money for my blogging services?
Charging customers money shouldn't be necessary to get started.
In fact, charging money makes it harder for people to trust you.
Instead, offer free options for people who aren't ready to invest in themselves or are looking to test the waters before they move forward.
People are always afraid that they won't make any money, but you'll actually make more money if you give away things for free than if you sell them for $10-$20.
7. How long should I spend writing my blogs?
Once you've decided what kind of topic you want to cover, you'll need to research your niche thoroughly.
Writing a great article takes time and effort, so try to put yourself in someone else's shoes.
Find out what they're struggling with and address those issues.
Think about the words you would say to them, and write your article accordingly.
Blogging Example: How To Be A Cannabis Blogger
Cannabis Bloggers (Cannabis Blogging) Are Also Called Weed Bloggers (Weed Blogging).
A cannabis blogger is someone who covers the topic of marijuana and the associated industry. This includes everything, including culture, history, laws, economics, politics, science, and medicine.
A good cannabis blogger should not only cover the latest news regarding legalization, but he/she should also explore the potential of medical advancements.
It’s important that anyone writing about cannabis does so responsibly. Be mindful that while information about cannabis shouldn’t be suppressed, misleading information can cause harm to both individuals and society as a whole. While you don’t necessarily need to have years of experience working in the industry before writing about it, you do need to stay educated on the subject.
There are plenty of opportunities out there for cannabis writers. You could join a specific subreddit, follow trending issues, or simply begin blogging about your opinions. You can even write about topics that aren’t related to marijuana, such as food, travel, fashion, and other topics.