Skip to Content

Start a Blog

Start a Blog

If you had asked me a few years ago if I would be writing a blog I would have thought you were crazy.

I have never been a writer.  Never wanted to be one, or even thought of it.

I talk an obscene amount but I would say much of it isn’t exactly worth sharing or designed to make a difference as more just fill the silence.  Charming I know. 🙂

But after stumbling on some hilarious blog posts and then seeing Start Your Own Blog pins everywhere on Pinterest I was intrigued.

I had already been at home for 14 years.  

I was pretty much homebound since my grandmother needed someone with her all the time.  

She mostly was doing her own thing around the house so I had plenty of time.  

I saw this as a huge opportunity to do something new for myself and maybe make some money.

Since I figured there was nothing to lose.  

I jumped in within days.  

And when I say jumped, I mean it.

I knew nothing about ANY. OF. IT.  

A whole new set of terminology.  

Coding, blogging, and design, all have their own language.

Since then, I won’t lie, there’s been yelling, crying, and frustration along with the joys of my first comments and my first subscribers.  And may I say my first dollar?  

I still get excited every time someone subscribes.  

The emails people have sent me have made it all worth it and I would do it again.

There are experts out there on everything from starting a blog, making the most of Pinterest traffic, writing great posts, creating and engaging with an email list, and more.

Even after all this time, I am still no expert at any of those.

I still consider myself a newbie.     

However, I know more than I did a few years ago. 

Every day I learn new ideas, trends, and improvements for my blog and my writing.

The amount of information out there on the subject of blogging is crazy!

As trends change, so does the blogging world.

There is information that is free that is AMAZING and info you pay for that is meh.  How in the F do you sort it all out?

I can’t give you all the answers, but I can tell you the tools I use.

Still want to start a blog?

These are the tools I use to make my life easier and create income. 

Before I get into that let me explain how people are making money from their blogs.

Again, I am by no means an expert at this.

There are many ways to do this.  Different ways work for different types of blogs.

Writing sponsored posts for brands, and advertising with companies that pay per click, or view, affiliate marketing, creating and selling your own products, and more.

Right now,  I do this through an ad placement agency and affiliate marketing.

Pay-per-click advertising is on-site ads that continuously run and change based on the visitor coming to the site.

If a visitor clicks on the ad, you get paid.  The visitor doesn’t even need to buy anything.   

A new blog can start pretty quickly using Google Adsense, the payout isn’t much but it gets people used to seeing ads on your site and it is a bit of money coming in.

Once you begin having more visitors to your site, I personally love Mediavine for ads.  This is what I have on this blog.

Blogs must receive at least 25k 50K sessions per month to qualify.

These are visits to the site (not the number of pages viewed, since one person may view more than one page).

These are not pay-per-click ads.

These ads also run based on user experience however the ad only needs to be viewed for me to receive compensation.

The compensation is way higher and the personalized help to make the most of your site can’t be beaten.

Affiliate marketing is when a blog incorporates links to products on its blog.

I talk about products I like and use, if people click on the link, it takes you to a site where you can purchase (usually Amazon) and I get paid based on anything they order regardless of if it’s the item that first sent them to the site. 

I receive a commission based on the purchase at no additional cost to the buyer. 

Different affiliates have different policies and payout structures.

Links may be with pictures or written in text and underlined like below.  Some affiliate companies are so awesome they offer pictures, ads, and even scripts to help you create those links.

The ones on this page are affiliate programs I currently work with.

I put the blocked statement below in all my posts so that people know what I’m doing.

arrow

This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a commission at no additional charge to you if you make a purchase using my links. Click here to see my full disclosure policy.

What’s in a Name

Choose wisely, If I had it to do over again, I would choose a different name for my blog. While I like the name, it’s not something people remember easily and the name isn’t obvious as to what it represents. Also, it’s long.

Domain names, (the name of your website) can be purchased for a nominal fee from sites like GoDaddy. They can also host your site, meaning the technology that’s needed to make it work. However, it’s smart to have separate companies hosting the domain, and hosting the site.

Website Hosting

The web hosting service provides the technology and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet.

I recently switched my hosting to Big Scoots.  If you already have a website, they will transfer everything over fast and free.

Superior customer service, site speed, and site downtimes have never happened to me since I switched.

Signing up with Big Scoots makes it all so easy to get yourself up and running quickly.

It includes an email address to match your website.  

Once you get set up, installing WordPress.org (the software used to create a website and blog), can be done right through your Big Scoots account.

Sending Emails

FREE (for less than 1000 subscribers) email marketing service.  

For connecting with people who want your wisdom as soon as you hit publish.  Grow your blog, and engage with your fans. Go to Mailerlite to learn more.

Create Email Marketing Your Audience Will Love - MailerLite
Visit Mailerlite
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Ok, but what do I write in these emails?

Kate Doster 

Kate Doster is THE go-to girl for email inspiration.  If you want your email marketing to EXPLODE…run and check her out.

She offers so much value your mind will be blown!

I love her no-nonsense style and fun attitude.

Get the what, the how, the why, and even “mad-lib style” pre-written templates to customize for all your email campaigns.

Whether you have a small list, big list, neglected list, or one you haven’t even started… get her course…yesterday.

Go here for Email Marketing Fairy 2.0

 Tailwind

Using this tool I have tons of Pinterest pins a day scheduled automatically every day to ensure I have people heading to my blog.

Tailwind Visual Marketing Suite
Scheduling and analytic tools for Instagram and Pinterest.  

Canva

FREE graphic design software for creating images for your blog, Pinterest, and Instagram.  

Click to start designing your very own pins, templates, and all kinds of printables.  (I don’t get a commission from Canva, but I use it and love it)  

Affiliate Marketing

Ultimate Bundles

This affiliate marketing company has product bundles they put together several times per year.  Every year is a bit different although some come back due to popularity.

The bundles feature hundreds of carefully selected products produced by bloggers at crazy discounts.

For example,  one previous bundle contained over $3600 worth of e-books, e-courses, workbooks, and more all for only $29.95!

They put out about 8-10 bundles each year, offered for a limited time.

In the past, I have seen homemaking bundles, parenting bundles, blogger bundles, and health bundles.

They give you all the tools and resources to promote them to your readers.

From links and graphics, like the one above to fully written emails that you can customize to your audience as well as the timeline for pitching the bundles.

A complete turnkey approach to succeed.  All this with a 40% payout.

Amazon Affiliates

Everyone is familiar with Amazon.

While they don’t boast the best payout structure, no one can deny that almost everyone uses them.

Links to graphics for your site and your articles are done with ease.

So if people link from your blog to Amazon, you can let Amazon do what it does best, SELL.

People don’t even have to buy what you’re talking about for you to make money.

They simply have to buy.

 ShareASale

This an affiliate marketing company that offers links to hundreds of websites that pay commissions to you based on purchases.  Join ShareASale by clicking on the ad below.

ShareASale 300x250 A

AWIN

An affiliate marketing company that offers links to partnerships with the world’s best-known brands through their websites. 

Each brand offers its own commission rates and links to products. 

Each partner requires you to apply individually through the AWIN umbrella.  Check out AWIN to see the brands offered.

Lasso

Lasso is a WordPress plug-in that allows you to create beautiful displays quickly for items you promote on your blog. That combined with tracking capabilities you can manage all your affiliate links in one place.

Below is an example.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
$12.29
Buy Now
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
02/20/2024 02:41 am GMT

Everybody needs experts. 

Even experts need experts.

These are a few of the top-notch professionals I turn to for specific help.

I don’t gain anything by recommending them.

They are my go-to gals and guys depending on their specialties.

Each one offers so much value for free.

Their tips tell you step-by-step what to do, not just generic tips you don’t know how to implement.

They each have resources for purchase as well.

  • Mike at Stupid Simple Seo has covered everything I wish I had known years ago and even more that I wish I understood better today. If I could wipe my mind and start over today, I would start here.
  • Suzi Whitford from Start a Mom Blog to get started from scratch and keep growing.  Suzi teaches everything you need to know to run a successful blog.    She really includes it all.
  • Lena Gott from What Mommy Does for boosting the number of people visiting my blog.  Lena provides tips that are easy to implement but create tremendous results. She is the reason reached the level needed to qualify for Mediavine a few years ago.
  • Sharon Gourlay from DigitalNomadWannabe.com  for great resources on understanding SEO (search engine optimization).  Fabulous tools checklists for site audits and more.   This site helped me so much when learning to improve many aspects to take my blog to the next level.  I wish I had learned of this resource much earlier.
  • Neil Patel his website neilpatel.com has articles and videos for many must-learn topics. I use his free online tools at Ubersuggest nearly every day.  It has keyword research, competition research, SEO audits, and more.

If you want to talk about bloggers to look towards to start you off right…shoot me an email at [email protected] and I’d love to talk to you about it 😉

Click to see my full disclosure policy and for my Amazon Affiliate disclosure.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.