How to Make Money as a New Blogger

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Interview with successful blogging coach and mentor, Cate Rosales

Learning how to make money with your blog can sometimes be an overwhelming adventure. There are so many different was of earning money as a blogger and it’s such a popular topic in almost every support group I am a part of.

So, I decided to do an interview with Cate Rosales, of sweetandsimplelife.com, on the ins and outs of making money as a new blogger.

Cate is actually my own personal blogging mentor and has become a great friend. That’s right- even mentors need mentors. She’s my go-to when I’m stuck and she has a wealth of amazing knowledge about making money as a blogger that she has graciously agreed to share in this live interview.

This is a recap of our interview but if you would like to watch the replay, you can here.

Tell me about how you first got started blogging?

Honestly, I just started my blog as a hobby because I loved to write. I had a full-time job, but I just wasn’t really fulfilled in that. We had just found out that I was pregnant with our first baby, and I was browsing Pinterest a lot and reading cute mommy blogs, and I just thought, I can do this! So, I did…

I always loved writing, ever since I was a little girl. I wrote books, I did a lot of freelance writing in college and content creation for my former employer… so blogging just made sense. Telling stories and inspiring people through your writing is just the dream job!

And here we are, four years later…

When did you start to monetize your blog?

I started making a few bucks here are there very early on, through sponsored posts and affiliate marketing. But I didn’t start making steady money for about six months.

It will be a little different for everyone, but you can definitely start monetizing your blog within a few months if you do things right.  

What are some ways to get started making money as a new blogger?

There are so many fun and flexible ways to start earning money from your blog. Your revenue streams will all depend on what you write about and what your end goals are, but overall most bloggers make money from promoting and selling their own stuff or promoting and selling other people’s stuff.

You can promote a product, service, or place of business through something called a “sponsored post.” This is working with a sponsor to raise awareness of whatever they are trying to sell or share. This is how I started earning money from my blog and it’s so much fun! I highly recommend it.

You can also promote other people’s stuff through affiliate marketing, which is basically earning a commission when someone buys through your affiliate link.

I think the most profitable way to make money as a blogger is creating and selling your own products or services. It gives you full creative control and you get to keep 100% of the profits, so you really can’t beat that! It takes some time and strategic effort though, so I would add that to the list of long-term goals.

Of course, you can also run ads on your blog, which a lot of bloggers do because it’s the easiest way to earn passive money from your site. I personally prefer to avoid the clutter of ads all over my site, so I don’t use this revenue stream, but it’s an option!

How long does it take to actually start making money blogging?

This one will be different for everyone, depending on how much time you dedicate to your blog each day, your monetization strategy, and your knowledge of online business. Because essentially, you are running your own online business…

Some people choose to invest in business/blogging education early on, which can help you make money a lot faster, and others choose to sift through free content and learn as they go. Either way, if you focus on strategic action and you work on your blog every day, you can start earning from your blog within the first few months.

I wouldn’t expect steady monthly income from a brand new blog during that first year though, because blogging income fluctuates so much, and it’s just important to be realistic with your income goals. It took me a solid year of work for my blog to replace my income from my day job, and I had prior business/marketing experience…. So, it really just depends.

What are your top tips for new bloggers that want to eventually make a full-time income from their blog?

The best advice that I can give is this: if you want to make money from your blog, you have to treat your blog like a real business. Business owners work hard, make hard decisions, show up even if they aren’t “feeling” it, they invest in their business, and they understand that you have to sell something to earn money (sell ad space, affiliate products, services, or promotional content).

You will have to get used to selling if you want to build a successful blog. But the cool thing is, when you have an audience that loves your work, and you fill a need for that audience, it doesn’t even feel like selling. It’s just a natural process of serving your audience and getting paid to do it.

I can’t stress that enough: businesses run on strategy and sales. Get a strategy in place so that you can grow your audience and fill a need for them. Find a need, fill a need, make money from filling that need. It’s actually that simple.  

Tell us about your course for new bloggers.

My course is called Becoming a Blogger, and it’s all about simplifying the process of starting, growing, and monetizing your blog.

We cover absolutely everything you need to know about building a money-making blog and making it profitable THIS YEAR.

So, everything we’ve covered here today: setting up the blog, finding your audience, doing sponsored work, affiliate marketing, creating your own stuff, running ads. And then some additional training on growing your social media, starting an email list, covering yourself legally, and turning your blog into a real business.

Basically, I put together all of the tips, tricks, resources and training tools that I wish someone had handed me on DAY ONE of starting my blog. To help you simplify the process, avoid the mistakes, and start making money from your blog.

How can we find more of your amazing content online? Are there other ways to connect?

You can find my blogging community on Facebook, the group is called Becoming a Blogger, and we have over 13,000 amazing entrepreneurs and bloggers that work together every day to grow their business!

You can also find me on my website: sweetandsimplelife.com. I share blogging and marketing tips there every week! And my website has links to all of my social channels too, so look me up and come say HI!

Cate Rosales is a blogger and blog strategy coach who writes about making money blogging, simplifying online business, and embracing life as a working mom over at sweetandsimplelife.com

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