Do you currently have a blog and are making money online? If so, congrats! If not, no worries… there is still plenty of time to take advantage of what the internet has to offer.
Even better, starting a new website or blog isn’t just about making some extra money. There are plenty of benefits and opportunities in the world of online marketing – all of which I will dive into right now.
1. Starting the journey of working from home and for yourself
Of the many different benefits and reasons to start a website or blog and attempting to make money online, none of them are more exciting and beneficial than thinking this could very well be the first step in your journey to becoming financially independent.
As wonderful as financial success might seem, it’s nothing compared to the idea of being financially independent and working for yourself from the comfort of your own home. This is something I’ve personally been doing for over 20 years now and I simply couldn’t imagine it any other way.
However, just because you started the process of going live with a website or blog and maybe making a few dollars, it doesn’t mean you are ready to retire just yet. With more than a billion active websites and blogs creating new content on the internet, there is a ton of competition already out there.
If your ultimate goal is to quit your job and pay for the bills by blogging and making money online from home, be sure to have at least a solid 12 months of success under your belt and a good amount of money saved up.
The last thing you want to do is make some good money online, quit your job, and then see things taper off. Making money from home isn’t for everyone, but if you are willing to put in the time, effort, and dedication… the opportunity is just waiting for you to take it!
2. Building a better personal brand and first impression
What is it that you are currently doing as a profession? Are people currently searching for your name in Google to learn? And lastly, are you an authority (or would you like to be) within your industry?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, a website or blog can definitely help in the process – while ultimately helping you make more money in the process.
A quick and simple way to accomplish this would be to register your personal name as a domain, and then launch a simple WordPress site with a few articles of content.
Then, start sharing your site on social media and link to it from a few different platforms and sites. Assuming you don’t have an extremely generic or popular name, you should start to see your name ranking at the top of Google.
If this is something you are really interested in, while also establishing yourself as an authority and expert within your niche market, you should also explore your options with guest blogging and contributing expert content to other sites in your industry.
I also recommend you read through the tips and examples here. One of the most common ways to see this process in action is to look up any of your favorite celebrity’s names and see the order in which content ranks for their names. “Taylor Swift” is a perfect example and you can see a preview of this below.
The more content, backlinks, and social shares you have out there, the more likely you are to rank higher in Google. If you would like to start owning the whole first page of Google for your name, replicate this same process, but using your social media profiles as well.
3. Exploring the world of affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing generates hundreds of millions of dollars every year and is one of the best ways for site owners and bloggers to make money with their site content. If you already have a site and traffic flowing through it, you can even start making money from it today.
The way affiliate marketing works is simple. You find and join an affiliate program, and are then given an affiliate link URL to send your traffic. When someone clicks on your tracking URL and takes a specific action, you will then earn a commission for each lead or sale generated.
One of the main attractions to affiliate marketing is that there is no inventory to hold and you never need to process a sale. All you need to do is have a traffic source and know how to get your affiliate links in front of the right people.
Affiliate marketing and blogging work extremely well together because of the content that can be created. As the site owner and blogger, it’s your job to come up with a useful resource and guide to walk a user through a process and then provide them with a step by step process on how to best accomplish this.
For example, if you had a financial blog and wrote a detailed article on how to pay off private student loans, all you would need to do is research the topic in the article you linked to, then join that site’s affiliate program and link back to their site from your content.
This is a perfect example, as Ahrefs reports more than 27,000 people search for “private student loans” every month, and even more opportunities are available when you get more niche specific. Before writing your content and reference guide, be sure to take a moment to better understand who your audience is and how to best cater to their needs.
This works exceptionally well in the financial industry, as people are always willing to walk through steps to lower debt and improve personal finances. In any case, the company you are promoting will track and pay out a commission for every new lead or sale that goes through your link.
The important thing to remember here is you won’t make money with affiliate marketing if you just throw random links all over the place and hope random sales and leads will come through. In order to find the most success with affiliate marketing, you need to focus on the end-user experience and providing them with something of value.
4. Turning your content creation and SEO expertise into a business
If you want to make it in the world of blogging and making money online, you are likely going to have some specialized skills in content creation, SEO, and knowing how to market your site and content. The good news is, if this is the case, you shouldn’t have any problems with growing your site and content out over time.
The even better news is that millions of businesses and brands lack these skills and it can open up a whole new world of business and opportunity for you.
If you can get to the point where you understand how site content and SEO work, this is a skill that businesses and brands will pay thousands of dollars for. At the same time, with everything you already know, it shouldn’t be hard to launch a new site and run it as your own SEO and marketing agency.
The business of managing clients and finding new ones month after month is a challenge, but if you master this art, it can quickly bring in a whole new source of recurring income – and also one that can be packaged up and sold!
If this is something you are interested in, SEMRush has a nice article on the process you can take, while also providing users with a good set of Q&A and examples to follow before going live with your own agency site.
5. Boosting your earnings and reputation as a freelancer
Freelancing is one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative ways for individuals to start making money online. If you have a computer and access to the internet, it’s also one of the fastest and easiest ways to get started.
Freelance work comes in many different shapes and forms, and if you are doing anything with writing, design or web work, there are several platforms out there like Fiverr and Upwork to connect clients and freelancers.
However, one big difference between freelancers that just hope for new work to come in and those that continue to see improved earnings month after month, are those with a website or blog.
With your own site, not only will this make you look more professional, but it can also help acquire new clients and allow you to accept payment directly – versus using an outside platform.
If you are a freelancer and don’t have a site of your own, get started with one today.
The best time to get started is right now!
At the beginning of this article, I asked if you already had a website or blog, and if you were already making money online. If you answered “yes”, then you are well on your way. If not, hopefully, this article has inspired you to take that first step in the right direction.
With so many opportunities and an extremely low barrier on costs to get started, there is really no reason to not have a site of your own.
Whether it’s your first, second, or hundredth site… be sure to explore the many different ways to make money with your site, while also doing much more in the process.
Best of luck!
Guest author: Zac Johnson is a world-renowned blogger and entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience in the online marketing space and has helped his readers generate millions of dollars online. He shares his story and guidance at ZacJohnson.com
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