There are tons of ways to create a blog out there, but if you are looking to create a blog and actually make money from it, this is for you.
The sad truth is that many bloggers greatly limit their earning potential because of the blog platform they used to start it.
As bloggers who are pouring our heart and soul into what we write, we SHOULD be compensated for our work!
In this guide I am going to help you get set up on the right foot, so that you will be set up to succeed.
Why I think you should start a blog
In a lot of ways the playing field has been leveled with big media companies and bloggers.
You and I now have the ability to reach just as many (if not more) readers than big media sites with our humble little blogs.
Additionally, I’m fully convinced that each of us has something to share. There’s something in each of us the world needs to hear. Without getting too “Tony Robbins” on you, you have a unique set of gifts, skills, and experiences that allow you to offer some insight on something that few others can.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many authors, bloggers, songwriters, poets, and other writers who have had an impact on my life. You can never underestimate the power of what you’re writing.
And there isn’t an easier or cheaper way to do that than by starting a blog.
And since it can be a source of supplemental income, it can help you reach your financial goals faster as well!
Not sure what to blog about?
That’s okay I got you covered, check out this video below where we chat about:
- 4 ways to tell what you should blog about
- How to know if the niche is one you can make money with
- How to get blog post ideas to write
How to start your blog right now
If you want to get started now, I put together a free tutorial that you can follow here to get started:
Oh and did I mention that if you use this guide, I will give you my $77 “Start Your Blog Now” 20-lesson video e-Course for FREE?
Watch the video above for details.
Step-by-Step Blog Setup Instructions
I recommend watching the video above, but if for some reason you can’t we have step-by-step instructions for how to start your blog right here:
1. Go to HostGator.com
I recommend self-hosted WordPress for bloggers (via Hostgator) who want to make money from their blogs. Hostgator is the host I use on most of my blogs and have used them for years. They are the best option I know of for new bloggers.
Go sign up for a webhosting package at HostGator.com (using this link to get your 45% off discount). When the HostGator homepage loads, click the button labeled “Get Started Now!”.
2. Choose a Domain
Enter the domain you would like in the “Enter Your Domain” section. (If you have already purchased your domain name, you can enter it in the “I Already Own This Domain” section.)
If available, it will show up in the list.
You will see a section that says Domain Privacy Protection with the box checked – I recommend keeping this for your domain because it will protect your online privacy.
But if you would like to save $12.95/year, feel free to skip this.
Go to domize.com and search until you find a domain name that is available (green ones are open, red ones are taken). If possible aim for one that has at least one of the keywords you would like to be found in the search engines for.
3. Choose a Hosting Plan
Now you will need to select a hosting package. I recommend the Baby Plan – that offers you Unlimited Domains – but the Hatchling Plan will do as well.
You can save more money by signing up for a longer term but you can pay month to month as well.
After picking your package type, you’ll need to enter your preferred username and security PIN.
4. Enter Your Billing Info
You will enter your personal and billing information in this section – you can pay with credit card or PayPal.
5. Add Additional Services
In this section, you can pick any of the additional services that you want but my recommendation is to move forward without anything additional at this time – you can always go back and add them on later.
Personally I don’t think you need any of these services.
6. Enter a Coupon Code
You’ll see your coupon code – SEEDTIME – is already entered to get you the 45% discount!
7. Review Order Details
Review all of your details and make sure everything is accurate. If it is, check the box stating that you agree with the terms and conditions (after reading them, of course…) and click Checkout Now!
Once your payment goes through, you’ll be redirected to this page:
Then once your account is setup and your order is complete, you’ll be directed to this page:
8. Go Check Your Email
You should receive two emails – one with login information for the billing and one with login information for your account.
When you receive the email with your account information (see below), click on the “Your Control Panel” link.
9. Control Panel Login
After clicking on Your Control Panel link, you will take your username and password from the email above and enter it into the cPanel to log-in to your control panel.
10. WordPress Installation
Once in the Control Panel, you will scroll to the bottom of the page and click on QuickInstall under Software.
You will find the WordPress install under Site Builders & CMS down on the page – click on WordPress.
You will pick your domain from the dropdown and click next.
You will fill out the Install WordPress form using your information – blog title, admin user, your name and admin email address.
Check the Terms of Service box and click the orange Install Now button.
Once your install is complete, you will see the page below which provides you with your URL Admin area, username and password.
You will also receive this information via email for safe keeping.
11. Accessing Blog Admin Area
If you see this page, it means your installation was successful and you can click on the green Admin Login page to get into your site. If you don’t see this, it means the DNS is still propagating through the internet. This can sometimes take up to 24 hours so if this is your situation, just jump on the chat box with HostGator (thats what you are paying them for) to see what’s going on and to make sure everything was installed correctly.
Once you are on this page, you will use your username and password from the Quick Install email that you received.
After logging in, you will be on your Dashboard! Mark this page as a favorite and save your log-in information – this is where you will go to update your blog, create blog posts, etc.
12. Learn the WordPress basics
If you used this guide to start your blog, just forward one of the emails you got from Hostgator (you can remove any login info before sending) over to Lauren (at) SeedTime.com and we will give you FREE access to our Start Your Blog Now course (retails for $77).
If you are new to WordPress, this is the perfect next step as this course will teach you everything you need to know about how to use your new WordPress blog.
If you have more questions about this whole blogging thing, just keep on reading…
This is a crazy world we live in…
Think about it.
You and I have the opportunity to sit in our living rooms with a laptop in hand and publish something that can have life-changing impact on someone thousands of miles away.
And since this same technology can be used for bad (and often is) I kind of feel a moral obligation to use my gifts, thoughts, and ideas to help make the world a better place.
My last 10 years
Starting a blog 10 years ago was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
I know that is a bold statement, but it is true.
5 things I have loved about it:
- It is the easiest way I know of to share the message that I had burning inside of me.
- It has a better earning potential than any other home-based business that I know of.
- It has allowed me to work from anywhere.
- It has helped me learn so much more about a topic I was already interested in.
- It has allowed me to get paid doing something I love while helping others in the process.
Is it too late to start a blog?
I get asked this a lot. Yes, there are a lot of blogs, but the reality is that while there is occasionally a benefit to getting in early, often it is a lot more work in the early stages.
This has certainly been the case. I have watched some of my blogging students go pro way faster than I did. And to be honest, the number of full-time bloggers that I know is staggering.
Additionally, when I started the tech was a lot more difficult – now you can run a blog an never even need to know a line of HTML code.
To answer the original question, I think it is more important to be your unique self with your blog today, but it is definitely NOT too late to start a blog.
And in many ways the opportunity for succeeding is far greater than it has ever been.
How to know if you should start a blog
Here are a few questions to consider:
Have you wanted to write a book?
If so, almost every book publisher is looking for authors who already have an audience. A blog is a perfect way to start building the audience while testing out ideas.
Do you have something that you just really want to share with the world?
A blog not only allows you to do this, but it can open up the door to other opportunities like: speaking gigs, consulting opportunities, book deals and a lot more.
Would you be okay giving up a few hours a week of Netflix?
I have seen many bloggers have tremendous amounts of success working only a few hours a week on their blogs.
Are you an expert or an enthusiast?
While this can help, more often than not I have found that “experts” don’t make the best bloggers. Typically, it is “enthusiasts” (someone who is really excited about a topic) rather than someone who knows a ton about it.
I think the reason is that many readers can better relate to an enthusiast who is a bit more like them.
For example, the biggest blogger in the Personal Finance niche admittedly knew little about Personal Finance when he started his blog. But he shared what he was learning as he was learning it and his readers loved it.
Are you a good communicator?
Lucky for us all, your writing ability doesn’t matter as much as one might think. I find it to be laughably ironic that English and Writing classes were always my worst subjects in school – and here I am writing for a living.
A more valuable skill is to be able to communicate ideas in a relatable way. There can be some overlap, but they are definitely different skills.
Can’t you start a blog for free?
Let me start by saying that there are definitely free options for starting a blog or website out there. Some of them are actually pretty good looking. And if you are just ‘testing the waters’ of this whole blogging thing, that may not be a bad route to go.
However, I strongly suggest once you get committed to the idea of blogging that you get a Self-Hosted WordPress site.
Here are 5 important reasons: (If you don’t need any convincing just skip this section)
1. You own it
When you have a Self-Hosted WordPress blog, you are paying for the hosting, but you also have full-control of your site. It is similar to the difference between owning your home and renting an apartment.
When you own your home, you call the shots, you paint the walls the way you want, and you choose the color siding to use. Where as when you rent, you are very limited in what you can do since you are not the owner. And the owner can even decide to sell and then you need to find a new home.
Blogger.com (owned by Google) has had multiple instances where the service was just down for 8+ hours. So if you used them then your site was down that whole time and you had no control. You just had to sit and wait. While unlikely, it is possible that Google could decide to shut down the blogger service or sell it to someone else and since you don’t own your blog with them, THEY have all the control and you really have no say in what happens.
2. Customization
If you don’t want to be limited to themes/templates/skins for your blog design, then Self-Hosted WordPress makes the most sense.
3. It is the biggest blog platform by far
According to WikiPedia there are over 60,000,000 WordPress blogs out there. Last update I heard was that over 30% of the entire internet is powered by it. Every blogger I am friends with uses WordPress. There is a reason that so many use WordPress.
4. Plugins
Another great thing about the WordPress platform is that there are tons of great plugins that you can use that will greatly increase the functionality of the site. There are plugins that will allow you to instantly convert your WordPress site into a store-front to sell your crafts, a membership site to teach students, a gallery for your photos, and a lot more.
5. Monetization
If you are interested in making money, Self-Hosted WordPress is the way to go. Many free options don’t allow you to run advertisements or limit your ability. This is just another reason that all the bloggers I know use WordPress for their blogs. There are actually many more reasons why I think this is the best long-term solution, but lets save some space and just leave it at that.
How I make money with my blog
When I go to family functions or social events I often get a blank stare when I explain what I do for a living. I think people understand the part that I write articles and put them on a website, but when it comes to making money from it, they don’t get it.
In this section I will lay it out and hopefully it will help bring some clarity…
1. CPC Ad Networks
There are a few different ad networks that I use. The most successful one has been Google’s Adsense program. Basically what they do is read the article that I write and find ads that are relevant to it and display them next to the article. The great thing about it is that by having extremely relevant ads, it actually can be quite beneficial to the readers as well.
For example, if I write an article explaining how we travel for free, but didn’t mention where you could open the credit card that allows us to do it, Adsense would likely be displaying ads of travel rewards credit cards.
So as a reader, if I read that article and decided that I did want to open a rewards credit card, the ads would be providing options that the article did not.
2. CPM Ad Networks
While Adsense pays on a click basis (CPC), I use other ad networks that pay by the total # of impressions (CPM). So they might pay for $5 for every 1,000 impressions.
Generally you need a lot of traffic to your blog to earn well with CPM networks.
3. Affiliate Product Sales
Basically an example of an affiliate sale would be if you sold lawn mowers and I referred a customer to you, if they purchased you would pay me back a % of the sale for referring them. There are a million options for this on the internet now. The main programs I use are
4. Books & Course Sales
I also sell a few of our books and courses on our site as well.
5. Consulting
Running a blog is a great way to build a consulting business. In the past I have offered consulting services and every single client came as a result of my blog.
How long does it take to make money from a blog?
The second question that people normally ask after, “how do I make money with a blog?” is, “how long is it going to take?”. Well, let me just say this, if you are looking for a fast way to make money, blogging isn’t it. It takes time and hard work. As you can see from the chart below it took me a long time before I was able to do it full-time.
But, for more than a year I was working at it about 10 hours a week. And don’t forget I didn’t know anything about blogging, advertising, getting traffic, etc when I started. So, if you know that SeedTime is a blog, then you have a head start on me. 😉
Get my blogging book for free
This book is my Amazon Best-Selling book that covers all the steps I took to make a full-time living from my blog.
It covers many blogging basics, primary ways to earn from your blog, how to get traffic to your blog, and much more!
- PDF Version (FREE)
- Paperback Version (about $5)
Refuse to let fear stop you!
For those like me who always had dreams of starting a blog but had been held back by a fear of failure, I want to prod you to fight!
It is bigger than you!
The world needs what you have to offer and if you let fear hold you back, not only are you hurting yourself – but all the lives of those who you would have impacted in a positive way.
Never in a million years would I have dreamed of the number of people that we would be able to reach when I started my blog a few years back.
To be honest, it baffles me.
I had NO IDEA of the potential that laid dormant.
And might I suggest to you that you have NO IDEA of what could be as well?
Anyway, enough preaching for today. 😉
I am glad to be your #1 cheerleader and maybe this email will be the final push that you need.
The world NEEDS what you have to offer!
P.S. Got any questions I can answer for you about all this? Just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers. Read more here.
Great primer on blogging for money.
I was stunned to hear that you increased adsense earnings $1500 in 3 months? Wow.. guess i need to do some more testing. 🙂
Yea, Pete, I was surprised too – I guess it was just because I was doing so many things wrong before 😉
Thanks for writing a thorough article about making money from blogs. I learnt something new and hope to test drive your ideas soon. Awesome article!!
Thank you so much for such a thorough article on the How to’s of writing a blog. I write for a website and have dabbled in writing for a blog, but I have never seen a more honest and thorough discussion of blogging and how to make money. I have been a subscriber to your blog for a couple of months. I thank you for such quality information.
Fun article to read, Bob. Just curious…was the $1500 increase due to one particular article or keyword getting hot? Or are you attributing it ALL to making the changes you mentioned (i.e. placement, segments, etc.).
Oh, and also…where is the Quicken Online aff program managed?
I’d like to go full-time in the next couple of years. I just can’t get affiliates to take off.
Thanks everyone – glad it is helpful! PT, I am sure some articles got hot, but some were getting hot before as well… I decided to spend a lot of time learning about Adsense and as I implemented all those things I learned I saw the increase… Like I said above, I am sure some of it was because I was doing so many things wrong – but the good thing for most adsense publishers is that they are doing things wrong that can be fixed pretty easily…
Thank you for sharing, getting the whole story from start to finish was very interesting.
Bob — amazingly comprehensive guide to blogging here! Thanks for sharing this info. It’s very helpful! Will be passing it around to newbie bloggers.
A very good article indeed. I think it’s important to point out how long it takes to establish a blog and develop traffic that has the potential to provide a full-time income. I think many people go into it expecting immediate results and are deeply disappointed when things don’t go their way.
Like you point out, it’s important to have fun and be passionate about what you’re doing. If you like to write about your topic, it will show.
What a great post! I am definitely coming back to read this over a few times. Thanks for the information.
In 2006 Steve Pavlina taught us how to successfully blog for income.
In 2009 we have Bob Lotich leading the way on the same topic. This article will be very successful for a long time to come, and rightfully so. The information contained herein is invaluable for the modern income seeking blogger.
Many thanks to you Bob for taking the time to share your knowledge and deep understanding of this topic with all of us. I am very appreciative.
DebtFREEk!
Wow, this is a stellar resource! Thank you!
Very extensive article. I’m going to put it a few of your suggestions into action.
I’m also going to place a link from my website to this article.
I didn’t know about the who sees your ad plugin.
I’m also gong to try it out
Hey Bob…
If you don’t mind, could you let us know what your “Page CTR” averages are? This will really help give people a target number to shoot for.
Also, did any of the methods you employed above help you increase your “Page CTR”? What about methods not mentioned above?
Thanks in advance for this information.
DebtFREEk!
Wow Bob,
What an amazing story and article. I think most people are shocked to hear that you are making a living off a blog your size and also with you Adsense success. I switched to basically the same ad positions about the same time as you and I also saw my adsense revenue jump 300-400% although not near the actual levels you are talking about.
I bet you have a lot of bloggers questioning there site setup and monetization efforts!!!! I know I am.
Thanks for the great resource.
-The Happy Rock
I absolutely loved this article! You are truly an inspiration. I started out my blog just a few months ago because like you, I am passionate about Proverbs, but also teach personal finance classes at local churches and non-profits.
I only recently found your blog, but I love your content and am excited that one day I may be able to turn this passion into profit.
Thanks for being so giving!
Peace & Blessings
Bob, thanks for the great resource. I didn’t know you had gone full time. Congratulations! This is an article I’ve bookmarked and will come back to. It’s not only informational but it’s also inspirational. Thanks again.
Great article, especially for those (like myself) whose sites are relatively new and are stuck trying to get traffic, optimizing everything and still debating between blogger and wordpress. (I am seriously debating a move). This is an AMAZING resource for new bloggers!! Thank you,
-Matt
Thank you for a great article Bob. I will be coming back to this one for who knows how long.
-Matt
Such a great wealth of information – thanks for writing it, Bob. I will be returning to this many times over for knowledge & inspiration.
Thanks for the tips! They came at the perfect time for me, as I’m just starting my own blog. (I actually found you when you commeted on one of my posts at Savings Advice a while back.) I will definitely be coming back to read this post more thorougly and try out some of your ideas.
This is the kind of advice we pay $399 for with all of those “how to make money blogging experts” lol. Maybe you can start your own program “Bob’s Blog Mastermind.” All joking aside thanks for the great post, it is definitely a good source of motivation for a motivated newbie blogger like myself.
Excellent resource, Bob! There are a few things here that I know I can improve upon – thanks!
And congrats on your well-deserved success! 🙂
Thanks so much for the great article. Google adsense is a mystery you are helping to clear up.
If you are getting 20K hits a day as a blogger you should be extremely proud. I know some of the biggest forums out only get twice that daily. You are getting some amazing traffic.
What a great article! You’ve inspired me to keep going (getting a bit hard to stay motivated at the moment). I can also remember the thrill of the first adsense click and never thought I would reach the $100 payout limit (I now make that in one day at times)….Still, now it feels more like a business with taxes, admin and lots of mail to deal with. Formed my S-corp recently, which was kinda cool, but has also doubled my admin work.
Despite following a similar trajectory to you (in most parts) I know I learnt a lot from this article and if you are new to blogging this article is a must read. But to make money, you have to treat it as a business and write articles from that perspective. Combining intersting articles with revenue opps is the hallmark of a good for-profit blogger!
Very well written, informative post. I’ll be adding a privacy policy to my blog asap. Thank you.
very informative blogpost thanks so much
Well, it all sounds so easy! 🙂
I guess my problem has been never being consistent or really trying hard enough. Thanks for the great write-up. I already have several to-dos from just reading this once. I will dig in a lot more later.
Wow! Thank you very much! I can’t wait to get started…this is exactly what I needed to read!
Thanks for this great article. I started a personal finance blog about 6 months ago but am still pretty green when it comes to making money on it. I will be referring back to this post.
Hard to say more than those above me have said. You are truly a giving person when others may not be so eager to share. I found you through a mention at Simple Dollar. I’ve already gone and tweaked a few of my sites based on your article. I’m now a subscriber. Thanks again for a truly awesome article.
Thanks so much for sharing all this helpful information. My husband and I have just started blogging in March and we have so much to learn. After reading some of your content on your site I feel kind of like I know you. I really like your site!
Thanks again!!!
This entry of yours have enlightened me. I’m a programmer, yes, one of those that can create applications like wordpress etc, etc.
I’m a college student, and of course as any other have the need to find new sources of income, like just today my poor desktop died so it’s just my laptop and me.
I do thanks you for inspiring me to stop wasting time and use my talent and creativity, it’s admirable to see bloggers like you having such commitment.
An excellent post containing real information, believe me, many people that knows all this are greedy and have succumbed to its nature. Kuddos to you!
Just found your blog. Great article for beginners. I stumble upon successful blogs everyday, but never realize how well they perform. I am really impressed by your performance too.
Just what I needed for getting started! Thank you!
Good tips, thank you.
This was a fabulous article. As a frugal blogger, who like you, had no idea I could make money with my blog when I started, has been amazed at the potential for making money on topics that are just about sharing your passion.
i didn’t know any of this about AdSense, even though I am making money through affiliates/sponsors, and will be implementing this immediately (as well as adding a Privacy Policy).
Thank you for a great post! I learned so much! 🙂
Wow–so much to take in! Thanks for the great advise. I’m bookmarking this for (a lot of) future reference! I want my blog to be a testimony to the Lord, but I know I need to be a better steward of my internet time and efforts. Thanks again for the step-by-step approach!
Blessings, Linda
Thanks for the the information. I have implemented a few of the suggestions and hopefully I can come up with some time to digest the rest of the article in the near future. I have been running a blog more as an outlet than as a business for the last year, but have yet to see money from it. I think I need to focus more on my subject and network more. Maybe someday I can hope to be doing what you are.
Hey Bob- Will the who sees it plug in work with blogger? I love this idea but I’m not sure how to implement it!
Jana,
as far as I know blogger still doesn’t have plugin functionality. If you are really trying to make some money with your blog, I suggest switching to a self-hosted wordpress blog. It might be a pain on the front-end, but longer term it will probably be worth it…
Thank you for your generosity in sharing this great information. You’ve answered many of my questions.
Great information for someone like me that is just starting out. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your generosity
Thanks you for sharing! I have not read it all, but the post was an answer to my prayers. I just came up with a name for my blog and was having an anxiety attack thinking about going public with my thoughts on the world wide web. What do I say? I had not thought about making money.
I went to WiseBread.com because they have a list of top financial websites/blogs. I wanted to review some of the others online. I ran across your site and then this post. It soothed my nerves. I feel like I can move forward with ease. I will continue to digest what you wrote and get the Dummies book.
Thank you!
The amount of time that you must have put into this article is awesome! It’s definitely a great resource for regular people looking to start a blog on a subject they are passionate about. That is the key to having a blog that makes money…write about something you love, because then you won’t drop it after a few months when you see that it’s near impossible to make good money blogging until years of hard work pay off.
This has got to be one of the easiest and most understandable articles I have read. How I even stumbled across your site, let alone read the in-depth article posted here is an achievement. You have summed up everything so well. I will certainly be implementing some of the advice given. Congratulations on this article and the blog. May you continue to receive the blessings that are so obviously abundant in your life.
That’s a really informative series of articles, Bob! I’ve been thinking about quitting my day job for a while but I haven’t had the courage to do so. I want to start going full time with my blog, but I’m not anywhere near my earnings at my regular job.
Keep up the good job! I remember when you first started your blog and asked me for advice. Now it’s me that needs the advice!
Thanks Bob for the great advice! I appreciate you putting all of this together in one easy to read article.
Thanks for the great article! For the last 2 years I’ve been promoting the resort job sites with moderate success. Recently I’ve noticed my page rank go from 3 to 1!
Your article is really going to help me get back to the basics and regain my page ranking! Thank you so much.
PS. It would be nice to get you thoughts on WordPress plugins as to which one are beneficial and which ones actually hurt you.
Bless you.
This is the best free information I have read about how to make money with a blog to date. Thanks for the blessing.
Very good post. Helpful and informative.
Blessings to you…
I’ve been thinking about how I might blog for pay, not big pay, but some pay. I started a blog for fun not knowing anything about websites or anything related to them. I’ve been writing there for about two months. I finally got a few minutes this morning to see what I could find on the topic of blogging for pay and I found your article. It is the first I have read on this topic and I can’t imagine finding one more clearly written or more informative. Thank you. I also am interested in staying true to my Christian values in any endeavor, so I appreciated that perspective here.
I am going now to check out your site.
Heidi