I’ve had a couple people reach out to me for help recently regarding starting a productive blog so I thought it was a good time to do a little series on the basics of blogging for income, free products and other perks that come with the territory: How to start a successful blog begins today!
Before I get into all of that, let me stress that the terms “profitable blogging” and having a “successful blog” are going to mean different things to different people. I’ll elaborate more on what “success” means for me, personally, in part two!
Also, if you’ve never done anything like blogging you could be in for a huge learning curve. No matter how “you” define what the meaning of “success” is to you, understand that blogging takes time and commitment. Having a real desire is going to serve you well.
For me, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom – even before I decided to homeschool. In fact, I did not plan to homeschool. I share some of my heart about that decision in this post and video if you really are interested in that part of my life.
But, this post is not about homeschooling.Before I started blogging I tried some other things so I could earn income from home. I talk about why I became a work-at-home mom and blogger in this post and video.
I have a successful blog!
Yes, I do! Maybe not according to the definition of many people who make a full-time income at blogging, but according to me, yes – I do!
I have a successful blog even though…
- I do not blog full-time. I can’t, I’m in the fifth year of homeschooling my boys who are in third and fifth grades now. I also tutor in our Classical Conversations local group once a week. And, I want to have a life without going totally mentally crazy.
- I have a family with needs and a home to tend to and they have priority.
I’ve learned to slow down with my blogging and I’ve learned to be content (for the most part) with my limitations regarding to the amount of time, energy and resources that I have to invest into this at-home work/hobby lifestyle.
So, if you’re joining me on this series I’d like to challenge you to spend some time focusing on what you want/need to get out of the time, energy and resources you plan to invest in Starting a Profitable Blog.
I would encourage you to grab yourself a notebook and journal your way through this series with me. I’ve been blogging since Summer 2008 and I’ve learned a lot about blogging and myself, though in no way am I an expert. I’ve made choices not to go further down some roads that are easier traveled with a team. I have no income to pay a team to work for me so I’ll be talking about what I’ve been able to do for myself for FREE.
Journal Activity
If you’re going to take some notes, I’d like to encourage you to write down your thoughts about what you think having a profitable blog means to you? Try to work out a definition of “success” for yourself.
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Finally, for those of you who haven’t moved past considering the idea of blogging there are some things you absolutely must have: a host, theme, and domain (url address). You can read about all of those and where I pay for mine in my post How to Start a Blog. That post will get you online 🙂 .
Thanks for reading. Watch for Part 2 soon where I’ll talk about why I define my blog as a “success” and I’ll talk more about making money and getting those perks!
If you have any questions you’d like me to address leave me a comment below. You might also want to subscribe to my email updates here and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
