2024 is going to be the year of the blog. And if you’ve been playing around with the idea of trying to start your dream blog in 2024- here is your sign to finally do it!
I started my first blog back around 2017, and after a lot of trial and error, and a lot of failed attempts to be successful, this blog was born.
Back in 2019, I started this blog with the dream of one day going full-time and making money blogging.
Which is probably just like you! I was working a job I hated and all I wanted to do was run a creative business on my own so that I could one day be a stay-at-home mom to my future kids.
I also wanted the time freedom and flexibility to do whatever I wanted and when.
I dreamed of having the ability to scale my income as much as I wanted, and take off any day that I wanted. No more putting in days-off requests just to have them denied or be forced to work another holiday ever again.
And if that sounds like the dream life for you, then you’re in the right place!
First things first, if you want a head start on how to start a blog, sign up for my FREE 5-day Start a blog crash course! You’ll get one email over the next 5 days with everything you need to know to start your dream blog!
Sign up here:
Start your dream blog in 2024 (And actually make money!) I worked hard for years behind the scenes of my old job trying to get this blog off the ground and get it to make money.
And I finally was able to do that in 2020. And in 2023, I really started to see a big shift in my income.
So sadly I can’t promise you that making money blogging will be fast or that you’ll be able to start your dream blog in 2024 and be making money by next week.
But I can promise you that you can do it. And if you take my advice, you’ll be able to do it a lot faster than I did…
Imagine being able to take off any day that you want.
Feeling sick? Take the day off!
Do errands need to be run? You’re free to do that.
Now that I work for myself I don’t ask for days off- I just take them . I don’t need to worry about where my future kids will need to go to be taken care of while I’m at work or if I’ll miss the most precious first times with them.
You can do the same! And your income potential is limitless. It can also be passive. I make money each day whether I work or not. It’s glorious and so much less stressful!
I can’t promise that everything will be sunshine and rainbows, I can’t promise that making money is fast and I can’t promise that it will be easy. But, I do know that it’s worth it.
So if that sounds good and you’re on board to start your dream blog in 2024, then let’s get started!
| Rather watch the video? Check it out here!
How to start your dream blog and make money as a beginner Today’s blog post is going to give you everything you need to know to start your dream blog and make money, even as a beginner. There is a lot of information here, so make sure to bookmark or pin this post on Pinterest to come back if you need to!
Let’s get started.
1. Decide where you’ll start your dream blog There are a lot of options for where you can start your dream blog, but chances are you want to skip all the bad ones and go right for the best money-making option!
In that case, you’ll want to start a blog on self-hosted WordPress for the best results. And the first step to doing that is to buy hosting.
You’ll need to find a hosting company to “host” your blog on the internet. The place I get my hosting from is Siteground. You’ll want to get the Start-up WordPress hosting plan (It’s the least expensive option and the one I still have!)
How to start your blog with Siteground Chose a hosting plan When you’re just getting started with your blog, all you will need is the StartUp hosting plan! This worked for me for years. But, if you’re planning on having more than one blog, GrowBig is your best option!
Check out all the Siteground plans right HERE!
2. Choose a domain name & confirm
This is where you’ll choose the domain of your blog. You’ll then be asked to confirm your purchase!
3. Setting up your site
If you are planning on starting a new site, or migrate a current one, you’ll be asked to choose an option. You’ll also want to choose WordPress as your application.
4. Choose your add-ons (optional)
I personally don’t worry about any of the add-ons they ask you for, but you can choose to add them if you want!
5. Choose a theme
Next, you’ll be asked to choose a free theme to get started. Choose whichever one you want, but I recommend getting a paid theme later on! They’re much better in my opinion.
6. Add your plugins
These are all optional to add. The only one I might add would be a contact form plugin, but you could always add one on later as well!
7. Head to your site!
And that’s it! You can now head to http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin (obviously changing the “yourdomain.com” to your new website address) and start adding content to your new site!
Get started with Siteground right HERE!
2. Choosing a Profitable Blogging Niche If you want to start your dream blog and make money, you need to make sure you pick a profitable blogging niche. There are a ton of ways you can make money blogging though, so you’re not limited on what to choose!
When choosing a niche though you want to ask yourself these questions;
Why do you want to start a blog in the first place? Who do you want to help with your blog? What topics will you write about? Answering these main questions will help you narrow down what the best blog niche for you is.
Why do you want to start a blog in the first place? Asking yourself why you’re starting a blog in the first place will not only help you figure out what you’re passionate about, but it can also help you understand why you’re even going through all this in the first place.
Times are going to be tough up ahead and chances are, you may not see results very quickly. So when you feel like quitting, what is going to be your reason for pushing on?
Your reasons could be similar to the whys that I listed at the beginning of this blog post. Wanting a creative outlet, more time with family, financial or time freedom…. any number of reasons.
Make sure you write them out and remember these things often. Keep coming back to your why when things get tough.
Who do you want to help with your blog? Your why can also talk about who you are helping or what your passion is.
For me, I want to help women start and run their dream blogs. I want to help women take back the life they love. Help people take back their time from the 9-5 life they hate and be able to live out their wildest dreams with passive income from their blogs.
Figuring out who you want to help is going to be crucial for the success of your blog because your entire strategy is going to be centered around helping this person.
Now, you may be wondering, aren’t I starting a blog because I want to? Aren’t I doing this for me?
And the answer is…. technically yes?
You are starting a blog because you want to, but chances are the real reason you’re starting a blog to make money is because you have knowledge that you want to share with someone. You have someone you want to help do something, and you’re ready to share that gift with the world.
So, while this is “for you” , the main focus should be on who you help. It’s going to determine everything you do.
The blog posts you write, the questions you answer. The social media posts you create, how your blog looks, and especially the products you create and sell.
Because the way you are going to make money and gain followers is by connecting with people who are just like you and want to buy the products you sell. And the products you sell are going to solve the problems they have. Otherwise, they wouldn’t buy them!
So make sure to keep your audience top of mind during this whole process.
What topics will you write about? With that in mind, we can focus back on what you want when it comes to the topic or niche you are going to write about.
What are you going to start your dream blog about? What topics will you write about?
There are a few things you need to consider before choosing a niche, like passion, profit, and proficiency.
RELATED: How to Find the Perfect Profitable Blogging Niche
What are you passionate about? You’re going to be spending a lot of time writing, researching, and teaching on this topic so you want to make sure it’s something you are passionate about.
Otherwise, you may end up quitting because you get bored!
What are you proficient at? You also want to make sure you are proficient at your topic as well. If you love cooking but you’re frequently ordering out for dinner because you burned the noodles- again. .. then maybe teaching someone to cook isn’t it.
So you have to have skills in this topic in order to teach someone else how to do it. Seems self-explanatory right?
If you love talking about personal finance and you’re great with money, that may be a good topic to get into. And the good news here is, you don’t need to be a bonafide “expert” in your niche in order to start!
Sure, you should kinda know what you’re doing to start but if you’re in a bit of credit card debt, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start talking about saving money or investing if you’re good at that.
No one is asking, or expecting, you to be perfect here!
People nowadays like raw and real. If you talk about how you’re paying off your debt, people can really resonate with that. Basically what I’m saying here is, you don’t need to be perfect in your niche to start.
You don’t need to have gone to school for this topic, you don’t need to have a job or get paid to do what you do- you don’t even need to know everything about your topic
You just need to be one step ahead of your audience with whatever it is you’re teaching them.
I am no expert in blogging. I am nowhere near where I want to be. So you won’t hear me talking about how I made $10,000 last month or hit my first 6-figure year, because I haven’t yet.
But, I have started a blog (many times!) so I know I can teach you how to do that!
What topic will make you money? And the last thing is of course- money. Whether we like it or not, the world revolves around money. So we need to make it.
Like I said, there are a lot of ways you can make money blogging so you’re not really limited here. But if you’re thinking of a niche, it may be a good idea to do some research and brainstorm some ideas you may be open to making money with in the future.
TIP: Need help figuring out how to make money blogging? Check out my ebook RIGHT HERE on the best ways to get started making money- even as a beginner!
If you can find an area where these three things intersect, then you’ve found your niche!
What if you’re stuck between more than one topic? If you’ve gotten to this point and trying to choose between two topics, you may not need to choose! Many people start a lifestyle blog where they can talk about more than one topic at a time.
The only thing you need to worry about is if your audience is going to be interested in both.
If you’re looking to talk to women who just got divorced for example, that opens you up to talking about a lot! As long as it is with that specific woman in mind.
You could talk about fashion and building up a wardrobe you feel confident and sexy in. You could give dating tips, travel advice for a newly single woman, maybe van life for one. You could give mental health tips, self-care, and confidence boosters.
As long as it is with your target audience in mind and it’s not too disconnected from each other, just keep it on the same blog! And separate each individual category from each other to make things nice and neat.
3. Choose a catchy name for your blog Let’s circle back to choosing a domain name for a moment though, because this can be tricky. If you’re not familiar with a “domain name” , it’s just the name of your blog that will be your website link.
You’ll want to come up with a catchy blog name you love that will also be your domain name!
It’s a good idea to write down some words that can be used to describe what your blog will be about in order to come up with your name. Some things to think about when choosing a name are, keeping it easy to spell, easy to remember, and relevant to your blog niche.
If you’ve got the word “travel” in your blog about cooking, that’s going to confuse your readers! (And Google too)
So make sure to keep it relevant!
You could also use your name, or a fake name if you wanted to. This is usually a good option for a lifestyle blog like mine. Or if you’re really struggling you could always use a blog name generator like this one to help you brainstorm!
The most important thing to worry about when choosing a name is that no one else has anything like it. you don’t want to run into problems later down the road!
4. Pick out a theme for your blog The next thing you’ll need to do is pick out a theme you like. When you get started with Siteground, it will ask you to pick a free theme just to get started.
You can keep this if you’d like and customize it how you want, but I recommend checking out Etsy or Creative Market and purchasing a more professional-looking theme. There are thousands of beautiful themes to choose from!
Pay attention to the look of the theme, and make sure you check out the live previews of each, which many of them have.
You want to make sure it’s easy to navigate and you like the layout. All of that technically can be changed, but in the beginning, it’s best to keep it pretty simple and as-is!
Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
All themes can be customized by color and font, but I typically choose a theme that has the brand colors I’m thinking of anyway and go with what’s already there. Now that I’m more advanced, I have bought and downloaded my own fonts, but that can all come later when you’re more tech-savvy!
(Although it’s also not a requirement that you buy fonts or change colors, I just chose to!)
5. Start writing blog posts! Now comes the fun part- writing the blog posts!
There is a LOT that goes into writing a good blog post that people will read, SEO keyword research, and finding topics that your audience will love but I think when you are just starting out it might be best to just get writing!
Over time, you will definitely want to look into what makes a good blog post and the ins and outs of writing (I’ll also have resources here in this “Start a blog” series on these topics as well!)
But in your first month, just start writing and get into a groove- Worry about the details later! Blog posts are always going to be editable, so it’s okay that they aren’t perfect to start!
6. How to make money blogging And last (but not least) How to make money blogging! The good news is, that there are countless ways you can make money blogging, but the bad news is you may get overwhelmed by all of the options!
So, here are the ways I suggest you start making money on your dream blog;
Ads Affiliate marketing Your own products Client work I actually talk about all of these ways to make money blogging in this ebook right here. I go in-depth on the strategies I use to make money in all of these ways, even if you have a small audience. (Which you will in the beginning!)
So make sure to check that out to get all of the details!
But ads are the first place I recommend you start. They’re easy to set up and the income is totally passive. When you drive traffic to your blog, people see the ads and you make money. Simple!
Affiliate marketing is where you recommend a product and if someone buys it, you get a small commission for it. This doesn’t cost the buyer extra, so it’s a win-win situation!
And of course, there is always the option to create your own products and sell them, like I have with the money-making ebook. There are a ton of different ways you can sell, tons of products to make, and an unlimited amount of money you can scale to!
The last (and best) way I make money is through client work. I am a Pinterest manager and have done blog/Pinterest coaching as well. This is always my biggest income source and a great way to get started making some money!
I hope this was helpful and if you want to learn more in this series, check out some of the blog posts down below to help you start your dream blog!