Jacqueline Bodnar - Blog for Bucks: How to Create, Promote, and Profit from Your Blog

Copyright 2020 by Jacqueline Bodnar

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Published by Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Allworth Press is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62153-770-0

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62153-771-7

Printed in the United States of America

Books are the most powerful tool in the human arsenal.

Will Schwalbe

For Brian, Kayla, and Tristan... my loves.

In choosing to read this book, you have made the decision to learn about something new, which is great. Many people are interested in blogging, but are intimidated, assuming that its something difficult to learn. They fear that they will have to know how to program or code, or that they wont be able to come up with blog post ideas. Yet amidst their fear, they are still intrigued. They have heard about blogs, know bloggers who make a living from their blogging, and want to know if they could do it, too.

In short, yes, you can do it, too. Making money from blogging is not all that difficult. Yes, there is a short learning curve to blogging, but that goes for anything new in life that you want to learn. Whether you are taking Zumba or yoga, playing a sport, or learning a new language, there is always a learning curve. If you dont let the fear of that learning curve hold you back, then you will not only be able to learn how to blog, but you can thrive at doing so. There are millions of bloggers making money from their blogging. Some do it as a full-time job, while others do it as a side hustle. Either way, the earnings potential is there for everyone who wants to apply themselves and learn how to make it happen.

I started blogging in 2009 and since that time have grown several popular blogs, and earn money from them every month. Throughout the pages of this book, I will share with you what Ive learned from my own blogging experiences, as well as information that Ive gathered from other sources and bloggers. Combined, all of this information should help calm any anxiety you may have about blogging, and provide you with the confidence you need to succeed at it.

Some people who picked up this book may be familiar with what blogs are. They may even have a blog and are looking for ways to make their blog more lucrative or successful. However, there are some people who are reading this who are familiar with the term, but are newer to the concept of a blog, which makes it necessary to start with the blogging basics.

A blog is a web log; its a website where most of the pages that are added are posts, and they are all dated in reverse chronological order. With the posts being dated in reverse chronological order, the older posts are pushed further down, with the newer posts being on top. Picture a blog like a spiral notebook journal. Every time you add a page, or post, to your journal, you are adding a new sheet of paper to the top of the stack. The newer posts get layered on top of the older ones, and the whole journal stays in a dated order, with the newer posts on top. A blog works in much the same way, only its online, so you cant see the posts all stacked up on top of each other like you would in a notebook.

Blogs are used for a wide variety of things beyond just sharing your own personal musings. There are people who have random blogs, where they may share their thoughts about a wide variety of issues, but there are many more blogs that have a more defined focus. There is no limit to the variety and subjects that are covered on blogs. People blog about everything and anything, and there is usually an audience for whatever your subject of choice may be.

Millions of people are independent bloggers, who choose a topic that they are passionate about and focus their efforts on that one subject. They may blog about French cuisine, entertainers, technology, flowers, hiking, or any number of other things. These blogs tend to offer many posts that relate to that one topic. There are also blogs that cover a wider variety of topics, and those that are extensions of a business. Many businesses have blogs so that they can help drive traffic to their website, keep in touch with their potential customers, and establish themselves as an authority. Blogs can be a great way for businesses to bring in more customers.

Its believed that the first blog was created in 1994. It was just a few years later that the term weblog was coined, giving this type of website a name. Then a couple of years after that, the we was dropped, giving the websites the official name that we know them by today, a blog. Now, twenty-five years after that first blog was created, there are millions of blogs online. They have become an easy way for people to share their thoughts, create an income, grow their businesses, and keep in touch.

No matter what topic you want to focus on, its important that you continue to keep blogging. Just as there are millions of blogs today, there are also millions of blogs that have been started and then sit, going nowhere. Blogging is a verb; its something you have to do, and keep up on doing. If you start a blog, create a few posts, and then walk away, your blog isnt going to become much of anything. In order to have a successful blog, you have to continuously be active with it. By that, I mean you will need to create regular posts, so that new content is published with some degree of regularity. If you dont, your blog will be stagnant and most likely die.

Going into blogging, be aware that if you want it to be successful and to bring in an income, you have to continue to keep it active. That doesnt mean you need to create five posts per day, but it does mean that you shouldnt go months without it getting any new posts, either. There is no magic number of posts you should do per week or month in order to have a successful blog that receives a decent amount of traffic. You will need to find the right balance for you regarding posting with regularity.

One of the beautiful things about a blog is that it has the voice of the blogger, or of multiple bloggers. There are some blogs that will have posts that remain neutral and just focus on getting the information out there, kind of how a news article should be. But most blogs tend to have the voice of the blogger who is behind the posts. Thats how readers get to know the blogger and become fans. With a blog, you have more leeway in being able to infuse your personality into your posts. Some blogs have multiple bloggers who contribute to it, so the blog offers a variety of voices.