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How To Make Money Blogging (In No Time)

How To Make Money Blogging (In No Time)

Blogging, MoneyDecember 14, 2020

This article may contain links from our partners. We may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through a link. Please read our disclosure and how we make money.

5 TACTICS I USED TO GO FROM $0 to $3,878 AFTER 3 MONTHS BLOGGING PART-TIME

Gathering Dreams - This is how I went from $0 to $3,878 after 3 months working part-time on my blog with NO experience. If you want to learn how to make money blogging, I will tell you exactly how I did it, so you can do it too!

If you landed here, it means that you want to know how to make money blogging, right? And ideally, you want to know if it’s possible to make money pretty fast…

You are in the right place!

It doesn’t matter if you started your blog a year ago, yesterday or if you are just thinking about starting one today! I will tell you exactly how you can make money from your blog and all the tactics I used to make money after only 3 months.

How I started making money blogging: my story

Ever dream of quitting your job and start working from home?

I know I do! For the past 11 years, I have been working in a very demanding job. I have been lucky enough to work with people I love, but the job itself was very time-consuming. It was the norm working for 12-14 hours a day in a high-stress environment.

I kept dreaming of a stress-free life and being able to do what I loved.

So in the evenings, instead of relaxing on the sofa in front of the TV, I started researching online for alternative options. I found many interesting creative ways to make money that could give me more freedom, but what I really wanted was:

  • Something that would fulfill me and that I could enjoy doing every day
  • Something that made money and helped me live the life of my dreams

During my research, I came across the concept of passive income, and I thought: “Wouldn’t it be great to be able to set something up and not having to worry about money anymore?”

So I convinced Dan to start investing in real estate and index funds. We started to generate some passive income, but I was still looking for my real passion.

Something was still missing.

I then realized I spent a lot of time reading blogs, looking at people currently living the life I want to live.

Some can stay at home and raise their kids away from the corporate world. Some can travel every day of the year using their savings and investments. Some created a 6-figure business while going to school, and some have created a new life for themselves that allow them to do what they love.

What do they all have in common?

They have a blog!

So I thought: maybe I should start a blog as well!

But how to make money Blogging?

How to make money blogging infographic | Discover 50+ ways to make money blogging: Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Products, Physical Products, Events, Offline Business and more! https://gatheringdreams.com

Click here for the high-res version. Feel free to use this graphic for your own use, with attribution.


Let’s be real here:

I was looking to find my passion, but I also wanted to make money blogging. My goal was to be able to make $1,000 a month after a year of blogging. If I couldn’t do that, I would just quit this blogging business and move on to new adventures. But to do that, I had to learn how to make money blogging…

And this is what happened after 3 months of having my blog online. I made…

3878

Ads Income (Mediavine) = $2,572.73
Affiliate Income = $1,263.96

I am not going to keep writing how much I make every month, and it took me a long time to decide to share this number, but I really wanted to let you know that it is possible to make money blogging with NO EXPERIENCE.

Gathering Dreams - Mediavine Income Report

So how did I do it? Did it happen by magic?

First of all, I just want to say:

  • I have no experience writing for a living.
  • Up to 6 months ago, I didn’t even know what digital marketing was (I am still unsure…).
  • I never liked social media (and still don’t).
  • I have never made money with an online product before.

So if you think you cannot do it, you are wrong!

And if you think it’s too late to start a blog in 2021, it’s not!

Start NOW! I learned how to make money blogging and if I did it, so can you!

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This is how I did it

In just a few minutes, I am going to tell you how you can make money blogging, but before you all get too excited about it, I just want to be clear about a couple of things:

> Making money blogging is POSSIBLE, but it is…HARD <

If you read an article that tells you can set up a blog in 10 minutes and make $5,000 after a month…that’s not true, at least in my experience.

Blogging takes a lot of time and commitment.

There will be moments in which you are alone, and no one is reading your blog, and you will be thinking: “Why am I doing this? Will this ever work?” but you have to keep pushing and be motivated. You need always to keep your goal in mind.

And if you think you are not cut out for that, then blogging might not be for you!

> Blogging is not a get rich “the quick and easy way” thing <

You are going to have to keep working at it.

You are going to have to write and re-write your content. Improve your articles, find out what works and what doesn’t work, and you cannot be afraid to change things.

You need to listen to people that know what they are doing better than you, but then it will be down to you and you alone to put in the hard work.

No one is going to do the work for you.

And if this hasn’t scared you away, you can keep reading!

Learn how to make money blogging

I put together the most in-depth, comprehensive post to help you start your blog. This is NOT a quick read. I will share with you all the tips I used to create a successful 6-figure blog. If you want a thorough guide to help you along with all the steps, just click here and get started!

Start a blog today! It is the best side hustle I have ever done to make extra money! It's really cheap to set up and I made over $3,800 after only 3 months.

Learn How To Start A Blog And Make Money

1. Set up your blog to make money

The first thing I learned during my research is that you need to make sure people will come to your blog.

I am not a great salesperson, and I knew that I wanted to monetize my blog using advertising. I don’t like the way ads look on a blog, but hey, they make money!

To monetize your blog, you need to make sure you are not using a free service.

And these are the reasons:

  • There is a limit to how much money you can make from a free blog.
  • If you use a free service, you WILL NOT own your own blog or your website content.
  • You will have limited options to customize your design, and you will have limited support.

If you want to make money from your blog, your website will need to be self-hosted on a web server that completely allows you to customize your website.

WordPress.org is the most popular website platform in the world. It’s free and extremely flexible, and it’s what I am using for Gathering Dreams.

Although WordPress.org is free, you will need to host your files on a server (using a hosting provider such as Bluehost). This option comes at a cost, but you won’t be able to add ads to your website if you set up your blog the wrong way.

Reasons why you should use Bluehost

  • It’s the #1 recommended web hosting company by WordPress.org.
  • You get a FREE domain name.
  • It’s the best affordable hosting for beginners if you are just starting out and you have limited resources to invest in your blog.

You just need to click on the green button Get Started Now to chose your package. I have a special deal with Bluehost where you can get started for just $2.95 a month.

Gathering Dreams - This is how I went from $0 to $3,878 after 3 months working part-time on my blog with NO experience. If you want to learn how to make money blogging, I will tell you exactly how I did it, so you can do it too!Make sure you are selecting the Basic started package, it’s the cheapest, and it’s all you will need to start out.

2. Write compelling content that people want to read

A crucial thing I learned is that you need to make sure people will come to your blog.

PEOPLE = PAGE VIEWS = MONEY

The only reason people will come to your blog is if you are solving a problem they have, and they can get something in return for giving you their time.

No one wants to read about your personal struggles (other than your mum, maybe!), but they might want to read about how they can overcome their problems.

You need to make sure you are not writing for yourself, but you are writing to help your readers solve their problems.

But how do you do that?

You learn from what works on other blogs!

This is what you need to do (and how I do it):

  • Put together a list of your favorite blogs (I love The Everygirl, for example).
  • Go to the website Buzzsumo.com.

Buzzsumo homepageBuzzsumo is great. If you want to have access to all the options, it’s really expensive, but you can do pretty much everything you need to do with the free option. You get about 5 free searches per month, and you can only see the top 5 most shared articles, but that is plenty when you are just starting out.

  • Add the website you want to analyze in the search bar.
  • Check which posts have the most shares (you can see if they have been shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. and how many times)

Buzzsumo - Most shared

  • Write a list of possible topics and blog post ideas that could work for your blog (I keep them in a Google Doc)

If people have shared that article thousands of times, they are likely to be interested in it! Find a more personal twist on it and write something similar.

Why can’t I just follow my passion and write what I want?

Of course, you can, but if you want to blog for money, I suggest you don’t.

I gave myself a year to make blogging work for me, and I couldn’t hang around for people to read what I wanted to write.

Don’t get me wrong, I love everything I write on Gathering Dreams, and the topics I picked are my real passions.

I don’t think you’ll ever see me soon writing about “How to get fit in 10 minutes a day”. It’s a great topic, but I am not really into fitness.

But if people at Christmas want to read about Christmas recipes, I am all up for that!

3. Use Pinterest to drive traffic

How do you find new blogs posts and articles on the web?

Google search!

But getting your website ranking in Google takes a good few months, and who has a good few months to hang around before seeing people coming to your website?

NO TRAFFIC = NO MONEY

So I did some research, and I read everywhere that other bloggers were driving traffic FOR FREE to their website using Pinterest.

Pinterest?! Yes!

I always used Pinterest to find nice kitchen inspiration and recipes, but little did I know about getting blog traffic.

I now see Pinterest as a visual search engine and a free ads platform, but the great thing is that “normal” people don’t look at Pinterest images as ads.

They look at them as images that will help them to solve a problem.

But how do you use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog?

Here are the 5 steps I used to bring traffic to my blog!

1. Set up a great Pinterest profile and convert it into a Business Account

Gathering Dreams Pinterest Homepage

Make sure you have an image in your profile. Most people suggest having your picture, and I can see the appeal of that, as you can relate more with a person than a brand, but I always wanted to keep my privacy, so I decided to use my logo.

It works for me!

2. Make sure you have at least 15-20 boards that are relevant to your audience

Personal boards are critical on Pinterest right now.

You need to set up at least one board for your blog (or more than one if you write about more than one topic).

For example, for Gathering Dreams, I have 4 boards:

  • Gathering Dreams: for everything
  • Gathering Food: for recipes
  • Gathering Money: for everything money-related
  • Gathering Travel: for all my travel content

This board/s will contain all the pins that are linked to your blog posts on your website.

You then need to create another 15-20 boards of topics related to your blog that will interest your potential audience. Ideally, you need to create a board for each topic you think that your target audience would search for to find your blog.

For example, I write about food on Gathering Dreams, so I created relevant boards:

  • Dinner Recipes
  • Lunch Recipes
  • Healthy Recipes
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan Recipes

Make sure, for each personal board, you use a well-keyworded description to make it easier to find.

Gathering Dreams Pinterest Homepage
3. Create great “click-worthy” Pinterest images that lead to your blog posts

I can’t stress how important this is. If people don’t click on your pins, all your effort in writing great content will be worthless as no one will ever read it.

  • Make sure you use readable fonts.
  • Use call to action on the pin and intriguing wording that people have to click. For example, “How I make $100 a day in my spare time” works a lot better than just writing “How To Make Money From Home.”
  • Test several pins: I normally create 2/3 pins for each post and then create a new pin every week for a few weeks to see what works best.
  • Once you find something that works, keep doing it! But don’t be afraid to change and experiment with new pin design.
4. Find group boards and apply to relevant ones

What are group boards? Group boards are boards owned by other people. They can invite you to “pin” into their board, and once you are in, your pins will get in front of their audience. This is a great way to get pins in front of more people if you have a small number of followers.

To find group boards:

  • Look for group boards in other people’s Pinterest accounts.
  • Join the Facebook group Pinterest Group Boards: they have some great group boards opening every week. Just keep checking it!

My favorite method is spying on other people’s profiles, especially the smaller blogger’s profile. If they got accepted to a board, I am likely to be accepted on it too.

Gathering Dreams Group Boards

To join a group board, you need to send a message or an email to the person that owns the board.

Sometimes you will find instructions in the group board description. Other times you will have to hunt around.

Never stop applying to group boards and never give up.

During my first couple of months of blogging, I wrote to at least 30 board owners a week, and most of the time, I got one or two replies.

This is normal! Just keep doing it, and things will get better.

2021 UPDATE: You might read in several Facebook groups that group boards are not as relevant as they used to be. This is true, but they still play a role, especially if you are just starting out.

When you apply to a group board, follow these rules:

  • Make sure the board is as niched down as possible, very relevant to your topics, and keyworded well. Avoid boards called “The best of blogging,” “Everything from the best bloggers,” and only go for topic-specific boards. Good examples are: “Saving Money Tips,” “Vegan Recipes,” “The Best Blogging Tips for Bloggers.”
  • Make sure the pins that are pinned to the board you want to apply to are relevant. For example, I was in a great “Make Money Online” board, then the owner started pinning craft pins to the board, and that board became useless because Pinterest didn’t know what it was about!
  • Make sure there aren’t a lot of contributors. Ideally, you want to participate in boards with 10-20 contributors. Avoid boards with over 150-200 contributors if you can.
5. Set up your daily schedule

There was a time when you had to pin 30-50 pins a day to make sure Pinterest was showing your pins in its feed. 

Things couldn’t be more different now. What Pinterest wants is fresh content, and repinning the same pins all over the place many times doesn’t work anymore.

Pinterest now wants fresh content every day.

What is fresh content?

  • New pins related to a new blog post
  • New pins/images created for an old blog post

Ideally, you want to create fresh pins every day. I try to create at least 2-4 new pins per day.

And the trick here is to re-use one design and use it several times for different pins.

You can simply change some of the font colors or change the pin aspect ratio. So if you use the same image, you could make one pin 1000×1500 and another one 1000×2000, and Pinterest will count them as 2 different pins.

My current daily schedule is this:

  • I create 3-4 new pins a day and pin them to my most relevant boards just once.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

I do still pin to group boards from time to time, as I still get some great impressions and clicks from pinning to my best group boards.

What I used to go from 3,000 page views to 10,000 page views

These are great points to get you started.

By using these tips I managed to get over 3,000 page views in my first month of blogging.

But this wasn’t ENOUGH.

If I wanted to make money with my blog, I needed many more page views from Pinterest. So I kept researching, and wherever I looked, everyone was recommending Carly’s book Pinteresting Strategies.

Using the system in her book, Carly managed to get to 200,000 page views in just a few months!

Carly’s course is AMAZING, and it’s one of the most reasonably priced courses you will ever find. The best value for money out there at $57 ($52 if you use the discount code PINNING5).

Even so, I am not a person that departs from money easily. I read everything I could find on Pinteresting Strategies before buying it. I started to read Carly’s blog, subscribed to her emails, and then decided to go for it.

Her course is everything you can hope for as a Pinterest novice and more.

I wish I didn’t hesitate as much and bought it sooner.

I purchased her course on the 27th of November, and in December (my second month blogging), my page views skyrocketed to over 10,000.

Pinteresting Strategies: Carly’s course on Pinterest is very helpful when you are starting out. It really makes you understand what Pinterest is about and how to set it up the right way. Her strategy is going to set you apart from other bloggers and help you to gain thousands of page views from the start. Carly has just updated her amazing course and has given all my readers a lifetime $5 discount. Make sure you use the code PINNING5 at checkout!

What I used to go from 10,000 page views to 180,000 page views

Carly’s system involves a lot of manual pinning, and I couldn’t keep up doing it every day. Then one day, she emailed me about an amazing blogging course she was part of:

Blog Simple Framework (AKA The Billionaire Blog Club)

It was run by Scrivs, the same guy who runs Obstacle.co and I couldn’t believe someone as successful as Carly was still learning from it.

I was still skeptical so I emailed him…and to my surprise, he replied within 5 minutes. My email subject was “Will your course work for me?”

This is what he replied: The Billionaire Blog Club isn’t for everyone.

I loved his reply, which is private and I won’t share fully here, but enough to say I decided to invest in it in December.

And this is what happened in January, after implementing his strategies combined with Carly’s:

By combining Carly’s and Scrivs’ strategies I got over 114,000 page views in January (remember, my third month blogging). I made 4 times as much and repaid both these courses in a month, and I couldn’t believe it.

And this is what happened in February:

Blog Simple Framework isn’t just a course:

It’s a community of great people always ready to help you and support you. Every time I have an issue I can just send a message to the community of bloggers there and I get a reply in a few minutes.

And Scrivs is always present and ready to encourage you and answer the many questions you will have for him.

The numbers speak for themselves. It’s not a cheap investment, but if you want to create a 6-figure blog that will change your life, Blog Simple Framework is the place to be. 

By using Carly’s and Scrivs’ strategies, I can assure you, you will get your page views up. But if you need support throughout your blogging journey, save as much as you can, and as soon as you have the money join us in the club!

With 13 active courses, Blog Simple Framework is the only investment you need to make if you want to start a successful blog. There isn’t one single course in Blog Simple Framework that helped me above others, but it’s the combination of all the strategies that laid the perfect foundations to create my own successful 6-figure business.

If you are ready to make money doing what you love and are ready to put in the work, start by taking this free 6-figure blogging master class today! 

4. Learn from the best in the business

One of the things I spend time doing more than anything else is to check out other blogger’s content:

  • How do they get page views?
  • What are the most shared articles they have on their website?
  • How do their pins look like and which pins have most repins?
  • How do they make money?

You shouldn’t copy other people, but you need to take inspiration from them. If something is working for them, could you do it better?

How do other bloggers make money?

In January I had over 114,000 page views. This was beyond my wildest dreams. I managed to make around $1,000 with Adsense while waiting for my Mediavine account to be approved.

I could see bloggers having fewer page views than me, making a lot more money.

And this is how they were doing it:

  • They created things to sell (like online courses or eBooks).
  • They earned a commission through affiliate marketing.

I had no time and willpower to create a product. When you start blogging, there are so many things to learn. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and give up.

The last thing I needed was to create something else other than blog posts.

So I decided to look into Affiliate Marketing. I was impressed by how Michelle from Making Sense Of Cents managed to make over $1 million a year using her affiliate marketing techniques.

I don’t think I will ever get anywhere near that, but I do love learning from people that can show real results. Michelle teaches beginner bloggers how to make money with affiliate marketing in her course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.

In the course, she teaches you the strategies she used to go from making $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month.

Note: Michelle’s course is great if you are a beginner and know nothing about affiliate marketing. If you know the basics and want to simply improve your conversions, I would recommend Carly’s in-depth and affordable course on affiliate marketing.

After implementing her strategies, my affiliate income went from $0 to $1,264 in one month.

You can read all the tips I used to improve my affiliate marketing strategy here.

5. Don’t be afraid of investing

If you are serious about making money blogging, you need to invest in yourself!

There are a lot of great free resources out there, and you can learn so much from free courses but if you are struggling with any step along the way, don’t be afraid of investing some money in a course that could help you to shortcut your learning.

The first time I bought a blogging course I was so worried I was wasting my money.

I thought everyone was a scam. How could someone make $15,000 a month with blogging? $50,000 a month?

I thought I was just going to get the usual advice you get from everyone for free but in a nicer package.

I couldn’t be more wrong!

Courses like Pinteresting strategies, Stupid Simple SEO, and Blog Simple Framework helped me become a six-figure blogger in less than 2 years.

Mike’s course on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is, by far, one of the best courses I have ever taken. You can read a bit more about SEO and why it’s important in my SEO chapter here.

But there are a few things I learned from buying courses, no matter how good they are:

  • Always do your research and make sure you trust the people you are buying courses from
  • Don’t be afraid to email the course owner before you buy: if they answer you, and you like what you hear, you will be reassured. If they can’t even spend time replying to your questions, that course (and person) is not for you.
  • Don’t just buy a course for the sake of buying it and feeling better about yourself because you have invested some money. If you buy a course, use it!

Whenever I spent money on a course, I knew I had to set time aside to really work on it and learn from it.

As much as Scrivs is supporting me in my blogging journey, or Michelle or Carly are giving me advice and feedback in their Facebook Groups, it’s just me and me alone that has to put the hard work and hours into my blog.

So just do yourself a favor and don’t invest any money in blogging if you are not serious about it!

If you just want to explore blogging and find out a bit about getting started, read free resources, and use your time to invest in learning as much as you can FOR FREE!

I read countless free blogging courses before I felt I was ready to invest any money in blogging.

Ready To Get Started On Your Blogging Journey?

Start a blog today! It is the best side hustle I have ever done to make extra money! It's really cheap to set up and I made over $3,800 after only 3 months.

The Happy Ending…

I started thinking of blogging as a side hustle to make some extra money around 6 months ago.

It took me 2 months to learn and read as much as possible about it.

I launched my blog in November, and after the first 3 months, I had over 180,000 page views and made $3,878 in one month.

This goes beyond anything I could have ever hoped for.

Yes, it’s HARD work.

Yes, it can be LONELY.

But it’s my blog and my journey and I couldn’t be happier.

This is just my beginning, and I really hope you will join me on this adventure to find your passion and be able to live your dreams!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! I am where I am today because other people took the time to reply to my messages and I promise I will reply to yours!


MORE TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR BLOG:
How start a blog and make money: everything you need to start a successful blog!
HOW TO START A BLOG AND MAKE MONEY
AFFILIATE MARKETING FOR DUMMIES

If you are interested in starting your own blog, have a look at my step-by-step guide! I will show you everything you need to do to start a successful money-making blog!

Check out all the best resources for your blog!  I find all these resources so valuable, and I am sure they will help you as much as they helped me.

Blogging, Featured Money, Make Money

Comments

  1. Jeremy Adams says

    February 25, 2021 at 12:51 am

    pls how many article did you write in your first 3 months? pls

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      February 26, 2021 at 3:54 pm

      Hey Jeremy, I had 18-20 blog posts when I launched my blog, and then I tried to write around another 3 a month. So I probably had 30 articles at around month 3!

      Reply
  2. Epifania @FemaleBlogpreneur says

    February 19, 2021 at 6:18 am

    Such a helpful guide for newbie bloggers!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      February 19, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      Thank you, Epifania πŸ™‚ Glad you found it helpful!

      Reply
  3. Lisa says

    January 26, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    You are such an inspiration!! You inspired me to take Pinterest Strategies for my blog http://www.thefinancialcookbook.com. I hope it helps! Blogging definitely is tough work but I’m excited! Thank you!!!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      February 10, 2021 at 3:10 pm

      Best of luck, Lisa! πŸ™‚

      You will find it enlightening! And I am sure it will help you to get more traffic!

      Reply
  4. Clickforgrowth says

    January 17, 2021 at 7:35 pm

    Hi Sara!!
    This is so inspiring.!! I read the comments and was so surpriced to see the same bloggers i follow now struggling with the same things i am as a new blogger.
    This gives hopes and strengths to keep goin and learning every day.
    I registered for SSSO, Mike has really good insides.
    Thank you for your invaluable tips and guide.
    Dalia

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      January 25, 2021 at 9:59 am

      Thanks, Dalia! I am sure you’ll find Mike’s course AMAZING! It’s so full of useful tips and actionable steps to take! Best of luck!

      Reply
  5. Atul Kumar Singh says

    January 17, 2021 at 10:20 am

    For sure. People are bound to get useless information about online money-making. They just want to be a billionaire over a night. Every other wants to be a blogger, they want to earn money by writing blog posts and monetizing. But wait, let me ask them how many blog posts you have read in your entire life?

    I am dam sure you will be shocked by the answer. So, reading authentic information is very much vital for nay they of growth and earning. I am really proud to be part of G Dreams and hope gets going on.

    Since I started blogging I tried different thing and failed. Now have started a new website, working with full potential. Hope the results will be better.

    Cherss,
    Atul Kumar Singh (Bloggtemplate)

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      February 10, 2021 at 3:14 pm

      Thank you, Atul!
      I agree, there are many people online looking to make quick money. But to make a living out of blogging you need to treat it like a business.
      Best of luck with your blog.

      Reply
  6. FinansowaDroga says

    January 14, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    I started blogging also 3 month ago, but for now – I make zerooo dolars πŸ˜› Only costs ..

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      January 25, 2021 at 10:07 am

      That’s pretty normal πŸ™‚ Don’t get discouraged! I always say to anyone who wants to start a blog to keep at it for at least a year, if you want to see results. the most important thing is to be able to see growth over time, even if small. If there is growth, it means you are doing something right and people will come. If there is no growth, keep learning and reading from people who know what they are doing πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Fd Shakil says

    December 24, 2020 at 9:37 am

    Hi, This is such a nice post, I’ve just started my blog back in July 2020. I completely agree that blogging isn’t quick stuff. There are a lot more things to learn.. However, I enjoy your post a lot.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      January 10, 2021 at 11:22 pm

      Thank you, Fd! Glad you found this post useful!

      Reply
  8. Dipesh Solanki says

    December 23, 2020 at 6:48 am

    I preffer Affiliate and dropshipping instead of Google Adsense. What’s your views on it?

    What are the pros and cons as per your knowledge on it?

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      January 10, 2021 at 11:27 pm

      Google Adsense isn’t very profitable. Other advertising companies like Mediavine and AdThrive are much better to work with. But I agree that affiliates can be very lucrative. I like to diversify my income streams, which is why I use both. Dropshipping is definitely a great business model and one I am keen to look into in more detail in the next few months πŸ™‚

      Reply
  9. Kayla says

    December 16, 2020 at 12:29 am

    Wow, I loved reading this and can not thank you enough for your insight! I do have one question though – did you need to have all the viewers prior to joining with Adsense or does Adsense allow new bloggers into their program? Thanks again for making this post!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      December 18, 2020 at 3:40 pm

      Hey Kayla,
      With Adsense, you can apply straight away, as long as you have a few good blog posts and everything looks in order with your blog (theme is set up, and it all looks legit).

      Reply
  10. jan says

    December 11, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    I’m in the process of starting my blog, but also had previously thought about starting a youtube channel. I have put off starting the channel as I too tend to have introvert traits (i guess i would be considered an ambivert).

    Do you know rather or not google adsense would require me to have two separate accounts for youtube and the blog? Would they pay twice/separately? Since, I may be more comfortable starting out with a blog, I plan to drive viewers to view my youtube channel for similar content and build a more intimate community.

    Thanks a bunch for your posts! One of the best on the topic!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      December 15, 2020 at 3:56 pm

      Hey Jan,
      You can simply use 2 separate Google accounts for YouTube and your blog. That’s absolutely no problem!

      Reply
  11. Jex Paul says

    December 2, 2020 at 7:22 am

    Awesome post with useful content, Thanks for sharing it.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      December 2, 2020 at 9:37 pm

      Thanks for stopping by, Jex! glad you found it useful πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  12. Laura says

    November 28, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    Thanks for the great info! I am a former journalist turned personal trainer and nutrition coach. I’m finally taking the leap to combine my two passions by starting a health and fitness blog. After seeing my clients try to make everything harder than it had to be, I decided to create a blog to simplify fitness. I plan to use your techniques to aid in my journey.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      December 15, 2020 at 3:59 pm

      Hey Laura,
      What a great idea! I love it! I wish you the best of luck with your journey! And there isn’t a better time to be online right now, teaching about staying fit from home! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  13. Diana | CozyHomeHacks says

    November 20, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    Thank you so much for this amazing, comprehensive article. i stumbled upon it on Pinterest and i’m so happy I did. I’m a newbie blogger, so I’m soaking up all the information. Now, to check out the rest of your blog πŸ™‚ have a great day!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      November 25, 2020 at 2:37 pm

      Thanks, Diana! Glad you found this post useful πŸ™‚
      Good luck with your blog!!

      Reply
  14. Isuamfon Offiong says

    November 9, 2020 at 12:56 am

    The content is so fantastic that I had to scroll way down in minutes. 😊

    Hi, Sara. Great article.

    Just as you’ve said. Blogging is sweet but the bitter part is the Hardwork.

    Maybe it was a fast rich scheme years back when someone could easily rank on the Big G those days but now, one needs to really put in the work and also invest in it as a business.

    Between, do you think Bluehost can host a 25k monthly visits for Beginners?

    Thanks for the content. Will come back for more.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      November 11, 2020 at 5:50 pm

      Hey Isuamfon,
      Thanks so much! Bluehost can definitely host 25k page views! I only moved when I reached closer to 500k page views per month πŸ™‚

      Reply
  15. Vedavyasa Huli says

    November 3, 2020 at 11:08 am

    Money Blogging!!! Yes, one of the toughest and excellent means to earn money. It is not easy to become an expert blogger, one should have passion, a thorough understanding of the subject, an excellent writing skills and presentation, still a lot more skills which we can go on explaining. It is really inspiring to see how much effort you have put to get success. Really hats-off to your dedication. The explanation is simply fantastic and a guidance for future bloggers. Nice to know your success story. Keep it up.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      November 6, 2020 at 5:59 pm

      Thanks, Vedavyasa, for your kind comment! Making money blogging can be tough, as you said. But, I can also tell you, it’s not as tough as being stuck in a stressful job for 12-14 hours a day πŸ™‚
      I guess it all depends on our own perspective of what tough is!

      Reply
  16. Arlynne says

    November 1, 2020 at 10:35 am

    Hi Sara!

    Your article’s super-packed with info and I feel so much more confident trying to create pins on Pinterest which is so relieving! Thank you so much <3

    One question, in your opinion, how many times can you re-use the same URL (lifetime and daily)? This is assuming you change up your pins' design every time you re-pin.

    Also, as for affiliate marketing, when did you start? Like was there are any base amount of pageviews you had/needed before you could apply?

    Thanks so much in advance! Looking forward to your amazing posts! πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      November 4, 2020 at 5:45 pm

      Hey Arlynne,
      You can re-use the same URL as much as you like, but you should try to avoid looking spammy in the eyes of Pinterest. So I would say to publish one pin for the same URL no more than once per week. That’ll mean a maximum of 52 pins a year for the same URL!

      For affiliate marketing: to be honest, I started after I had quite a few page views. I would say around month 3-4! Mostly because I didn’t have time to even learn what it was before that, between writing and trying to understand WordPress lol!
      It’s good to familiarise yourself from the beginning, but remember, you’ll need some page views to make sales, and programs like amazon require you to make a minimum number of sales in the first 3-6 months.

      Reply
  17. Amey Sarode says

    October 29, 2020 at 7:45 am

    Hi Sara,
    Thanks for the great post and you really inspired me. I have recently started a blog, Not planned 20 posts like you did but, I am trying to add 2 posts per week.Soon I will start pinning on pinterest about relevant topics. Its time to use tailwind. I think this article deserves tobe featured on google search. And again thank you for the really helpful insights.

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      November 4, 2020 at 4:55 pm

      Thanks so much Amey! Your comment made my day! Let’s hope Google notices it lol!

      Reply
  18. Digital Sakshi says

    October 20, 2020 at 5:36 am

    Hello Sara Mam,

    After reading this article, I am of the opinion that this blog post makes it easy to learn blogging and affiliate marketing. This blog post is in-depth also it is easy to understand.

    Mam, I’m a bit confused about the keyword research. Can you recommend any tool for keyword research?

    I think every content creator should read this article.

    It’s a full value-pack article!

    Thanks Again!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      October 26, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      Thank you for your kind words! πŸ™‚
      Ubersuggest is free up to a few searches a day. It’s quite helpful. You can have a look at the SEO chapter in my post on how to start a blog. In it, I mention quite a few useful apps you can use to help with keywords research!

      Reply
  19. Angelika says

    October 7, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    Hi! I just want to start off saying that this post is everything I needed. I started my blog last month and I’m definitely feeling overwhelmed. I’m wanting this to work for me and my family. I love it but it is stressful with everything!

    I do have a question. I’m just starting the affiliation aspect along with getting my Pinterest out there. Which do you think I should focus more on. I’m all for investing in the suggestions you gave but should I do the affiliated course first and then the Pinterest?

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      October 14, 2020 at 3:42 pm

      Hey Angelika,
      Without traffic, you won’t be able to make much money from affiliate marketing. I am not saying you need 100,000 page views, but when no one visits your blog, it’s hard to sell… πŸ™‚
      So I would concentrate on understanding Pinterest first, and when you start to get at least 100-200 people a day on your blog, you can work on apply to affiliate programs and add affiliate links to your blog.

      Reply
  20. Visualam says

    September 25, 2020 at 6:18 am

    Hey,

    The post is really informative. I have started blogging a month back.

    I am facing problems with finding the topics I should write about. The keywords I choose are either are too crowded with strong competitors or have very little traffic.

    Please suggest.

    thanks
    Visualam

    Reply
    • Sara @ Gathering Dreams says

      October 2, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      Hey Visualam,
      You need to look for long-tail keywords. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have massive traffic. Start with keywords that have 300-500 searches per month. And see if you can rank for those. It’s also important to rank for keywords that have the right search intent, so a keyword with only 100 searches a month could bring you more money than one with 10,000! If you don’t know much about search intent, this is a good post to read. πŸ™‚

      Reply
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