How to Start Blogging for Money
When I say that I´m a professional blogger, many people assume that I mean this blog. While At Home Mom is definitely a huge part of my blogging life, it isn´t really paying the bills yet. So, for me, blogging for other people is how I make a good chunk of my income.
For anyone who is interested in earning money for blogging, there are a few things you should know first.
It´s not a high paying gig. Unless you are famous or lucky enough to land a job with a huge blogging network, chances are you won´t be making a killing off this. How much can you actually earn? That depends. I personally have seen jobs that pay $100 a month for one post per day and others that pay $5-25 a post, depending on the popularity of the blog. Chances are you won´t earn the higher amounts until a little later in your blogging career.
It might not be glamorous. Every writer wants to see their name in the byline, but the truth is . . . there are a lot of ghostwriting jobs out there. That´s what I do at the moment, write anonymously. It´s not as glamorous, but it definitely pays the bills and there are quite a few ghostblogging jobs out there.
It´s work. Blogging seems easy when you are writing what you want, when you want. Unfortunately, if you really want to make a decent wage, you´ll end up taking on some blogging jobs that aren´t necessarily up your alley. For example, I write about everything from medical transcription to modular housing and I´m not an expert in any of them. You´ll need to do research and it can be very difficult to come up with new ideas for the same topic after several months of writing on it.
Still interested? Then let´s move on . . .
How to Find a Blogging Job
It´s relatively easy to find blogging job listings, the problem is actually landing the job. You have a couple of options here.
Option One: One on One Blogging
This is most likely to let you use your own name, but usually only results in one job. That may be a good jumping off point, but it usually isn´t enough and you´ll have to find several jobs like this. Single blog jobs involve dealing with the actual blog owner or network.
Option Two: Blogging Services
These are services that take on a variety of client blogs. With these positions, you can often have as much work as you want, ghostwriting for several different blogs and various clients, but the blogging service is responsible for paying you. The wages are often less, however.
Next, you´ll need some writing samples. Many employers will want to see examples of your blogging skills, so if you don´t yet have a blog, even a personal one, it´s a good idea to create one. You´ll find that many jobs require a minimum of 3 months blogging experience, but this is one area you can gain experience on your own.
For writing samples, you will need to have just 3-4 different articles. These can be fairly short, 250 words is fine. Try to write each one on a different topic so you will have something appropriate for any job.
Once you have your samples ready to go, it´s time to start applying for jobs. Here are a few of the places that I check when I´m looking for work:
Subscribe now in your feed reader so you don´t miss a single article from At Home Mom.
Are you a work at home mom running your own business? Add your biz for FREE to the At Home Mom Business Directory.
[...] How to Start Blogging for Money – Unless you are famous or lucky enough to land a job with a huge blogging network, chances are you won´t be making a killing off this. How much can you actually earn? That depends. I personally have seen jobs that pay $100 a month for … [...]
Great post! I have hobby blogs as well as blogs I do for clients and lately a few that I’m trying to be more aggressive with so that I can earn a decent income from some of my own but you are so right…it is WORK. It’s not easy coming up with subjects and doing research but I do love it!