How to start a blog and make money online as an affiliate marketer and blogger
Even complete beginners (newbies) to blogging should be able to get started with the following steps:
1. Pick A Niche (blog topic or subject matter) – The first step to starting your own blog to make money online is to pick a niche.
The most obvious choice is to write about something that you are already knowledgeable about and passionate about.
Large markets such as health, wealth, relationships, and entertainment are the easiest to make money in.
2. Pick A Blogging Platform – You do not need to be a technical expert in order to start making money online with a blog.
There are a number of popular blogging platforms that will let you quickly set things up with the click of a few buttons.
A popular choice is the WordPress platform which has an easy-to-use graphical interface.
It is best to have it installed on your own domain. When you have your own domain then you brand yourself much better than the free version and this in turn helps attract more visitors and improve conversions.
The free version of WordPress also has certain limitations.
3. Start Posting Keyword Targeted Content – When you have a blog up and running the next step is to get visitors to your website so that you can make money from them.
The most obvious way to get traffic to your blog is to publish keyword-targeted content.
Use the free Google Keyword Research Tool to get ideas for the sort of phrases your target market is typing into the search engines. Then publish your blog posts around those keywords.
It is slow going at first, but after a few months, things should really start to snowball.
4. Make Money Blogging – OK, so now you have a blog in an in-demand niche that is generating daily traffic. The next step is to actually make money blogging by selling your visitors something!
Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize your blog traffic.
Go to a popular affiliate marketplace such as Clickbank and pick out an offer that makes a good fit for your visitors.
This will often be an information product in the form of an eBook or video course. You can then recommend it to your visitors as part of your blog posts and banner advertising.