How To Make Money Blogging In 2022 ⇄ 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting A Blog

I started my first blog a few years back.

☑ When I hit publish, I had never been so excited in life.

I shared the post with my best friends and co-workers, and for the rest of the week, I kept reading and re-reading the blog post, and each time, I smiled.

• One year later, I discovered Grammarly.

  ✔ I ran the app on the first post, the second, and more!

 ☒ It was embarrassing, and I was horrified, for lack of a better word.

Even though English is my second language!

Some blogging mistakes are inexcusable and unacceptable.

Can you imagine how ashamed it felt, looking back, especially all the nudging, asking friends and family to share, like, and retweet!

✔ And that is one of the many mistakes.

So rudimentary that it didn’t even meet our checklist criteria to get included in the list of the top five things every blogger needs to know to make money blogging.

But first, let’s look at some numbers that you may find impressive and uplifting.

Is blogging still profitable in 2022?

I wanted to see if blogs still make money blogging.

So I did a quick and unscientific Google search. I then refined the search query to only show results from the past year, as shown in the image below.

The table below shows a random list of blogs and how much income they earned per month in U.S dollars. Some bloggers report their gross income, while others track and record their net income.

12 Types of blogs that make money blogging the most

Free is a hook, and it has its use and place. The savviest marketers love to use and sprinkle the word “Free” throughout their landing page copy to get us hooked.

✔ Bloggers ought to use it to their advantage.

Why do most bloggers like to use free blogging tools and services?

Because almost every Romeo and Juliet that I know and their dog and cat love FREE stuff! Listen up, my friend; use free blogging services wisely.

Free tools and services serve a different purpose, and they have their place. However, 9 out of 10, our main money blog doesn’t belong there!

▣ Avoid the following five free tools and services when setting up your money blog.

• Free domain names.
• Free web hosting.
• Free WordPress plugins.
• Free WordPress themes.
• Free blogging tools.

What are the disadvantages of free web hosting?

There are several disadvantages and reasons why most bloggers should avoid using free web hosting services to host a WordPress blog. The top five are:

1. Limited storage space and bandwidth » Most free hosting services offer minimal storage space and bandwidth, which can quickly become overwhelmed if your blog experiences substantial traffic growth.
2. Poor website performance » Since free hosting providers typically have many websites hosted on their servers, this often results in poor performance for all sites sharing the same server resources.
3. Advertising-supported » Many free hosting providers advertise on websites hosted with them, which can be visually distracting and decrease website usability.
4. Limited customer support » Free hosting providers typically offer minimal customer support, making resolving website issues difficult.
5. Insecurity » Your website may be shut down without warning if the hosting company decides it is no longer worth their time or money to host your website.

• That said, there are some exceptions.

For example, if you’re starting a blog and you don’t expect a lot of traffic, you’re blogging for fun, or if you don’t mind putting up with some ads on your site.

Overall, free web hosting can be a good option for small sites or businesses on a tight budget. But likewise, if you need more control over your site or expect a lot of traffic, it’s better to upgrade to a paid plan.

Are there any completely free WordPress themes for blogging?

There are many excellent and completely free WordPress themes available. However, there are also have several disadvantages.

▣ Here are five main things to consider before installing any theme:

• Limited design options » Most free WordPress themes have minimal design options, limiting the user’s ability to create a unique and cohesive look for their blog. Others require one to upgrade to access more advanced features.
• Poor code quality » Poorly coded and can cause conflicts with plugins or the WordPress editor. That can lead to errors and slow loading times.
• Insecure codebase » Free WordPress themes tend to be less well-maintained than premium themes, which may contain vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit.
• No support or updates » Free themes are usually not well-supported, meaning you might not be able to get help if you run into problems using them.
• Security vulnerabilities » Some free themes contain hidden advertising scripts, malware, or malicious code, compromising a website’s security and putting web visitors at risk.

That is why most WordPress experts caution people from downloading free themes and plugins from a random website on the internet.

☑ Most recommend using the WordPress.org website.

So you want to install your blog and then learn Html and CSS because you want to customize your blog design the way you like it.

Next, you will be creating and publishing new blog posts.

You’ll then start to guest blog to build links.

Before the end of the year, there is that WordPress plugin you plan to outsource to a developer (still a work in progress).

After that, you plan to write and publish your eBook, which you plan to record and turn into an online course, and did I almost forget to mention that whiteboard and YouTube video that has been in production for, like, forever!

◬ Oh My…My oh my!

 ▣ Stop. It’s a waste of energy. It’s a waste of time.

A blogger can only be as good as what they are good at doing specific blogging chores. So find that 20% that you are good at and then stick to it.

✔ Get the desired results.

And that leads us to the Pareto principle and how to apply it to blogging.

80/20 Rule in blogging

In 1896, Vilfredo Pareto was picking peas from his garden in Italy, and he noticed some pods contained more peas than others. He discovered that [80% of the peas] came from 20% of the pea pods when he examined them.

Today, that phenomenon is known as Pareto’s principle (well-known as the 80/20 rule), and it states that around 80% of consequences in many outcomes come from 20% of causes.

☑ That principle is true in gardening, as it is in blogging or any other business.

What Does the 80/20 Rule Mean for Bloggers?

In the early days of social media, experts said that 80% of social media posts should entertain, inform or educate readers, and 20% of the blog posts should directly promote the business.

Over the years, the rules gradually changed, and the focus shifted from well-rounded blogs about various topics to a focus on a blogger’s personal brand.

☑ If you can accomplish 80% of your results with just 20% of your actions, you’re on the way to creating your unique blogging brand.

Of course, your ratio will vary. For example, you may get to 90% of your results with 10% of the effort or 70% with 30%.

But in general, your average should be around 80/20.

Here are ways the 80/20 rule in blogging might play out:

• 80% of sales from 20% of articles.
• 80% of traffic from 20% of posts.
• 80% of feedback from 20% of clients.
• 80% of comments from 20% of followers.
• 80% of profits from 20% of the investment.

The goal is to work less and get better results. So, for example, the quick short blog post you write with conviction might trigger a more significant reaction than the one you spend hours researching or vice versa.

If most of your blogging results come from only 20% of your efforts, replacing some of that 80% effort with more profitable pursuits may be better for your blog.

It takes time to get the right formula, but it’s worth it.

How to apply the 80-20 rule for blogging success

Successful bloggers identify a niche and adhere to it.

As the blogs grow, it’s OK to branch out, but new ideas added to a blog should be connected to the blog’s primary purpose. To apply the Pareto principle to grow a blog, Keep these four rules in mind:

1. Take care of the 20% first

As bloggers, we need to use web analytics tools to determine who visits our site, how they behave while there, and what brings them in the first place.

These tools, such as Google Analytics, let us measure our results against benchmarks to see our progress, adjust to improve business, and help readers.

2. Make the right connections

For instance, we can search social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram, for the top performers in our area of expertise. Then, reach out, and ask them to write a guest post or provide an interview for our blog.

☑ We should also listen to stories from highly successful bloggers to learn how they define their top 20% and use it to achieve success.

Canvas the internet for places to add links that draw new viewers to your site and establish a newsletter to stay in touch with existing followers.

3. Publish the best content

What topics appeal to the top 20% of your followers?

How can you reach them and keep them coming back?

Interest in trends or seasonal topics wane over time, but others last indefinitely.

☑ Like trees that continue to flourish year after year, evergreen content is timeless information that continues to draw readers.

To publish the best content, you must first understand what “the best” means to your audience. For example, for some blogs, the best content is information-rich and provides a lot of value for the reader.

For another blog, the best content is entertaining or funny. And for still others, the best content is visually appealing or emotionally moving.

4. Don’t try to do it all yourself

☑ Everyone blogger is gifted at doing some things better than others.

Trying to do it all leads to burnout.

Find ghostwriters or guest bloggers to keep content fresh and exciting.

☑ Outsource technical aspects to someone who knows how to perform the tasks.

Once we establish a strong foundation for a profitable blog, we should increase its visibility by adding videos, podcasts, or visuals, such as charts, graphs, and infographics, to attract viewers and make information more memorable.

Let the 80/20 rule guide and help us learn how to effectively and efficiently use our time and resources.

What is the most important thing I have learned about content creation, marketing, and the phase we are about to talk about – that content is king?

☑ Key Takeaway: Use your content to build your list. Period!

A well-natured email list was, and will always be, the bread and butter for most successful blogs. An evergreen growing list of email subscribers is the key to the kingdom. Your territory!

Then rule with your content. Wisely. Honestly. With respect and fair judgment. By that, I mean publishing quality, timely, and relevant content.

What is the meaning of content is king?

In 1996, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, published an essay titled “content is king” on his company’s website. And he couldn’t have been more accurate.

Today, people use the phrase to emphasize the importance of high-quality content.

More than 20 years ago, long before YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and other wildly popular apps came along, one of the world’s best-known tech gurus predicted that content was where people would make more money on the internet.

At the time, publishing and marketing content on the internet was still in its infancy, and the advent of social media was still a long way off. However, even back then, the Microsoft founder envisioned the future internet as “a content marketplace.”

✔ It’s 2022, and Gates’ words have become a reality.

These days, to reach your target audience, it pays to put time, money, and effort into effective content creation. Having well-designed products and services isn’t enough.

Even paid advertising often falls short.

Content is king – and those words are just as accurate today as they were back in the late 1990s. In addition, every blogger or small and big companies that want to maintain a competitive edge need to create compelling content continuously.

Let us now look at the top seven reasons why content is still king and will remain so well into the future.

Ⅱ. Cost-effective, scalable and sustainable form of online marketing

It’s easy for a blogger to spend an entire marketing budget on paid ads to achieve visibility and have little to nothing to show in terms of a positive ROI.

Blogs can bolster their online marketing efforts without breaking the bank.

A blog’s competitive advantage is to prioritize content creation and marketing.

Indeed, content marketing costs up to 62% less than traditional marketing techniques. In addition, it generates up to three times more leads per dollar spent than other options, giving you incredible bang for your buck.

▣ Content marketing is highly sustainable.

▣ Likewise, content marketing is wonderfully scalable.

Bloggers that sell their products and services can start by creating “base content,” including static product pages and descriptions.

After that, they can increase or decrease the volume of content they produce on their blog to promote their products with minimal effort.

This type of marketing is also easy to tweak and is incredible flexibility.

Ⅵ. Content is a powerful branding tool

By establishing a unique, consistent voice for our blog content, we can cement our brand in people’s minds, making it the first one they think of in our niche when looking for solutions to fix a problem.

☑ Every piece of content we publish and promote is an opportunity to reinforce a positive impression, helping us draw in new readers and retain existing ones.

☑ By developing valuable, informative content that educates our audience, we can woo our blog readers in a streamlined, non-salesy way.

Thanks to social media, we can use online content to interact with our audience, establishing a clear voice for our brand and demonstrating that we care about the feedback we receive.

Key Takeaway: I have learned that a blog funnel is a must-have thing because it converts website visitors into email subscribers, leads, and paying customers.

Before we get to it, please allow me to indulge myself;

One of the best things about blogging is that bloggers get to travel and work any time, from any city, in any given country. How cool is that, well..?

🔹Welcome to New York City, the most populous city in America!

There are signs and billboards, tunnels, bridges, subways, and skyscrapers right from the airport. Lifestyle as we know it, most of it starts from here! So much to explore. So much to learn. So much to discover.

So many people…and more people are everywhere you turn! But, do you know the most likely thing to happen to new visitors in New York City?

🔹It is easy to get lost. To become overwhelmed and quickly despair.

And for the less adventurous, it’s easy to give up, cut the journey short, pack and go back home to where we are all well accustomed to and know our way around!

Don’t let visitors navigating a blog be like New York City!

We must and can do better.

Keep this in mind; the more prominent your blog gets, the more popular it becomes, the easier it is for us to lose focus.

We should guide your blog visitors. Lead them. Show them the way.

✔ The earlier we do this, the better it is for the blog, readers, and everybody.

Many marketing tools exist that not only guide new visitors to a blog but can also convince them that we have what they need.

We must have a winning blog funnel to turn visitors into happy subscribers.

Therefore, we need to understand how visitors interact through each blog post and look out for potential holes in the funnel. Recognizing these pitfalls can reveal what causes visitors to bounce back or drop out before converting to subscribers.

And that leads us to talk about why we need to set up a blog’s sales funnel. But before we do that, we need to understand the following:

What is a blog funnel?

A blog funnel is a marketing strategy similar to a sales funnel that uses a series of blog posts to generate leads, subscribers, and customers.

The goal is to move the reader from general interest in a topic to a point in time where they are ready to take the next logical step.

Generally speaking, the funnel starts with an article that introduces the topic.

A typical blog funnel will include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages the reader to take action, such as subscribing to your email list or buying a product.

Why are funnels important and Necessary?

A blog funnel can become an automated sales machine when done correctly.

Once we set it up, tweak, and optimize, the process gives bloggers hands-off leverage and a consistent approach for achieving desired results.

It also provides a window into which steps in the process work best.

Equally important is seeing which step does not work and needs to be adjusted.

What are the 5 stages of sales funnels?

Essentially, sales funnels involve a 5-step process that an individual takes before finally becoming a customer. Each step of the process requires using tools and marketing skills that can impact consumer behavior.

Therefore bloggers must keep abreast of the following five steps to help them craft a more profitable blog funnel:

Stage 1: Awareness

Before you can sell products or services, people need to be aware of your existence. There are plenty of tools to help you spread the word about your brand.

Effective marketing begins after determining your goals and building personas for potential customers. That is when your business first catches the attention of your target consumer. You can do this with a social media post or a Google search.

Now that your prospect is aware of what your business offers, they can decide to buy immediately. That is the ideal consumer who has already done their research.

✔ They know that your offer is desirable and priced within their budget.

Other consumers may take their time and need a courtship before buying. Your role is to woo them to engage more with your blog and return to close the deal.

Some ways to build awareness for a blog include:

• Guest blogging or posting
• Infographics
• Webinars
• Whitepapers

Stage 3: Evaluation

Reaching the evaluation funnel means consumers are enthusiastic about your solution because the previous stages have brought them closer to a sale.

This stage means consumers research and thinks over the different options that match their needs. Bringing them closer to your business can happen with a variety of content types such as:

• Case studies
• Demos or tutorials
• Discount/promo codes
• Pricing pages
• Product comparisons
• Testimonials

At this point, your main goal is showing prospects what their life would be like as your customers. Then, demonstrate the returns they can expect from investing in your products or services.

Now is a great time to offer a discount or free trial, which acts as a bridge and a low investment risk while they get a better feel for your solutions to their issues.

Stage 5: Commitment/Purchase

This final stage is where prospects respond to your call to action and offer.

They make a clear decision to buy your product or service. However, your relationship does not end here. Now is the time to earn your customers’ trust and commitment with continued engagement.

Motivate customers to keep coming back with marketing tools such as:

• Upsell campaigns
• Re-engagement email campaigns
• Referral programs and incentives

Key Takeaway: The most powerful thing I’ve learned about starting a successful blog as a budding digital entrepreneur is that there is no shortcut to success.

When I started my first blog…

I could see myself beginning to make money blogging, like yesterday!

🔹I mean, I was following the crowd.

Everyone I was looking up to was saying it’s easy. All I need to do is start a blog and make a few posts that will rank on top of Google in a matter of days.

Besides, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest are ready and waiting to send an avalanche of traffic when I start to post to their sites.

• It’s free, so they say!

  ✔ And if you have to pay, they will say…Oh, that’s cheap!

  ☑ It’s less time-consuming, and no skills are required.

For heaven’s sake, can we please stop?

Do people who make such baseless claims realize that there are real people with feelings and desires on the other side of the screen.

And they need workable solutions. Most people want an answer to their question and not to add more problems on top of their problems!

Listen, a careful look at what’s wrong with some of the interent marketing tactics reveals one fundamental flaw.

• Unfortunately, it’s a flaw that runs deep on the internet.

 ▣ Ladies and gentlemen, that flaw is as simple as it gets.

Lack of integrity. In essence, most internet marketers these days prefer to ditch basic principles for entrepreneurial success that have worked before, are working now, and will continue to work in the foreseeable future.

Hopefully, the basic entrepreneurial principles we’ll talk about here will serve us well and help us become responsible citizens bloggers.

✔ Below are ten things every blogging entrepreneur must do to be successful:

Ⅱ. Analyze competition

We will always face competition from similar businesses.

That’s why it’s essential to conduct a competitor analysis to determine what other similar blogs in our niche and in related niches are doing and find the gaps and opportunities we can maximize to grow our market share.

• Competition can be direct or indirect competition.

Direct competition occurs from blogs that publish similar or nearly identical content as we do. Meaning we’ll be competing to attract the same audience.

On the other hand, indirect competition occurs from other blogs that publish different types of content but can still satisfy the same consumers in our niche.

You can conduct a competitor analysis through keyword research, SWOT analysis, and price analysis. Competitor analysis will help entrepreneurs determine the key areas to focus on while retaining existing readers and attracting more.

Ⅲ. Research the niche market

Niche market research has become necessary for almost all businesses.

Bloggers should do niche market research for two main reasons.

First, it can help you identify underserved markets that may be receptive to your message. And second, it can help you hone your message to resonate more powerfully with your audience.

▣ Changing technologies:

It’s essential to ensure that products or services bloggers talk about remain relevant to the emerging trends. Due to constant changes, research also helps entrepreneurs identify new products, missing gaps, and other potentially profitable opportunities.

Ⅴ. Be creative

Entrepreneurs need to be more creative to stand out from the crowd and be able to package and present products or services in a better and more unique way to attract more customers in today’s competitive world.

We must be flexible and understand that our business doesn’t have all it takes to succeed. This way, we’ll be open to new business ideas, concepts, and strategies that will help grow our business to the next level.

Creativity will also make an entrepreneur more innovative. By studying consumer behaviors, a successful blog can be in a position to create new products or services or improve the existing ones.

▣ Creativity also helps identify new business opportunities, improve collaboration and partnership, and embrace various business challenges with ease.

Ⅷ. Provide excellent customer service

Excellent customer service will add value to your online business regardless of its niche. This increased value in return increases business revenue.

Excellent customer service also increases customer retention and revenue.

Moreover, research shows that retaining customers is much cheaper than getting new ones. Therefore, if your business has excellent customer service, you’ll be guaranteed to keep your existing customers.

Current customers will also refer others in need of similar products, thus improving your revenues. Some tips to improve customer service include but are not limited to:

• Always be respectful and courteous to the customer, no matter what they do.
• Listen actively and attentively to what the customer is saying.
• Be patient, and don’t rush the customer.
• If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t be afraid to say so, and find out the answer for them.
• Keep a positive attitude, even when the customer is demanding and strenuous.
• Address any problems or complaints immediately and try to resolve them as quickly as possible.
• Send a thank you card to a customer for their business when they finish their online transaction.

Ⅹ. Be consistent

Why is consistency important in business?

Consistency is the key to success in business because it helps us develop good habits and achieve our goals. When we’re consistent, we’re more likely to stick to our plans and see them through to completion.

We develop good habits through consistency that can lead to success and show others that we are reliable and can be trusted.

What does it mean to be consistent?

Consistency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds comfort. Consistent people aren’t just dependable; they’re predictable, and in a constantly moving and changing world, predictability is a valuable commodity.

◬ In short, consistency is by far one of the most underrated virtues.

☑ So be consistent. It’ll make you happier and more successful as an entrepreneur.

How to be consistent in everything you do

The best way for entrepreneurs to stay consistent is to have a routine, set achievable goals, and stick to them. Here are some tips for staying consistent:

• Find a support system, whether friends, other blogger, or an online community, to hold you accountable.
• Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable to keep you focused and motivated.
• Create a plan of action, set a deadline for yourself, and work towards achieving it.
• Set regular reminders to help you stay on track and stifle the tendency to procrastinate or get sidetracked easily.
• Reward yourself after completing a goal or sticking to your routine.
• Keep a positive attitude to help you push through and succeed when things get tough because, in business, there will always be challenges.

Becoming a blogger can be exciting and challenging at the same time.

It takes a lot of effort, sacrifice, patience, and dedication for any digital entrepreneur to succeed. Although the ultimate goal of every blogger entrepreneur is to make profits, sometimes this isn’t the case.

We need to understand that the entrepreneurship journey doesn’t guarantee better returns on investment, nor does it promise anyone will achieve success.

▣ The entrepreneurship journey is one that fewer people want to travel.

These skills will help us take the necessary steps to be successful entrepreneurs and continue to find new growth opportunities in the marketplace.

That is why we must understand our niche market to make necessary strategic decisions, find out what works the best, and how to reduce losses.

In conclusion, these are the five things I wish I knew before starting a blog.

We need to implement these strategies to succeed in this rapidly growing and competitive digital economy if we want to know how to make money blogging.

I hope you find them helpful, and may they bring lots of success to you.