When the pandemic hit, a lot of people found themselves stuck at home with no way to make the kind of money they did before everything fell apart. A few years later, the temporary measures set up for the disaster are still in place. Some people decided that they were better off not returning to their old job and they are making a go of something new. That new thing was content creation in the following forms:
- Podcasting
- YouTube
- Product influencer
- Blogging
Few people who decided to make a go of it knew anything about how to do it before they started. And that is one of the great things about modern content creation. The tools are readily available for the masses. Anyone can make a go of it with limited budget and skills. They tend to learn as they go.
One of the things they learn early on is that it takes money to make money. In this case, it doesn’t take much. But it might take more than you have lying about. Consider a small loan. Western Finance offers a lot of helpful information on the types of loans that are available for the kind of seed money you need to get started. Study up on your options so that you can better identify the companies and offerings that are right for you.
Once you have initially financed your new venture, You have to find ways to monetize your blog. This can be challenging since most consumers are used to reading blogs for free. That doesn’t mean you can’t monetize your blog. It just means that you have to work a lot harder to make your blog interesting and appealing. Here are a few tips that will help you do just that:
1. Keep it Pithy
Short posts can do very well. Shoot for 800 words and under. You want blog posts that can be easily consumed in one sitting, even for slow readers. This also applies to using paragraphs. Short paragraphs can make your points more punchy as opposed to meandering. Don’t blog as if you were writing a novel. Blog as if you were writing an article in a magazine — a short magazine at that.
2. Avoid Controversy Whenever Possible
If you are not monetizing your blog, you can be as controversial as you want. But the moment advertisers enter the picture, you have to tone it down considerably. The same is true if you want people to pay for your blog. You can’t alienate the audience from which you are trying to extract money. The exception would be if your audience is there specifically for your take on controversial matters,
3. Be Interesting Rather Than Perfect
When blogging, you don’t have to pretend you went to journalism school and that you have a degree in writing. Perfect writing mechanics is not why people come to blogs. They are not looking for typos in your recipes. Avoid as many errors as you can. But don’t sweat the small stuff when blogging. People read you because you have a way with words, not because you scored 100% on your term papers in college. People will forgive imperfections if you are entertaining to read.
4. Stay in Your Lane
If you have a cooking blog, don’t suddenly start talking about politics. That is not why your audience is there. You might be right about what you are saying. But you are treating your audience poorly when you have lured them in with recipes only to suddenly hit them with something else. Stay in your lane. If you want to talk about something else, start a new and separate blog for that.
5. Offer a Multimedia Experience
As good as your writing is, people will engage more if you give them something to watch and something to look at from time to time. You will notice that all of your favorite blogs have pictures and short videos that enhance the experience. Your blog will be much more appealing if you do the same for your readers. It is also going to help you in that all important SEO.
It is easy to start a blog and not so easy to make it a career. Enhance your chances by keeping it pithy, noncontroversial, and focused.
