I have been blogging for quite a while now. My first post went live in 2013. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! That didn’t really matter as it was a great new hobby. It didn’t occur to me that it was possible to make a living blogging.
Sharing tips
I used my blog initially as a kind of online diary. Documenting events at Shoestring Cottage and sharing money saving hints and tips was a fun thing to do. It also helped me to stay on track financially.
Another huge unexpected bonus of blogging for me has been my interactions with readers. I have usually had such intelligent, supportive comments and lots of really good advice.
You can make a living blogging
Reading other people’s blogs, I have become aware that some bloggers earn money from their blogs – in some cases, a six figure income!
It is hard work and you need to be immensely well organised, but it seems that you can make a decent income.
This is hugely appealing to me. I would love to at least earn part of my income as a blogger. To this end I recently signed up for Emma Drew’s blogging course, Turn Your Dreams Into Money: How to Build a Six-figure Blog and Live the Life You Want.
If you haven’t come across Emma Drew before, you need to check her out. As well as her blog, EmmaDrew.Info, she is very active on You Tube with some excellent and informative videos. Her blogging is so successful that she now earns a six figure income and employs her husband.
I am working my way through the course at every opportunity and have already learned so much.
From creating a blog from scratch, choosing topics to blog about, earning affiliate income, using social media, to negotiating sponsored posts and advertising, this course covers everything you need to know.
Will it help me make a living blogging? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, I am finding it fascinating. I have already used some of what I have learned to improve my blog, and it has explained some concepts that were all a bit of a mystery.
Black Friday £50 discount
If you want to start a blog, or already have one and would like to monetise it, Shoestring Cottage readers can get £50 off Emma’s course until midnight on 30th November. Click through from here and use the code BLACKFRIDAY to get your discount. The course usually costs £197, so you will pay £147. (This is my affiliate code and if you purchase the course by clicking through I will earn a commission. However, my opinions are my own and genuine.)
As well as the course itself, you can join Emma’s dedicated Facebook group to give and receive ideas and support from other people taking the course.
Maybe you have a blog and you are fine with it as a hobby. But if you are interested in blogging as a genuine career choice you could do a lot worse than investing in Emma’s course. In the meantime, I will let you know how I get on as the course progresses!
Kelley B says
My favorite blogs are the ones with little or no advertising…I tend to avoid blogs with more advertising down the side columns than Facebook! if you are offering something unique and interesting I can see the advantage of earning while you share…wishing you much success on your chosen path…it’s a lot of work!
I blog for fun and occasionally sell my patterns and sewing room stash…have turned away all offers to monetize it…
Sally says
Monetised blogs are the biggest bore and I never go to read them. Sometimes I land on one accidentally. They are unreadable with all the ads and pop ups. I don’t go near them . If a blog has an affiliate link, then I go off site before making my own way.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
That’s interesting. I agree that some blogs and news websites have so many ads it’s hard to keep up with the story so I would never go crazy with the ads. I don’t mind using affiliate links though if it’s a writer I enjoy. I’m happy to support them in a small way – and most of the affiliate links pay a teeeensy amount as far as I can see. I think if a blogger has clearly spent a long time creating something worth reading, why not?
Sunaina says
Good and very informative post.
Keep sharing with us.
Margaret Powling says
I agree with Kelly B and Sally, and I don’t monetize my blog, either (my blog is currently down for some reason and I have my computer man investigating this). Adverts annoy me and I don’t wish my blog to be used to advertise other people’s wares. If I recommend something, it is something I have personally used; I’ve not been paid to advertise say, a face cream or some shampoo. Indeed pop-up ads annoy me so much that if a blog has them I tend to stop looking at that particular blog.
However, I am forever plagued by Spam comments which are obviously not from ‘real’ readers but companies of people wishing for me to log onto to their websites for whatever reason. I delete them forthwith, never opening attachments.
But, of course, I am fortunate. I don’t need to advertise on my blog in order to earn money. Not everyone is as fortunate, but as I say, I prefer blogs without adverts.
Margaret P
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Oh yes! Spam! I can do without that
ilona says
I clicked on a blog the other day which was awash with adverts. There were NINE (9) embedded in the first post, and I don’t mean links, they were full blown picture adverts. Made it almost impossible to read, I gave up. The blogger was an award winner, how she managed that I don’t know. As I don’t buy online, I never click affiliate links, but that’s just me.
Julia says
I don’t tend to notice ads placed around websites, but ones that pop up while I’m reading something and videos that then carry on playing in the corner once I’ve scrolled past them,really annoy me. I had an ad blocker for a while but removed it again recently.
I am more likely to click on an affiliate link within the text that I’m reading, if it interests me, and in fact always do try to go through the Amazon one linked to a certain free and independent genealogy site that produces an absolutely superb fortnightly newsletter. If I am going to buy from Amazon anyway, I might as well support something I love at the same time – no matter how small it might be. 🙂
Kirrie says
Online course about blogging £197 . Wow and people are actually paying that!.
I have a chrystall ball make up a course on frugal living, £197 with tag line pay a little now for financial happiness and saving for life. Sit back n watch the dosh roll in.xx
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
True it’s not cheap… however it is hard to get sensible advice on monetising a blog I have found. I am thoroughly enjoying this course but managed to bag it when the offer was even better. It allows me to explore what might work for me and disregard the silly stuff, like the 9 ads in one blog post Ilona mentioned. No one will look at that all the way through!
ilona says
Sorry, but I think you’ve been had. Don’t pay anyone any more money, just keep blogging.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I should always listen to you, Ilona! Was watching you on You Tube whilst eating my porridge today . Fab stuff
ilona says
Jane, I like you as a person, I can tell you are genuinely nice, and your hubby is nice too. If you want to turn your blog into a business, go ahead, join the gang, but beware, you will lose some of your sincerity.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I do worry about selling out and I don’t want to lose my voice or compromise my principles . I have a few ads on here now but can edit the settings so there aren’t too many. It will be a balancing act and I doubt I will make my fortune since I would never work with any dodgy companies selling pay day loans or betting companies. They pay the big dosh!
Gillian says
I am planning to set up a blog soonish but unlikely to go down the monetizing route. I badly need the money, being unemployed at the moment, but I believe that the ‘big money’ is made more via YouTube followings, particularly if you were savvy enough to get in near the start. So many people have jumped on the frugal bandwagon now hoping to cash-in that the market is almost saturated. I also agree with meanqueen that £197, or even £147, seems a huge amount to pay especially as there is quite a lot of teaching out there, for free – sorry, no offence intended! (I was an executive in Training&Development in my previous working life, and I would hardly ever pay £200 for an online course for someone unless it led to an accredited qualification). Keep blogging though cos you & meanqueen are 2 of my ‘go-to’s!!!