I love business. I love entrepreneurism. I love having my own business, being my own boss, doing it my way. And now that we travel full-time in our RV, I especially love being able to bring my work with me wherever we go. That’s all I need is my laptop and an internet connection (see our article on WiFi That Works).
See, here’s the thing about a regular job – you’re limited. You’re limited in the income you can make – you get paid $xx.xx dollars per hour and work xx hours per week, take home your paycheck, pay your bills, go out once with what’s left, and do it all again next week. I cannot stand the thought of being limited. After owning our own 7-figure business for the last 28 years, it is now ingrained in my DNA that I don’t “work for the man” – I AM “the man” (er, woman).
So when we started thinking about this full-time RV adventure, naturally our first thought was, “How will we continue to make money while travelling?” I see this question asked almost every day on the RV-related Facebook pages that I belong to. And while we still own and run our same business as before, we restructured it to make it more portable and simple. Now the business practically runs itself – we are basically drop shipping, so it’s super easy to run! Read more about drop shipping as an income source here.
However, I still have to do something! It’s in my blood – my mom owned her own (graphic arts) business, my dad owned his own (printing) business after mom passed away, we owned our own (computer-related) business for many years, and continue to do so. Since our business is structured to run so easily, I have too much time on my hands! And since I am a big believer in multiple income streams (more on that later) I just HAD TO do something! So I scooted over to Bluehost and bought my domain name. And you can too! It’s super easy to get started blogging! Just click HERE to purchase your domain name and start blogging today!
Blogging As A Career
Blogging is so diverse. You can blog about ANYTHING in the world! Anything that interests you, or a talent that you are good at. Don’t get me wrong – blogging is no easy job! It’s not easy to continually come up with subjects and write blog posts. And there’s sooooooooo much to learn about how to make money with your blog! Not to mention, every time I learn a new program that I think will work well with my blog, somebody comes out with a new one that’s supposed to be even better! However, once you get the hang of it, there are many different ways you can monetize a blog. Here are a few great ideas:
* Pay-per click ads – such as Google Adsense. Yes, I have Adsense installed on my blog, and so far I’ve made about enough money with it to take my family out for dinner (at a burger joint). It’s not a lot of money, but every little bit adds up (multiple income streams!)
* Paid ads on your site – I do have a couple of ads up on my blog, but one I’m running for free for my BFF, and the other is actually another type of advertising known as:
* Affiliate advertising – Affiliate advertising is basically where you advertise for another company, and if somebody buys their product through your special link, you get a small commission. You can do this by running an ad on your blog, or by referencing their products in your posts and linking to their site so a person reading your blog can buy their product. Many companies have affiliate programs in place – all you have to do is find them! One of my favorite affiliate programs is Amazon Associates. With Amazon Associates, you recommend (and link to) a product on your website, and if somebody purchases that product through your Amazon link, you get a commission!
*Sponsored Posts/Product Reviews – Have a product that you love and want to share it with the world? Write on your blog about it and make a little money! I suggest you only write about products that you really really love – your readers can spot a fake a million miles away! Some companies will pay you for a product review, and some companies will give you free samples of their product for you to try and then write about. So many possibilities here!!
*Sell a Product – Anything from T-shirts to books and e-books, digital downloads to hand-made products, the sky is the limit here! Ruth Soukup, author of the book How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul
*Sell Memberships – Another great way to make money with a blog is to sell memberships to other beneficial areas of your website. For example: You can create some great content on how to do (name your niche here), and then sell a membership where people can keep coming back to your site for further knowledge on this subject. I’ve seen blogs where people sell a membership to their MasterMind content, which is regularly updated with new bits of information. It’s very important that you build a great rapport with your readers and that they trust you in order to be successful at selling memberships.
*Teach/Give Workshops – Do you love to teach? Do you have something that you are really good at that the rest of the world can benefit from? There are some big name workshops/life coaches out there who are making a ton of money teaching others their skills. If done well, BIG money can be made here!
These are just a few ideas to get you started thinking about how to monetize a blog into a full-time income. I hope it has given you some ideas on how to start your own blog!!
Get Your Own Domain!
Are you interested in starting your own blog? Sign up with Bluehost through this link for only $3.95 a month! Or type your desired domain name in the box below and see if it’s available!
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