Can You Really Make Money from Blogging?

I’ve been blogging since January 2009. Blogging is my creative outlet to take my personal journals online to share with family and friends especially my thoughts as a new mom. My son, Hyzyd, was just 2 months at that time. I love to journal his every week milestones. Then I came to know lots of mommy bloggers online who shared that not only their blogs became outlets of information but they also use it for money-making opportunities!

I started small. After 6 months of blogging, I registered my blog to several paid blogging that accept blogs and then pay me for the blog posts I put up. I started with $1.50 for 150-200 words post. Nowadays, I started receiving $40 from generous advertisers for 200-words article! Others just ask me to place a link in any post of my choice and most of them pay regularly. To date (after two years of blogging) I was able to put up 7 blogs that make money (not that much compared to other bloggers but it's enough to support my hobby and other stuff) and I have 3 others which are still on infancy stage.

Blogs are excellent tools to earn some extra money without having to invest start-up cash. They’re loved by the search engines because blogs are usually updated frequently, unlike websites that are updated less often.

Millions of people visit blogs every day for information or entertainment purposes. A lot of the blog visitors are ones that come back to check in on the latest entries into a blogger’s world.

Another way I make money from my blogs is by using advertisement space. Advertisers offered me $120/year to place one of their text links or banner on my popular blogs- those with high page ranks. There are advertisers that are willing to pay you based on the traffic numbers you generate and the prime space available within your blog.

There are many ways you can monetize ad space. You might charge a flat fee, take a commission based on the number of click-through, or make a deal where you get a percentage of the sale of a product, much like an affiliate marketer does.

If your blog is extremely popular, then there’s more of a chance that advertiser’s will compete to have their banners placed in your space. Blogs are a good way to earn some money by sharing your thoughts, feeling and even your daily tasks.

Can you really make money blogging? Yes, you can. I sure did! As a proof here’s my latest buy out from my blogging money: 

Choose a topic that has a high number of searches, launch a free blog at Blogger.com or WordPress.com, and strategically implement your ads and offers to start seeing a steady income build over time.

My lil dolly in the house

What's good thing about having a lil sister? You can dress her up like a dolly:)

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves."

How to Start a Blog

There's always a first time in everything. Like in blogging, I don't have a single idea how to start a blog not unless a friend of mine shown me her blog. It enthralled me to find her blog loaded with posts and photos of how her weeks gone by. Her blog's template fascinates me. I was mesmerized on how she's able to have photos, texts and links in her blog's sidebar. I later knew that those photos, texts and links were called "widgets" or blog's "gadgets". I don't need to be a computer expert to learn how to add these gadgets in my blog because they're already available and all I need to do is just click "add gadget". 

Everyone can start a blog as long as you have passion in writing (plus you have your own computer and internet connection). When you have passion in something, you have such enthusiasm to know more about that thing. You persevere and endure difficulties just to be acquainted to your object of desire. Same goes in blogging. You have to find time to at least write and update your blog once a week. Visit other bloggers' journal , you'll pick inspirations in there. Make friends in the blogosphere. It's more inspiring to blog when you'll know you got readers.

 When my friends asked me how to start a blog, here's what I told them:

1. Create a blog in blogger.com or wordpress.com. They're both free. Fill out the one-step form and you’ll be blogging seconds later! These blogging networks have several templates you can choose from and you are guided through the set up process from picking your blog's name to how you want your blog to look like. Both have easy interface that is perfect for those who are new to research.

2. What to blog? Start blogging blog about your life in general- your job, hobby, food, about your kids and what it’s like to be a parent ! Whatever you choose to blog about it needs to be something you are passionate about. Don’t forget, you are going to be writing about this topic several times a week, and if you don’t have the enthusiasm for it, that will show in your posts – and no one else will have the enthusiasm to read them.

Do you know that you can earn from your blog? YES! There are several paid blogging networks that accept blogs and then pay you for the blog posts you put up. Some give you what to write about, others just ask for you to place a link in any post of your choice and most of them pay regularly.But before this will happen, let's move to the next step.

2. Buy a Domain name. Domain name? What is this? Domain name is a unique address for your blog. Similar to a physical address, a domain name tells people exactly where to find you on the internet. See my blog's name above? It's www.genejostory.com not www.genejostory.blogspot.com or www.genejostory.wordpress.com.

This is the first rule especially if you want to take paid blog posts. Domain names are quite affordable. If you are looking for a .com, you can get that for less than $12. Godaddy.com is a favorite for a lot of folks. You can also try Name.com.

3. Get Hosting. This blog, Her and History, is my first blog. After six months of blogging and being encouraged by my friends to start monetizing my blog, I set my blog's setting in advance. I bought a domain name in blogger (click Settings~Publishing~Need a domain? Buy one now!) and my blog is hosted for FREE. The only problem with that is that with blogger, sometimes there might be a glitch or something and then you lose all your hard work. You really can’t complain, after all you are being hosted for free.

So, with the advice of my blogging-expert friends, I make use of self-hosted WordPress. This means that I buy a domain name and buy hosting. Then I get a WordPress blog installed and I'm ready to blog.

If you need hosting and other blog services feel free to ask other bloggers (you can ask me) or read reviews.

If you are ready to begin blogging, it really does not take much. Examine your options and happy blogging!

Red and Pink in Spring

What to wear this spring? You need some bright pants! Not just colored jeans, but actual pants. Take a look at this this:

Sarah Jessica Parker in neon pink pants -worn with red. Another rule broken and this one looks fabulous on her!