Blogging has evolved greatly over the past years and the way to make money blogging has also changed a lot (more on that later).

Profitable blogging is less about your personal life and sharing stories of your daily activities, and more about helping a targeted audience with specific techniques and strategies for growth.

But in today’s internet savvy world, there are a ton of ways to start your blog, grow your blog and make an income. So how do you know which are best and which will work for you?

Today, I’m going to share 5 steps to start a profitable blog and 4 ways to make an income through blogging. If you are ready to take the leap and start your own blog, be sure to sign up for my email course below. It goes into these 5 steps in great detail, walking you through the setup, design and posting of your very own blog!

5 Steps to Start a Profitable Blog

1.Crafting the Perfect Blog Idea

What are you good at? What are you passionate about?

You have something awesome to share with the world! And a blog is a powerful way to do so.

You’re going to need to hone in on this idea in order to come up with the basics for your blog.

Some of you may already know exactly what you want to blog about - cooking, homemaking, DIY etc. But others may need to take some time to come up with that perfect idea.

It can and will definitely grow with you as you move forward in blogging. My idea started so small and grew as the years went on.

Don’t sit too long at this stage. If you aren’t exactly sure, I encourage you to just start something! Move through the next steps and over time you will be able to hone in on your perfect idea.

2.Setting Up Your Site

The techy part of setting up my site intimidated me SO much in the beginning! I felt like a fish out of water, trying to scramble through the steps of getting my blog up.

But setting up your site isn’t as daunting as it may seem.

I will give you a brief overview here, but for more detail, be sure it sign up for the 5-day FREE email course below!

My favorite hosting site that I’ve used is Bluehost. There are a few reasons for that. One is that their platform is clean and very easy to navigate. The other is that their help chat has been AMAZING. I can chat them with any question and their staff kindly walk me through the steps to resolve the problem.

I’ve also used Hostgator and although I had no problems with it, I just love Bluehost and their site setup and help chat far more!

You can start setting up your blog with Bluehost here.

I recommend starting with the Basic plan. Once you choose your domain, you can enter your account information.

I also recommend having only the domain privacy box checked:

Then enter your payment information, click submit & create a password.

Once you login with WordPress you can go through the prompts and click launch!

This part of setting up your blog should take you no more than 5-7 minutes.

For an in depth tutorial with pictures, you can sign up for the email course below.

3.Designing Your Blog

Let’s face it, when it comes to blogging - a lot of what is on the outside matters.

If your site is cluttered, unorganized and unappealing, people won’t want to stay very long.

It’s important to choose 2-3 main colors and fonts to use consistently.

It is also helpful to create a header that stands out and be sure to use this, your logo or just simply your website at the bottom of all of your images.

When you create a consistent brand, people will begin to recognize your content and click on it more!

4.Setting Up the Most Important Pages

There are a few pages that I would consider essential on a successful and profitable blog.

One of those pages is your About Me page. This will tell readers who you are and why they should trust you!

The list of pages I’ve found to be essential are:

• Home
• About Me
• Contact
• Start Here

For more on each of these pages, you can sign up for the email course where I go into detail about what needs to be included within the page content.

Don’t miss out on a powerful opportunity to connect with or guide your audience through your blog!

5.Getting Your First Post Up and Sharing It Well

Writing your first post can be scary. And it can be really easy not to post it because it’s not quite right.

But just because it’s the first post, doesn’t mean it needs to be perfect!

The best way to get your blog running is to just write something and click post!

It’s scary, if it wasn’t then it wouldn’t be worth it. But don’t get stuck trying to craft the perfect post that you don’t actually get your post up.

After it’s up, it’s not going to magically be shared with the right people (although that would be night, right?!).

You need to put in some hard work on sharing your post.

Here are my favorite places to share:

• Email subscribers
• Pinterest
• Linkups
• Facebook

If you can get your post out to all of these sources, you will see an increase in page views and traffic.

In my free email course, I go over the best ways to increase your traffic through these sources and more.

Once you have your blog setup, you can dive into the income opportunities.

Currently, the best ways to make an income from your blog are:

1. Create a product or online course

You can create and ebook, online course, or product for your audience and tailor it specifically to their needs. Once you have some freebies and opt-ins setup, you can grow your list and then use that list to market your product.

2. Affiliate Sales

This is a powerful way to gain income on autopilot. You first create a link to products you’ve loved in your niche and when your audience uses your link to purchase the product, you will make a percentage of that purchase price.

3. Services

Do you have a specific skill or service you can offer? Some ideas are: virtual assistant services, web design services, coaching, resume editing etc. Your blog is the perfect platform to showcase your skills and services.

4. Ads

I have yet to use this as an income source. I personally just don’t like the look of ads and don’t find the income worth the inconvenience to my audience. I recommend caution here. I typically don’t like to stay on sites that are filled with ads. Keep it simple if you do decide to use this method of income.

You can check out this post for more on the first steps to monetize your blog.

I hope this post has been helpful in your process to start a profitable blog. I’d love for you to share any successes or questions in the comments below!

You don't want to miss this blog growth challenge! As one who has grown two blogs, I've gathered a LOT of helpful tips and strategies and I want to help you too. The challenge is free and will help you take your blog to the next level!