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The Basics of Creating a Killer Blog Newsletter

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Are you wanting to learn how to create a blog newsletter…but you aren’t sure where to start? In this post, we’ll discuss everything you need to have a solid framework for your newsletter!

If there is one thing I would tell myself when I first started blogging, it would be this:

Start a newsletter. 

Newsletters can feel overwhelming, but it is one of the few platforms you have true control over.

You have all those emails at your disposal. Sure, you have to battle with spam folders and unengaged followers – but it’s a lot easier than battling with the ever-changing algorithms with social media.

Plus, I think emails are a great way to connect with your readers on a more personal basis and create raving fans.

My email list has helped me launched several successful courses, sell thousands of dollars in products, and generate traffic to my website for new AND old content.

At this point, my email list is segmented out into lots of different categories, and it’s a little bit complicated. However, in this post, I will be going over just the basics to getting started – I’m really big on doing things one step at a time. It really helps avoid getting overwhelmed!

Pick a Provider 

First of all, you need to figure out where you will store your emails and send out your newsletter from.

Unfortunately, you really can’t just collect emails from your website and send them out from your gmail address.

There are many companies that provide these services – some that start out free or very cheap all the way up to ones that cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

For beginners, I usually recommend MailerLite or Mad Mimi.

MailerLite is free for the first 1,000 subscribers, and it has affordable tiers moving up from there.

Mad Mimi starts at $10 a month.

I find both of these companies to be pretty user-friendly, easy to setup, and they are typically pretty compatible with a lot of optin companies.

The cost you will pay – regardless of what company you use – will go up when you get more subscribers.

Personally, I use ConvertKit. It is pricier than some, but it has all the features I need for what I do with my email list. I think it’s a great company, and at some point or another, I do recommend switching to it.

If you are one of those people who doesn’t want to change after a few months or a year, you can definitely start out with it.

For most people, though? I don’t recommend switching to ConvertKit until you are able to make money through your list – my goal is to at least make back what I pay for the service each month (some months I make more, some months I make less, but overall, I make a lot more in a year than I pay to ConvertKit through my email, so it’s 100% worth it).

There are tons of email providers out there, so feel free to read reviews – be aware that many of those reviews are fueled by affiliate links 🙂 I am using mine above, but these are companies I have used myself and can endorse. I use MailerLite for quite some time until I switched to ConvertKit. They have added a lot of new features as of late, as well.

Once you’ve selected your provider, go through their signup process so you can get ready to roll!

Find an Optin 

Now that you have your email provider all set up, you need a way to collect emails.

If you are using WordPress and a Genesis-powered theme, at the most simple level, you can use something called Genesis eNews Extended.

It’s a simple box that you can just connect to your email provider and place at different places on your website.

When you are just getting started, I think it’s important just to have SOMETHING setup so you don’t miss out on subscribers.

With that said, I do recommend getting a more robust optin service on your website. There are tons out there, which can be a little overwhelming.

Believe me, I’ve tried many of them 🙂

Personally, I have used Thrive Leads from Thrive Themes- it’s very inexpensive for a lifetime subscription, which is something I always like. I’ve also used Thrive Themes Quiz Builder, which has been really awesome for building my email list as well.

I will say it can be a bit glitchy at times, and I can’t always get it to work the way I want. But it’s been good to me over the years, and it has tons of optins you can use.

One of my my websites, I use Bloom from Elegant Themes. It’s a pretty simple to setup, and I like the optins it has available. It connects with most major email providers.

I have also used HelloBar in the past. I really like the bar at the top of the page, and I find that it converts pretty well. They have a free plan, but they recently updated some of their paid plans to be way out of my budget (over $100 a month for me!), so I’ve stopped using it. It’s great for people with less impressions on their site, though.

One of the fastest ways I’ve grown my email list is through my Facebook groups, but that’s a post for another day.

Setup an RSS

Having a newsletter is more than just sending out an RSS of every post – but I think it’s a good place to start.

It can easily be the basis of a great newsletter – and in my opinion, if it helps you get your newsletter out, then great!

For some of my segments, I have ConvertKit autocreate an RSS. I don’t have it autosend it, but it’s nice to have the bones for the email be there.

I do this with my food newsletter. Every time I have a new recipe go up, I can just jump into ConvertKit, find that the email has been created, and then I can easily change parts of it.

I’ll add a little more personality, maybe some tips, and occasionally I’ll throw in an affiliate link or promotion that is relevant.

I have also set up an RSS for all my blog posts. Although I only send one email a month to my entire list, I have a “General List” that I send an email to about once a week with posts from the previous week. ConvertKit pulls in my posts from the previous week, creates an email, and then I go in and add some more content in.

This just helps make the process a little bit easier for me.

Decide your Purpose

What is your purpose for sending out an email? Who do you want to signup for it?

Create your “ideal” reader and create your email around them. Chances are, if your blog is like mine with a variety of content, you may have more than one ideal reader.

But when you first start out, just start simple and have one “raving fan” in mind as you create it.

Not all newsletters are going to be the same – some just want to get more traffic to their sites. Others might want to sell their course. Some may want to increase their affiliate links.

And if you are like me…you’ll do a little bit of all those things.

But start by deciding what your main purpose is and build your strategy around that.

Create Your Hook 

It’s easy to just throw up a subscription box that says, “Signup for our weekly newsletter.”

But honestly…it’s not very enticing.

You need to come up with a good reason for people to signup for your newsletter.

The biggest “hooks” that I see people using are:

  • Free Printables
  • Free eBooks
  • Mini Courses

Personally, I have used printables, eBooks, mini courses, roundups of resources (for instance, 70+ Instant Pot recipes – which includes links to different recipes – or 100+ Cricut Project ideas for beginners) – all with varying success.

I have found that my mini courses have brought me the most success, because it puts me in my new subscribers email box consistently for a week, and it’s usually very targeted.

Courses can be easily created from exisiting content on your website. For instance, for my Cricut subscribers, I just created a five day “intro to Cricut” course. I took five of my popular Cricut blog posts, wrote a brief synopsis of it in an email, and it goes out to everyone who signs up.

People LOVE it.

With printables, it has really just depended. I offer a free editable Birthday Calendar for subscribers, but the people who subscribe are terrible. They don’t open anything beyond the initial email.

However, I have also offered printables for people who are members of my church, and it’s become one of my engaged lists. I believe that printables are helpful when you are going to be able to create consistent content for that group of people related to what they signed up for.

So take a good, long look at the type of people who are visiting your site and decide what you think they’d love the most.

I have tons of different “hooks” across my website, so you can definitely add more as you go. I do recommend just starting with one that will appeal to your most popular content first and go from there.

Make Them Love You

Easier said than done, I know.

But a huge part of having a successful email list is gaining the trust of your readers.

You don’t want them to groan every time they see an email come through – or, even worse, have them get in the habit of just deleting the email every time it comes through.

You want your readers to look forward to seeing what you have to share.

And this can take time.

I don’t recommend just sending salesy emails all the time. This is the quickest way to make your subscribers really dislike you.

Always add value to the emails you send – you want them to feel like they are getting something from your emails.

It doesn’t have to be something crazy insightful or amazing.

Short and to the point is usually the best way to go!

Launch it 

As with most things with your blog, the best thing is just to get started now!

While you are sitting around twiddling your thumbs trying to make things perfect, someone else is winning over their subscribers that could be learning to love YOU.

It doesn’t have to be perfect – it just has to be functional.

So stop reading this post and GO start your newsletter.

My Newsletter Strategy

I always find it helpful to see what others do, so I thought I’d send out what my strategy is (roughly). It’s not perfect – and please, don’t let it overwhelm you, because mine is far more complicated than most need to be.

But it might give you some ideas.

Currently, these are my main optins (this will show up on different pages)

  • Cricut for Beginners eCourse
  • Prenatal Crash eCourse (I get the most signups for this through my “Online Pregnancy Test” quiz I built).
  • Breastfeeding eCourse
  • Dollar Tree eBook
  • Meal Planning Printables
  • Various printables for different pages (My printables for my church are most popular. I have other printables for lots of seasonal topics).
  • Free mini eCookbook
  • 70+ Instant Pot Ideas
  • Printable instructions for popular DIY projects

As far as what I email out, this is the general schedule:

  • At the beginning of the month, I send one BIG email to my entire list – regardless of their segment. It just has an overview of the past month’s posts, any special deals I want to promote, etc.
  • Each week, I send an email with the previous week’s posts to my general list. I usually try to include an affiliate product.
  • Any time

Additional Resources:

This post just touches on the basics, but I think it will give you a good place to start.

I really struggled with my newsletter for a long time – and honestly, sometimes I still do. However, I took two classes that I feel helped push me in the right direction.

Building an Effective Email List – I took this one over a year ago. There were parts I didn’t love, and it made me start feeling like I had to do ALL.THE.PRINTABLES., which, for my site, wasn’t the best idea. But overall, it’s a decent price, and she gives you a good framework for long-term growth and success.

I really like that she is a blogger who doesn’t just blog about blogging…which seems to be the trend with a lot of courses.

Heather runs a very successful family-oriented blog, and she’s been successful with her newsletter that is marketed toward moms/families, which is what initially attracted me to her course. It’s very detailed, and I think it’s a good one to take.

Email on Autopilot – This is a course I was able to take for free. The price is going up, and honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the new price.

But then again, I think most courses cost way too much 🙂

With that said, this course really changed my perspective on my newsletters, and it gave me a kick in the pants I needed to finish a couple of welcome sequences that have been extremely successful for me.

I’ve launched a few courses since I created those, and I credit this email course for giving me the foundation for a successful launch. It really just broke down growing your newsletter with a captivating welcome series in a way that really resonated with me.

And there you have it! Feel free to ask any questions below, and make sure you join our blogging Facebook group.

How to Install Google Analytics on WordPress and Blogger

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Last week when I shared 5 simple steps to starting a blog, I mentioned the importance of installing Google Analytics. This is a great (and powerful) tool that can not only gauge your growth but give you valuable insight into your readers, traffic sources, and much more. There’s lots of reports you can generate that can really help increase your traffic if you interpret them correctly. However, this post is just for those of you looking to get started on how to setup Google Analytics in WordPress AND Blogger (I’ve gotten several emails about setting up Google Analytics, so hopefully this is helpful to a few of you!)

In this post, I will show you how to correctly sign up for Google Analytics, and then correctly install it in both in Blogger or WordPress.org.

Signing up for Google Analytics

Anyone can sign up for Google Analytics. First off, go to http://analytics.google.com, and in the upper right corner, select “Access Google Analytics.”

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As long as you haven’t set up a Google Analytics property before, you will be brought to this screen. Click on the “sign up” button.

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Write all your information here – the name and URL of your website, industry, time zone, etc. After you fill out all this information, you will be able to create your new profile at the bottom of the page.

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Once you click on “Get Tracking ID” you will be prompted to accept the Google Analytics Terms of Service agreement. Press “I Accept” (assuming you do!)

 

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Then you’ll be brought to this page where you will be given both your tracking ID number and the tracking code. Depending on what method you use to install Google Analytics on your site, you will use one of these codes. The tracking id is the shorter version, and the tracking code is longer.

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Don’t feel like you have to write these down right away – you can always access them again by going to Admin (at the top of the page, pictured in blue below.) After you click on that, in the center column is something that says “tracking info.” That’s where the information you need can be found!

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Installing Google Analytics in WordPress

Now that you are all set up, it’s time to install your tracking code on your site. In WordPress, there are a couple of different ways to do this – it may vary depending on your theme.

Installing Google Analytics in site <head>

Your code needs to be installed in the <head> of your site. This can usually be found in the header.php file of your site (which can be access through Appearance – Editor.) However, unless you feel comfortable editing your website’s files, this can be tricky.

If you are using a StudioPress/Genesis Theme (which I highly recommend doing – it makes life easier), then you can easily paste the Tracking Code (not the tracking ID – the tracking ID is just a few numbers) here. Just go to Genesis – Theme Settings an scroll to the bottom of the page. There is a section that is called “Header and Footer Scripts.” Paste the code there, press save settings, and you should be good to go!

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If you don’t have Genesis, your theme may have something similar. Just search Google really quick to see. Otherwise, you can install the plugin Header and Footer, which is similar in function to the Genesis header and footer script boxes. Once you install this plugin, it will appear under the WordPress “Settings” section of your site. You can place the Google Analytics tracking code in the <head> section, and you should be good to go.

Google Analytics Plugin

As a general rule, I think that if you can avoid using a plugin on your site, you should. The one I mentioned previously, Header and Footer, is generally pretty lightweight, and it can be very helpful for putting other code in your site. However, many people prefer to use a Google Analytics plugin – some of the ones out there will show you directly on your post dashboard how many page views you are getting, and they can be helpful. A plugin might just be the simplest choice for some.

I would recommend using Google Analytics by Yoast (the free version is just great!) After you install this on your site, it will show up toward the top of your WordPress dashboard, like this:

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Select Dashboard. When you get there, it will say “We need you to authenticate with Google Analytics to use this functionality. If you set your UA-code manually, this won’t work. You can authenticate your Google Analytics profile here to enable dashboards.” Click on the part that says authenticate your Google Analytics profile here. This will give you the option to connect directly to your Google Analytics profile (assuming you are logged into the account connected to it!) There are some other settings in this plugin, but for now, you should be set.

Installing Google Analytics in Blogger

One of the biggest issues I see when I move people from Blogger to WordPress is that they have Google Analytics installed twice on their site. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you! There are a couple of different ways to install Google Analytics, and these are the two I recommend. Remember to pick just one! Often people will install it in their layout area in a widget, which I really don’t recommend doing…so use one of these methods instead!

Installing via Settings

This is by far the easiest method. For it, you will need your tracking code (which looks like this -UA-xxxxxxxx-x…with numbers instead of x’s.)

Go to your Blogger Dashboard and from the dropdown menu, select settings:screen-shot-2015-06-19-at-10-11-15-pm-3642982

 

It will take you to the general settings page, but there will be several options underneath settings on the left side of the page. Select “other” and scroll to the bottom of the page. At this point, you can post your tracking ID. Just put it there, press save settings, and you’re done!
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Installing Google Analytics in site <head>

The next method involves using your tracking code (not the ID). Login to Blogger and in the drop down menu next to your site, select “Template”

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On the next page, you will select “Edit HTML”

 

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And on this page, you will want to find the <head> tag in all this code. You can either scroll, or you can click in the box with all the code and press either ctrl+f (in Windows) or command+f (in Mac) and search for <head>. Directly underneath that opening tag, add your Google Analytics tracking code, as seen below.

 

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Now hopefully you were able to successfully install Google Analytics! Let me know if you have any questions!

5 Simple Steps to Start a Blog

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Despite what you might think, starting a blog isn’t really that hard. Maintaining a blog, growing your readership, and monetizing your blog? Now, that’s a little more difficult. However, starting one? Pretty simple.

But before any great blog becomes a great blog, it has to be created. And there are just a few simple steps one should follow in order to be start on the best foot possible. Lucky for you, I’ve been in the beginning stages of many blogs (including my own), so I’ve got this down to an art. Below are five simple steps to follow when creating your new website. Maybe next time I’ll share what to do once you’ve completed these.

I suppose the first step is to come up with an idea. I’m just going to assume that you’ve already come up with that at this point (and if you haven’t, I do discuss over here tips for choosing a niche.)

And yes, there are affiliate links in this post. However, I wouldn’t try to sell you something just to make a sale. I promise!

Domain Name

No matter what you do, you need a domain name. It instantly gives you more credibility than having .blogspot.com and .wordpress.com at the end of your domain, and it’s not an expensive investment.

Depending on where your blog is hosted (more on that in a second), you may be able to get a free domain name. Both RFE and Bluehost, which I mention below, include a free domain name when you sign up. However, I highly recommend keeping your blog hosting and your domain hosting separate, and if a company offers a free domain, just use it as a secondary domain to redirect to your main domain name (so perhaps a .net address).

While I wouldn’t necessarily GoDaddy for hosting (even with their tempting $1 a month hosting with free domain), they are who I recommend getting your domain name through. They are affordable and have 24.7 customer service. You’ll usually end up paying 8.99 – 12.99 for a domain there, but you can occasionally get them for 99 cents. All of the many domains I own are hosted there. You can sign up here!

Hosting

You’ll need to decide where you want to start your blog. The main contenders are usually Blogger, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org, followed by Weebly. In the post I referenced above, I go more in-depth in discussing the differences between Blogger, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org. However, I’ll just give you two options here.

Blogger.com is what I would recommend if you cannot afford to pay for hosting. It’s not the ideal place to be (though many, many successful bloggers have started there), but it allows monetization, and it’s easiest to customize. I do Blogger to WordPress transfers all the time, so many people end up switching. However, if you want a simple place to start that’s free, this is the best free option.

The next place is WordPress.org, and this is where I really think you should be if you want to start off on the best foot. It’s a platform that you install on your hosting account, and it’s definitely the most popular place for blogging. I could go into all the reasons why I would choose to create your blog here, but I’ll do that another day. Fortunately, there are a lot of affordable hosting options, so you don’t necessarily have to break the bank. Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, but you’ve got to start somewhere. There are many different options for what type of hosting you can get, but when you are just starting out, starting at the lowest tier (shared hosting) is probably your best bet. You can always upgrade later!

Of the budget hosts out there, the one I recommend the most is BlueHost. This is actually where I started my blog and hosted Clarks Condensed until July of 2014. I’ve worked with many budget hosts, and I found them to be the easiest to work with, and they also had the best customer service. Prices start at 3.95 a month (if you pay for three year’s up front – though they do have a pro-rated refund if you decide to leave before then).

I am with BigScoots though, and if you can, sign up with them. They are AMAZING. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Social Networks

Once you have your domain name and hosting figured out, go and get all the social networks associated with your website name – even if you don’t think you’ll use them! It’s usually a good idea to make sure theses are available before you pick a domain. Since the majority of traffic comes from social networks nowadays, this is definitely a smart thing to do. These are the ones I would sign up for first:

Facebook (must have a personal profile in order to create a business page.)
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google Plus (though this may be irrelevant sooner rather than later)

There are countless other social networks that you may or may not use, but these are definitely the most used and popular.

Set up professional email

I think it’s important to have an email setup with your own domain name, as opposed to having it end with gmail.com, hotmail.com, etc. I believe it lends you more credibility, and honestly, it’s not hard to do. I have my email set up through my hosting company, but then I have it forward to Gmail (which I have set up to send emails from katie@clarkscondensed.com – I’ll write a tutorial on how to do this later.) You may be able to set it up through your domain provider as well, or another popular option is through Google Apps (which is a paid service.) If you need help setting this up, this is a service I offer for a minimal fee!

Install Analytics

Having some kind of anayltics tracker to track your progress is essential to growing a blog. There are many analytics trackers out there, but the “standard” for blogging is definitely Google Analytics. Other trackers tend to overtrack visitors, which may look nice, but doesn’t give you an accurate view of your traffic. You can sign up for Google Analytics here!

Bonus:

Of course, once you get all of these items taken care of, you’ll want to think about the aesthetics of your site. There are many designers out there, and you can even DIY your design yourself. If you are using WordPress, I highly recommend the Genesis Framework and child themes. They are very easy to use and customize, and there are SO many tutorials out there. It’s a little expensive, but it’s more than worth the investment! If you want something that is just simple use and has a lot of tools you can use, Elegant Themes is another great option. Be sure to check out this post on Blogging Resources for even more information on tools you can use!

Best Blogging Books Every Blogger Should Read

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In any industry, the desire to constantly learn more about what you are doing is essential to success. Doctors need to know the latest medical advances. Teachers need to know the best methods for teaching a child to read. And bloggers? Well, professional bloggers need to know how to most effectively reach their audience, grow their blog, and make money. With blogging, the industry is constantly changing, so it’s essential to stay on top of the latest trends.

But before you can follow the latest trends, you’ve got to get the basics down. When I first started blogging, I read everything. I read tons of books, blogs, articles, really — everything! I feel like that was one of my “tickets” to success. I still read a lot about blogging as I continue to try and evolve our business, and I’ve found several blogging books that I think every blogger should read. Whether you are just starting out, or hoping to mold your brand even further, these are all excellent books. They are worth the investment!

I’ve included my affiliate links, but I have not been asked to promote any of these books.

How to Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup

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This is one of the first blogging books I read, and it’s definitely one of the best. Ruth is the creator of LivingWellSpendingLess.com, and this book is a gold mine of information. I think beginning and advanced bloggers can learn a lot. She recently released a second edition that has even more great information.

How I Made $40k in My First Year of Blogging

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This book was written by a friend of mine, and holy cow – mind blown! She has done an incredible job with her blog in her first year, and she doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to sharing her knowledge in this book. Chelsea is the blogger behind Chelsea’s Messy Apron, and she goes through each month of her first year of blogging, and shares her successes, failures, and what she wish she knew. I learned some great tips from her, and I’ve been recommending it to everyone. You’ll love how transparent she is! Definitely put this on your list to read.

ProBlogger

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ProBlogger is one of my favorite go-to sites for blogging information, and it’s for good reason! This ebook has great information. After reading it, you’ll be a huge fan of this guy, and feel empowered to great your own blogging empire!

Tasty Food Photography

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Even if you aren’t a food photographer, if you are looking to improve your photography for your blog, this ebook is awesome. It was written by Lindsay from Pinch of Yum. I’m not 100% food blooger, but I found her tips to be very helpful for all around improving my photography. I never could figure out how to download it to my Kindle, so I’ve just read it on my computer…but it’s still a good one!

Blog at Home Mom

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How to Grow Your Blog

This one might be a little more specific toward women bloggers, who also are mothers, but it was a pretty inspiring book. I found that she gave a lot of tips for balancing blogging with personal life, which is something that can be hard to do!

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The Blogger’s Survival Guide

This was written as a colloboration effort of a bunch of different bloggers, many of which are friends of mine! It has some excellent information from a variety of different perspectives, and the contributors are bloggers from a bunch of different niches.

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I felt like there was some great information in this book as well. It’s probably not #1 on my list, but I feel like it’s really well written.

Born to Blog

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My Blog Traffic Sucks
8 Simple Steps to Get 100,000 Blog Visitors without Working 8 Days a Week

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If you’d like to be included on this list, please email me at katie @ thebloghelp (dot) com. I will review your book and see if it fits my requirements for this list at that point. Thanks!

Blogging 101: Everything You Need to Know to Start a Blog

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Be sure to check out our Blogging Resources page on The Blog Help for our favorite products and services to get your blog off on the right foot!
We’ve been blogging professionally since 2013, and in that time, we’ve made a successful business that has allowed us to work from home and have a fabulously flexible life. We are constantly being asked how we did it, and if others can do it as well.
Yes, yes they can. Does it require a lot of work? You better believe it. But if you truly have a passion for sharing your thoughts with others and you are willing to do what it takes to make it, you can be successful, too. I’ve seen a lot of people start blogs and fail…but I’ve also seen a lot of people who were truly motivated to be successful to do just that. It is not for the weak of heart.Writing about everything we’ve done to get to the point we are at would take for longer than one blog post. However, I thought we would share some of the basic framework to launching a successful blog:

1) Pick a Niche

Parenting? Foodie? Tech? There are so many different blogging niches out there, and one for just about everyone. Pick something you are a passionate about, not what you think will be most popular. If you feel like you would run out of topics quickly, then don’t go with that one! We write about everything here on Clarks Condensed. Some people suggest that you don’t do that, but for us, it’s worked pretty well.

I’d also avoid picking a topic that is too narrow, as it can make it hard to get a good readership. However, that doesn’t mean you should avoid something that isn’t so popular. If there is a topic you are super passionate about, chances are, there is a community of people equally passionate.

2) Get a Domain Name

You can buy a domain for about $10 a year. Personally, I went with GoDaddy, because you can get them for fairly inexpensive (I would avoid them for hosting though.) However, you can often get a free domain name with your hosting (such as with BlueHost.) Brands will take your blog more seriously if you have your own domain, plus, it just looks more professional.

Be sure to put some thought into your domain name. You don’t want to have to go back and rebrand everything someday. Using something that is SEO friendly, catchy, and interesting will draw people in. When choosing a domain name, I highly recommend checking out Namechk.com. This allows you to see if just about any social network out there has your name still available. It would really be unfortunate to go and get all excited about your domain name, only to realize that it isn’t available on your social networks!

3) Purchase Hosting

Before you really can do anything, you have to pick a place for your blog to “live.” There are several different options, but I would say that the majority of people go with one of the three options – Blogger, WordPress.com, or WordPress.org.

If you absolutely cannot pay for hosting right now, start with Blogger. I cannot stand WordPress.com – it’s so hard to customize anything.

However, if you are serious about blogging, I highly recommend going with WordPress.org. This is a platform that you download – not a website you sign up at. In order to use it, you must buy hosting. You can buy hosting for anywhere from 99 cents a month to thousands.

When I first started blogging, I signed up with BlueHost. While I eventually outgrew them, they were a good starting point – 24/7 tech support, lots of guides on how to set things up, and very inexpensive. All you have to do sign up is click here…

Select your hosting account (for the $3.95 a month plan, you have to sign up for two years. Don’t worry, if you decide to leave, you get a pro-rated refund!)

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At this point you can decide if you want to get a free domain name with them or use an existing domain:

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And when you login, you can install WordPress. They have an install guide if you get stuck!

I currently am with Big Scoots, and I’ve been very pleased with them. They are a bit expensive though, so if you aren’t sure if blogging is your thing, definitely start with BlueHost and go from there!

4) Design

Many will say that beyond the content of your blog, the design is the most important aspect of your blog. If your site doesn’t have any real design to it, or it’s messy looking, littered with ads, or just is hard to navigate, readers won’t want to come back.
You will need to purchase a theme if you are blogging on WordPress.org – we highly recommend Restored 316 themes or StudioPress child themes (both require Genesis framework). There are lots of tutorials for them, and they are highly customizable.
There are tons of designers out there – you can even turn to Fiverr.com if you are on a budget. I’ve seen some excellent designs come from there. Either way, pick a color palette, decide on the general look you want, and get something pretty up!

5) Install Analytics

In order to track how many visits your site gets, top posts, where your main visitors are from, and lots of other interesting (and important) information, you will need to install some sort of analytics. Doing this before your even launch your blog is important, because you want to track everything from the beginning. This makes it easy to track your progress, and provide details to brands and companies that may want to work with you.
The most popular analytics tracker is Google Analytics. Typically, this is the one that most companies will ask for, and I think it’s the most comprehensive. It provides SO much information — more than you will probably even need! It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but there’s plenty of tutorials out there to help you get started.

6) Sign up for social networks

Simply said, being active on social networks can be the key to being a successful blogger. It’s a great way to interact with readers and promote content, connect with brands, and just create an overall presence on the Internet.
There are a ton of networks out there, but the ones that I would suggest getting involved in right away are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+. These are, by far, the most used social networks, and in between using them, you should be able to create a good following. It does take work (and a lot of it) but it’s worth it to be involved. Always keep your ears open for new social networks that open, so you can claim your brand’s name. You never know what might take off next!
Learn all you can about the best practices for these sites. I’ll tell you now – it’s always changing. Facebook constantly changes what it wants to show people (right now, it hates the word “giveaway”…at least on my page!)
For Pinterest, I highly recommend signing up with BoardBooster from the get-go. You can get your first 100 pins free!)

7) Install Ads and Sign up for Amazon Affiliates

I’m not going to discuss the details of monetizing a blog in this post, but from the start, you NEED to put ads on your site and sign up for Amazon affiliate (unless your state doesn’t allow it.) You never know when you will have a post go wild.

I recommend just putting up three ads from Google Adsense, and then start putting affiliate links in every post you do! Affiliate programs can be one of the best ways to make money, and Amazon is a great place to start.

8) Connect With Others

One of the best ways to get your content out there is by having it shared by others in your industry. As soon as you know what you are going to write about, find a group of bloggers in that niche. If you are a parenting blogger, the Kid Blogger Network is an excellent resource. A foodie? Check out Food Blogger Pro. Whatever your niche is, get to know others in it. Make an effort to attend a conference – this is where I’ve met a lot of blogging friends and colleagues.

Don’t be annoying and spam other’s Facebook pages asking for them to like your page, or leave meaningless comments like “Looks great, check out my site!” Build genuine relationships with people. Share their content and tag them in it. If you feature another blogger in a post, let them know – chances are, they might just share it.

Blogging is not an individual sport. Yes, you have to do your own hard work to make it, but by getting to know others, getting your content out there will be so much easier.As an added bonus, you might meet some of your closest friends. I’ve met some incredible people through blogging.

9) Read All You Can

When I started blogging, I read EVERYTHING I could get my hands on. I learned how to run a WordPress site, do tech support for myself, and tons of about monetizing, social media, and how to be successful. I think that reading all the information you can about blogging is one of the smartest moves you can make. Here are two GREAT books to start with:

How to Blog for Profit: Without Selling Your Soul

How I made $40k My First Year of Blogging

9) Create great content

Anyone can make a blog. However, not everyone can make a successful good blog. Having good content is the number one key to being successful. If your content isn’t interesting, people won’t probably come back! And content can mean many different things — amazing photography, delicious recipes, writing…it’s up to you. Just create something that you think others will find interesting.Don’t let this intimidate you though. Just write in your own voice! No one else has the same story that you do, and even if you are posting the one millionth chocolate chip cookie recipe out there, if you post it in your voice and with your story, it’s different. People want authenticity. Don’t be something you are not — be real and honest, and readers will want to come back.
Pictures are SO important – no matter what niche you are. I highly recommend getting a good camera and lens (I have a Nikon D7100 along with a 50mm and 24-70mm lens), at least PicMonkey for editing (though I love Lightroom.) If you need stock photography, my sister-in-law has this great resource for free stock photography websites.
Other Posts You may Enjoy: 
Let me know if you have any questions. I can’t answer everything, and if you want in-depth help, I do have a fee for that. But if you are just getting started and have a question or two, let me know, and I’d be happy to help. Be sure to sign up below for our newsletter from The Blog Help so you can get up-to-date tips for running a successful blog!

How to Make Money Blogging

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A few months ago, my friend Katelyn from What’s Up, Fagans?  mentioned on Facebook how she was grateful for the income she was able to bring in from blogging. A few people quickly asked her to tell them what she did to make money blogging. While I’m sure people are generally interested a lot, a lot of people seem to think it’s a get rich quick scheme.

Well, let me dispel the rumor right now – blogging is not a get rich quick scheme.

Developing a blog, a following, and promoting your posts takes time. The money does come, if you go about it the right way, but if you start blogging and think you’ll start making a lot of money quickly…that probably isn’t going to happen. Of course, there’s a few people that will somehow have their posts go viral right away, thus causing them to bring in money right away, but this is the exception, not the rule. Blogging takes time, effort, and probably some tears. It’s definitely not for the weak of heart! While it’s possible to make a lot of money, even if your first year of blogging, it takes a lot of hard work.

However, if I haven’t ran you off with my discouraging dose of reality, let me tell you – you can make money blogging.

We started our blog, Clarks Condensed, in January of 2013. Within a few months, some money started coming in. It wasn’t until September of 2013 that we actually started making more than just a little bit of extra money. And since September, our income has increased each month. We currently make enough to comfortably support our family (combined with money from our tech support business), and we hope that trend continues. I’m not making millions, but I do believe I know what it takes to make money blogging. I jumped in head first, and since blogging, I have never looked back. I’m constantly learning more, trying to help others, and teaching myself along the way.

There’s unfortunately no formula that works for everyone, but if you read these tips, and apply them to your individual circumstances, hopefully you’ll be able to come up with a marketing plan that will help bring in money.

But, before I get into making money blogging, remember this – don’t blog because you want to make money. If your only purpose in blogging is to make money, you will most likely fail. You have to have a passion for sharing your life, experiences, and tips with others. Blogging is not for everyone. With that said, I feel very strongly about bloggers being compensated for the work they do, without having to justify that to anyone else. If you love blogging, but you want to make money doing it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you are authentic and you enjoy doing it. When you do that, you’ll find followers come much faster, and with it, so does the money.

How to Make Money Blogging

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I should note to make money blogging, you have to have a blog! Be sure to check out our blogging resources page for more information. Now, on to the good stuff!

1. Write Killer Content

Let’s get one thing straight – if you write bad material, you probably won’t get very far. Not everyone can be a blogger — just like not everyone can be an engineer, or a teacher, or a rocket scientist. You need to be a good writer who can not only draw readers in but keep them coming back.

I think the best advice I can give is write in your own voice and be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else, or mimic how another blogger writes. I believe some bloggers don’t give their readers enough credit — they can tell when you aren’t being authentic! I honestly don’t read a lot of blogs, beyond ones written by my family and friends, but the blogs that I keep going back to are the ones that really wow me with what they write. You know they are passionate about what they are doing and you can tell there’s a real person behind the screen.

So if you write great content, you’ll have a lot easier time making money. It still takes promotion (very few people just start writing a blog, and with no promotion, become a sensation over night), but it makes it a lot easier to bring in loyal readers.

2. Know your Niche

I thought about saying pick a niche, but honestly, sometimes that takes a little bit of trial and error. You might start out writing about dessert recipes, and then realize that you don’t want to spend the rest of your life making desserts (I truly admire those that can.) Write about something you could go on and on forever about. For Clarks Condensed, I started it with the desire to help people find positive information on the Internet on how to be a better spouse, parent, and friend. I love writing about pregnancy, good food, and saving money. I started The Blog Help for two reasons — one, to provide a place for people to get help blogging, and two, so I could write about blogging. It’s truly one of my passions.

Once you’ve decided what niche you want to be in, you have to understand it. You have to know it’s audience, stay up to date on current trends, and know successful marketing techniques for it.

Not all niches draw in tons of traffic — however, if you know who wants the content and what they are looking for, you can be successful. There are so many niches out there, and if you know how to write toward that audience, then go for it. I used to write for the website SmartPhoneHC.com, which was a part of a larger website called Healthcarescene.com. Basically, this website is all about healthcare IT, specifically EMRs and EHRs. Most people probably have NO idea what those two things are. However, the man behind this blog/website is successful with what he does. It may not be the most exciting topic, but there is a market for it — a profitable one at that.

Once you’ve decided one your niche, take sometime to read some of the top blogs that are in that niche. Look at what they’ve done with their sites and try and see how they’ve managed to become successful. While you shouldn’t copy exactly what someone is doing (so, don’t go write the exact same posts verbatim on your site), I think one of the best ways to learn is from others. I personally have found great success by not only studying others sharing techniques, how they set up their posts, etc., but from getting to know other bloggers. The sooner you believe that other bloggers aren’t your competition, but your support group, the better. I learn so much every day from bloggers I’ve become friends with! Don’t be a link dropper (so, going to a post and saying, Hey check out my blog,) but genuinely try and become friends.

3. Be Smart and have a Plan

I think with blogging, you do have to just kind of jump in and get started, but eventually, you do need a plan. You can’t do everything — I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes I see bloggers making. There are just too many social networks, Google algorithms, and weird trends to keep up with everything. So, make a plan!

Making this plan might come from a little bit of trial-and-error (you’ll find that a lot of blogging comes down to that.) Figure out what social networks work best for your niche, how to best get your content out there, and where your time actually makes a difference. For me, there was a time when I really wanted to manage my own ads — it ended up being a huge time suck, and other parts of my blog suffered, so I handed that off to someone else. And with that, if you can — delegate the tasks you don’t like (hint, hint — that’s why The Blog Help is here.) That can be hard, if you don’t have money to pay other people to do certain things, but when you can, I think it is worth it.

Set a schedule, and stick to it. I found myself getting incredibly overwhelmed when I tried to be a super mom and wife, as well as a super blogger. So, I decided to put the most important things first (my husband and son), but also set specific times where I was dedicated to working. And guess what — it’s made a world of difference. I’m so much more productive, and we are all so much happier!

4. Talk with Other Bloggers

I’ve found that a lot of bloggers don’t like to share their tips for success with others — and I hate it! It’s like they don’t want to share their secrets in fear of others stealing their ideas and all their traffic. The Internet is a big place, and I think there’s room for everyone and the fastest way to grow is learn from others. While it may be discouraging sometimes, when you discover someone is making more money or getting more pageviews than you, if you learn to not compare yourself to others, and just work on growing your own brand, brainstorming with other bloggers is one of the best things you can do.

I started blogging because of the Online Blog Con, and the wonderful support group of bloggers that came with attending that conference. Seriously — this group is full of some of the most talented bloggers I’ve ever known, and they are all so willing to share their tips for success. And guess what — none of those bloggers who share their ideas and tips have suddenly had their success go down the drain. To be honest, the opposite has happened. The Online Blog Con just finished it’s third year (I was able to help plan it this year, actually), and it was better than ever before. If you can sign up next year, definitely do!)

And I’ll be upfront — I am always more than willing to share how much money I make, my traffic, and my ideas with others. So, if you want to talk that type of thing, feel free to send me an email (katie @ thebloghelp (dot) com.)

Okay, okay, so now you’re probably wondering where the money comes from. 

Even if you do all the things above, money doesn’t just fall out of the air. You’ve got to do a few things to get the money rolling in. Not all money bloggers will make money in the same way, and while one method may make one blogger a millionaire, it may leave another blogger making pennies. It takes a little bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for you. I once heard that you should try and monetize from at least three different sources, and I think that’s good advice. Here are the most common methods.

1) Advertising:

There’s various forms of advertising you can do on your site. These include:

  • Banner ads from ad networks (such as Google Adsense, Burst Media, Riot Ads, etc.) These are typically the easiest to set up and can be rather profitable
  • Textual Ads (You can do these with Google AdSense and Media.net. I’ll talk a little more in another post about how I use Media.net to make about $200 extra a month by putting them in just two posts.)
  • Text Links (I don’t love these — they are kind of spammy and you cannot always control what links show up. You’ll also have a lot of companies reaching out to you, asking for a text link…proceed with caution. Doing these the wrong way can cause your site to be dinged seriously by Google.)
  • Direct Ad Sales (this is when you work with a specific brand or company and come up with a set price for a certain period of time, CPM (price per million), or CPC (cost per click.)

Advertisements are a balancing act. I strongly believe that bloggers should be compensated for their work and that is 100% okay to have ads on your site. However, be sure to keep in mind the user experience. While I think sidebar, in text, and header ads are great, auto-playing video ads, huge pop ups, or ads that you can’t exit out of, may make you lose readers. Just experiment with your ads though and see what works best.

I personally have hired someone to manage my ads, simply because it took too much of my time. However, if you aren’t to that point yet, a great way to increase your ad revenue is setting up backfill.

There are tons of advertisement companies out there and a lot of them aren’t that great. I get offers from different companies every day, and I would never work with probably 90% of them. In general, if a company offers a very large CPM, I would be suspicious. Never sign a contract without seeing what the ads look like, how often you get paid, and if you get paid if you break that contract.

Here are a few ad companies that I recommend:

  • Riot Ads
  • Gourmet Ads
  • Media.net (especially for your popular posts)
  • AdSense
  • PadSquad (if you sign up, be sure to say Katie Clark sent you! This company will create a mobile site for you and optimize it with ads. Our income increased a lot when we started with them!)
  • The Blogger Network: If you are over 80,000 pageviews and don’t want to worry about managing your ads, then definitely check out this company. They manage my ads and do a great job with it. AdThrive is another company that you could look into, but they do require more pageviews. Either way, it’s a relief not to have to stress about ads!

2) Affiliate Links

I love using affiliate links in my posts and earn a nice, passive income. However, I know that I”m definitely not using them as much as I could be. I mainly use Amazon Associates, but there are plenty of other companies out there like Commission Junction, Share-a-sale, Escalate, SkimLinks, or Avantlink. Basically, whenever someone clicks on a link from your site for a product or service that you are an affiliate for, you get some kind of commission. Some companies will have a cookie, that will allow you to make money off of anything that person buys in the near future.

Pretty much every company I can think of has some kind of affiliate program. While this is definitely not my forte, there are plenty of guides out there to get you started with affiliate marketing. I recently started using affiliate links a lot more, and I’ve had a significant increase in my income.

One thing I recommend doing when you are starting out using affiliate links, is looking at your outbound links. If you have Jetpack installed, this is really easy to do. However, if you don’t have Jetpack, you can set Google Analytics up to track this for you. Either way, you need to see what links people are clicking on from your site. I recently audited this on my site, and I discovered about 10-15 links that were clicked quite often, that could have had an affiliate link attached to it. These ranged from an audio book subscription site, to Amazon Student, to survey sites, to products on Amazon. You can quickly find out if a company, product, or service has an affiliate program by Googling it. Believe me, doing this occasionally is worth the effort.

3) Sponsored Posts

A good bulk of our income comes from sponsored posts. We get many offers to do sponsored posts each month, but we definitely don’t accept them all. We work hard to make our blog authentic, and to gain our readers trust, and because of that, we don’t promote topics or products we don’t believe in. However, the sponsored posts we do accept help support our family and make our blog keep going. There’s a lot of sponsored post companies out there (not all of which are worth signing up for) but you can read more about that in this post about the best sponsored post companies.

There are a lot of bloggers who hate on those who choose to do sponsored posts, and I think that is messed up. For me, sponsored content gives me an opportunity to think outside the box and come up with a creative, engaging post on a topic I may not have thought of before. Some of my most popular posts have been sponsored, and I’ve never got one complaint. I’m not perfect, but I think if you do your best to be honest and upfront, your readers will appreciate it. There’s definitely a balance (doing only sponsored posts and having no organic posts is a big no-no), but sponsored posts can be a great way to really increase your income.

4) Products

Whenever I look at successful bloggers, there’s one thing I notice most of them have in common — they sell some kind of product. While some of them sell physical products, many of them have some kind of digital product as well. The most common product for a blogger to sell is an eBook, simply because you can create it and market it yourself. eBooks are a great way to get your name out there.

Other products I see being sold are printables (everything from sweet quotes, to customized printables for birthdays, to holidays, and more) and meal plans. Whatever your niche is, think about what you feel you have a lot of knowledge in and figure out a way to market it.

What is your favorite method for making money blogging?