Elenny covers why blogging is still profitable, how to monetize your blog, how to get free traffic, and how to start from scratch.
-Get Bluehost to host your blog and integrate WordPress with just one click here: https://elennyfrometa.com/Bluehost
-Get the Divi theme from Elegant Themes here: https://elennyfrometa.com/Divi
-Get my book, Empowered Affluence, here: https://elennyfrometa.com/EA
-Access Canva to create your Pinterest pins here: https://elennyfrometa.com/Canva. (Sign up for the FREE 30-day trial for more features).
-Grab your FREE trial of Tailwind here: https://elennyfrometa.com/tailwind
Those are the resources Elenny mentioned in the episode. Implement these ideas and see how your blog profits!
Bonus: Read about the 5 money-making books Elenny recommends for 2020 here: https://elennyfrometa.com/2019/12/16/5-money-making-books-to-read-for-2020/
Remember that leaders are readers 🙂
Elenny: 00:01 Is blogging becoming a cliched term or could it actually be seen as a profitable business for 2020? Hey there, this is Elenny from the Empowered Affluence Podcast, and today’s episode is creating a profitable blog for 2020 [inaudible].
Elenny: 00:32 Before we get into this topic, I would love to cover why I haven’t recorded any episodes recently. Actually the last episode I recorded was a little over six months ago, so, uh, that happened, I believe between June and July. And I had to stop recording because I was working on way too many projects at the same time. And I know you must be thinking, isn’t she a productivity queen? Well, yes, but hear me out. Um, my husband and I had just put a down payment towards a house and luckily it went through. We got blessed, so we had to pack quickly. Our lease was almost up and it was a very messy situation because then the purchase failed and it was this big headache. But it’s okay, we’ve got a house now. We’re good. And aside from that, I had a lot of personal issues. I had just lost someone.
Elenny: 01:54 Um, then all of a sudden we are in this humongous house that needs some work. So all the construction noise since early in the morning to late at night was not going to let me record, but luckily all of that is over and I am going to be very present from now on. I will remain constant so I hope you guys are ready for what’s coming because I have it all planned out and it’s going to be amazing. With that said, let’s jump into today’s topic, which is creating a profitable blog for 2020. You know, I am very thankful my blog led me to where I am today. Because of my blog I was able to increase my readership and reach people who I care about helping, who I care about seeing them grow personally, professionally and of course business wise. So my blog allowed me to create my first book, which is called Empowered Affluence.
Elenny: 03:15 I will leave that in the show notes for today and I will also add a link to the blog that where you can see a transcript of this episode. So I was able to write and publish my first book, Empowered Affluence, which is all about mindset, financial advice, entrepreneurship advice, career advice, what to do in certain circumstances, how to launch your own online business from scratch. It’s amazing, and it’s not even 100 pages long because I believe that we shouldn’t have to write 500 pages worth of words without giving actual value. So I kept it short I kept it simple and actionable, and towards the end of the book you will also find that worksheets that you can complete as you go. So it’s truly amazing and my blog allowed me to do that. Aside from becoming an author, when you have a website that gets traffic that people love, and you have a readership of people that trust you, you create partnerships with companies that you love.
Elenny: 04:37 And that’s exactly what I did. I have created multiple partnerships with companies that I truly love because of what they offer me and my readers, which of course created a source of income that led to more sources of income. Allow me to say that one more time. My blog created a source of income that led to more sources of income with that readership and that attention and that trust that I created with you guys, I was able to partner with more companies to create more sources of income for me to continue putting out valuable and actionable content. Okay. And yes, you can do that too. And in this episode I’m hoping that I can give you some ideas on how you can do it for 2020 because the whole reason why you’re here is you’re dying to know. So without further ado, let’s move on to the Q&A about blogging for 2020
Elenny: 06:02 This episode of the Empowered Affluence Podcast is brought to you by Anchor. Anchor is the easiest way for anyone to make a podcast and gives you everything you need in one place for free. Which you can use right from your computer or your phone. They also give you a creation tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast. So it sounds great. They will even distribute, your podcast for you so it can be heard everywhere, including Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and many more. You can easily make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership. That’s amazing, isn’t it? Please feel free to download the anchor app or go to anchor.fm to get started. That’s A N C H O R. dot. F M. bye.
Elenny: 07:05 Okay, so the main question that I always get asked is Ele, how do I get started? You know, I have a computer, I have wifi, we’re just pretty fast by the way. But how do I take the time to sit down and figure this whole blogging thing out? Well, for starters, you don’t have to sit down and try to brainstorm how to create a blog. That’s pretty simple. Everything was actually done for me with my hosting company, I use Blow Hosts. Wow. Blow hosts, haha!. I use BlueHost to host my blog and they make it extremely easy to get started. And you know, they give you a free domain for the first year, which is your first .com website, which I’m pretty sure you know by now. And once you sign up, which by the way, I am also including the link in my show notes. When you sign up, you can literally build your site with one click, they have all done for you.
Elenny: 08:17 You just click and they create your entire WordPress website that of course you have to go back and customize or write a few things. But that’s for another question. So they are amazing. They have 24/7 customer service and you can get their entire package for your first or second or first a year as a blogger for just $2.97 Per month. Now listen to this, if you think that that is expensive, I need you to stop buying coffee outside and get all that cash together, those little pennies and cents and put it towards this amazing hosting company because let me tell you, they care, they care about your websites, they care about you, they care about your success. And by just using them as your hosting company, you will get a very fast website, 24/7 customer service just in case something is off, which is rare, but it happens and you get your free domain for the first year.
Elenny: 09:45 So yes, I use Bluehost. You know, you sign up, create your account, claim your free domain and click that little button that says WordPress, and then your blog is going to be created for you. Now adding to that question, someone had asked me if the blog has to be their domain, should I say has to be their name or any other name that is not their own. As you can see, my website is elennyfrometa.com. That’s my name, which is also my brand. Um, no, it does not have to be your name. It could be the name of your company. It could be a name that you are planning on making as a company in the future. Who knows? It could be your dog’s name, it could be your neighborhood. It could be something inspiring. Or it could simply be the results that you want your readers to get from reading your information products.
Elenny: 10:50 It could be, um, something along the lines of build wealth, something, something. You get it. So yes, that’s how you can get started. Just get the hosting company, pay as little as two ninety seven a month, $2.97, not $297. And just press that very special *click* and you’re ready to go. Now the second question I always get, which follows the first is, what theme should I use? Should I use a free theme, a paid theme? What are the differences? Okay, calm down haha! you see, um, when I first launched my blog, I used a free theme and at first it was working fine for me. So yes, you can use a free theme. WordPress and hook you up with many free themes. Just browse, take your time to browse, test, and see what works best for your site and your niche. However, I do find that paid themes give me unlimited opportunities to customize my site however I want it.
Elenny: 12:13 Um, I use Divi from elegant themes, which I will also add in the show note. Um, however, if you want a free theme because you’re on a tight budget, you can definitely get a free version of Divi so that you can test it on your website and see if that’s something that you would like to work with. However, I am going to repeat it one more time. Free themes are not going to give you the flexibility that your website needs to look the way you want it to look. Okay? So do that. To customize it to your liking and according to your niche, you need a paid version, but it does not have to be expensive. You do not have to spend $200 on a theme. I did not do that. I would never ever, ever do that. Okay? Um, but, as I said, just find the best free theme you can and if you want to use the Divi theme, you can get it for free.
Elenny: 13:27 The free version or you can just get the one that I have and get the premium version. And that theme comes with a lot of layouts. Um, you will see haha! It’s amazing. Truly, you have so many options and I highly recommend it. So I will leave that in the show notes. Once again, it’s called Divi from elegant themes. Moving onto the third question, is blogging still profitable? Now, I have to admit the fact that I hate being asked this question because, I just do, this as simple as that. Listen, I no longer call it blogging. It’s a business. It’s an online publication that teaches and encourages people how to do something. Okay? People want to learn and grow from you and they are willing to pay for that information. They do it every single day. They buy books, they buy eBooks from you, they read your content, okay?
Elenny: 14:43 So yes, it is profitable as long as you treat it like a business, not a hobby. All right? Even if you work on a part time, you should consider your part time business until you find the time and the revenue. You need it to make your full time job, your business. Yes, blogging is profitable when you do it right, when you treat it as a business, not a hobby, and when you make the time to prioritize your website, okay? It could be passive income or you could just make it a service based blog where you sell your services to other people. It does not matter as long as you put in the time, you put in the work and you give it your best shot. Something else that tends to happen is people saying, okay, I have a blog. It’s up and running, but it only has one reader and that’s me.
Elenny: 16:01 Okay. So here’s the question. How do I even get traffic? Well, I am very proud to say that up to this day, I have not invested in Facebook ads. Maybe in the future I will, most likely I will when I have more launches coming up that I have to promote and when I want to reach more people by paying. But right now I haven’t, um, I get over 90% of my traffic from Pinterest. Um, I simply created boards according to the categories from my side, like finance, entrepreneurship, career, um, self-improvement. So I take all of those menu items and I just created Pinterest boards accordingly. One strategy that I use is I create three to five pins per post using Canva. That means that I write one post, let’s see about finance and I take that post and I create five or three, three to five pins, you know, images for that one post using Canva.
Elenny: 17:25 Canva is free. I will also link it in my show notes. So after
I create my pins I move on to Tailwind it to join tribes in which I share my pins and all others will repost them. You know, we would post each other’s content. I will also give you a link where you can get a free trial of Tailwind down below. I recommend it. That is the best way you can network, create partnerships, collaborations for your blog out there and get traffic. It’s a win-win for all, honestly. Um, you can also join tribes according to your niche. For instance, my website is all about entrepreneurship and finance, self-improvement. So I joined tribes according to each of those categories. And whenever I have a post with a few pins, I go to those specific categories and I put my content and I also share other people’s content.Elenny: 18:34 It’s truly amazing. Um, aside from using Pinterest until [inaudable] get traffic, I also write guest posts for other sites, which, in which I include a link to my blog and that’s a way for me to get free organic traffic. Here’s the thing, some websites will ignore your request to write for them, but according to your niche, you can also find websites that may even have a submission tab where you can just go and upload your article, and they will gladly repost it because, hear me out, people need content. Okay. When I get a request from someone to write a guest post for my site, if they are within my niche, I respond to that email and I say yes, and that will gladly include their links, whatever they’re selling, after I have tried it of course, and put it on my website because creators need content that takes that all away from our hands.
Elenny: 19:56 Okay. If you will write a guest post for me, I can be happy and say, okay, look, I got this post, now I can breathe a little. Use this post while I plan my following one. I hope you get what I’m saying. So guest posts, yes, they need your content. Make it good. Pitch. Put yourself out there. Send emails every day asking people if you can write a guest post because you read one of their articles and you could resonate. Whether you agree with what is written there. Just put yourself out there, and just do it. Okay. And
before I forget, going back to Pinterest, um, now you can post videos on there, which I’ve noticed that converts better than images since I can choose categories. So now Pinterest has created this, um, video upload process in which you can select the category of that video.Elenny: 21:09 And when someone goes to those categories, they will find your video, they will play it. And they will of course go to your blog to find out more. So don’t make a click-baity. Just, if it’s a collection of images, just make sure that it’s very animated, attention grabbing. And also. Also, always leaves the curiosity seed. You want to say, okay to learn more, go to, dah, dah, dah, dot com, and they will gladly click it as long as you give them initial value in your video. Okay? Don’t just make a video saying, “Oh Hey guys, if you’re really want to learn how to make money, visit this website.” You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna keep scrolling, baby. You have to give initial value and then ask to show them more. If they want to know more, they will click.
Elenny: 22:18 If they don’t, they will keep scrolling. And guess what? That’s okay baby. That’s okay. Okay? Don’t be angry about that. Just use this strategy. Create videos and I am pretty sure that if you do it correctly, it is going to convert. Last but not least, how do I make money? This is the question. How do I make a part time or full time income with my blogging business, my online publication business? Okay, let’s get started with ads. You must be familiar or not with Google AdSense, Mediavine, Adthrive. For you to be able to put ads on your website, you need to have a certain amount of unique visitors per month on your website. It can go from 20,000 readers, to 100,000 readers per month and above. Okay. If you do not have that readership, do not bother to apply because you will be rejected. That’s number one.
Elenny: 23:40 Okay. Ads can be profitable as long as you have a strong readership. I used to have ads on my website, but you know, I’ve been testing and I sometimes bring them back, sometimes remove them. I just like the way my website looks. Without them it looks way more organic and I can create my own banners in which I promote my products and my affiliate links, and I make more money that way because instead of making $1 per click or 65 cents or 5 cents, I am making money on actual products that people are buying because I recommend them and that takes me to point number two. That was born number one. So let’s go to point number two. That is, how can I become an affiliate and actually make money that way? Okay, let’s speak about Amazon affiliates. You can make money that way, but you only get I believe 10% of the purchase.
Elenny: 24:57 So unless you have an, again, a strong readership, you are not going to make much money that way. That’s number one. However, I mean number two, but I recommend it, you know? You never know what could happen. You know, in the month of December I made much more money from Amazon affiliates because of the Christmas shopping situation and the holidays. It was amazing. Um, when you have affiliates, you also want to create banners displaying the product and put them strategically throughout your website. Let’s say you have a, you’re working with a company, let’s say a hosting company for instance. Um, so you are working with a hosting company and you have this amazing blog post about blogging. You want to include that banner, about that hosting company before the post, perhaps somewhere in the middle
if it’s a long post. And of course towards the end where they can see it, their brain is going to make the connection and say, okay, here is this hosting company,Elenny: 26:15 Let me go check it out. Let me try it. And if they are interested and ready to purchase, they will buy it. You will make a commission. So that’s one. So if you are deciding to sell your own products, you know your own eBooks, your own physical products, you can also create banners with that purpose. But I find that when you are selling your own products, you have to work a little bit harder putting it out there. So I would recommend you build a landing page. Oh, so the theme, Divi, has a bunch of landing pages that you can, of course, use. I recommend you use a landing page describing your product and why it needs your costumers needs. When you do that, they will see themselves using the product. They will know why they need it, they will know that they have a problem that your product can solve.
Elenny: 27:21 So create a landing page for your product and strategically place promotion around your site. This could include banners, pop ups, um, your email newsletter, anything really. You can also link to that landing page within your blog. And once they see they have a problem that you can solve and they trust you, and you know the income of your audience. And when I say that, I mean you know who you’re targeting. So when you know who you are targeting and you know that they fall within a certain income, you can price this strategically and they will get it from you as long as you know who they are. So that’s another one, so so far we have spoken about Google ads. We have spoken about affiliate links and your own product. Within that same category. I want to talk about eBooks, books and programs, you know, online courses.
Elenny: 28:33 Um, you can also create the same thing for those. I have a few eBooks that I give away for free when people opt in to my email newsletter. Um, currently, I have one on six figures marketing and I have another one on how to build a profitable blog from scratch. I highly recommend you check those out. They are right on my homepage so you just go to elennyfrometa.com And you’re going to find it. Um, I give those away for free. I’m not charging for them. I used to, but not anymore, but you can definitely create eBooks and sell them. You can create online programs, courses and sell them. You know the opportunities are unlimited. They are infinite. You have to put yourself out there and be willing to test the waters. If something is not working, it does not mean that you are not working, that you have to give up.
Elenny: 29:36 Don’t ever think that you have to give up just because your way of getting there is not working. Just change the way you are trying to get there. But never change your goals, okay? We can all do this. We are all in this together. There are many resources out there and people who are willing to help. Do not change your goals. All right. So on that note, I would like to end this episode and tell you that you definitely have to stay tuned for more. Um, I still am trying to figure out how often I should post. Twice per week, once per week, every day. I’m not sure. So, please subscribe and stay tuned for another episode. Goodbye.