Meet The Blogger

If you want to be a blogger, my simple guess is that you know what a blog is. Think of a blog as an online journal or diary, although blogs are also used as online journalism.

There are many great things about being a blogger- you can work from home, write about your topic of interest, and well, be your own boss. You can also allow a lot of activities in your life, along with being a blogger. 

Although it sounds like the perfect job, you can’t expect to just start a blog, post a few ads and watch the money flow in. 

You can be a hobby blogger or full-time – the choice is yours. But no matter what you choose, you must be willing to work hard, invest in training and be submerged in it for a long time.

How much you’ll ultimately earn and how quickly you’ll turn a profit will depend on the quality of your content, your market niche, how often you blog and, most importantly, how effective you are at promoting and monetizing your site. Expect to wait a year or more before you can attract enough traffic to monetize your blog.

onlinejournalismblog dot com created this strip on the five stages of a blogger that sums up your future life.

Start Writing

Get feedback   

Build Community

Get Popular

Keep Writing

While there really is no one best way, here are five helpful tips about launching a blog:

1. Blog on a topic you are passionate about. I know that sounds very obvious and a writer should never be obvious. But for a profitable blog, you have to choose a topic you can see yourself writing about day after day, for years to come. While the blog themes can and will overlap with what’s already on the Internet. But the topics you explore and the way you present it has to be different.   

Here is why Tim Urban and Andrew Finn started their blog ‘Wait But Why’ – “We started WBW in July of 2013 on the theory that even though most online articles were short and list-y and stock photo-y and clickbait-y, people would still have the attention span for long, in-depth articles if someone did them well.”

And they have held on to this purpose so tight, and well, it became the blog that Elon Musk reads… see it for yourself.

2. Your theme should be different. One of the best ways to stand out from the clutter is to write about something people are interested in, but that other media outlets generally ignore.

Amit Agarwal is the pioneer of Tech blogging in India. He has been running his popular blog labnol dot org since 2004. The one big lesson here is he saw a need in the market and pursued it, which automatically led to success. 

3. Keep improving your photography and social media skills. A blogger is not just a writer. They are photographers, editors, video makers, social media managers. In the past few years, blogging has become an increasingly visual medium. Consequently, visual social platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are driving traffic to blogs. As a result, you need to learn and develop photography, image editing and social media skills.

4. Connect and collaborate with other bloggers. Although blogging can feel isolating, it doesn’t have to be. Look for ways to create informal virtual alliances with other bloggers with whom you can share content, cross-promote and offer support. Collaborations open opportunities for diverse work. This can prove financially beneficial for everyone involved.

5. Keep abreast with trends. The blogging landscape is continually evolving. You must stay abreast with the trends and technology that the top bloggers are using. 

Key Takeaways

1. Find a unique topic that you love, to start your blog

2. Keep writing regularly. Consistency is important to form a group of loyal readers.

3. Look for alliances to create more content

Up Next

In the next chapter we will learn the fundamentals of blogging from Miss Malini.