How to Make Money Blogging (Part 2: Monetizing your own blog)
In the first part of the “How to Make Money Blogging” series, I discussed how to become a professional blogger by writing for others. Also, in the follow-up to that post, I answered questions from readers.
Today, we’ll talk about making money on blogs you own, rather than as a hired writer for other people’s blogs. This is just a basic outlined tutorial, because making money with your own blog is such a vast topic. But, if you’re a beginner and you want to set up your own blog and monetize it, this tutorial is a good place as any to start learning.
Tools you’ll need:
- Domain name. This will be the main address of your blog. For this blog, it’s frugalpinoy.com. I usually buy my domain names at GoDaddy. I think it’s important to buy your own, easy-to-remember domain name, as it looks more professionaland has better recall.
- Web hosting. This is where your website will be stored. My favorite host is CynicalDog, as I’ve never had problems with them and I’ve been with them for 4 years. Other reliable hosts you can try: BlueHost, HostGator, WebHostingPad
- A blogging platform. This is the software behind your blog. For all of my blogs, I use the WordPress platform, because it is very easy to use and is highly customizable. Other blogging platforms: Moveable Type, Typepad.
- Some website-building knowhow. Apart from learning how to use your chosen blogging platform, you may need some basic HTML or CSS skills, or at least know someone who is familiar with them. This will come in handy when you need to paste advertising/affiliate codes on your blog, or when you’re troubleshooting.The internet is full of video and written tutorials on HTML, CSS, and blogging platforms. All you have to do is search for them via Google.
FrugalPinoy Q&A: How do I start as an online freelance writer?
Several readers sent me a note this week, asking me how they can start an online freelancing career. Here’s one of the emails I received:
Hello, I’ve been writing professionally for quite some time, and I’m trying to augment my income by trying out freelance writing online. I’ve only had a couple of projects, which paid about a dollar per article.
If it isn’t too much trouble, I was hoping you might help me in trying to find good writing gigs online, and maybe give me some tips on how I can start out.
Thanks very much!
- Tim
Thanks to Tim and the other readers who wrote in with their questions. I’m going to answer it in simple, concrete steps so that everything is clear. Regular readers might note similarities between this post and my previous post, “How to Make Money Blogging (Part 1)”. If you haven’t read that post yet, click here to read it, because it contains some points and definitions that aren’t found in this post – especially a needed introduction on online writing.
Without further ado, here are the steps that you can take to start your online freelance writing career:
Read MoreHow to Make Money Blogging (Part 1: Writing for others)
I’ve been visiting some filipino forums the past week, and I saw that although many Filipinos are interested in online writing, many of them don’t know how to begin, or are compensated poorly for their efforts. Maybe it’s because there’s a lack of local resources that discuss online writing as a career.
Because of this, I’ve decided to feature a series of posts here at Frugal Pinoy about how to make a living out of online writing. After all, it’s my main income stream and I have a little over 4 years of experience on the subject – especially when it comes to blogging. (In later posts, though, I’ll discuss essay writing and SEO writing, which are other ways to make money online).
Before we begin, we need to define what professional blogging is and what makes it different from personal blogging.
What is professional blogging?
First of all, the definition of ‘blog’ is this:
To put it as simply as possible – a blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.
Source: Problogger.net
This means that a professional blogger is someone who writes for a blog on a regular basis – whether he/she owns the blog or not. The professional blogger or “problogger” is separated from the personal blogger based on his/her intentions. The intentions of the personal blogger is usually just to share information about one’s life to friends, family, and the outside world. Usually, when you write a personal blog, you talk a lot about your feelings and personal experiences. The intentions of the problogger, on the other hand, include the following:
5 Money Lessons I've Learned from Freelancing
I’ve been a freelance writer for the past four years, making money almost exclusively online. The corporate world is definitely not for my personality, so I did everything I could to avoid it. Along the way, I’ve learned several useful money lessons that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.
Bill early, pay late. This took me a while to learn, and it’s more important especially if you have very busy clients who remember to pay you only a week after you send your invoice. Now, I bill them on the 1st of the month, while I pay for business expenses (contractors, web hosting, subscriptions, etc.) mid-month. By practicing this, you’re making sure that you already have enough funds when it’s time to pay for business expenses.
Diversify skills and sources of income. I didn’t just depend on my writing, especially when I was starting out. I also did a lot of design work, search engine optimization, edited videos, some data entry jobs, sold some of my artwork, and joined ad networks such as Google Adsense. Having various sources of income ensures that you always had an alternative venture in case your main gig ran a bit dry.
Also, as a freelancer, the diverse skill set allowed me to upsell services to clients (“Do you want some new graphics to go with the articles I’m writing for you?”), and I would become their go-to person for most of their web needs.
Be frugal with your time, not just money. One of the big problems I had with my first years of freelancing was that I let it consume so much of my time. I would work longer and harder than 9 to 5 ‘ers, thinking that this was the only way for me to make enough money. Eventually, I became a productivity blogger over at Pimp Your Work, and had to learn some time management skills. Now, I have made myself efficient enough to only work 9 to 15 hours a week, and can now enjoy the freedom that freelancing promises.
Have a padded emergency fund. I probably sound like a broken record since I talk about emergency funds over and over. But it was a real lifesaver during those months when I would earn only P12,000 and had to feed and pay for a household of 3 people, and my tuition too.
Don’t undersell yourself. I used to charge $5.00 for a 500 word article. That’s okay as a starting point just to build up your folio, but I stayed around that price range for one or two years, even after I was getting so many happy testimonials from clients who kept referring me to others (meaning: my work was worth more than $5). Hindi ka talaga mabubuhay kung $5.00 per hour ang singil mo. Especially since I had dependents. It took me a while to realize that people aren’t just paying for the words I write, they’re paying for an hour of my life and the unique insight I bring to the table. Does that really just cost $5?
Competing with others on the basis of price alone isn’t a sound business model. Someone will always be cheaper than you! So I competed on quality and experience, and can now turn down work that I don’t find interesting.
Every job title, every industry presents its own unique money lessons. What are the money lessons you’ve learned as a result of your work? Please share them with other Frugal Pinoy readers 
Online buy and sell options for Filipinos (Part 2)
This is part 2 of a series of articles on online buy and sell options for Filipinos. Click here for Part 1 of the series.
Today, we’ll look at two other buy and sell options online.
Help Iligan and CDO
Reader Discussions: