How to Start a Blog to Make Money - Very First Steps to Take! - What Mommy Does (2024)

I receive questions quite often about how you make money blogging. Specifically how to start a blog to make money.

I usually point people to my Blog Startup Guidebut I know it can be a lot to handle all at once(it’s a comprehensive tutorial all about starting a blog the right way if making money with it is your goal).

I just realized that I never separately listed out the steps you must take to begin a blog in a super simple format so that’s what this post is all about.

If you were to take a look at my blog startup guide and boil it downto theactionable steps, they would be as follows:

1. Sign up for web hosting(this is when you will register your domain name)
2. Install a professional blog theme (see my top recommendations in this post)

Seriously, those are the first steps!

Should you pre-write blog content before launching?

A lot of people over complicate this part. I get countless emails each week with questions about all the content you must PREWRITE before you launch a blog.

I am not sure who is giving this advice, but this is not how I started my blog. I literally chose a name (this took a couple days), registered my domain when I signed up for web hosting, and purchased a theme.

Of course, from that point, it is a big learning curve going from a blank slate to an interactive blog full of content, but WE WILL GET YOU THERE.

I just want to let you know that blogging truly is a one step at a time adventure. If you make this into a more complicated thing, you will NEVER start a blog. I’ve seen it over and over. Too many people get paralyzed into inaction!

If you start thinking of all the things you must do to grow a profitable blog from Day 1, you will NEVER start. It will be too overwhelming. But if you take it one day & one step at a time, we’ll eventually get you there.

There are many free resources you can read/listen to to get your blog going, and there are some excellent blogging courses to help you with specific aspects of blogging (like learning how to set up your Pinterest account for success) or setting a fantastic foundation for monetizing your site. I even have guides to help you get over traffic humps or organize your blog topics after you get started.

But you can’t take any of those until you start your blog! 😀

If you think you are ready to become a blogger but don’t know what to do, see below for more details (including how to get personal guidance from me).

How Much Does It Cost toStart a Blog?

If you follow the steps in my Blog Startup Guide, it should cost approximately $200 to get your blog up and running. Your initial investment into a blog ready to face the world includes money for web hosting and a nice looking blog theme (a.k.a blog template).

I say approximately because there are choices to be made.

If you’re following my recommendations, the least expensive hosting plan you can get is for $2.95 per month (OR $35.40 per year / $106.20 for the entire 36 month contract). And the cheapest professional looking blog theme I know of costs around $60. This means, theoretically, that you could get going for $106.20 + $60 = $166.20.

MOST people choose a one- or three-year web hosting plan (because they’re in this for the long haul) and mid-range blogging theme like Foodie Pro or Glam from StudioPressthat costs anywhere from $99 – $129.95.

• For a three-year $106.20 Bluehost plan and a professional $129.95 blogging theme, you’ll spend a total of $236.15.
• If you go with a three-year hosting plan + professional $99 template, you could spend around $205.20 ($106.20 + $99).
• If you go with a shorter Bluehost term, you will pay less up front, so your total cost would be less than $200.

As you can see, it’s hard to pinpoint EXACTLY how much you will have to spend to get YOUR dream blog up and running, but it’s safe to estimate that you can do it for $200-ish dollars (or $250-ish if you have expensive tastes like me!) 😀

As far as I’m concerned, this is the BEST DEAL out there for the potential return on investment! I mean, have you seen how much it takes to get started with Lularoe?! Seriously. lol

Keep in mind that the roughly $200 investment to start a blog is just one consideration. The biggest investment you must make into your blog is TIME. I cannot stress this enough. No one will do it for you.

I can guide you, but I can’t get into your WordPress dashboard and actually write your blog posts for you. I can’t find your advertisers FOR you. And I can’t serve your readers FOR you.You will have to do that all by yourself, and it will take time. Once you get the first part done (sign up for hosting + install a theme), we can work on it from there!

Related Content:

How to Know if You’ll Be a Good Blogger

What to Name Your Blog

What to Do if the Blog Name You Want is Taken

1st Thing to Do After Installing WordPress

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Bluehost (webhosting) + StudioPress (blog templates)

How Long Before You Can Make Money Blogging?

This is a tough question because everyone’s abilities vary and everyone’s blog topics vary. I would say how long it takes to make money with a blog depends less on the length of time you’ve been blogging and more on the amount of meaningful content you can produce.

In the blogging world, content is truly king, and a real benchmark for early monetization efforts is around 20 blog posts. This is when you can start placing ads on your blog and earning income from visitors.

I feel confident in saying another benchmark is around the 100 post mark. That’s when you can really start to understand a lot of things and when you’ll likely be into affiliate marketing and sponsored posts.

By 200-300 blog posts, you’ll be able to understand a lot more about how best to monetize your particular content and audience, and after that you will be able to work on scaling up your income.

Why so many? Because you need time to figure out what you’re doing, finding your voice, and create a content catalog of impactful posts that change people’s lives. Unless you have already had a blog previously or take a comprehensive blogging course like Elite Blog Academy from Day One, you probably won’t be able to do this right out of the gate. I know I wasn’t able to!

But I don’t want to get ahead of myself with talk of monetizing at the 200 post mark when you haven’t even started your blog yet! First things first! 😀

If You Want Step by Step Help Starting a Blog

I have a newsletter devoted to helping beginning bloggers make their mark on the world. To get on this list and learn how to start a blog the right way, you can request access (and a copy of my blog startup guide)using the link in step 2 below. I hope you decide to join me on my crazy blogging adventures!

Start Your Blogging Journey Now

You never know just where blogging can take you until you get started.

Follow thesesteps to embark on your blogging journey!

1. Start a blog using my blog startup guide<<click here
2. Join my email list:click here to subscribe

Hope to talk to you soon!

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