COVID-19 has turned everything upside down for a lot of people. Where you may have been used to working in an office or at a store, you’re now probably stuck working from home. And if you aren’t now, you probably will be very soon. Another big issue that people are dealing with is, of course, total job loss.
Furthermore, much of life still goes on as usual, with some landlords still raising their rents as planned. Rent.com’s 2015 Property Manage Report reveals that 88% of property managers have increased rent within the past year, and that can be a lot to deal with in any climate, never mind the current crisis.
This has led everyone to begin seeking alternate sources of income, which can be challenging when you’re faced with working remotely. The job market is flooded with more people seeking employment than usual, and fewer jobs that can immediately be worked available.
On the other hand, this can even out the playing field in a sense. The jobs that are immediately available are likely remote positions, and this means that those with a lack of experience in typical office jobs and more experience with remote work will have something of an advantage. This is particularly true for those that have online marketing or blogging experience.
You may not have felt, as you were building a personal blog, that blogging experience would someday help you make money. However, in this day and age it’s much easier than it once was to turn blogging into a marketable skill. Those with more popular blogs have advantages, of course; but you don’t have to be “internet famous” to make money through online marketing and blogging.
Right now, there are 30.2 million small businesses in the United States, and many of them rely on remote employees with blogging and marketing skills to accomplish their online networking. With that being said, let’s look into what you should do to get started blogging for money.
1. Prepare A Work Space And Routine
Any job presents extra challenges when it is made remote. There are perhaps even more challenges presented by blogging jobs, as you don’t necessarily have to adhere to a strict timeline when blogging.
As long as a task is turned in on time, you will most likely be fine. This can lead people to slacking off, and treating this job as more of a hobby than a true profession. Not only will this likely affect your productivity in the long term. It will also possibly affect the quality of your work.
Therefore, you should make sure to have a workstation arranged, with a desk and computer set aside. Make sure to avoid noise and really focus on your work, just as you would in an office. Nonetheless, you’ll want to keep that focus by taking some time to stretch and move. An estimated 75.7 million people in the U.S. suffer from neck and back pain, and you don’t want to be one of them!
2. Consider Blogging Independently
You don’t have to build a blog specifically for a company, or act as a remote online marketer. You can also make money through monetizing the blog you’ve already built, or building a blog with the intent of monetizing it in the long term. If you do want to monetize your blog, you need to take advantage of certain advertising programs.
These will help you host ads on your blog, which will help you earn money in the long term. Programs like Google Adsense, BlogAds, Chitika eMiniMalls will help you earn money every time a person is redirected to an ad through your blog.
For that matter, you can also accept sponsorships that will help you earn further money. However, that usually does not occur until your blog has built up something of a following, even if that following is rather niche.
Affiliate marketing is also something to consider, as in that case a company will not necessarily sponsor a post, but rather pay you to advertise their products. Often this is done through commission. Every time that a person clicks a link to buy a product and is redirected from your blog, you would earn a percentage of the sale.
3. Look For Ready-Made Opportunities
For those more experienced in the online marketing and blogging industries, ready-made opportunities may be great options. In this case, a person would essentially create blog posts for businesses that need them, crafted to suit their specific needs.
In this case, you would probably have less creative freedom, and would essentially be creating blog posts with a specific target audience in mind that might not be your own. Nonetheless, it can sometimes be easier to blog for a client, rather than creating your own creatively free tasks.
The advantage for the business is that you will be the person designated to create blog posts, which presents less work for those working on site within the company. These types of jobs can certainly be difficult to find. However, if you already have remote experience, you can potentially sell your skills as an asset for any company.
4. Sell Intellectual Property Through Your Blog
Of course, you can also use your blog to sell your own skills and services. Again, this may apply to people who already have a social media and blog following. Lots of people advertise their own ebooks, or even the courses they teach, on their blogs.
This can be a bit more of a gamble, and again depends heavily on your personal following. However, in every way you would be your own boss, and if you feel that you can make money in this sense, it’s certainly worth a try.
The beauty of blogging for money is the independence it provides. Right now is really the time to try to make money through blogging; when else will you have the time do so?
