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The post Are Blogs Still a Thing? – Making Money in 2022 appeared first on Millennial Money.
Believe it or not, blogging is nearly in its third decade.
Today, just about everyone seems to be doing it — from preschool teachers to electricians and everyone in between.
But is blogging still a viable way to make money heading into 2022? Let’s take a closer look.
In case you’re unfamiliar, here’s a quick primer on blogging. If you’re already knowledgeable about how blogs work, feel free to skip to the next section.
At a high level, a blog is a self-publishing tool that people and companies can use to share ideas and insights. Blogs are entirely open-ended, meaning the owner can say just about anything they want (within reason, of course).
Most blogs contain a variety of multimedia — including text, photos, videos, and podcasts. As a blog producer, you can specialize in one or several types of media creation. It all depends on your training, interests, skills, and area of expertise.
In a corporate setting, blogging falls under the umbrella of content marketing. Brands typically have robust content marketing strategies that encompass several areas — including website copy, social media posts, email marketing content, and blog content.
Companies often ask bloggers to contribute to more than one channel. So if a company hires you as a blogger, chances are it will also ask you to contribute to another content initiative.
Blogs are definitely still a thing, and they’re perhaps more relevant today than they’ve ever been.
In fact, blogging remains an integrated digital marketing strategy that companies need to attract and educate customers. According to one study, 85% of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers and 91% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers say their companies blog or use other types of content marketing on a regular basis.
At the same time, many people are still operating their own independent blogs. Truth be told, you don’t need to be affiliated with any company to use a blogging platform like WordPress or Medium. It’s possible to cover just about any topic and potentially make money through affiliate links, sponsored content, and advertising.
Currently, the average base salary for a blogger in the U.S. is $31,735. However, you can make much more than this if you hustle and discover new opportunities on a regular basis.
How much you make as a blogger depends largely on the industry that you’re working in and how aggressive you are about finding new gigs.
If you work full-time for one company, you can expect to get paid a salary and even receive benefits like health insurance and paid time off. On the other hand, freelancers tend to get paid on a per-project, hourly, or per-word basis.
The most successful bloggers tend to build their own websites and generate recurring revenue through subscribers, advertisements, email lists, and affiliate marketing links. This strategy can even lead to passive income, which can add up over time.
The idea of contributing to a company blog may seem like a strange concept at first. But if you think about it, there are a variety of reasons why companies hire bloggers. We’ll explore them in this section.
Companies want their websites to rank highly on search engines like Google so customers can easily find them when they search for solutions to their problems.
For this reason, organizations use various SEO strategies that align with what search engine algorithms are looking for. By doing so, they can improve visibility and shoot up in the rankings.
Blogging can significantly boost SEO — particularly when posts answer specific questions that customers are entering into Google.
For example, customers may ask questions like “what is gluten-free?” A gluten-free food manufacturer might write an in-depth blog post on this topic to provide a comprehensive explanation and help answer potential customers’ questions.
In the early days, blogging played a much larger role in SEO. Today, blogging is still important — but it’s ultimately just one piece of the SEO puzzle.
In addition to ranking on search engines, companies also need to educate customers through their websites. While photos and videos are a great start, they also need captions and supporting materials.
When it boils down to it, blogs play a crucial role in educating customers about a brand and its various initiatives. As a blogger, you can help craft content that explains different services and what makes the company different from its competitors.
For example, a home improvement company might offer a step-by-step guide to replacing the carpet in a room. This type of content is extremely valuable — especially if it links back to the products or resources that the company offers.
Many companies — especially fashion and retail brands — like to hire Millennial influencers to blog about their favorite products and personal experiences.
To work as an influencer, you need to have a large number of followers on various social media platforms. You also need the ability to connect with target audiences and get them to take action.
Blogs don’t always directly support products and services. Sometimes, companies use blogs to demonstrate thought leadership. In a nutshell, thought leadership is content that proves expertise.
Companies typically use thought leadership to convey subject matter expertise and their commitment to various causes and initiatives. For example, a manufacturer might produce thought leadership on fair pay or equality in the workplace.
Simply put, thought leadership is a chance to showcase specific messaging to customers.
Bloggers often help write thought leadership by interviewing subject matter experts and turning their ideas into creative and engaging prose.
One of the great aspects about blogging is that it is very accessible to people across all industries. In general, you don’t need any special type of education or training to write an informative blog post. You just need to be able to write well.
That said, blogging is very competitive. If you want to maximize your earning potential and land the best gigs, you need to be able to produce high-quality material in a very short time.
In some cases, you may need to turn around creative copy immediately or by the end of the day. Other times, you might have a bit longer to turn in assignments.
Companies typically prioritize bloggers with interesting ideas and solid portfolios. For example, a technology company might have an expert programmer blog and share ideas about cutting-edge programming languages. Meanwhile, a real estate company might have a top-earning agent blog about tips for selling your home.
If you’re an expert in your field, you can potentially turn your knowledge into a lucrative side hustle as a freelancer. It may also be worth pursuing full-time work as a blogger.
Blogs may look simple to the outside observer. But they often require the help of several different individuals to shine.
With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the types of opportunities within the blogging field.
Producers are typically responsible for forming content ideas and writing blog posts. As a producer, you will write blogs that range anywhere from 200 to 2,000 words or more.
Producers often need assistance knowing what to put on a blog. Managers help provide direction by communicating with product managers and sales teams and analyzing site metrics looking for page views, search terms, and other indicators. These folks also assess blog quality for content and accuracy.
SEO specialists perform keyword research and provide managers and producers with insights on what their customers are typing into search engines. Once a post is written, these individuals can optimize it so that it ranks higher on search engines.
There are lots of tools that can help SEO specialists in this task, such as Yoast SEO and Google Analytics. So it’s not all wizardry!
Designers play a big role in blogs by providing images, infographics, and videos to make content stand out. It’s important to publish images alongside blog posts to increase SEO rankings.
Misconceptions about bloggers abound. People often associate blogging with an easy and carefree lifestyle. Yet while there are several perks, it’s a very challenging career choice. Believe me: This isn’t an easy thing for most people to do.
If you work full-time as a blogger, you’ll have to abide by your employer’s schedule. Most blogging jobs run from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.
However, if you freelance, your schedule will typically revolve around deadlines. So if you want to maintain control over your schedule while doing interesting work every day, blogging could be a great fit.
When working for yourself as a freelance blogger, you are in control over your earning potential. In other words, there’s no ceiling to what you can bring in. The harder you work, the more money you can make.
This can be particularly helpful if you live in an area where local companies pay below the national standard. Blogging from home is a great way to circumvent regional salary limitations and increase your income.
While some companies still require copywriters to come into offices and write, most allow them to work from anywhere. And if you freelance, it doesn’t matter where you work as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection.
As such, blogging is one of the top career choices for digital nomads who like to travel around and experience different places. So if you’re the type who can’t stay in one place for very long, you may want to consider blogging as a way of funding your active lifestyle.
Blogging jobs are getting harder to secure in today’s competitive market. If you can manage to get a job as a blogger, you need to come to the table ready to produce. This absolutely isn’t a field where you can slack and get away with it.
Don’t expect much in the way of job security when blogging — unless you’re fortunate enough to land a union job in marketing or have a skill set or subject matter knowledge that makes you irreplaceable.
One of the frustrating aspects of blogging is that you can lose a job or client even if you do great work. Companies often let bloggers go due to budget cuts and staffing or marketing changes. It’s important to always have other options in your back pocket so you can roll into another job if your gig ends.
Sometimes, it can be immensely difficult trying to hound down payments when you’re blogging as a freelancer. Oftentimes, bloggers have to wait several weeks or even months to receive a paycheck.
Should you pursue this career, you have to keep careful track of your earnings and be persistent to collect what is rightfully yours.
Copy deadlines can vary from company to company. Some organizations are very tight about publishing and try to post fresh content several times per week. Other times, companies will post only a few times per month — or even less frequently than that.
Blogging can move very quickly. As such, you need to be capable of moving at the pace of your company or client. Otherwise, it’s easy to experience burnout and frustration — and potentially lose the gig altogether.
Of course, if you work for yourself and run your own blog, you can control production and post content on your own terms.
Some clients can be notoriously difficult to work with. To truly succeed, you need to have thick skin and an ability to absorb criticism and apply feedback. If you’re able to roll with the punches, this could be a good job for you.
The internet is full of blogging jobs. But to find them, you’ll need to do some exploring.
Here are some sites to begin your search for blogging opportunities.
LinkedIn is an excellent place to network with other professionals and find blogging opportunities. The company is also currently developing a freelance marketplace platform that will ostensibly make it easier for marketing professionals to land blogging jobs.
Fiverr is another popular freelance marketplace. The company provides access to freelance opportunities and charges a commission of 20% on whatever you make. This can be a great place to find short-term gigs.
Upwork is just like Fiverr, except the company has a different commission structure. Upwork takes 20% of the first $500 you make with a client. After that, the platform takes 10% for billings between $500.01 and $10,000 and 5% for billings over $10,000.
Indeed is one of the world’s largest job search sites. You can find a great mix of local and international blogging opportunities on the platform.
Here are the most frequently asked questions about blogging.
Absolutely not! Blogging is not dead. In fact, demand for blogging is skyrocketing, as companies are still using blogs to attract customers and nurture leads. Depending on what you’re looking for, blogging can make a great full-time job or a lucrative side hustle.
Just because you have a computer doesn’t mean you’ll succeed in creating a profitable blog.
As it turns out, blogging is hard work. It requires an ability to research topics and conceptualize ideas in a way that resonates with readers. Blogging takes a fair amount of practice, subject matter expertise, and marketing ability.
That said, anyone can learn to blog and discover useful blogging hacks. But to be successful, you need to be a quick learner and produce content at a high clip.
You certainly can make a lot of money blogging, depending upon your monetization strategy. Starting a personal blog can be a fun way to share knowledge, but you can’t make any money without ads or partnership deals.
Tumblr is a free microblogging site that you can use to post content and follow multiple blogs. This site makes it easy to share content like text, links, music, videos, and quotes.
Vlogging is similar to blogging, except you post videos on a YouTube channel or a WordPress blog. Vlogging takes strong video production skills and generally requires much more work than writing content.
A great blog site can be a tremendous resource for readers, providing a wealth of information. And if you’re good at producing or managing content, you can potentially make a lot of money.
In today’s digital age, blogging is in high demand. Everyone from small business owners to large enterprises is looking for ways to use blogs to educate internet users and drive sales.
If you’re thinking about entering the blogging field, do it! Just make sure you’re aware of the challenges that you will face — since blogging isn’t always a walk in the park.
Here’s to writing your way to financial freedom — one blog post at a time!
The post Are Blogs Still a Thing? – Making Money in 2022 appeared first on Millennial Money.
The post Lifestyle Business: Liberate Yourself From the 9 to 5 appeared first on Millennial Money.
It sounds really exciting to escape the employer-work grind, right? Sadly, that’s a freedom most people consider too hard to accomplish—or impossible.
But these days the workforce is surrounded by outside-the-box thinkers. You’d be surprised at how many options there are to support your lifestyle without sacrificing your soul.
A lifestyle business is an entrepreneurial venture that doesn’t rely on public funding and has the primary purpose of providing an income that serves the lifestyle preferences and values of the owner. It’s frequently related to a person’s passions and talents.
For example, a painter might hire themselves out to create murals for homeowners or local companies. Or a graphic designer could center their business around logos and graphic design for websites.
People who are tax specialists and accountants could hire their services to the thousands of online business owners who need their expertise. The options are endless.
You’re probably wondering what makes lifestyle businesses different from any other entrepreneurial venture. The terminology seems so specific. And it is, nowadays.
(Funny enough, I discovered that I’ve been a lifestyle business owner for a hot minute. Who knew there was an exact name for a business that earns just what you need.)
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of ideas for a lifestyle business. There are honestly as many options as there are talents.
Take a peek at these in-person and online business choices to get those creative juices flowing.
Evaluate what you love, your talents, and things that wouldn’t bore you to tears for years to come—and I’m sure you’ll find some great ideas.
Though many lifestyle entrepreneurs prefer to be location independent, that’s not a requirement. Not everyone is cut out to be a nomad.
For some, the joy of more family time—or relocating closer to family—creates the passion for starting a lifestyle business which liberates your work life.
As a lifestyle entrepreneur myself (a writer and niche site owner), the last thing I’m going to do is paint a rosy picture that’s not authentic. Being self-employed is hard.
You’ll likely have to wait quite a while before your income is what you need it to be. Despite some drawbacks, being in business for yourself might be the best thing you ever do.
If you’re convinced that becoming a lifestyle entrepreneur is for you, the biggest challenge may be choosing what niche to specialize in.
It certainly wasn’t easy for me several years ago. There truly are thousands of things you “could” do. But finding the one you should do is the key.
A startup company takes a lot of planning. Even if you’re keeping it simple, a successful lifestyle business definitely needs a strong foundation.
There’s research to do, names to choose, state requirements and licenses, and a bunch of other fun things. You may also want to sit with a small business coach or consultant for extra guidance.
Try not to get overwhelmed. Setting everything up the right way prepares you for the adventure of a lifetime. Your own business!
Here are the most frequently asked questions about starting a lifestyle business.
To differentiate a lifestyle business from another entrepreneurship, there are a few key components.
Contrary to the similar name, a lifestyle brand has nothing to do with a lifestyle business. A lifestyle brand is often a household name that promotes or inspires a certain quality of life.
Apple, for example, is one of the largest lifestyle brands on the planet. Very different from the companies we’ve been discussing which have no interest in becoming a global sensation.
Lifestyle marketing often goes hand in hand with a lifestyle brand. The purpose is to attract multitudes of people to a brand’s products by connecting with their passions and values.
Lifestyle businesses can definitely use this type of marketing to find their customers, but the goal wouldn’t be to make piles of money and millions of followers.
The business niche you decide on will need to be profitable enough to support your income requirements for maintaining the lifestyle you desire.
A true lifestyle business isn’t about the most profitable niche, but choosing something you know about, enjoy doing, and can find a solid customer base for. This will be totally different for everyone.
A saturated lifestyle business niche isn’t very common, surprisingly. I’d venture to say it’s not even a real thing where this type of business is concerned.
No one knows the exact same things as you, and they don’t all live in your town. Plus, the online space has almost endless demands for services and niches of every kind.
Can you choose something that won’t work? Sure. But if you’re careful to examine the needs people have, and tie that into what you do well and can offer, it’s not likely you’ll have a problem with a saturated niche.
Yes, absolutely. Some lifestyle entrepreneurs set up their business model to include passive income streams—especially in the online space.
A good example is niche websites which are set up to provide content for very specific topics (a baking website or small pets, for instance).
They utilize various income streams:
Now for the selling part. When the owner of a niche site grows it to the auto-earning phase with these income methods, they can be worth a good deal of money.
Building niche sites (or something similar that earns steady money and can be sold) can work as an actual lifestyle business. You build lifestyle businesses for others and sell them. Cool, huh?
There are as many businesses for lifestyle entrepreneurs as there are talents, goods, and services.
Tap into your own strengths and hobbies and start planning. Just be prepared with backup earnings, a good business foundation, and a whole lot of willingness to work hard for a while.
The hope is that eventually, you’ll be free to schedule your work around your life and not the other way around.
And if freedom interests you, consider checking out Financial Freedom in Uncertain Times.
The post Lifestyle Business: Liberate Yourself From the 9 to 5 appeared first on Millennial Money.
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