How to Start a Blog and Make Money in 2024: Everything I Learned My First Year Blogging

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Last Updated on January 7, 2024

Interested in how to start a blog in 2024? Here’s everything I learned to help YOU achieve blogging success!

On December 7th, 2020, I hit “publish” for the very first time on my very first blog post. It was exhilarating and overwhelming all at the same time. Flash forward to exactly one year later, today, on December 7th, 2021…to say I’ve learned a lot about how to start a blog AND grow it is an understatement!

I’ve learned insanely valuable skills about social media marketing, SEO, sales, presentation, strategy, writing for a growing audience, and even a little web design thrown in there from time to time! It’s A LOT, but it’s also the most rewarding endeavor I’ve ever committed to.

While blogging takes on a wide range of definitions (some people may hobby-blog for fun, others intend to turn it into their full-time business), I approached it from a business-minded standpoint from the very beginning. I knew that I wanted to make this my career, or at least give it my very best shot, and that’s exactly what I continue to set out to do.

So with that in mind, this post is all about how to start a blog in 2024 that earns you money, is done right, drives a growing, engaged audience, and lets you explore your passion. 

This post is all about how to start a blog in 2024.

Here’s 10 lessons I learned my first year to help you start a blog in 2024.

1. Gaining readers, money, or pageviews is NOT fast OR easy.

A common misconception when starting a blog is that it’s a “quick and easy side hustle” with limited commitment that brings fast results. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Blogging is a LONG game. Like, a reeeealllllyyy long game. As in, it could take a few years before you start seeing consistent, reliable part-time income. Let alone full-time income. As with many startup businesses, am I right? (However, the upside is that startup costs for a blog are quite minimal.)

This is due to:

1. The steep learning curve to learn all the ins and outs of marketing, writing style, and monetizing your content
2. Effective marketing platforms like Pinterest and Google take forever to recognize your content and show it in search results to other people. (Google didn’t start caring about my blog posts and “ranking” them for people to see until about 7 months in–which is typical.)

To be completely transparent: your first year will be primarily learning, figuring things out, and hustling to gain traction in the online world. You’re just getting your feet wet and seeing what sticks and what doesn’t. So don’t expect groundbreaking results right away!

You absolutely can still make money your first year (and I have!) so don’t let this discourage you! But more than likely, you’ll still need to keep your day job to fill in the gaps. Ya feel?

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2. Pick a niche you care about that you know others care about too

Ah, picking a niche. This is where things can get a little complicated.

I highly recommend picking a niche that you are interested in, won’t get bored with, and that you feel knowledgeable about. For me, that’s personal development! BUT also consider if there is a market of people who are also interested in this niche, so that you can actually drive readers to your blog. 

And contrary to what some bloggers may say, I don’t think you have to have a ridiculously “niched-down” niche to be successful. I’ve seen plenty of successful bloggers have an overarching theme for their blog like personal development, fashion, or home decor. 

From there, you can create more specific “categories,” like I do for productivity, mental health, and lifestyle. 

Also, a pro tip: google some topics or questions in the niche you’re thinking about. Is every search query overrun with high-authority websites in the results? (WebMD, Psychology Today, etc.?). If so, tread with caution, because it will be harder to rank high in search. I have to choose my mental health blog posts wisely, because if I write about “depression symptoms,” I’ll be beat by Mayo Clinic, WebMD, and Psychology Today on Google! So I still write about mental health, but I aim for topics that are less clinical.

But at the end of the day, I do think it’s especially important that you choose a niche you’re into and can stick with, otherwise you’ll have a harder time wanting to stay consistent and committed. 

3. Always write with your READER in mind, not you

Every blog post you EVER write should be for the reader. Help the reader answer a problem they’re having, or provide them something of value to them. Not you. Hear me out.

Let’s say you want to write about your skincare routine. You totally can! People do love to get new ideas for skincare routines, and an article like this can perform well. BUT…

Instead of titling the blog post “My Latest Skincare Routine,” title it, “The Best Skincare Routine Every Woman Needs to Try,” or “The Best Skincare Routine You Need to Try ASAP”

You still get to share your skincare routine and make it fun and enjoyable for you to write about. But your angle needs to shift to cater to the reader. This is what gets clicks, drives traffic to your blog, gets the reader engaged, AND presents your blog as something valuable. 

If you grow a very large following and people begin to show an interest in what you are up to personally, then you can start experimenting with making posts angled toward yourself. But in your first year, it’s a little too soon. 

(Notice how I’m talking about my experience with my first year blogging, but I’m also informing YOU about how to start your own blog in 2024? That’s how ya do it!)

4. Here’s what you need to start your blog in 2024

What exactly do you need to set up your blog?

1. Web hosting provider – basically a business that provides the resources to run your website and keep it live. Bluehost is perfect for new bloggers!
2. Registered domain name – your URL, like ambitiouslyalexa.com
3. A good blog platform (WordPress is absolutely the gold standard!)
4. A theme to install onto your blog platform
5. Your first blog post

To start a serious blog in 2024, you don’t want to settle for a free platform like Blogger or Wix. This is because you won’t have your own domain name. It’ll be something like ambitiouslyalexa .blogger .com. 

It’s much harder to gain traction with a domain name that’s not your own as it just doesn’t look professional, and Google won’t prefer to show it to people. You’ll also have trouble monetizing it because many affiliate programs (I’ll explain what that means later) require that you have your own domain.

If you start off with Bluehost as your web host provider, you can knock out three of these blog setup tasks in one go (hosting, domain, platform)! They make it SO easy and take the confusion out of it. They give you your domain name free for the first year and let you install WordPress as your blog platform in as easy as 1-click! And hosting plans start as low as $2.95/mo, so it’s super affordable. I definitely think Bluehost is your best bet!

Next, you’ll want an aesthetic theme (the design/layout) for your blog. LyraThemes is where I got my theme and they are fabulous! 

And lastly: that very first blog post. Don’t stress too much about it, honestly. The only people reading your first post are your mom, your sister, and your best friend. Just get a feel for what blog writing is like!

5. Take the blog setup one step at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself!

I scrambled to knock everything out in just a couple nights for NO good reason. You don’t need to put that stress on yourself! The best approach is to schedule each blog setup task into your planner on separate days. This way, you break the process down, you have a game plan, and you don’t get overwhelmed!

I suggest signing up for Bluehost to get your hosting provider, domain (once you decide what it will be), and WordPress set up in one swift go. But then take the rest of the work slowly. 

Explore different themes and don’t rush the process. 

Take one full day just to play around with the design, set up your pages, etc.

Then lastly, write your first blog post and do notttt worry about it being perfect! That comes with time and practice, I promise.

Pssst…want to plan out your blog setup tasks the productive way and maximize your time? Grab my (free!) productive day planner printable below!

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6. I wish I would have invested in blogging education sooner

As I said, blogging has a steep learning curve. I spent God knows how many hours Googling, YouTube searching, joining blogging groups on Facebook, etc. to learn everything I know today. And for some things, that’s a big help! 

But when it comes down to nitty-gritty strategy and specific things you need to be doing with your blog, sometimes free info just doesn’t cut it.

For example, how are you going to know how to win over Pinterest? (Pinterest is the #1 thing driving traffic to my blog next to Google, so it’s highly valuable!) How will you know how often to post, which boards to pin to, how many pins to create, etc.? 

It’s very hard to nail down a specific strategy that has proven results unless you learn from an expert in a course. Otherwise, you’re just guessing. And guessing will only make it take longer for your blog to get off the ground.

So what courses do I recommend as absolute musts for your blogging education?

• Perfecting Blogging – This course from BySophiaLee is all about “The Exact Techniques + Methods Used To Create and Manage a Six-Figure Blog,” as she puts it. This course is made for the new blogger who is looking to create a profitable blog. Sophia shows you exactly how to set up your website, exactly how to write your blog posts to appease Google and your readers, and how to make money from it all. You can buy Perfecting Blogging here.

• Perfecting Pinterest – Also from BySophiaLee, this course transformed my Pinterest strategy and gave me the direction I needed. As I mentioned, Pinterest is my #1 blog traffic source, so this course is SO worth investing in. (I would not be doing as well as I am without it, and these stats of mine don’t lie!). You can buy Perfecting Pinterest here.

Both of the courses mentioned are also offered as a bundle to save you 15%, which you can get the 2-course bundle here.

7. Here’s the ways you can make money with your blog in 2024

If you’re confused about where the “making money” part comes in, I’ll tell ya! While it’s not as simple as being paid just to write, there are ways to incorporate paid opportunities directly into your writing and your blog.

Most bloggers make money by:

• Affiliate marketing – This is when you sign up for an affiliate program, say through Amazon, Target, etc. and you are eligible to make commissions on the products you link in your blog posts. If someone buys what you link, that earns you a commission! This is the most practical and easiest way to monetize when starting out.

• Ads – Ads are a bit of a long and slow game, as most good quality ad networks don’t accept you until you have a high amount of traffic, like 50,000 monthly page views. I advise against Google AdSense (despite its lack of page view requirements), as I tried it out and earned peanuts! Google AdSense also has spammy looking ads, not gonna lie. In the beginning, I say prioritize user experience instead of ads.

• Creating your own products – This is ideal because you get the FULL product profit, rather than just a commission. Most bloggers start with digital products. Think ebooks, printable journals (I have a printable mental health journal for sale!), printable planners, etc. I’d recommend not to delve too much into creating products until you get a good amount of traffic first, though. They can be harder to make sales than affiliate marketing.

• Sponsored posts – This is where you collaborate with a brand more intimately. For example, a brand might pay you a flat fee of $80 to write a sponsored post on your blog reviewing one of their products.

• Services – Think courses, coaching sessions, freelance writing, etc. 

8. Blogging is probably 20% content creation and 80% marketing and business

I got into blogging because I always loved to write and educate others through the written medium. So it totally came as a surprise to learn that writing is only a fraction of the blogging business!

I spend so much time creating and scheduling pins on Pinterest, keeping a social media presence, reaching out to brands here and there, brainstorming digital product ideas, educating myself, adding technical pieces to my website like “plugins” (a piece of software within WordPress that adds a new function or feature to my website), and honestly so much more.

When I say it’s a lot of work, yeah, it’s A LOT OF WORK!

And especially in the first few months, I can easily say that blogging education and just figuring out my dang website took the majority of my time. So be prepared for that!

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9. Pageviews don’t just appear–you gotta promote, promote, promote!

Google, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tik Tok are all your new best friends (go follow mine!). Make new accounts with your blog’s domain name as the username, rather than using a personal account. 

The only “secret” to getting Google to notice you is to follow SEO practices (search engine optimization–you’ll want to look this up) on your blog and be consistent in your blog posting. 

Instagram is good for building community (and for future use of sponsored posts, as many brands are interested in Instagram), but many bloggers report that it doesn’t bring a tonnn of traffic. Similar to Facebook. I feel that these platforms are ideal for an online presence, but not the best for driving traffic.

It’s Pinterest and Google that I suggest focusing on from the get go, as these are mine and many bloggers’ top traffic drivers. You can push Tik Tok and Instagram off for later, so don’t add any more on your plate than you need to. 

Tik Tok, in my experience, gives you a more “fair” opportunity of gaining traction. They don’t seem to discriminate as hard in their algorithm the way Instagram does, so you may have a good shot at something going viral!

So, bottom line: Pinterest and SEO/Google is all you need to think about right now for getting eyes on your content. Nail down a strategy for each, and above all else, post consistently! (Whether that’s once a week or twice a week, just stick to it!)

10. “Done” is better than perfect

When you’re new to anything, it’s overwhelming. You second guess yourself, you obsess over the fact that there’s always room for improvement, and you might not have a clue what you’re doing! (Fake it til ya make it, though!)

This is OKAY. And totally normal! I’m telling you: consistency above all else. You’ll refine your writing, your strategy, and your social media with time and practice. But it’s better to keep trying and keep getting content out there than to give up or fall behind because you don’t think it’s “perfect.”

I started out with only one blog post a week, then I upped it to twice a week. And part of why I started at once a week was because I would get way too in my head about self-doubt and questioning if I was “doing things right.”

But you learn as you go, so just keep going and you will grow and learn and get the hang of it all, even if it totally doesn’t feel like you ever will!

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Starting a blog is no easy task, but this past year of blogging has been SO rewarding! It gives me an outlet to share what I’m passionate about, educate others, grow my business and marketing skills…all while learning what it takes to create something profitable! Deciding to start your own blog in 2024 is 100% worth it!

I am so thankful for all of you, even if you’re new here, who take the time to read my blog and learn something from it. I’m incredibly passionate about the education and resources I put out to my audience, and I hope that shines through to y’all! 

Can’t wait to see what your blogging journey brings you, too!

Don’t forget your free productive day planner to start planning your blog startup tasks!

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