How to become a professional blogger in 2021

So you decided 2021 would be the year in which you become a professional and successful blogger but don’t know where or how to start?

First of all, you need to understand what a “professional blogger” is. Basically, a professional blogger is someone that makes their living blogging (I know, shocker right?). Whether they monetize their blog through ads, products, coaching, or some other paid offering, blogging is their full-time job.

Then, it’s important that you know the difference between the two types of bloggers. First, you have the people who make money through their blog (this is the person who blogs regularly on their own site, and has monetized the audience they’ve built), and secondly, you have the people who blog for a company (these are content marketers who are writing to help build an audience, with the end goal of bringing more customers to the company’s product or service).

As you can guess, there are a lot of different skills and a ton of hard work that goes into being a professional blogger but it is actually possible to blog as your primary source of income. Below we are going to show you exactly how to become a professional blogger and earn money through it.

Before you start, find a niche

Before you get ahead of yourself, you need to find a niche to create your content about. But make sure you are involved in a niche that can make you money, this is, make sure there is sufficient demand for what you can offer to make you a living.

Different types of niches that have been proven to be successful are: health and fitness, personal finance, fashion, lifestyle, business and marketing, technology and gaming, travel, etc.

However, you can blog on multiple niches and create content around them together, like lifestyle and health, or fashion and beauty related topics.

Choose your blog name

The first thing you need to do is choose a name and register your domain. Your domain name is an important part of your blog because it creates a first impression, it is the name of your blog and what defines whether people want to go to your website, or not . Also known as your URL, your domain is also your address on the web.

Different tips on how to choose a blog name can be to grab the thesaurus for a catchy name, look at your competitors' blog names, use a blog name generator, take inspiration from books or songs, consider a different language, use humor, try alliteration, etc.

Get your blog online

Now that you’ve got a name picked out it’s time to get your blog online. To get it up and running you need two things: blog hosting and blogging software. 

A blog host is a company that stores all of the files for your blog and delivers them to the user when they type in your blog name (you can use BlueHost). You must have a blog host in order to have a blog. You also need to have the software to build your blog (you can use the WordPress blogging software, because it is the most popular, customizable, and easiest to use).

Make planning your best friend

If you become a professional blogger, then you will be running a full-time home business and working from home although comfortable, can be tricky. That’s why you need to make planning a priority.

Construct a business plan, brand your business (get a good company name and logo), invest in your business, set up a taxation system, maintain an account of your expenses, have a content calendar, etc.

Knowledge of Online Marketing Tools is key

Once you create your blog and have a niche that resonates with your interests, you will need the knowledge of most aspects of professional internet marketing.

These include: fundamental SEO knowledge, knowledge of graphics applications such as Photoshop, good writing skills and grammar, an understanding of social media and how to use them to your advantage, good understanding of analytical software, and how to use Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to their best advantage, etc.

Last but not least, monetize it

Although it may frighten some, it’s pretty easy to get started. Launching a blog with a platform like WordPress is fast and accessible from a budgetary standpoint, and monetizing with ads, affiliate links, and sponsored posts may take a little more work, but is also fairly straightforward.

However, the main downside to starting and monetizing your own blog is that it takes time. Most blogs take months or even years to start making a significant amount of money.

This is why you should choose a monetization strategy that aligns with where your blog is right now or where you want it to be in the future.

These are some solid strategies other bloggers have used to generate revenue from their own blogs in diverse niches: become a freelance blogger in your niche, sell ebooks to your audience, create and sell online courses, start a coaching/consulting business, offer a paid membership plan, make money with display advertising (banner ads), become an affiliate marketer, generate revenue with sponsored posts/reviews, sell physical/digital products to your audience, start a podcast, etc.

In conclusion,

If you have read all of this and feel a little discouraged, don’t be! It’s still possible to become a professional blogger. Just remember that if you are really passionate about something, success will come from it alone. Just remember that it takes a long time until success kicks in.