How Guest Blogging Made Me $55,753.50 in 2011
Guest blogging is one of the most profitable ways to make money online.
I know, you might be confused as to how guest blogging can help you make money online and I hope to have distilled your fears by the time you finish reading this article.
Now that I think about it, writing my first guest post was the most important decision I have made in my blogging career; it opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunities and the month of writing this (March, 2012) I’m on a challenge write at least 150 guest posts for other blogs in my field.
If you visit your favorite blogging tips blogs today you will probably come across an article talking about guest blogging, but you will rarely come across any article teaching you how to make money by guest blogging. After all, how many people will really want to share their source of income?
To be completely honest with you, guest blogging isn’t only an effective technique for building traffic and subscribers for your blog, it can also be smartly leveraged to help you make money online. In fact, guest blogging alone led to me making exactly $55,753.50 in 2011, and that’s just the numbers I could calculate. What of the resulting traffic from my guest posts leading to affiliate sales? What of the traffic that will end up bringing more income for years to come?
The good news, and why I’m even happy to write this article, is that I’m not doing this alone. Jon Morrow from GuestBlogging.com, who was the associate editor of Copyblogger for years, also says he makes at least $2,000 from every single guest posts he writes.
While I’m not as smart as Jon Morrow and while I don’t actually make as much as he does from guest blogging I was able to make an average of $4,600 every month last year just as a result of guest blogging.
How Did I Do It?
This is probably the question racing in your mind right now but I’d like you to calm down first and read this article slowly. After that, read it again and start taking action. Here’s what this article is not.
It is Not an Article Promising to Show You a Get Rich Quick Approach: Nope, it took me 8 months to make my first cent from guest blogging. Of course, I was still new to the game then and hardly knew what I was doing, but even if I did know what I was doing guest blogging will probably not bring in any real income until after a few months.
It Doesn’t Explain How to Make Money While You Sleep: Nope, it doesn’t. I wrote over 270 guest posts before making my first cent from guest blogging. Although, I didn’t know what I was doing then, nor did I intend to ever make money from guest blogging, but based on my experience now I’d at least have to write 20+ guest posts to start making money guest blogging. That’s a lot for some people and that’s a good thing, because this article isn’t for everyone!
It Is Not About Getting Paid by Blogs You Write Guest Posts for: Nope, you won’t be paid directly by the blogs you’re writing for. Your guest posts will lead to you making money but you won’t be paid to write them. I explain my approach in this article so make sure you keep your ears peeled.
How to Really Make Money from Guest Blogging
You might be surprised about why I’m giving this away for free but I sincerely want to help as many people as possible build a career online in writing and I believe I’ve made enough money from guest blogging that I don’t care about sharing my tips. With that in mind I’d like you to know that the fact that these tips are free doesn’t make them ineffective.
My Main Approach
When you saw the above numbers you might be wondering how they came about if I’m not being paid directly for my guest posts. The actual numbers signifies the amount I’ve made working with various clients in 2011, all of which I got as a direct result of my guest blogging.
In other words, I’m a freelance writer who specializes in helping people get results through my writing. I use guest blogging to drive valuable clients to my business and then make money by working for them.
This approach led to me getting 4 high-quality clients last year without putting up a hire me page. I never even professed to some of these clients that I’m a writer, but when they read my guest posts and fell in love with it they contacted me to come and work for them. Mind you, I got a lot more than 4 clients. In fact, I got over 20 clients but rejected most of them and only chose to work for the ones that will benefit me most.
You are probably aware of the fact that most freelance writers are getting paid peanuts these days. That’s because they have the wrong clients and they probably don’t have an option. Guest blogging exposed me to a lot of clients and I got to choose the very best ones. I rejected some quality ones, too, because you can only take on so much work, but I’m telling you this to let you know the potential that exists.
Here are the steps you should take to start making money from guest blogging right now:
1. Start a Blog and FOCUS on a Topic: You have to start a blog and you need to be seen as an expert. The problem is that most people have the illusion that you have to have been writing online for years to be seen as an expert in any niche. Unfortunately, that is just what it is, an illusion. You can be an expert in two months with the right approach, so in this case all you need to do is start a blog and focus on a topic, my other tips below will help you become an expert relatively quick.
2. Make Your Blog Different by Creating a USP: The problem with blogging is that it is too crowded. There are so many blogs online that readers don’t know which ones to read and bloggers are making that even difficult for them.
The first key to making your blog a magnet for those interested in your services is to create a USP; they have to know your blog is the one for them as soon as they land on it and you need a clear USP to achieve this. A USP is also known as a Unique Selling Proposition and it is the factor that differentiates your blog from that of your competitors. That doesn’t mean you would blog about a different topic, it just means you will blog about the same topic in a unique way and then tailor your blog to a unique audience. For example, instead of just starting a blog of “personal finance”, why not start a blog on “personal finance for students”? That way, when students need tips on personal finance they won’t bother visiting the big personal finance blogs, they will come to yours first. That’s just an example and I’m not necessarily suggesting you tailor your blog to students.
3. Create a Service Tailored at Your Audience: Create a service tailored at your audience based on your USP. The service could be high-end or cheap depending on the people you want to attract and your ultimate goal. You should not be afraid to charge what you’re worth. It doesn’t matter if your service is $1,000+ or $20, it is all about what you have to offer. The first thing you should realize, though, is that you can’t attract every client, so don’t bother to. Work on creating a unique service tailored at your audience, choose a price that is worthy of you and get ready to start making money. Make sure you create a page on your blog advertising this service and how it can help potential clients.
4. Build Your Profile Using Guest Blogging: This is the most IMPORTANT aspect. All the above steps are like preparation to ensure your guest blogging efforts don’t waste but this is the real deal. Once you have followed the above steps you can start guest blogging smartly for other people.
Here’s how your guest blogging approach should work to ensure you get results fast.
- Look for 20 top blogs in your niche: Guest blogging on smaller blogs is relatively easy but that’s the downside; everybody can do it! Getting real results is difficult but you have to put in the effort if you want to make money. Look for the top 20 blogs in your niche with at least 20,000 subscribers and focus on landing a guest post on them.
- Make sure your post connects to your blog: The blogs you choose might not be blogging directly on your topic but look for a way to tie the content of both blogs. For example, there aren’t much blogs on “Personal finance for students”(following my above example) but there are a lot of blogs on personal finance and money management. You can easily score guest posts on these big blogs and still profit by tying your content with theirs, e.g, “7 Personal Finance Tips for Student”. In the case of a blogger that talks about “blogging” writing for a blog that talks about “affiliate marketing” you can easily write a post titled “5 Ways Affiliate Marketers Can Use Blogging to Increase Sales” – You see how that works?
- Write a really great piece: Of course, everything is all linked to the quality of content you can produce and while some of these blogs publish a guest post a day, why should someone hire you instead of most of the other guest bloggers? The key is in your content. Make sure your guest posts reflect that you really know your stuff and always ensure you put the audience first.
- Write a bio that shows you’re an expert and link to your services page: Don’t say you’re a beginner who just started blogging 2 months ago and don’t quote your “7 months of experience”. Let your bio authoritatively position you as someone who knows his stuff, explain a little about yourself and tell people to know more about you by visiting your blog while also let them know you’re available for hire.
- Rinse and repeat.
Steps 1-4 explained above alone should get a few clients knocking at your door and you can increase your chances of working longer with them by providing quality service and strengthening your relationship with them.
You might have expected something more complicated, but it’s that simple. Don’t just sit there, take action now and see how guest blogging can help you!
Does the above sound interesting? You’re yet to see anything! Bamidele is a young blogger and writer who helps others make money writing online. He recently completed his guide to making money online by writing, The Writer’s Handbook: How to Write for Traffic and Money. The guide is available to his subscribers only and you can download it by visiting YoungPrePro.com. You can also read his article on guest blogging if you’re not familiar with the idea.
Give us the proof ,he is telling lie
Hi Kevin,
Believe it or not, it’s actually true.
I’ve explained how I did it above, and I have nothing to sell in the article. What you do with the information, however, is up to you.
Best Regards,
Bamidele
haha.. Kevin. Thanks for giving me a good laugh.. !!
Head over to his blog and check out some of the income reports for proof.
http://www.youngprepro.com/income-and-traffic-report/
-Dev
Guest Blogging is really becoming very nice and attractive way to make money !!
One important aspect of Bamidele approach is that he is creating value for other website owners and their site visitors by providing great content. The money from his guest posts is a direct result of creating value for a large number of people.
You’re right on spot, Marcus!
Creating value is the key to success; truth be told, I never ever expected to make money from guest blogging one day, but it eventually happened as a result of contributing value to other people’s audience.
Interesting read, but how do you know how many subscribers a site has?
Most blogs display their subscriber count on their blog for social proof; some of them don’t display it publicly, but they’d have mentioned it in a post before. Sometimes, the best thing to do is use your discretion to judge engagement on the blog and see if it will be a good fit for you.
Hi, Dolly, Bamidele,
Another way to judge the top 20 sites in your niche is to list them by Google PageRank or other website ranking metric (e.g, Alexa ranking), listing those with known subscriber counts at the top of your list. For sites without subscriber counts, you can also kindly ask the site administrators for this information. Sometimes this information will be listed in the adverting information section.
Have a great day!
Excellent stuff Bamidele. That’s really great. But don’t you think there is a difference in a Guest Blogger and Freelance Writer. Guest blogger does it for free and freelancer gets paid for doing the same. So, shouldn’t we turn into a freelance writer rather than starting as a guest blogger? I know you will say that guest blogging will establish you as an expert but if i am an expert why would i freelance. Instead, i will open a firm, create a website/blog and then guest post about it. I’m confused a bit here.
Aha, it’s just more than expertise!
Most freelance writers struggle to feed themselves, and they have to work 10 hours a day to earn enough to cater for themselves. The reason is largely because they depend on platform built by another person to get their clients, and this leads to a lot of competition.
In contrast, guest blogging puts the game in your control and you can determine whom to work for and whom not to.
I’ve been complimented many times in regards to my writing style, perhaps it’s time to consider this advice.
Definitely, kindly let me know how it helps!
Thanks for great article. I have opened my blog for guests on leadership topics and had some great guest articles. I have worked to be a guest on several other blogs in the areas of leadership and business. I have found Steve Harrison’s Media Report subscription to be invaluable for finding blogs.
And, lastly I have found a friend’s blog, Adrienne Hew — an Internet Marketer as well, to have a cool feature for searching for blogs by keyword. At imarketingspy.com
Guest blogging has opened up additional publication opportunities.
Thanks for the great outline of how to do it.
Thanks, Donna!
I’m glad you found the article helpful
Nice Ideas For Guest Posting And also For Freelancer services. Best for succeed in bussiness.
Hi Oni,
As usual, great post from the guy who knows what he is talking about!
Not even on his 20′s, yet super successful! wink….
Jeff