I’ve been blogging for years now, and so I know firsthand how it can transform your financial life, even beyond what you might expect. This is why I’m writing an article on why you should start a blog, especially in 2021, when so many people are in need of money to support themselves and their families. So now is the time to get started and take back control of your finances, and your life.
Before we begin diving into this topic, let’s review a quick summary question to kick off the article:
Is it worth starting a blog to make money? Yes, it would be to your advantage to start a blog that generates income because you’ll be the one in control of your money source instead of an employer. Plus, there’s no income cap, so you can earn what’s needed for necessities, vacations, and retirement. Additionally, creating a blog will increase your entrepreneur skills, which can open up a wide variety of financial opportunities.
Why You Should Start a Blog in 2022 if You Want to Become Financially Secure
Since you’re reading this article, I’m assuming you’re fed up with earning money the traditional way, but a little nervous about taking a new path, so here you are, researching if it’s a smart move financially to start a blog to replace your paycheck.
Believe me, I’ve been there, working hard for my ex-employers, making their business successful, as I live paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet. This is why I’m excited to share this information with everyone, and I hope it sparks a change in the way you’re thinking about earning money, and prompts you to step outside your comfort zone to make great changes.
With all that in mind, here are the top 5 financial reasons why you should start a blog this year:
1. You Won’t Have to Depend on an Employer When You Start a Blog
We have all been raised to think that we have to walk down the same path that most people do – go to college, graduate, get a job, and retire. However, just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. I think many people had a rude awakening to this fact during the 2020/2021 coronavirus pandemic, when the companies they worked for were hit hard by the pandemic, and had to let employees go. Workers were forced to go on unemployment, which for many, wasn’t enough to cover expenses.
They Relied on Their Job and Lost it in a Blink of an Eye
Because millions of people lost their jobs, it was nearly impossible to find a new one. So what did these people do? Well, there really wasn’t anything they could do, seeing how they were stuck in a situation such as this. Many people went hungry, lost their homes, and the list goes on.
Now that we have seen what can happen when the world is hit by a devastation such as this, how do we prepare so that we are not forced out on the street, and so that we have food for our family? The answer is simple, position yourself so that you’re never relying on, at the mercy of, and under the thumb of an employer.
Nothing against all those employers out there, they are good people too, but if you want to take care of yourself, you can’t rely on them for your livelihood since the rug can be pulled out from under you at any moment, as you have seen. For instance, during the pandemic, my spouse lost his job, but for me, since I was blogging from home, my income stream never wavered, and I was not impacted financially like he was, and so many others.
Starting a Blog will Ensure No One But You Controls Your Income Stream
A smart way to place yourself in a position where no one can take your financial security away from you, is to be in charge of your own income stream by starting a blog. If you’re unsure if you can really make money blogging, just think about the fact that billions of individuals around the globe have access to the internet. People are constantly accessing the web via their desktop computers and their phones. So, what are they looking at? Websites, and most websites have blogs.
Are you Starting to See the Big Picture and the Potential?
Now you have the fact that millions of people are reading blogs on the web in the forefront of your mind, right? Well, add to that the fact that there are many avenues to generate funds through a blog, such as affiliate marketing, products, and more.
So, really, the sky is the limit financially when you own your own blog, and the next time employers around the world are forced to let their hard-working employees go, like they did in 2020 and 2021, you won’t be affected one bit because you’re in the driver’s seat of your money-making potential. You can dive into this topic even more by checking out our other article on why self-employment is more financially secure than a day job.
In addition to this, it doesn’t even cost much to get started blogging. I didn’t have much to spare when I took a leap of faith and started my blog. When it comes to keeping costs down, I recommend using Bluehost to host your website, they’re affordable, and most bloggers use them. You can take a look at what they can do for those who want to get started blogging by checking out the Bluehost website. I also use WordPress for my blogging platform, which is free.
2. The Government Won’t be Your Only Hope During an Economic Disaster if You Have a Blogging Income Stream
Along the same lines as not relying on an employer, those who lost their jobs had to rely on a second entity, the government, to keep their bills paid, and put food on the table with unemployment benefits. However, it really didn’t keep all the bills paid, or keep food on the table for a lot of people. Why is this the case? Simply because, as mentioned, the unemployment was not enough for certain people to keep up with their bills, so they got behind on rent, and so on. Along with this, the unemployment benefits will be ending for millions of people, and the rent moratorium is coming to an end also. So, now what?
Government Stimulus Checks to the Rescue – Well…Not Really
Will another government stimulus check arrive to save the people? Maybe, but what good will it really do when you’re behind thousands of dollars on rent, and hundreds on your gas and electric bill. When a stimulus check does arrive, it can be gone the same day, most likely used for food and to get caught up on a portion of the bills.
It’s good that they are sending this money to the people, but it’s not enough. The people are left in the same financial situation when they get small, random stimulus checks – monthly reoccurring checks would have made more sense if the government really wanted to ensure everyone was ok during the pandemic.
So, what we all learned is that we certainly can’t rely on the government to take care of us when businesses around the country, and the world, have to let their employees go.
Those Who Start a Blogging Business Won’t Have to be at the Mercy of Government Funding
No one was really prepared for what happened during the pandemic, certainly not the government. But you can set things up so that your funds come from your own personal revenue streams when you start a blog.
Think about it, the whole economy shut down during the pandemic, but the internet didn’t. What does that tell you; that focusing on a home business, like a website with a successful blog, will put you in a position of being a part of an industry that thrives no matter what is going on in the economy. In fact, when everyone was sent home during the pandemic, what did they do? They were at home searching the web, with a majority of them researching how to make money online.
It’s absolutely amazing how lucrative it can be for those who start blogging for money, and it’s a sure-fire way to be in control of your finances, and not have to wait for your $600 or $1,200 stimulus check, where you will still be in the hole after it’s spent! The alternative is taking part in the blogging industry where it’s a known fact that you can actually make thousands per month, when done correctly.
3. There’s No Income Cap When You Have Your Own Blogging Business
For some, this is viewed as one of the top reasons why you should start a blog – the sky is the limit financially because there is no income cap. When you work for an employer, there is always a cap, because, after all, they have a budget, and they have to make money also.
I once had a 9-5 job where I asked for a raise, and my boss’s response was that he was unable to increase my pay because I was already at the company limit for my position. I was blown away by this. Especially since he was the owner of the company, and he made the rules. Wow, no potential to increase my pay no matter how hard I worked, or how many years I was there. I was their web designer/writer, and there was no other position in the company that I could transition to.
You Can Make the Money You Deserve When You Work for Yourself Blogging
About two months after asking for the raise, I gave my resignation and explained that I was leaving to have more control over my financial situation. I haven’t worked in an office since then, and the amount of money I make blogging has increased substantially each year.
For those who have never thought about how your income may be capped, you may now be inspired to start a blog knowing that you can actually make as much as you want. You just have to set goals and work towards them, keep increasing your knowledge base, and strive to earn what you deserve!
4. Creating a Blog Provides a Way to Finally Start Saving Money for Vacations & Emergencies
This goes hand in hand with not having an income cap when you start a blog and become successful at it. Some people make an enormous amount of money from their day jobs, like a doctor or an attorney, and they will have plenty of money for vacations, emergencies, and the like. But in reality, a large portion of day job workers are not high-income earners; they make just enough to get by. It’s just the way it is, unfortunately.
The doctors and attorneys may make large amounts of money, but they have very demanding jobs, with long hours, and therefore, pay a high price to be able to have that kind of money. What price are they paying? Well, they are trading time for dollars, so the price is their time, and possibly sacrificing the personal lifestyle they may want.
If You Don’t Make a Change Your Financial Situation Will Stay the Same
So, what about the rest of the population that makes a normal wage, a wage that just takes care of their basic necessities, and it’s not enough to save for emergencies? What about those people who have a car that breaks down with a, let’s say, $1,500 bill, with no one they can borrow from, and no way to get to work without a car? If you’re in this type of boat that I’m describing, someone who doesn’t make enough to stash away money, if you don’t make a change now, it may always be this way. I’ve been in this type of situation, so I know what it’s like. It feels hopeless, like you’re trapped in a downward financial spiral with no way out.
There is Hope for Those Who Are Open to Starting a Blog in 2022 to Escape the Rat Race
You can save for emergencies and go on vacations; you certainly deserve it, but how do you make this happen? Begin by writing out a plan for starting your blog before the year is over, so you can start the new year off on the right financial path. You don’t have anything to lose by creating a blog, but have so much to gain. You have a lot of potential that you don’t even realize you have; you just have to give yourself the chance to shine.
I’ve seen blogging income reports where I just can’t believe how much money they are making with their personal blog. But now that I’ve been in the industry for a while, I know how and why it’s possible to make thousands of dollars with a blog business. So, rest assured, there is hope for you to escape a life of not having the money to save for those emergencies that pop up, much-needed vacations, and even retirement. That alone is enough of a reason to give the blogging industry a try.
5. Becoming a Blogger Builds Your Entrepreneur Skills Which Increases Your Income Level
Another financial reason for starting a blog is that it can greatly build your entrepreneur skills. Creating your own blog to generate money will teach you so much about blogging and business in general. You will learn how to write in such a way that it’s geared toward a specific audience, become an expert at search engine optimization, learn the importance of dressing up your blog with images, and the ins and outs of affiliate marketing, and so much more.
All these elements are specific skills that increase your worth. For instance, knowing how to optimize a blog post so it ranks well through proper SEO is a skill that is in high demand. But more importantly than that, the more you increase your knowledge base by starting a blog that is capable of making money, the more money you will make. Like I mentioned, the sky is the limit!
Tips for Starting a Blog that Makes Money
There are a few things you can do to start off on the right foot if you plan on building your blog in 2022 – from using the best blogging platform to placing affiliate links in your posts, and more. Let’s take a look at these topics for a better understanding:
1. Use Bluehost to Host Your Blog
You will need a place to park all your website files – your blog post pages, your images, your home page elements, and so on. This is what will allow your website to be displayed on the internet for the world to view. So, you would need to sign-up with a hosting service. I use Bluehost, and so do many others. You can read more about what they can offer you by heading over to the Bluehost Start-Up page.
2. Create Your Website Using WordPress
I highly recommend that you use WordPress as your site builder and content management platform. I’m sure you have heard of it since it’s one of the most popular platforms out there, and it’s one of the best. It’s also free, and most hosting companies are set up to accommodate installing and using WordPress, and most likely already have it set up within their system.
It’s user-friendly and always updated to keep up with user needs and security risks. There are thousands of themes available for WordPress, as well as thousands of useful plugins that allow you to really customize your website. Also, WordPress has a built-in blog feature, which makes it easy to start blogging.
3. Don’t Post Anything Until You Run it Through Grammarly
No matter how well you write, make sure to sign-up for Grammarly. If you haven’t heard of Grammarly, it’s something that once you start using, you will wonder how you ever got along without it all these years. Basically, it checks your writing for grammar, spelling, and other things that could be perfected.
I actually use it for everything I write, I even check my personal emails with it. Most importantly, I use it for every blog article I create. I have proofread a post several times manually, and then have Grammarly check it, only to find that I missed mistakes such as a word written twice in a row “the the”. I read through the document, but my eye just did not see it! You will want your posts to look and read professionally, so using Grammarly, which is an industry-standard, is a must.
4. Capture Email Addresses from Day One
When it comes to capturing email addresses, many people who are new to blogging feel they have to wait until they have a larger collection of posts on their site, or they wait until they feel they are better writers.
The bottom line is that they may feel that no one would want to sign-up for anything on their site when it’s so new. However, you would be surprised at how many sign-ups you may get, even with your first post, and so it’s important to have an email capturing system in place.
It’s essential to do this because your email list becomes your customer list. You can send out e-newsletters with informative information that contains affiliate links within the text. Also, if you create, let’s say, a “how to start a blog that makes money” course, you can inform everyone on your email list.
I use Active Campaign for my email marketing program. It captures email addresses as I sleep, it’s easy to use, and reliable. They run specials all the time, and you can look more into what they are offering by visiting the main Active Campaign website.
5. Dress Your New Blog Posts Up with Professional Stock Photography
If you’re serious about starting a blogging business in 2022, I recommend signing up for a stock photography account with either Adobe Stock or iStock Photo. It’s important to make your site look appealing because you will have competitors with well-designed websites, awesome post images, and so on.
I’m sure you have seen blogs with horrible, blurry, dark, or uninteresting images, so you know what I mean. Dressing up your posts with exceptional images will make your site look more professional.
Try Not to Use Free Images in Your Blog
I would like to mention that you really should stay away from free stock photography sites. If you read the fine print for most of these companies, it will say that they are not responsible if an image they provide is not copyright-free. This means that the person who uploaded an image to the free stock site might not own the image, and shouldn’t have uploaded it, and the free stock company can’t check the copyright, so they go by the honor system.
If an image is placed on your website, and it’s not copyright-free, you could end up getting a letter from the legal department of, let’s say, Getty Images, with a demand letter for $2,000. It’s not worth the risk.
Most of the free image services don’t have the type of quality images that the paid stock sites have anyway. If you’re serious about blogging, it’s worth the cost for a monthly subscription. Also, the cost you pay for this service is a tax deduction.
6. Place Affiliate Marketing Links in Your Blog Posts
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to make money blogging, and one of the main reasons some people start a blog. If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, it’s when you promote another company’s service or product, and they pay you some type of commission when your reader purchases or signs up with them. The transactions are tracked through an affiliate link that’s specific to your website.
Imagine if you have a popular blog post that brings in a lot of traffic, you could reel in big commissions just from that one page alone. Now, imagine that you have 100 blog posts – are you starting to see the income potential?
Affiliate Links Can Only Be Clicked on When You Have Traffic
For people to click on your affiliate links, you have to get them to your website first, right? To do this, you need to learn how to get traffic to your site. I didn’t know anything about this until I read a book called Traffic Secrets. You can get it for free, and just pay for shipping by heading to the Traffic Secrets‘ website.
You should also look into SEMrush, which deals in SEO optimization to get your posts to rank well in Google, which will bring more people to your site. You can sign-up for a free trial to test it out by visiting the SEMrush campaign page. They are one of the biggest companies for doing SEO research.
Additional Articles by Just Build Wealth
- Dive into this article on how to make money so you can leave your day job.
- Head over to our post titled how I earned over $1,800,000 with my blog and you can too, for some inspiration.
- Want to make extra money from home? Check out our 20 home-based business ideas post.
- Read our popular article on how to start blogging with WordPress and Bluehost.
- If student loans are holding you back financially, read through our article titled how to pay off $20,000 in student loan debt in under two years.
Get Set Up for Financial Success by Starting a Blog Before 2022 Ends!
Make sure to start your blog this year so you can reap the financial rewards as soon as possible. The sooner you have your blog up and running, the faster affiliate commissions will start rolling in. Also, if you’re trying to leave your day job, each day you procrastinate creating your blog is another day you will have to drive to the office! I hope this article has provided you with the information and inspiration you needed to begin blogging, and be excited about it!
Before you go, be sure to check out this video on additional ideals for making money: