How to Become a Blogger in 2021: Everything You Need to Know!

Phew! Okay you guys. I’ve been promising to share how to become a full time blogger for awhile now, and I’m finally sitting down to do it! There is SO much I want to go over with you guys… because I’m going to tell you everything. This is not going to be one of those posts where you get a tiny part of the story with the promise that you’ll be able to have the exact same results (without knowing all of the info). I’m going to go over everything I’ve learned, but in order to do that I’m going to have to break this topic into several blog posts so you don’t get totally overwhelmed.

Today I’ll do an overview of everything I want to cover including my own story, and then in subsequent weeks we’ll break down the individual categories into in depth posts.

First of all, let me share my story/give you insight into how to become a full time blogger:

I started blogging in 2015, six months after my oldest was born. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit bored as a stay at home mom, and wanted an outlet for my creativity. So I started out blogging about my capsule wardrobes. I did that very consistently for about a year, and then in 2016 I got pregnant with our twin. I took a break from blogging while I was pregnant with them and then resumed again in 2017 after they were born. However, I wasn’t really blogging to monetize still at this point. I was sharing my capsule wardrobes, but I wasn’t using affiliate links or anything like that. I started sort of using affiliate links in the fall of 2017, and continued to use them sporadically until the fall of 2018. I decided to really double down on my affiliate link game, and coincidentally the first post where I really went for it with my links went viral on Pinterest. So I really started to see some income flow in at that point, but I still wasn’t making anything close to a full time income. Then in the winter of 2018 I posted my Everlane Denim Guide, and that post went even more viral + it had (and continues to have) a very high conversion rate.

At that point I really started to realize that blogging could actually become an actual job for me. I really didn’t get into blogging for money to be honest, it wasn’t until I started making money that I realized it was a viable option.

But I was still kind of just blogging whatever I felt like blogging in the moment. Most of the income I was making at that point was from those two blog posts that went viral. I still wasn’t making a huge effort to turn it into a job until I got pregnant with my youngest in the winter of 2019 in which case the thought of 4 children kind of scared me financially (ha!), and I decided I wanted to really make my blog a full time gig.

I started to gain some financial momentum with my pregnancy posts, but it was still a slow build. I was still garnering income from my denim guide, and my fall look book post, and I was starting to build additional income through my weekly posts, and then 2020 happened. Everything totally tanked for me in March of 2020…

but then things started to drastically increase in April. So I decided to get really serious about market research and SEO (more on those things later), and my numbers and income continued to increase.

Then in August of 2020 I really decided to learn and utilize the LiketoKnow.it App, and overnight my earnings quadrupled with my income steadily increasing every month (for the most part).

I’ve also added in sponsored posts a couple of times a month (mostly on Instagram), although I much prefer to make money through affiliate linking than I do through sponsored posts.

A few things I want to point out in my journey:

1. A lot of these blog posts or talks about making money as a blogger make it seem like it happens quickly and overnight, and while sometimes it does, more often than not, it’s a slow build. I think so many people give up on their dream of turning blogging into a career because they feel as if they’ve failed when it doesn’t happen quickly or overnight. It took me 5 years of blogging to see a viable income. It helped that I didn’t get into blogging to make an income so I wasn’t sitting around waiting for it to happen, but over time and with diligence it did turn into something.
2. Blogging is not a get rich quick scheme (okay for some it is, but those bloggers are a small percentage not the majority). However, it does have the potential to produce real income over time if you are willing to work at it.
3. I could have been making money sooner with the right strategies and with a clear purpose in mind… which is what I hope I can help you avoid (wasted time). In the weeks to come I’m going to share all of the specific strategies and tools I’ve used to help grow my following, numbers, and income.

Topics I’ll cover are:

1. SEO
2. Why Pinterest is worth more of your time than Instagram when it comes to an overall income strategy (think: passive income!) + How to utilize Pinterest strategically
3. How to do market research effectively + how to understand your analytics and audience
4. How to use Liketoknow.it effectively + affiliate linking best practices
5. How to create a media kit + how to figure out what rates you should be charging
6. My philosophy on sponsored posts

+ anything else I may think of as we go along in this series!

One final thing:

Just to give you an idea of the earning potential behind being a full time blogger, I wanted to share that when I first started making an earning I made about $500 that first year. Now I make around the same salary that I did at my full time job pre kids.

SO. Let me help YOU become a full time blogger as well! Stay tuned for the next installment (I’ll hopefully have it up next week). Make sure to subscribe at the top or bottom of the page so you can get updated when these posts go live.