My Humble Tips on Blogging For Profit

Since the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle Sale is live this week, I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you a bit about blogging for profit.

I’ve had readers ask me what I do to generate an income online.  Before I share my humble tips, I want to let you know that I make a small income online; however, since this year its been as much as I was making teaching part time.  So this year, so far, I’ve made about $10,000 – $12,000.

No, it’s not big time money, but it’s a decent part time income that allows me to stay at home, share my passion with you, be a homemaker, and homeschool my children.  It blesses my family and as I continue to write online, its shown itself fruitful to many other families as well. God is good.

Here’s the cool thing, as my traffic continues to grow and I reach more people, my part time income will go up as well.

Also, if your only intention in starting a blog is to make money, you will fail. Stop reading now! Blogging is not easy and takes a lot of hard work. You have to have a passion for what you want to share with the world. If the passion is not there, your readers will see right through that. You have to love it so much that you would blog for free (which I did for three years).

My Humble Tips on Blogging For Profit

I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they go into blogging is that they look at large, successful blogs and set their goals at that level.  Here is a quote from John Acuff that I want you to remember.

Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.

I’ve been blogging for four years now and in terms of making a profit, I’m at the beginning.  It can be very easy to set your sight at larger blogs with huge readerships and compare yourself to them. Out of experience, don’t do it. Set your course, your path, and let God lead the way.

Now, there are a ton of blogs out there sharing their expertise on how to blog for profit. From starting a WordPress blog, SEO, and all technical things in between. I’m not going to share that. There are far too many people that know way more than I do about those topics; however, I will share my resources at the end of this post that should help you on the technical side.

What I am going to share is how I generate income here at My Humble Kitchen and how you can to by beginning humbly and in community so that it’s fruitful for you and your readers.

How I generate an Income Online

There are different revenue streams that I make an income from.  I’ve learned along the way that it’s important to diversify.

• Google Adsense
• Foodie by Glam (An advertising network that I am a part of)
• Amazon affiliate sales (If you purchase through my amazon links, I will make a small portion of the sale)
• MenuPlan Subscription Service
• eBook Sales (I have an eBook launching in a couple weeks 😉
• eBook bundle sales (Check out the Ultimate Healthy Living eBook Bundle Going on Now!)
• Sponsored Posts (I’m a part of a couple different networks that provide me with sponsored posts)
• Brand Partnerships (I just finished a post for the Kitchen Aid blog coming out soon!!)

Tip #1 – You Need to Create a Product to Sell

I wish I would have realized sooner that once you develop a product you can sell it. For the longest time I was scared to sell my readers anything. I didn’t want to scare them away by making them feel like I was being to “salesy” and just trying to make a buck. You know?

What I’ve realized is that if you have great content, your readers will be more than happy to buy your product and support your endeavors. This community has made me feel like I really can make a living from sharing my passion.

Before you create a product, I would suggest getting your readership up. I’m close to 100,000 pageviews a month. I feel that I should have created a product at around 40,000 pageviews a month.

One thing to keep in mind, the sooner you come out with a product, the more people will promote it and that alone should bring in more traffic as well.  Don’t be afraid, go for it!

Tip #2 – Find Community

This is by far the most important and humblest of tips you can take away today.  It takes a network of people to make it in this blogging world. It wasn’t until this year that I found a spirit filled group of bloggers that have helped me reach my beginning goals. I’m also a part of three other master mind small groups on facebook where we share each others posts, help each other with business goals, and encourage each other through fellowship and prayer. If it wasn’t for these people, I could not do this on my own.

Again, God is good.  Just make sure to find the right group of people that you can connect with.

If you’re a believer, I’d encourage you to check out the Positively Real Media Network. This group is eager to help you succeed!

Tip #3 – Set Clear Goals

Since I’ve started, I’ve poured out my heart in creating great content that my readers have come to expect from me.  Along the way, I’ve found seasons where my life and mind was too pre-occupied with the blog. For me, it’s made the most sense to go slow and steady and God has blessed me in that.

Just so you know, I’ve had problems with anxiety and stress, some of it due to blogging.  I’ve also had many friends come down with depression, adrenal fatigue, anxiety/panic attacks, and general stress because of it as well.  Not because of the blog necessarily, but because they, myself included, were doing way too much.  Like I said, this is hard work.

When you have a family, I think the best way to go about blogging is to set clear goals. What are your expectations of it. Write it down. Do you want to make it a part time job or a full time job – it can easily grow to both. Do you want to create a product, write an eBook, or publish a book? Write them down and don’t feel condemned to reach for the stars. God has a place and time for all of your efforts.

For me, I’ve had to find contentment on having it be a part time job. My number one ministry right now is homeschooling my children. I know the Lord would be displeased if gave my children only half of my efforts because I’m spending too much time on growing my blog. I still have a dream to publish a book one day, and I know God will help me see that to fruition as I wait on his timing.

However, if your children are at school and you want to make this a full time career, go for it! Set your goals!

Tip #4 – Gather Email Subscribers

Your email list is your number one priority!  They are your community, the ones that like what you have to say and who spend their hard earned money on your products.  They’re the ones that I write to and the ones that support me and my family.

I currently use madmimi to gather my email subscribers and to grow my list I offer a free eBook. To all My Humble Kitchen email update subscribers, thank you! You mean the world to me!

If you’d like to sign up for my email updates, use the form at the bottom of this post and I’ll send you my menuplan eBook for free!

Tip #5 – Write Killer Content

You’ve heard it again and again, but it’s true, if you write good content that’s well written and has great photography your readers will find it easy to share.

Some of my more popular posts that have gone far and wide include…

• How to Render Lard the Right Way (Snow White and Odorless)
• How to Make Homemade Mayonnaise with 4 Simple Steps
• Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup in the Crockpot
• The Best Zucchini Recipe Ever – Zucchini Crust Pizza
• How to Make Your Own Better Than Store Bought Granola Bars in Any Flavor

Resources

Those are just some of my personal humble tips to find blogging profitable and fruit filled.  Below are some invaluable resources that have helped me grow my own community and learn about the business side of blogging.

• How to Blog For Profit (Without Selling Your Soul) by Ruth Soukup
• Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More by Dianne Jacobs
• Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling by Helene Dujardin
• Michael Hyatt Podcast
• Marie Forleo Q & A Tuesday

So, I hope you were able to take away some humble tips on blogging for profit.  Remember, it’s hard work but when it’s done with the right intentions, God will bless you and many others through it.

The Ultimate Healthy Living eBook Bundle

So, before I leave, here’s my salesy pitch that makes this blog go round so thank you in advance for your support!  Don’t forget about the Ultimate Healthy Living eBook Bundle going on now it’s a fantastic deal and one that you don’t want to miss! I’m involved in three ways!

1. My brand new eBook, Nourishing Cookies for a Healthy Holiday is included in the Healthy Kitchen Category. I’ve worked hard to bring you 10 naturally sweetened cookie recipes that your entire family is going to enjoy. I’m most excited about having developed a soft and chewy honey sweetened sugar cookie which pairs beautifully with a honeyed buttercream. That recipe alone makes the entire book worth its weight in gold!

2. Myself along with Wardee Harmon of GNOWFGLINS will be your mentors for the coffee table conversations topic, Gearing Up for the Gardening Season. If you follow me along at My Humble Kitchen you know my passion for organic gardening and cooking nourishing meals with the fruits of my labor. I’m SO excited to be able to share my knowledge with you as I answer your questions in a live webinar early next year. I’ll also be popping into facebook for an entire week to mentor you as best as I can.

3. Special to the My Humble Kitchen community, if you purchase a healthy living bundle this week, I’m going to throw in a free 3 month subscription to my menuplan service valued at $24.99! Since this is anEXCLUSIVE bonus for the My Humble Kitchen community, you must email me your receipt after you make a purchase so I can set you up into the menuplan subscription service. Send that email to [email protected].

All of that plus 86+ eBooks, a series of 12 interactive conferences, and bundles galore!  All for $29.97!!

Buy Now or read more about it here!

So, do you have any questions at all about blogging that I didn’t cover? Do you blog for profit and have tips that you can share with our community?  Please leave any and all questions or advice in the comments below.  I’ll answer all of your questions as soon as I’m done with homeschool for the day 😉