Make Money from a Lifestyle Blog

Make Money from a Lifestyle Blog

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Want to make money?

Of course you do.

Why not  make money online by launching a lifestyle blog.

What is a Lifestyle Blog? 

A lifestyle blog is a blog about your lifestyle. Ok, I literally just translated the words. I know, but it really is that simple. A lifestyle blog is a blog you create and fill with, well, you. Your interests, hobbies, passions, talents and maybe even your actual life. 

It’s a sort of digital representation of you, your interests, hopes, dreams, whatever you want to share. A lifestyle blog never obligates you to share anything. Have your privacy and your fun.

It often evolves from a niche blog, like a fashion blogger who then gets married and starts posting about wedding planning, then branches into home decor, pregnancy tips and before you know it, it’s a lifestyle blog.

It’s usually more about interests and hobbies, not just your online journal. It’s not a public diary, though it could be, it’s about sharing what you know and love, with others.

Lifestyle blogs have a unique blend, not just one specific focus however you will usually develop them around one specific theme. For example, if you’re a foodie, base your lifestyle blog around food, then maybe diversify into health and fitness and see where it goes. 

Start with what’s important to you and then write about what takes your fancy and naturally it will evolve and diversify, along with your life experiences and leadership. A niche can stifle you and burn you out. It becomes boring to blog about the same topics over and over. A lifestyle blog allows you to share more widely and potentially attract a larger audience.

How can you make money from a Lifestyle Blog? 

There are 6 main ways to make money from your blog;

  • Advertising
  • Sponsored content
  • Affiliate links
  • Advertising your own services
  • Commissions 
  • Merchandising

You have your lifestyle blog, you have a readership, why not sell space on the side, in the middle or at the end of your blog to advertisers?

You don’t need to go looking for them yourself. Sign up to a network like adsense, they post ads on your site and give you most of the revenue. Adsense is the most profitable ad network out there for newbies.

When you start growing, you can reach out to tough-to-join networks that require you to have a certain number of page views a month, usually 10,000. Ezoic is a fantastic service, offering analytics, automated ad testing and placing to optimize each page for each viewer. They will boost your revenue massively and they also have their own ads to offer.

Affiliate links are links that take readers to the products that you blog about. You get a commission for every sale through your link.Again, there are networks out there that you can sign up to, that will give you the links. You will need to write about the products on your blog but if you have a focus, you will usually get links that relate to your theme and style. 

Tapinfluence provides you with sponsored contents as well as affiliate links. Sponsored content is when you are paid to post a page that you are given.Federated media has a  good payout but your page views are readily available for everyone to see. Glam media is fantastic but very hard to join.

If you offer a service elsewhere, say you create logos or artwork. Are you self publishing a book? Maybe you dabble in freelance writing or it could even be your specialised performing troupe of pet penguins butlers for hire. Whatever you can do, sell yourself through your blog. If you have steady readers, chances are they are already invested in you, now sell them your services. It’s like a massive advertisement for yourself!

Commissions means exactly what it says on the tin.You advertise their services and offer them at a discounted price so that both of you benefit. Has your phone provider ever asked you to recommend your deal to your friends? Or when you persuade a friend to join your bank and you both get £100. It’s doing that, but on your lifestyle blog.

Some great places to find commissions are;

  • Amazon associates
  • Commission junction
  • Groupon
  • Viglink  

Ask your web host, (what’s that???! Chill, keep reading and all will be revealed) for a deal too.

If you’re the creative type, why not try something like woocommerce or etsy? Again, your blog is your advert.

Ideas for a Lifestyle Blog

Choose something that you’re interested in.Do you have a particular skill? Are you a techie, a foodie, a fashionista? If you’re a student, write about the uni life, studying tips, coping with pressure, your thoughts and feelings. If you’re a mother blog about your experiences, the ups and down, baby health, baby products, cheap deals, children’s fashion and if you love Doctor Who, blog about that as well – it’s your lifestyle blog, you’re not restricted.

If you’re involved in business or finance, share your expertise. Love writing? Write about writing. Fascinated by science? Write the layman’s guide to life, love and the universe.

Some other ideas to consider are motherhood, fashion, healthy lifestyle, countryside or city lifestyle.

Never feel you have to share something. It’s your blog. Don’t feel pressurised. If you want your marriage to be off limits, then keep your marriage off limits. Don’t want your children splashed over the internet because you feel they’re too young to consent? So don’t. No-one is forcing you. Your lifestyle blog should suit your lifestyle.

Pick a central idea – you, what defines you, base it around an idea like motherhood, student life, home decor and then add fashion bits, money saving tips, your fave recipes, social commentary and politics and netflix if you want.

Branding your Lifestyle Blog 

This is where you can play around. If you’re not so confident, choose a template from wordpress or your web host and stick to it. Think about your audience. If you’re blogging about the joys of raising little girls, black would not be a great choice. However if you’re an emo chick, pastel yellow won’t attract the right readership. Choose a consistent theme across your blog. Something that people associate with your lifestyle blog and know they’re with you. Experiment with colour palette, perhaps splash out on a logo, fiverr is a goldmine.

If you want to make money off your lifestyle blog, think of your blog as your brand.Keep the colours and logos, taglines, all complementary. But feel free to play around until you find something that you’re satisfied with. Remember, we all prefer eye pleasing, attractive websites.

Thankfully, there are enough templates out there that you don’t have to be Picasso to set it up.

Come up with a  tagline or slogan and keep this consistent across all social media platforms. Your blog is your brand.

When it comes to choosing a domain name, you want something memorable, standout and something that will come up in the google game. Make a list of keywords, things you want to blog about and choose something memorable and relevant to what you want to write about.

It’s worth spending time on your domain name as it’s how people will think of you and you can’t change it once you’ve set it up.

Practicalities of setting up your Lifestyle Blog 

I would really recommend WordPress. WordPress is so easy to use, easily customisable, and offers so many free plugins to help you add images, optimise seo etc, etc, etc.

Choosing WordPress means there are no ads except the ones you place and earn revenue from and you have full control. Otherwise you will have no support and you don’t own anything so could be shut down very quickly. It sounds far-fetched but people have had successful websites shut down just because the host felt like it or fell out with something you advertise or support.

 You need to buy domain, that’s how people find you. Your domain is like a house on the internet. Renting a domain for your lifestyle blog is like renting an apartment instead of owning your own house. Then you need hosting, that’s where the images, files etc from your website are stored on the internet. Check out hostgator, sitepress and bluehost – my top three picks for web hosts for lifestyle blogs.A long term plan works out cheaper than monthly.

.co.uk signifies that you’re uk based so this will appeal to an English readership and base yourself in the UK market, meaning you’ll come up in different web searches – .com is more universal. 

Choose carefully which social media platforms to set up on, which are a waste of time and which will truly promote your blog. Remember to keep the @name consistent with your lifestyle blog. Instagram and Pinterest work well for lifestyle blogs. Consider trademarking your blog and buying more domains that are available and diverting them to the main one.

How often should I Blog?

The more frequent, the better. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, readers will keep coming back for more because they know that there will be more regularly. Think about it. How often a day do you check the news when you know something is going on or has happened…. Secondly, the more articles, the more new readers you will bring in who will then look around at the rest of your site. Thirdly, the more posts, the more you are coming up in Google searches and the more likely you are to attract readers. 

If you REALLY want to make money from a Lifestyle blog go all out and pre-prepare 30 or more blogs so that you can release one a day for the first month at least. This will give you a BOOST. Basically, if you can, just get to 100 articles as quickly as possible.

Monetize 

Promote your lifestyle blog on social media.That’s another great way to build readership.

 Invest in paid ads if you want to grow your readership and therefore your revenue. 

Get to 10,000 monthly page views as soon as you can so that you can get on EZOIC. Ezoic pays so  much more than adsense!

Companies that help you sell ads like blogads or Passion Fruit Ads are a great way to find more ads and more ads means more revenue. Just don’t bombard your lifestyle blog with too many ads. They turn your readers off.

The more view per month, the more money you will be able to make from whatever your chosen way of monetising your blog.

If you’re looking for inspiration, concrete examples of great lifestyle blogs, check out some of these great lifestyle blogs to inspire you to get started!

 A lifestyle blog is a fun hobby and a great money maker. As an additional income, it’s pretty sweet but if you want it to be your main income, you can earn really nicely. You’ll have to invest time, effort and probably money to help it grow fast.

You might also be interested in this Ezoic review – Ezoic is a great way to make money from ads on your site.

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