By Laura Spencer
Those interested in paid blogging often ask me how I got my start as a blogger. When I think about it, I have to admit that for me the answer is that I took baby steps to get to paid blogging positions.
While no doubt there are a few bloggers who become overnight sensations and earn six figure incomes for their very first blog, I tend believe that those bloggers are the exception and that my experience is more typical for most paid bloggers.
Before becoming a blogger, I already had a successful freelance writing business (specializing in business and technical writing). I actually began my blogging career as a reader of blogs. For about six months, I read dozens of blogs each and every day. My initial focus was on business and writing, but I also began to read blogs about how to blog.
The next baby step was starting my own blog. At first, very few people came to my blog and I quickly learned that there is much more to blogging than simply writing a good blog post. Blogging is dynamic. It is about interacting with your readers. It is also about driving traffic to your blog.
At this point, I began to look for blogging mentors. I even joined an informal network of bloggers run by seasoned and successful bloggers — Gayla McCord, Char Polansky, and a few others. The informal network was a great learning experience for me and it introduced me to some bloggers that I otherwise would probably not have met. (Unfortunately, the network has since disbanded, or I would link to it here.)
The informal network of blogs also opened up many guest blogging opportunities for me. Through the connections that I made, I was able to write guest posts for a wide range of blogs. This expanded my reading audience and gave me additional sample posts.
As I grew more confident about my blogging I moved on to my next baby step, I began to apply for paid network blogging positions. Since network bloggers have to post regularly and often, I tried to target my applications specifically towards topics that I already knew a lot about.
At first, my applications to network blogs were unsuccessful. Finally, however, I landed my first paid gig as a blogger. I was ecstatic!
In general, I can tell you that the network blogs were looking for two things:
* Did I have a blogging voice? By this, they meant could write in a conversational fashion that was somewhat unique to me.
* Was I able post often? To determine this second criterion, the network blogs looked at my personal blog to see how frequently I updated it.
As a network blogger, I was exposed to the network’s training – much of which was general enough that it could be used for any blog. I was also encouraged to get involved in social media. My pathway to learning about social media was much the same as my pathway to learning about blogging. I read everything that I could find about social media and then I got directly involved.
Finally, my experience as a network blogger led to some higher end blogging opportunities as well as to some professional ghost blogging opportunities.
As you can see, my baby steps to paid blogging didn’t lead me to overnight blogging success. However, it did lead me to some interesting and comfortable blogging gigs. I also have to say that along the path I met some wonderful and interesting people.
What’s your story? Are you a paid blogger? Leave a comment and share how you became involved in blogging.
(Laura Spencer is freelance writer and blogger. She has 19 years of professional writing experience, seven of those years as freelance writer. Laura is currently on the blogging team at Freelance Folder. In the past, Laura has blogged for b5media’s Business and Blogging and for Know More Media’s WorkFromHomeMomma. You can learn more about Laura on her blog, WritingThoughts.com.)
Thanks Deb, for giving me the opportunity to share my story.
I hope that it was helpful to others.
There are many paths to blogging success. Many new bloggers start out writing for a company that does freelance for hire work. It’s a great way to learn about SEO and online writing techniques.
Good blog post. Thanks for sharing!
I really appreciated this post. I like the fact that you really spelled out that it was a process and not an overnight phenomenon. Which gives me hope.
Hi Allen and Jennifer!
Yes, it’s definitely a process and also a lot of hard work. There are a few overnight success stories, but those are the exception and no one should expect that going in.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the post.
This has been so helpful! Thank you!
As a writer who has worked in blogs as well as longer-format journalism, I found blogging both freeing and limiting. It is freeing in that you can create a conversation with your audience, something not experienced as often with one-way communications. It can be limiting, however, when your employer wants bite-size blurbs when the subject requires a three-course explanation.
Thank you for such a wonderful post. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as I’ve been a bit stressed about the direction my writing career is going. I wrote a post on how I’ve gotten paid blogging jobs, and I guess I’m doing fairly well. Here’s the link if you’d like to read my post – http://adventuresinfreelancing.onsugar.com/2669101.
I’m trying so hard to become a “freelance writer”. I think I’m going the hardest way and doing tiny little flea steps versus the baby steps, though. It’s definitely tough work and takes a long time, but it’s what I REALLY want to do with my life. I just want to write, whether I make millions or (most probable) not.
I am new to this so i will begin by asking advice on how to start.I have sent my first resume to the Examiner. I am really excited to hear back from them. Can u tell me where to go to learn more about freelance writing and blogging? Oh I love your page! Great info.
Thank you for the great advice. Its good to hear a true success story that didn’t happen overnight. I am new to the blogging world and started my personal blog about 2 months ago. I guess you can say I am attempting my first baby step. I look forawrd to reading more on your site. Thanks!!
Hi,
I am so new to all this. I found the information very helpful. I enjoy writing humorous (or so I hope!) blogs and am wondering if there is any place that I might be able to best utilize my writing skills in this area.
Thanks
Very helpful Articles! Thank you!
Hi all!
Angela, I would hang around this site. Over time, you’ll learn a lot about freelance writing.
Hello Laura
Thanks for writing this article. You have provided good information on how to step into the world of blogging. There is a lot to learn. I am fascinated at how blogging has become a part of everyday life.
I am interested in becoming a writer – a passion that I finally have the courage to seriously pursue.
Valerie
I am unsure of what i am intrested in is blogging… possibly it is. I have a thing that my friend and i was discussing about me writing. It is a pretty cool idea, i am sure that there are many people out there that would enjoy reading it. it is basically reality of day to day tweeked with laughter. If someone could e-mail me or msg me about how to apply to a company or a place about blogging or writing…
thank you
I have to say, while there are numerous ways to make money blogging, I think this is one of the most accurate articles on paid blogging out there. For the most part blogging doesn’t mean you’ll be an overnight success. It does take time and it’s a lot more than just writing. Even dealing with one blog can be a full time job and you have to be in it for the long haul! Thanks for sharing your story.
Am I Really a Writer?
Thanks, excellent article.
Thank you for the inspiring post. The misconception is that blogging is a get-rich-quick occupation, but I know firsthand that it takes time, patience, and passion to first establish even a voice, much less a paycheck.
I look forward to your future posts – this site has been a wonderful resource for me thus far.