(This is a guest post by Crystal Stemberger)
Hi everybody! My name is Crystal, and I am a blog addict. I started Budgeting in the Fun Stuff (BFS) in February 2010 and my story sort of goes crazy from there…
My Online Story – The Cliff Notes Version
Really long story made very short – I went from starting a blog to blogging full-time in under a year and a half. I started BFS in February 2010 after 3-4 months of just being a crazy personal finance blog follower and commenter. I then grew BFS pretty quickly and started selling advertising on it by May 2010. I was also a major staff writer from August 2010 through most of 2011. By April 2011, other bloggers noticed that I seemed to negotiate well and asked me to run their advertising for them too.
I was making enough online to quit my day job in July 2011 and then my husband quit in January 2012 to help me at home since my brain was about to explode from 100+ hour work weeks. In July 2012, I released my eBook, How I Make Money Blogging, which has sold about 300 copies since its release.
My husband and I still work from home managing the advertising for more than 350 other bloggers, and we have hobby jobs on the side. My hobby job has become blogging on BFS since I have to fit in the time around the main business. My husband is a sports official for high school football and softball, and he is a bowling alley mechanic one or two times a week.
The Point
I am not sharing my story to brag. It feels great to succeed, but the last 3 years of my life should have a clear point for others. Anything really is possible with an idea and an investment of time. Specifically, J Money and I are living proof that you can make money online.
My personal experiences have been with blogging, staff writing, commenting for hire, and an eBook launch, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Off the top of my head here are a number of other things I’ve done to make money over the years…
Ways to Make Money Online
- Develop a blog and sell advertising – it takes a minimum of 4 months and usually takes about one year, but there is money to be made blogging through all sorts of advertising. You can sell ads based on a set term or become an affiliate and make a percentage or set amount for each sell or click-through.
- Staff write – Bloggers will pay you $20-$100 per post.
- Ghost write – short blog posts with no name attached can sell for $10-$50 a post on avg.
- Make a product – useful eBooks, online courses, and actual products can all add to your revenue stream online.
- Commenting for hire – in order for bloggers to get their name out, they have to comment on other sites. If they don’t have the time or energy, they outsource.
- Blog management – many bloggers get tired and are looking for good blog managers.
- Manage social media – bloggers and companies are usually on the lookout for great individuals to manage their social media like Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Resell – many people make a living from buying and reselling goods online. Think eBay…
- Freelance – do you have any online skills at all? Guess what, you can sell those. I personally pay for tech support, graphics, and having someone else submit me to blog carnivals. Any skill is sellable to someone who rather not do it themselves.
Follow Through
When you really think about it, it is possible to make money doing pretty much anything. The trick is figuring out what you want to offer…then jump in. The only thing that makes me special is that I actually followed through on my ideas. If I just kept mulling over self-employment without figuring out ways to make it possible, it wouldn’t have happened. If I just thought about writing an eBook, it wouldn’t exist yet.
The best motto ever really is JUST DO IT. It takes time and effort. Lots of it. Sometimes succeeding is harder than just letting a dream die, but don’t let that chase you off. Hard work and sleepless nights in the short-term while you build a business idea won’t kill you, but giving up can haunt you for the rest of your life. Good luck!
What other money-making ideas can you think of? Are you following through on your plans?
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Guest post by Crystal Stemberger of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting for the fun stuff along the way. You can email her anytime at budgetingfunstuff *at* gmail .com, thanks!
[Awesome shirt photo by antigone78]
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi! How do you get your blog name out there? I know you said social media and commenting on other blogs, but I feel like my blog has been around for a few years and no one has really read it.
That being said, I wasn’t hustling like you were. But now things are changing. I remember reading from J.Money once about how firstly you have to have something interesting to blog about. Originally I thought that was horses, but I’m no expert, so I think I was wrong. Now I’m experimenting with Healthy Living, Travel, and random adventures. Either way, I don’t think I’ve gotten more than a hand full of real comments on my blog since I’ve started and I can’t quite say I am an expert in any one field enough to blog about it non stop.
How did you find a niche?
I totally get the social media, and I get the adventure aspect of life, and I see people love that. As for consistency and a common topic, that’s where I fall short.
I started by commenting on about 30 sites a week. Real comments that added to the conversations. Then I started guest posting and staff writing like crazy. I had a post that linked to my site up at other sites at least once a week. At one point, I had 9-10 posts up at other sites every week that linked back to BFS at the peak of my staff writing in 2011.
My niche was pretty easy to find…money. But you may want to concentrate on travel and lifestyle blogs. Guest posting (like at least 4 a month) will really help. Good luck! And you are more than welcome to guest post at BFS!
I agree w/ the guest posting and commenting for SURE. Hands down some of the best ways to get your site out there. You can participate in Blog Carnivals too if that’s still around and kicking as that helped get my stuff out faster as well.
But as you alluded to, the more work you can put into it the higher the payout :) And being interesting or saying something differently than others can def. help.
You can succeed without trying. I have been working hard to get my blog out there and it is starting to pay off. I am signing up advertisers almost every day and I couldn’t be happier about it. I do put a lot of work into it, so if there are those out there that think this is a great get rich quick idea, you better rethink it.
I 100% agree. Blogging is not a way to get rich quick…but if you do it right, you can make good money over time. :-) Congrats on your successes!
I’ve been blogging as a hobby for a while now, but I am trying to turn it into a full time gig. What do you think about using a service like passionfruit ads to sell advertising? Or is it better to sell on my own? I am still working on building my audience, but I’m thinking of the next steps. Thanks!
I haven’t heard of passionfruit, but I do suggest to nearly everyone to try to sell advertising yourself first so you have an idea of the process. Plus, in the beginning at least, you probably don’t want to share your ad money with anyone else anyway…
Crystal,
Great suggestions and your book was helpful with all the emails for advertising. Commenting for others sounds interesting.
Thanks! And yeah, commenting for hire is fun.
Great, inspiring post, Crystal. I have followed a few PF bloggers and how they have come to “make it”, and for some reason, yours is always one of my favorites!
Getting your name out there is very important — and one aspect, as a new blogger, I am struggling with a bit. I joined Yakezie, comment on blogs that I enjoy reading, and have a guest post lined up that should be posted in a few weeks or so. I think guest-posting is really the best way to go about it — not only do you get your name out there, but you get back-links to your site from other, bigger, better-ranked sites. If no one knows about your site, even if you have great content, you are basically just spinning your wheels, hoping that Google somehow discovers you.
On a related note, if anyone is looking for a guest-post, feel free to look me up :)
I still get totally giddy when someone refers to me as one of their favorites. :-D And I completely agree that guest posting is the best way to go for readers and backlinks.
Send a guest post my way!!! I post guest posts every Tuesday – personal stories are like crack. :-)
haha AGREED! the more personal the better :)
Anybody looking to hire me, I’ll do anything but clean your toilet. Ha. I like this post, didn’t know people were getting paid to comment. I guess some people have more money than they have time.
Darn it – our toilets need some scrubbing! :)
Actually, that is pretty much exactly how it ends up being, lol. A blogger with a side site usually has income but no extra time. :-)
Before I became a full-time blogger/online marketer in 2008 I was an analyst with a major bank. I never thought it would be the case but I work way more hours now, but it’s much more rewarding because I love what I do. I can travel when I want and I am able to be home with my daughter all day.
Way to go! I love being able to pop in to hang w/ my little one too during my breaks :)
Yeah, I work more actual hours now too than I did with just a day job. But the general flexibility of my life now is worth it like you said. Congrats on finding a lifestyle you enjoy. :-)
I agree with Grayson, it is a time suck and not a get rich quick solution. But definitely a lot of fun!
Yep, the most fun addiction of my life so far. :-)
I want to know how you learned about advertising. Is that covered in your ebook? I love this article! It’s super helpful and definitely inspiring!
For me, it was guess and check in 2010 and getting advice from blogging buddies that had more experience than me. It took me about a year to get really good, lol. My eBook does cover negotiations (it has an example of a reply you can use in the beginning and gives you examples of where you would want to end up price-wise). Thanks for reading!
Crystal:
So…. are YOU writing these comments ? Or, are these from someone you hired ?
;)
hahahahaha….
LOL! These are all me.
Side fyi, I’ve only ever hired commenters for co-owned sites and they would comment as “Their Name @ My Blog”, so no one should ever worry about being tricked by me, lol.
Ghostwriting should pay BETTER than any other kind of writing! Or at least on par, since you are not getting credit. Most of my current hustling is ghost blogging :)
I completely agree…just don’t get better offers like that. What’s your secret? Just ask more and pass on the ones that don’t accept?
PS Those sound sort of like snippy questions, but I meant them as real questions, lol. I really would love to successfully increase my ghost writing rates. :-)
Wow I never knew half of the stuff on your list of ways to make money online. Good job!