I’ve been blogging for about one year, and it’s been an incredible experience. I’ve experienced a lot of setbacks, but also a lot of small victories along the way. I’ve published nearly 200 articles, and I’ll probably be able to create another 300 next year. I’ve discussed a variety of topics and learned a decent bit about what works in today’s era of blogging. People still read, and it is definitely possible to still get traffic. On the other hand, I haven’t gotten the push I need yet. I bought the domain name Rising Current in July, so my domain name is only 5 months old. I have no idea how well I’m going to do on Google yet. I also had to migrate my site one month ago. This was another setback for my blog. That being said, it’s all good. My site has been live for over one month, and I’ve been able to continue driving organic traffic. Another push, and I should be able to get what I want out of life. So, here’s what I learned over the course of this year.
The barrier to entry for a successful blog is pretty high.
I would say that you’re looking at 200-400 posts to get started. That should bring you to the $2,000 per month range…once those posts rank. This might seem discouraging but remember, blogs sell for 3x what they’re worth. This means that pretty much anyone who creates high quality content can get rich in a few years. I’ve seen blogs with AI generated content for sale on Flippa, but they don’t seem to be the most successful ones. I’m sure AI will change how writing online works. On one hand, AI can produce a lot of content, on the other hand people still do like influencers. The true effects of AI on online writing remain to be seen. All this being said, for your average person, you need to do a decent amount of writing to get on the map. 200 posts will probably take 5 months bare minimum. Maybe a bit less if you’re a really fast writer. You will need to focus if you want to a blogger. Especially if you’re living in an expensive country. You can make money as an individual, but you can’t make money as an individual who’s half assing it.
Ad network revenue is consolidating
This is my major prediction for the future. If you look at websites like Reddit, you see a lot of complaints about ad networks such as Mediavine making websites slow and/or causing them to lose traffic. This means that smaller ad networks are going under. An increasing percentage of digital ad revenues will go to social media companies. This means that you need to create even more content to get into the best ad networks.
Sites with multiple writers have it easier
Get a second writer as soon as possible. Me personally, I’m on a mission to blitz my way to 400 articles. I can think about getting a second writer in the future. That being said, it’s easier to get ahead when you have more than one writer. When you have more than one writer, you can guarantee a certain amount of content. It’s hard as hell to fail when you have 400 articles after just a year of content creation. Even if you have to fire the writer later, another writer is probably the best thing a blogger could ask for. Invest in one if you can.
Creating content can be made into a formula
I know exactly how to write my articles nowadays. It’s really only done in one way. I have my intro paragraph, a few body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The title of the article is usually the main idea. My body paragraphs have headings that explain the subject discussed. The conclusion always reiterates the main point, while creating a smooth transition out of the article. That’s what I aim for, at least. Repeating this formula day-in-day out is getting me traffic, and I expect that traffic to be quite lucrative very soon.
Don’t rely solely on a platform
Relying only on YouTube or Medium or TikTok might seem like a good idea, but it isn’t. Working for a platform is like signing up for a job in which you can’t talk to your employer. To make matters worse, you have to prove yourself in order to join certain programs such as the YouTube partner program. As far as I’m concern this is crazy. You need a way to diversify your income. YouTube seems unavoidable for long form video creators
Blogging doesn’t need to just be writing
There’s nothing stopping me from uploading a piece of software to this website. Or starting a forum. Or adding videos, as was discussed in the last paragraph. Writing is just a high-quality, highly-targeted billboard for whatever you really want to advertise. I personally am working on merch for Rising Current. It’s coming soon.
Blogging is slow money, and you need to be realistic, but it’s definitely good money. If you do the research and take your time, everything suggests to me that if you spend 3 or 4 years blogging full-time, you should be earning about $20USD per hour. This is amazing considering anyone can do it from the comfort of their home. Live costs about $1,000 per month in a lot of the world too. This means that if you make a US-centric blog, you might be able to move overseas and live a king. I think this beats working a job and being at the mercies of inflation and bad employers. I highly suggest you start blogging. Hopefully the articles on this website can help you succeed.
Thanks for paying attention.
