As you may have heard, there are plenty of people starting what’s called a “lifestyle blog” and many, like Abby, are making a full-time income simply blogging about their day-to-day life.
But what is a lifestyle blog and how do you start one?
A lifestyle blog simply means sharing your life online through the written word (blogging) on a website. If people are interested in what you have to offer, they will visit your blog, read your updates and yes, you can actually make money simply by journaling your life.
Sounds crazy right?
Well, we live in crazy times and blogging for profit really is a good way to make an extra income online so with that said, in this article, I will be sharing with you how to start a lifestyle blog (and how to make money with it).
This includes getting readers to your blog, and 3 of the best methods I’ve found to make money simply by blogging about your life.
If you stick to the very end, you will learn everything you need to know to start blogging and you can have your own lifestyle blog up and running from today (or at least a plan on how to get started with one).
What is a Lifestyle Blog?
As the name suggests – a “lifestyle blog” is a blog about a certain particular lifestyle that is usually associated with a specific topic and/or a specific person/personal brand.
For example, a good idea for a lifestyle blog would be:
- A vegan blog
- A sailing blog
- A music festival blog
- A knitting blog
- A gardening blog
- A travel blog
- etc…
I’m sure you get the idea.
One thing that it’s not though, is a “niche website”, which you have also heard about in the past.
Just to give you a comparison and an explanation of what that means, I built (and sold) a site not too long ago about portable air conditioner reviews.
That is what we call a “niche website”, not a lifestyle blog.
One significant thing a “lifestyle blog” also has is a personal brand tied to it, or at least a real persona sharing real-life experiences about a certain “lifestyle”.
If you take a look on Pinterest, you’ll find many mum-bloggers that blog about “parenting” as a lifestyle. Or, you may also come across “intermittent fasting” blogs which is also a type of lifestyle (and one that is becoming hugely popular right now).
How To Start A Lifestyle Blog
Ok so you’re dead set on becoming a “lifestyle blogger” (welcome to the club), now…
How do you get started?
Actually, it’s very easy and I am going to give you the exact steps you need to take to start your very own (money-making) lifestyle blog business:
Choose A Lifestyle To Focus On
You need to pick a topic first as this will set the tone for what we do next.
What is your lifestyle blog going to be about?
- Are you a fan of travel? A travel blog will be a great idea
- Are you a Keto-diet advocate? A keto blog is what you should so.
- Do you like cutting off the tech and enjoying the outdoors? A camping blog would be a great choice.
Whatever it is you know/like what to do, you have a “lifestyle” around it that can be turned into a lifestyle blog (and business).
For example, after building online businesses for the past 7 years, I now enjoy showing others how to do the same, and that is what you are reading here.
Building blogs and online business while living the “dot-com lifestyle” is what I am about; so that’s what my blog is about.
Got something in mind?
Cool, let’s carry on.
Choose Your Traffic Source
Now this sub-title may be a bit misleading because it alludes that you have a choice.
While there are plenty of ways you can promote and get traffic to a lifestyle blog, the best traffic source you can create is a steady flow of organic search traffic.
While SEO may sound like a complicated topic to wrap your head around, it’s actually very easy to do.
All you need to do is create content (i.e blog posts) that answers specific questions about the specific lifestyle you’ve decided to cover.
For example, if you have a travel blog, you can create content around topics such as:
- How to travel the world on a budget
- How to book the cheapest flights for your travels
- What to do in *insert exotic destination here*.
Whatever it is that you think people who would be interested in living your type of lifestyle would look for on Google, that’s what you need to do.
Now I get writing online is scary, but don’t worry; it’s actually quite easy to do (when you are writing about something you enjoy).
I’m not a native English speaker, yet I create content all day long for a variety of my different websites and even though it may not be “perfect”, it’s good enough and that’s good enough to earn me a full-time income online.
You will get better with every blog post you write.
Choose Your Platform
The next thing you need to do is to pick a platform where you will be building out your lifestyle blog.
While you do have plenty of choices, I highly – highly – recommend you create your blog using WordPress.
WordPress websites are free (you can get one from here) and they have the most incredible features and add-ons with thousands of different plugins and themes.
Now I know what you may be thinking;
OMG, where do I even begin building a website?
Fret not; this is why you’re here; to learn how to build a lifestyle blog and luckily for you; I have the easiest and most quick way to have your blog up and running in no time.
Using The SiteBuilder Platform
This is not the only way, but it is the easiest way;
The SiteBuilder platform is a revolutionary tool that will allow you to build beautiful WordPress websites in second, (and I have proof down below).
Not only it is easy to use, but it also comes with a free video training course on how to build your blog, by joining here, you will have access to the training that will show you:
- How to create a WordPress website
- How to find a theme (free for now)
- How to structure your website
- How to create the foundational pages
- How to create blog posts and more.
While you can most definitely head on over to WordPress.org and start building out your website through there, if you are a beginner, I highly recommend you use the SiteBuilder tool so you can set up your lifestyle website in just over a minute.
This is an old video, but you can see me create a new website in just under 1 minute and 10 seconds.
But wait, we left one *very important* thing out…
Choose Your Domain!
What’s going to be the name of your new lifestyle blog?
Don’t stress it too much, but you do need to come up with a domain name for your website (i.e where people can find you on the world wide web.
My domain is 3HUNDRD.com – (it’s misspelt on purpose).
What’s your domain name going to be?
Now the more time passes, the less and less available domains you will find but I do have a secret tool up my sleeve that I can share with you and that is DomainWheel.com.
Simply visit the generator, type in a few ideas and see what comes up. If you spend some time on there, I am sure you will be able to find a domain you love, just don’t drag it out.
Once you find one you like, buy it – you do not want to be disappointed later down the line.
SN: While you can buy a domain at a better price using the SiteBuilder platform, you can use BlueHost for quick and easy registration of any domain you like.
So, what have we got so far?
- A “lifestyle” to write about
- A few writing tips to help break the ice with your very first blog post
- An easy site builder tool for instant WordPress blogs and
- An incredible find of a domain.
What’s next?
Choose Your Content Plan
Continuing on from above – when you have come up with at least 30 blog post ideas you can write about, it’s good to have a content plan set up that you can follow.
The reasons for this is two-fold:
First; you need to know what you are writing and when you will be writing it.
This will give you enough time to think of the subject manner and what you want to include
Second; you need to know which articles will link to other articles.
To help your website be found easy by readers, it’s always best to include links in your content that will lead people to more information.
This helps your site become more “whole” instead of a bunch of stand-alone blog posts. That alone could mean giving yourself an edge when it comes to your page views.
How To Get People To Visit Your Lifestyle Blog
As I said above, you should focus on creating content that gets people to your website from Google, but since this is a lifestyle blog we’re talking about here;
You’d also do well to focus on a few social networks where your target audience hangs out, these will most likely be:
Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter
(Don’t even bother with Facebook)
If your content fits in any of the above platforms, it’s a good idea to spend some time each day on your chosen platform trying to get the word out about your blog.
Of course, every platform is different and every platform has different things you need to do to stand out, so I suggest you pick one (and only one) and look up some guides about it and just focus on that.
Myself, as an alternative to SEO, I also utilize Pinterest and I have a fantastic guide about Pinterest marketing here.
So what’s next?
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, I will not be showing you what I like the call “the fun stuff”
3 Easy Ways To Make Money With A Lifestyle Blog
Personal lifestyle blogs can also huge money-makers.
As I am sure you know, “persona brands” are popping up everywhere and that is not a coincidence, they make insane amounts of money (when done right).
Here are a few ideas on how you can make money from your lifestyle blog:
✔️ Lifestyle Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is huge – it’s how I make a living and I can recommend it to you as the best way to make money with a blog.
I’ve prepared an affiliate marketing guide here for you but what it is, in a nutshell, is an online business model where you sell other people’s products for a commission.
So let’s say you have a travel blog, and your favourite booking engine is BookNow.com (just made it up but I’m sure it’s real).
Let’s now assume it pays out 5% on sales to every affiliate who sends traffic to their website.
If you send 100 people a day to that website (from your own lifestyle blog) and 5 out of every 100 people books a flight on the platform, thus; you make a commission.
If the total booking cost from all 5 is $5,000 and you make 5%, well, you’ve earned $250!
A wee-bit overly simplified but for simple math, it makes sense. Again; I would advise you to check out my guide on affiliate marketing or, if you like the idea, scroll down to the bottom and I will have a free training course for you that you can take.
✔️ Banner Ads
Another great option to make money with your lifestyle blog is through the use of banner ads such as Adsense (or other similar platforms).
All you need to do here is simply place banner ads on your website and when somebody clicks on those banners, you get paid.
Pretty straightforward but one unfortunate thing about banner ads is that if you do not have a lot of traffic, it’s very limited how much money you can make this way.
✔️ Selling Your Own Products
Last but not least, I have to include my recent favourite method and that is creating your own products and course.
Let’s keep with the “travel lifestyle blog” example mentioned above.
Let’s also assume you have a post on your website talking about “5 things to do in Rome” – a good way to make money with that post is to create a guide for travelers going to Rome and pricing that at a simple $10 fee.
If people like your content, and want to have all the information they need before they visit Rome, it’s not so far fetched to think that an ebook will convert well with your readers.
If your “Rome guide” gets 1000 visits a month, and you convert just 5% of them to a $5 ebook you created, that’s an extra $500 – just from one blog post.
Do you see how easy it is to make money with a lifestyle blog?
This is just one of the many reasons why creating a lifestyle blog is a smart thing to do these days.
Is It A Good Idea To Start A Lifestyle Blog?
Yes – it is.
Not only do they make a lot of money (as I just described) but they also allow you – anyone in the world – to make money by working on something you love, which if you’re stuck in the 9-5 machine, it’s probably not the current state of your life.
Online blogs, online business, personal brands and all the rest of the stuff we talked about can provide you freedom, which is what I’ve been changing all my life.
NB: If you want to learn how to make money blogging, be sure to check out Income School’s Project 24 course.
It’s a 24-month roadmap that will see you creating and running your very own money-making (lifestyle) blog!
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