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You probably know that blogging can be a great way to make money online.
Some people think there is only one way to do it. In fact, it has been proven by real people that it’s possible to make money from blogging using different strategies.
This podcast with Elna Cain will show you 5 different ways you can make money online using blogging.
Listen in to hear us chat about:
- Different websites that Elna has used to make money online
- How she started making money online with twin babies (they were 1-year-olds at the time!)
- How Elna has created an amazing community of 11,000 Moms in under 5 years.
- What she would tell herself if she could go back in time
Listen on Apple Podcasts/ Google Podcasts
Elna Cain Background
Elna started trying to make money online when her twins were super young.
She didn’t want to go back to work and miss out spending time with them.
Even getting a part-time job would have eaten up most of her income from childcare, gas money etc.
Does this sound familiar to you?
So she spent time learning about making money online whilst the kids were napping.
Freelance writing interested her and after putting in some time and effort she got some opportunities to write for money.
5 Ways to Make Money Online Blogging
Elna has an amazingly diverse experience of making money online.
In the podcast, she actually talks about 5 different strategies to make money online using blogging, that she has personally used.
#1 Freelance Writing
This was her first gig!
It was the obvious way to make money online.
Write something for someone willing to pay for it.
Simple right?
But how did she actually find her first opportunity?
Here are some of the things she did to get her name “out there”:
- Guest posting
- Using Twitter
- Use LinkedIn
- Following brands
- Searching job board sites i.e. Problogger
This is how she got her first payment:
She connected with a project on wheels.com from Pro bloggers job board site.
She didn’t know anything about “cars”!
But she did know that she could research a lot of the content needed i.e. gas prices etc.
She mentioned some other websites that you can find jobs such as Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer but she didn’t personally have much luck with them.
Positives:
- Make money quickly
- You can research topics you’re not sure about
- You can learn more about blogging, whilst getting paid
Negatives:
- You are trading your time for money (not passive income)
- It can be hard to find good opportunities
So what else does she have up her sleeve?
#2 Viral Blogging
The idea on this website is to create viral content and get it shared lots on Pinterest.
This pretty much means:
- Write huge “list posts” that people can save and bookmark it
- Writing topics that people are searching for already
So how do you know what people are searching for?
Simply search popular content on Pinterest.
Here are some viral ideas as examples in the parenting niche:
- Ultimate guides i.e. Birth plan
- Specific topics- Get your baby to sleep through the night, avoid pain with labour etc.
- Anything visual i.e. Recipes do well
Note you can use any niche that does well on Pinterest and look out for the most viral pins.
Positives:
- Get traffic quickly
- Viral spikes (using social media i.e. Pinterest)
- Generate money quickly through ads
Negatives:
- Time-consuming
- Need a budget to hire writers to create the content
- Reliant on Pinterest
Top tips:
- Hire freelance writers ideally “ghostwriters” (write anonymously in your own name)
You can even help new bloggers that want to make money quickly with a site like this.
Related content:
- How to Use Pinterest for Beginners
- Blog Income Reports Study- How the 7 Best Niches Make Money
- How does Blogging Make Money?
#3 Contributor Blogs
If you’re like me, you’re about to learn something new…
Have a website that other people contribute to it.
The principle is simple…
Get traffic to the website then other people are happy to write on it for free to promote themselves or another website.
AKA no writing required by you!
Top tips:
- Use a page called “write for us”
- Leverage Facebook groups or communities you are part of
- Potentially buy a website that has aged content already (great idea if you can!)
- Oversee the first post by a contributor
- Give access for them to contribute after that & review all posts
Positives:
- Monetises by ads so it’s very hands-off
- Less time consuming as you don’t need to keep writing content
- Possible to monetise quickly
- Don’t need set writers
Negatives:
- You need a following or community to help write content
- Need to build it up if you don’t want to pay for writers
This is such a simple, yet really effective strategy to make money online blogging.
#4 SEO Focus
This strategy is what I call the “traditional” way to blog.
You write content to be found in search engines so you get monthly traffic without doing any other promotion.
But…
There is a good way to do this and a not so good way.
Here are Elna’s tips:
- Look at other blogs and work out how they are succeeding
- Replicate their content ideas… but make it your own
- Find the topics that are highly searched on Google in your niche.
- Check out the top posts for a keyword and replicate their post style i.e. list posts, tutorial, review based.
Positives:
- More reliable traffic every month compared to Pinterest or other social media platforms
- No extra work required to advertise your content
- Therefore, you can create more systems or “funnels” to create passive income
Negatives:
- Takes longer to get traffic and monetise the website
- More research is required to find low competition keywords
- It can feel like nothings happening for quite some time, so it’s easy to give up or get demotivated
Related content:
- Affiliate Marketing Online: The Secrets Revealed
- Save Hours of Time & Money with these Resources
- Discover the Perfect Part Time Job Online
#5 Creating Courses
This one has been covered quite a few times on the podcast.
It’s really the number one way that bloggers tend to go from turning their hobby into a 6 figure (or more) business.
Positives:
- Unlimited income potential (you set the price and sales pages etc.)
- You can use funnels and techniques to automate sales
- You will likely to create something that you enjoy talking about or are passionate about.
Negatives:
- Time-consuming to create
- It takes more learning to create the sales pages and get used to the different software or systems needed
- There’s no guarantee anyone will buy it, it’s up to you to spread the word at the start
You probably already noticed this.
But, many of the strategies Elna mentioned involved…
BONUS- Pinterest Focus
First of all, it’s important to realise Pinterest can be fickle.
Traffic can come and go due to viral spikes.
BUT…
Pinterest is still the quickest way to get a lot of traffic to your blog.
Many of Elna’s websites have used Pinterest to get traffic quickly.
Her top tip for getting traffic quickly:
- Focus on Pinterest SEO
This will help you hone in on the right type of audience & followers.
The amount of followers you have is not super important, but the right audience is very important. If they don’t engage on your account then your pins will never be shared.
How Long Will it Take to See Traffic From Pinterest?
Elna explains that if you have things set up well you can see traffic within 30 to 60 days.
This will only work if you use Tailwind and also get onto good group boards early.
However, group boards are not what they once were.
Saying that, if you only get into good group boards they can really help especially at the beginning.
In fact, pinning to poor group boards can really hurt your Pinterest account.
Here is a great way to check and see if a group board is worth pinning to.
It’s recommended to use Pinterest at the start for many niches, then branch out with other platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and SEO.
Bloggers Tools & Advice
A really important point that Elna makes is that your first blog may not be a success.
But that’s OK.
Use your first blog as a chance to test things out. Try YouTube or different social media platforms if you want to.
You can always start a new one with the skills you learn.
Another great tip is to find ways to delegate and outsource things as soon as possible.
This leads nicely onto…
The Best Blogging Tools
Even if you cannot afford to pay someone to help out, you can easily use some of these tools to help:
- Tailwind (for Pinterest mainly and Instagram)
- Buffer (for Facebook)
- ConverKit (email autoresponder)
- Convertbox (opt-in forms)
So, the final golden nuggets from this Elna Cain podcast is…
Top 3 Tips if Elna Cain Could go Back in Time
Here is what she would tell herself if she could go back in time to when her twins were born…
- You will get some sleep eventually!
- You’re doing a good job as a Mom
- Keep your head down (don’t be deflated by others success stories or negativity online)
It really is amazing how far she has come in the last few years.
Plus, she’s so modest and down to earth!
Full Elna Cain Podcast Transcript
Links
If you’d like to get in contact with Elna here are the best places to find her:
There are also links under each strategy to see a real example of what it looks like.
Elna Cain Podcast Summary
Here are my top 5 takeaways from this chat:
- If you enjoy what you do, it won’t feel like work
- It is possible for anyone to start doing this (even if you think you haven’t got the time or knowledge… if a Mom with twin babies can, anyone can!)
- You will make mistakes at the beginning & your first blog may not be your best one, but that’s OK.
- There are different types of websites and strategies to make money online
- Focus on your Pinterest SEO
Keep changing for the better,
Mike
P.S. What was your main takeaway from this chat? Was there anything you learnt or something you’d like to know more about?
Drop a comment below!
Hello Mike, this is a very interesting and informative article I know it would be great help to the public.i have been a blogger for sometime now and I have made a lot of money.although it was not so are the beginning but after reading an article like this I change approach and started earning so there this is very good one and it would really help
Thanks very much, David. It’s all Elna’s work though I’m simply sharing it. I do hope it helps a lot of people, it’s pretty eye-opening!
This is very interesting! I’ve been blogging for a couple of years and I love it. Of all the things I’ve done and attempted over the years, blogging has worked out best for me. I’ve had a number of different careers, but writing changed it all and after a few years of writing blog posts for others as a freelancer, I decided I had to try it for myself. The result is that I haven’t looked back since and plan to continue this indefinitely. With that said, it is true that there are different approaches to it. I’ve been focusing on a more traditional SEO approach, with some affiliate marketing thrown in the mix. But I do have an interest in exploring Pinterest and that will likely come next. Thanks for sharing!
Brilliant Mark! Glad to hear you’ve found blogging top work for yourself too!
It does seem like getting some freelance work is a great way to boost the income at the start though. Thanks for sharing