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Can you start a blog on Pinterest in 2024?
Absolutely!
And, are you interested in discovering how to use Pinterest for bloggers?
I bet you are!
Learning how to start a blog on Pinterest is a great way to get traffic to your site and promote your content.
In fact, I initially shared my personal story about how I became a full-time blogger on Pinterest in one of my first blog posts explaining how to quit a job you hate.
When I first wrote that article, I was still at the job I dreaded and haven’t made any money online yet. However, as I got more questions about Pinterest and blogging, I updated the post and shared my journey to show readers that after 1 year of learning how to use Pinterest for blogging, I left my banking job to make a full-time income online!
It’s a strange title to have, but you can consider me a “Pinterest blogger” since most of my traffic comes from this medium.
Starting a Blog on Pinterest
Now, if you haven’t started your blog yet, then I highly recommend starting one as soon as possible. This is your first step to monetizing with Pinterest!
Once your blog starts getting traffic from Pinterest, then you have the full potential to start making money online with this visual pinning platform!
You can also read my other story of how to become a blogger and get paid a salary of six figures, which I did within 18 months of starting my blog! I was actually very surprised that I doubled my income since 2019, and earned over net $200,000 blogging in 2021.
Due to the season, trends, and the economy, my net income dropped in 2022, but I was still able to earn a net income of over $180,000 after all expenses in 2022 from blogging on Pinterest! And 2023, I was able to earn a net income of over $190,000. I am happy to see that I can earn a great income while having the flexibility to work from home!
No one can ever predict income trends in the future, but my goal is to always earn at least a net income of $120,000 per year in my blogging business, so I can continue to live comfortably, save for retirement, and fund my desired lifestyle.
After blogging for 6 years (at the time of writing this), not only can I say that I love blogging but it has absolutely changed my life for the better. If you are new to FinSavvy Panda, you can also read all my previous blogging articles when you search for them in the archive of this blog.
I know you’re super excited, so let’s help you get started! Here are the steps to starting a Pinterest blog and account today.
PIN (OR BOOKMARK) THIS PAGE: Make sure to Pin this to your Pinterest board here so you can refer back to a detailed guide on how to use Pinterest for blogging!
How to Use Pinterest for Blogging
Before you set up a blog and start using Pinterest, you may be wondering how to use Pinterest for blogging. I get this question a lot from my readers prior to creating their blogs, so I am going to explain this high level before I dive into the steps on how to start a blog on Pinterest.
Pinterest is a platform where you can drive traffic, making it easier for people to discover your blog. Think of it as a visual search engine.
First, you need to set up a Pinterest business account. This will allow you to connect your website’s URL giving you the opportunity to promote your blog on Pinterest.
Within Pinterest, you can create what is known as ‘boards.’ Think of these like folders for your content, termed ‘pins.’ Your boards should reflect the topics you blog about. For instance, as my blog revolves around personal finance, I have boards titled “personal finance”, “financial freedom”, “side hustles”, “saving money tips”, and so on.
In contrast, my lifestyle blog geared towards women encompasses a wider array of topics, so my boards there have names like “fashion for women”, “healthy recipes”, “beauty tips”, etc.
For each blog post, you make at least one pin that contains the URL to the blog post. This is an image, with a catchy title and a short description that includes keywords about your post. When someone clicks on this picture, it will redirect them to your blog post. You can take a look at what a Pin design looks like with my ready-to-go Pin Savvy Canva Templates Bundle.
Keep creating fresh content and adding new pins to your boards. And always remember to link them back to your blog. You can set up “Rich Pins” as well, which lets you show more information about your post on the pin itself. In fact, if your purpose is to use Pinterest for your business and to promote your blog, you need to set up Rich Pins.
In addition, you should also use keywords in your board titles, pin descriptions, and your profile to make them easier to find. To grow fast on Pinterest, I highly suggest you engage with your followers on Pinterest as well as collaborate with other bloggers who use Pinterest.
Lastly, make sure to monitor the performance of your pins by reviewing your Pinterest stats. This is my favorite part as it enables me to strategize my content by focusing on posts that my readers engage with the most. Understanding what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t is crucial to being successful on Pinterest. This comprehensive approach will help you with driving traffic from Pinterest to your blog, thereby providing an avenue for you to make money with your blog effectively.
That was just a very high level, but I cover more Pinterest tips in my other posts:
- How To Get More Traffic From Pinterest and Monetize Your Blog
- How Long Does It Take To Get Traffic From Pinterest?
I also reveal several of my secret strategies in my comprehensive traffic guide, The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic. which consistently brings me over 100,000 monthly pageviews.
Now, let me show you how to make a blog on Pinterest.
Step 1: Start a Pinterest Blog
The first step is to start your blog of course! 🙂
Without a blog, you won’t have anything to work with. If you’re a total beginner and confused about how to get started, don’t worry. I have you covered.
I have helped many of my students start a blog on Pinterest, and you can use my step-by-step tutorial on how to start a blog here. It’s super affordable, as low as $2.95 USD per month when you sign up for the annual plan and invest an upfront amount of only $36 USD! You can snatch this special discount in my Bluehost tutorial here.
I should point out that even though many of you are looking up “how to start a blog on Pinterest,” it’s not exactly about starting a blog on Pinterest itself. What you’re really doing is starting a blog using a host, like Bluehost, and then linking that blog to Pinterest. This way, you can use Pinterest to share and boost your blog content, which enables you to earn money online.
I offer my FREE 7-day e-mail course that will teach total beginners, like you, how to start a profitable blog and use Pinterest to gain tons of readers and followers. This is the course I wish I had when I started using Pinterest for my blog.
Step 2: Set Up Your Blog the Right Way (Building a Solid Foundation For Your Blog)
Before you move along, you NEED to make sure your blog is set up correctly. You cannot just randomly sign up for a blog and expect to apply for Google AdSense and start earning money right after publishing 10-15 articles without having a plan or strategically writing for the proper audience.
I often see beginners get too ahead of themselves and they waste SO much time (as long as 1 or even 2 years) by thinking they can learn all of this on their own and not investing in a blogging education.
There are A LOT of things that go behind the scenes in building and running a profitable blog, which many beginners don’t see. I give you the exact steps you need to take to build your blog the RIGHT way in my best-selling e-book, The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days.
This affordable e-book will help you build a solid foundation for your blog before entering the next chapter of your blogging journey, which is getting traffic and making money.
This first step is very crucial because when you skip this step and don’t avoid the costly mistakes I talk about, then your blog will likely fail without you ever understanding why. These are silly mistakes I often see when beginners refuse to invest in themselves and their blogs.
Investing in your blog as a beginner doesn’t have to cost a lot. You can learn how affordable it is to start a blog as a beginner here.
Step 3: Create a Pinterest Business Account for Your Blog
Once you’ve set up your blog properly, you can create a Pinterest business account. It’s free, and this will be your main source to promote your blog and content!
However, I don’t recommend creating this yet if you haven’t started your blog with at least 5-10 articles published.
Make sure you have your blog properly set up with some posts before you create your Pinterest business account because Pinterest will ask for your blog URL.
Step 4: Get Traffic from Pinterest and Promote Your Blog
Assuming you’ve set up your blog the right way, then the next step is learning how to get traffic!
This step is all about how to use Pinterest to promote your blog.
I also have separate helpful articles so you can learn more about how to get traffic on Pinterest and how long it takes to get Pinterest traffic to your blog.
Once traffic starts coming in, you can start implementing the following monetization strategies to start earning an income online.
If you’ve already started your blog with at least 10 blog posts published, then you are ready to enroll in my FREE 7-day email course on how to skyrocket your Pinterest traffic in the next 7 days.
In my free Pinterest course, I will teach you how to get started as a beginner by setting up and optimizing your Pinterest account all the way to implementing the most effective traffic strategies so you can finally get pageviews on your blog!
Oh, and the best part is I’ll also teach you how you can attract Pinterest readers that will fall in love with your blog so that they keep coming back for more! If this is what you want, then I welcome you to join me in my free course by signing up below! 🙂
Step 5: Make Money Blogging from Pinterest Traffic
As you’re learning how to get traffic from Pinterest, you can start learning how to make money with your blog.
I explained four popular ways to for beginners to make money with their blogs as you keep reading near the end of this post in my FAQs section.
In addition, I talk about it in a separate article too. This post is all about my story and journey of how I started making money on Pinterest as a beginner with no experience.
How To Blog on Pinterest FAQs
In the remainder of this article, I am going to answer the following questions about how to blog on Pinterest.
1. Do You Get Paid by Pinterest Directly?
No, Pinterest does not pay you directly for using the platform as a consumer or pinner. However, as a creator or blogger, you can make money from Pinterest by promoting your blog, products, and services, or through affiliate marketing. If you have a blog or website, you can also use Pinterest to drive traffic to your site and generate income through advertising or selling products.
More recently, at the time of writing this, Pinterest has said they are rewarding creators by creating Idea Pins on the platform. You can tag products in your Idea Pins by using affiliate marketing (which I mention more about later). Pinterest also has a paid partnership tool where you can collaborate with your favorite brands by tagging their products too.
Aside from creating Idea Pins, my favorite method is to use Pinterest to drive traffic to my blogs, which has personally worked the best for me. This is the method that blew my mind when I started monetizing on Pinterest. Your goal is to get traffic to your blog and then use various monetization methods to make money such as display advertising, affiliate marketing, creating digital products, or offering your services. These are the four methods I explain in more detail below.
So, while you can’t directly make money from browsing or pinning on Pinterest (unless you create Idea Pins for their platform), there are some indirect and great methods that you can use to earn income using this platform. It just takes a little creativity and effort to make it happen, so I highly recommend starting your blog and using the Pinterest platform to your advantage!
Once you have started a blog, you can use whatever monetization method you enjoy such as display ads, affiliate marketing, creating products, selling services, or even making Idea Pins!
2. Is Pinterest good for blogging?
As a social media and visual search engine, Pinterest can be a great way to share your blog content with a wider audience. This is how I promote my blog on Pinterest and earn a full-time income! I also show you how to start a profitable blog with my tutorial right here.
However, there are some downsides to using Pinterest for blogging. For example, if you use Pinterest primarily to drive traffic to your blog, you may find that most of your traffic comes from people who are just browsing the platform and they may not be loyal followers who are looking for your specific content. But to fix this problem, you need to understand how to create intentional content and attract the right audience on Pinterest.
Additionally, because Pinterest is a visual platform, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd unless you have very eye-catching images along with click-worthy titles on your Pins.
Whether or not Pinterest is good for blogging depends on your individual goals and objectives. Pinterest has worked very well for me and the blogs I created. If you’re looking for a way to drive traffic and get your blog noticed more visually, then Pinterest can be a great option.
Suppose you’re primarily interested in attracting dedicated readers. In that case, you will want to learn how to leverage Pinterest keyword research for intentional traffic and apply a few strategies on your blog to keep your readers hooked.
At the same time, I highly recommend diversifying your traffic with other marketing channels and search engines so that you’re not reliant on only one traffic source.
So, is Pinterest good for blogging? In my opinion, yes! It’s a great way to drive traffic and promote your content. Plus, it’s fun! It can also be a great source of intentional traffic when you spend the time to learn who your audience is on Pinterest.
3. Is Pinterest a good traffic source?
Based on my personal experience, yes, Pinterest is an excellent traffic source!
More people visiting your blog means you could make money online. You could make money through things like display ads (which are great for newbies), affiliate marketing, paid posts, and selling your coaching services or digital items.
As an example, here’s how much I’ve been making per day from one of my hobby blogs (NOT the FinSavvy Panda Blog) that gets visitors from Pinterest. This is just from display ads and doesn’t include the money I make from other things like affiliate marketing or selling digital products:
3. How do I link my blog posts to Pinterest?
After you’ve written and put up your first 5 to 10 blog posts (and made a picture or “Pin” for each post like these catchy ones here), put these pins on your Pinterest account. When you do this and link your blog post to those pins, you’ll get people visiting your blog.
Here is a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to link your blog posts to Pinterest, so you can get visitors and pageviews.
Step 1: Log into your Pinterest business account
Step 2: Go to “Create” >> “Create Pin”
Step 3: Select the Pin image you want to upload. If you use Canva to make your Pins, you can download it directly from there.
See the screenshot below to follow these steps to linking your blog posts on Pinterest:
- Pick the Pin you want from your computer or laptop.
- Type in your title in the provided space.
- Put your pin description in the given area (don’t forget to use keywords and phrases).
- Type in the link to the blog post you want to share.
- Decide if you want to post right away or set it to post at a later time (I like to schedule my Pins in advance).
- Choose the board where you want this pin to go.
Here’s the end result to help you picture this better.
You can see that I linked to one of my posts titled “The Best Money Making Apps” and filled in the title, heading, and all the other empty spaces:
Once you regularly make blog posts and share the pictures with links to the articles, you’ll start getting visitors to your site. But keep in mind, getting people to visit your site takes more than just sharing links on Pinterest. There’s a lot more strategy involved, which I talk about in my course called The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic.
4. How Do Bloggers Make Money on Pinterest?
Here are the four ways bloggers monetize on Pinterest. I don’t have a favorite as I like to diversify my streams of income today to avoid relying on one single source.
1. Display Advertising
The first way you can make money from your blog is by displaying ads. You’ve probably seen banner ads on other websites before, and this is how they work.
Advertisers like Mediavine and AdThrive will pay you a certain amount of money for every 1000 views of their ad, or every time someone clicks on their ad.
When I was a total beginner, I was using Google AdSense. Like you, I had no idea how blogging or Pinterest worked. As soon as I had enough traffic to my blog, I switched to Mediavine, and I never looked back!
Given I was so happy with Mediavine, I started a second blog. As soon as I met their requirements and got enough pageviews, I started earning an income with ads on my other blog!
I believe that learning how to earn display ads with your blog is one of the best and “easiest” first steps to making money online. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s the first step to seeing how things come together and work from someone who has absolutely no experience in making money online.
I say this because, from my experience, beginners have no clue what they want to do. There are too many parts and it’s best to master one thing at a time before you start learning other monetization strategies.
So, my advice is to focus on setting up your blog for success. Next, create content for your audience. Then, you can learn how to increase your Pinterest page views so you can finally make some money.
Earning an income with ads can be very profitable, but it does require a decent amount of traffic to your website for it to be effective.
If you’re just starting, then I recommend using Google AdSense as they are the most popular and easiest to get started with. But you will probably not be satisfied with the money you earn with Google AdSense since other partners you work with can help you earn a higher income.
2. Affiliate Marketing
A second way you can make money from your blog is by using affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a way for beginners to make money by promoting other people’s products. You can do this by putting links to their products on your website or blog, and when someone buys the product through your link, you earn a commission from the sale.
This is a great way to make money, especially if you’re just starting because you don’t need to create your products.
There are thousands of affiliate programs available online, so all you need to do is find the ones that fit your niche and start promoting their products. A few affiliate programs include Amazon Associates, Clickbank, and ShareASale, and you can start signing up for almost any affiliate program.
There are thousands of different affiliate programs out there, so you can find ones that match your niche.
Once you’re approved for an affiliate program, you can start promoting products you mention in your blog post on your Pinterest boards. When someone clicks on your affiliate link from your website and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission.
Of course, it’s not easy to convert your readers with affiliate marketing. You can’t just expect to throw affiliate links everywhere and expect to make an easy commission.
To be successful with affiliate marketing, you need to have a solid strategy and make sure you’re only promoting products that are relevant to your audience. This is easier said than done, but by learning and implementing the right strategies onto your blog, you’ll be an affiliate marketing pro in no time. I also have an article on how beginners can make money using affiliate marketing.
3. Sell Products or Services
Another way you can make money from your blog is by selling products or services. This could be anything from e-books to online courses to physical products. Here are some examples of things to sell on your blog or shop once you’re able to gain Pinterest traffic to your pages:
E-books
These could be anything from in-depth “how-to” guides to a roundup of your best recipes. As long as your e-book can help your readers with a specific problem, they are willing to pay a small price. Examples include the following:
- A dummies guide to investing your way to $1,000,000
- A diet plan for people with diabetes
- How to decorate your home like HGTV
You could even offer a 10-day hair makeover challenge. I purchased an e-book for $39 from a blogger who has gorgeous hair!
Printables
These include printable sheets like budget binders, yearly planners, wall art, coloring pages, etc. If you’re a creative individual and love to make printables, then this may be perfect for you!
Online Courses (or E-Courses)
Similar to e-books, you can create online courses to help your readers with a specific problem. It could be the same examples I said earlier about creating e-books. Many people upgrade their e-books by transferring the same content into a course format. With courses, creators may also include videos and tutorials as an add-on to charge more.
If you have something valuable that you think people would be interested in, then you can create a sales page and start selling it. This is a great way to make money from your blog, but it does require some work on your part to create the product and set up the sales page.
Not only that, but you would also have to know how to drive INTENTIONAL traffic to your blog before you think about what product to offer. It’s not just any random traffic!
One HUGE mistake I often see beginners make is they become too hasty. They would launch a product without thinking about who their audience really is. The result is many beginners would blindly start a blog without building a solid foundation. That leads them to slap products onto their blog posts and sales page with no clue on how to properly market that product.
This usually leads to disaster, and I believe that beginners, who don’t have any blogging or marketing background, can focus on learning how to get traffic to their blog posts and earn an income with display ads before they think about creating the perfect product for their audience. Learning how to get traffic and interacting with your readers can help you gain experience. In addition, it gives you a better understanding of their struggles and the kind of help they are looking for.
4. Offer Consulting Services or Coaching Programs
Finally, you can earn money from your blog by offering consulting services or coaching programs. This would involve helping people achieve their goals.
If you’re an expert in something you’re passionate about, then you can offer your services and help people achieve their objectives.
This is a great way to make money from your blog because you can charge a premium for your services.
My Pinterest Blog Income Reports, Blogging Progress, and Journey
I used to log my blog income reports as a beginner here if you want to see the progress. It’s been my personal Pinterest and blogging journey for the last four years since writing this.
Now, I stopped publishing income reports because they took up my time. I was better off testing new ideas and strategies so I could teach you what works. I also focus a lot of my time on improving the diversification of my income stream using various ways today.
- My Blogging Lessons Learned: $27,689.76
- My Blogging Lessons Learned: $22,758.86
- My Blogging Lessons Learned: $27,750.58
- Blog Income Report: $22,343.23
- Blog Income Report: $21,258.96
- Blogger Income Report: $21,010.18
- May Blog Income Report: $10,304.91
- April Blog Income Report: $10,100.33
- March Blog Income Report: $9,471.62
- February Blog Income Report: $7,498.94
- January Blog Income Report: $6,790.93
- December Blog Income Report: $6,840.01
- November Blog Income Report: 5,532.13
- October Blog Income Report: $4,798.01
- September Blog Income Report: 4,509.50
- August Blog Income Report: $2,797.64
- July Blog Income Report: $703.57
I hope you found this article helpful!
Are you going to start a blog on Pinterest? Don’t forget to comment below if you have any questions about starting a blog and monetizing with Pinterest!
Carrie Cook
Hello Ling!
I seem to have hit a plateau. My blog is about food and sharing my family recipes.
Cooking Up Tradition – Sharing recipes and traditions from our family heritage
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/cookinguptradition
You said your new ebook is coming out about Pinterest and was wondering when it will be released. Summer is a little hectic for me, but when the kids go back to school in the fall, I think I will have a bit of time on my hands to read and learn more about how to make Pinterest more successful for me.
Thanks!!
Carrie Cook
Ling
@Carrie – yes I’ll be releasing my new and upcoming Pinterest Traffic ebook soon! I look forward to seeing you implement every single tip and strategy taught in there so you’ll finally get traffic to qualify for Mediavine ads!
I saw your Pinterest profile and I’m very happy to see you’re working on it. You’re hitting a plateau because you need to now focus on traffic and page views. I also recommend finding ways to brighten up your photos so they stand out on Pinterest. Food blogs are all about beautiful and staged photos!
Also, try to create pins that look like these or you can also purchase my templates here if you want to spruce up your Pinterest:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/canva-pinterest-templates/
Your blog has a good amount of content so it’s time for you to focus on learning Pinterest and promoting your content A LOT once you’re free and the kids get back to school. Your blog and Pinterest account has great potential and I highly encourage you to keep pumping out good recipes based on what users are looking for on Pinterest.
John
Hi Ling,
I haven’t touched blogging or my Pinterest Business account. I feel like I jumped out of an airplane without a parachute because my blogging plan wasn’t well thought out or even halfway thought out. I cancelled my blog account until I can collect my ideas and at least have a bit more time to dedicate to my blog/Pinterest Business. For now, I have too many projects that I haven’t finished to start yet another venture. I think the last time I counted, it was over ten projects that I have started and not finished. Starting the blog was a bit more than I could manage.
Ling
@John – yes, it can be overwhelming when you start too many projects. I always recommend my readers to start only one project and focus your time on that one thing.
For me, that was blogging! Once I was able to earn a full-time on my first blog, I decided to start a second blog for diversification and learning purposes. That didn’t happen until two years later because I wanted to really learn as much as I could and gain the necessary experience to avoid more mistakes for my second blog. Right now I just got started on building my 3rd blog going into my 5th year of blogging.
You can see how much time it takes just to get one project going so it’s best to stick to that one thing. Less is always more! 🙂
I really do look forward to seeing you start your blog! I’m really excited for you!
Suramya
Thank you for this amazing article, Ling!
I have not yet started my blog yet. A few reasons include the confusion about the niche and whether the time:money investment will be worth it.
I have a template blog site ready on wix to upload but not sure whether I should go anonymously or use it to support my portfolio on Digital Marketing. Or just start a blog on different niche.
Starting and maintaining a blog still remain on my 2022 resolutions.
Ling
@Suramya – glad you liked the article! I don’t know anything about Wix as I have never used it. I am seeing most people are using WordPress. I know that this is by far one of the most popular and standard platform. I have a tutorial here that will help you get started here:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog-on-bluehost/
I also have an article about blogging anonymously here. It’s how I got started and still works. I have another anonymous blog that’s making money too:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/anonymous-blog/
It doesn’t matter which direction you take. As long as you are focused and consistent, I believe the time and investment will be worth it!
Let me know once you started. I want to see you actually start and make progress!
Mandy
Not started my blog yet, still struggling with my niche as it covers humans, dogs and emotions? Finding it difficult to pull it all together.
Ling
@Mandy – I have this post to help you decide what to blog about:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/what-to-blog-about/
Are you looking to start a blog about dogs and pet owners? That niche works too!
Mandy
Hi Ling
Thanks for your blog post about starting a blog and using Pinterest, it has been helpful.
I have decided as I have many interests I am going to do a lifestyle blog aimed at dog moms who have dogs who suffer with anxiety and who may also suffer from anxiety themselves. It usually follows if a dog is anxious they are mirroring their owner and most the time the owner does not realise this. Because of this I’m not sure whether to target the dogs anxiety which then leads onto their own anxiety or to target both the dog and the owners anxiety ?
I have a word press blog set up on my website that I have never used so I was going to use that but, what I need is help getting traffic to it and what to post on it. I see it almost like a magazine sharing info on these areas is that a good way of thinking of it? Can I just write random posts about dogs and anxiety, how to calm them, what happens to their nervous system, products that help, how dogs can help ease anxiety in the owner?
If I buy your 30 day plan will I just start from already having my blog set up and go from there in terms of how to make money etc?
Many thanks for your help.
Mandy
Ling
@Mandy – your niche about dogs, owners, and emotions sounds very unique and interesting. You will have to find out if there are actually people searching for this very niche specific things.
I don’t advise to just randomly write whatever you want without knowing if ppl search for those things.
Most ppl that start blogs are on the more obvious, general and highly searched things. Like, if you start a pet or dog blog that solves a more general and common problem that ppl are more likely to search (e.g. how to train them, feed them, where to buy dog clothing, toys, food, how to walk your dog, or even more breed specific, etc.), then I can see making money opportunities. And of course once you can get traffic to your blog and build an audience, you can start blogging more about narrower topics like what you mentioned.
Again I don’t know the search volumes or how many ppl are actually looking for what you mentioned about dog emotions – you need to research on that.
My ebook is great to help anyone who is a beginner and wants to get their blog set up, launched and running correctly. I see many beginners jump ahead of themselves and make plenty mistakes that no one will warn or tell them about. It also includes a profitable roadmap for beginners who have no clue how blogs make money. I spill a lot of my personal experiences, tips and tricks that no one told me about. I also mention a lot of costly mistakes that beginners make so they don’t have to deal with those problems later (it’s more of the backend things behind the scenes of building a blog). This ebook is to give beginners a solid foundation before they look into traffic and monetizing strategies. Traffic and monetizing are two are separate courses. In fact, those can even be divided even further into in-depth specialized courses depending on what blogging strategy you plan to take (e.g. are you looking to get traffic from Pinterest or Google? Are you looking to monetize with display ads, aff marketing, sponsors, email marketing, or sponsors?) As you can see, there are a lot of components. But beginners aren’t expect to know all of this. I don’t know all the components because I focus on only a few strategies to earn a full time income. It’s always a work in progress and learning journey when it comes to blogging.
But you need a prerequisite program which is covered in my Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days ebook:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/blogging-success-ebook/
I highly recommend this before beginners move forward and learn something else. Think of it as babies need to learn how to crawl before they can walk, jog and then sprint. I hope this advice helps! 🙂
I’m excited to see you start your blog!
DaVaughn Jackson
Hi Ling!
I just started my blog on blogspot
which is primarily to sell our deceased daughter’s book of poetry since her death 3 years ago. I just wrote a couple posts about her/us and not sure if it makes sense. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
~DaVaughn🤗
Ling
@DaVaughn – great to hear you started your blog. And I’m sorry to hear about your daughter. 🙁
If you are looking to monetize your blog and/or sell books using your site, I don’t recommend blogspot because it’s not self-hosted meaning you don’t own your blog. If you are looking to earn an income from blogging I recommend starting a self-hosted blog which you can follow in this tutorial here:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-blog-and-make-money/
Let me know how it goes.
Karla
Hi Ling,
Thanks for this post.
You are right, I am stuck, I hit a wall with themes, I could not figure it out, I got frustrated and did not continue. I looked into getting someone from fiverr for a low rate, but then I realized, I did not have anything organized or set to go, I would have to pay the lowest rate because of budget. Plus, I don’t even write any articles yet.
I got overwhelmed with the protection packages (have no money to buy the starter one) but I know I should have it. Is it possible to leave it with the regular legalities offered by World press until I save some money to purchase the package?
I made the mistake of creating a Pinterest for a business account before launching my blog, so nothing is there.
Sorry, Ling, I am really frustrated now, but I really want to do this. How can I keep going forward?
Ling
@Karla – you don’t need to pay anyone for a theme if you’re a beginner blogger. If you have my ebook, The Treasure Map To Blogging Success, I mentioned you can go with a free theme like Astra. It’s very bare bones and not much tweak with this theme. In the Ebook, I also walk you through how to set up your blog so you don’t have to hire anyone to do the theme for you.
As a beginner, just focus on writing and publishing content. Make sure you follow what I say in my ebook regarding setup and the backend things.
When you have at least 10-15 posts, create a Pinterest business account and learn how to get traffic. That’s all you need for now to get started. You can look into improving your theme later once you start getting traffic.
I hope this helps!
Diane
Hi Ling,
I followed your guide on advertising and I’m having trouble with getting accepted into the “low bar” Google Adsense due to low value content. Before I thought it might be because I had only one post, but I’ve since added more. Looking into it, it could still be a number of things!
I know you said that a lot of bloggers don’t even bother with getting ads on their site and just focus on traffic until they can get to the better paying advertising companies and maybe I should just focus on that? Bc I don’t really want to spend too much time on what would be a few bucks in the long run.
Thanks!
Ling
@Diane – I usually encourage readers to focus on putting their efforts into building a solid foundation for their blog, which includes the proper backend setup in addition to writing content.
It’s a good idea to wait until you get at least 10,000 monthly pageviews and apply for display ads with Ezoic or SHE media. You could try Google AdSense at the beginning as their requirements are easier but you won’t earn much with them. But I can see your website is still too new. Not even 3 months yet.
I used to be with Google AdSense when I was a beginner. Seeing my first $100 paid from them gave me hope. Without it, I’m not sure if I would’ve continued with my blog. That challenged me to look for opportunities to increase my earnings. Without seeing my first small earnings, I probably wouldn’t have the same hope to continue on, so it really does depend on the individual.
Overall, I think you’re doing great! Your site looks awesome. Your next step is to continue writing and learn how you get traffic. I have a post here about that:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/how-to-get-traffic-from-pinterest/
Keep at it and let me know when you earn your first $100. I’m excited to hear all about it! 🙂
Lori
Hi ling
I have not started my blog yet. I am doing research and trying to get my website squared away. Part of the problem is trying to figure out what theme to use and how to navigate setting up my webpage. There is so much information that I’m getting overwhelmed with everything.
Ling
Hey Lori – I understand the beginning can be so overwhelming and frustrating. This is normal for beginners.
I felt the exact same way too. I had a lot of trouble setting up my theme and overall basic things. It was challenging at the beginning but eventually it does get easier to use and navigate as you learn.
For beginners, once you’ve started your blog and purchased a hosting plan, I recommend going with a basic and easy to use theme like Astra. You can search for this when you log into your dashboard. It’s a free theme.
You don’t need too many, or extravagant things during this set up period and you can easily change this afterwards once you have a little more experience.
There are a lot of experienced bloggers who still use Astra theme and they don’t even bother to change it since they still generate a full time income without having a fancy theme.
I always recommend my readers this beginner friendly ebook that will help them get their blog up and running as quick as possible without overwhelm and wasting time:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/blogging-success-ebook/
It also helps you to avoid the biggest mistakes which are very crucial to building a successful blog. I understand the pain, frustration and struggle because I went though it myself. This is the exact guide I wish I had when I first started!
I hope this helps. Please let me know your progress.
Swati
I actually started my blog previously and there had been something wrong, but I want to start new fresh blog. I am just setting up a pinterest business account for blogging. I want a fresh start. Please guide me for those steps.
Ling
Hey Swati
If you haven’t yet enrolled in my 7 free day email course on how to start a profitable blog, I recommend signing up. If you already have, make sure to go through each day’s lessons and review them.
I have this blog checklist post that will help you get started too:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/starting-a-blog-checklist/
Lastly, this really comprehensive and affordable guide, The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days, will be a game changer for you. It will help you set up your blog from scratch and give you the roadmap to avoid costly mistakes and make it profitable:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/blogging-success-ebook/
Please let me know once you start your blog using my guide. I’d love to hear all about it.
Sania Malik
Hello Ling
I really want to start blogging but there is some problem because I don’t have a laptop yet. I am trying to buy a one. I don’t know if I would be able to become a successful blogger with this financial problem. Please if you can help tell me some suggestions. I have also wrote some blogs in my notebook but don’t have the capability to upload them.
Ling
Hi Sania – that’s awesome to hear you are currently working on your posts.
Keep saving up for that laptop and make it a priority if you’re very serious about starting a blog.
I highly recommend investing in a laptop asap because you’ll want to start your blog as early as possible and be sure to consistently post on them! You want your website and Pinterest account to age as you keep posting your content since it can take up to 5-6 months for Google and Pinterest to recognize you are active on your blog. 🙂
Once you have your laptop, you can get started with my tutorial here:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-blog-and-make-money/
I look forward to hearing back from you to see how far you’ve gone. I’m really excited to see you start your blog and use Pinterest to drive traffic!