I have created a new and improved version of K Money Mastery which is called, Mastering Book Publishing!
The core foundation of my business that has allowed me to earn well over $40,000 per month online has been my blog, ProjectLifeMastery.com. Through creating high quality video blogs consistently, I’ve been able to build my own brand and reputation. This blog has allowed me to build a following of loyal fans and people that trust me, which has led to further success in all of my other income streams. My blog funnels into my Kindle e-books, allows me to profit from affiliate marketing, promoting my own courses, as well as getting coaching clients.
In the video blog below, I reveal how my blog works and how I use it to make money online. I also share what it takes to create your own blog and how to make your blog profitable from scratch.
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
Do you want my proven step-by-step system for publishing books on Amazon? CLICK HERE to purchase my new and improved Mastering Book Publishing course!
HOW I GOT INTO BLOGGING…
When I was 24 years old, I had the unique experience of becoming“financially free”. I was making over $60,000 per year through an online business that I was running, selling information products. That $5000 per month that this business produced was more than enough to cover my lifestyle expenses, which was really cool.
While being financially free and never having to work was a cool feeling, it soon became boring. I found myself in a place where I was unfulfilled in my life and had no purpose for each day. I had nothing that really drove me or motivated me to grow and give beyond myself. The online business that I was running wasn’t my “passion”, it was just a means to make money.
The gift that being financially free gave me was the opportunity to think about my life in different ways. I began to ponder, “What do I really want to do in this lifetime? What is my mission and purpose?” I also began asking, “What would make me happy?” and “How can I share my gifts with the world?”
These questions pointed me in the direction of blogging – doing what I do now. I’ve always had an immense passion and drive within myself to grow and to give. Since the age of 17 I’ve been constantly improving myself in every shape and form. I’m hungry to be the best that I can be and to fulfill my potential on this planet. I’ve always believed that the more that I grow and become better, the more that I am able to give and help others. That’s when I came up with the idea of creating a blog that could help me accomplish this mission – Project Life Mastery.
I created this blog without any expectation to make money from it. I just wanted a place where I could share things that I was doing in my life and what was helping me. I believe that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it, so by blogging and creating videos about things I was learning, I was really helping myself.
That’s why I began sharing reviews of books that I was reading and my morning ritual and my life plan. I also wanted to use my blog to help hold me accountable to some of my goals. That’s why in 2012, I made it a goal to compete in a fitness competition and decided to blog about my journey and transformation. By blogging about it, it helped me stay accountable to this goal, which I achieved back in 2012. I also decided to share my goals publicly as well, as it’d help me be more motivated and accountable to achieving them.
At the time, I had no clue that sharing myself so openly and honestly would have such an impact on others. The information that I was sharing ended up getting out there more and more on the internet, resulting in helping thousands of people around the world. I slowly began receiving comments on my blog posts andYouTube videos. I started to get e-mails from people constantly, just thanking me for helping them or asking me for advice. Eventually, people started requesting to work with me 1-on-1 to help them with their goals, which is how my coaching program was created.
As time went on, I began to develop a consistent following of people that love my blog. They look forward to each video blog that I put out and have become fans. I believe it’s because I’ve been so open and transparent that I’m able to connect with people in a deep way and build a powerful relationship. By helping others and providing value, it builds trust and a bond like no other.
There’s a great saying by Zig Ziglar, which is“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help others get what they want.” This is very true, as I believe the secret to wealth is to add value to other peoples lives and to help people. The more people you add value to and help, the more money you make also.
While blogging isn’t the most “passive” of income streams or isn’t something that happens quickly, it is definitely the most fulfilling thing that I do. Blogging requires a lot of time and hard work. It isn’t something that I can automate or outsource. I can’t hire others to create the quality blog posts that I do or the videos that I create. I have to do it myself and put myself out there in the world.
Project Life Mastery, however, is my passion. It’s my mission and purpose in life. It’s my vehicle to be able to grow and give to others. I do it because I WANT to do it, not because I HAVE to. Blogging doesn’t feel like work in any way – it’s fun for me. It’s a hobby and I’ll likely continue to do this for the rest of my life.
Yes, I have been blessed to make money from blogging (which I’ll go into later), but the money I earn from it is secondary. The joy and fulfillment I experience by doing what I love is matched by nothing else out there.
HOW I MAKE MONEY BLOGGING
Once I started to get a consistent stream of visitors to my blog, I was then able to look at ways of making money from blogging. I currently have monetized my blog in the following ways:
- Kindle Publishing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Information Products
- Coaching & Consulting
In my blog posts, I sometimes do reviews of certain products or things that have benefited me. If I refer people to purchase someone else’s product or service, I can sometimes earn a commission (or referral fee) by doing so. This is called affiliate marketing, which is another way that I make money blogging.
An example of this would be the 100 Day Challenge review that I share so passionately on my blog. This is something that has changed my life in so many ways for the positive that I want to share it with others. As a result of sharing it, I can also earn money by doing so also – isn’t that cool?
I also use my blog to build my e-mail list. When people visit my blog, I want to make sure to get them to subscribe to my newsletter, so that I can remain in contact with them and build a relationship with them. This allows me to send them more of my video blogs (free content that adds value), as well as promote products or services that I offer (Kindle e-books, affiliate marketing, information products, or coaching).
By having a consistent stream of visitors and followers, I am also able to survey them to find out exactly what they want. This has helped me to get ideas for products or services that would benefit my audience. This is what compelled me to create my own information product, a video training course called Mastering Book Publishing. This was my first information product that I now sell through my blog, which has been another passive income stream for me.
And finally, I’ve been able to make money through coaching and consulting. When you become successful, people want to learn from you and be around you. They want to model your success or have you help them achieve success in their own lives. They look up to you and are inspired by what you’re doing. In my case, I’ve never really had to “promote” myself as a coach. I have people come to me and message me, asking me to work with me 1-on-1 and offer to pay me in exchange. That’s what led me to create an actual coaching program, which gives me the ability to help people on a more personal level.
These are the main ways that I make money blogging. Of course, there are many other ways you can monetize a blog as well, which I will go into below.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING
1. Find A Niche Or Market That You Want To Blog About
- Since blogging is a long-term, active process that requires years of hard work, then you want to make sure it’s going to be on something that you are going to ENJOY blogging about and have a passion for.
- Make sure there’s a market for your niche if you expect to make money from it down the road.
2. Come Up With A Name For Your Blog
- Make sure it’s something that represents what your blog will be about.
- It has to be something that people can easily remember, so they can come back to it.
- You want to ensure that the .com domain name is available for the name of your blog.
3. Order Your Domain Name, Get Hosting And Set Up Your Blog Using WordPress
- Set up hosting for your blog, which will require a small monthly fee to host your blog. I use BlueHost orHostGator.
- Install WordPress (free) on your hosting platform and set it up.
- Watch this video blog I created on how to set up your blog in minutes (includes free domain name and WordPress blog).
4. Set Up A Theme And Design For Your Blog
- Install a theme for your blog to make it look good (there are many free ones available here).
- If you want to pay for a theme, there’s many good ones at WooThemes.
- I use Thesis theme for my blog, which allows me to customize it in any way that I want.
- Get a logo designed for your blog. I used 99Designs for my logo, but you can also get one inexpensively at Fiverr for only $5.
5. Write And Produce High Quality Content That Helps People
- 90% of your efforts should be focused on producing high quality content that helps people.
- Your content has to be SO GOOD that people will like and share it naturally. It has to make people want to come back to your blog again and again.
- Try to be personal in your content. Share stories about yourself and your life, so that people can relate to you.
- Go beyond just writing – explore doing YouTube videos or even a podcast.
- The more content you put out, the more you will get found on the internet, which will get you more visitors.
6. Share Your Content As Much As You Can
- With each blog post, you want to share it as much as you can to get it out there.
- Share it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
- Use websites like Reddit and StumbleUpon to get your content out there.
7. Make Sure Your Blog Is SEO Optimized
- Optimize your blog for Google and the search engines, to take advantage of free traffic.
- Install a Sitemap and Privacy Policy to your blog.
- Set up a SEO Plugin, like All In One SEO Pack, and optimize your titles, descriptions and keywords.
- Include keywords in your titles and descriptions of each blog post.
- Make sure you use internal linking between blog posts.
- Produce high quality content, aim for over 1,000+ words for each blog post.
8. Set Up An E-Mail List And Begin Collecting E-Mails
- Give away something for free, in exchange for their e-mail, like a free report or video.
- Use Aweber to collect the e-mails and set up an auto-responder series.
- I also use OptinSkin and OptinMonster to further collect e-mails from my subscribers.
- Share any new content you produce with your e-mail subscribers to build a relationship with them.
9. Start Monetizing Your Blog
- You can begin looking at ways to monetize your blog once you are getting around 100+ visitors per day.
- You don’t want to try to monetize your blog too soon, as it will turn people off and prevent you from getting loyal fans.
- You can make money from your blog in the following ways:
- Advertising
- Affiliate Marketing
- Kindle Publishing
- Information Products
- Physical Products
- Apps or Softwares
- Coaching & Consulting
- You want to survey your list and followers to find out what they want and then give that to them.
- The goal is to build a following and audience first before you consider making money from them in any way. This is the most important thing. You always must put their interest above yours and cherish your audience.
10. Promote Your Blog As Much As You Can
- Once your e-mail list and a monetization strategy is set up, you now want to drive as much traffic to your blog as you can.
- Do guest posting on other peoples blogs to get visitors from them.
- Try to get interviewed on others blogs, podcasts or YouTube channels.
- Set up a Facebook fan page and use Facebook ads to drive traffic back to your blog.
- Comment on others blogs and include a link back to your blog in your name.
- Post in forums and message boards in your market. Be an active, contributing member and add value to others. You can include a link in your signature back to your blog.
These are the steps that I’ve taken to build Project Life Mastery to where it is today. My blog now gets over 2,000 unique visitors per day and has a great following of loyal fans, which continues to grow everyday. It took me a long time to get here, but it’s been worth it.
If you’re looking for a great course to help you learn blogging and get started, then there’s two that I can recommend that I’ve personally been through. The first isFizzle, which has a course called Start A Blog That Matters. The second isBlogging With John Chow, which is a powerful course that actually taught me how to really make money from my blog and profit from it.
For a more complete list of resources that I recommend, click here.
To view the other video blogs of this series on Exactly How I Make Over $40,000 Per Month Online, click below:
Do you want my proven step-by-step system for publishing books on Amazon? CLICK HERE to purchase my new and improved Mastering Book Publishing course!