I helped a friend earn a full-time income through blogging.
Here's what we did step-by-step:
Here's what we did step-by-step:
1. Choosing the niche
Fortunately, this was easy.
He's played an instrument all his life and studied under some of the world’s best.
Fortunately, this was easy.
He's played an instrument all his life and studied under some of the world’s best.
The niche has:
- Medium-high search demand
- Many problems to help solve
- Low, medium and high-value affiliate products
- Potential for 4+ monetisation methods
- Low-medium competitiveness
- Medium-high search demand
- Many problems to help solve
- Low, medium and high-value affiliate products
- Potential for 4+ monetisation methods
- Low-medium competitiveness
2. Buying the domain
We wanted a name that:
- Was short and brandable
- Gave him the option to expand into other areas of music
We wanted a name that:
- Was short and brandable
- Gave him the option to expand into other areas of music
3. Setting up the website
CMS: WordPress
Theme: GeneratePress
Hosting: Cloudways (DigitalOcean)
Logo: Wordmark created on Canva
CMS: WordPress
Theme: GeneratePress
Hosting: Cloudways (DigitalOcean)
Logo: Wordmark created on Canva
4. Researching topics
We exported all the keywords in the niche from:
- Competitors
- Seed keywords
Then we grouped:
- Keywords into topics
- Topics into clusters
And prioritised the topic clusters based on:
- Competitiveness
- Traffic potential
- Revenue potential
We exported all the keywords in the niche from:
- Competitors
- Seed keywords
Then we grouped:
- Keywords into topics
- Topics into clusters
And prioritised the topic clusters based on:
- Competitiveness
- Traffic potential
- Revenue potential
5. Publishing high-quality content
He wrote 15 posts in one sprint.
Each post was better than anything else on Google.
How?
- More detailed
- Used lots of visuals
- Unique and expert content
- He even recorded videos and audio
Most posts were 2K-3K words long.
He wrote 15 posts in one sprint.
Each post was better than anything else on Google.
How?
- More detailed
- Used lots of visuals
- Unique and expert content
- He even recorded videos and audio
Most posts were 2K-3K words long.
6. Life happened…
He didn’t touch the site for 12 months.
But when he came back, the site had just begun to pick up.
Month 9: 448 sessions
Month 10: 1,977 sessions
Month 11: 6,050 sessions
Month 12: 7,083 sessions
He didn’t touch the site for 12 months.
But when he came back, the site had just begun to pick up.
Month 9: 448 sessions
Month 10: 1,977 sessions
Month 11: 6,050 sessions
Month 12: 7,083 sessions
Pretty standard timeline for a blog with:
- Only 15 blog posts
- A brand new domain (Google sandbox)
- No other marketing (e.g. for backlinks)
- Only 15 blog posts
- A brand new domain (Google sandbox)
- No other marketing (e.g. for backlinks)
7. Monetising the traffic
We started with 3 methods:
- Ads (only Ezoic)
- Affiliate links (mostly Amazon)
- Online 1:1 tutoring on Zoom
We started with 3 methods:
- Ads (only Ezoic)
- Affiliate links (mostly Amazon)
- Online 1:1 tutoring on Zoom
Over the next 6 months he:
- Posted another 6 posts
- Got to 20k sessions per month
- Built his email list to ~1,750
- Replaced his other income
- Started travelling…
- Posted another 6 posts
- Got to 20k sessions per month
- Built his email list to ~1,750
- Replaced his other income
- Started travelling…
BUT most of the income relied on his time.
So, he turned his service (online lessons) into a course (lower-ticket offer) and raised the price of his service.
He’s sold 5-figures worth of courses in a few months. And helps a handful of people who want 1:1 tutoring.
So, he turned his service (online lessons) into a course (lower-ticket offer) and raised the price of his service.
He’s sold 5-figures worth of courses in a few months. And helps a handful of people who want 1:1 tutoring.
To summarise, it took:
- 18 months
- 21 blog posts
- 2 landing pages
- 1 lead magnet for emails
- 1 course with 36 short videos
- £47.98 per month in expenses
Was it perfect?
Nope.
But it’s a realistic journey for new website owners.
- 18 months
- 21 blog posts
- 2 landing pages
- 1 lead magnet for emails
- 1 course with 36 short videos
- £47.98 per month in expenses
Was it perfect?
Nope.
But it’s a realistic journey for new website owners.
Life gets in the way.
The wait can be demotivating.
Writing to no one can be uninspiring.
But he came back and has stuck at it ever since.
In fact, he's now all in...
The wait can be demotivating.
Writing to no one can be uninspiring.
But he came back and has stuck at it ever since.
In fact, he's now all in...
Would you start a blogging side project?
If you enjoyed this thread:
1. Follow me @jakezward for more
2. RT the tweet below to share it with others
If you enjoyed this thread:
1. Follow me @jakezward for more
2. RT the tweet below to share it with others
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