Best FTP Client is WinSCP

Reddit Tips on Blogging:

-We make around 40 to 50k per month, mostly from online classes and a subscription
product. We intentionally don't display ads , self hosted blog on wpengine servers
with around 125k monthly uniques, our success has come from having a fast loading
site, great content aligned with our readers, and building an email list over time
- Find a good niche around a topic that will generate traffic and read '1000 true
fans' to get started. Jon Morrow's boost blog traffic is good, so is Niel Patels
quicksprout blog, and Brian Dean of backlinko for current SEO traffic ideas

- I run a style blog for shorter men called The Modest Man. In 2015, this site
generated about $36k revenue total. In 2016 it generated just under $90k.
I love the shape of this chart! Here's a breakdown by category (total for 2016):

Advertising/Sponsorships: $52,837
Digital Products: $11,195
Affiliate Commissions: $23,410
TOTAL = $89,207

Of the 50 new posts published in 2016, these three were the most popular:

#1: 25 Watches for Small Wrists

#2: 15 Famous Tall Women Who Love Short Men
#3: Dress Better by Avoiding These 10 Rookie Errors

https://www.themodestman.com/2016-review/

-Robert Farrington founder of TheCollegeInvestor.com, targeted at anyone who wants

to get out of student loan debt and start building wealth. We cover every topic on
student loans you can image, as well as investing topics. I’m a firm believer in
side hustling, so we discuss that a lot as well (just like I did through college).

Today, the site gets a 1,000,000 page views per month, and earns over $50,000 per
month, share my thoughts about investing, the stock market, and trades. My friends
were like, “That’s great, but we don’t have money to invest and we’re saddled with
these student loans.”

That really gave me focus, and I started writing on money topics that others would
like to read. It became the turning point of my site. Plus, I was looking at
graduating with $43,000 in student loans, so it was easy to relate.

However, through the blog and other side hustles (like selling on eBay), I was able
to get out of student loan debt in 3 years. Then, I was able to buy a house, and
eventually quit my day job at 33. It took me a while to start connecting with other
bloggers and learning how to make money online. I started with the basics – Amazon
and AdSense. I also had some direct buy sponsored posts. Today, we make money
through various ways:

Mostly via Affiliate Marketing, Display Advertising, Sponsored Content, Direct

Product Salesand Brand Consulting.

My goal is to not let one way dominate, as it’s nice to have revenue stream
diversity.

Today we’re making over $50,000 per month on the site – a long way from the
beginning.
If you’re looking to make money on your blog, the best thing you can do is think
about the readers and identify they product/tool/shortcut that they are looking
for.

Really focus on understanding what the reader came to your website for, and see if
you can connect them with that answer.

Many times there’s a product or tool available that you could potentially be an
affiliate for. Sometimes it might make sense to create a product and sell.

Either way, the money will come when you can solve your readers problems quickly.
The best thing I ever did to build traffic to my website was network with other
bloggers in the personal finance space. Connecting with others – first via their
blogs and social media – enabled me to start building reciprocal relationships.
Suddenly they would share my content and link to my site. That was a huge turning
point for my blog.

Next, building strong relationships on social media has also proven successful.
Focus on just 1-2 platforms, and really engage with your readers. Right now I’m
loving both YouTube and Facebook Groups. These platforms are awesome from an
engagement perspective, and can drive great traffic if done right.

I leverage Asana as a content calendar, and I add in blog post ideas all the time.
Right now, we probably have a queue of about 90 blog post ideas ready to be
written. I then plan out my content calendar for 3-6 months – with daily posts M-F.

Currently (in January), we’re planned out into April. I actually write the blog
post about a week in advance, sometimes a little earlier. I also have a team of
writers that assist me. I write about 1-2x per week, with my writers filling in the
other articles.

To create the best content, length does matter, but it’s not everything. We
typically write 2,000 word posts, but sometimes it’s less. Most blog posts have
multiple sub-headings, with a table of contents up top.

Reviews have a quick summary, and M-F we publish a daily audio show (podcast),
where we convert the blog post into audio format for readers to listen to if they
prefer.

One blog post per week typically gets a video as well. Almost every review we write
gets a video, and then we also create unique video content for some article as well
to compliment the article.

So, our “top content” has:

In depth written format

Images (including screenshots, custom images)

Audio

Video

All of this works to create a piece of content that’s in-depth and hopefully “the
best” on the subject. We also provide the audio and visual mediums so that people
can consume the content in whatever format they prefer.

Finally, you have to promote this content. We create different campaigns for every
social platform (with unique images and copy) and promote accordingly.
What’s your advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

My best advice to bloggers starting out is to simply connect with other bloggers in
your space. Read their blogs and comment. Follow them on social and interact. Be
helpful and courteous – don’t just self-promote.

econd, always take care of your readers. Answer their questions. Respond to their
comments. Thank them on social media. The better the relationship you readers think
they have with you, the stronger and faster your brand will grow.

Finally, you have to be consistent. If you want to be a successful blogger, you

need to write at least 2x per week for a year. If you can successfully do that, I
guarantee you that you’ll be earning some money on your blog and have a small
audience.

Too many bloggers start, but fizzle out after a few months. It takes time and
consistency. If you’re consistent for a year, you’re already going to be ahead of
99% of other bloggers.