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How to Make Money as a Blogger

Nobody believes anyone can make money as a blogger, let alone $1 Million a year. If you ask most people, they will say, “Don’t quit your day job”, or “That’s just a pipe dream.”, or my favorite:

“Blogging?  That’s not a “real” job, it’s a hobby, right?” 

I don’t know, just ask Aimee Song, The Man Repeller or the Chiara Ferragni of the Blonde Salad, who by the way, pulled in a reported $8 Million in 2015.  And those are the top fashion bloggers right now.  Think about even the successful bottom tier bloggers and what they are making.  According to research, the average blogger with 40,000+ page views per month is pulling in anything from $5,000 to  $40,000+ per month.  Yep, you read that correctly.

Still think you can’t make money blogging? 

how to make money as a travel fashion blogger

First of all, Bloggers Sell Their Expertise

My Tween Fashion Blog makes a good chunk of change per year and has over 45,000 visitors per month. And I don’t really feel like I do anything. Or, at least all I could be doing, or as much as some bloggers do.

How?

I’ll be happy to tell you. First of all, most of the advice you’ll read out there is crap or outdated.  All of that “AdSense monetizing your blog” info is complete nonsense. Monetizing your blog with AdWords does nothing for you except clutter up your content with annoying ads. The money you get in return is pennies —literally.

For example, do you see any giant ads on this site?

Not really.  There’s a reason why.

I am a Fashion Designer, Branding and Digital Marketing gal.  My blogs are my platforms to offer my expert opinions, reviews, advice and sometimes products. I have been designing professionally since 2003, and I have been marketing and selling online since 1999. In fact, I began my fashion career in similar ways as Sophia Amoruso, Founder of Nasty Gal. 

Long before blogs, there were other ways to sell expert advice.

Experience is Profitable.

I began buying and re-selling clothes on eBay in 1999.  I would visit my local thrift stores and find used, designer and vintage clothes to resell through my eBay store.  By 2001, I had worked my way up to buying and reselling in large quantities and importing stock lots from factories overseas.  In fact, one month I made $60,000 in sales. 

After only one year in business, I had sourced and collected literally hundreds of businesses across the USA who were wholesale apparel sellers, liquidators, outlets and resources for B2B sales.  And then I realized there were thousands of new eBay sellers every day begging for information that I had.  I realized I was sitting on very valuable information. I compiled my first Wholesale Apparel eBook and sold it online through my first e-commerce site I built with Dreamweaver. I sold a lot of these at $49 each.  A lot.

Bloggers are Value-Adders

You see, Bloggers don’t make most of their money selling ad space or earning dimes for clicks. Bloggers are essentially teachers adding value, and fashion and/or travel bloggers are a branded platform.  

What they sell are their ideas, a feeling, expertise, experiences, info, and eventually products. Fashion Bloggers are the experts and trendsetters in their field. They start with rich, relevant content to target their audience and work their way into building up that audience to — you guessed it: sell their product, or sell other people’s products.

Chiara Ferragni started off as a Look of the Day gal in 2009, but she now has her own collection and a few million per year with The Chiara Ferragni collection. THAT is where her money comes from my darlings.

How You Can Make Money as a Blogger

If you are reading this, you have probably dug into every piece of information you could get your hands on about quitting your job and making a living blogging.  But the truth is until you figure out how to sell what you know,  you probably aren’t going to make money blogging. Building up your readership is key. And you can’t build up that readership if you aren’t providing information that’s useful or relevant.

People want information. Information sells. Stories are great, but stories don’t make bloggers wealthy–unless they turn the story into a tangible product (a book, or movie).  

Above all else: Work on the quality of your content first. You won’t make money right away. The first year or so is going to be a personal investment. 

For me, my blog provides info on the best brands, the best stores, what’s trending, what’s awesome and what sucks.  And my niche happens to be the Tween, Girls and Juniors market. Yours may be completely different, but that’s up to you to decide and refine.

Fashion provides a steady, constant moving stream of information.  People want to know what boots are hot this season, what dress to wear to the holiday party, what to wear, how they should style their hair, etc. This is where the fashion blogger comes in.

Monetize Your Expertise

My head is full of useful information. I have been involved with the fashion industry for 16 years.  I have taken my knowledge and skills and transferred that energy into teaching what I know.  

Your head is full of useful information, too. Stick to what you know.
And don’t worry if it’s just a niche market, either. Just ask this guy: Gary Vaynerchuk. His niche was wine.

If you take some of what I learned and apply it to your blog, it’ll pay off for you.

Because here’s the thing: You can make money blogging.  

A million bloggers and Vloggers out there can’t be wrong.  What everyone wants is information.  All the time.  And of course, you can be the person they come to for that information.  

How to Make Money as a Blogger

So, here’s the beginning to what you need to know to get started making money as a blogger.

PRO-TIP  RULE #1: Before you get started as a serious blogger looking to turn your blog into real money, invest in your blog. Don’t use a freebie blog site. Self-host a WordPress site from the beginning! Read Why a Self-Hosted site with WordPress is critical  If you are already on a Blogger or free version of WordPress.com, it’s no biggie, you can easily transfer over.

Lesson #1:  You’re Not “Just a Fashion Blogger” or a “Travel Blogger” or “Food Blogger”

You’re an expert, a teacher, a mentor. Your blog is simply a springboard for all of those things. Perhaps you can offer more than just daily posts, right?

You have a bigger goal, a bigger vision, it’s just not incubated long enough.  But it will.  Keep your head and your eye on the bigger picture.

Look around, and you’ll find nearly all fashion bloggers who make a decent income have an active Instagram account full of fantastic product and lifestyle shots, fashion show attendance, product endorsements, their own fashion collections, books, a consulting or trend forecasting business, side gigs etc. 

THAT is how they make money.

Their blog and their Instagram account is just the platform where they introduce themselves, give away cool stuff or talk about the things that spark interest to attract followers, customers or clients. Their interesting ideas and perspective, coupled with rich content = Followers, which equals audience. And as we all know, audience = influence = $$$

Lesson #2: Don’t Rely on Selling Advertising

Selling ads can be attractive, because it’s income that generates without really doing anything (passive income), but it’s generally minimal unless it’s ad space bought by a big brand, OR you have a million followers and you are using a platform like liketoknow.it or  RewardStyle.me to sell OPP – Other People’s Products. If your blog gets a ton of traffic, you will do OK with just impressions.

So, unless your ad space is purchased from someone like Gucci or Prada, say “nada”.


Why push someone else’s product for pennies, if you can make 5-10 x more money using that same “ad space” to sell your own products or services?  At the very least, promote an affiliate product that is either cohesive with your blog theme (i.e. health and wellness, fitness, high fashion, etc.) or a brand that you love -and one that will make you a significant profit per month. 

For example, try signing up with shareasale.com or Rakuten Marketing.  Some fashion brands will pay up to 20% commissions in sales.

When I first started out, I signed up for big brands for the names, but they barely paid 3% commissions and although I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth,  it just didn’t add up. 

I discovered after my first year that I had been pushing their brand and watching their sales increase based on my efforts, and I was literally getting a few dollars in return. In the first year as an affiliate, I generated 1.3 million impressions and $17,200 in sales.

My commission for that year was peanuts ($605).

how affiliate marketing works

Example of Affiliate Program Sales

What I realized was if I applied that same effort to my own products, I could make what they were making.  Viola!  Do you see how it works?

People were coming in for my content, but spending dollarinos elsewhere.

If you do choose to go with affiliate marketing (until you get your own product, of course), set your baseline commission standards to at least 15% or don’t waste your time.  Your time is extremely valuable. Crafting awesome posts takes you hours, and pushing a brand for pennies is just not worth it.

After all, your goal is to make $50,000 per month right? Right!

Stop working for free.

Now, If you consider the possibility of a $25,000 month of sales for all of your affiliates combined, and your baseline is 15%  Your monthly commission is $3,750.  Makes a bit of difference, doesn’t it?

I reiterate you CAN make money as a blogger.

On my blog, I mostly promote my own brand, products, and services now, but I am also in the process of writing a book about How to Market Your Brand.  The bottom line: Think bigger than ad space or paid reviews. Sure, you may get free stuff and that’s totally fine if you’re going for that. Free stuff is fun but it’s not going to allow you to quit your day job and really earn a living blogging, or send you and your family on vacation. So if your goal is to earn a 6-figure income blogging, set your standards high.

CONTENT IS THE NEW SOCIAL CURRENCY

Lesson #3:  Build Your Content

You’re an expert, give the world your expert knowledge.  Don’t hammer your readers with sales pitches, or too many ‘buy me, buy me’ posts.  Your whole point for being here is to offer valuable information.  The good, the bad, the ugly – Not a car salesman pitch at every turn. Be polite. It’s much better to build relationships and trust by giving readers some valuable content before you begin talking about or pushing your products and services. Yes, you might make less money in the short term, but the long-term profits are so worth it.  

In the blogger world, photos are everything.  So, make sure you partner with a good photographer who can work with you often to create the overall look and mood of the clothes you may be presenting.  Reach out to stylists and brands to collaborate.  I cannot stress enough the need to collaborate.  It is vital, especially if you are going for stylistic shoots, and highlighting products.

Lesson #4: Don’t Be The “Bottleneck”

Time is your biggest obstacle as a blogger. There just isn’t enough of it.  Not only are we expected to publish a continuous stream of photos on Instagram and publish content on our blogs, but we also have to make time to create creative assets, giveaways, and promotions, schedule styling shoots – if you do that sort of thing, deal with technical issues, read books and articles about the industry, design, create new products to sell (I certainly do, anyhow) and answer questions from readers. 

Did I mention social media management also?  The list really goes on and on for days.  It is more than a full-time job, and you have to be prepared to put in the work.

Many days, my job as a Designer and managing my business starts at 6:30 AM and doesn’t end until about 8 PM.  I have found myself literally doing

E V E R Y T H I N G.

But you will learn quickly, and maybe you already have, that you CAN’T do everything.

You just can’t. And you shouldn’t if you want to succeed as a fashion blogger.

So, what’s the answer?

Your job as a fashion blogger is a lot like the manufacturing process. If one machine is down or working slower than others in a factory, it can literally cost the company tens of thousands of dollars per hour. If something slips up and a batch of tees get dyed the wrong color because someone was overworked, it will cost another several hundred thousand dollars. 

To make sure snags don’t happen, manufacturers and brands have Product Developers and Production Managers,  Why?  Because they are worth every penny of their $100K+ per year salary, and they eliminate these snags or “bottlenecks”.

The same is true for us, except the solutions are a little different.  We will want to focus on the area(s) where we are the most bottlenecked and find a solution to free up that valuable time.  We might sign up for a service or purchase new software tools that automate some of our social media workflow, or we might hire an assistant. It can be expensive, yes, but it’s worthwhile if it saves you time. Because you can then dedicate that extra time to higher value activities that yield better ROI.

Lesson #5:  Time is Money

Put a price on high-value activities.  What are “high-value activities”?

Well, it depends on your goal. If your goal is to increase your blog traffic, then start measuring the ‘visitors per hour invested’.

For example, if you invest three hours in writing a post or shooting a post for Instagram and it brings you, 100 visitors, and you invest five hours in writing a guest post (or collaborating with another Instagrammer) which brings you, 500 visitors, the first post has an hourly rate of 33 visitors per hour. The second post has an hourly rate of 100 visitors per hour. Guest posting and/or collaborating with an established blogger, therefore, is a better use of your time than writing content on your own blog (in the beginning).

Anticipation builds momentum.

Consider the possibility of building up your content and following before launching your blog.  The last thing you want to do is post regular content if nobody is reading.  Get your visitors and followers ready with a ‘coming soon’ page and collect emails for the next 30, 60 or 90 days while you build out your blog, take photos, create content and make connections with other bloggers as a Guest Contributor.  I took this strategy with my Berry Jane website and the response was astounding.  I had a ‘coming soon’ page up for three months before launching and I was able to grow my email list to nearly 1,000 in no time flat.

Lesson #6:  Facebook, Twitter, Google+ may be a waste of valuable resources

Wait, does this mean having followers in those places is useless?  No. Facebook is OK because you can reach your followers there (if that’s where they spend the majority of their time) and utilize Facebook Ads. Facebook is still the #1 platform in the world, but Instagram is quickly gaining the #1 spot. Google+ (which is now obsolete as of 3/24/2019) may help boost your search engine rankings. Even with those benefits though, it shouldn’t be at the top of your priority list.

In my opinion, you shouldn’t think about them at all until you hit 10,000 followers/subscribers, and then you can outsource the social media management to someone else. Use your time more efficiently in other places, such as Instagram, YouTube, Stylish Shots, Product Reviews and Writing Longer Content.

Why longer content?

Longer content gets much more traffic and is more SEO friendly than shorter content.  The sweet spot seems to be about 2,000–3,000 words per post (This post, for example, is appx. 3,070 words).

Lesson #7:  Promote, Promote, Promote!

Promote the heck out of your content.  I’m not talking about just sharing your posts to your Followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I’m talking about blogger outreach. Build relationships with influencers and asking them to share your work.

It comes back to TIME.  When your blog is new, the most efficient uses of your time is: building relationships with influencers (including guest blogging), creating content worth linking to and selling your products and services. I have worked with a broad range of brands and companies from Target to Simon and Schuster, Pac Sun and even Dollar Shave Club. 

If you follow just those three things well, not only will your blog gain traffic and prominence, but you’ll also start getting search traffic (organically) without doing anything.

Lesson #8: Build Your Email List.  

(It’s More Important Than You Realize)

In my experience, your email list is the most accurate predictor of how much money you’ll make blogging.

A successful Blogger makes around $3 per subscriber per month. If you’re new to this, I would aim for $1 per subscriber per month in sales. In other words, an email list of 1,000 subscribers should result in at least $1,000 per month in sales, 10,000 subscribers would result in $10,000 per month and so on.

The more subscribers you get, the more money you make. Of course, your relationships, quality of content and products are key to success.

Sell “You”

Don’t just turn your blog into a big sales pitch. I see that with so many bloggers and it gets annoying fast, plus it’s just not very personal.  And “personal” is what got a lot of these fashion bloggers where they are today.  They created content that made followers feel connected.  I see this with Aimee Song.  We love to see her photos on Instagram, but her blog and Instagram account is basically a show and tell platform to sell what she’s wearing.

Be real and personable. Sell your knowledge and ideas, but don’t become just a machine for selling. Nobody likes that.

Remember to keep offering something your audience wants and needs. I’m interested to hear your comments on this subject and see what has worked for you, and what hasn’t!  If you’re just starting out, keep plugging away.  Starfruit takes time to ripen.  

You’ve got this. ❤️

How To Start A WordPress Blog Using Bluehost

How To Start A WordPress.org Blog or eCommerce Site On Bluehost

If you’re looking for information on WordPress blogs or launching your own blog or website using WordPress (wordpress.org, NOT wordpress.com) with Bluehost, you’ve come to the right place! In this tutorial, you will learn why a self-hosted WordPress blog is better than any other, how to install WordPress and simple step by step instructions on how to create a WordPress blog on Bluehost. You will also learn the advantages of starting your blog or transferring your blog to a WordPress.org site hosted by Bluehost. Try not to feel too overwhelmed; It’s simple and you’ve come this far – you’ve got this!

Setting up a self hosted wordpress blog or website with Bluehost

First of all, there is a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. And while WordPress.com does have Business accounts, the limitations are still there and the price will cost you about $300 per year. I paid so much money before I finally wised up and realized my blog and I would be better off switching to a self-hosting service like Bluehost and using WordPress.org.

This blog post contains affiliate links to Bluehost. I am not paid for my opinions, only for referrals. I personally LOVE Bluehost, and would recommend it whether I was getting a commish or not. The reviews of Bluehost and the opinions expressed here are my own.

How to Set up your Blog on WordPress (easy step-by-step tutorial)

Setting up your blog on WordPress with Bluehost is actually really easy. When I first signed up I was a little nervous but soon realized I was totally overthinking it. So, don’t overthink it, it’s easy and takes just around 10 minutes!

You will be SO GLAD you switched over to your own self-hosted site and here’s why:

  1. You’re in Control – You will have total control over your own website. The look, feel and theme capabilities will be endless.
  2. It’s Easy – If you’ve been using wordpress.com, the Dashboard on WordPress.org through Bluehost looks the same! It won’t be like you have to relearn a whole new platform (whew!)
  3. Awesome Customer Service – I have my sites hosted through Bluehost and their customer service is unmatched by ANY provider I have ever used. I have built dozens of WordPress sites and they are hands down, the best.
  4. Make More Money You will have more opportunities to make REAL money with your blog, not just pennies from affiliates who don’t pay much in commissions.
  5. Professional – If you are serious about blogging and making money, you NEED to be on a self-hosted site with wordpress.org and Bluehost.  You won’t have to worry about the “Free WordPress” or “Created with a Free Blogger” text at the bottom of your blog or website anymore. 
  6. It’s cheaper to self-host your blog or website with Bluehost. On average, you will save about $100-$200 per year in hosting fees. On wordpress.com I would have had to pay $300 per year for hosting alone. Yikes! With Bluehost, I only have to pay $107/year, which includes my domain, hosting and privacy. Totally affordable and worth it! P.S. WordPress.org through Bluehost is free!
  7. Tons of Options – Widgets, Plugins and capabilities you don’t currently have using a free Wordpress.com or Blogger account
  8. More Affiliate options You can use the Amazon, ShopStyle. Rstyle affiliates or other java based affiliate widgets with wordpress.org as opposed to wordpress.com
  9. Analytics. That’s all I’m gonna say. If you think Jetpack stats on your free WordPress site is cutting it, you haven’t seen what Google Analytics can tell you about your readers or customers, and what they’re looking for! Trust me, a free Blogger, WordPress (or even a paid Weebly) site is not going to give you all your Analytics data. And you need this if you want to make money with your blog.

Look at today as the start of something awesome for yourself! It’s a big step in the right direction. And don’t worry, I will teach you all you need to learn about setting up your own blog using Bluehost and WordPress. You will be able to easily create a blog on your own and learn how to start a WordPress blog by the time lunch is over, or breakfast..or whatever time it is where you are right now. Freelance work and blogging totally changed my life and allowed me to work from home and make thousands of dollars, and there is plenty of free space for you to do the same thing. You can start a blog that earns passive income for just a few dollars a month. The small investment is certainly worth huge rewards you will receive! The reason paying for your blog services makes sense is: free blogs can get shut down anytime, especially if you are trying to use it to make money. Paying for your blog and host is the only way to go to protect yourself and your hours of blogs and content. 

I have included a link to BlueHost for you that will allow for you to easily choose what works for you: Click here to start your blog on WordPress, (a new window will be opened) then you can come back to this page and I will walk you through the easy step-by-step instructions with the tutorial below.

I love the direction my life has taken since I quit my full-time desk job and started earning more than I did before – just by working freelance and using my blogs as a place to talk about my expertise and travels. It combines a few of the things I love the most: travel and working for myself!

If you’re looking to start a WordPress blog with little money, your smartest choice is Bluehost for your hosting. They are simply the best web host I have personally used – And I have done business with a lot of different services, hosts and website companies! My Bluehost experience has been stellar. Bluehost is one of the top web hosting companies of 2017 and you can start your own blog with them for as low as $3.75 a month! I don’t know any hosting with full capabilities THAT cheap. Not even Weebly. Which, by the way, if you are on Weebly, you can use with Bluehost. I recommend signing up for the 12-month hosting plan through Bluehost. It will save a lot of money in the long run by signing up for at least 12 months.

If you aren’t yet convinced that you can make money with a blog, think again. The new e-commerce strategies are Content with (or before) Commerce. In case you haven’t noticed, all of the top level e-commerce sites now have blogs. Why? People LOVE content and Google LOVES the SEO. Even if the only thing you sell is your expertise as a graphic designer or a consultant in whatever subject you’re an expert in, a blog is an excellent idea and it will pay off if you are utilizing it correctly and if it’s on the RIGHT platform.

Read: How I turned one single blog post into $250,000 AdWords value

So you see, you are as good anyone out there who is making money with a blog. I am living proof and there are more people who will say the same. There is still a lot of white space. But getting in and getting started NOW is important. Don’t settle for the free accounts. You will be limited. I learned this the hard way. I thought I was rocking and rolling with my blog until I switched over to WordPress.org and hosted it with Bluehost. Not only  It is well worth it to pay for blog hosting and with such a small outlay, it’ll pay for itself in no time. Bluehost is one of the top web hosting companies in 2017 and you can start your own blog with them for as low as $3.75 a month! I don’t know any web hosting with full capabilities that’s THAT cheap. Not even Weebly. Which, by the way, if you are on Weebly, you can use with Bluehost. I recommend signing up for the 12-month hosting plan through Bluehost. It will save a lot of money in the long run by signing up for at least 12 months.

If you are interested in making real money off your blog, freelancing or turning it into a business, then paying for your hosting through Bluehost is ideal.

The financial benefits of using Bluehost with WordPress.org over a free blog service:

  • You can post your own advertisements, promotions, banners, affiliate links, direct advertising, etc. on your blog without restrictions-Thus making more money!
  • Earning substantial income on a free WordPress.com, Blogger or any other free blogging platform is very hard, if not impossible, as you are competing with your hosts’ advertisements. In fact, they are the ones making money from your traffic.
  • Most advertisers and companies won’t advertise on free blog sites as they seem too amateur unprofessional. 

Read: How A Blog Makes Money

There are many reasons for why you may want to choose Bluehost for your WordPress blog and I honestly believe they are one of the best web hosting providers. These reasons include:

  • It’s easy to use. Yes, ANYONE can create a WordPress blog easily with my tutorial below. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog.
  • Bluehost web hosting offers technical support.
  • Bluehost is extremely affordable and they offer cheap web hosting. You can have a blog of your own and the only real expense you need to pay is the cheap blog hosting which starts at just $3.75 per month.
  • You get a FREE blog domain.
  • WordPress through Bluehost is FREE.
  • Bluehost offers a guarantee in case you determine that it is not for you. If you sign up for Bluehost, but you are confused for any reason (such as how to set it up, picking a plan, pricing, etc.), you can always send me an email and I can help you out.
  • You will be self-hosted. If you want to monetize your blog, then you will want to be self-hosted.
  • You will appear much more professional to readers, companies, and so on if you are self-hosted on Bluehost than being on Blogspot.

First, you will need to go to Bluehost to do any of this. The best bloggers in the industry use WordPress.org with Bluehost, and you should too because you’re a superstar! 

Tip: If you start a blog on Bluehost and are interested in learning more about how to start a blog on WordPress, continue to the tutorial below. Remember, if you sign up for Bluehost and you need help, shoot me an email and I can assist you!

Ok, ready? Click here to start the ball rolling! 

TUTORIAL: How to start and create a WordPress blog on Bluehost

In this tutorial, you will learn how to: Start a WordPress blog on Bluehost. Don’t worry, it’s easy and takes just around 15 minutes!
Yes, in case you didn’t notice, I highly recommend Bluehost for blogging 🙂

1. Register your domain name (If you don’t already have your domain, click here to purchase a domain name and create a blog) You can get your domain directly through Bluehost, which will make signing up and the whole process a lot easier. When I first signed up for Bluehost, my domain was registered with iPower and while the transfer over to Bluehost was relatively easy, It did take about 7 days to get moved over to Bluehost. (Side note: This is one of the reasons why I chose to leave iPower because it had pretty horrible customer service and they were charging me $200 year for hosting and services I wasn’t even using. So, take my experiences and go with a provider who is awesome from the get go and save yourself a huge headache!) If you register with Bluehost you will get a FREE DOMAIN name for the 1st year. Easy peasy! 🙂 You’ll get a better rate if you do the 12 mos, too.  

If you decide to get the free domain, just continue on to the next step and you can buy your hosting plus get the free domain all in one go! 

Tutorial: How to create a blog with wordpress.org and Bluehost

2. Choose the best hosting package for your blog needs and buy hosting for your blog. To receive the cheapest price to start your blog, you may choose the Basic Plan. Unless you are planning on some serious content, it should be what you need. The Basic Plan is only $2.75 per month if you sign up for 36 months. If you sign up for a 24-month plan, then the price is $3.95 per month. Again, this is very affordable, especially since I was paying in excess of $59 per MONTH for Shopify!  NO KIDDING!  I did that for over 8 months. I totally wasted over $500 on a website that I ended up scrapping and having to rebuild later. DON’T DO THIS. WordPress has a great WooCommerce plugin that’s FREE and it’s so much easier to use than Shopify’s e-commerce site. Even if you purchase the 12-month plan with Bluehost, your total price is only $59 a year, which pales in comparison to what I paid on Shopify. Ugh, you live and learn.

how to set up a blog with wordpress.org and bluehost

3. OK, assuming you chose The Basic Plan, which is all you’ll need right now to get started; skip the Plus and Business Pro. (note: Yes, you can always change it or upgrade later if you need to) 

4. You will be asked to choose a new domain name now if you don’t already have one registered. Type in your chosen domain name and press Next.
If you do have a domain registered already that you want to use for your blog, proceed to “I have a domain name” and press Next

steps to creating a blog using bluehost and wordpress

5. Add Domain Privacy Protection, it’s only about $11 per year and worth every penny! Why? So people can’t find your address and contact info! Keep your private information private.

6. Uncheck any of the extras that are listed, unless you really want the extras. (I didn’t add any on my account sign up, FYI)

When you are ready to create your blog, follow the steps below to buy hosting for your blog:

  1. Go to Bluehost and click the “Get Started Now” button.
  2. Click on the hosting package you want (I chose the pro package because I knew I would have multiple websites/blogs. If you know you’ll only have 1, go with the Basic Plan)
  3. Enter the domain name you registered earlier
  4. Enter your account details and payment information
  5. Next, choose your password (an ideal, secure password is one that contains letters, numbers and special characters/symbols)
  6. Now: Connect your domain and your hosting!  You can skip this section if you purchase your domain through Bluehost
    NOTE: If you buy your domain through another hosting account such as iPower, Go Daddy or other, then you will need to log into your domain account with them and go to Domains located in the CPanel and either change the DNS or unlock the domain you wish to transfer over to Bluehost. Your domain provider should be able to assist you with this and it shouldn’t take longer than a few days to fully transfer over. While it’s transferring, and once it has transferred, you will be informed by Bluehost of its progress.
  7. Go to the main Dashboard in Bluehost and scroll down to where you see “Website” and press “Install WordPress” on Bluehost. This is probably the most important step that you’ve been looking for.  If you want to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost then continue reading:
    installing wordpress with bluehost

8. If you need the link to get to this screen above, check your email. You should have received a welcome email from Bluehost, find and click on the button that says “One Click Install.” If you have clicked on the Install WordPress, you will now see a Mojo screen. Press “Continue Installation” to proceed.

how to install wordpress and use Bluehost

9. Select your domain for WordPress installation. Now you will need pick your domain name which is installed from the dropdown menu. 

how to install and use WordPress for Bluehost Tutorial

how to use WordPress with bluehost

10. Once you’ve selected your domain you want to use, now press “Next” 

11. You should now see “Advanced Options.” This is where you choose your username and password for your WordPress website. Use something unique that cannot be guessed easily!

12. Tick the box “Automatically create a new database for this installation” 

13. Click “Install Now.”

Voila! You now have created an official WordPress blog on Bluehost!  🙂 Time to celebrate!!!


Now for the fun part: Blogging and picking your own blog theme! There are so many awesome WordPress themes available for free or you can buy one from Mojo Marketplace for around $59. Make sure whatever theme you buy is mobile friendly, though! Have fun and good luck!

Here are some more business, money, travel and blogging-related posts you should read, share or save for later reading: 

6 Reasons Why Your Customers Aren’t Responding

You have built your website and it’s awesome.  Your product photos are great, your prices are great, your services are great. You’re on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The Followers are trickling in.

Hell, maybe you are even getting decent traffic with minimal effort.

But nobody is really responding (i.e. buying, commenting, signing up, etc.).

You’re probably thinking, “What the heck is going on?”

In a previous post,  we learned the importance of Social Media Marketing and how it is your most important advertising and marketing platform. But for some who are just starting out, spending that kind of coin on marketing might not be an option.

So, this brings me to the reason for this post. What can YOU do to greatly increase your conversion rates?

I was on the Shopify forums yesterday, and ‘Why isn’t anyone buying?’ was the single most question asked by all of the shop owners. They post the link to their site and ask for constructive feedback from others. Many responders have good advice, but a lot of it was very much surface stuff.  

At the core of all successful marketing, I feel there has to be some kind of emotional connection established between brand and customer.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Are you providing anything worth sharing?

Overall, the products weren’t bad on the Shopify stores, and the websites looked fine. The one thing I did notice, however, was that most of these stores lacked sharable content (or most importantly, an emotional connection). Some of the products were cute, but it wasn’t enough for me to press the ‘buy’ or ‘share’ button.

One woman had an awesome sauce product.  I mean, literally, she produces homemade sauces.  But there was no blog, no recipes, no customer feedback assuring me that her sauces were in fact, awesome.  There was also no About page with a great story, no Bio with a photo, no ‘About the Company,’ nothing.

The product photos were very pretty, but there wasn’t a compelling enough story for me to be pulled in, to share with my Pinterest audience, or to feel a connection to her (because I just didn’t know who she was).

I get it, prepared foods that have never been tasted can be a hard sell online. Unless we’re talking about cookies. Cookies definitely sell online. Just ask this lady. 🙂

So, BIG question to ask is this: If you aren’t creating buzz, perhaps you can ask yourself what you can do to create more of that customer connection.

Research by Ipsos suggests people shopping with online sellers also want a personal connection. The best engagement means connecting with the real person behind the storefront. – Karl Wellman

2. Approach marketing from the Consumer point of view

When you find yourself at a new website you’ve never been to before, think about HOW you got there in the first place:

  1. Was it a referral from a trusted source: a Friend, relative, online influencer, website or celebrity
  2. Did you search for a specific item through Google search
  3. Was it a killer marketing ad you just had to click on (visuals matter)
  4. A catchy headline that hooked you in on Twitter, LinkedIn or Reddit
  5. A tantalizing photo on Pinterest of a decadent chocolate cake recipe
  6. Or, a photo of a chic outfit that’s amazing or cheap, and you either save it for later (Pinterest), or buy it right now if you go to their website.

Example Case Studies:

Screen Shot 2016-03-04 at 12.50.04 PM
This recipe was Pinned over 6,300 times
Screen Shot 2016-03-04 at 1.03.25 PM
This cardigan received over 245,000 pins. I guess a lot of women on Pinterest like this style of clothing!

Do you understand the organic value of shareable content?

People want to be a part of sharing helpful, interesting, funny, compelling or beautiful information. If you are not providing at least two of those things with your content or product, you probably won’t get the social media traction you’re seeking.

The first thing you should do as a business (or a blogger) is create rich content.  Show or tell the story of your product and how it benefits the world, speak to the world about what you know.  Your story can focus on beautiful photography, spiritual information, motivation, humor, awesome recipes, information, or videos. Whatever your platform is, the point is to create tools that make it easy for an audience to be engaged and then inspired enough to buy or share whatever it is you do.

When enough people are seeing you, and the value you offer, the sales will come.


3. Are You Thinking Like Your Customer?

Back to the previous paragraph on HOW you arrived at a new website; think about your perception once landed on that page.  As creators, it’s hard to look at our own website through the eyes of a stranger in a new place- which is exactly who your customer is when she lands on your page.

If you aren’t sure, ask for some feedback from a professional, or do a visual comparison of your site side-by-side to a website you shop at.

You can also find a new one you’ve never been to before and ask yourself: How you feel about it upon entering, What your initial thoughts are and Why.  Write down your thoughts and comments.

Do a side-by-side comparison with a similar competitor’s website and ask yourself:

  • What are they doing?
  • What do they have?
    and/or
  • What do they offer (that adds value) – that I am not currently doing?  

Be totally honest with yourself, because your honesty will only help you get to where you’re wanting to go.

Are you trying to align your brand in a ShopJeen space or an Anthropologie space?  If it’s the latter, consider a thorough walkthrough of Anthropologie and see how you can take their visual queues and replicate it to what you’re doing.

What You Can Do Differently

It could just mean making some minor changes. Perhaps something as much as a higher marketing budget, more effort on your part, more video content, more connecting with your audience, or a team to assist you. Maybe you need more social media ads, or something as simple as better photos, a more cohesive brand look, or even using a cleaner look or font on your website.

In the case of CupShe, as mentioned above, that one Pin receives tons of Pin shares for its products. Read: How to Create Killer Pins on Pinterest

Create More Customer Confidence with Social Proof

Trust is a key factor for new businesses building a customer base. In order to build trust, you have to either gather testimonials or make sales.  It’s like that weird scenario of how credit builds credit, but when you don’t have credit, you can’t get credit, etc.

CupShe.com appears to be a Shopify site.  Its overall look is clean and simple.  Its prices are dirt cheap and it’s product selections are pretty cute.  The company is most likely a foreign-based website, which is easy to figure out considering the pricing, products (I have seen these same products from a lot of vendors overseas), and grammatical errors. But my overall first impression is a good one. I don’t know who this company is but the website looks professional. I can see there are tons of good reviews so it must be OK. My brain ticks “trust” and so I browse a little.

With just that little bit of assurance, I am more inclined to buy from an unknown place. It also doesn’t hurt that the prices are cheap, so I am not risking too much.

You might have to consider giving some things away at first to build credit, so to speak. This is where influencer/blogger outreach can come in handy.

4. Do you know who your (target) customer is?

Do you know who your audience is?  If so, are you speaking their language?
Are you creating products that they want, in prices they understand and marketing on platforms with the visuals they see while speaking the language they understand?  It’s a lot to think about but if you give it enough thought, you can connect the dots and make sense of it.  For example, I worked for a company in 2011 who was still producing products for their 1990 customer but hoping to target the Millennials.  Their products and marketing strategies were not only speaking another language, but they weren’t even in the same hangouts with who they wanted to reach. Their audience was the 1998 girls who grew up to be the 2011 moms. So as a result, their message was very unclear, and the collection was a convoluted mess.  If you don’t know who your audience is, how can you speak to them in their language?

Here are three great examples of brands who know who their customer is and know how to reach and engage them:

1. Wildfox.com  Wildfox is that SOCAL, vintage-inspired laid back brand for 20-somethings.  Most of its marketing efforts are on Instagram.  Why? Because that’s where their audience is. Their Instagram fan feed on their website is awesome

2. Justin Bieber  Yep, the YouTube music sensation.  He got into the hearts and homes everywhere with his YouTube Music Channel (The original channel has since been changed and moved to VEVO).  It’s where all the kids hang out, and it’s #1 audience interest is Music, followed by Gaming and Sports. Justin was able to reach his audience on a very personal level here.

3. Apple Apple is the prime example of a company who knew how to connect with their customer on a very personal level.  It doesn’t get much more personal than creating the iPod or your iPhone, does it?  They didn’t just create products, though, they created a culture that everyone wanted to be a part of.

Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The starting point is how an Apple product experience makes you feel. The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology.
–MarketingMinds.com.au

5. Are you keeping up, visually?

The last question to ask yourself is are you using strong visuals? Strong visuals get you noticed, but you probably already know that. You know what makes you click on, ‘Like’ or share something. It’s not something we always consider, but it’s a crucial element in getting attention on social media.  Like everything, visuals on social media moves in trends.  Keeping up with those changing trends will keep your content fresh and relevant.  

Last and certainly not least:

6. Have you done an honest evaluation of your prices?

Are you priced too high without much solid value reasoning in your pricing strategy? If you’ve priced yourself too high, perhaps your customers don’t want to pay your prices. The price of an item is only worth what the market is willing to pay. And that price is only what people think it’s worth to them. This is where branding is valuable.

Branding your business Free Course
My Free Branding 101 Workshop will help you get clear on your brand

Consumers have info at their fingertips at any moment. And with our Amazon price model and globalization, competition has gotten fierce. Buyers can now shop around and find the best item from the best merchant (feedback is important) with the best service or convenience. What is it that you have that they can’t get elsewhere for less? If you’re pricing is too high to sustain your business, you need to think and act fast. Having NO sales coming in each day will put you in the RED. At the very least, you need to break even. Every day you aren’t making a sale you are losing money. Sticking to your guns on your pricing simply because you don’t want to sell for less is business suicide. Consider raising your prices when the demand for your product increases.

Last final note: Are you Following The Four P’s in Marketing which are Product, Packaging, Price, and Placement? If not, you may want to go back to the drawing board.

More Helpful Articles:
The Four Ps of Marketing
What is Influencer Outreach and How Do I Do it?

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