How to make money from your blog: insights from expert Puspanjalee Das Dutta
With over 30 million readers across two blogs, Guwahati-based Puspanjalee Das Dutta shares her insights on how you can become a successful blogger and also make money out of it.
Taking up blogging as a full-time career may seem out-of-the-box and a little daunting. But with varying lifestyles and schedules, a 9-to-5 job is not ideal for everyone. This is where a career like blogging can help you.
Guwahati-based Puspanjalee Das Dutta initially gave blogging a try in 2011, but took it up full-time in 2014 after she quit her day job to take care of her newborn son.
Puspanjalee Das Dutta
Today, she is a writing coach, author and a professional blogger, who has two successful blogs - My Writing, My World and Foodie On The Road - with over 250 blog posts and 30 million readers. Her first book, as a co-author, was published in 2012, and since then, she has written several others. Her blogs have won various accolades, including the Indian Bloggers Award in 2017. She was also recognised by Google as one of the best content creators on the web, and was a part of the Google+ Create programme.
So how does one pursue a successful blogging career? Here are some tips and strategies straight from the expert.
Key skills to become a blogger
Puspanjalee says there are four important skills for one to blog successfully. These are:
1. Inquisitiveness
2. Content creation
3. Research skills
4. Consistency
With content creation, Puspanjalee specifies that she is referring to writing blog posts or producing video/audio content that help readers find the answers to a query or solve a problem. According to her, consistency is the most important aspect.
On choosing a platform, Puspanjalee says her personal preference is WordPress for written content, and YouTube for her video content.
“They are easy, even for a non-technical person, and free to use,” she adds.
Building an audience
Writing blogs without an audience can be demotivating. Puspanjalee recommends implementing search engine optimisation (SEO) for blogs so that people can find your content easily on Google search. Social media promotion is also helpful, however, for her, SEO brings in the larger share of blog traffic.
Puspanjalee suggests writing about topics that your audience likes and can relate to. If you have multiple interests, you can explore them all until you find the one your audience responds to the best. “After a few months, you will find that you are more comfortable in talking about a particular interest that is equally loved by the audience."
Making money
“If you have started a blog just because every other person is a blogger and you do not have a plan, then you will never earn a single penny. I suggest that everyone who wants to pursue blogging as a career comes up with an editorial planner and sets income goals, so that they can start earning right off the bat,” Puspanjalee says.
Puspanjalee believes one can start earning money from day one if they blog with a purpose and learn skills like affiliate marketing. Making money from a blog is like any other business, and it needs work, practice, and consistency. If one is just exploring blogging for fun, it may take up to a year to start earning.
The numbers are mind-boggling. The prolific blogger reveals that professional bloggers start out by earning between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 per month, and gradually increase that to Rs 1 lakh or more.
“There is no limit to the amount you can earn through blogging, because every blogger is at their own phase and going at their own pace. I also know people making $1 million each month through blogging," she says.
Although you may feel like your blogging career is not taking off, or find staying motivated difficult, Puspanjalee encourages everyone to keep going. She also shares how you can get your work noticed.
“The first blog posts are always hard. Nobody knows you and nobody cares what you are doing. In such cases, be active on social media, and keep sharing your blog links. Talk to other bloggers, read their work and share them on social media; the bloggers always reciprocate.”
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
