23 Ways To Make Money With Blogging

As a blogger celebrating his 10 years behind the keyboard, I’ve found it a creative way to engage a broad audience for a wide range of purposes. Too often, new bloggers are starting to look for unique ways to make money blogging.

There are plenty of stories of people who make five to six-figure incomes monthly. And there’s also a ton of stories of people who gave up the journey before becoming successful. I’ve gathered twenty-three ways to make money blogging. 

It’s important to remember that these aren’t get-rich-quick schemes, and many times blogging won’t make you rich. But incorporating these can make you some money, no matter what level of blogging you are currently at.

Here are numerous ways you can make money with a blog:

1. Affiliate

If you study any of the majorly successful bloggers, you’ll notice a recurring theme. They all participate in affiliate sales. 

When a blogger becomes an affiliate, they receive a commission for any sales from their recommendations. If I were to tell you to run over to “The Best Site Ever” and purchase “The Greatest Invention in the World,” I would be affiliating for “The Best Site Ever” brand.

Signing up as an affiliate is one of the easiest things you can do to generate passive income. But it takes time and effort to get things set up before you see any income from this source. 

There are plenty of affiliate sites that offer an assortment of brands looking for affiliates like ClickBank, Google AdSense, or CJ Affiliates. Or you could go straight to the source, like Target, Amazon, or Chewy.  

There are two important things to remember about using affiliate programs. 

One, compare the commission rates and payout options before deciding. Many times, you can sign up to affiliate with multiple brands. Second, when recommending products, choose higher-priced items, so you make more money.

Many companies send out weekly or monthly emails with products they want you to feature or recommend, making it easy for your to plan your affiliate pieces in advance.

2. Sponsored Posts

Another way to make money from your blog is through sponsored posts. With this method, you create content on your site that another company sponsors. You get paid by a business to write on your own site because they use your platform to access your audience. 

There are multiple types of sponsorship content, including product reviews, buyer’s guides, recommendations, or company reviews that include links to the different landing pages. 

In most cases, you are responsible for creating the content that the business sponsors. But in rare cases, a brand may provide you with a piece that they wrote. All you would have to do is upload it to your blog.

Although you are promoting a company or their wares, sponsored pieces are not advertisements. The goal is to educate and help your audience with a problem. Then you can explain why your recommendations would be the best solution. 

Regulations set by the FTC (Federal Trade Commissions) require you to disclose any relationships you may have with a company you are featuring. 

Usually, the statement goes at the beginning or end of your post and provides the company’s name, what you receive in return, and the terms. 

If you get free products in exchange for a review or receive a commission from a sale, you have to inform your readers. And you have to be honest – you can’t say a product is great if it’s defective. 

3. Product Reviews

There are plenty of companies that offer free products in exchange for product reviews. This method is a great way to get free stuff, but many businesses won’t offer monetary payment. 

You can also combine product reviews with affiliate linking or sponsorship posts so you can make affiliate commissions from the products you’re reviewing.

When reviewing products, list the different features, their performance and compare to other brands, and relate them to real-life events to demonstrate what they can do.

4. Business Directory

Another great option for your blog is to create a business directory. This directory should consist of businesses within the same niche. 

Your extensive list should include the business name, address, contact information, and website. The goal is to provide your readers with all the information they need in one handy area. 

Once you’ve compiled all of your data, you can charge a fee for readers who want to obtain a copy. You have the option to set a wide scale of prices, depending on the size and collection of your list. 

There’s no limit to the number of directories you can create but be sure you put effort into using up-to-date information. A few popular topics include directories for real estate, weddings, pets, restaurants, or home services.

5. Resource Page

Once you become an expert in your field, your opinion carries a lot of weight for your readers. Use your blog to recommend resources that you use, including services, products, and tools.

Is there an app that you rely on to keep you organized or makes your job easier? Do you use unique software that isn’t well known? Help your readers become the best by giving them the proper tools. 

For writers, the best tools are Google Docs (or Microsoft Word), Grammarly, and Hemingway Editor. With these three key ingredients, you can craft well-written, error-free documents.

6. Job Boards

As a blogger, it can be challenging to find paying jobs. The same challenge exists for many types of independent or freelance workers. 

Hosting a paid job board on your site is a great way to get repeat visitors – I call this term sticky. Many people choose to limit their boards to one particular niche, like writing or photography. But it’s possible to do an all-encompassing board. 

There are multiple ways to monetize a job board. You can charge weekly or monthly subscription fees for access, but you’ll need to keep these continually updated with new jobs to be of value. Or you could charge a one-time fee for a list of jobs for the day or a whole week. 

7. Ad Space

One of the first things most bloggers do when they’re ready to monetize their blog is selling ad space. With ads, you receive a fee for many views. 

The downside of using ads to produce an income is it can take a long time to set up and accrue enough money to make a real profit. And depending on the number of ads and their placement, you may lose some customers. Many people refuse to stay on a site that keeps lagging due to the number of ads.

But if making money through ads is something you want to try (it can make good money), there are a few ways to do this. Signing up for a Google AdSense Pay per Click account is one of the most popular options.  

8. Promote Services

You shouldn’t just use your blog to recommend other companies’ products. It’s also useful for marketing your unique services.

Most people host a blog in the same niche as their expertise area. Always be on the lookout for ways to promote your skills or services to your followers. 

Create a price page listing the different services you offer and the prices. It’s also a good idea to provide an in-depth biography section highlighting your experience and career achievements. 

Don’t be shy about tooting your own horn. You’re trying to convince your readers to choose you over the competition. Give them plenty of good reasons. 

9. Sell Products

You shouldn’t just use your site for selling other people’s goods. Most blogs allow you to use plugins to install a shopping page.

Items you can sell on your blog include:

  • Services like home repairs, cleaning, or pet care.
  • Products like pictures you’ve taken or logos you’ve designed.
  • Goods you’ve made like jewelry, clothing, or soaps.
  • Even digital goods like templates.

When you sell digital products, there’s nothing to package or ship, saving you time and energy. Once you upload a digital good, multiple purchases can occur without refilling the product.

10. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is another way to sell goods on your blog to make money without holding and shipping the items physically. 

When you operate a drop shipping service, you offer goods for sale on your blog. Once a customer buys an item from you, a third-party supplier fills the order and ships it to your customer.

The best thing about selling using dropshipping is that you never have to worry about holding or keeping inventory stock. You won’t need to have any of the stuff you’re selling. You have to have a partnership with a supplier. Shopify makes it easy to add dropshipping to your blog.

11. Consultations

Another way to monetize your blog is to offer paid consultations to your customers. To be in a position to consult, you need to be a total expert in your niche.

In my case – I do blog content for expanding eCommerce brands as it’s something that has personally worked well for me.

You can offer one-time consultations for a flat fee or set up repeat sessions for a specific time period. If you’re going to use consultations, you’ll need to determine how you’ll communicate.

A consultation session can be done through Zoom, over the phone, through email, or instant message. Many people charge by the hour, however, I charge per project with instalment plans and I’ve become very selective towards who I work with.

12. Coaching

Coaching is similar to consultations, except you’ll likely meet with a single client multiple times over a set period. When you consult, you usually have multiple single-time customers.

When you coach a person, you help them learn how to do a process for themselves, using expert advice you’ve learned throughout your career.

To be a good coach, you have to know how to communicate fluently and how to break things down in a helpful manner. You can charge by the hour, session, or project.

13. Webinars

Most successful bloggers have discovered the power and profit of using paid webinars. When you host a webinar, you are streaming a live video to teach or inform about a topic. 

Many webinars allow customers to attend the meeting in person (virtually) and host a question and answer session before ending. 

You can use your blog for advertising the webinar you’ll be hosting at a different site or host the live event on your current site. 

Charging a fee to access the webinar is an easy way to make money blogging, but you need to make sure you’ve got the right stuff to say and the proper equipment.

14. Online Classes

Do you have a foolproof way to learn a new skill or trade secrets that you’ve learned through years of experience? 

With the right knowledge and experience, you can develop a series of online classes. Plenty of bloggers have created online courses that break down a complex topic into easier to manage lessons. 

You can charge a fee for the entire collection or offer each lesson for a single price. Each piece should focus on one topic and cover all aspects of that area. 

15. Bootcamps

Bootcamps are a fun way to inspire your clients to reach a set goal. Many fitness experts use a 30-day boot camp to Get in Shape, while fashion experts may offer an Achieve this Look in 6 Easy Steps camp.

There are unlimited options for what type of boot camp to host or how long they last. You can also offer different payment options based on your preferences. 

16. Contests/Giveaways

One of the best ways to attract new visitors is to host a giveaway or contest. Everyone loves the chance to win free stuff.

You can set terms that require customers to buy an entry as a way to monetize your contests. Or you can limit the giveaways to paid members of your site, encouraging new members to sign up.

Working in partnership with other brands who contribute prizes is a great way to get extra promotions and reduce the amount of money you’ll have to spend on rewards. 

17. Private Groups

Another easy way to make money blogging is to set up private groups. When you set up private access, you give paid customers access to more content than they would get as a free user. 

You may decide to limit the number of free posts a client can access before they upgrade to a paid account. Or you could set up a member’s forum that’s only available to paid subscribers.

Many bloggers choose to set up a tiered membership, which allows your followers to enjoy paid content within their budget. Each higher tier increases in price and available features. You may also decide to offer discounted prices or free items as a thank you to your paid members. 

When you have something of value, customers will be more willing to part with their money to get access to what you’re offering. 

18. Public Speaking

If you’ve built up a following online as an influencer, you can use your popularity to score local public speaking gigs. 

You may have to start speaking at events for free, but with the right exposure, you can start making real money by becoming a public speaker.

Many online fans enjoy getting to meet their favorite bloggers face to face. So be sure to market your speaking gigs on your blog and social media platforms so you can attract fans that already know your brand.

It can be tricky trying to find public speaking roles. Social media is a great place to advertise your availability. Contacting event managers may also help you score a job. 

19. Write eBooks

If you’ve amassed a lot of knowledge about a topic, consider publishing an ebook or a whole series of ebooks that teach others everything you know. 

You have a wide range of options when it comes to writing ebooks about your chosen niche. You can write short ones that explain a topic but don’t detail the many aspects. And then you could offer these separate pieces as a full collection for a set price.

Or you could write an all-encompassing guide that’s thousands of words to serve as a guide of sorts for your niche. 

When publishing ebooks, you could choose to pitch to a publisher, self-publish using a booking agency, or publish them as downloadable PDFs directly off your website. When you publish through an agency, you can often get more exposure by being included in the company’s library. 

20. Make Tutorials

For most people who’ve made it big, it took years of doing everything wrong before you figure out how to do it right. You can share your trials, errors, and successes to help others in your field of expertise learn how to do things right the first time around.

Many new beginners are willing to pay the price for resources that can help them get to the top faster rather than wasting time with methods that don’t work.

As someone who’s been there and done that, you can use your collective experience to create useful paid tutorials. You can offer these tutorials for varying prices or make them all the same price. 

Some people even prefer to offer monthly memberships that allow customers access to all of the tutorials during your membership period.

21. Sponsor Social Content

If you have a large following, you can cash in on your popularity by accepting offers for sponsored social content. When you use this method, you share your client’s links or content on your social media channels for monetary reimbursement.

Using your social media sites for business should not be a new concept for anyone serious about developing a successful, well-known brand.

You can use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest to share your client’s content. Setting up a post can be done in a matter of minutes, and since it’s social media, there’s no need for creating long, time-consuming posts.

Bloggers and established influencers can make anywhere from a meager $25 up to $500 per post. Of course, the number of followers and your influence will affect how much you can charge.

22. Site Sponsorship

In many cases, you can receive site sponsorship, which means that a company or business provides full funding for your site and therefore has control of your site’s layout, look, content, and advertisements. 

When you use sponsors for your site, you’ll usually have to display their name or logo in all your banner ads, any popups you allow, and in the sidebar. There may also be restrictions on what other advertisers you can use. 

You may also have to publish content specifically curated to match the sponsor’s tone of voice and content. If getting your site sponsored by a business sounds like a good idea, shop around to find businesses that match your ethics and values. 

Remember that your name will be linked to theirs, so you don’t want to choose a company with bad standings or reputation. 

23. Donations

The final way that you make money blogging is to ask for donations. Instead of charging your clients for your content, you can add a donations page or start a Patreon account.

Then you can create a popup or a banner at the top of every page that says thanks to your readers for their support. It should then ask them to consider making a small donation as a sign of appreciation for your useful content. Word this request to match your business needs. 

Many professionals would be willing to donate money to other professionals if they receive something valuable to build a better career. 

When you’re first starting with blogging and websites, you may feel self-conscious about asking others to give you money. But consider this – you’ve done all the work, and you’re offering a valuable resource to the general public for free.

Allowing your customers to pay as a donation means that everyone can benefit from your work, regardless of their budget. They may only afford a $5 donation, so you would lose some customers if you were selling your products for $20 or $30.

In Closing

I’ve given you twenty-three valid ways that you can make money from writing a blog.

The best sites will combine various methods so you can earn passive and active income, even when you’re not updating or posting new content. Affiliate linking will get you the biggest earnings, as they have done for me.

Happy blogging.

How To Avoid Losing Money On FBA Products

Losing money on Amazon FBA products is a real and serious consequence. Most beginners simply don’t understand the numbers such as revenue and profits.

Essentially, this all starts with understanding unit economics.

Imagine that, after hours of searching, you found a great product and a niche where the numbers work well. You paid for the inventory, set up your Seller Central account and are soon making good revenue from your new business. 

What can possibly go wrong?

🙄 Well…a lot…

It’s absolutely possible to make tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, yet still break even or lose money due to poor understanding of your financials metrics.

The key here is to understand your unit economics, i.e., average profitability on a per-unit-basis. 

Understanding ‘Unit Economics’

Would you rather generate $10,000 selling 10 products which retail for $1000 each, or selling 100 products $100 each? While I’m slightly biased as I prefer the later, tt’s hard to give the answer without diving deeper into the financial structure of the business. 

Unit economics is a fundamental business concept. It’s like building blocks of a business. Using unit economics, you can model out specific business scenarios and see how they affect profitability. 

How To Avoid Losing Money On FBA Products

The definition of unit economics is to ultimately answer the question, “How much actual profit am I making per unit sold?” and “How much do I need to spend to make that profit?” which is an important consideration given the rise of PPC costs on Amazon.

From here you can determine whether your business is genuine. In my opinion, if it’s not saleable then it isn’t profitable…unless you’re running a SaaS business. 

The simplest way to look at it is this: you take all the revenue you’ve made over a period of time, and you divide it by the number of orders you’ve got over that period. That would show you AOV (Average Order Value). From here you’ll know how much each order is bringing in revenue.

Another important metric for Amazon sellers is ACoS (advertising cost of sales). For the beginners here on my blog, this reflects your expected advertising efficiency level. Let’s say you were to spend 30¢ to generate $1 of PPC sales, your ACoS is 30%. 

Why Is Unit Economics Important For Amazon Sellers? 

Any Amazon business is a cash generation machine, where you put money in to purchase 

inventory, and then get that money back with a profit to purchase even more inventory. But in order to sell on Amazon, you also have to spend money on advertising, keep track of Amazon FBA fees, shipping and storage costs. 

And because the Amazon payouts are bi-weekly (i.e, twice per month), it may be hard to tie them down to specific SKUs and make sense of them after a certain period of time. 

There is a huge difference between making top-line revenue and actual profit. From there, there’s profit before tax and profit after tax.. If you don’t properly analyze your unit economics from the early days, you might end up with a product that has high costs paired with low pricing power. You’ll end up actually losing money and might actually go out of business. 

Losing Money on Amazon FBA is Real

A guy I know was managing an account for a client that was making $40,000 per month in revenue. They thought the business was doing fine, and the financials were solid. Yet, when he plugged in the numbers, he saw that the business was not just unprofitable, but actually losing money to hidden Amazon fees. This is why external auditors are used by some of the world’s biggest companies.

Another interesting story happened to Sellerscale’s founder, Paul Faguet. When he launched his first product on Amazon (a meditation pillow), he estimated the demand, but didn’t dig in the numbers. Eventually, he ended up losing money on the product due to high storage costs and complex fulfillment fees. Paul had to close that business eventually, but learned a valuable lesson on top of which Sellerscale was built: “it’s much cheaper to do due diligence ahead of time.” 

Avoid Losing Money On FBA Products

To avoid losing money, you’ve got to know your numbers – of existing products, as well as potential ones. 

If you view your business as a cash generation machine, then you might want to know whether putting more money into purchasing more inventory or simply more PPC advertising might generate more revenue. And if so, by how much. 

Below we talk about the key unit economics metrics you need to keep track of and the questions to explore that to ensure your business is healthy. 

Key Metrics To Keep Track Of In Your Amazon Business

  • Daily Unit Sales – this is the number of units you sell per day, on average. 
  • Average order value (AOV) – this metric is calculated by dividing your total revenue by Daily Unit Sales. 
  • ACoS – Advertising cost of sales. This represents how much you need to spend on PPC ads in order to generate $1 in ad sales. Say, if my business put $100 in PPC ads and I made $200, my ACoS is 50% which is rather high. The more this metric is, the more heavily I rely on PPC advertising as my revenue stream. Personally, I’m pushing hard into an SEO strategy which very few people are doing given the rise of unprofitable Amazon PPC campaigns. Vice versa: the more organic sales I can acquire (where customers find me with keywords), the less I’ll be spending on advertising they will be, and thus, more profit.
  • FBA Fee – this is the fee that Amazon charges all its professional sellers like me to fulfil a single unit of any product to their customers, including handling returns and shipping. You can estimate the fees using Amazon built-in revenue calculator. 
  • Unit Landed Cost – quite simply this is your total cost of making, packaging and sending your batch of products to any of the Amazon fulfilment centres in the United States. If the factory quoted you a total of $2.5k to produce 1k units of product (which includes all packaging, bubble wrap, marketing brochures, etc), and your freight forwarder quoted you another $500 to sea freight or airfreight this batch from the supplier all the way to an Amazon FBA warehouse, then your specific unit landed cost will be $3.
  • Profit Per Unit – once you get a solid understanding of your initial costs, including Unit Landed Cost, Amazon FBA fees and advertising, you can subtract it all from AOV and calculate the profit you receive per unit sold. 

It’s important to perform this analysis before you start selling on Amazon. In many cases, doing due diligence before you start selling is cheaper than making mistakes and losing thousands of dollars due to poor business decisions. 

Questions To Explore In Your FBA Business

Once you understand your unit economics and have them under control, you can start playing with assumptions. 

Before starting, ask yourself: 

  • How much will I need to rely on Amazon PPC to generate an acceptable ROI? 
  • What is my breakeven ACoS? 
  • What will my ROI and payback period (otherwise known as a Cash Conversion Cycle) be at different price points (such as catering to premium customers), ACoS levels, and sales velocities? 
  • Will I be able to breakeven on price and ACoS during different times of the year? 
  • How does (potentially) a $1 reduction in unit landed cost impact my business and product ROI, as well as other KPIs?
  • What would happen to my profit margins if I made a 50% discount for 2 days? 

As we said, you can use unit economics to establish per-unit profitability of your current products, as well as your potential ones. Ideally, you should have a pipeline of products and understand not just the demand – but the underlying costs and fees, which will be unique to every product. 

Feel free to use this free Chrome Extension from Sellerscale to help you assess the profitability of products in your research. 

Also, I found an offer from www.sellerscale.com (non-affiliate link) where you can get a 50% off the first two months of Sellerscale using the promo code SCALE250

As always, look at Amazon like a marathon and not a sprint. I’m 4 years in and I’ll be here for another 10 years. I like to say that this is the worst get-rich-quick scheme around…but for scalability….it’s hard to find better.

How to Become a Freelance Writer in Australia

Last year I joined the solopreneur fraternity and became a part-time Freelance Writer as an Australian. Was it easy? Certainly not. Worth it? Questionable.

Pleasing clients is more challenging than expected as you’re writing for quality, not for quantity that I’m known for here. However, the perks can really pay off if you’re looking for income in the $120 to $200 per hour range like I accomplished.

There are a plethora of tracks that you can take to becoming a freelance writer in Australia. You can find your path to earning money from writing regardless of the particular writing talent that you have.

Things to Keep in Mind to Become a Good Writer

You can certainly create an income through writing. But before you earn through your freelance writing job, there are several things that you have to keep in mind. I will be listing those things down below, so you can have a guide if you want to start your writing career.

Treat freelance writing as a business

Sean Platt, a well-known writer said that if you want to build a career in writing, then you have to treat writing like a business.

Regardless if you are a fiction or non-fiction writer, making an income through writing means that you have to sell something. And you should not just sell; rather, you must sell something good.

You must make sure that the articles or blogs you write are all in its highest quality for it to sell. No one wants to pay for low-quality products, right? Therefore, writing good articles will help you make a sustainable career out of writing.

Embrace your learning curve

Before earning an income, the initial thing that you should do as a writer is to learn your craft. It does not matter if you write fiction or non-fiction. There are skills that are important for you to learn so you could become a good writer.

There are vast arrays of ways for you to learn. For instance, you can learn by trial and error. Learning from your mistakes is a slow way of absorbing things.

And although it may seem to be disheartening to make mistakes, its where you will learn.

You can also join courses that will help you enhance your skills as a writer. You can also learn from the experience of other successful writers who already have their own careers.

But above all, the most important thing that an aspiring writer should do is to embrace the learning curve. Although the learning process is long, it will be the only way for you to become good in your writing path.

Generate your audiences

There is an audience for every writer. Before writing whatever your topic is, you should first know how to generate your target audience.

You can generate your audience through blog writing and using social media for you and your works to become known. Yes, it may take time, but you will have an assurance that it works.

Once you have already generated your audience, you can use various social media accounts to alert them when you have a new blog.

Build your email list

As a writer, you must be able to reach your readers whenever you need them. And the best thing to reach your audience is to build a list of email addresses. Admittedly, this is a weak point for me.

Most people have a strategy of giving away something for free in return for an email address. The email list that you will be able to build will help you influence your readers to make an action.

You can send an email to the people included in your list whenever you have a new blog or you have an announcement about your website.

Choosing Your Earning Track

Like any other business, writing has different areas. It is important that you know each one before choosing the track you will take. Such will save you from the hassle of being on a track that is not meant for your ability.

To help you have a more in-depth understanding about the writing tracks that you can choose from, take a look at the list of tracks listed below:

The Blog Track

If you want to make an income from blogging, there are five fundamental steps that you can follow.

Blogging as a freelance writer Australia

The first step to making money from your blogs is to attract visitors. You can do such by regularly creating and posting valuable content to your website.

Another way to attract visitors is by having a high-quality site that they can visit. The site should be fast, easy to access, and error-free. Preferably, without ads just like my blog here.

You can create an account to various social media platforms where you can promote your blogs. Personally, social media isn’t for me. Also, you can become a guest writer on other websites.

The second step is to build an email list. You can ask for your visitors’ email addresses and offer them something for free in return. This is what you call an opt-in gift.

For the third step, you should generate the trust of your readers and followers. You can do such by giving them regular and useful content.

The fourth step, offer a product. In a writer’s case, your products are your articles. These articles must have content that can help your audience in one way or another.

Lastly, if you want to build blogs where you can get your income, you have to do this process repeatedly.

The Freelancer Track

To become a freelancer is one of the easiest ways to make money out of writing. It will not take too much of your time since you can work from home and you are your own boss. Another good thing is that when you are a freelance writer is that you can work whenever you want to.

Becoming a freelancer

As I said, last year is when I became a freelance writer right here in Australia. It wasn’t an income choice; I simply wanted a new experience.

Before getting into the freelancer track, the first thing that you should do is to acquire experience. You can offer your writing services to your friends and family first if you are new to freelancing.

You can also use your school projects relevant to writing as your portfolio when a possible client is asking for it.

Another thing that you can do to develop your craft is to find out any special certifications and titles held by professionals in the field of writing.

When you decide to become a freelance writer, always remember to price your works accordingly. Once you already built a solid portfolio and gained experience, you already accept paid gigs.

Decide for your hourly rate but also remember to price depending on the difficulty of your gig. You should also make sure that you are generating quality content so that your price will be reasonable.

Also, only take jobs that you are confident you can finish. You can take big projects for as long as you can produce high-quality output.

Lastly, make sure to communicate properly with your client. Your clients are your greatest source of information. This is the reason why it is important to create a good relationship with them.

Keep your clients updated about the progress of your work. Reply to their messages and emails the moment you read it and send them a draft of work before you deliver the final product.

The Copywriter Track

Copywriting is one of the greatest sources of income. If you are planning to take this track, there are things to remember. You must know that using the same text, tone, and length is not applicable across every marketing platform or channel.

Copywriting to success

Your tonality when you are writing a blog must be different when you are writing for a Facebook post or tweet.

Additionally, copywriting requires writers to be knowledgeable about the different writing tracks such as email, blog, and email newsletter copies. You should also be able to differentiate your tone and voice for each track.

For instance, email copies must be enticing whereas blog copies must be engaging. Regardless of what you are writing, the copywriter track requires you to have a more versatile writing technique. You have to be able to change your writing strategy depending on the platform and channel that you are using.

You can also ask your clients’ feedback regarding your output. This way, you will know the areas where you need to improve. You can use positive feedback as testimonials that you can show your future clients.

The Author Track

This track has two paths. You can become a self-published author or you can go along and take the conventionality of working in a publishing house.

Freelance writer Australia authoring books

Publishing houses consider not only the quality of work but also the size of an author’s audience. For this reason, I am going to focus on becoming a self-published writer.

The first step to becoming a self-published writer is to find your niche or genre. Look for a field that you are comfortable writing about. After that, develop your skills in that field.

When you already have your genre, know your target audience and understand their needs. This way, you will be able to deliver exactly what they are looking for.

In addition, always write all your thoughts down. Do a complete brain dump. Not familiar with the word? Well, brain dump means completely transferring every accessible knowledge from the brain to a storage medium.

Doing a brain dump will give you an assurance that you will not forget the things you think are relevant to your work.

When starting to write your book, always start with a compelling title. The reason for this is that the title will serve as a gateway to attracting more audiences.

Once you have your book drafted, create an appealing book cover. This, plus an interesting lead inside your book will undoubtedly get you more audiences.

When you have already finalized your book, launch it for free on different platforms. Once you notice that people are interested in your book, switch from free to $0.99. And then gradually increase to regular price.

In Summary

One thing that I have learned from being a writer is that development takes time. You should exert a lot of effort if you want to succeed from whichever track you have chosen.

Regardless of the track you want to take, becoming a freelance writer is really a good source of income provided that you remain consistent.

The idea is to stick on one main track. So, know where you track you are comfortable and you will excel the most. For me, that’s blogging here and my other niche sites, and have since reduced my freelance client load down to just 1. Yes – 1 client only. (Who pays me a small fortune…)

It is good to have knowledge of all of the tracks mentioned above. But jumping from one track to another may make it a little difficult for you to establish your writing career.

If you find yourself unhappy with the track you chose, do not give it up just yet. Give it a chance for at least three months as you might just have to get used to the track you chose.

If there is not any reasonable improvement after three months, you can consider trying another track or adding a complementary skill. For instance, if you are a blog writer, consider adding a podcast or uploading videos on Youtube. This step will help you reach a wider range of audiences.

The secret to success is actually development. If you are writing too slow, then learn how to speed it up without sacrificing your work’s quality.

If you are lacking in inspiration to write, try looking at your competitors’ works on such tools as Ahrefs. This will help you develop content that can compete with theirs.

Lastly, utilize keywords. These keywords are what most people search for on the internet. Integrating it into your works will help you reach them better.

There are also SEO friendly steps to helping you rank on search engines. First, remember that you are writing for humans, not for search engines. For this reason, do not keyword stuff just to rank on Google and other search engines.

Additionally, focus on the questions that your audience will most likely ask. Addressing these questions in your content will make it more compelling and useful.

Last but not the least, break up your articles into 2-4 sentences per paragraph. You can also use bullet points to point out important information. To make it more actionable and appealing, use images and personally I use Canva.

If there’s two writers that I’ve learned a lot from, it’s Adam Enfroy and Ivan at Content Fiesta.

Do you have any comments or suggestions? Let me know by leaving them in the comment section!

7 Steps to Become a Life Coach in Australia (Full Guide)

Becoming a life coach in Australia seems like a great career choice, where you can help people identify their struggles and help them achieve their goals.

In this guide, I’m going to uncover how, in just 7 steps, you can become an Australian life coach. Whilst others are long and complicated, I wanted to provide a more simplified approach. Let’s keep it easy!

Life coaching is an excellent career choice, because you’ll be helping a lot of people. It’s much like what I do with WorkWithJoshua.com – helping thousands each month discover the power of building an online business from home.

If you’re a great motivator and wants to inspire others, then life and personal coaching is an excellent avenue to explore. If you’ve always wanted to discover how to become a life coach in Australia and build a successful business, then this guide is for you.

It’s time to begin…

1. Start with why

I’ve led with this first, because most people aren’t quite sure precisely why they want to become a life coach. Perhaps they have a rough idea – help spread positivity, improve people’s lives or simply move away from their frustrating job.

Life coaching isn’t as simple as it seems, with many people dreaming of life coaching as a fulltime gig. Whilst there are riches and fortunes promised in seminars, the reality is that most clients can’t afford more than $70 per hour, with many not sticking for the long term.

Life coaching in Australia

Here’s what I would do:

  • Write down all the reasons why you want to become a certified life coach
  • Look at exactly why you’re intending to achieve over the next 10 to 15 years
  • See if life coaching is a match for your own financial pursuits and life goals
  • Analyze if you’re just buying the hype, or are committed towards this career

I write that since most people who enroll in life coaching courses (myself included) don’t actually become life coaches with clients. Sometimes the earning potential is exaggerated in this industry.

That said, courses are about how you personally can be impacted first and foremost, before your clients. As they say, look after yourself, before you look after the world.

2. Find a course provider

There are numerous NLP course providers right here in Australia that help people get certified as life coaches. Most are reputable whilst some aren’t so popular.

To choose a suitable college or training organization, really dig deep into their social media channels, online reviews and reputation. If you need a recommendation, simply holla at me as I know a few companies in Sydney, Melbourne and on the Gold Coast.

What I would look for is the certifications and accreditations. This is very important, both for client attraction but also for insurance purposes. Whilst there is a range of coaching certifications available, they do differ in their reputation.

My best recommendation is any college accredited with the International Coach Federation (ICF), as they are very respected and recognized in this self help industry.

I’ve noticed a few ‘training colleges’ that literally print off their own certificates, literally created by themselves! This is a huge warning, and even if they claim there is a governing body…it’s usually the company themselves.

Also, online coaching courses are really to be avoided, because you need to work on your face-to-face coaching skills more than anything. To my best knowledge, there is still no online school certified by the ICF.

Offline courses are the best, and should run for at least 3 months. You’ll have an intensive component, plus an ongoing component that I’ll elaborate on further.

3. Hone in on your skills

Right! So you’ve laid out thousands of dollars and have taken that course. Great! Whilst you’re certified (hopefully by the ICF) it’s time to put what you learn into action.

This is a crucial step (just as crucial as finding the right college) because the best coaches are those who are confident, help their clients get results and continue to build their businesses. It all comes down to one aspect: PRACTICE.

Here’s how:

  1. You can start practicing on yourself. I’ll admit it: I do this all the time. 😅
  2. With students from the course you just took, you can all practice together
  3. You can practice with friends and family, though not all be receptive of this
  4. Lastly, as you’re starting out, you can offer heavily discounted public rates

This can be a tough step as you’re really putting yourself out there as a new life coach. You went through the training, but this isn’t the theory anymore…this is real life! You’ll need to be mentally and emotionally prepared for the range of client issues that arise.

4. Decide on your angle

Now that you’ve taken your training and you’ve perhaps landed a few clients, it’s time to actually dictate the type of life coaching business you want. Because there are many angles in which you can go with.

You might like to coach basketball athletes like a close friend of mine did, in which case you’re targeting that audience exclusively. Likewise, clients who are struggling to quit smoking might be more your thing, since you perhaps quit smoking at the NLP course you attended.

Either way, you really can’t be all things to all people. Your clients as a life coach will otherwise come in all shapes and sizes. Taking on any type of client is akin to walking into Kmart and buying every single type of item.

Life coach Australia

As a snapshot, we could:

  • Decide on the age & gender of your clients. For example: 35 to 50 and female
  • Define common trends, such as business struggles or relationship problems
  • Work out how willing they would be to change their life with your assistance
  • Set on average the number of coaching sessions needed to achieve results

Taking a pen and paper to work out your ideal client is a recommended approach. In fact, it’s a formula in itself, which sets yourself up for long term business success, not just for your clients, but for yourself as well!

5. Launch your life coaching business

Right, let’s take a minute to recap what we have already done.

  1. We have decided that this would indeed be the right business model for us
  2. We have registered with a certified training college to take a life coaching course
  3. After finishing the course, we have practiced our skills for months and months
  4. Through that process, we have also defined our ideal coaching client

….and now it’s time to launch this baby!

Start an Australian life coaching business

Starting your own life coaching business is the dream of many graduates. It’s where the rubber meets the road, where you can positively impact hundreds of lives throughout your career.

Here’s what we’ll need to do:

  1. Create a suitable business name, though some people just choose to use their personal names when getting started
  2. Set up a website that showcases exactly what you do. You might wish to put some testimonials on here if you have some already.
  3. Define your coaching packages. We already know our client, so we need to dictate the pricing and length of service, though it can differ from client to client at times.
  4. Work out how you’ll accept payments. It’s always a better approach to have payments organized in advanced, as handing over cash before starting a coaching session is always a little awkward.
  5. Gain feedback from your clients, because this is only going to improve your skills and help you impact more lives over the long time.

You’ll also need to look at some other aspects such as if you’re be an online life coach, or offline, or a combination of both! Not only that, but you’ll need to look at how you’ll advertise your business, as your friends and family can really limit the size and scale of your operations.

6. Invest into your marketing

Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. Unless you have a solid marketing plan, becoming a life coach in Australia could be a small journey for yourself.

There are many ways to attract the perfect life coaching client to your new enterprise. This might be your first time ever in a business of your own, so let’s look at some options.

For free marketing, we have:

  • Outreaches within social media groups and networking opportunities
  • Blogging where you share really cool content that you’ve learned (Hint Hint)
  • Using your personal network to gain referrals, especially within your niche
  • Collaborations with other Australian life coaches who are hiring more staff

On that paid side, we have:

  • Running Facebook ads to a landing page so you can attract potential clients
  • Personal branding through magazines, newspapers and television shows
  • Paid speaking gigs where you showcase why self-help is vital for individuals
  • Using Instagram influencers to collaborate for a win-win opportunity

Obviously, we want to start with the free marketing approach initially. This is because the course you took probably lowered your budget and starting capital immensely.

If you use both approaches, you should see your coaching calendar full or close to full within 6 to 12 months. Of course, this is provided you continue to deliver results for clients, gain referrals and gain more clients, either through cold or warm outreach campaigns.

7. Scale your business for the long term

We’re not done yet! Our last job is to scale our business. We’ve taken the course to invest into ourselves, practiced for what seems like forever, and now it’s time to earn ourselves (hopefully a full-time income.

Personal development coach Australia

Many life coaches in Australia don’t actually earn a full-time income. It’s a tough industry at times, because many people are skeptical of ‘coaches’ who took a weekend course.

Remember why I stated that you should only pick courses that are certified by the International Coaching Federation? This is why, so you can avoid the weekend warrior fraternity. Many of these dodgy colleges claim to teach people how to become a life coach, but just don’t quite meet those expectations.

But you’re passed that, because you educated yourself properly. You’re one of the smarter few. Well done!

I would recommend that you focus on scaling your business for long term success. You may wish to hire more coaches or invest into launching a book, podcast or even a TV show. This shows your clients that you’re serious about changing their lives, but not only that, also shows a constant stream of people who you’ve previously helped.

That, to me is the ultimate victory – when you change lives. I’ve positively impacted thousands of lives right here on the blog, as one of Australia’s top bloggers. You can find out about my partnerships here and the potential to work together.

A summary of Life Coaching in Australia

Becoming a life coach in Australia is one of the most rewarding businesses around. Unfortunately, the industry sometimes gets a bad name for itself. That said, most industries have some lemons that cause others to get affected.

Shop around for a training college or institution that really helps you become the most skilled as a life coach can be. There are numerous colleges in Australia that I can vouch for.

Life coaching is a journey not just for your clients, but for you as well. Pace yourself, invest for the long term and work on building that empire.

If you have any further ideas on how everyday Australians can build their own business and personal development brand through this business model, then you’re welcome to share your insights below. Likewise – ask me a question! 😃