How to Turn Your Blogging Hobby into a Freelance Career

Blogging has come a long way from creatives simply writing for themselves to now being a billion-dollar industry. If you’ve blogged about your travels or have curated a top 10 movie list, your platform is one of the 505 million blogs around the world. With so much online content, more and more writers are looking to make a career out of blogging.

Freelance writing is now becoming an attractive career as oppose to the inflexible confines of a regular workplace. The Financial Express reports that content writing is one of the most lucrative areas in the freelancing economy. The site notes that there were around 15 million gig workers in India in 2009, and this number has since increased as more workers shift to the freelance economy.

More than ever, opportunities are now opening up for bloggers. Here’s all you need to know about how to how carve a career out of your blog:

1. Understand your niche

Look into your blog and categorize what you write most about. Who’s your audience? What is your strongest work? Note the topics that get the most engagement. Here you can gauge your blog style and branding—something you can immediately capitalize on.

2. Monetize your content

You can start monetizing as you expand your blog. Signing up to Google Adsense can allow you to make a passive income while attracting a readership. This will enable you to lease out ad placements on your blog – earning you up to ₹2,000-15,000 a month for a 2"x2" space. In addition, you can promote other sellers on your blog to generate more profits. Not maximizing your blog traffic amounts to wasted revenue streams you could potentially open up.

3. Learn some new tricks

The most effective blogs don’t just rely on words. They employ interactive visuals, with user-friendly designs and layout. Improve your blog by capturing those with short attention spans. Developing your skillset can really boost your readability and in turn your profitability in the blogosphere. Understanding Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important value-adding skill that will allow you to be competitive in the freelance writing industry and help your blog rank for some of your niche keywords. There are lots of SEO tips and tricks to get you up to speed with, so don’t get left behind. A useful quote from the Search Engine Journal article has Eric Enge, general manager of Perficient Digital going on record saying, “We tracked the SEO performance of a number of different sites. The sites that provided exceptional depth in quality content coverage literally soared in rankings throughout the year. Sites that were weaker in their content depth suffered in comparison.”

4. Write, write and write some more

Your blog is also your portfolio. Constantly trying to improve your writing skills is important if you want to be a successful blogger. The Art of Work editor James Goin suggests trying to write every day, even for at least 20 minutes. By creating a steady stream of content, you can monitor how your writing is improving. This will also allow you to improve the different areas needed for an effective online blog. In a post by Yoss on ‘Hiring a Content Writer – Where Do I Start?’ it explains how companies looking for content writers will vet the applicant’s portfolio and look at their communication skills, research ability, and if they have any SEO experience. As you generate more content you will have an array of material to build and update your portfolio.

5. Talk to your readers

A blog is an interactive space. Opinion and recommendations matter in planning your content. It is important to reach out to brands and even events that you can feature. Creating a Guest Author page for contributors can be a good way to keep your blog interesting and up-to-date.

Writing original and engaging content isn’t easy. But with discipline and effort, you can make your hobby into a worthwhile career.