I don’t normally talk about blogging, as it’s honestly not the most interesting subject to write about (let’s face it: talking about waterfalls and glaciers in Iceland and road tripping down the California coast is more my thing).  But you spoke and I listened – alas, my best tips for new bloggers, coming right up!

Want to guest post for A Passion and A Passport?  Click Here.

These days, new blogs are popping up faster than I can down an ice cream cone (and that’s fast). Probably every few minutes or so! The internet is over-saturated with content, and then some! And because of this, you want to make sure you start your blog off on the right foot and with some sound advice.

You may be asking, “Who am I to give out such advice?”  I don’t blame you. Not only have I learned how to braid my hair while traveling (a big triumph for me) and not scare away the sea turtles (I’m mildly obsessed with them), I’ve started making some decent money off this little “hobby” I call blogging.  

Decent is a relative term, but I can now afford $1 frosties from Wendy’s without feeling too guilty. It’s the little things in life, am I right?  

Ok, so I do a little more than decent – I made over $70k alone in 2018 just from my blog, all while holding (another) typical M-F full-time job! Now that’s a lot of frosties.

And while I’m here to say that you definitely shouldn’t start a blog with the intention of purely making money, let’s face it – blogging takes a LOT longer than anyone realizes, and does come along with some unforeseeable costs, so if you do by chance end up making a bit of money, I’m sure you’ll be totally fine with that

Want to learn how I made $30,000+ in my First Year with Mediavine? Click here and check that stuff out. What about how I made $70k+ blogging in 2018 with a full time job? Yes, it’s possible!

This little baby of mine has been cooking for over 5 years, and I’ve definitely learned a few things the hard way.  I reached 100K+ page views per month in June 2017, and it’s only gone up ever since! (I now average 185k per month ).

Yes, I’ve made plenty of beginner-blogger mistakes.  Like that time I once spent an exorbitant amount of money and time switching platforms only to have the guy leave me in the middle of the process.  

And yes, I started my email list 3 and a half years too late and haven’t been sending out regular updates since. (Whoops – We all have things we need to improve on). Let my mishaps be lessons for you.  

I can go on and on with information (and my personal blogging mistakes), but let’s start with the top 25, most important (and beneficial), in my opinion, tips for all you new bloggers out there.  Happy Blogging!

Blogging Tips for New Bloggers

BLOG DESIGN

• Have a killer (short and sweet) about me page (which is easily visible on your home page). Readers want to know the face behind all this awesome (free) content you’re providing, and they want to relate to you. Be relateable by being yourself – it’s really that easy. Make your personality shine especially on your About Me page. Find mine here– And note how I specifically give out little tidbits of personal information (any other Nutella addicts out there?)

• Design and branding is more important than you realize (find a stunning theme on Themeforest – there’s heaps of low cost options!)  Users who stumble upon your blog will decide in a second or less whether they want to continue scrolling – and a lot of that is dependent on the design and overall aesthetics.  You’ll want to keep your colors, font, and graphics consistent across your blog, and across all social media channels as well.  You want people to instantly recognize your work as soon as they see it!  You work hard for it baby, make it yours!

• Plug-ins are your friend (but don’t overuse them as they can easily slow your site down – which we definitely don’t want!)  A few I recommend and use:
  • Yoast for SEO
  • Askimet Anti-spam
  • Interactive World Maps
  • J Query Pin It Button
  • BJ Lazy Load
  • JetPack

WRITING

• Write. A LOT! While practice doesn’t make perfect in this case (writing styles are so subjective it’s hard to define what’s “correct”), you need a bunch of useful/interesting/fun articles in order to get your blog up and running.  This book is an interesting read and useful for anyone looking to hone in on their writing.

• Your posts should either be informative and educational, or entertaining and laugh out loud funny. If someone’s not learning or laughing, what’s the point to your post? Ask yourself that before writing anything.  No one wants to hear about your crazy night out in Ibiza (unless it’s unbelievably fall-on-the-floor funny or has tons of useful information about Ibiza nightlife). I’ll say it again because it’s just that important: Make each post either hysterically funny or insanely useful.

• Spell check, spell check, spell check. And give each piece a proper and thorough edit. Again, no one wants to (nor will) read through articles with tons of grammar and spelling mistakes.  It’s just not acceptable anymore.  If you’ve chosen to write in a language that is not your first, get an editor.  Friends will suffice at first when you haven’t got the budget.  I’ve stopped reading blogs because of the horrible grammar-filled writing.  For real. And it’s a real shame because many of these bloggers have awesome content- I just can’t bare to read through careless errors. It’s like chalk squeeking on a blackboard for me.  Psst – if you ever find grammar errors on my site – please let me know!

• Keep an organized list of ideas you have, and keep them in one place. When writer’s block eventually hits, you’ll always have specific topics to draft.  I’ve been loving Google Docs lately, which is editable on both the computer and phone, and syncs up automatically. My best ideas usually happen in the shower, so I make sure to write them down ASAP. I used to have random post it’s/napkins/receipts (true story) with post ideas and lost so many of those tiny pieces of paper. Do yourself a favor and stay organized from the very beginning.

PHOTOGRAPHY

• Content is king, but so is photography! We are visual people by nature, and compelling photographs go a very (very!) long way! If you aren’t comfortable using a DSLR, there are other options available, including my latest purchase and absolute love, the Olympus Pen, which is not only SUPER stylish but so much lighter than any DSLR you’ll find out there.  (Full review here).

• Learn the basics of photography, like the Rule of Thirds, optimal lighting conditions, and other composition tricks. These three things will go a very long way.

• Edit your photos. I can’t stress this enough. A few simple tweaks can drastically change and improve a photo. And please oh please do not post dark photos- it takes less than a minute to lighten and brighten them up. If you’re used to editing with Snapseed on your phone, I highly suggest you check out Adobe Lightroom, which has many of the same controls plus much much more (and not as scary as Photoshop, I promise)!  I also recommend Touch Retouch for eliminating pesky objects and lines when editing on your phone.

• Don’t have high quality profesh looking photographs of your own? Consider using pixaby.com and unsplash.com, 2 very useful FREE websites with photos you can use without attribution (crediting the photographer). Flickr Creative Commons is wonderful as well, but be sure to look at the copyright notes and always abide by them.

• Do not import your photos directly from your camera. You’ll need to optimize these (aka make the images smaller) in order to minimize page loading speeds.  A few easy ways to do this: export as a different file size in your editing software (I can do a whole batch in under 30 seconds in Lightroom), right click on the photo on your desktop and press “compress”, or use a free image optimizer such as this one.

SEO (search engine optimization)

• Yes, I know, SEO’s not fast and it’s definitely not sexy. But it’s absolutely imperative you learn some SEO tactics from the very beginning, before you even publish your first post. Don’t worry – if you’ve already started your blog you can always go back and put what you’ve learned into old posts. Download the Yoast plugin and focus on SEO and long tail keywords from the very beginning. You’ll be glad you did this later.  A key SEO strategy will bring you passive traffic for years to come.

• OMG you guys. Get Keysearch, like ASAP. If you don’t have this magical power just yet, you’re 110% missing out on SO many potential page views. Keysearch is a very necessary tool that helps you find exaaaactly what people are looking for on search engines, and just how difficult it will be to rank. Check it out here, and sign up with my discount code for $$$ off. I wouldn’t get 175k+ page views each and every month without Keysearch. It’ll change your life (for just about $15 a month), you’ll see.

• GUEST POST, GUEST POST, GUEST POST.  The more high-quality sites you can get your link on (those with a higher Domain Authority than yours), the better.  You’ll rank higher in search engines, meaning more page views, which will eventually mean more brand partnerships/collaborations, and money.  If you’d like to guest post on my site, check out my guest post guidelines and feel free to contact me.

COLLABORATION

• Befriend others who are starting out too (look for them in Facebook groups).  You’ll want to have some blogger friends to share all your wins and questions with.  The general population (aka non-blogger friends and family) won’t understand why you’re doing a happy dance once your DA goes up a notch or 2.  We’ve gotta stick together, blogging pals!

• Guest post, guest post, guest post!  Yes, I said it again! Not only is guest posting wonderful for your SEO, but by guest posting on blogs with similar niches, you’ll reach a wider audience of those potentially interested in your site as well. And therefore potentially gain new readers!

MONEY

• Please oh please don’t expect to start making money right away (and don’t get discouraged if you don’t make your first dollar after a year). There’s no “get rich quick” scheme in blogging- and that I can promise you! However, in order to set yourself up to make the big bucks as soon as possible, I highly advise you to enroll in the e-course “Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing“. I made the money back spent on the course in no time, and it really goes through affiliate marketing step-by-step from the very beginning.  No prior knowledge necessary!

• Be aware for lots of spammy emails offering you money to post casino links/have you work for them for “exposure”.  Yes, they may offer you some money which at first definitely sounds super exciting, but be wary of these as too many can hurt your DA and relationship with Google (not a good thing…).

• If you’re wondering how I make the bulk of my blogging money (roughly 50% or so), it’s with Mediavine. I’m obsessed. Once you reach 25k sessions, apply to Mediavine right away. Learn all my tactics for reaching those 25k sessions faster righttttt over here!

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Be active // present on social media. This goes without saying, but in order to move on up in the social media ladder, you need to make your presence known. That means actual engagement from you- no bots, automations, gaming the system.  Advertisers and folks from tourism boards/brands are starting to recognize those who use these automatic controls – and they don’t like them.

• Before picking a blog name/URL, make sure the social media handles are still available.  It’s best to use the same name (or slightly different variations) across all social media.  And even if you don’t plan on using all from the very start, best to lock in your social media handles now before anyone else snatches them up!

BRAND/PARTNERSHIPS

• Design a media kit, press page, and work with me page right away. You’ll be adding to it all the time and it’s a great way to keep track of your accomplishments!

• With that being said, if you want to be proactive in your partnerships with brands, reach out to hotels, activity/tour companies, restaurants, and/or tourism boards in your local area.  Get your foot in the door and on their radar, even if it’s just to say something along the lines of: “Hi, I live in your area and recently started a travel blog focusing on XYZ.  I’d love to work together sometime in the future!”.  It’s all about those relationships, people.

• Don’t expect to get “free stuff” right away (hint – they’re never “free” anyways – you’re working for it)!  Or even within the first year.  Brands really value ROI (return on investment), so be sure you are able to provide them with such before reaching out.  There is no special number of page views or social media followers, but you’ll need to show them you have some authority and your followers really value what you have to say/promote! If you propose a collaboration, be prepared for a lot of no’s- it comes with the territory. Don’t get upset or take it personally. Even the big guys still get some no’s even after years and years of blogging.

LEGAL STUFF

• Give credit where credit is due: SO IMPORTANT! If you use images, wording, videos, music, (basically anything) that isn’t yours, you could potentially receive a hefty fine if you don’t use accreditation properly.

• If you plan to use any affiliate networks, be sure to disclose your involvement on each and every post above the links you provide. Make sure to read each network’s policies about proper use of links as well so you don’t get penalized.

OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

• Be cognizant of your blog name/url, and take the time to choose one wisely. These should obviously match, and be able to withstand any changes down the road. For example, if you’re on the fence about becoming vegan, don’t plan out your entire blog with that in mind.  What if you decide to eat meat/eggs/dairy again in a few months/year?

• Use wordpress from the very beginning. Trust me, while a switch from another platform is possible, its not ideal nor my idea of fun for a month of Saturday nights. (My life back in 2012…)

• On another note, I recommend using BlueHost in the beginning of your blogging career.  Sign up now for only $3.95 a month, this price really can’t be beat.  You can switch to a more powerful (aka expensive) hosting provider should you need it in the future.  Most offer moves for free so there’s no need to fret about spending way more than you should now.

• Read. A LOT! Read articles and magazines of well-established authors in your niche. Not only will it eventually improve your own writing style, but you’ll learn what you like (and don’t like) in terms of writing/ready style.

And finally:

Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 56. We all start at the beginning, and there’s no reason to get down on yourself if you aren’t quite where others are just yet. Focus on building your site and the opportunities will come.

Psst – looking for more information?  Check out my Resources Page with heaps of blogging suggestions and I what I personally use to power this site!

Missed how I made $30k my first year with Mediavine? Click on over!

The post 25+ Tips for New Bloggers appeared first on A Passion and A Passport.

→ Read Next: 2018 Travel and Life Roundup (all the nitty gritty deets of my entire year, ifffff that’s something you’re interested in…)

But first, where the F did 2018 go? I feel like it was just yesterday we were watching the lanterns float away on the beach in Thailand (but really, how was that over 365 days ago)?! As I say each and every year, the months just seem to fly right on by, forgetting to stop and linger no matter what the season (or lack of seasons here in California).  

I like to start each year off by taking a moment to reflect on how the year went, and this post is alllll about the business side of things. The blog business, because in case you didn’t know (or completely forgot), I have a ANOTHER full-time job as well (big shout out to all the other SLP’s out there).

→ You can read more about me, if you’re the slightest bit interested.   

From Hobby to Full-Time Income

2010: I started this claim to fame back in 2010 (or so), and shockingly, only wrote a few posts, 5 at most (I had noooooo clue what I was doing). My first post ever riiiight over here, and thankfully the photos didn’t migrate over correctly when I switched platforms. It’s pretty cringe-worthy, but I show you it to prove that everyone starts at the very beginning.

2013: I either got bored or completely forgot about it altogether, and didn’t touch it again until sometime in 2013, when I wrote a few posts about Israel, Greece, Hawaii, and more (as well as accepting a whole slew of 800 word guest posts, ack!) Those alllll need to be updated, and badly.

2014: I guess I decided it was time to officially move to WordPress, and I paid a fellow blogger to help make the migration an easier one. Welllll, that didn’t exactly go to plan, since he left me mid-migration and was no where to be found (yes, he was alive and well; he was continuing to post on his blog and social media).

Thankfully my husband was able to pick up where he left off, and I finally did make it to WordPress once and for all. A new premium theme came,  as did a handful of new posts. I also worked with my first ever hotel sponsor and got put up in the baller penthouse suite, so that was cool.

2015-2017: After securing that first collaboration, I began taking my blog MUCH more seriously, and started treating it like a business. No, I wasn’t making tons of money (a few hundred here and there), but it was exciting to see my hard work finally (kinda) paying off. By 2017, I was making about 2 grand a month from my side hustle.

And once Mediavine came into play in June of 2017, I finally realized that a full-time income (in addition to my SLP salary) was more than attainable. I spent more time than ever focusing all my efforts on the blog, which eventually paid off later on.

2018 – present: More hustling – although I wasn’t relying on my blog income to live, so it didn’t feel forced and I was able to take breaks when mentally needed. I now mostly rely on passive income (which is the beeeeeest thing EVERRRRRR), so can stop blogging for weeks at a time without worry that my income will massively drop.

It was finally in 2018 that I found a decent work-life balance; I feel totally comfortable enjoying my life instead of wasting it away on my laptop.

And now it’s already 2019, a full NINE years since I originally put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard in this instance) and started the damn thing. Completely insane.

Who knew this “little hobby” of mine (what it initially started as and what some of my family and friends thought it was for the longest time) would bring in a full time income, only a few years later. And yes, that’s in addition to my typical 8-3 M-F full time job.

No, I don’t say this to brag (although I am quite proud of myself), but to show all you conventional full-timers out there that blogging is a fully sustainable and attainable side hustle. Sure, there’s a sh*t ton of haaaard work that goes into it, but if I can somehow make it work (with approximately 3% strategy, 97% who the F knows), there’s no doubt in my mind that you can too.

Psst – interested in starting a blog? CHECK THIS OUT (oh, and this too).

All the Stats

So yes, I made over 70k (alllllmost 75 big g’s) with this little “hobby” of mine and I’m not ashamed to share that little fact! And because everything’s all relative (meaning you shouldn’t go comparing your 3 month old baby blog to mine, which I’ve been working damn hard on for 5 years or so), here’s the numbers we’re working with:

Page Views in 2018: 2,017,876

Ahhhhh TWO MILLION+ I honestly can’t believe it!

Compared to 1,139,468 page views in 2017

Which is a whopping 77.09% increase – um, what, how did that even happen?!

Income in 2018: ~$73,959.60

Just FYI, taxable income is a bit different – some of this money is still owed to me

Compared to $21,443.66 in 2017

An increase of 245% (not too shabby!)

Here’s a breakdown of it all (2018):

Ads: ~$47,500

You guys know how much I just loveeee Mediavine (I even wrote them a whole love letter of a post recently). Yes, while I’m not in love with how the ads look plastered all over my site, that money is hard to give up.

And my page views and time on page have only gone up, so I guess the majority of readers put up with them to indulge in all my juicy (and FREE) content. It’s a win-win for both of us. With that being said, ads are here to stay for 2019!

I’m head-over-heels for Mediavine, here’s why.

Affiliates: ~$21,000

I use a whole slew of affiliates, from hotels, tours, products, and more. This is something I’d like to focus on a bit more next year, because as I’ve hinted at before- no real strategy here. Whoops. I need to run some A/B tests, find new affiliate programs that’ll fit my audience, and really take a close look at older posts to see how to maximize their potential.

Sponsored content : ~$5,500

I only do about 1-2 sponsored articles a month (at most), and hardly any sponsored social media promotion – I turn down 90% of offers that come my way (most of them are downright horrible anyways). I’d love to start charging brands that I love what I’m actually worth, but my negotiating skills are lacking big time.

And yes don’t worry, that money’s all been reported to the IRS…

Blogging and Working Full Time

You may be asking when I even find the time to devote to blogging, considering the little fact that I have the errrday commitment of a FULL-TIME job. Yea, I don’t really know where I find the hours, but let’s just say that I always need to be doing something.

I realized not too long ago that I’m sort of a workaholic, and you’ll never find me sitting on the couch just watching TV without doing something else (i.e. writing/editing photos/other mundane blog tasks).

If I’m not grabbing dinner with friends, playing tennis, brunchin’ it up, or going on hikes, I’m behind my computer working away until the wee hours of the night (or until my husband drags me into bed). I’ll never say no to more interesting plans in leu of working on my blog, and will always say yes to date nights with my husband and girlfriends. A bit more on that below.

In all honesty, there’s been months where I wished I could blog full time, but then later that night come to the conclusion that that’d be the absolute worst flippin’ idea ever (I like my pension, ok?) Maybe one day I’ll do part-time SLP work, giving myself extra time/days for blogging work, who knows. I go back and forth, and although we have no clue what the future holds, my full-time speech-language pathology job is here to stay for the time being.

How I Made a Full Time Income this Year

So here’s my “strategy” if you will, but know that I had no structured strategy for the bulk of 2018 (something that needs to change in 2019). I guess I have some adequate internal instincts when it comes to making decisions for my business? Good thing!

A little background:

I used to live, breathe, and dream my blog. I thought about it in the shower, on my drive to work each morning, at dinner with my husband (not proud about that), and everywhere else imaginable. Nowadays, not so much. Don’t let that give you the wrong impression – I’m still mildly obsessed with the thing.

But now that I’m making a nice chunk of change with it (and it’s NOT my only full-time income), I’m starting to scale back a bit. You think I’d be doing the opposite, am I right? Am I crazy for wanting to have a life outside of my blog?!

For wanting to see friends and go on dates with my husband and take REAL non-sponsored vacations/trips and eat loads of donuts and avo toast and get messy making açaí bowls (true story) and just not worrying about my blog 24/7? Sounds like a prettyyyy sweet life to me. Balance, my friends, it’s alllll about balance. And I’ve gotten pretty dang good at it, especially in recent years.

Here’s a bit of my logic behind this:

Lemme explain: I work smarter, not harder. It’s really that simple. I think about what’s actually going to help me meet my blogging goals, and do them! Instead of wasting precious time on tasks that I know deep down won’t do a damn thing (hint hint, IG, hint hint, obnoxious social media threads), I focus on what I KNOW will most likely give me the results I’m looking for. And if it doesn’t pan out how I originally thought, there’s limited dwelling involved and I move on to the next task.

My friends even call me the unicorn blogger. Apparently magical things happen to me without me even trying. Its like I have a fairy godmother sprinkling some fairy dust on me every night. It’s possible I’ve been lucky, but I like to think that my past 5+ years pouring my heart and soul into my little slice of the internet has taught me a thing or two, whether I realize it or not.

Here are some of the things I DO pride myself on doing (or did in early 2018):

• use a virtual assistant to help with Pinterest tasks and strategy testing
• invest in Keysearch every month (if you have a blog, you NEED this). Sign up here and use discount code of KSDISC to receive 20% off!
• write in depth articles I know will do well on Google and/or Pinterest
• stay informed and up to date on SEO best practices (aka 1-don’t spam the internet, 2-write super helpful articles that are actually of use to people)
• travel to destinations that really interest me (not solely for the gram or bc of press trips)
• pay my own way for 90% of travel
• talk to like minded individuals who always have my back (hi blogging besties)
• read blogs in niches other than my own
• have ads on my site (despite many bloggers shoving their noses in the air at them)
• work hard on the blog for a few weeks, then take a week (or a few) off
• focus on other hobbies I have, including tennis, photography, hiking, scrapbooking, Zumba, eating pretty food (yes, food is a hobby of mine)

Those things probably seem like no-brainers (is this common knowledge? I never know), so I think it’s important to understand what I don’t spend my time doing, instead.

Some things I DON’T do (anymore):

• spend hours perfecting my Instagram feed
• go crazy in social media sharing threads
• write posts with no direction for the sake of doing so
• chase sponsored posts
• chase press trips
• chase down hotels/PR firms/CVBs/brands
• obsess on taking the perfect photo
• change/schedule my life around blogging tasks (Friday and Saturday BPS for example – if you’re a blogger, you know what I mean)

Now, I’m not saying if you do any of the things on my don’t-do list you won’t find success or that they’re wrong per say. It just works for me in order to keep a balanced life. Let’s face it- if you spend tooooo much time blogging, you may wind up hating it. Your time is valuable – treat it as such.

And don’t spend more time writing about your life than actually living your life.

I guess I’m trying to say that blogging success doesn’t come overnight. It’s taken me 5+ years (9 in total if you want to count those super early years of hardly trying) to get to this point where I can sit back, forget about the hustle, and finally relax.

And anyone who challenges that is either trying to sell you a (let’s face it- really shitty) course or is living in the clouds living peacefully hangin’ with my fairy godmother.

The post How I Made $70k+ Blogging in 2018 While Holding a Full Time Job appeared first on A Passion and A Passport.

Before we dive in to exactly how to reach this desired golden-ticket status, lemme answer a few questions you may have regarding all things Mediavine. It’s probably one of the reasons you’re reading this Mediavine review after all!

What is Mediavine, you ask?

Great first question for this Mediavine review, right?

Well, my friends, Mediavine is quite possibly the best thing that’s happened to my blogging career. Ever. And no, I’m not exaggerating.

With the help of Mediavine, I make way more money blogging than I ever did before. And the money just keeps on increasing. Like basically every single month. In my sleep. If you find something better –– please tell me (but I doubt you will).

The folks at Mediavine just keep discovering ways to make us more money – and I’m definitely on board with that! #nocomplaintshere

All kidding aside (but really, I’m not even kidding), Mediavine is a full-service ad representation company that places advertisements on websites (and oh so much more). They have a huge presence with food bloggers, as well as lifestyle, DIY, parenting, crafting, and finance bloggers, and are becoming more and more popular with us travel bloggers.

Probably because those in the know keep gushing about how fantastic Mediavine is — not only for some loads of extra cash in your pocket, but as a company overall.

And why is everyone (including me) raving about it?

Wellllll, money? Am I right? But besides that, the company and platform is just so damn amazing. I honestly can’t stop gushing about them.

To put things in perspective: I get roughly 175,000+ page views to my site a month, and Mediavine earns me over $5,000 for that traffic in that time period. It’s basically an extra $60,000/year in my pocket by just working on my blog (which I would be doing anyway).

I’ve also tested this by doing noooothing blog related for 6 weeks and still made my typical $5k. I was too busy stuffing my face with gelato in Croatia and gawking at the views in Norway.

I’m expecting crossing my fingers I’ll break $100k next year from my blog alone (and heyyyy I have another full time job as well), and Mediavine is a big reason why that number isn’t ridiculously off-the-charts crazy.

2019 UPDATE: I totally killed that goal, and made over 120k in 2019 from just blogging (!!!!). Which just so happens to be a tad higher than my salary at my day job! Pinch me! Who knew my blog would eventually out-earn the career I got my Master’s Degree for?!

That extra money helps me pay off my wildly ridiculous Bay Area mortgage sooner, helps me go exaccctly where I wanna go in the world (like Japan, Norway, and Thailand for example) – and not only on press trips I only half wanna go on, and helps fund my boba and acai bowl addiction.

2022 UPDATE: I made over $100k from Mediavine alone. That’s a down payment on a house! Absolutely wild!

One of the reasons they just “get” us so well is that they’re all publishers themselves. They understand what’s important for us because they’re one of us. Mediavine is for publishers, by publishers. It’s that simple. And they’re all pretty awesome (once you make it to Mediavine status you’ll see what I mean).

Read Next: How I Made $70k+ Blogging in 2018 While Holding a Full Time Job (yes, it’s possible!)

How does Mediavine earn us so much money?

Mediavine basically acts as an Ebay of sorts, but for ads on websites! Companies bid for ad space, and the highest bidder wins. Every time. And they’re always thinking of new ways. From new video ad tools to refreshing their ad tech to make sure it’s always at its best, the company is always keeping things fresh and new.

But ads, ugh!

I know, I know. Ads don’t add any aesthetic value to your site. They actually do exaaaactly the opposite. Who wants to see an ad for kitchenware* while planning a trip to Iceland. But the common everyday person who uses the internet on the frequent basis just kinda expects to see ads nowadays.

Those pesky little boxes are commonplace. All the big news sites use them (CNN, Business Insider, and yes, ABC News has them – I checked). Even Travel and Leisure has (an abundance of) ads sprinkled throughout.

In my 3 years with ads plastered on my site, I’ve only had two complaints about them. TWO. Out of over 3 million. Now, I’m sure there are a few more who just keep their thoughts to themselves, but still. You do the math.

My feelings on the subject? If you don’t like the ads which keep my awesome content absolutely FREE, don’t read my stuff.  It’s that simple. Black and white. Ads only entice me to make my content even better, because the better the content, the higher chances it’ll rank well/on page 1 of google, which in turn make me the moolah. And my time is worth something, too.

Know what’s even more annoying than simple ads you can scroll right past? Pop-ups that cover content and won’t go away, don’t have a clear exit button, and/or make you input email addresses right off the bat. No thanks. While you’re checking your site, go make sure your social buttons don’t cover your content either, as that’s a huuuuge annoyance to myself (and others, I’m sure) as well.

*You should know that ads are aggregated based on your user history. So if people are complaining about seeing provocative ads or things they don’t want to see, it miiiight possibly mean they’re searching for those exact things themselves on Google.

I wanted to make the ad above more wacky and downright opposite than the beauty that is Iceland, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything more fun than kitchenware. Suggestions welcome.

Okay, okay, so how can you actually improve your chances of getting to Mediavine status sooner than later? A few ways, but know you’ll have to work damn hard to get there (the payoff is soooo worth it though).

Tools Worth Investing In

• Keysearch: If you don’t have this magical power just yet, you’re 110% missing out on SO many potential page views. Keysearch is a very necessary tool that helps you find exaaaactly what people are looking for on search engines, and just how difficult it will be to rank. Check it out here, and sign up with my discount code for $$$ off. (Use the discount code KSDISC). I wouldn’t get 175k+ page views each and every month without Keysearch. It’ll change your life (for under $10 a month), you’ll see.

• Tailwind: This automation device is a true lifesaver if you’re planning to whore out your pinterest pins.  FULL DISCLOSURE. I do not currently use Tailwind, nor ever have. This suggestion comes to me from my BFF blogging friends who swear I NEED Tailwind, but alas, I’m lazy and don’t feel like setting up yet another system right now. I’ll get to it, Lia, I’ll get to it (promise, someday, maybe).

• A good host: Every time your site goes down, you’re losing page views. And if you didn’t know already, hosting providers are not all created equal. Different hosts provide significantly different server speeds, which ultimately affect the speed of your site, positively or negatively. So basically, if you’re paying for a host with a super slow server, people may be clicking x on your site before it even loads.
  • I recently made the switch to Performance Foundry (hiiiiighly recommended), and while they’re definitely more expensive than my previous host (Bluehost), my site hasn’t gone down once and I’m able to sleep soundly at night knowing I’m in good hands. If you’re looking to possibly switch hosts and haven’t checked out Performance Foundry just yet, do it.  They also include tech help, which means you can get rid of your tech guy and another bill to pay.

Tips for Getting that Acceptance Email

First of all, let’s talk about what you need to actually reach that golden mediavine status.

• 50,000 real sessions to your blog (NOT page views)
  • NEVER buy traffic; you’ll get banned so fast you won’t know what happened. And yes, there’s no way around this. Be legit. Be cool. Get rich. (Well, enough to comfortably afford an avocado toast without worrying about your bank account).

Mediavine used to accept blogs with 25,000 sessions, but they’ve since changed their eligibility criteria to 50k. While this makes it essentially twice as difficult to get accepted, you can still get there, I promise!

• High quality, updated content.
  • Content that actually provides real value to your readers. I always say, it better be either incredibly useful or hysterically laugh-on-the-floor funny or there’s honestly no use for it out there in cyberspace. And quite frankly, who wants to read a useless, boring post anyways?
• A primarily English-speaking audience
  • Gotta give the advertisers what they want!
• A sidebar on your website
  • Mediavine can help with this if need be.
  • Note that a sidebar is not required to join the club, but is helpful to make the most of your advertising.

• Blog posts (where the majority of the ads will appear)
  • Make them long and strong and MV will love you forever and ever (once you reach 50k sessions or close to it)
• A blog using the WordPress Platform
  • This is not the end-all-be-all, but I’ve heard from numerous sources that having a WordPress site makes it significantly easier for MV to place ads on your site. If you’re using Wix, Blogger, etc and are at a place where your page views are pretty stagnant, NOW’s the time to make the switch to WordPress (it’s not really thaaaat hard, it just takes a few days of effort). It’s worth it, I promise.
  • It’s important to note Mediavine will do their best to work with ANY blogging platform, but some platforms output HTML in a way that makes it difficult to dynamically place ads.

So why the 50,000 sessions?

Two main reasons: 1. Before you’ve got enough traffic, display ads aren’t really worth the loss in user experience and 2. Ad partners need enough impressions to their ads to make the relationship with the site (aka your blog) worthwhile to them. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership. You wouldn’t expect your dream guy/gal to kiss the ground you walk on if they got nothing in return, am I right?

With that being said, Mediavine is for everyone: “big” bloggers with multi-million page view sites, and “smaller” bloggers with roughly 50,000 sessions. They’re an all-inclusive ad company (once you reach that magic number).

Strategies and Tips to Help You Finally Reach Those 50,000 Sessions

• STOP FOCUSING ON INSTAGRAM and other social media platforms that don’t increase your page views (there, I said it – don’t hate me )
  • Make sessions and pageviews your ultimate goal (for now). If you really want to reem the benefits of Mediavine, you’ll have to put most (if not all) of your blogging efforts into actually increasing your page views. This includes doing anything and everything in your power to give your sessions (and therefore page views) a boost.
  • Try pinterest threads, using SEO with the help of Keysearch, sending out posts to your email subscribers, etc, etc etc.
  • Stop focusing on things that get you little page view (or money) return. If Instagram stories are bringing you thousands of page views a month – don’t stop, just be aware of where your page views are coming from and cut out the time suckers for those things that aren’t benefiting you page view/session wise.

• Write MORE content
  • Face it, you have the opportunity to drive more traffic to your site with 50 well-researched articles than say, 10. It just makes perfect math sense (I do love numbers after all). And Google LOVES fresh, shiny new content. Start writing, my friends! This goes without saying, but make sure your content is SEO’d properly.

• Write LONGER content
  • Longer content has a greater chance of ranking on Google, plainly because the longer the content, it’s assumed you’ve put more meat on the bones of the post. Always make your content the best possible out there, and the google gods will love you.
  • For reference, most of my posts are longer than 3,000 words. Some of my best and most popular posts are 8-10k words. Don’t be scared/shy of writing your heart out – it’ll be worth it and then some in the future, I promise. Just be sure to make these long posts super informative and not just fluff to fill the pages. Google will see right past that.
  • Updating old posts goes along with writing longer content. Have a bunch of old stuff that’s just okay but could be waaaay better? Take some time to improve on it, add some relevant keywords (from, you guessed it, Keysearch!), and you could drive some major traffic to your site.

• Learn SEO and make it your long term strategy: Yes, I know, it’s not fast and it’s definitely not sexy. But SEO is basically the only platform that will last for years to come – meaning your content will get seen for the foreseeable future. Google ain’t going anywhere any time soon, but social media platforms come and go all the time. I mean, does anyone even use MySpace anymore? And didn’t StumbleUpon just shut down? What ever happened to Tumblr? Anyone ever hear of Friendster, Ping, or Orkut? Exactly my point. A few basic SEO pointers:
  • Write new content that you think you can rank for (this is where Keysearch comes in) and don’t be afraid to target keywords with a volume of under 500 searches. A few of those done exceptionally well could result in major positive outcomes.
  • Be sure to use H1/H2/H3 headings properly (in URL, throughout your awesome content, in image information, etc)
  • Read anything and everything on the Moz Blog. It’s powerful stuff my friend.
  • Invest in Keysearch (yes, I know I keep saying this, but Keysearch is everything and then some). You’ll make your money back in no time.

• Utilize Pinterest as your short term strategy
  • Test out different pin designs and post titles
  • Manual pinning as well as schedulers like Tailwind
  • Participate in Pinterest threads (works for some, doesn’t work for all). I’ve done tests and my traffic doesn’t increase enough to make threads worth it, but some of my friends say they see major boosts!

What to Do Once You’re Given the Golden Ticket

• Write LONG content with short paragraphs (more spaces for Mediavine to input ads).
• Add in lots of awesome photography.
• Give your run at video! I’ll be adding in some videos soon to test their earning potential on my site.
• Get rid of “jump buttons” and clickable table of contents (you’ll just lose revenue by keeping them). There are lots of opinions on this but I’m just not for them.

Understanding RPM and CPM

RPM stands for revenue per mille (thousand in Latin), which, to many people’s misunderstanding, is actually just a math equation – myself included until the fantastic Mediavine co-founder Amber filled me in on this little tidbit (thanks!). In order to correctly project your earnings, you’ll want to actually look at CPM (which is the actual rate at which you earn).

So basically, the higher your CPM (and higher your session #), the more money you’ll make. Boom, it’s that easy. It’s almost like your hourly wage – it’s just per ad impression, instead of per hour.

RPM fluctuates based on a wide variety of things, including seasonality, holidays, traffic spikes, and more. It’s normal for your RPM to go up and down a dollar or two every day (the goal is to keep it increasing over time of course). Increase your RPM by writing longer content, adding in more photos, and spacing out your information into shorter paragraphs.

I’ll let Amber, a Mediavine co-founder herself, elaborate on this a bit more:

“It can be really hard for people to understand the difference between RPM and CPM – and they end up comparing their RPMs to someone else’s, when what they should be doing is comparing their RPMs only to their own site.

Did this September’s RPM increase over last September’s? By how much? Too many things can impact an RPM, or how advertisers buy, to make that a valuable metric to compare. Instead, compare average CPM. If you’re well below a fellow blogger, that’s something to discuss with us to see what that is. Sometimes it’s audience. Sometimes it’s viewability. Those are things we can help figure out.”

In my first full year with Mediavine (2017), I earned over $30k with an RPM of ~$24. I’m now at an average RPM of about $50 or so (because long and strong articles), and am expecting to bump that yearly revenue up to $60k. RPM makes a huuuuuge difference. Don’t say I never taught you anything.

Get to Teal

Once you get Mediavine, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Those “health checks” right there in your dashboard tell you which things aren’t performing as well as they could – and Mediavine even has help guides to get you back on track to increase your earning potential. Told you they want you to make as much money as possible.

Are you almost at Mediavine status?! You’ll get there, you blogging machine, you! Keep upping those sessions and I’ll see you in the MV facebook page sooner than you thought possible!

The post I Made $30,000+ in My First Year with Mediavine: Here’s How You Can Too appeared first on A Passion and A Passport.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs! But I have a feeling that my neighbors wouldn’t appreciate that.  And my husband would think I’m a major psycho (more than I already am, haha).

So here I go… (in more a whisper-like fashion)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH.

To most it’s probably not a big deal, at all.  But to me, it’s a big accomplishment.  I told myself I wouldn’t buy my own www(dot) until I dedicated myself to this blog for more than a month.  AND THAT I HAVE- go me!!!!

I kind of have this problem of starting things and never finishing them… It’s just what I do (unfortunately).

Another major difference: I changed the actual name of my blog, from “Passion for Travel” to “A Passion and A Passport“.  I think it sounds much more catchy and I like the over all ring to it much better.  Do you agree?

Next up on the list: making A Passion and A Passport a facebook page.  If anyone has any tips on making one, please let me know! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The post big changes on the blog! appeared first on A Passion and A Passport.

•  When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you. 
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.
• You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
• Make sure the blogs you choose have 200 or less followers

1. If you had to pick one country you visited to live long-term, where would you choose?
2. Any secret obsessions [travel related or not]?
3. When did you first get hit with the travel bug?
4. How do you spend your free time?
5. What is your greatest achievement to date?
6. If you could start all over in life, what would you change?
7. What 5 words describe you?
8. What do you love about blogging?
9. What has been your longest trip so far and where did you go?
10. What’s your favorite thing to have for dessert?
11. Name 3 places at the top of your travel wish list.     

The post Ohhh shiny! The Liebster Blog Award! appeared first on A Passion and A Passport.