HOW TO

START
/A Lifestyle Blogo
That Makes You Money

ONOME JOSEPH
blogtrovert.com

Written f
 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

This eBook is dedicated to every individual looking

for a legitimate source of income.

Love, Onome Joseph

Owner of blogtrovert.com

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

HOW TO START A PROFITABLE LIFESTYLE BLOG?

Many posts on the internet offer guides to starting, growing and

making money from a blog. But then, your need is specific. You

want to start a lifestyle blog and desire a genuine guide to setting

up a profitable one. In this e-book, I will guide you to create a

money-making lifestyle blog in less than 1 week, with easy to

follow steps.

What Is A Lifestyle Blog?

Simply put; A lifestyle blog is an online space to write about your

life and everything surrounding it. You create content s inspired

by your personal interests, daily activities and thoughts. Our lives

have different angles, you can write about one or all of it. Some

bloggers focus on specific aspect of their lives like Beauty,

college life, family, personal health, cooking, f ashion and much

more.

The lifestyle niche as a whole is so broad that you can choose a

specific area and not run out of blog topic ideas. Forget about

entertainment and gossip, blogging in lifestyle is the real deal!

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

WHY START A LIFESTYLE BLOG?

You just read or rather glanced through the definition of a lifestyle

blog. Many beautiful reasons make people want to start

blogging. One of which is obviously “THE MONEY

INVOLVED”. Truth be told, many bloggers make 6 figures by just

blogging. I mean that could be you too. Blogging is a goldmine,

but most people rush into it without prior knowledge!

Apparently, you can make a lot from blogging but I have to be

honest with you, it’s not as easy as it seems. Blogging is not a get

rich quick scheme. It’s definitely not as easy as it used to be few

years ago. You need to work hard, be patient, and of course stay

consistent. It pays, it sure does, but don’t expect the millions after

a month of diligence.

In all, I must remind you: blogging has so many potentials and is

open to anyone.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

START YOUR LIFESTYLE BLOG IN EASY STEPS

One thing you might want to do while you anticipate setting up

your own blog is checking out other lifestyle blogs and websites.

Get motivated, read articles and learn from other bloggers. This

step can help you process ways to stand out when you begin

your own blog. If you ever run into trouble while setting up your

blog, drop me a few lines on blogtrovert. I’m so eager to help

you set up your blog.

Now that you have gotten a good reason to start your blog, you

should sit back and make some important decisions that will

affect the growth of your blog like the sub-niche, blog name and

blogging platform that will best fit your lifestyle blog.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 1: Choose Your Blog Topic

I always tell anyone new to blogging to only write about what

interests them. I made a lot of mistakes in the past, and would

not want anyone to experience similar phase of regrets. It’s

important that you blog about what you like because it makes

everything fun and easy.

You’ll easily lose interest if you force yourself on a niche. You’ll

probably do that for the money. When it’s not coming, there is

high tendency of giving up. You should choose a specific sub -

niche regardless of all other areas you intend to explore.

It is highly advisable that you pick a specific topic area that your

blog will mostly focus on. There are lots of sub-niches to choose

in the lifestyle field. Some are;

• DIY hacks

• beauty and makeup

• self-help, etc.

Your skill or expertise might make a good sub-niche. Look within

yourself, what are you good at? Cooking (food blogger), reading

(book blogger), et all.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 2: Choose A Blog/Domain Name (URL)

After choosing your niche, the next thing you should work on is

choosing your blog and domain name. This will be your website’s

address (like mine, blogtrovert.com). When brainstorming for a

blog name, you should have four things in mind;

• Choose a name that is simple and easy to spell

• Make it as short as possible. It will be easier for People to

remember.

• Ensure it is not difficult to remember

• Lastly, it should have a connection with what you intend

blogging about.

Since choosing a blog name can be a bit overwhelming, you may

want to check out my guide on how to choose the perfect blog

name.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 3: Choose A Blogging Platform

On a normal day, I will scream, use WordPress! But I know that not

everyone has what it takes to host their website on WordPress

(Not wordpress.com). I will suggest Google’s free blogging

platform “blogger.com” to anyone not financially capable for a

self-hosted blog. This post will be based on WordPress, as I strongly

recommend it for anyone looking to make blogging more than

just a hobby.

Why I Love WordPress

In 2017, I moved my blog to WordPress and the experience since

then has been worth every penny spent. First, I love the fact that

my audience can communicate with me easily via my comment

box without challenges. WordPress has tons of free themes and

plugins to make everything easier for you , so you don’t need to

have any knowledge in coding.

Why You Should Use WordPress

Aside every other reason you may have been given to be self-hosted,

the need to appeal to advertisers is another cogent reason to use

WordPress for your blog. Some companies shy away from blogs on free

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

hosting platforms. So, WordPress CMS is the best and cheapest app for

going self-hosted.

Other Alternatives to WordPress

In your quest for blogging platforms that meet your need, you may

bump into several other platforms ranging from free to freemium and

premium. If for any reason you’d rather not use WordPress CMS, you

can use blogger.com or any other good options. A few are listed

below;

• Squarespace

• Wix

• Joomla

• Ghost

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Step 4: Choose A Hosting Provider

It’s time to get your domain and hosting for your lifestyle blog. I

am currently an interserver affiliate and I recommend them due

to their incredibly budget friendly prices and awesome 24 /7

customer support. Want a review? Read mine.

Interserver boasts of hosting packages with cool features

(regardless of your plan) like;

• 99% uptime

• free SSL certificate,

• free site migration,

• $1.99 Domain registration/transfer,

• one-click installation,

• website protection,

• 100% reliable customer support, and more

Getting started on Interserver is quite easy. They have various

hosting solutions, but I recommend their shared hosting plan

which from $4 - $5/month depending on your hosting duration.

You can opt for 1, 6, 12, 24, or 36 months of hosting duration.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Procedures for Buying A Hosting Plan from Interserver

Skip this step if you already have a hosting provider or do not

wish to use Interserver, but I strongly recommend you do.

1. First, navigate to interserver.net and click on the first “BUY

NOW” you see to get a standard webhosting plan or scroll

down to choose another plan. I recommend standard hosting.

2. You will be taken to the next page to buy a new domain or use

an existing domain. Interserver offers an almost free ‘.com’

domain alongside any first hosting purchase. It is priced at $1.99

for the first year.

3. If you rather buy a domain from interserver, do buy the whois

protection priced at $5/yr. Else, I recommend Namesilo, one of

the best and cheapest domain registrar. For as low as $8.99,

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you’ll own a .com domain with free whois protection for life.

Note: all 3 rd party domains require DNS change to the

interserver hosting server.

4. Once you’ve finalized your domain selection, click “Continue”.

5. Create an account (or login).

6. Setup your contact address and billing address.

7. Review, change hosting duration (billing interval) if need be

and subscribe to whois privacy (highly recommended) if you’re

buying your domain from Interserver.

8. Select Payment method and hit the “Place Order” button.

Enter Your Hosting Control Panel

Once payment is complete, you will receive a verification link in

the email address you use during registeration. Don’t forget to

verify your account.

Please take note of the above. To be on a safer side, print the

email or save it online securely. You may need the information in

the future. Everything you need to access your control panel is in

the message.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

To begin, visit your cPanel account using the link provided in the

hosting details sent to you and login with the username and

password (This were also sent to you).

Important Notice
You will receive a message containing your hosting details.
These includes;

1. A link to your cPanel account.

2. Your cPanel Username and Password.
3. And more.

Now that you have logged in, you should be in your control Panel.

This is where all the technical matters will take place for your

website. Please handle your login details with utmost care.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 5: Set Up SSL

It’s important that your blog goes live securely with a SSL

certificate.

A secured website has become necessary for visitors’ and

owners’ safety. Your site should run on HTTPS, so you definitely

need an SSL certificate. Fortunately, Interserver offers free SSL

certificates.

Follow the Procedures Below to Activate HTTPS on Your Blog.

If you are yet to point your domain to Interserver, do so now in

your domain registrar.

Once you’ve logged into your cPanel, navigate

to “SECURITY” and click on SSL/TLS Status. Select domain and run

AUTO SSL. Allow to load.

Certificate is installed, you have successfully activated HTTPs for

your domain.

Note: interserver free SSL renews every 3 months. There are

premium SSL starting from $9/yr.

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 6: Install WordPress

At this stage you’ve bought, activated your hosting plan from

Interserver, and installed SSL in your domain. It is time to install

WordPress. Installing WordPress is actually an easy task, thanks to

softaculous.

In your cPanel, simply navigate to; “Softaculous App Installer” click to

drop and select WordPress (you should see the large WordPress icon).

In the next page, be sure you choose to install WordPress following the

simply guide from Softaculous. Click on “Install Now”.

Add Your Site Information with The Procedures Below:

Choose Protocol; I strongly advise you choose HTTPs, but select it only if

your domain has an SSL certificate. Tutorial for installing SSL certificate is

above.

Choose Domain; Ensure you select the domain you want to install

WordPress in.

In Directory; please ignore the “In Directory Field” you obviously want

WordPress installed on yoursite.com.

Set Up Admin account; I’m sure you know what this means. By default,

the admin username and password is “admin”. You should change this

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to a personalized username and a very strong password. Also, don’t

forget to keep them safe. You need them to log into WordPress after

this step.

Pick an email you’ll like your WordPress installation details to be mailed

to then click on “INSTALL”.

Okay! This wasn’t so bad! If you followed the steps above, you will have

successfully installed WordPress on Interserver.

Hassle free right?

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 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog that Makes You Money.

Step 7: Find A Theme That You Like

Now that you have installed WordPress on your domain, it’s time

to set up your blog. Choose a theme for your lifestyle blog.

First, login to your WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to

“Appearance” >> “Themes” >> “Add New”. You will find hundreds

of free WordPress themes in this page.

Although WordPress gives you a sel ection of free themes to pick

from, I strongly recommend that you start up with a premium

design. Premium themes often give you a sense of uniqueness.

You can easily stand out from the crowd. There are many places

to find beautiful WordPress themes. I recommend

Themeforest, Restored316 Designs, Bluchic or Solopine. You can

also browse some of my favourite feminine WordPress themes .

Please note: If you are opting for Restored316 WordPress themes,

you will need the Genesis Framework. You’ll get quality support

from the theme developer. Make your selections wisely. This post

will guide you on choosing the right theme for a female

audience.

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Step 8: Design A Logo for Your Blog

Apart from beautifying your blog with a theme, you’ll need a logo

to help build your brand and ensure your readers get to know

you. You can use canva.com to create a simple logo for your

blog. You can better still hire a designer.

Note that you can alter your theme and logo if they do not meet

your need but do not to change your blog name and domain

name as it will greatly affect your blog growth.

Step 9: Create Your Social Profiles

If you intend developing your blog in the best way, then you

should have social profiles set up with your blog’s name. Create

a page for your blog on

• Facebook

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Pinterest and other popular social media platforms.

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Step 10: Install Important Plugins

Plugins are important but not compulsory, they solve specific problems

or/and provide essential functions. They help in the management and

running of your blog. WordPress has tons of plugins to choose from. I will

list a few that your WordPress blog needs.

• WP Security; This plugin helps protect your blog from hackers.

• RankMath; This plugin is a must have as it helps you create SEO

optimized posts.

• Akismet; This plugin blocks spam comments on your blog posts.

• Jetpack; A plugin that gives you real time statistics of visits on your

blog.

To add a new plugin to your blog, simply navigate to “Plugins” >> “Add

New”.

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Step 11: Create Important Pages

Pages are needed, they hold important and required information

about and for your blog. Below are some necessary pages you

should create.

About Page: Here you are expected to talk about yourself and

your blog in general.

Contact Page: This page makes it easy for your readers to

contact you. There are plugins to help you add a contact form

to this page. I recommend contact Form 7.

Privacy Policy Page: In this page, you are expected to inform

users about the data you collect on your website and how you

and other third-parties may use them.

Disclosure Page: You should create this page if you intend

monetizing your blog with affiliate links.

To create a new page, go to “Pages” >> “Add New”.

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Step 12: Publishing Your First Post

At this stage, I assume that you want to publish your first blog

post.

First of all, delete the default welcome post automatically posted

by the WordPress. Ensure you are logged in to your WordPress

admin panel, then go to “Posts” >> “All Posts” and delete the

default post. After that, click on “Add New” you will see a blank

PAGE to create your first post.

Post Ideas for Your New Blog

Lastly, as a new blogger, you may experience a touch of the

infamous writer’s block. In case you do not know what to write

about, you can check out any of the posts below.

• 30 blog post ideas for Lifestyle Bloggers

• 60 blog Post ideas for life style Bloggers

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TIPS FOR BLOGGING SUCCESS

• Choose a niche you are passionate about. If you write about

topics you like, you’ll improve as a blogger and possibly enjoy the

bumpy ride.

• Consistency is key. I may have failed woefully at this in the past,

but you have a chance not to fail also. Be consistent, don’t leave

your blog in the dark for long.

• Avoid plagiarism at all cost. It can ruin your blogging career.

• Don’t settle for awful themes. Choose the best design for your

blog. People love beautiful and attractive websites.

• Go social. At least to know your readers.

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HOW TO MONETIZE A LIFESTYLE BLOG

• Sponsored content: You get paid to write or publish already

written blog posts for another company on your blog. This is my

major source of income at the moment.

• Sell Products: Many bloggers often sell their own products or

services on their blogs. You can either sell digital products like

eBooks, printables, or physical products like clothes, pieces of

jewellery, etc.

• Google AdSense: Google AdSense is one of the most popular

advertising networks. It allows you to monetize spaces on your

blog. It’s easy to set up, all you need is approval to participate

as a publisher.

• Offer freelance services: Get paid to write for third party websites

or companies.

• Start a coaching business: If you can teach, then you probably

should start teaching a skill or topic you know about.

• Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is an amazing way to start

making money from your lifestyle blog. You are expected to refer

potential buyers to websites and earn a percentage for each

product or service sold.

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CONCLUSION

Once you successfully set up your blog and publish your first post,

don’t be scared to go full time into blogging. As earlier

mentioned, with consistency in play, you will be able to enjoy

what you’ve always wanted; working at Home as your Own Boss.

Blogging presents us with so many untapped opportunities. Much

the same as any business, it takes the correct knowledge,

dexterity and consistency to scale through. So, whatever you’ve

heard, blogging is more than just a hobby.

Do you have questions?

Send me an Email onome@blogtrovert.com
Or
find me on Twitter @blogtrovert

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