Online content creators represent a growing industry. From video content creators to bloggers, there are a number of opportunities for someone who wants to use the internet as a form of career and income.
Is it a good source of income, though? If a student needs to make money to pay their bills, should they turn to a revenue source like blogging or is this something that is only good for a little extra spending money?
How Much Time Does Blogging Take?
How long blogging takes depends on how much you write, how often you write, and what you write about. If a student’s blog takes a lot of time, they might have trouble balancing it with their studies. Luckily, there is academic help for students who need writing assistants or want to learn about SEO knowledge to make their blogs easier to find.
What Should Students Blog About?
If a student wants to make money, they need to first find what they are going to blog about. The choice of topic should be not only something popular, it should also be something that the student is passionate about. This way, their interest will shine through in their writing and writing will come easily to them.
However, it should also be a topic that draws in an audience. To attract an audience, you need to know how to cite a research paper and choose the right topics for your blog. Topics that don’t have a decent appeal won’t get a blog the following it needs to be profitable. Some of the most popular types of blogs that students might want to consider include the following;
- Fashion blogs
- Food/cooking blogs
- Travel blogs
- Lifestyle blogs
- DIY/crafting blogs
Is Blogging Fast Cash?
There are a number of ways that bloggers make money. However, bloggers don’t typically make money by simply sitting down at their computers and writing a standard post. We’ll take a deeper look at how to make money in a moment.
As far as fast cash, blogging might not be the choice. Students who put in plenty of work for a while to get a great following will see the rewards that aren’t there in the beginning stages of a blog.
Gaining Traction
As noted, to earn any real money as a blogger, a student must have a decent following to make a profit off their blog. This depends on students making their blogs easy to find by taking measures such as implementing search engine optimization (SEO) in their content.
Students also have an advantage as the younger generation because they are oftentimes more in-touch with current trends. As such, they are more aware of how to gain quick attention online via methods such as social media.
Invest to Earn
There are some potential startup costs of creating a blog. The main cost depends on what platform you want to use as a blogger. There are a variety of platforms you can use for free and some even offer a free domain name along with your hosting.
Some of these platforms offer additional features if the blogger pays a fee. With WordPress, for example, bloggers can personalize their domain name, upload HD videos, no ads, and the ability to create a create a customized site that fits your blog.
Bloggers who want their own, independent website have to pay a fee to own that domain. However, newer bloggers don’t typically worry about this. Usually, independent websites are reserved for fairly popular blogs.
How Do Bloggers Earn a Profit Off Their Blog?
The first way that bloggers earn money off their blog is through advertisements. This might involve the blogger selling private ads to advertisers to post on their website. This method might also involve cost-per-click ads that earns the blogger money when someone clicks the ad or CPM ads that pay the blogger a certain amount depending on how many people click on the ad.
Affiliate links are another way bloggers make money. These are specialized links that take readers to a product that another entity is selling. When a reader buys the product through this link, the blogger earns a commission.
Some popular bloggers even take the time to sell their own products – usually in a digital form – on their website. For instance, a blogger might sell their own app, online courses, or eBooks to their readers.
In the End: Is Blogging the Right Choice?
In the end, blogging can potentially be very rewarding if you play your cards right. Unfortunately, only 14% of bloggers actually earn a salary from blogging and this is typically only about a $24,000 a year salary.
For students in need of immediate income, blogging probably isn’t the right choice. If a student is willing to take the time to build up their blog, they might be able to lean on it as a source of additional income one day.