Business

  • 10 Blog Niches That Make A lot of Money In 2023

    Are you looking to make money from blogging? If so, perfect! Throughout my blogging journey, I have gotten one particular question a lot from my readers and the question is, “What type of blog niches make money?”

    Now while this answer will vary too depending on the area of focus some niches always seem to be listed in the top 10 for many people.

    For some reason, many of my readers thought you can only make money from blogging if you write about “blogging”, which isn’t completely true.

    While a lot of bloggers that write about how to grow a blog do make great money, there are other niches that an individual can make money from too.

    I personally know a lot of bloggers and writers who don’t write content about “how to build a blog” who are making over $10,000 a month.

    Insane, right?

    Few Things To Focus On When Picking A Niche:

    How Do You Pick Out A Niche?

    I get this question a lot and I always say focus on what people need help on. Think about what’s in demand that you love talking about? I believe you can start a blog and write about what you are passionate plus help others achieve something great. So, if you are just starting out think about what you can help others achieve. What problems can you help them with?

    Focus On What Do People Need 

    As stated above focusing on what people need will really help you build trust and help build your income with your blog and/or business. Before I create any products for my audience I make sure to send them a survey to see what they need help on at that moment. I currently make around $2000 per month with my blog and one of my first priorities is focusing on what my audience needs. If you are looking for a new way to increase your income you can totally start a blog in a niche that drives a ton of traffic to it such as niches like fitness, make money and mommy topics(Breastfeeding, Labor, and delivery and Postpartum).

    To help give you some new ideas this post will cover 10 blog niches that I have seen make a great deal of money for different bloggers.


    10 Blog Niches That Make A lot of Money & Drive Ton of Traffic 

    1. Food

    Let’s talk about the awesome niche of food blogging. I absolutely love going to food and recipes websites to see all the wonderful recipes to cook for my family on a daily basis.

    Like me, thousands of other people go to food websites to get inspiration and ideas on what to cook for their families every single day.

    One blogger that really stands out to me in this field is Pinch Of Yum. I recently saw one of her income reports from a few years ago and she made over $80,000 in that month and most of her income came right from ads being placed on her site.

    So, if you are great at making recipes and also great at taking amazing photos of your food than look into this niche and study some of the greats like Pinch of Yum who have made a killing in it.

    2. Personal Finance

    This is probably one of my favorite niches and the one I am currently in. When I first started my blog in 2016, I didn’t really know that the type of posts I was writing about (ways to make extra money, side hustles, pay debt posts) were put in the personal finance niche.

    This niche is very popular on Pinterest just like the Food niche and can help you get a ton of traffic to your site fairly quickly.

    This niche can cover topics such as debt pay off tips, credit repair, ways to make money, work from home jobs, frugal living, saving and budgeting tips and almost anything about money.

    A personal finance blogger that a lot of people know that makes over $100,000 in Michelle from Making sense of cents. She currently makes most of her income from affiliate marketing and killing the game one blog post at a time. On top of that, she is super nice and always replied back to any emails I sent her when I first started out.

    More Personal Finance Bloggers To Check-Out:

    3. Mommy/ Parenting 

    Another one of my favorite niches is the mommy/ parenting niche. One of the reasons this niche does so amazingly well is because so many parents out there need support on their journey.

    If you are wondering how I know, Well, I am one of them. 

    After having my first son,  parenting blogs became my best friend for baby and parenting knowledge.

    A blogger that does this niche right is Carly on Purpose! Carly is a work from home mom who has built her blog into a full-time business making over $5,000 each month with her blog, Carly on purpose.

    If you love sharing advice on what has worked great for you raising your children then maybe this niche might be the perfect fit.

    4. Lifestyle 

    This niche can be a lot of different topics into one. While developing a website like this can take a little longer for Google to figure out what your site is about it can be a niche where you can make some great income from. For example, the bloggers over at Chasing Foxes have mastered taking multiple blog niches and make them into “list” posts on their site.

    One thing that stood out to me about their posts is that they help readers solve a problem. You will see everything on their site from ways to make money to how to become a vegan. In one of their latest blog reports, they made over $19,000 with their blog in one month.

    5. DIY & Interior Design

    Who doesn’t like a little help with decorating their home? Because of the needs to get inspiration for home decorating this niche is a great one to get into if you love DIY  stuff and helping others decorate their homes. A blogger that is a great example of doing well in this niche is Arts and Classy.

    When I saw her blog name I instantly thought about my blog Arts and Budgets so I had to check it out. Once I got there I noticed that in her November income report from a year ago said she made over $4000 with her blog. She probably makes well over that now. So, if you love interior designs and decorating homes maybe think about this niche as an option.

    6. Make Money From A Business

    My blog can be considered to be in this niche as well as I help bloggers and online business owners make money with their business. I also adore helping other bloggers and online business owners make money from doing what they love.

    This niche is awesome because they teach others how to make money from blogging and from their business. A lot of content creators in this niche post income reports to let their readers know how much they are actually making each month to build trust and to show proof.

    One online business creator I know that Is working this niche really well is The Six Figure Chick. She currently makes $100,000 a month selling her digital products and teaching other business owners how to use Instagram to sell their products. Some other bloggers in this niche to check out are Dr. Tracy TimberlakeNicole Walters, and Melyssa Griffin.

    7. Faith-Christian & Personal Development

    I absolutely love faith and Christian blogs. If you are going through a hard season these blogs can help uplift you. Because of this need, this niche will always be in demand for many. My friend, Proverbs 31 Business Woman makes a great income from helping women build faith-based business God’s way. She also has a course that teaches bloggers how to tackle Facebook ads to increase income.

    When I first met her, she made $1000 in one day with Facebook Ads by promoting her monthly bible study which has an option to purchase a $5 workbook.

    Another blogger in this field that is doing amazing is Heather Lindsey. Heather and her husband Cornelius are pastors at a local church in Atlanta and have their own Christian publishing company. Combined they have released over 10 books and do a lot of volunteer work to help their community such as worldwide baby showers, conferences, and speaking engagements.

    8. Work From Home 

    Oh, how I love this niche. The bloggers in this field do very well with having organic traffic and building traffic from Pinterest.

    Why?

    It’s because people are always looking for ways to work from home. A blogger and friend of mine that is doing amazing in this is niche Virginia from Earn Smart Income Class. In one of her recent income report, Virginia shares how she made over $4000 from her blog. She also gets over 200,000 page views each month to her blog.

    I have noticed that a lot of bloggers in this niche do very well if they post up posts every single week. Some of the other bloggers that do great in this niche are Work from home happinessThe Work at home womanReal ways to earn money online. If you love helping others find ways to make money from home, this might be a great niche for you.

    9. Fitness & Health 

    Who doesn’t like getting fit and staying in shape? Because of that reason going into the fitness and health niche is a great one to make real money in but it can be a little up and down. This niche can drive a lot of traffic to a site but can be a little bit harder to actually sell actual products. So, the best places to start in this niche, in my opinion, are affiliate marketing and by placing ads on your site.

    With affiliate marketing, you can recommend different products and exercise equipment that has helped you achieve your fitness goal. Recommending products, services, and equipment goes well in this niche because a lot of people are looking for solutions to help them lose weight, stay active and get in shape on a daily basis.

    Another area you can make great money from in this niche is by placing ads on your website. Since this niche can drive a ton of traffic to your site you can make anyway between $1000- $5000 and up from working with companies such as Mediavine and Adthrive and getting ads placed on your actual site.

    10. Travel 

    Girl traveling the world

    Oh, how I love looking at different travel blogs for inspiration. This is another niche that can do very well. Some things to focus on with travel blogs are taking professional photos and making sure your photos look amazing. The key to keeping people coming back to your site is having and taking great photos of the places you travel to.  So, if you are interested in this niche, I would highly suggest purchasing a professional camera such as a Canon Camera and editing software.

    If your photos aren’t high-quality it might be harder to keep people coming back to your site on a daily basis. Lia and Jeremy of Practical Wanderlust are two bloggers that do great in this niche! In an income report on their site, they share how they made over $4,000 in one month with their blog. I love their blog because it’s fun and they have a lot of beautiful photos. Take a look at some of their photos from Hawaii by clicking here!

    Alrighty, that’s it for now! Which niche are you in or thinking about joining?

     

     

  • 7 Key Steps To Start A Profitable Freelance Business In 2023

    Out of the aftermath of a decimated workforce created by the Great Recession grew a phenomenon that continues to transform the job marketplace – the freelancer revolution. It continues to grow, with hundreds of thousands of workers lured each year by the freedom and flexibility of a carpet commute. If you are considering freelancing as an alternative career or for supplemental income, we have some essential tips to get you started.

    Today, there are more than 55 million people doing freelance work in the United States, representing more than a third of the workforce. Freelancers’ earned nearly $720 billion in 2016, making them a powerful force in the economy. The demand for freelancers has increased dramatically as more companies begin to favor independent contractors over permanent hires and the more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. have become a natural feeding ground for freelancers. For anyone with marketable skills, talent or knowledge, there has never been a better time to embark upon a freelancing career.

    Related Posts:


    1. What Exactly is Freelancing?

    The name befits the description – freelancing is the act of striking out on your own as a self-employed businessperson to offer your skills and knowledge to clients of your choosing. You pick your clients and dictate the terms of when and where you work and your compensation. Examples of high-demand freelance work includes

    • Content writing and marketing
    • Software development
    • IT and networking
    • Data science and analytics
    • Engineering and architecture
    • Graphic design, photography
    • Administrative, sales or customer service support
    • Accounting and consulting

     

    While the idea of being your boss is alluring, not having a steady paycheck can be scary for many people. Freelancers must be able to find clients, convince them to hire you, deliver quality work on time. It requires self-discipline, time and project management skills, and the drive to work through the thick and thin of running your own business. But, it is certainly doable for anyone with skills or knowledge to sell, especially if you follow these six tips.

    2. Make Yourself Marketable

    It’s tough to market your skill set or knowledge if you don’t have something to show people. If you’re a writer, photographer or a graphic designer, you’ll need to create an impressive portfolio. Gather up your previous work and organize it in a way that best showcases your skills.

     

    You will need the latest equipment and technology to create your web marketing strategy that includes a killer website, a social media apparatus (LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+) and the latest applications for communicating and sharing work (Skype, Dropbox). Your prospects will expect you to be more technologically savvy than they are.

    3. Develop a Plan

    Women with tea

    Any venture worth doing requires a plan or it is not likely to succeed. It starts with your vision – your purpose for starting it and how you see your business in a few years. From there you need to set goals and develop a strategy for achieving them, including how you will market yourself and how you will utilize your resources. Be sure to set up plans for a few different scenarios, too. For example, if you aren’t able to get as much work as you expected, figure out how you will have to adjust your strategy or budget to account for it.

    4. Get Yourself on all the Platforms

    There are a number of freelance platforms that allow you post your profile and search for job postings. Upwork is probably the largest and most active of the freelancer platforms, with more than a million postings. Guru and Freelancer are two other popular sites where freelancers can meet clients. It may be smart to create accounts on multiple freelancing sites to maximize the opportunities you have. Also, once you gain some experience on each, you can decide which you prefer and start focusing more of your time there.

    5. Be a Networker

    The social networking sites make it very easy to gain visibility in your target market. Become active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn by engaging with your audience, not to sell your product, but to build your credibility and influence. Don’t limit your networking to social media. Find some networking events where you can meet people and press the flesh.

    6. Know Your Worth

    When starting a freelance business, you don’t want to sell yourself short, but you also need to be competitive, especially when you’re trying to build a clientele. As a freelancer, you can charge more for your services than you earn from your day job. After all, you are the overhead. Learn what the going rate is for your type of services and don’t undercut yourself. Once the quality of your work is known, your clients will bid up to your price.

    7. Set Up Your Business Processes

    You need to make it easy for your clients to pay you and for you to get paid. Set up an invoicing and payment system. You can use QuickBooks for invoicing and managing your accounting. PayPal is the standard-bearer for payments among freelancers. It has invoice creation and tracking and most people are familiar with it as a form of payment.

     

    You should work to keep your personal expenses separate from your business expenses as a freelancer. You are going to want to setup a business  bank account and open a business credit as a divider. Your accountant will thank you at the end of the year! You will also need a process for preparing proposals and presenting them online. Upwork is an all-inclusive platform that enables you to manage all of these from your own portal.

    8. Build Your Business One Client at a Time

    You’re not a freelancer until you get your first client. As a freelancer, you need to treat every client as if he were your first and only client. A good client will replicate himself many times over in the form of repeat business and referrals. Be sure to ask your satisfied clients for a testimonial you can post on your website and use in your proposals.

     

    So there you have it!  7 tips to help you start and grow your freelance biz this month!


    ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lauren Davidson

    Lauren is a founder & writer at LauraDavidson.com. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and currently trying to pay down her student debt through freelancing.

  • How I Earned $20,456 From My Blog In September 2022

    In 2016, when I was pregnant with my first son, I decided with my husband to stay home and start a blog to help people find the best side hustles for them. I was inspired by my background in musical theater and the performing arts. 

    Over the years, I saw so many talented friends and colleagues look for additional income streams to help them make ends meet as they pursued their dreams. And as someone who had side hustled for a long time, I wanted to use my experience to provide resources and advice for people who wanted to start their own side hustle. After a year of research and trial and error, I started earning money from the blog in 2017. 

    Today, I have turned my blog into a six-figure business that has helped me pay over $40k of debt. Here is how I did it.  

     

    1. Set Clear and SMART Goals

     

    At the beginning of this year, I set three big goals for my business. I wanted to have my first $10,000 revenue month, I wanted to get over 1 million page views on my website and grow my Instagram page to over 25,000 followers. 

    As of today, I have reached all three objectives with the help of the SMART goal method. Smart is an acronym that stands for (S) Specific, (M) Measurable, (A) Achievable, (R) Relevant, and (T) Time-bound. By setting clear and attainable goals it helped me stay on track and not get overwhelmed.
    At the start of each week, I map out small tasks that I can complete every day that will bring me closer to reaching my goals. As a mommy of three little boys, my schedule frequently changes. But I never lose sight of my goals. If I can’t complete a task on a certain day I make sure to tackle it the next day. 

    In 2022, my goal is to earn six figures from my business, and I believe using the SMART goals method will help me get there.

     

    2. Identify and serve your target audience

    One of the major things that helped me grow my blog was identifying and serving my target audience. To figure out what type of products and services that would be the most useful to them, I spent time on Pinterest and Facebook groups communities about side hustle to get a sense of the kind of struggles they are facing. 

    I found two key themes that kept emerging. They wanted to know how to find the side hustles that would best fit their talents and skill sets, and then the concrete steps they needed to get started. 

    Doing this research, and then surveying my existing audience through email marketing and my social media platforms, helped me narrow down the type of products and services I wanted to create.

    Sign ups for my signature course, Blog for Profit Academy for new bloggers and purchases of my ebook “Side Hustle To Freedom,” both contributed to my first $10,000 revenue month. Since launching the book, I have made over 100 sales. 
    My Blog For Profit Academy course contributed to over $4,500 in revenue during my first $10,000 month, and since launching the ebook I have made over 100 sales.

    3. Create passive income streams

    My course and my eBook took some time to develop, but once they were available to my customers, they became passive income streams. 

    I also earn passive income by promoting products I recommend through affiliate marketing, and by having ads through the ad management company Mediavine on my website. 

    Both the affiliate marketing and the advertising income streams contributed to over $4,000 in income in my first $10,000 month. Overall, passive income was a key way I was able to hit my revenue goal.

     

    4. Build partnerships with brands you believe in 

    Another contributing to reaching my monthly income goal this year was building partnerships with different brands and bloggers. 

    While growing my Instagram page to over 25,000 followers, I have partnered with many personal finance bloggers and entrepreneurs on Instagram, which has helped me promote my digital products and coaching services. Some of the ways I built those partnerships were by supporting and collaborating with them on the platform. 

    Also, brands have reached out to me for partnerships to create sponsored posts after seeing the side hustle and entrepreneurial content that I regularly post on my blog and social media platforms. This income stream also contributed significantly to hitting that $10,000 milestone.

    5. Be consistent, but give yourself time to rest and reset

    At the start of Arts and Budgets, I decided to focus on two social media platforms where I would devote my time to growing a significant audience. I chose Instagram to help build connections with my target audience and other online entrepreneurs, and Pinterest to help send more traffic to my website every day. 

    I know that being a consistent presence on Instagram and Pinterest has helped me develop relationships with brands and collaborators that have helped me turn the blog into the profitable business it is today. But consistency is only one part of it. 

    Over the last few years, I’ve learned that rest is just as important as posting content regularly. So, on tough days in your business where you want to give up, give yourself the space and the grace to take the time you need to refocus and resetUnderstanding that has been a huge part in turning my blog side hustle into a profitable and sustainable business.