How to Make Money Blogging in Kenya With a Free Blog
There are many Kenyans who make money blogging. Setting up a free blog is a simple thing that can be done in a matter of minutes. You will then need to create content, drive traffic and monetize your blog.
There are two types of blogs you can set up. These include a free blog and a self-hosted blog. In this post, we will look at how make money online with a free blog.
Free Blogging Platforms
The two most popular platforms offering free blogs are Blogger and WordPress.
1. Blogger
Blogger is great because you can still advertise in their system using AdSense regardless of the fact that it is free. On the other hand, there are many who feel like they do not have the best themes and therefore their outlook is not as attractive visually.
I’ve never used it, nor do I recommend using AdSense. So if you’re to set up a free blog, below is my recommendation:
2. WordPress
I recommend WordPress over Blogger any. This should not be confused with http://www.wordpress.org which provides free blogging software that can be used on self-hosted blogs. The free WordPress blogging platform is found over at https://wordpress.com/
It has the best themes and is very easy to use. They also allow you to monetize your site. The other great thing about WordPress is the fact that you will get some basics on how to use the WordPress system. This information will be very crucial when it comes to setting up your own self-hosted WordPress website.
Learn With A Free Blog
Therefore, feel free to start a free blog right now so that you can learn the tips and tricks of blogging.
You can use the free blog as a learning ground since you don’t pay for your domain name or hosting. Nothing to lose, apart from your time and energy. You still need to study out the basics of blogging so that you do it well. The support pages of these platforms have all the info you need to set up and get going.
FreelancerKenya started as a free WordPress.com blog and later moved on to being a self-hosted site. This does not mean that you should opt to start with a free blog as I did. A free blog is great but the problem is the fact that it has limited options.
You can therefore start decide to start with a free blog and later upgrade it or just go straight into a self-hosted blog. The world’s top earning blogs are self-hosted, so aim to get there soon.
How to Make Money with a Free Blog
There are different methods which you can use to make money with a free blog. These include:
1. Using Google AdSense and Other Advertising Networks
In Blogger, you can set up a Google AdSense account and start making money with your blog. You can also search for other advertising networks that work with Blogger.
I don’t recoommend AdSense though. Most people earn peanuts with it. Those who earn well can earn better using other methods.
Why?
You get paid a few cents per click. In most cases, these don’t add up to anything much. However, if those clicks were linking to affiliate products or your own products, you’d earn much more.
That said, do your own research, and make an independent decision on whether or not you’d want to use AdSense or any other advertising network.
2. Advertising Your Product or Service
You can start a free blog that focuses on your business or service.
We can look at the example of a restaurant owner’s blog. The owner can set up a free WordPress blog, give it a great theme and be posting updates about his own restaurant.
He can also post other crucial information that attracts restaurant lovers. This way, his blog can be a great source of clients.
You can also market your digital product, such as a course, ebook or software, and market it through your blog.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Here, you simply refer people to products you love, and earn a commission when they buy it.
You can do this in both WordPress and Blogger.
Check out the WordPress advertising policy to know precisely what kind of affiliate marketing you can do.
4. Mentions and Sponsored Posts
Once you have a popular blog, you will get people who will pay you to just mention them in your site. Always include your genuine contacts in your blog so that people can contact you for all sorts of stuff.
Be very careful about mentions. I personally would not mention a poor product or a product I have no information about; no matter how much money I am being paid. Value your readers more than money.
You can also be contacted by companies to do sponsored posts. These are awesome and can get you some decent cash.
Bottom Line
You can use the above methods to make money blogging with your free blog.
I recommend free blogs mostly for practice. There you can learn how to write blog posts, search engine optimization basics, adding images and multimedia, monetization social media marketing etc.
If you want to increase your revenue streams, it may be inevitable for you to move to a self-hosted blog. In fact, if you can start with a self-hosted blog, start with it instead. Download my free blogging eBook for more info.