Can you make money blogging with a chronic illness? I share how you can in this post.
It’s been several years since I started an online diary sharing my experience of pregnancy with fibromyalgia when no-one seemed to know what to do with me. The doctors here couldn’t help me and there wasn’t information online back then.
I have been industriously sharing my journey on this blog through three pregnancies with fibromyalgia, becoming a yoga teacher and now thriving with fibromyalgia.
My Experience Blogging and What I did Wrong
It started with a word only, diary-like set of entries. Then I learnt how to create images. I then had to figure out social media. And newsletters. Then hosting. If I had to start again today I would not even try without someone to help me out. There is a lot involved in blogging. Besides setting up the actual website. Every single blog post takes hours to create, publish and share around. Every single yoga video that I share takes hours to create, film, edit and publish.
Thankfully, I have gotten very efficient and I am able to share one or two yoga videos on YouTube per month, a full length yoga video in my studio, the occasional blog post here on the blog and look after my lovely members in the member’s only group.
But I did it all with way too much trial and error. I had to learn everything the hard way. If I could have had some help I would have taken it. Below I share my top six tips if you are blogging with a chronic illness and my only recommendation for a course for making an income from your blog when you have a chronic illness.
Affiliate notice: Please note that some of my links are affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of those links, I may make a commission at no extra cost to you. Every little bit helps me to run this blog.
In six years I have learnt six key things, so I am sharing these with you today. I am also sharing with you how to grab the shortcut that I wish I had, because I wasted far too long Googling, playing, YouTubing and experimenting when I could have had the information at my finger tips.
My Six Tips for Making Money Blogging with Chronic Illness
- Newsletter list is your own home, followers are your rental home. I started with a free WordPress website because I just started writing. I thought that all my WordPress followers would just migrate when I did. They didn’t. Start a newsletter list immediately.
- Traffic is important but the right traffic is best – I found Pinterest and YouTube more engaged than Twitter or Facebook people, so apportion your time and energy on the places that matter
- Hosting is tricky but important. My first hosting experience went terribly. I am now with GreenGeeks and they are great. You can check out their awesome hosting deal here.
- Use Canva for images, my energy-friendly tip is to make a Pinterest size image and use as the blog image and then it is easily shareable to Pinterest. If you want to get fancy make two pin images and one Facebook image for Facebook group sharing. It is worth learning to use Canva immediately.
- Long form content makes useful resources but make sure its very easily readable in short paragraphs. I have found a mix of personal experience, research and other anecdotal experience to be great.
- It is so fulfilling to be able to simultaneously write and help others. There was a time I thought I wouldn’t be able to complete my number one life list goal of writing a book but I did! Bit by bit. You just have to start.
Have you wanted to start your own blog in order to share your experience and maybe make money?
I finally have a recommendation for you. This course, Turn Your Dreams into Money: How to Build a Six-Figure Blog and Live the Life You Want, is the shortcut that I never had (when I was starting). I did this course at the end of last year, loved it, enacted many of the tips Emma shares and said I must tell yáll about it! Then life got in the road and the post sat in my drafts section for a little while.
Affiliate notice: The above link is an affiliate link, if you purchase the course using this link, I will make a commission at no extra cost to you. I am sharing this course with you because I believe it will help you with your business, and it helped me with mine.
This course takes you through everything you need to start making an income with your blog. From the nuts and bolts of getting started to how to get people to read your work and more.
A Rundown of What You Learn in the Course
The first module is a gold mine for beginners and takes you through everything from naming your blog to setting up your theme. How many of you have been considering starting a blog but the tech or decisions like naming it have held you back? Please don’t let that stop you, take this course and get started.
The second module goes through those foundations – mission, vision etc – those things that separate a random blog from a business. The third module is all about protecting your work which is really important, don’t skip this step.
The Writing Kick-Ass Blog Posts and Images for your Blog modules are going to be a big help to you as you may have noticed that a lot goes into creating blog posts. Researching, writing, editing, remembering SEO (learning what that is!), good headings etc.
The following modules are the ones that, as a person who had been blogging for a few years when I did this course, really helped me out. You’ve created this awesome content, but how do you get people to read it? This is key – how can you help anyone if they don’t know you exist?
The rest of the course is the monetization, once you have created the amazing content, how does it help you to make a living so you can keep running the blog? It’s all here.
Don’t forget, this is not an overnight thing. It take time, diligence and patience.
Once you’ve built your blog you might like these ideas for legitimate small business ideas with a chronic illness, using your blog as leverage.
There are bloggers who make a full-time income from their blog (and the accompanying opportunities). It wasn’t until 2019 that I considered making an income from my blog and my yoga offerings (I didn’t even know I could become a yoga teacher until 2019!). So join me as I journey through this and share what I learn with you. Join our team and receive my updates direct to your inbox in the form below or to the right.
Tell me, have you considered blogging? Are you going to try this course?