There are many ways to make money out there. But so many of us end up tied into careers that we aren’t interested in and barely enjoy – simply because we happened to end up in them, or because we used to be interested in them but our interests have changed. This is absolutely bizarre. We spend a huge portion of our lives working, so why waste the opportunity to do something you genuinely enjoy? Nowadays, there are evergrowing ways to make money and your options can range to things you even do for a hobby! One pastime that you can now earn money from is blogging. Believe it or not, this can provide you with a full time income! You just need to set up, get a good readership and a number of companies will offer to pay you to advertise on your blog or for you to create a sponsored post. If this sounds good to you, here are a few steps you need to take towards setting up!
Choosing an Area of Specialism
To succeed when you blog, you’re going to have to choose an area of specialism. Choosing a specific area means people know what they’re going to get when they come to your blog. It will draw in anyone with that interest and they’ll check in regularly for updates. If you try to approach a whole variety of areas, people can lose interest and stop checking in, as they don’t know what they’re going to get when they reach your page. Your area of specialism can be absolutely anything. Common categories include fashion, hair, makeup, lifestyle, travel, business, parenting, news and more. But you can also get categories as unique as focusing on plastic extrusion profiles or niche areas of science! Just choose something you’re interested in and have a lot to say about.
Remember the Legalities
Of course, if you’re making an income from blogging, you’re going to have to abide by legalities and pay tax on your earnings, the same as you would any other job. The difference with blogging is that you’re your own employer. Nobody else is going to deduct your tax from your wages and pay it on your behalf. You’ll have to do this yourself. The first step in this process is going to be registering as self-employed. This will let the relevant authorities know that you are working for yourself and will allow you to file your self assessment at the end of the tax year, paying your tax on time. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to put your taxes aside as you go along. Every time you’re paid, figure out how much tax you owe and put this aside in a savings pot of some sort. This will mean that you will have the money ready and waiting to be paid when the time comes. If you’re not all too good with financial matters, you might want to use an accountant, who can figure out how much you owe on your behalf.
These are just the bare basics towards setting up your blog. Hopefully, they’ll help to get you started out in the right direction!
