I’ve been writing since 2010 and have had my blog for about five years. I’ve mostly focused on topics relating to personal productivity, gathering resources and experimenting with different content strategies. Through this approach, I’ve been able to build a following of over 64,000 people on my blog and another 72,000 people on social media.
While I’ve enjoyed the benefits of having a blog, I also understand the appeal of pursuing other ventures. In the last year, I’ve tried my hand at freelance writing, edited another author’s book, taught workshops on blogging and content marketing, and even started a newsletter. Each one of these ventures has opened up new opportunities and allowed me to cultivate and grow my skills. Ultimately, I believe that there is no wrong answer when it comes to finding what works best for you.
The Appeal Of Consistent, Regular Income
If you’re looking to pursue a side hustle and have a desire to be able to make some extra cash, you have to look no further than blogging. At least, that’s what I think. Having a blog that consistently draws in enough revenue to be able to quit my day job seems like something straight out of a dream world. But, as you’ll soon learn, it’s not as impossible as it seems.
The Downsides To Blogging
Blogging is, by its very nature, a form of content marketing. In other words, you’re essentially trying to convince people to buy your products or services by providing them with interesting content they’ll value and benefit from.
To be able to do this, you’ll need to establish and grow a community of people who have an interest in your blog’s content. For this reason, creating and curating content that appeals to as many people as possible is critical. You also need to ensure that your content is informative and of value. While this is easier said than done, you can use various techniques to measure the success of your content marketing efforts. Using tools like Google Analytics to track the sources of your blog’s traffic can help you figure out what’s working and what needs to be changed. Moreover, establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry can be lucrative. Not only do you get to teach others about your industry, but you can also charge them for learning opportunities. This may seem like an unconventional way to make a living, but with the right content marketing strategy and some hustling, you might just be able to make it work.
The Rise Of Online Magazines
In the last few years, we’ve seen a surge in the number of online magazines as well as blogs, both of which are forms of content marketing. What’s driving this trend is that people are reading more on the go, on their smartphones and tablets. When someone wants to read something on the go, they typically turn to digital magazines, which they can download to their devices. Moreover, as people get richer through online endeavors and the amount of content that can be stored and accessed on a phone or tablet increases, the demand for sophisticated content, such as an informative magazine, increases as well.
The Different Forms That Blogging And Magazine Production Varies
As I mentioned above, blogging is, at its core, a form of content marketing. This means that you’re essentially trying to convince people to buy your products or services by providing them with interesting and valuable content they’ll value and benefit from.
But, beyond this, there are a variety of other ways that blogging and magazine production vary.
Blogs Vs. Magazines
The first and most obvious difference between a blog and a magazine is in their target audience. While blogs are generally aimed at a more general audience, magazines usually target a more specific audience, such as business professionals or individuals interested in a certain niche.
Moreover, whereas most blogs are written and published by the same person, who is usually the founder or editor, most magazines have multi-author teams, each contributing a certain amount of content. What’s more, the layout and design of a magazine is typically more sophisticated and the use of graphs, infographics and other visual tools more common.
Blogs Vs. Magazine Production
Another notable difference between a blog and a magazine is the production values, or the level of professionalism and effort that goes into each. In general, a blog is published by either the individual who owns the blog or a small team of people who either work for the blog’s owner or for freelancers who were hired by the owner to write and publish the blog content.
In contrast, a magazine is usually produced using more sophisticated tools and methods by a team of people who either work for a publishing company or who are self-employed. Moreover, the editing, formatting and typesetting of a magazine is usually more tailored to appealing to the general reader and less focused on the look of the piece.
The Many Niches In Which You Can Blog
As we’ve established, most blogs are aimed at a general audience, but this isn’t always the case. If you know how to find your audience and can engage with them, you can tailor your blog to specific interests and hobbies.
For example, if you have a interest in art, you can start a blog on the subject and attract and engage with people who share your interest. Moreover, if you’re good at writing, you can use your talent to create short stories that you can post on your blog. Creative writing can even be a lead generator, encouraging visitors to click a link or buy a product that you promote on your blog. Additionally, if you have a specific hobby, such as bee keeping, you can start a blog around this subject and use your knowledge and experience to teach others about this fascinating hobby.
Magazine Publications Vs. Blogs
Apart from their target audience and production values, blogs and magazine publications are quite similar. This is because both are forms of content marketing, used to promote and educate people about a particular subject.
What differs is the format. Whereas most blogs are written in the form of a narrative, with longer articles composed of several short posts, magazines are typically composed of longer, more in-depth articles.
Moreover, as we’ve established, most blogs are published by either the individual who owns the blog or a group of people who either work for the blog’s owner or for freelancers who were hired by the owner to write and publish the blog content. In contrast, most magazine publications have a more traditional form, with a publisher (often a business or magazine publisher) owning and curating the content. However, this is not always the case. In particular, younger generations are discovering the benefits of publishing online and are using platforms like Medium and LinkedIn to publish creative content, such as short stories, poems and graphics. If you’re looking to join the digital publishing revolution, you can get started with a blog and see how much money you can make.