How I started blogging
I started as a freelance writer but I always wondered where my articles were going to. I searched for them and was wowed to see what they were doing in other people’s blogs.
I read lots of articles on blogging for a while. Some of the best used to be from my then favorite writer Kristi Hines (my fav now is Jon Morrow but Kristi is still awesome). I used to save the articles on a folder in Dropbox so that I read again and again to understand the blogging thing.
I always avoid starting anything with too many overheads (costs) so I started on free WordPress. My blog then was http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com. This was absolutely free. If it was now I’d probably start on Medium which is even easier. But WordPress free still works though has way less credibility and authority.
First agenda was to get a loyal audience (as I’d learnt from my mentor, Kristi). So I focused on writing useful articles that I’d share heavily on a certain forum where I was famous and on social media (esp. Facebook).
In a few months I had almost 1,000 followers.
Once I got some good traffic and followers I launched my first product; the ebook How to Make REAL Money Online in Kenya. Sold like hotcake! I made Sh. 8,000 in the first DAY. Miraculous!
The followers plus income was already enough to show me that I could go self-hosted.
So I hosted with HostGator then moved my blog there. It’s easy to move from WordPress free to self-hosted. With the Jetpack plugin, the WordPress team helps you move with your followers!
There was a lot to learn on blogging. I wanted to make it and didn’t want to just google. I needed a mentor. A successful one. A millionaire.
So I joined a course called AffiloBlueprint that went for $77 by the millionaire Mark Ling. This taught me all about blogging, affiliate marketing and internet marketing. Also on how to properly train.
Good thing with such premium courses is at the time the staff would even log in to my blog and fix stuff for me for free. They gave me a premium plugin free. They hosted me free for 1 year. They answered all my queries free. Of course not free, it was all included in the $77.
Working SMART like this saved me months of HARD work.
Immediately after finishing the course I pitched someone my internet marketing services. I got paid $900 for a week’s worth of work. ONE WEEK! My little $77 for the course had paid off 12x! I also started earning from affiliate marketing. I still do.
I went on to start training people on freelance writing, which was bigger than the ebook I was already selling. This was a real game changer. Revolutionary. Many great writers and bloggers in Kenya have gone through this course.
I keep improving this course every so often.
All the above was done between April 2012 and April 2013.
I was featured as a success story on Affiloblueprint, Mark Ling’s course. I later also did Blog Post Promotion by Kristi Hines, my favorite writer at the time. I was also featured as a testimonial in one of her landing pages!
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It’s now 2018 and I bought a course just 2 days ago (yes from Jon Morrow). I’m also reading the book Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi (bought it too) and it has amazing tips.
Jon Morrow’s blog earns six (dollar) figures and Dean Graziosi is a millionaire. These are the guys I’m learning from right now. They’re all very successful in their fields. As I keep saying, you get what’s in your mentors.
So my advice to new bloggers is this:
- Never start before learning
- Never stop learning
- Never think you’ve made it, there’s always so much more you can do
- Never stop helping others. Lots of blessings come by giving.
I hope this helps.
When well done, blogging is so rewarding. It’s fun. You get to earn that coveted passive income. You inspire others and see newbies making it! Some even end up overtaking you and you get some indescribable joy!
