How I made $500 from my First Blog Post

I want to start this post by stating that my intentions in starting a blog was never to make money. I wanted a place to share projects and ideas to hopefully help others.

Well let’s get to the real reason you’re reading this post. My first blog post was a guide on how to control wireless outlets from your phone using a raspberry pi. This point leads me to my first piece of advice.

Something ORIGINAL

Before writing my first post I spent the last few months researching for a way to wirelessly control power outlets. I could not find any guides on how to do it; so I decided to write my own.

Keep it SHORT and SIMPLE

My goal was to write a short tutorial that anyone with raspberry pi experience would be able to follow. I included all the necessary code and steps on how to set it up. Keeping it simple allowed many people to follow my steps and complete the project.

Respond to COMMENTS

I did my best to respond to anyone who left a comment. Since my goal of starting a blog was to help others, responding to comments is the best way to do that.

Use AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS

I was able to make over $500 in 3 days by using amazon affiliate links. Nobody likes ads but giving someone a link to the product they want is great. I started off making 4% and now make 7.5% when someone buys something using my referral links. In total I referred over 7,000 clicks to Amazon. This turned into 381 items shipped, making Amazon $8,806. Amazon referral links are great for your readers, Amazon and especially you. It’s a win-win-win!

Submit to POPULAR SITES

My first post went live on 12/3/2014 and received only a few views. It wasn’t until I submitted my post to HackADay that I started getting some traffic. I received over 4,500 views from HackADay sharing my post. Then, LifeHacker shared my post and I received over 5,700 views the next day. This resulted in thousands of Amazon referral link clicks.

Conclusion

Hopefully these tips will help you start a successful blog. Good luck!

 

Please leave a comments below if you have any questions.

---

Thanks for reading. Make sure you follow me on Twitter to stay up to date on the progress of my side projects T.LY, Weather Extension, and Link Shortener Extension. If you are interested in the tech I use daily, check out my uses page.