How I Replaced My Full-Time Income Blogging About My Life

When I first started this blog, I never imagined that it was something that I could actually make money from, much less replace my full-time income.

Wondering how to make money blogging about your life? Perhaps you want to know how in the world you can make a profitable business of a lifestyle blog. Here’s my story.

For over seven years before starting my blog, I worked as a professional destination wedding photographer. I traveled between San Francisco, Miami and Jamaica to photograph one of the most beautiful days in the lives of couples and their families. 

RELATED: 101+ Side Hustle/Business Ideas for Women in 2020 (Even With a Full-Time Job)

It really was the best job in the world – taking pretty pictures, attending hundreds of weddings (that was a lot of fun), traveling the world, and working for myself.

I considered myself very fortunate to be able to make a great income doing something so awesome that I enjoyed.

How I got into blogging.

I initially started blogging for my wedding photography business. As a way to share the pictures and stories of the weddings I’d photographed with the couples that were interested in booking with me.

But I wanted to write about more than the weddings I’d photographed because I had so many other life interests outside of my business that I wanted to explore. 

I loved reading fashion books, lifestyle books, and was totally obsessed with (still am actually) all things self-help and personal development. 

These are the topics I really wanted to write and share ideas about. I also wanted to blog about my life experiences and share different ideas and insights.

And so, just for fun, I started HelloBombshell.com

Cute name right for the blog right? Check below to see if the website name for your blog idea is available below using Bluehost — it’s the company I use to host my website and highly recommend (they also give you the website name for free when you host your website with them).

As I started writing and sharing ideas on my new blog, before I knew it, the blog really started to gain some traction. People (women specifically) were actually interested in what I had to say.

I was absolutely surprised and thrilled to say the least.

How I grew this blog from scratch.

So for about a year after I started my blog I consumed everything there was to learn about growing a blog from scratch and gradually started implementing what I’d learned.

And wouldn’t you know, my blog began to grow.

Interested in starting your own blog? See exactly how to set up a blog like Hello Bombshell from scratch (the right way) in less than 10 minutes.

I also started learning about how to monetize a lifestyle blog, how to make money blogging about your life, and how to make money blogging overall (more on that below). And over time, those strategies also started to work. 

My little lifestyle blog started growing. And it hasn’t stopped growing since. 

How I replaced my full-time income by blogging.

The truth is, I didn’t get lucky. Blogging is a very lucrative business idea that any woman can start (and make a damn great income doing it). All you really need to start a profitable blog from scratch is an idea and a plan (big emphasis on the plan). 

If you’re new to the world of blogging, I know you may be wondering… “uh ok, so how do you actually make money blogging?”

I wondered the same thing, honey. 

If you’re interested in starting a blog and want to know how in the world you can actually make money blogging (and how I’m replacing my full-time income), you’re in for a treat. 

(Interested in learning even more? Use the sign-up box on this page to register for the free email course. There, I go more in detail on everything discussed in this article.)

Now, let’s get into it! 

1. Displaying advertisements on my blog.

I wanted to start with this point because it’s perhaps one of the easiest to understand.

Somewhere on this page that you’re reading right now (or if you head over to the home page), you’ll see some sort of advertisements being displayed.

You probably don’t even give it a second thought when you see ads like this on websites, but website owners are paid by these companies to promote their advertisements. 

Just imagine for a second that you own a local hair salon business. You need people that may be interested in buying from you to know about your business, right?

And so to get in front of potential customers, perhaps you consider paying a bus company to display an advertisement on the side of the bus for your salon as they ride around the city. This will help people know about your salon, remember your salon, and attract them into your salon. 

Let me tell you, these companies have massive ad budgets. And if you create a fabulous website that people regularly visit, advertisers will pay you big money, for even a tiny piece of real estate on your website (just like the ad on the side of the bus).

If you’re just starting out, you may not qualify for some of the major ad networks like Monumetric and Mediavine, but you can still make money with ad revenue! There’s a little know loophole for new bloggers (with not a lot of web traffic yet) via Ezoic that I honestly wish I had known about when I first started out.

Ezoic Access Now gives you the tools you need to start making ad revenue with your small blog now, as you learn and grow. I definitely recommend you check Ezoic Access Now HERE and get started ASAP if you have a small blog that you want to monetize with display ads!

2. Promoting products I love (affiliate marketing).

Wondering what the heck is affiliate marketing? Gotcha woman. 

Affiliate marketing is basically recommending products that you love to people. When those people buy those products using a special referral link unique to you, the company pays you a commission of the sale.

Reader gets recommendations for something they want to buy. Recommended company makes money from the sale. Blogger gets paid. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.

So what kind of things can you recommend? Well, just about every major brand you can think (that people buy from anyway) has an affiliate program of some sort that you can sign up for and promote.

Including retailers like Target, Asos, and Pier One Imports, Amazon and much much more. 

Let’s say you recommend a list of books (people are always looking for book ideas to buy) on your website using your special Amazon affiliate referral link.

They add the book to their cart on Amazon. But before that person checks out they decide to add a new washing machine, a couple of dresses, and a new toaster oven — you’re going to get the commission on all of the things that person purchased.

It’s basically the definition of easy-breezy money.  

3. Selling digital products.

The oldest profession on earth (besides that other one), trade of goods! In other words, sell something!

Become a #girlboss and sell clothes, eyelashes, lip gloss, face masks, dog leashes – sell any damn thing you want on your blog. 

One of my favorite things to sell are digital products. 

Digital products sound all fancy and complicated, but it’s basically selling things that people can just download.

So there’s no production costs, no overhead costs, no shipping hassle. With just a click of a button and a sale is complete.

Some digital products you’re probably already familiar with include online courses, ebooks, or downloadable workbooks.

For example I sell a fabulous online course that teaches you how to start a profitable blog that makes money from day one including how to get approved as an amazon affiliate, how to write blog posts fast, etc (more on that later).

The best part is that once you create a digital asset, you can sell that asset and make revenue from selling copies of that asset over and over again for years to come.

Bonus: Some More Ideas of How To Make Money With A Blog 

4. Sponsored posts.

5. Provide services.

6. Put on events & summits. 

7. Create a membership program.

8. Speaking engagements.

9. Accept donations. 

Let me tell you something…  I am not special (well maybe a little, but not in that way). Anyone, including you, can make money blogging, should you desire to. All you need is an idea and a plan. 

When I started blogging I had no experience and absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had to learn. I had to do the work. 

Now I write cute and fun blog posts from the comfort of my home office and watch as money flows into my bank account every single day, passively. I say this not to brag – but to demonstrate that this is possible for you too.

It’s a pretty sweet gig. And I’m so grateful, believe me. 

But dreams don’t work unless you do. 

Now, with all of that said…

If you’re interested in starting a blog of your own (that actually makes big money), here comes my shameless plug for something I think you’ll find interesting…

With all the lessons I’ve learned over the past 3 years of growing a profitable blog from scratch, I’ve put together an incredible ebook to teach you how to accomplish exactly the same thing.

It takes a deeper dive into what I’ve shown you here and it’s the only blogging course you’ll ever need.

If you’re not quite ready to take the leap, be sure to sign up for my free email course to get you started. 

PS: Thanks so much for stopping by, I really hope you found this article insightful.

Pass this along to someone you know who needs it. You could also leave me a comment down below. And don’t forget to pin me to your “business ideas” or “start a blog” board on Pinterest.

See ya on the flip side!