How to Earn Money Blogging – Cheapskate Fisherman Tells How.

 My Swinging Big Dick Brother in Law.

Is the reason I became an affiliate marketer,  and where I learnt how to earn money blogging. 

How to Earn Money Blogging Fisherman Tells His Story.
The Wife and I on a quiet day

My brother in law was always bragging about how much he makes trading the Stock Exchange.

Another drink and the amount grew a little more and he talked a little louder. 

I often thought, for him,  one beer was too many and 20 wasn’t enough. 

For those who don’t know. A Swinging Big Dick is a term coined for the Wall Street Hotshots. The guns, those who make lots of the green folding stuff. 

As much as he bragged about the share market and all the money he was making, ( although my 401 was doing OK ), I couldn’t see the point in playing the big casino with my free cash. 

He would brag and badger me, letting me know I was inferior to him and his wealth.

I just kept smiling and knew it would not be long before he was incoherent, and my sister would be asking for help to get him in the car.

 Don the Fisherman.

And I  were relaxing outside our rooms after a day touring and fishing, having a beer and a quiet chat on a recent holiday in Colombia.  he was telling me about his brother in law.

Then he said. 

Maybe I am a Nerd.

How to earn money blogging
Fishing in the Caribbean

One day while surfing the web for new fishing reels, I came across wealthy affiliate.

I was always skeptical of these promos, but I kept reading and figured I could work this.

So I joined the free program  

 I had it sussed out, 7 days for free, then I’ll pay $20 and have another 4 weeks to look through it. 

I thought for 20 bucks and 5 weeks to check it all out, maybe even start building a website and get into some of the training. I got a bargain. 

If I didn’t like it, $20 was not going to break me.

So I read and looked through everything I could before committing. 

I found I could learn

  • Graphic design skills,
  • Content writing,
  • Keyword Research,
  • SEO skills,
  • Copywriting skills,
  • Coding/HTML,
  • Setting up WordPress….    And lots of other things. Videos, Hundreds of them !                                                                                                          For someone who spent his life changing gears and casting fishing rods , this was going to test the grey matter. but you gotta have a go right?. 

Now, a bit over 18 months down the track, my brother in law is asking questions about how I can afford some of my latest purchases  and when and where I intend to use them.

I told him, the wife and I were looking at this fishing and holiday package down on the Caribbean and suggested he come along.

He wasn’t sure,  he said his business was struggling as the market had turned and he was trying to avoid margin calls.

The thing with gamblers, they always tell you about the wins but never the losses.

I Never Chased the Big Money.

I just had a regular job at the local fuel depot, delivering fuel. It was Ok, I made a steady wage.

I Like my fishing, but often the young guys at the tackle shop didn’t know enough about the reels they were selling, and there was often no real information online either. 

One reel I bought with digital drag settings seemed like a good buy, but first fish, and the winder broke. All the winding mechanism was made from plastic.    I had bought a  goddamn toy.

I still got the fish though. Threw the the rod on the ground and hauled it in by hand.

Luckily I had bought this from the tackle shop and I could get a replacement or refund no worries.

Your never really sure about the online stuff. That is why these half arsed reviews aren’t worth reading.

We was never flush with spare cash 

 The wife used to hide the credit card if I was talking about a new reel or she saw me surfing through products on E-Bay or Amazon.  Checking prices.

Since I started the blog, my wife thinks I am having a lend of her when I tell her I am only buying fishing reels to evaluate them. 

Why Did I Start a Blog?

The days I couldn’t go fishing due to the weather (or work), I needed something else to do.

Reading stories in fishing magazines has its limits, and I not really a watcher of T.V. shows, and,  I am not that keen on golfing either.

I had spare time and a passion, so why not give it a go, It was no cost to get started and, Hell, I might even learn something. 

Small Fish are Sweet

How to Earn Money Blogging Fisherman Tells His Story.
too small but sweet

I was happy to just plod along, learning what I could in their training.

The small amounts I made in the beginning on my website gave me some confidence to think this might actually work.

What I Found Out.

Blogs begin to make money once Google and other search engines recognize them as authorities on their subject matter.

Well I am just an average Joe who likes fishing. I am no authority on any thing.  Ask my wife.                                                                                              But wealthy Affiliate has this training that lays it all out, on how to get onto googles front pages. 

I am still Learning.

I found out that they call wordpress a platform.

18mths. ago they could have been train platforms for all I knew.

You know, WordPress is the worlds most popular site for anyone who wants to put an experience or an opinion out there. It is mentioned Here

Then others like, Squarespace,  and most of the hosting companies  offer comprehensive services   and  Amazon, which is probably the most reliable and powerful of all.

Blue host which is the default WordPress server is also very highly rated, and reasonably priced. But you only get one website. 

But for about the same money I thought Wealthy Affiliate had so much more to offer.

I could have gone with one of them, but I was clueless on all this tech stuff. The domain names are cheap but then you have to pay for the all the other bits.

And if you are not sure about what plugins to use then you are just going to be on perpetual mission of trial and error. 

Wealthy Affiliate utilizes WordPress and uses Amazon as a hosting manager. They supply the tools,  you supply the words.

If you see or read a review in a blog about fishing reels on Amazon, you need to be accurate. People are making to buy, or not buy decisions based on an opinion.

Like I said before the half arsed things I used to read, and you had no idea if there was any after sales service or anything.

Don the Economic Robot

How to Earn Money Blogging Fisherman Tells His Story.
The Daily Grind

Many people are fed up with the daily 9-5 grind, battling traffic to and from work, never having enough time for their own pursuits.

The early morning ringing of the Alarm Clock and you check the phone to see if lotto called while you were sleeping. Nope off to work you go. 

The biggest eye opener for me 

Just to be serious for a moment. Was mixing with the wealthy affiliate community. This is where I got a full understanding that the internet has provided a world of abundance for anyone.

Whether it be for gaining knowledge or sharing helpful ideas or selling stuff.

Some of the more successful are women,  they not only blog successfully, but also move into other things.  

So, no matter where you live, your age, color, creed or physical abilities, there is something for you in the online world. 

I got a couple of beers, for me and Don, and we got back to fishing. 

He could tell a good story.

Here is one about one of his friends, who was always telling him unreal stories about some of his exploits.

How to Earn Money Blogging Fisherman Tells His Story.
Watching the World go by

One Sunday afternoon he was fishing off the beach using a hand line, he wasn’t expecting to catch much, more to have a bit of quiet time for himself.

 Sit on the beach, munch on a few grapes and enjoy the peace.

He felt a few nibbles on the line and things went quiet, so he reeled the line in and re-baited it, as he cast the line back out,  the hook caught onto a bunch of his grapes.

No sooner had the bait hit the water, a fish took it, grapes and all.

He hooked it and had to fight hard to get it to shore. To give you some idea of how big  it was, when he opened its mouth to get the hook out, the bunch of grapes was still on the hook and there was not a tooth mark on any of the grapes !

He shut up for a moment, then..

 You know, it is a lot like blogging.

You get a few nibbles, you put some more information out there and then  Bang! everything hits at once, it all comes together. Beer finished time for a shower. 

So, How can you become Successful at Blogging?

You could go straight to Bluehost and set yourself up with some hosting and get going with WordPress if you already have some knowledge of setting up web pages.

Just understand that to become successful does have a learning curve to it,  as  mentioned   in this post 

It is a matter of planning to get your idea into the best possible position for success.

Then (like all things in life), to get to where you want to be you need to put in some work.

The greatest ( Muhammad Ali ),   once said ” I hated every minute of training, but I said, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion “.

What to blog about. 

How to Earn Money Blogging Fisherman Tells His Story.
Get with the program

If you are into things like weight loss, woodwork, fishing, health and wellness, jewelry and art, travel, fashion, all sorts of things. 

I know of a woman who owns 3 chickens making 6 figures a year as an expert on chickens !

Check it out.

Wealthy Affiliate advertise you can start for free. The key word here is    Start.                 

 I said it above, but think about it. 

7 days free, then another month for 20 bucks ($19 actually). 

  To understand the full value of Value of Wealthy Affiliate   Go Here  and fill in a few details. Don did, and you don’t need a credit card. 

This might be of interest over the next few days.

Michael. 

Copyright ©the barefootaffiliate 2019

10 thoughts on “How to Earn Money Blogging – Cheapskate Fisherman Tells How.”

  1. Yep, True Sule. I haven’t Amazonified or Google Adsensed this blog site, and I am in two minds as to whether I will or won’t. I had a Bee blog with Adsense. It worked ok but it was a different theme. I get a lot of comments about how clean the site looks. So I think, if it is clean, then it is welcoming, if it is welcoming, then you can relax.
    Wealthy Affiliate lets me have 25 sites. So if I have a couple with no pop ups rolling around then it is not a bad thing I guess.
    Thank you for your comment Sule. Your welcome to call back any time.
    Regards,
    Michael

  2. You can make money from blogs but you must know what you are doing. Blogging is a very competitive business online but by the time you establish authority and credibility with your blog, the traffic starts coming in and that is when you start counting the money if you have monetized the blog by having Google Adsense code on it. That is when the real fun for blogging really commences.

  3. Hey, thank you Nathaniel,

    Dedication to the cause is what it is all about. Like the three guys who do a trip to Asia every year, to go trail bike riding through the jungle. After one trip one of the guys decides to start a blog, so while the other two are out partying and drinking every weekend he stays home working on his blog. 

    Two years later after their annual trail bike ride in Asia, his friends go back to work

     He heads off to Singapore and Hong Kong for some more R&R.  

    All the best to you Nathaniel.

  4. Hello Michael – For anyone considering blogging, your post is encouraging.  If they are seriously considering it, how could they not click through!  After all, you’ve covered all the bases including: the advantages, how to get started with a minimum cost and you kept it real by mentioning that work is required.  Everything truly has a cost!  Have a blessed day!!

  5. Wow 2007 !   you must be like part of the furniture at Wealthy Affiliate. Feel free to drop by anytime Kewebcoach 

    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Michael

  6. Thank you RoDarrick, 

    True, it is all about leverage, If you going to do it, do it to best of your ability and try to improve on that.

    Regards,

    Michael 

  7. Interesting blogpost you have up here. Firstly, I believe the blogging industry is a very lucrative one if handled as a serious business, then one could make worthy amount of breakthrough. However, learning to leverage on one’s skill and ability to give it all it takes is what truly gives the income. I like the Muhammed Ali’s example. One just have to do more than what others are doing to live beyond others too.

  8. Michael, thank you for the info. You have put it in a very easy way to understand. I have been in WA since 2007 and I can confirm the training and the community is first class. For those who want to learn how to blog the right way, WA is the place.

  9. Thank you Daniel,

    Waking up to join the daily traffic gridlock to get to work then repeat after you finish work is not the most enjoyable way to spend your day. 

    Many people dream of living a life different to what they are doing now, and are sort of working towards that goal. Unfortunately by the time they get there they are too old to enjoy it, or life has thrown up so many upheavals in their personal lives they completely lose focus on why they are doing what they are doing. 

    All the best to you Daniel.

  10. Hey Michael, I must say that this article is very helpful and informative. Making a blog today is pretty simple, you can have your website up and running in minutes but what people don’t understand is that they must produce content. “Empty” website can’t earn money, I like that sentence “Content is KING” and it really is. I like how you simplified the entire process of building a blog, I hope many people will give it a chance and get rid of their regular 9-5 job which makes us all so stressful.

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