Today, bloggers are able to develop a real career out of their line of work. Many people put the title “Blogger” into their resumes, but not many of them manage to turn their blog into a revenue-generating business. To launch a blog and publish content is easy, but building a large enough audience and developing a blog into a brand takes much time and dedication.

If you’re not happy with the performance of your current blog or thinking of starting a new blog, these tips will help you to launch it upwards and attract more unique visitors every month.

1. The drive behind it all

This may sound cliché, but the fact is there are so many people starting their blogs, hoping to make a quick buck. However, audiences can see through that, so you better start a blog for the right reason. Pick something that you’re interested in writing about and your audience will get a feel that you’re writing your content with passion. The money will eventually follow, as it can take up to 6-12 months before you start seeing some revenue.

2. Consistency and authenticity are a must

Once you start a blog, you have to decide when you’ll post your blog updates. Posting whenever you feel like won’t lead to any success, as consistency is key. Begin by posting once per week, and stick to the same day. You have to put time in to build a community. Blogs don’t have to be perfect, they actually aren’t meant to be, but they have to be authentic in order to get the audience to resonate. Measure the feedback in real time, see what’s popular, and make necessary adjustments.

3. Write about things you know

Being passionate about the topic you chose to write about is not enough, because you have to own a good body of knowledge about it. Understand the subject inside and out in order to be able to provide information or advice that your audience will consider valuable.

4. Make it interesting

If your audience finds you interesting, they will definitely connect with you. Find out what are the most interesting things about you, and try to find a point where these things intersect. Be a specialist in a world of generalists, and it will make your blog stand out and be memorable. And if you are planning to focus on a specific niche, be it sports, fashion, or lifestyle, be informative and elaborative in every article. The better content you create, there could be a bigger chance that people might even pay to read and see your content. Once you are at that level of popularity, you can restrict some of your work to subscriber-only content, for which people will have to pay a subscription fee. You can set up a special payment gateway for your subscribers by employing a Paywall service provided by various companies that could easily integrate with the WordPress website design.

5. Utilize the power of social media

As social media is becoming more and more important for reaching target audiences and marketing in general, you should leverage it for growth by using clever hashtags and posting creative content. You don’t need to be active on all social media platforms, but choose the ones where your target audience spends most time or those most valuable to your niche, and be active there. Don’t spread yourself too thin across every social media platform, but use one or two, and really connect with your audience. The images you upload on your social media profiles should be of high-resolution and edited, with some good filters. If you have a large audience, you might be termed an influencer. Nowadays, an influencer can earn a lot of money by reviewing the products of various companies and by posting his/her opinions on social media.

5. Choose the right blogging platform

You don’t have to hire a professional (and expensive) web developer to create a website from scratch, just in order to run your blog. By making the right CMS and hosting choice, you can build your online presence quickly and efficiently, due to the availability of great extensions, modules, and plugins that make launching a website much easier, without years of learning and experience.

If you want to excel, establish yourself as a thought leader and an influencer in your niche, a blog is a great way to do it. Create blog posts as answers to most frequently asked questions in your industry, as this will inspire you to create content that will attract your target audience. Remember – it takes time to build online presence, community, and grow a platform that will be important you the audience and generate revenue.