50 Ways to Save Money as a Blogger

For many people that want to start a blog, they might first wonder if they have enough cash to get started.  What many people will tell them is that you can have literally any budget or savings to get started.  While you may not have the success of someone who does have some funding, whether for a faster Internet connection, better hosting, etc., as long as you have some method of publishing to a blog at least once a week, you will be able to earn with your blog.

Many lists like this deal with how to make money online, but you typically need to spend cash (which many do not have a whole lot of extra lying around), so this post helps the average and semi-professional blogger deal with that and help you become a more frugal blogger.

Keep in mind that many of these tips pertain to the person who is already paying for, or looking into doing each of these tasks related to their blog.

1. Use an open-source blogging platform (and for nearly everything else), rather than one that requires you to pay a fee each month.
2. Don’t purchase advertising on other blogs.  Use natural methods to increase your readership levels and traffic over time.
3. Ease yourself into blogging.  Don’t rush anything or you’ll end up buying more than you need.
4. Don’t purchase e-books – there are many free ones out there; read reviews of them if you do really want to purchase one to be sure that it is isn’t classified as a ripoff.
5. Only purchase a blog theme and upgrades if you have the cash/monthly earnings to support it.
6. Advertise wisely on other blogs.  Make sure that you choose one that has a good click through rate and has a decent amount of traffic.
7. Use natural promotion methods.
8. Plan and create posts that can be published at a later time – you’ll be able to focus on other things dealing with your blog or earning.
9. Develop a mindset that you need to make money from your blog, but be conservative in the ads placed on your blog – people who don’t blog for money earn more than those that do.
10. Remember that just because a more expensive host will be able to handle more traffic and has more features, it doesn’t mean that your site(s) traffic will use the services that have been promised with the plan.
11. Don’t open any email that claims to be from a payment processor or other service that you may or may not be a member of – they will claim your login details, and you’ll most likely lose money or have your identity stolen.
12. Purchase hosting for more than one year at a time.  Although rates may be just $2 cheaper per month, it’ll add up in the long run, so you’ll be able to get “free” months.
13. Search for deals and coupons for services, like hosting, that you would normally pay full price for.
14. Ask a blog owner if you can get a lower price, or a long-term deal on their blog.  Most times, they’ll be flexible with pricing.  If not, asking never hurts.
15. Don’t be disappointed with low earnings from your blog.  Decrease the price of your ads, and you’ll likely see an increase in advertisers, giving you a better perspective of what people are willing to pay.  With a large queue of advertisers, you will be able to steadily increase the cost.
16. Turn off your computer, laptop, and other associated electronics when not in use.
17. Invest in a DSL or cable plan for a fixed rate.  There will likely be an increase in cost over low-priced dial-up lines and other services, but you’ll be browsing at a faster speed for a price relatively the same.
18. Budget the amount of money you spend each month on hosting, promotion, and other fees.  Surprisingly, you’ll find that your spending is higher than you think it is when you break down all the miscellaneous costs.
19. Spend more time blogging and less time doing things that don’t produce an income stream online.
20. Sell advertisements directly from your site using a plugin like OIO Publisher or through ad brokering services including Performancing Ads, BuySellAds, or Project Wonderful.  Going with a direct advertising solution cuts out the middle man, saving you money.  The last three solutions help connect you with other site owners who may be interested in advertising on your site.
21. Don’t scam your readers.  They won’t return and you’ll be at a loss for earnings when you try to build up your brand again.
22. Outsource some of your work to someone else.  This may be as small of a task as replying to emails or managing your entire blog.  There will be fees involved, but you’ll have more time to work on other projects.
23. If you think something is a rip-off, it is.  Don’t purchase subscriptions to services that claim to help you, but simply promote their referral/affiliate links, which contribute additional funds to their goals.
24. Compare domain costs.  Although many are around $10/year, there isn’t a huge difference except in branding if you choose a cheaper domain, such as a .info, or other less common domain name.  They are just as easy to promote, except in some services, but you can save up to $8/year.
25. Create your own content – you’ll save money that you would normally have to pay someone specializing in the writing and copy part of your blog.
26. Learn some new skills – from coding to design.  It’ll take some time, but you can do it for little to no cost, other than reading others’ ideas, tips, etc., or purchasing a book on the subject.
27. Tell your side of the story.  Visitors will likely connect with you, rather than seeing a blog run by someone who is solely paid to do so.
28. Stop being afraid of losing money from your blog.
29. Save money on hosting fees by using less images and using an image-less design, then focus on textual content, not images, videos, scripts, etc. – they just add unwanted reflections to what you want readers to see.
30. Establish a time frame as to when projects/posts/etc. should be completed, for example: “I want to publish at least one post every day.”  Make sure that you are able to accomplish this goal and any others that you set, so you can continue growing your blog.
31. Save money to put aside if you need to purchase advertising or other fees associated with your blog’s operation.
32. Consolidate all your domains (websites) into one main hosting account, or diversify them to save money.  For example, use one “major” host for larger sites, while sticking with a “smaller” host for your landing pages, smaller sites, etc.
33. Make lists to organize your goals, where you will be advertising, and more.  They will help you stay better organized and more productive.
34. Have only one blog until you are able to expand with a better workflow.  Just because you have multiple Blogger blogs doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll make more; you’ll simply have less time to spend on each one.
35. Buy “used” blogs.  Check directories where you can buy or sell blogs.  Find a blog that has already been established, so you can start with some sort of earnings flowing in – saving you time and money when you look at the long-term picture.
36. Don’t throw anything you need away.  If you scrap the idea for a blog post or new project, write it down in a “miscellaneous list” and come back to it later.
37. Place your blog’s (business) earnings and personal earnings in different accounts, and only touch the business earnings when you need to make a drawing for personal use.
38. Constantly make sure that you are meeting your goals, or that you are able to continue growth, with stagnant growth at the very minimum.  Negative growth means that you will be losing money in the long-term.
39. Don’t falter under stress.  Your blog will go downhill and you won’t have the alternative income stream that you were looking to produce from your blog.
40. Take advantage of trends in the market.  Promote products that will generate money, or at least relate to current trends, in order to leverage additional traffic to your blog.
41. Persuade your readers to become more frugal by offering them tips and advice – this advice will help you become a more economical person, too.
42. Obviously, don’t cut corners or you’ll end up paying more in the long run.  This can include anything from advertising to blog hosting.
43. Invest more time and money into something that does work.  You’re looking for more return – view them as securities in your blogging venture.
44. Join a group of bloggers, who will be able to support each other, contributing money to help support each other financially and through distributed content.
45. Don’t follow by example.  Lead by example.  Start your own trends and you’ll earn (and save) more.
46. Leverage the power of social networking sites to draw traffic to your blog.  This will save you time and money over purchasing private advertising and other methods, such as Cost Per Click-driven systems like Google AdWords.  The traffic may not be as targeted, but it’s free.
47. Drop any tools that aren’t worth using – even if they’re free.  Test and use new blog tools (albeit free) and see how they perform – in terms of driving traffic or doing what they promised to do.
48. Grab up those free samples, beta invites, and more – you might get rewarded for trying out these products, and they could be an asset to your blog and/or visitors.
49. Subscribe to blogs in your feed reader – it’ll save time and you’ll pick up on offers for discounts to products that you may need to purchase, such as plugins, themes, hosting, etc.
50. Work on the backbone of your financial health from the ground up – you’ll find it easier to focus on the monetary aspects of blogging.