Not Making Money Blogging
I'm just not cracking this blogging gig. I can see how I'll make money eventually but I NEED money NOW. I don't have the money to continue paying my Wealthy Affiliate membership fees. I can't afford to invest in Jaaxy. I need these tools. I need this Training. I'm stuck. I need to prove to my husband I can make money blogging so that he will support me... Oh no, I may have to go get a job and then all these hours I've put into my blogs may be wasted. All my Domains are hosted at Wealthy Affiliate. Where would I move them to? What would that cost? What if I lose my blogs? I've worked too hard to lose my blogs now. I have too much invested.
I HAVE to find a way...
These were the thoughts running through my head 8 months ago when I knew my Annual Membership Payment was nearly due and I knew I HAD to find a way to pay for it myself.
Desperation was setting in.
By this time I'd been blogging my heart out for nearly 2 years. I had followed the training so I'd done all of these:
- Created a Website (or 3)
- Built Rich Content
- Chosen Low Hanging Fruit Keywords
- Shared Posts on Social Media
- Signed up for Affiliate Programs and Added Affiliate Links into Posts
- Written Reviews for Wealthy Affiliate and Jaaxy
- Signed up for Google Adsense and added Google Adsense and Gourmet Ads to one site to test Advertising Income
But something wasn't clicking into place.
I just wasn't getting enough traffic.
- None of my posts were shooting it out of the park, going viral and drawing visitors to my site.
- None of my keywords were bringing in masses of organic traffic.
- None of my Social Media Channels were really ROCKING.
I wasn't making NOTHING. I had one or two affiliate sales here and there and I was earning money on Fiverr.
I had sporadic income... but
I wasn't making ENOUGH yet.
Not nearly enough.
In October 2017, I earned a Total of $136,94.
And that was my personal best, the month before that I only earned $29,10 and the month before that, even less - $11,22.
I knew I couldn't beg my husband to pay for my Annual Membership on the Black Friday Special for a second year running.
And then... just in the nick of time - Two weeks before Black Friday....
Everything changed.
Join the Discussion
jvranjes
Premium
You say that your site is not a high authority and you needed this as a stream of income. So you are now adding many (paid) links to low authority sites (otherwise those would not pay for links in your own site which is as you describe it).
My concern is that your own authority will only decrease in time. You already have 76 links to low authority sites, so your PageRank will be going down in time. As your authority decreases, you will have offers for such backlinks from even lower authority sites.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. In long terms, you might be ruining your site. Did I misunderstand something?
My concern is that your own authority will only decrease in time. You already have 76 links to low authority sites, so your PageRank will be going down in time. As your authority decreases, you will have offers for such backlinks from even lower authority sites.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. In long terms, you might be ruining your site. Did I misunderstand something?
Reply
jvranjes
Premium
You did a great job, increased your authority by linking to stronger sites, and got paid for this, better it cannot be. I wonder why they wanted something like that, but they must have had some reasons.
But here, it is an industrial-scale backlinks building with presumably low-authority sites, this cannot be good. This will kill the authority and with it the ranking, and this will result in a lower traffic, which contradicts the initial idea ("before you have significant traffic"). The traffc might never come due to this.
But here, it is an industrial-scale backlinks building with presumably low-authority sites, this cannot be good. This will kill the authority and with it the ranking, and this will result in a lower traffic, which contradicts the initial idea ("before you have significant traffic"). The traffc might never come due to this.
jvranjes
Premium
So you describe why buying backlinks is a bad idea. Those people were paying to get a link from a lower authority site. This means working against themselves. Backlinks should come naturally.
Also offering backlinks from a site like in the case described in the training looks like burying your own site into a deeper and deeper hole. I hope I am wrong.
Also offering backlinks from a site like in the case described in the training looks like burying your own site into a deeper and deeper hole. I hope I am wrong.
laurenjean
Premium
Hi Jovo, there was a time that I thought I was harming my sites Authority by accepting contributed posts. Initially, my DA dropped a bit.
However, the moment I realised that I need to treat paid posts exactly as I treat any post I'd write myself, my sites Authority and traffic have started increasing, rather than decreasing. That's why I decided to give you my entire process into this training.
If you follow the steps I've outlined you should see your DA increasing as mine did.
I'm not sure it's a black and white as you think. This is not about me gaining backlinks to my site - that is a completely different process. I may be wrong of course. Time will tell.
So far, I have not lost but gained by accepting paid posts.
However, the moment I realised that I need to treat paid posts exactly as I treat any post I'd write myself, my sites Authority and traffic have started increasing, rather than decreasing. That's why I decided to give you my entire process into this training.
If you follow the steps I've outlined you should see your DA increasing as mine did.
I'm not sure it's a black and white as you think. This is not about me gaining backlinks to my site - that is a completely different process. I may be wrong of course. Time will tell.
So far, I have not lost but gained by accepting paid posts.
jvranjes
Premium
In the trainings by Jay here you see him frequently mentioning linking to authority sites. What makes me concerned is that it appears that what you are doing is just the opposite, and in a very long run this cannot be good.
Of course it is not about you getting backlinks, this is the whole point here, this is about dispersing your own authority by linking to sites that are below your own level. I understand that you do the usual SEO, but linking to possibly low authority sites cannot have positive effects in the long run. Though those sites might even become authority and you might get your own authority increased, but my guess is that most of them will not, or you will always have many of low authority sites linked to you as you continue with all this. You simply have no control of their status and you cannot get out of it once you take the money, have to keep their posts regardless what happens with them.
So I would not do this, I would rather develop the business in such a way to have a control over it, by writing my own texts. But in any case, I wish you success with it.
Of course it is not about you getting backlinks, this is the whole point here, this is about dispersing your own authority by linking to sites that are below your own level. I understand that you do the usual SEO, but linking to possibly low authority sites cannot have positive effects in the long run. Though those sites might even become authority and you might get your own authority increased, but my guess is that most of them will not, or you will always have many of low authority sites linked to you as you continue with all this. You simply have no control of their status and you cannot get out of it once you take the money, have to keep their posts regardless what happens with them.
So I would not do this, I would rather develop the business in such a way to have a control over it, by writing my own texts. But in any case, I wish you success with it.
laurenjean
Premium
Maybe we're not quite understanding each other Jovo.
There are two different sides. Me adding links to other people's posts on my site. And others linking to my site on theirs.
By accepting paid posts, I'm doing the former - allowing links to other's sites. The links within most of my paid posts are to High Authority Sites as well as medium or low authority sites.
As far as I understand it, building my Domain Authority is more based on the latter - others linking to my site on theirs. As I go about my business, other people link to my site, naturally. I'm not paying for backlinks.
Either way, my Domain Authority just went up another point (Inspiring Mompreneurs is now at 32) and it's been going up steadily as I've been adding posts. So, as I make money and add content to my site, my DA grows. It's a win-win for me. I'm not losing anything as far as I can see.
There are two different sides. Me adding links to other people's posts on my site. And others linking to my site on theirs.
By accepting paid posts, I'm doing the former - allowing links to other's sites. The links within most of my paid posts are to High Authority Sites as well as medium or low authority sites.
As far as I understand it, building my Domain Authority is more based on the latter - others linking to my site on theirs. As I go about my business, other people link to my site, naturally. I'm not paying for backlinks.
Either way, my Domain Authority just went up another point (Inspiring Mompreneurs is now at 32) and it's been going up steadily as I've been adding posts. So, as I make money and add content to my site, my DA grows. It's a win-win for me. I'm not losing anything as far as I can see.
jvranjes
Premium
No, we understand each other properly. You provide backlinks to other sites. I doubt that those are high authority sites simply because they would not need such backlinks. By connecting with a lover authority they lose their own authority. Of course some of them may be higher than you because they are cheated by the agency which sells them backlinks, but my is guess most of them are not. Good luck, nothing more to say.
MelaniLukito
Premium
Thank You, Laureen for your sharing. DA is my question too in relation with contributing post.
laurenjean
Premium
Yes, clients check my sites DA first before deciding whether to post or not.
laurenjean
Premium
Bimby
Premium
Wow! congratulations Lauren. Thanks for sharing this valuable information with us.
i have bookmarked this post.
i have bookmarked this post.
laurenjean
Premium
laurenjean
Premium
Give It A Go
Premium
You've left us hanging Lauren. The second page is not to be found. Thought we'd better let you know. Hope you get it sorted, can't wait to read 'what next' :)
Ange
Ange
laurenjean
Premium
Thanks for letting me know Ange. Problem now solved. Hope you enjoy the rest of the Tutorial. So sorry about leaving you hanging!!
