What is the minimum investment to start a blog?

Can I start my blog on free platforms?

Is it possible to get traffic on free platforms?

Today we are going to answer these questions.

When you start your blogging career, you are in a big dilemma: How much money should I invest to start?

Will I be able to recover my money?

Let’s understand this first.

No business in the world can tell you in advance that will it be successful or not?

No business in the world can predict that how much money it is going to make.

Have you ever seen a small corner shop in any big city where they are selling just some sweets, or some fast-food items.. but they have long queue waiting for their turn.

Are they successful?

YES.

Did they ever imagine that they would make this much money?

NO.

Coming back to my point; Blogging is no less than a business.

If you start calculating from day one that will I be successful or not, it can be really tough for you.

So when you start a BUSINESS, it needs investment, your time, commitment, and efforts.

How much is that?

Domain – 800 INR per year

Hosting – 5000 INR per year (we recommend GreenGeeks)

WordPress Theme – 2500 INR per year (Check AffiliateBooster)

That’s it.

In less than 10,000 INR, you can start your professional blog.

No premium plugins are needed, no page builders are needed, no extra features are needed when you are a newbie.

You are just starting your journey, so don’t complicate things by listening to some “YouTube Experts” who have never used those plugins, but they keep on recommending them.

Just start your career, and things will start unfolding automatically.

Can I start my blog on free platforms?

Yes.

You can be familiar with the CMS (content management system) by starting with WordPress.com.

Just explore the features, be friendly with it and start writing for few days.

Once you have the confidence, switch to a good hosting and start doing blogging there only.

As I said earlier, business needs investment.

Is it possible to get traffic on free platforms?

Yes, it is 100% possible to get traffic on free platforms. Medium and Linkedin are great examples of free platforms where you can write content and get traffic.

People will start reading the content, and you’ll get traffic.

But here you are writing your content for someone else.

I would suggest using these free platforms for few days, start writing the content and see how people respond.

Once you gain some confidence that YES people are loving my content, you can move to a good hosting.

The ultimate goal is; Having your own self-hosted blog.

and it would cost less than 10,000 INR per year.

I hope you have got the clarity now

How much does it cost to start a blog to make money online?

This is the first question comes to mind when you want to start a blog.

The quick answer is…

You only need less than $100 to start a blog. Once you start looking for earning money from a blog you need to invest extra money for essential tools that make your life easy and add value to your blogging business.

However, if you are serious and if you want to treat your blog as a business be ready to invest at least $800 to $1000 in your first year of blogging.

The great thing about blogging is you no need to invest all money on day one, unlike other businesses. The Initial investment is very minimum and as you progress you can invest in essential tools.

We will see in the later part of this blog post what are the exact tools required to set up a blog and the costs associated with each tool in great detail.Quick NavigationHow much does it cost to start a blog to make money online?How much does it cost on an average to set up a blog in India?The 3 types of Bloggers #1 Hobby Blogger Best Free Blogging Platforms list 2018 Advantages of signing up for Free Blogging Platforms:#2 Minimalist Blogger #3 Blogging as a Business Tools required for starting a blog categorized as per the blogger’s type discussed above:The actual costs involved to start a blog in India The Tools Required to set up a Blog How to set up a Blog [4 essentials tools to set up a blog]Domain Name Hosting – This is where you store (files) all your blog content WordPress Platform – This is a FREE platform to host your blog Theme: Your selection of a theme decides the blog look and feel. All you need to run your Blog as a Business Email Marketing Tool [Building List]Other Investments:Time wise investments [broken down into first 3 months and beyond]Overview of Costs to Start a Blog Getting Started Phase Growth Phase How long does it take until I start making money from a blog?The Return On Investment on Blogging Intangible benefits [Return On Investment]Your Actions Required.Wrapping up:

Now, let’s have a quick look at the essential tools to set up a blog.

Snapshot of essentials tools to set up a professional blog are:

Essentials Blogging Tools

Hosting
Domain Name
Email Marketing Tool [AutoResponder]
SEO Tools
Laptop/Desktop
High-Speed Internet
Online Courses
Video Equipment
Blog Theme
Blogging Platform

Here is the kicker:

You do not want to buy all the tools on your first day.

Also, depending upon your intention to start a blog you might require very few to all the tools mentioned-above in several phases.

I have given a list of tools that are required when you start a blog [Getting started phase] and when you are looking to take your blog to next level [Growth Phase]

Keep reading to know more…

Now, you know…

How much does it cost on an average to set up a blog in India?

Let’s look into what’s your goal and what outcome you are looking from blogging.

Do you want to blog as a hobby to express your views and opinions on the topic you love?
Are you looking to make money online with a blog for a living?
Are you a serious person who treats blogging as a business?

For better understanding, I have divided this blog post into 3 categories.

Which category do you belong to?

Hobby Blogger
Minimalist [want to make money for a living]
Blogging as Business [looking for 10X returns and want to make money while sleeping]

Blogger Type	Tools Required	Average Cost
Blogging as Business	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools, Online Courses, Video equipment, outsourcing, paid ads and a Blog Theme.	$900[Excluded the basic things such as a Laptop and Internet cost]
Minimalist Blogger	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools and a Blog Theme	$400[Excluded the basic things such as a Laptop and Internet cost]
Hobby Blogger	Sign up for Free Blogging platform and keep writing	Free

Now:

Let’s look at the estimated costs of each blogger type typical spendings in one year time to run the blog.

The 3 types of Bloggers

#1 Hobby Blogger

You have all the time in the world and have support system [financial support] and at this point in time, you are not worried about extra income source. You are also in a great space and have some good life experiences and have a passion to share/write.

If this is you, you can express your views and thoughts on the online world by spending some time on writing without worrying about any costs and technical headaches.

Here, in this case, you can sign up for any of the following free blogging platforms to get you started.

Best Free Blogging Platforms list 2018

Blogger
WordPress.com
Medium
Tumblr
Weebly

If you want to try one of the free blogging platforms you can Sign up for Tumblr over here…

Also, check Blogger, Weebly, and Medium free blogging platforms as well.

After you sign up you just click on a create a new post, write your views or experiences and publish.

You are done. Now, you are a blogger and your new online home looks like www.tumblr.com/yourblogname.com as these all are free blogging platforms you will see the brand name (tumblr.com/) associated with your blog name.

Advantages of signing up for Free Blogging Platforms:

You can write on your travel/ professional/college life experiences/ politics views etc.. without investing money.
You can test your writing skills or practice writing blog posts.
You can validate and check on how much readership your blog attracting
Improves your Content writing skills. [The #1 skill to have as a blogger]
Showcase your blog and writing skills to get Freelance projects and jobs.
Share your blog on social media and with friends [for an identity]

Once you sign up for any free blogging platform and write blog posts you are done… [No expenses. It’s all Free]

#2 Minimalist Blogger

If you are a person like me when I first started my blogging spending money only on essential tools. Invested time to counter paying for tools and kept pushing for success with free tools for first 6 months.

If you have a minimal lifestyle and can live on a tight budget.

Other than Hosting and Good Theme for your blog you do not want to waste money on other tools unless you reach a point where you have written 10 articles and learned the skills of running a blog. [Email Marketing and Keyword Research]

You are good with free SEO and email marketing tools such as Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner and Mailchimp, Sumome.

Your main goal is to earn money as well as not to spend money at the same time for the first 3 months.

If your financial situation does not allow you to lose Rs.50000 per year take this route.

But, be prepared to compensate money with time.

Ideally, you should invest daily 4 to 8 hours to learn on your own from Google, Youtube and from authentic blogs and forums.

Advantages of Minimalist Blogger:

With the help of new skills learned by blogging you will be able to get some side projects and freelance projects.

When you put more time on learning and implement what you learn on blogging,

You can work freely on your full-time job or quit the job and may look for other part-time job to focus more on blogging.
You can get a part-time job with small businesses and startups for a decent salary and at the same time you will have a luxury of working on your blogging.
Your blogging investment will be very minimum or negligible [$300 per year] hence no pressure on the extra financial burden.

#3 Blogging as a Business

If you are very focused and if you treat blogging as a business.

An Ideal person who falls into this category will have the following thoughts or might be thinking in the following lines…

You know the importance of business and why you need to invest in the business. [long term profits]

You know every business will have some expenses and hence you are prepared to invest in yourself by learning and also in essential tools that help to grow your business.

You might have some savings and are ready to invest both time and money for at least 12 months to 18 months to see any money in your bank account.

You are here to lay the strong foundation, and build the systems that make money while you sleep.

Ready to invest in yourself and in business and you know where to invest and how to get returns..

You are ready to take calculated risks in business.

If this is You…

Few of the things that you will be investing in are:

Hosting – multiple websites [you know you will start one or more niche blogs in 6 months time]
SEO tools [ SEMrush and KeywordFinder]
Themes [Thrive Theme memberships]
Ready for investment in paid ads [Facebook Marketing]
Outsource some content work and SEO work.
Autoresponder [Email Marketing Tool]
Invest in yourself by signing up for courses such as SEO, Email and Facebook Marketing
Invest in video making tools

Advantages of Blogging as a Business:

You will see up to 10X results or will go with a experience of running the blog as a business and by the time you reach the second year, you will possess very strong organized and business skills that will help you over a lifetime.

All these learned skills will connect back and will make you a better person both professionally and in your personal life.

Tools required for starting a blog categorized as per the blogger’s type discussed above:

Tools Required	Hobby Blogger	Minimalist	Blogging as Business
Hosting	Free Hosting	SiteGround Starter Pack	SiteGround Growth Pack
AutoResponder	NA	Convertkit	Convertkit
SEO Tools	NA	SEMrush	SEMrush, KW Finder, ahref.
Blog Theme	NA	Thrive Theme	Thrive Theme Membership
Online Courses	NA	NA	Email/Facebook Marketing/ Blogging.
Traffic Generation	NA	Organic (SEO & Social Media)	Organic & Paid Media
Video Equipment	NA	NA	Tripod, Gear, Mic

We have seen the tools required in the above table.

Now, it is the time to know the exact cost of each tool.

The actual costs involved to start a blog in India

Blogger Type	Tools Required	Average Cost Tools	Total Cost
Blogging as Business	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools, Online Courses, Video equipment, outsourcing, paid ads and Theme.	Hosting – SiteGround Grow Big planEmail – ConvertkitSEO Tools – SEMrush & KeywordFinder.Video Equipment -Gear, Tripod, Mic.Blog Theme – Thrive Themes	Hosting – $150/yearEmail -$29/monthSEO Tools – $100-$130/month Video Equipment -$100 one time payment Total Cost: $1000+
Minimalist Blogger	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools and Theme	Hosting – SiteGround Starter planEmail – ConvertkitSEO Tools – KeywordFinderBlog Theme -Thrive Themes	Hosting – $50/yearEmail -$29/monthSEO Tools – $130Theme -$69/year Total Cost: $450
Hobby Blogger	Sign up for Free Blogging platform and keep writing	Tumblr/Medium/WordPress.com and Social Media	Free

Note: Email Marketing tool such as Convertkit you can buy it once you reach 1000 subscribers (or after 3 months). SEO tools you can sign up for 2 months and do all the research for required one year and keep ready all the data and competitors analysis details. Once you start generating money from blogging you can invest that money back in SEO tools.

You only need to invest on SEO tools for 3 months (I know you are on a budget and you definitely want best tools to grow your blogging business) I have given details and investment breakup when you start a blog and when you want to take off your blogging efforts to make money at the end of this blog post.

Read my curated list of best 40+ Free Tools to grow your blogging business over here…

The Tools Required to set up a Blog

To start a blog you require 4 basic things first:

A domain name
A Hosting Space
Blogging Platform/Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress
Blog Theme

How to set up a Blog [4 essentials tools to set up a blog]

Below is a brief on each tool [Avoid the technicalities and the online blogging terms as of now]

As a blogger, you only need to know the basics… so, let’s understand the basics and skip the technicalities of hosting, domain name etc.

You only need to do research, write content and promote your blog as a blogger.

Domain Name

This is what your identity online and people remember this name to view the content you write on the blog [blog name ex: www.freshersbuddy.com]

So come up with a good name for your blog that is short and simple to remember.

Money Saving Tip: When you buy a hosting from Siteground you will get a free domain name for one year after which you need to renew the domain name. [which is an annual fee and costs you around $10 per year]

Hosting – This is where you store (files) all your blog content

You no need to worry about all the technicalities and the new terms you hear in this blog post.

Simply, buy a hosting and with a click of a button you can set up a blog by following this article in under 20 minutes.

All major hosting companies advertise saying blog hosting costs ranging from $3 to $12 per month. However, the upside is you have to buy the annual package to get the best deals. Some hosting companies give best discounts up to 60% off when you buy 3 years package.

Get 60% off on your hosting when you buy hosting plans per year with Siteground.

You can go for a 6 month plan with Hostgator which is also a reliable hosting service provider.

Here is why I recommend Siteground hosting.

WordPress Platform – This is a FREE platform to host your blog

Why WordPress?

It is the best and most popular CMS (Content Management System) provider in the world.

WordPress powers more than 70 million websites and blogs all over the world.

Simple, as it is easy to setup (no tech required), free forever and has a large community who are very helpful to solve your WordPress technology problems. There are so many videos and information on Internet how to setup WordPress for beginners and master the Platform.

You can install the WordPress software for free onto your server with one click using Siteground Hosting and Hostgator.

Remember the Tip: When ready to buy hosting from Siteground or Hostgator they ask Do you already have a domain for your hosting plan? Press No and get a domain name for free one year. [which is otherwise an additional cost of $12 per year]

Read my other blog post on how to set up a blog on your own over here…

Theme: Your selection of a theme decides the blog look and feel.

There are many free themes available but they do not allow you to design a great blog. All the free themes will restrict you to make any changes such as color, fonts and other blog theme settings.

Also, free themes are better to avoid as they are not built to perform well and are not optimized for SEO [search engine optimization] which is a bad sign for Google and thus will not rank your blog on the first page of Google in search results.

This is the reason You have to invest at least $60 on a theme, choose a responsive and fully functional theme which will give your reader a visually appealing and also optimized for SEO.

I recommend you to buy a Thrive Themes and if you can afford to buy Thrive membership which will give you an arsenal of tools to help your blog grow. At, FreshersBuddy I use Thrive Themes.

Thrive themes:

One stop solution for Bloggers [Optimized themes, opt-in forms, landing pages, lead pages and other useful plugins] which provides awesome blogging tools as a package for serious bloggers at a great price point.

Thrive Theme Membership costs you $19 per month [paid annually] which is worthy your every penny invested. (You no need worried about buying other themes, opt-in form and lead generation tools once you grab this great offer from Thrive Themes)

This will be your best investment apart from the essential hosting and domain name.

Instead of giving a link or video on why Thrive Themes is a great investment, I have decided to give a link to the video why Thrive Theme membership is not only the best set of tools for your blog but also why ThriveThemes is the best company to associate with as a blogger.https://www.youtube.com/embed/F9dFwR8zNYM?rel=0&modestbranding=0&controls=1&showinfo=1&fs=1&wmode=transparentGet Thrive Theme Membership Now!

Now you are clear with all the first two essential tools to set up a blog. [Hosting and Thrive Themes]

Let’s move on to understand other tools required to run your blogging business.

I know, You might have the following questions as the newbie bloggers.

Why you need this tools to run a blog?

Why invest in these tools?

Let’s find out the answers…

All you need to run your Blog as a Business

Most of the bloggers have to depend on two type of income sources.

Selling own products through a blog [e-book, memberships, online courses etc…]
Selling others products by reviewing [if any sale happens using your product review affiliate links you make commissions (money)]

Traffic and a Conversion mechanism to turn traffic into sales is a challenge for any blogger.

First and most important.

You should have a product [a blog in this case]
You should solve a problem of customers [blog readers]
Your blog should be known to your target audience [Brand awareness]
Educate or Convey your customers [readers] that you have a solution to their problem by giving more info on other products that you are promoting on your blog.

In the online world…

Rather than directly pointing out customer/readers to your blog [most sales does not happen one time by giving direct sales links]

You need to send traffic [readers] to your blog post where you provide more information about the product and possibly sign up a customer to your own email list.

Now, you can interact with your list by sending a sequence of emails that build a relationship and trust.

Once, you establish a trust with your readers by communicating via emails. Your blog readers when they are ready to buy will most probably buy it from the affiliate links that you placed in your blog post.

Now, you must be wondering what is affiliate link?

Note: Affiliate link is a special tracking link which contains your unique tracking id with which the companies [your promoting products] will track when a sale happens and will pay a commission to You. [This is how more than 90% of the bloggers out there are earning money online]

Click here to see yourself where I added an affiliate link of Thrive Themes which redirects you to thrive themes homepage in a new tab. [Disclaimer: when you click on the link here and buy the thrive membership or any of their products I will get a commission from Thrive Themes]

More on how to set up an Amazon Affiliate Niche website/blog to make money discussed over here…

Now, let’s focus on:

How to get Traffic to Your new Blog? [Do you have to pay for Traffic]

Hobby Blogger:

As a hobby blogger, You are here to write and share to the internet world your opinions and thoughts on the topic you love but are not keen on making money hence promoting and getting traffic is not you want instead you want to spend that time to write more about your interests, experiences.

Bit of sharing your blog on Social Media and word of mouth will do.

Investment- Zero

Minimalist Blogger:

You do not have money to spend on getting traffic and thus rely on Organic traffic from search engines such as Google and traffic from Social Media.

Here you are ready to put extra hours to get traffic using your content marketing and SEO techniques.

Investment- All your Investment is Time.

Serious Blogger:

You are prepared to invest in paid ads occasionally and want to run ads on special days such as Amazon Big Indian sale, Festivals and Cyber Monday Season where discounts and promotions happen.

Investment- Spend $200-$300 if you have already built an email list using Email Marketing Tool.

You can promote your affiliate product offers to your email list where you have already build a relationship and trust factor.

Email Marketing Tool [Building List]

What is email marketing and how does it help?

If you see my blog I have included a free online business course opt-in form that appears when you first open this blog on your browser.

Other example is shown below where I collect my blog readers names and emails. When anyone fills up the below form I will tag them as a “newbie blogger” and send them a series of automated emails without me doing any manual email sending works.

This is how it works:

I have created an email sequence of 5 emails plus a welcome email teaching you how to start an online business. This is my one time work where I wrote all the 6 emails and automated using Convertkit an Email Marketing Tool.

Now, what happens is whoever opt-in using the below form will get a welcome mail immediately and over the next 5 days, you will receive lessons on Online Business on how to get started, important tools, and all about starting a profitable online business without me doing anything. [It’s all automated]

See yourself by opting using the below form and if you wonder how this tool works, know yourself by signing up for a Free Trial with Convertkit over here…You will be getting a Welcome email & 5 Free Lessons. Keep an eye on your inbox…

As discussed above, with Convertkit special features build for bloggers like you and me now, you can automate all your email marketing activities and promotions effortlessly. Know more about how Convertkit help you to grow your blogging business by signing up for a 15 dayFree Trial over here…

Cost you $29/month after the free trial.

Other Investments:

Online Courses

If you have additional money to invest in yourself you can invest in best online courses on Blogging, Email Marketing, Facebook and SEO course.

Money Saving Tip: If you have now decided to invest in essential tools such as Thrive Themes and Convertkit. You already invested in yourself as both Thrive Themes and Convertkit as a huge library of Tutorials and support community and powerful blog posts on how to build a blog ground up and grow using Email marketing, Conversion Tools such as Landing pages and opt-in forms etc.

If you are comfortable investing and never mind upgrading your skill set go ahead and invest in online courses offered by top industry influencers in Blogging space.

Typically, Indian online course providers charge you around Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 per course. Total cost will be Rs.10000 to Rs.15000. [Email Marketing, SEO, and Facebook Marketing]

If you are a minimalist blogger you can find good information on top blogs and learn all skills on your own for free plus the Thrive Theme and Convertkit has great resources and Facebook groups. They do also powerful webinars on the Email Marketing and Conversion Topics.

SEO Tools

SEO tools will help you to find right keywords or search terms that users type on search engines [such as Google] to find a solution to their problems.

To find out the best keywords and search terms that users type on Google you need some paid SEO tools.

Also, to find out competitors details and what keywords they are ranking for: you need to invest in the following tools.

SEMrush, Keyword Finder and aHref are few SEO tools which will help you find profitable keywords.

Read my other blog post on SEMrush to know more about Keywords and why you need to find profitable keywords to make money online by blogging.

Money Saving Tip: If you are unable to get any money from your blogging efforts and through freelance projects within first 3 months (over 95% of the bloggers do not make money in the first 3 months including me) use the SEO tools for only 2-3 months (hey! you can do all the keyword research and competitors analysis required for one year of blogging using these SEO tools in 3 months)

I do not want to spend money on tools that you do not require at the same time I want you to invest in essential tools and treat blogging as a business.

Time wise investments [broken down into first 3 months and beyond]

Hobby Blogger: No costs involved as these people are focused only on writing not on making money.

Overview of Costs to Start a Blog

Getting Started Phase

Expected Costs in the First 3 Months of Blogging

Blog Hosting: $50/year (averages to $3.75/month with Hostgator discount)
Blog Theme: $220/year (Thrive Theme membership $19/month paid annually) (includes other conversion tools such as lead ads, opt-in forms, Thrive Architect etc.)
Email Marketing: $29/month (Convertkit)
Investment in Blogging Courses: $200 (optional)

Total Expected Costs in the First 3 Months: $280 to $550+

Below is the table giving you the costs if you are a Minimalist Blogger and are on tight budget.

Blogger Type	Tools Required	Average Cost	Total Cost for First 3 Months
Blogging as Business	Multiple Hosting plan, Autoresponder, SEO tools, Online Courses, Video equipment, outsourcing, paid ads and Blog Theme.	Hosting – $12/monthEmail -$29/monthSEO Tools – $130Blog Theme – $19/month.No Investment Required (first 3 months): Online Courses, Video equipment, outsourcing, and paid ads.	Hosting $150 ($1212 months paid annually) Email $29/month SEO Tools $130 per month (SEMrush and KeywordFinder)Blog Theme $220 paid annually Total Cost is $750* per first 3 months
Minimalist Blogger	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools and Theme	Hosting – $4/monthTheme -$19/monthNo investment on SEO Tools and Email Tool (you can use free tools for first 3 months)	Hosting $50 ($412 months paid annually) Blog Theme $220 paid annually Total Cost is $270* per first 3 months
Hobby Blogger	Sign up for Free Blogging platform and keep writing	Free	Free

Note: You can see from the table that I have included Hosting (Siteground Grow big plan for Serious bloggers and Siteground starting plan for Minimalist blogger). Also, I have included Thrive Themes Membership plan which will give you the power of great conversion tools along with the choice of selecting SEO optimized blog themes. If you are in the blogging business for making money make use of this membership plan.

You can also invest in Genesis and other SEO optimized themes which cost you around $60 to $120 to reduce initial blogging costs. However, remember you are going to get only one blog theme for $100+ investment unlike Thrive Themes you get more than 10 conversion tools apart from several blogging themes. [Thrive leads and Thrive architect are very powerful tools that you do not want to avoid]

Money Saving Tip: As You have invested in Hosting and Thrive Themes annual packages I have not included the costs in the Total Cost column in the above table.
Here, is the kicker use SEO tools only for first 3 months (do all the keyword research and competitor analysis in your first 3 months)

Keyword research and competitor analysis using SEO tools such as SEMrush, ahref and KeywordFinder will help you to win half the battle of making money online with blogging. So, you ahve to invest atleast $300 for these tools. [Read my other blog posts and you will understand the importance of keyword research and competitor analysis. I am going to write exclusive blog post on Keyword research tools in couple of months]

Growth Phase

Expected Costs after 3 Months of Blogging [up to 1 year]

SEO Tools: $130+/month (if you are on tight budget do the keyword research and competitor analysis using SEO tools in first 3 months and unsubscribe)
Additional Blogging Courses: $100+
Paid Ads: $200
Outsourcing SEO and Content Writing: $400 (optional)

Total Expected Costs After 3 Months: $450 to $900+

Below is the table giving you the costs if you are a Serious Blogger and have the luxury of spending money to reap great returns in the long run.

Blogger Type	Tools Required	Average Cost	Total Cost for Next 9 Months
Blogging as Business	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools, Online Courses, Video equipment, outsourcing, paid ads and Theme.	Hosting – $12/monthEmail -$29/monthSEO Tools – $150-$200Video Equ -$100	Email Tool – $29/month Video equipment $100, Paid ads and Outsource work $400 (optional)Total Cost is $400+
Minimalist Blogger	Hosting, Autoresponder, SEO tools and Theme	Hosting – $4/monthEmail -$29/monthSEO Tools – $130Theme -$69/year	Hosting & Theme cost – NA. Email $29/month9 months SEO Tools $30 per month (KeywordFinder) Total Cost is $450*
Hobby Blogger	Sign up for Free Blogging platform and keep writing	Free	Free

Note: I have included SEO tools cost of SEMrush, ahref and KeywordFinder (which are my three favorite SEO tools) for only 3 months. As I believe everyone starts blogging having a minimum investment. So, these SEO tools are the only tools which require big chunk of investment from your end.

The good thing about using SEO tools is you can find all the keyword and competitor analysis of your selected blogging niche in couple of months. Invest if and only if you are using these tools on daily basis and writing articles very frequently and you have the luxury of cash flow coming from your blogging efforts.

Next Question I get from most of the people who want to start a blog is

How long does it take until I start making money from a blog?

If you want a time frame answer 1 year to 2 years. However, it depends on what your skill set when you started blogging and your willpower to learn things fast and on your own and great work commitment and consistency of doing one task at a time.

But, once you learn the skills and have first-hand experience what you will have is some freelance projects. I have written a blog post on how you can self-sustain your business and get freelance projects over here…

Ok. I have invested my time and money what is the outcome or return on investment for my efforts…

The Return On Investment on Blogging

When you use all the tools and learn the game of online business [blogging] you can get freelance projects such as below [for side income]

WordPress website building work
Content Writing works from other bloggers and startups.
SEO works
Keyword Research
Email campaigns

My main source of income when I started was freelance projects that I got from Startups and Small business owners. [I have shown my blog and Amazon affiliate website as a proof of my skills and experience. Most of the blogger’s early income source is also from Freelance projects]

Intangible benefits [Return On Investment]

Skills development [You will master the email marketing, content marketing, and SEO skills which are essential and vital component of any business.
Full time and part-time jobs (for students) (virtual assistance jobs from small business owners)
Side income sources if you have a full-time Job.
Start a side project [physical products selling] with less investment [you can do things on your own so you can start any side project on a serious note with minimum investment]
Building Affiliate Niche website / online courses / Drop-shipping [sell on Amazon, sell on your website]

If you have come so far I believe you are also looking for best strategy or tips on how to make your blogging career success.

Feel free to spend more time reading my other long post on how to be successful online over here…

You will find out the 3 best ways to make money online and how to self-sustain your blogging business by reading the blog post.

Your Actions Required.

These are only 4 main investments as a blogger you need to invest and never ever buy these essential tools if you are planning not to invest your time for at least one year.

Buy Hosting [60 Off using this link and costs you $3.5 per month paid annually]

Buy Thrive Themes [$19 per month paid annually]

Buy Convertkit [Try Free Trail using this link]

Buy SEMrush/KeyWord Finder

Wrapping up:

We have seen the 3 types of bloggers, costs involved for one year for each type of blogger, essential tools to set up your blog and how to run your blog as a business.

Also, we discussed two important challenges faced by new bloggers, additional investments and the return on your investment with Blogging.

Finally, choose the path you want to take with your blogging career (Hobby, Minimalist, Blogging as Business]) and take actions by investing on blogging essentials (Hosting/Theme/Email automation Tool)

Let me know your thoughts, questions, critics and doubts on exact costs to start a blog and if you are looking to treat blogging as a business (more power to you!) spill your comments below in the comment section. I am happy to hear your feedback and critics.