Chickery's Travels

Chickery's Travels logo. A blue-green Earth globe with continents surrounded by dots with an arrow denoting movement or travel and "Chickery's Travels" as part of the dotted circle. Next to this is a photo of their blue and white Arctic Fox 5th Wheel with the awning out.
  • Home
  • Campground Reviews
    • Alternatives To National Park Campgrounds
    • Best Luxury RV Resorts For All RV Types
    • Best Waterfront Campgrounds For Every Budget
    • Alabama
      • Gunter Hill Campground (Montgomery, Alabama)
    • Arizona
      • Best Campgrounds in Arizona
      • Aspen Campground (Payson, Arizona)
      • LazyDays KOA (Tucson, Arizona)
      • Lost Dutchman State Park (Phoenix, AZ)
    • Arkansas
      • Catherine’s Landing (Hot Springs, Arkansas)
      • Downtown Riverside RV Park (Little Rock, Arkansas)
    • California
      • Best Campgrounds in California
      • Crescent City Redwoods KOA (Crescent City, California)
      • Sea Breeze RV Park (Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station)
    • Delaware
      • Cape Henlopen State Park (Lewes, Delaware)
    • Florida
      • Best Campgrounds in Florida
      • Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area (Pensacola, FL)
      • Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Southeast FL)
      • LazyDays RV Resort (Tampa, FL)
      • MacDill AFB FamCamp (Tampa, FL)
      • Military Camping in Key West
      • Patrick AFB FamCamp (Cocoa Beach, FL)
      • Rainbow Springs State Park & Campground (Ocala, FL)
      • Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness (Orlando, FL)
        • Halloween at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
        • Chickery’s Travels Podcast Episode 5: Fort Wilderness Campground Review
    • Maryland
      • Cherry Hill Park (College Park, Maryland)
    • Michigan
      • Port Huron KOA (Kimball, Michigan)
    • Nevada
      • Las Vegas RV Campgrounds: Nellis Air Force Base and Lake Mead RV Village
      • Boondocking Near Las Vegas
    • New Hampshire
      • Lincoln / Woodstock KOA (New Hampshire)
    • New York
      • Round Pond Recreation Area (West Point, NY)
    • North Carolina
      • Outer Banks West / Currituck Sound KOA (Coinjock, North Carolina)
    • Oklahoma
      • Oklahoma City East KOA (Choctaw, Oklahoma)
    • Texas
      • Best Campgrounds in Texas
      • Alsatian RV Resort (Castroville, Texas)
      • Maverick Ranch (Lajitas, Texas)
      • Texas Wine Country Jellystone (Fredericksburg, Texas)
    • Tennessee
      • Camp Margaritaville (Pigeon Forge, TN)
      • Crossville I-40 KOA (Crossville, TN)
      • Midway RV Park (Memphis, TN)
    • Virginia
      • Fort Belvoir Travel Camp (Alexandria, VA)
      • Harrisonburg / Shenandoah Valley KOA (Broadway, Virginia)
      • Luray KOA (Luray, Virginia)
      • Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway KOA (Monroe, Virginia)
      • Shenandoah River State Park (Bentonville, Virginia)
    • Washington
      • Crescent Bar RV Resort (Quincy, Washington)
    • West Virginia
      • Harper’s Ferry KOA (Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia)
  • USA
    • Arizona
      • Apache Trail: A Crazy, Scary, Beautiful Drive
      • Lost Dutchman State Park (Phoenix, Arizona)
      • Phoenix Faves
    • District of Columbia
      • Budget Friendly Fun in Washington D.C.
      • Favorite Hikes near Washington DC
      • Indoor Skydiving and TopGolf: Just Another Day of Family Fun!
    • Florida
      • Best Walt Disney World Festivals For Adults
      • Blowing Rocks Preserve – Jupiter Island, Florida
      • Bok Tower Gardens
      • Daytona Beach – The World’s Most Famous Beach
      • Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
      • Gasparilla – Tampa’s Pirate Invasion
      • 3 Days on the Nature Coast 
      • Florida Freshwater Springs on the Nature Coast
      • Halloween at Disney’s Fort Wilderness
      • Kennedy Space Center – Cape Canaveral
      • Island Hopping at Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island State Parks
      • Must See Sights in St. Augustine, FL – America’s Oldest City
      • Rainbow Springs State Park & Campground (Ocala, Florida)
      • Sunny Sarasota
      • Tampa
        • Get Back to Nature in Tampa Bay
        • Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Spring Training in Tampa, FL
        • The 5 Best Beaches in the Tampa Bay Area
        • Why We Love Tampa
      • Tarpon Springs – The Gulf Coast Town with Greek Flavor
      • Top 5 Things to Do on Florida’s Space Coast
      • What Not to Do When Kayaking on the Weeki Wachee River
      • Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
    • Georgia
      • Visiting Atlanta? Don’t Miss These Civil Rights Museums
    • Illinois
      • One Day In The Windy City – Chicago Itinerary
    • Maine
      • Coastal Maine Vacation
      • Monhegan Island Maine
      • Two Days in Acadia National Park
    • Nevada
      • Planning an RV Trip to Nevada
      • Las Vegas RV Campgrounds: Nellis Air Force Base and Lake Mead RV Village
    • Tennessee
      • Burgess Falls: 3 For 1 Waterfall Special
      • National Civil Rights Museum – Memphis, TN
      • Window Cliffs, TN – I’m Not Afraid of Heights, But I am Afraid of Falling!
      • WWII History in Tennessee
    • Texas
      • Best Eats in Fredericksburg
      • Enjoy a Bird’s Eye View of Texas Hill Country
  • RV Resources
    • 3 Simple Steps to Find the Best RV Campgrounds
    • 5 Years Full-Time RV: Lessons Learned & Biggest Regret
    • Boondocking – What We Learned From Our First Dry Camping Experience
    • Tips for Boondocking Success
    • Essential RV Gear
      • Essential RV Gear Guide
      • DIY RV Power & Solar Upgrade
      • RV Must Have: Tire Pressure Monitoring System
      • RV SnapPads Product Review
      • RVLOCK Keyless Entry Door Handle Installation and Review
      • Shop “RV Local” With TechnoRV
      • Top RV Gadgets & Accessories
      • WeBoost Cellular Booster Review
    • Living in an RV
      • 9 Lessons From 2 1/2 Years on the Road
      • Biggest Regret Full-Time RV Living
      • Dealing with my Biggest Full-Time Travel Struggle, Missing Family While Traveling
      • Downsizing: 3 Areas That Make The Biggest Impact
      • Full-Time RV: 2019 Year in Review
      • Full-Time RV: 2018 Year in Review
      • Full-Time RV Travel – 2017 Year In Review
      • How Full-Time RVers Celebrate the Holidays
      • How to Prepare for Full-Time RV Travel
      • Internet Solutions for RV Travelers
      • Learn How to RV Full-Time
      • Living in a Tiny, Traveling Home
      • Making Friends (and reconnecting with old friends) While Traveling Full-Time
      • Pros & Cons of Full-Time RV Travel
      • RV Organization & Storage Ideas
      • Short-Term RV Storage: Leaving The RV Behind
      • Top 3 Lessons Learned & Biggest Regret: 3 Years Full-Time RV Living
      • What We Wish We Knew Before Full-Time RVing
      • What You Need To Know Before Selling Everything And Moving To An RV
      • Why We Are Traveling Full-Time In Our RV
    • Maintenance Tips
      • DIY Power Upgrade – “Solar Ready” Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel
      • DIY RV Power & Solar Upgrade
      • Easy DIY Project to Protect Your RV Water System
      • An Easy Way to Protect Your RV Water Heater
      • How to Reduce the Likelihood of Tire Blowouts on your RV
      • Odor Free RV Black Tank Tips
      • RV Condensation: What It Is, What It Does, and How To Stop It
      • RV Roofs – What You Need to Know
    • Must Read Books Before Becoming A Full-time RVer
    • RV Organization & Storage Ideas
    • RV Remodel
      • Planning an RV Remodel
      • RV Kitchen Cooking Videos
      • Painting Your RV Interior
      • Update the RV Kitchen – Backsplashes & More
      • Updating Your RV Window Treatments
      • RV Bedroom Makeover
      • RV Remodel Costs with Before & After Photos
      • Vintage Camper Renovation
    • RV Holiday Tour – Decorating Our Small Space
    • RV Hurricane Evacuation
    • RV Misery Can Be Overcome By The Generosity Of Others
    • RV Travelers: How to Read Books While Saving Space and Weight in Your RV
    • Slow Travel
    • Small Kitchen Cooking
      • Cooking Videos
      • Eating Healthy on Travel Days
    • Staying Healthy
      • Traveling with Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, and Other Chronic Pain Conditions
    • Trip Planning
    • Traveling with Pets
      • RVing with Your Cat
      • Traveling with Restricted Breed Dogs
    • Why I Prefer RV Travel Over Flying
    • Your Guide To Planning The Best Family Vacation This Summer
  • Travel Finance
    • 5 Tips to Save on RV Travel
    • 5 Ways to Fund Full-Time Travel
    • Full-Time RV Expenses
      • Annual Full-Time RV Expenses – The Big Three
    • Five Credit Card Strategies To Improve Travel
    • How Much Do Campgrounds Cost?
    • How Much Does it Cost to RV Full-Time?
    • How to Camp for Free
    • How to Start a Profitable Blog
    • How to Save Money on RV Fuel Costs
    • How to Save on Food While Camping
    • How We Earn A Living While Traveling Full-Time (And How You Can Too)
    • How We Paid $139,000 of Debt in 2 Years While Full-Time RVing
    • Learn How to Finance Your Dreams
    • The Top 7 Ways to Save Money While Traveling Full-Time
    • Roadmap to Financial Freedom
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report April 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report May 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report June 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report July 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report August 2018
      • Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report September/October 2018
    • RV Purchasing
      • RV Purchasing: Understanding RV Types
      • Benefits of Renting an RV
      • Should I Buy A New or Used RV?
      • The Costs of RV Ownership
      • The True Cost of Financing an RV
      • Why You Should Attend An RV Show
    • Save Money Using the Public Library (On More Than Just Books)
  • Military Travel
    • Guide To Using Military Campgrounds
    • Health Care for Retired Military Full-Time RVers
    • Why Military Retirees Should Fly Space-A
  • Videos
  • About Us
    • RV Shows We’re Attending
    • Contact Us
    • Follow Us
    • Why We Are Full-Time RVers

How to Start a Profitable Blog

We started Chickery’s Travels with the goal of providing education and inspiration to others who want to realize their full-time travel dreams.  Over time it has become a vehicle to connect us to other full-time travelers and a platform to allow us to share our knowledge and experience with others. It has also become a business that has generated revenue for us.

Click here to sign up for our FREE 7-day Beginner Blogging Course or continue reading below to get started today.

This Free 7-day beginner blogging course will walk you through the entire process from choosing a niche to setting up a website and learning how to make money from your blog.

Below we’ll walk you though the five simple steps to help you start a profitable blog.

  1. Choose your blogging platform.
  2. Find a host.
  3. Pick your domain name.
  4. Set up your blog’s website.
  5. Create useful content that provides value.
  6. Employ income generating strategies.

  • 1. Choose Your Blogging Platform
  • 2. Secure Hosting
  • Select your plan
  • 3. Choose your Domain Name
  • 4. Set Up Your Blog’s Website
  • 5. Provide Value to Others
  • 6. Employ Income Generating Strategies
  • Learn the Basics of Blogging for Business
  • Keep at It

1. Choose Your Blogging Platform

To start a blog you’ll need to select a blogging platform. This is a tool that helps you to get your content up onto the web. There are many blogging platforms available, but the most common by far (and what we use) is  WordPress. The advantages to using WordPress include:

  • It’s free (although you do need to make a small investment for a domain web host – more on that in Step 2).
  • It’s easy to set up.
  • It’s been around for many years and is a robust and secure system (although you do need to keep it up-to-date to maintain security).
  • It has a whole industry of tool providers, designers and developers around it that will help you to customize your blog.

WordPress has two different tools:

  • WordPress.com – This is where they host your blog and give you access to have it on their own domain. It’s free to start but, you have pay to for upgrades.
  • WordPress.org – This option gives you complete control. You choose where you want to host the blog so you control how it looks, operates and how you can monetize it. WordPress.org is free, but you will pay for your own hosting, domain etc. This is the option we use.

2. Secure Hosting

You can do this separately or together. To make things simple, we chose Bluehost as our web host and got our domain for free from them with the paid hosting.

WordPress has been recommending Bluehost for blog hosting since 2005. With 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7 support, and a super affordable rate, this is a great option for building your first website or blog. We recommend it because it is the host we use and we’ve been very happy with it. If you use the link below, we will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. If not, no worries we’re still happy to share what we’ve learned so far

Click here to –> go to Bluehost <– and start your own blog. (The link will open in a new window so you can reference these instructions as you work.) Click the green “Get Started Now” button like so:

Get a free domain name with website hosting from BlueHost.

Don’t worry if the images you see here vary slightly from the ones you see on your screen. The process is the same. Bluehost is always tweaking and making site improvements. You might even catch them in a sale!

Select your plan

Choose the plan you’d like to start with by clicking one of the green “select” buttons.Please not that these pricing are “starting at” $3.95. The price shown is based on paying for 3 years at the time of purchase. You can choose to pay for one year at the time of purchase, but that first basic level is $5.95 for that duration.

You have several options to choose from when using BlueHost for your website or WordPress blog.

3. Choose your Domain Name

This is the name of your website. Choosing a domain name is similar to choosing a company name — it requires a lot of thought and consideration. Your domain name is your identity on the web; you want to make sure you choose a domain name that not only fits your business, but is also easy to find and promote. Read this article for Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name.

If you already have a domain you can also use that with Bluehost, regardless of where you purchased it from.

With BlueHost you can either add your existing domain or get a free one.

Add Ons

You don’t really need to get any of the add ons now unless you really want them. If you choose one, many folks for for the domain privacy so your registration details aren’t available to anyone who looks them up. I didn’t choose that and got quite a few spam phone calls the first few weeks, but after that they stopped.

Payment Info

Now, you’ll need to enter your payment information. And just let me point out here that Bluehost does have a guarantee. Full refunds are available in the first 30 days (minus the cost of domains if cancelled after 3 days) and you can get a prorated refund at any time.

BlueHost Payment Screen

Choose a password

After your purchase is complete, you’ll be asked to choose a password. Just click the “Create your password” button to choose a secure password.

Set a password

Part 2 of the password set up process

Screen for BlueHost Password Success

Click log in and you’re on your way!!

4. Set Up Your Blog’s Website

Now you’re ready to use WordPress and it is super simple. In fact, you’ll see an option to get started with a theme right away. However, I’d actually recommend skipping these free themes right now and using the default (also free). Just click “Skip this step” at the bottom of the screen. Why? Because many free themes are not kept updated. Outdated themes leave holes hackers can exploit and are not worth the risk.

The theme that comes pre-installed will work for now. You can switch to a different theme once you’re set up and more familiar with WordPress. That will also give you time to research the creator of the theme to decide if they are right for you.

With BlueHost choosing a them for your WordPress site is simple.

Click on Start Building to log in to WordPress

Login to WordPress to start setting up your blog.

Take a little time to get to know your dashboard. This is what is known as the back end of your website. At this point you can choose three options: Business, Persona, or I don’t need help. I prefer the latter because it lets you start with a clean slate. But if you want some additional prompts, choose one of the others. The beauty here is that nothing is irrevocable. You can always make changes. So don’t be afraid to experiment! 

Image of the WordPress Dashboard in BlueHost

In the image below pay attention to that first box: Launch your site. Until you click Launch, no one can access your site and you can play around with the look of it all you want! I recommend setting up your initial navigation and a few blog posts before you launch.

These are the prompts if you choose to allow Bluehost to walk you through the process.

When I was was setting up my website I used the video tutorials created by BlueHost. This one introduces you to what you’re looking at on your WordPress dashboard.


We actually watched all of the videos in this series and feel that it helped give us a good foundation for the running our blog.

5. Provide Value to Others

Now that you have the technical piece out of the way, it’s time to get to the most important part of a successful blog, the content! The most important part of having a successful (and profitable if that is your goal) blog is to start with a strategy. That means setting goals. What do you want to achieve, how will you do it, and why do you want to do it? Simon Sinek, author of the book Start With Why said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it.” To hear his truly inspirational message watch his Ted talk here. Understanding your why, or your purpose, will help you connect with your readers/followers. This is the key to true blogging success. It doesn’t matter with niche you choose, many others will already be working in that space. What is important is that you are authentic and can convey your purpose to your target audience.

Here are three full-time RV travelers and bloggers who are doing a great job in their respective niches:

  • Ashely, an RVer with an eye for style, founded the RV remodeling and decoration website, RV Inspiration. She showcases other RVers’ work as well as her own to help you find the best ideas for your RV décor and functionality.
  • Lindsay & Dan founded Follow Your Detour to provide inspiration and information to encourage others to follow their dreams of living a less conventional life.
  • Kyle & Olivia started Drivin’ and Vibin’ as a way to chronicle their travels and lessons learned on their journey to live minimally and deliberately in a 16ft vintage travel trailer. They share their favorite free camping and boondocking sites on their blog and YouTube channel.

6. Employ Income Generating Strategies

Ad Revenue – The most common method is pay per click advertising via a Google AdSense account, but it is not the only way. You can also get sponsors to pay for a certain amount of ad space on your website. Another method commonly used by bloggers is free products and/or payment for product reviews.

Affiliate Marketing – Another option to earn an income from a blog is through affiliate programs. In this case, you’re essentially paid for referring new clients and customers to other businesses. Many bloggers will write articles about products or services and link to the business for a “commission” of any sale. A simple example of this is the Amazon Associates affiliate program. Say you blog about RVing with children and recommend products that can be purchased through Amazon. You will link to the product within your post and embed code so that if the reader clicks through and purchases that item (or anything else), you will earn a commission.

Products – Bloggers also create their own products to sell to their readers. These products can take many forms. They can be electronic like eBooks or courses, or physical products like merchandise (T- shirts, mugs, etc.). Some bloggers even sell coaching or membership services.

Learn the Basics of Blogging for Business

If you’re looking for additional in-depth guidance on how to make money blogging, sign up for my Free 7-day blogging course to get you started thinking about ways your blog can replace the income you make at your day job.

Don’t let technology hold you back! If you are unsure how to use the tools to drive traffic to your blog, check out my live video training at Blogging Tech Made Easy.

Keep at It

Building a successful blog is not something that occurs overnight. Don’t be discouraged. Network with other bloggers or entrepreneurs to hep you stay motivated. The thing that helped me the most was working together with other full-time RVers who are also bloggers. We shared successes, failures and lessons learned with each other along the way. Now we are all earning an income through our businesses in different ways.

 

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Full-time RV Finance is a program designed to help you find the means to the live the life of your dreams.
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