Over the next few post, I am going to be talking about things that you need to know before making money from blogging. A lot of people think when you make money blogging it’s just free money. It’s not, so before you start making money from blogging read these 6 things you have to know BEFORE you start blogging.
1. Check the laws and regulations where you are.
My first tip is you should go to the SBA’s website and check your local and state requirements for opening a business.
Is It A Business or a Hobby?
Are you allowed to have a home based business?
Registering your name?
2. Make sure you keep track of EVERYTHING.
The first thing you do to start a blog is buy a URL keep the receipt and write it in you Expense sheet. The big thing to remember is no matter how small the purchase is it needs to go on that sheet.
You will also need an income sheet. Write down everything you earn. Even if it’s just a dollar or two from google adsense or Izea. It all needs to go on the sheet.
It might sound silly to write down $2 from Izea, but you will need to know everything you earned when you start to file taxes. Trust me it will make you life easier.
Also, on you income sheet track item you are given to review. Even though you don’t receive cash you still have to count that towards your taxes.
3.Set up a Paypal Account
A lot of companies pay out now a day through PayPal. If you use Linqia, Izea, or Shareasale you’re going to need to have a Paypal account. There are 3 ways to use PayPal.
Shop online and just use Paypal,
attach you business checking account,
use their prepaid card.
Paypal is also a great way to send a client a detailed invoice. The invoice system is really easy to use.
4.Make A Plan
Once you start making money you will spend it, but first you need to make a business plan and decide how you’re going to use those funds.
Income Tax. Read more about estimating your taxes here
Hosting. When your first starting off try to keep 3 months of hosting saved. (this MUST be paid)
All other expenses. If you use Hootsuite or any other service you need to make sure you can cover those payments.
Savings. You need to have a saving for your business.
Running a blog is sometimes costly. It doesn’t have to be. You can run your blog for fairly cheap if you don’t upgrade accounts and use a lot of the free resources out there.
5.A mailing address.
I have children, and while I love blogging I don’t want to expose certain aspects of our life… Like our home address. I do not put my home address on anything related to my blog. In fact, I don’t use the zip code of the town we live in.
Getting an address for your blog is actually pretty simple. All you have to do is go to USPS. I personally have a small box and it cost me about 80 bucks a year. If I get a large delivery they either put a little slip in there telling me to pick it up or leave a key to a bigger box.
6. Getting an EIN
Like I said above I don’t want to expose certain aspects of my life… My social security number is another one of those things. What I did and you should also think about doing is applying for an EIN.
What’s an EIN?
An EIN is a 9 digit number that the IRS gives you so that you don’t have to put your social on things you fill out for your business. An EIN number is specifically for your business and that number will never be assigned to anyone else. These days keeping you social protected is imperative with all the Identity theft that’s going on.
An EIN isn’t hard to get. Just go here to apply for one. It takes about 15 minutes and it’s free.
It sounds like a lot but trust me it’s not.
To get, you started off on the right foot. I am now giving away FREE printable Income and Expense trackers.
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