You might have started blogging as a way to quickly and cheaply create a web presence your friends and family can enjoy. But if you've realized what a great opportunity blogging is to make money online, this article is for you.

Profit blogging is an entirely different activity than blogging for fun. The purpose of your blog changes from something you do when the mood strikes you on whatever topic tickles your fancy, to a targeted and systematic activity with a specific purpose. And the purpose is to create a high-quality, high-traffic, high-profit blog that makes you money.

Here are 5 easy steps you need to go through to create a profitable blog...

Step 1: Pick A Profitable Topic

When you are writing a blog for fun, you can write about anything you want. But when you are writing a blog for profit, it must be about ONE topic. And the topic you choose must be profitable if you want to see any money.

There are two vital characteristics of a profitable blog topic. First, there must be a lot of interest in your topic. And second, there must be people ALREADY spending money in the niche. If you blog topic has those two important characteristics, is is possible to make money from blogging.

But you must also beat out the competition for attention and traffic. And that's where the other steps come in.

Step 2: Build A Professional Looking And Performing Blog

Most bloggers get involved in blogging because it is a free way to create a web presence. But you need to look at your blogging differently if you expect to make money. And that means looking at your blogging as a business and INVESTING in your success.

This is why I recommend downloading Wordpress and setting it up on your own hosting account. This is the first step in setting yourself apart from the other blogs in your niche.

Step 3: Add Content To Your Blog Consistently

Obviously, the best way to set yourself apart from your competition is to only post high quality content to your blog. But you also want to post on a regular, consistent and long term basis. The challenge is coming up with high quality posts on a consistent basis.

To overcome this, you need to have a publishing schedule in place that uses both your content, and content you refer to from around the web. This establishes you as the go to blog in your niche for the most up to date and valuable information.

Plus, it takes all the pressure off coming up with all the content by yourself.

Step 4: Promote Your Blog

There are a lot of bloggers that blog and nothing else. They make a blog post and ... wait. They sit back and hope the readers interested in their topic will find them. But that is the wrong way to do it if you want to see money any time soon.

You need to contribute to the Internet in other ways and point back to your blog. For example, you could comment on other people's blogs in your niche, post on forums or submit articles to article directories. All those activities are free and can point back to your blog bringing in targeted traffic.

If you want to beat your competition, be proactive.

Step 5: Turn Blog Readers Into Buyers

If you want to make money from your blog, you are not just a blogger, but a marketer as well. There are a lot of people who shudder at the thought of being a marketer and think of all marketers as used car salesmen. For this reason, they try to make money by posting Google Ads or charging for advertising.

But that is the wrong way of thinking about marketing.

Being a marketer is not something sinister. You are simply helping people with a problem find the appropriate solution. Nothing else. You are actually doing your readers a favor because you are using your knowledge and experience in your niche to hand pick the best options for solving their problems.

Complete these 5 steps and you will set yourself apart from other bloggers and start making the money from blogging you deserve.