How to Start an Online Side Hustle by Creating and Monetising Your Blog Site
A good discussion of Should You Start Blogging in 2026? needs more than labels; it needs the visual, cultural, and practical context behind them. The angle here is materials, context, technique, interpretation, and how the topic differs from broad art-history summaries. Today, let's talk about how to start a blog in 2026. Now, if you're one of those people who think that blogging is dead, you are absolutely wrong. It's not. Google is still thriving and still serving out websites to everybody searching online. So yes, we are still blogging, and today I want to talk about it. If you don't know why you should be listening to me, or why I'm even speaking on blogging in the first place, six years ago I started a blog. I left my corporate job and decided I wanted to write about my journey as a mum and my journey to make money from home while staying home with my kids. It kind of took off for me, and it's the reason I make six figures today. This YouTube channel is simply an extension of that blog I started all those years ago. I want to walk you through the process of what you should be doing if you're looking to start a blog in 2026 -- what you should be doing, how it's changed (it has changed so, so much), and how what I did then won't work now. I also want to show you the strategies I'm using with the content I created years ago, how I repurpose it, and how you can get the most out of the content you're creating. When I started my blog, I had no idea what I was doing. I just wrote from the top of my head and from my heart, whatever I wanted to share -- no strategy, no clue what I was doing. I want to save you the heartache I went through when I started.
Setting up your blog
The first thing you want to do is set up your blog. That's obvious. You want to make sure you're on a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is a blog you own, you control, and you don't have to worry about anyone else owning the intellectual property of what you publish. Don't start on any other platform. People ask me all the time: "What about this? What about that?" No -- wordpress.org. A self-hosted WordPress site is what I recommend because you want to own your content, you want to be able to monetise, and you want the freedom to grow. The first step in setting up that blog is hosting. You need to purchase hosting from a company. When I started, I went with Bluehost. Bluehost was in my price range, affordable, and exactly what I needed. I wasn't looking to buy my own server or massive storage space -- I just needed something to get started. Look for hosting that fits your needs. You don't need huge space in the beginning. You just need something affordable that lets you post without your site going down all the time. Bluehost is who I chose. They're amazing. If you're looking for something easy and affordable, I'd say go with them. Currently, I'm on BigScoots. That's very different. If you're expecting a lot of traffic to your site, you'll want something more robust and dependable that can handle tons of visitors. That's why I'm on BigScoots now -- because I get a lot more traffic and I want to be prepared as my site grows. They are also amazing. So if your blog is already growing and you need something stronger, BigScoots is a fantastic option. I'll put my affiliate link down in the description -- if you use my link, I'll get a small commission, but you don't pay anything extra. It's just a referral fee for me mentioning them.
Making your blog look good
Now that your blog is set up, you want to make it look good. We want to represent our brand in a way that's professional and engaging for readers. To make your blog look good, you'll need a template. A blog template is a pre-designed theme, so you don't have to know HTML or CSS or any coding. You just buy a template you like, install it, tweak the colours to match your brand, and your blog is ready. It'll look professional, and you'll be ready to welcome readers.
Choosing a niche
The next step is to decide what your blog will be about -- your niche. Some people avoid popular niches, but I like to say popular niches are proof of concept. They show that people are already searching for this content. My job is simply to stand out in that niche by doing something different. You can either choose a popular niche with lots of traffic and stand out slightly, or go for a smaller, less saturated niche where you risk less traffic but could dominate the space. You can also combine niches. For example, as a homemaker you could blog about cooking, cleaning, and home décor under one umbrella niche. That way, you reach more readers while still catering to your interests. When choosing your niche, ask yourself three questions: Do I genuinely enjoy this topic? Is it popular enough for people to want to read it? And is it profitable? You need all three -- interest, demand, and profit potential -- to succeed long term.
