How To Start a Blog and Make Money Without Affiliate Marketing

Billions of searches happen every day. People type in questions like “how do I become a nurse,” “how do I make post-it notes,” and “how do I safely paint my car windows.” Someone is on the other side of those searches, posting the answers and getting paid for it. That person could be you, and you do not need to promote a single affiliate link to make it work.

In this guide, you will follow Alston Godbolt’s step-by-step method for finding a profitable blog niche, setting up a WordPress site, and monetizing it with your own products, display ads, and coaching. Blogging is still a powerful income path in 2021 and the years that follow. Here is exactly how to start.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A repeatable research method for finding blog niches with low competition
How to use keyword tools like Ahrefs to spot ranking opportunities on small sites
The exact WordPress settings that get your blog indexed by Google
Where to find premium WordPress themes that fit any niche
Five concrete ways to make money from a blog without affiliate marketing
A week-by-week launch plan for new bloggers
Honest answers to the questions most blogging tutorials skip, plus a free tool at finder.platformproof.com to find the right path for you

Why Blogging Still Works in 2021 and Beyond

A blog is a website that answers questions. Every day, people search for information on millions of different topics. As Alston explains in the video: “A blog or website basically just answers questions that people have on the internet. People come to the internet millions and billions of times per day and they ask basic questions like how to weave a basket, and as a blogger you’re going to answer those questions and any other questions that they have and you can make money.”

The advantage of a blog over affiliate marketing is ownership. You are not dependent on another company’s product or commission structure. You build an audience around a topic you understand, then you choose how to monetize it. The blog is yours. The audience is yours. The income streams are yours to design.

Alston is direct about timing: “I think that starting a blog is still profitable in 2021 and 2022 as we are fastly approaching that.” The principles that make blogging work have not changed. Search intent is still constant, low-competition niches still exist, and content that genuinely answers questions still ranks.

Step 1: Find a Niche Using the Research Method

Most people overthink niche selection. Alston’s approach starts with something simple and then follows the data. You do not need a passion project or a perfect idea. You need a starting point and a willingness to research.

Here is the process he walks through in the video, step by step:

Start with Amazon or a Google search. Type in a question that comes naturally. Alston types “how to become a nurse,” then “how to make post-it notes” because he sees them on his desk, then “water balloons” for the same reason. The starting point does not matter. It is just a door into the data.
Look for small websites on pages 3 to 5 of the results. Big education sites and government domains are not your competition. You want independently run blogs that are already ranking for related content. Alston scrolls past the big names and looks for personal sites and small domain names.
Copy one of those small domain names and paste it into a keyword tool. Alston uses Ahrefs. He also mentions SEMrush and Neil Patel’s tool as alternatives. Any of these will run a site explorer report on the domain.
Filter for keyword difficulty of 5 or less. This is the key filter. A keyword difficulty score of 5 or under means a brand new site has a realistic chance of ranking on the first page of Google. Alston applies this filter to surface winnable opportunities from each site he analyzes.

The goal is not to write about water balloons or post-it notes. The goal is to use those starting searches as a way to discover what small sites are already ranking for, then filter that data down to low-competition keywords that reveal a real niche audience. You are mining for ideas, not committing to a topic.

Step 2: What the Research Actually Surfaces

Alston runs this research live in the video, and three niches appear that he had never considered before he started typing. Each one came directly out of the process.

Car window painting. A small site ranking for “how to make post-it notes” also ranks for keywords around painting car windows. When Alston clicks through, he finds a site answering questions like “how to safely paint your car windows” and related acrylic paint tutorials. The keyword gets 3,000 searches per month. The niche could support display ads or a physical product sold through a site or Etsy. Alston says: “We didn’t know that car windows was a niche until we did a little bit of research.”

Teacher content. Another small site surfaces keywords like “cheap teacher clothes” and searches around “paraprofessional day 2019.” Teachers are a motivated audience that actively searches for classroom resources, career guidance, and professional development. A blog targeting teachers could monetize through digital downloads, printable lesson materials, or a membership community.

Locker chandeliers. This one surprises Alston. A keyword around decorating school lockers with chandelier-style lights comes up on a small site. He follows it and finds a real audience: parents and students, mostly in middle school or high school. He notes that this audience signals an opportunity for group coaching, physical products, or an Etsy shop selling handmade decorations.

Dairy-free desserts. A separate site Alston checks ranks for over 21,000 organic keywords. With the difficulty filter set to 5 or less, he sees specific keyword clusters around dairy-free and gluten-free recipes. A dessert or dietary restriction blog could run display ads and sell recipe ebooks or meal plan templates.

None of these were planned going in. They came out of a research method anyone can run in an afternoon. If nothing appeals to you from the first round of searching, you start over. Alston says: “If we don’t like any of these ideas we can go back and we can keep searching.” You look around your desk, type a different product into Amazon, or ask a question you have genuinely been curious about, and then run the same process again.

Step 3: Set Up Web Hosting and a Domain Name

Once you have a niche direction, you need two things before you can publish anything: web hosting and a domain name.

Alston describes web hosting simply: “Web hosting is basically where you’re going to rent a hard drive space called a server so that your internet files can be seen on the internet.” Your domain name is the address people type to reach you, for example alstongodbolt.com. He recommends getting both from the same provider so the setup is straightforward.

For the domain name itself, Alston’s advice is to base it on your niche. “What I recommend that you do is get a domain name that is based on your niche or your niche idea.” A domain built around your topic tells visitors and search engines immediately what your site is about, and it can help with early rankings for broad niche-level searches.

Step 4: Install a Premium WordPress Theme from ThemeForest

WordPress is the platform most blogs run on. A premium theme makes your site look professional from the first post, and it removes the need for any design work on your end. Alston recommends ThemeForest at themeforest.net, which has thousands of themes organized by category and niche.

For example, if your niche is dating advice, you type “dating” into the ThemeForest search and browse themes built specifically for that topic. The same works for recipe blogs, teacher resources, or home decor. Once you choose and purchase a theme, here is the installation process Alston covers:

Download the zip file from ThemeForest to your computer after purchase.
Unpack the zip file. Inside, you will find a second, inner zip file. That inner file is what you install.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance, then Themes.
Click Add New, then Upload Theme.
Drag the inner zip file into the upload box, then click Install Now and Activate.

After activation, your site has a polished design built for your niche. No coding required at any step.

Step 5: Configure WordPress for Search Traffic

Three WordPress settings determine whether search engines can find and rank your blog. Alston covers each one in the video, and all three need to be correct before you start publishing.

Site title and tagline. Go to Settings, then General. Update both fields to reflect your niche. A clear, descriptive site title and tagline tell Google and visitors exactly what your blog covers. Click Save Changes before moving on.

Reading settings. Go to Settings, then Reading. Set your homepage to display your latest posts. Then find the checkbox that says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” and make sure it is unchecked. Alston explicitly flags this in the video. If that box is checked, Google will not index your content, and no post you publish will ever appear in search results. Click Save Changes.

Permalinks. Go to Settings, then Permalinks. Change the URL structure to “Post name.” This gives every post a clean, readable URL. Instead of a URL full of numbers, your post about locker chandeliers gets a URL like yoursite.com/locker-chandeliers. Alston explains why this matters: “This is for search engine optimization.” A post-name permalink tells Google what your content is about from the URL alone. Click Save Changes.

These three changes take under ten minutes total. They are not optional. Getting them wrong before you publish means your content may not be indexed at all, or may appear with confusing URLs that hurt click-through rates from search results.

Step 6: Start Writing and Answering Your Audience’s Questions

After setup, the job is to write. Each post is an answer to a question your audience already has. If your niche is locker chandeliers, your audience is asking things like “what is a locker chandelier,” “how do I make one,” “where do I buy them,” and “what do I need to hang one in a school locker.” Your job is to answer those questions clearly and completely.

Alston puts it directly: “Your job is to just answer that question and solve the problem.” You do not need to be an expert before you start. You research the topic, learn what you need to write a thorough answer, and publish. Each post you put out is a potential entry point for a new reader finding your site through search.

The keywords you found using the research method in Step 1 and Step 2 are your content calendar. Each low-difficulty keyword is a potential post. You work through the list, publish consistently, and over time your site builds authority in the niche.

Five Ways to Make Money From Your Blog Without Affiliate Marketing

The video covers five income models that do not require promoting anyone else’s products. All five come directly from Alston’s breakdown.

Display ads. Once your blog gets consistent traffic, you can apply to ad networks. When visitors view or click ads on your posts, you earn money. Alston points to a dessert blog in the video that runs this model: “She gets paid anytime someone clicks on it or views on a video ad for a long enough time.” Display ads are passive once set up. The income scales with traffic, so the focus early on is building readership through search rankings.

Digital products. You create a product once and deliver it automatically. This could be a guide, a template pack, or a resource toolkit built around your niche. A teacher blog could sell lesson-plan templates. A locker decor blog could sell a “first-day setup guide with a printable checklist.” Alston mentions in the video that one site he reviews sells printables directly from a navigation menu link. The barrier to entry is low and the profit margin is high because there are no physical goods to manage.

Online courses. If your niche involves a skill or a process, you can package your knowledge into a structured course. The blogging process itself is an example. If you built a blog from scratch using the method in this guide, that experience is a course you could teach. Alston recommends a resource called the 10-Day Business Blueprint (10daybusinessblueprint.com) for learning how to sell your first digital product in ten days.

Ebooks. An ebook is a lower-cost product that answers one specific question in depth. Compared to a full course, an ebook is faster to write and easier for a first-time buyer to commit to. A “Safe Car Window Painting for Beginners” ebook or a “How to Decorate Your Locker for Under $20” guide directly serves the search intent of your audience. Ebooks also work well as lead magnets that grow your email list before a reader buys anything.

Group coaching. This is the model Alston explains in the most detail, using the locker chandelier niche as his example. He reasons that the real audience behind that niche is parents of middle school and high school students going through a challenging social time. He says: “Maybe you want to start a group for parents and mothers of teenage girls and boys… maybe you want to start a group coaching that you could set up, you charge them a dollar a month to be a part of the coaching and you just kind of let them counsel and share their experiences and how to get over them.” A small monthly fee from a large group adds up. The blog is the trust-building tool that moves someone from a Google search to a paid community member.

Physical products through Etsy. If your niche has a physical component, you can make the product yourself and sell it through Etsy. Your blog drives search traffic and builds credibility. Alston mentions this as a natural fit for niches like locker chandeliers: “You could create a dessert based website but… maybe we sell our own product.” Etsy handles the storefront; your blog handles the audience.

Not sure which of these income paths fits your background and goals?

Answer a few quick questions at finder.platformproof.com and get a shortlist of income paths matched to the skills and time you actually have.

A Week-by-Week Launch Plan for New Bloggers

The steps in this guide are sequential, but they do not need to take months. Here is a realistic pace for getting from zero to first published post.

Week 1. Run the niche research method. Spend two to three sessions searching Amazon and Google, pulling small domains into Ahrefs or an alternative, and filtering for keyword difficulty 5 or less. Write down 20 to 30 keyword ideas that feel interesting to you. Pick the niche with the most ideas you would actually enjoy writing about.
Week 2. Purchase web hosting, register a niche-relevant domain name, and install WordPress. Buy and activate a premium theme from ThemeForest. Complete the three required settings: site title and tagline, reading settings with indexing enabled, and post-name permalinks.
Week 3. Write and publish your first two posts. Each post should fully answer one keyword question from your list. Aim for posts that are thorough, not just long. A 1,200-word post that completely solves a reader’s question outperforms a shallow 3,000-word post every time.
Week 4 and beyond. Publish two to four posts per week, working through your keyword list. After 20 to 30 published posts, review your traffic data in Google Search Console to see which topics are getting impressions. Double down on the topics showing early traction.

You will not see significant traffic in the first 30 days. Search engines take time to crawl, index, and rank new content. The payoff is in months 3 through 12 as posts age and authority builds. Consistency in the early weeks determines whether you have enough content published when that traffic window opens.

Honest Drawbacks to Know Before You Start

Blogging is a real income path, but it is not a fast one. Alston does not make income claims in this video, and neither will this post. Here are the genuine trade-offs you should understand going in.

Time to first income varies widely. Display ad income requires real traffic, and traffic from search takes months to build. The timeline depends on your niche competition, how consistently you publish, and how well your content answers search intent. Some bloggers see first income in month 4; others take 12 months or more.

Keyword tools cost money. Ahrefs starts at around $99 per month. SEMrush has similar pricing. Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest has a free tier with limited searches. If budget is tight at the start, use the free tier of Ubersuggest for the research method and upgrade when your blog starts generating income.

Low-difficulty keywords can have low search volume. A keyword difficulty score of 5 often corresponds to a narrow, specific search. “Locker chandeliers” gets far fewer searches per month than “how to start a blog.” Ranking for many small, specific keywords is how niche blogs build traffic. You need a volume of posts, not just a handful.

You will write a lot before you see results. The research method Alston demonstrates is genuinely useful. But the method is the starting point. The actual work is writing post after post, staying consistent, and trusting a process that does not show results immediately. Bloggers who quit after ten posts never find out what would have happened at fifty.

Find Your X

The hardest part of blogging for most people is not the setup. It is figuring out what to write about in the first place. If Alston’s research method still leaves you unsure which niche to commit to, the Finder tool at finder.platformproof.com asks you a short series of questions about your background, interests, available time, and income goals. It returns a shortlist of income paths that actually match what you have to work with right now, so you can start with a clear direction instead of spending another week researching.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need experience in a niche to blog about it?

Not necessarily. Alston’s research method starts with curiosity and follows the data. He types in “water balloons” because they are on his desk, not because he is an expert on the topic. The research process reveals what to write about. You learn as you write, and the posts improve over time as your understanding of the niche grows.

How long does it take to make money from a blog?

The video does not give a specific timeline, and it would be misleading to invent one here. Most bloggers see search traffic build over 6 to 12 months as posts accumulate and age in Google’s index. Revenue follows traffic. Starting with keywords at difficulty 5 or under gives newer sites a faster path to first-page rankings compared to targeting high-competition terms from the start.

What keyword tool does Alston use in this video?

He uses Ahrefs as his primary tool for the site explorer research. He also mentions SEMrush and Neil Patel’s keyword research tool as alternatives. All three can run the domain analysis method he demonstrates. For bloggers on a tight budget at the start, Ubersuggest has a free tier that covers basic keyword research and site analysis.

What does a keyword difficulty score of 5 or less actually mean?

Keyword difficulty is a 0 to 100 score that estimates how hard it is to rank on the first page of Google for a given search term. A score of 5 or under means the competition is low enough that a new site without established authority has a realistic shot at ranking. Filtering for this score is how Alston finds keyword opportunities that are actually winnable for someone just starting out.

Do you need coding skills to set up a WordPress blog?

No. The setup Alston walks through in the video requires no code at any step. You install a theme through the WordPress dashboard by uploading a zip file, update three settings in the admin panel, and start writing. ThemeForest themes are designed to look polished immediately after activation without requiring any customization.

How much does it cost to start a blog?

Web hosting and a domain name are recurring costs, typically $5 to $15 per month depending on the provider. A premium WordPress theme from ThemeForest is a one-time purchase, usually in the $30 to $80 range. Keyword tools like Ahrefs have monthly fees starting around $99, though free tiers are available for Ubersuggest and limited access exists on other platforms. The largest input at the start is time, not money.

What is the difference between a niche blog and a general blog?

A niche blog focuses on one specific topic, such as car window painting or teacher resources. A general blog covers many unrelated topics. Search engines reward topical depth. A niche blog that publishes 50 posts on one subject will typically rank more easily than a general blog covering 50 different topics, because Google treats the niche site as an authority on that specific subject. Alston’s research method is designed to find a niche narrow enough to be winnable but broad enough to support dozens of posts.

How do you add printables or group coaching to a WordPress blog?

Printables can be sold through plugins like WooCommerce or through third-party platforms like Gumroad or Payhip, with a link added to your blog’s navigation menu. Group coaching can be set up through a membership plugin or a simple recurring payment link through a platform like Stripe. Alston shows in the video that one blog he reviews has a “Printables” link directly in its top navigation bar, showing how simple the storefront can be. The setup does not require a separate website or technical knowledge beyond basic WordPress administration.

Sources

YouTube video: “How To Make Money Online Without Affiliate Marketing 2021 – Starting A Blog” by Alston Godbolt (https://youtu.be/AGE-LZsjVw0)
ThemeForest WordPress theme marketplace: themeforest.net
Ahrefs keyword research tool: ahrefs.com
SEMrush keyword research tool: semrush.com
Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest: neilpatel.com/ubersuggest