9 Ways to Make Money Blogging

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LEARN HOW TO MONETIZE A BLOG WITH THESE NINE DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN USE TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING.

“Can you really make money blogging?”

“How do you make money from a blog?”

Those seem to be the questions on everyone’s mind when they hear I’m a blogger.

The short answer is yes, you can make money blogging.

But it’s not easy.

Bloggers who earn more than pocket change with their blogs often use a combination of ways to make money or “monetize” their blog.

9 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

Here are nine different ways you can use to monetize a blog (aka make money from it.)

1. Ads – The simplest way to make money blogging is by showing ads on your site. With networks like Google Adsense or by using a service like Mediavine (which requires you to have a decent amount of traffic before you can be accepted into their program), you can run ads in the middle of your posts and earn money without doing anything. The downside to running ads is you need traffic to make any substantial money this way. When you are just starting out and have only a few people reading your blog, you will not make much money this way. (For reference, when I first started showing Google Adsense ads on my site, it was a GOOD day if I earned $1.)
   AD PROS: EASY TO INSTALL, PASSIVE REVENUE
   AD CONS: NEED SIZABLE TRAFFIC TO MAKE MONEY
2. Affiliate links to Amazon etc. – Another option for monetizing your blog is with affiliate links. The simplest is with Amazon Affiliates. If you’re going to talk about a particular book you loved for example, you can hyperlink it with the amazon affiliate link to that book’s listing on Amazon. Then, when someone clicks on the link to the book and gets sent to amazon, if they buy that book or anything else from amazon in a certain amount of days, you will earn a small commission. The downfall with this method is again, you need to have substantial traffic to earn anything sizable. You’re also at the whim of programs like Amazon affiliates decreasing the amount they’ll pay you as a commission. Amazon affiliates just went through a massive decrease to their commission rates and many bloggers (me included) have seen our earnings from this avenue plummet.
   AMAZON AFFILIATE PROS: EASY TO ADD, PASSIVE REVENUE
   AMAZON AFFILIATE CONS: NEED SIZABLE TRAFFIC TO MAKE MONEY
3. Affiliate promotion of a product or service – Another affiliate option is to promote specific companies, products, software or services that you use and love. Many companies will pay you an affiliate commission for people that sign up for their services by clicking through your links. For example, I have talked about how ConvertKit is by far my favorite email newsletter company, and is what I use for my own blog. I am also an affiliate of ConvertKit which means if you click through my ConvertKit link and end up signing up with them and become a ConvertKit user yourself, I would earn a commission from them, basically as a thank you for helping you find them. This is a common way bloggers make money with their blog.
   AFFILIATE PROS: EARN HIGHER COMMISSIONS THAN AMAZON.
   AFFILIATE CONS: ONLY WORKS FOR PRODUCTS YOU GENUINELY USE AND LOVE. HIGHER TRAFFIC MEANS MORE REVENUE.
4. Private advertising on the blog – Companies can rent space on your blog, and basically pay you for the exposure they will get from being visible to your traffic and readers. Their ads will contain a link to their website or url of their choice, with the whole goal being to drive traffic wherever they are linking too. Ad space options include top announcement bar, sidebar, bottom of post etc.
   PRIVATE AD PROS: MAKES USE OF ONLINE REAL ESTATE, YOU DETERMINE RATES, PASSIVE REVENUE
   PRIVATE AD CONS: YOU MAY NEED TO SEEK OUT ADVERTISERS
5. Sponsored posts through a blogging network – A sponsored post is when a company pays a blogger to write a post about them in some way. A candy company might pay a blogger to write a post about easy Easter basket ideas for kids. A jewelry company might pay a blogger to write a post about 7 things to do when you get engaged. Sponsored posts can be arranged directly with a company or business (see number 6 below) or there are also blogging networks that connect bloggers with brands/companies who want to pay for exposure. Companies like Soapbox Influence, Launch Bloggers Community, Sway Group and more exist to match bloggers or other content creators (vloggers or social media influencers etc) with brands or companies that are a good fit.
   BLOGGING NETWORK POSTS PROS: NETWORKS FIND THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU.
   BLOGGING NETWORK POSTS CONS: NEED DECENT TRAFFIC TO GET CHOSEN FOR OPPORTUNITIES.
6. Private sponsored posts – Private sponsored posts occur either by being approached by a company directly or you have to seek out a sponsored post from a company you think you’re a good fit for, yourself.
   PRIVATE SPONSORED POSTS PROS: SET YOUR OWN RATES
   PRIVATE SPONSORED POSTS CONS: USUALLY REQUIRE YOU TO SOLICIT COLLABORATION.
7. Guest posts – Guest posts are where other people pay to have a post on your site. They will also write it or supply it for you. You are just giving them access to your site, traffic, and a link back to the business or site of the author of the guest post.
   GUEST POST PROS: CAN BE EASY MONEY FOR LITTLE EFFORT
   GUEST POST CONS: CAN SEEM SPAMMY. ONLY ALLOW POSTS THAT FIT YOUR BLOG AND VOICE, AND ALWAYS PROOF BEFORE POSTING.
8. Newsletter ads – Depending on the size of a blogger’s email list, they may be able to make money by offering ad space or mentions in their newsletter.
   NEWSLETTER AD PROS: ADDITIONAL PLACE TO EARN REVENUE. EMAIL LIST TYPICALLY CONVERTS WELL.
   NEWSLETTER AD CONS: REQUIRE A BIG LIST TO CONVINCE BUSINESSES TO ADVERTISE WITH YOU.
9. Your own products – Last but not least, bloggers make money by selling their own products. Whether that be physical products, services, e-books, online courses, videos, consulting, or membership communities, most of the bloggers who are earning impressive revenue are selling their own products to their readers.
   YOUR OWN PRODUCTS PROS: SET YOUR OWN PRICES, SELL WHAT YOUR READERS NEED, BEST AVENUE FOR EARNING SIZABLE INCOME
   YOUR OWN PRODUCTS CONS: REQUIRE EFFORT TO CREATE PRODUCTS, NEED PEOPLE TO BUY THEM IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY.

Making money as a blogger is not easy.

And it’s pretty complicated for someone who’s not familiar with the online business and blogging world to understand just how someone can actually make money blogging.

But it IS possible.

By using these blog monetization strategies in whatever combination suits your blog best, you can be on your way to earning an income with your blog!