There has never been an easier time than today to start and make money from a blog.
Until recently, establishing and managing a website would have required a significant financial investment ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Similarly, generating income from a website was equally challenging due to the limited availability of payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe, and the less advanced nature of email marketing compared to its current versatility.
Despite it being easier to start, maintain, and monetize a blog on WordPress today with a budget of a few hundred dollars (which may vary depending on your requirements), it does not guarantee that the majority of bloggers are successful in making money.
In ConvertKit’s 2017 state of blogging report, it was found that professional bloggers had an average profit of $138,064 in the previous year, in contrast to amateur bloggers (who accounted for 86% of those surveyed) with an average profit of $9,497.
It is a dreadful situation, particularly when you take into account that the primary reason why many bloggers begin their own blog is to have autonomy and leave their monotonous 9-to-5 occupation.
How can one transition from being an amateur blogger to becoming a professional earning six figures annually?
To have an effective marketing plan, you must have content, a profitable niche, and a successful monetization strategy.
When Should You Start to Monetize Your Blog?
The amount of traffic or the size of an email list required to make money from your blog varies depending on the products or services you offer and the way you market them, making it impossible to provide a specific number.
In order to assist you more efficiently, it would be advantageous to address two matters initially.
- Get steady traffic: You don’t need tens of thousands of visitors but at least a thousand visitors a month means you’re doing something right.
- Grow your email list: Again you don’t have to aim for anything crazy here. We’ll show you examples of people who had a small list but still used it to their advantage.
Monetizing your blog efficiently primarily revolves around the numbers, although these two factors hold importance.
If your goal is to make $6,000 from your blog, you can follow these steps:
- Sell a $200 product (say a course) to 30 people.
- Sell a $600 course to 10 people.
- Become an affiliate partner with brands offering recurring commissions (hit the $6000 mark at your own pace).
- Or even charge $6,000 for consulting with a client.
Monetization relies on mathematical principles rather than magical ones.
Instead of solely raising prices, the key to monetization lies in selecting a strategy that is in line with your blog’s current status or future aspirations.
In this article, we will demonstrate how you can earn money online and monetize your blog, regardless of whether you have a large number of page views per month or if you are a beginner.
Ways to Make Money as a Blogger
Affiliate Marketing
Many individuals opt for affiliate marketing when blogging as it is one of the quickest ways to generate income.
- Affiliate marketing is a profitable and large industry, making it easy to find products to use and promote. It is a great side hustle that lets bloggers earn passive income.
- It is a low-cost business opportunity that doesn’t require a huge starting capital.
- Provides the opportunity to promote products from different companies.
Pat Flynn, the creator of Smart Passive Income, serves as a prime example of how bloggers can generate thousands of dollars through affiliate marketing, as he personally made over $100,000 in one month solely from affiliate links.
To commence affiliate marketing, a blogger must become a member of an affiliate program. Several well-known networks where these programs can be found include FlexOffers, ClickBank, and ShareASale.
Once bloggers are approved for an affiliate program, they will receive an affiliate link that leads to the sales page of the product. By incorporating this link into their content, bloggers can earn a commission whenever a visitor makes a purchase.
The commissions that bloggers receive will vary depending on the affiliate programs they choose. This will range from 5-30% of the price of the products sold. If the prices of the affiliate products are higher, then the commissions received will also be higher.
If you are interested in making money through affiliate marketing, it would be beneficial for you to take note of the following tips:
- Choose an affiliate program that suits your audience. Most successful affiliates promote products that their readers would be interested in.
- Pay attention to the competitors. Look at the top blogs in your affiliate niche, then see what products they recommend and how they promote those items.
- Disguise affiliate links. Use affiliate tools like Pretty Links to make the links look more professional and easier to remember.
Paid Ads
Selling advertising space on your blog is another effective method for blogging and earning money. Single Moms Income serves as an excellent illustration of a blog that generates passive income solely through displaying ads. In 2019, it earned a whopping $1,031.81 per month through ad placements alone.
One can choose from various ad networks to begin with, and Google Adsense is among the most well-liked services.
There are several reasons why many bloggers use Google Adsense.
- It’s free to join.
- A blogger can run ads on several websites from one AdSense account.
- Bloggers can modify the ads to fit their site’s design.
In order to earn money through Google AdSense, the first step is to create a Google account and submit an application. Afterward, your site will be reviewed by Google’s team before they can approve your request. The review process typically takes anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.
If the team does not approve your Google AdSense account, consider trying other alternatives like Media.net, PopAds, and Chitika.
Online Consulting
If you possess specialized knowledge in a certain field and are open to sharing it, then consulting could be a viable online money-making option for your blog. As a consultant, you have the potential to earn an annual income of up to $90,000, depending on your area of expertise.
Neil Patel is an example of a blogger who generates income by providing consulting services. Specifically, he earns $20,000 per month functioning as an SEO consultant.
A consultant is generally anticipated to:
- Identify problems. Many clients look for a consultant to recognize a problem inside an organization and offer a more effective strategy.
- Act as a catalyst. A consultant can make changes in an organization without worrying about a corporation’s culture or other issues that can get in the way.
- Teach. Companies might also ask a consultant to teach their employees different skills to stay competitive in the industry.
To commence your career as a consultant, no initial investment is required. Just establish a webpage with a contact form to provide information to potential clients. Additionally, visit platforms such as Glassdoor and FlexJobs to explore consulting prospects.
Sponsored Posts
Another effective way of blogging and earning money involves sponsorships. Numerous bloggers generate significant income by posting reviews of different products and services.
By making use of sponsored posts, bloggers have the opportunity to receive payment for discussing brands or products that they are fond of, demonstrating their own usage of these items and how they can be advantageous to others.
Based on their rank and incoming traffic, bloggers have the option to set a specific price for each review they offer. For example, Alexis sets a price range of $750-$1,500 for each sponsored post she publishes on her blog Fitnancials.
If your aim is to be paid for writing sponsored posts, consider following these suggestions:
- Create a media kit that contains information like your blog’s traffic stats, audience demographics, and any other data that can make your site more appealing to other brands.
- Reach out to companies that you’re interested in working with.
- Remember to regularly update your media kit stats, especially if there are changes in page views or follower count.
- Create accounts on websites specifically for sponsorship opportunities such as Acorn Influence, Blog Meets Brand, and Social Stars.
