So you want to learn how to make money blogging? Great idea!
I am a full-time blogger and last year, my blogs earned more than $250,000 in revenue. Yup, you read that right. And before you think, well her expenses must be sky-high, I’ll have you know that my necessary expenses totaled less than $500, which means the bulk of that income was pure profit.
In this post, I’ll share how you too can start a money-making blog and earn a living online. You’ll gain control over your time, and best of all, your income!
Let’s get started.
Provide Value to a Specific Audience
There are countless websites on the internet right now. Most of them receive zero visitors every month. Create value for your would-be visitors if you want to attract people to your site.
Value is what makes money. You can create valuable content in many ways: authority, humor, providing advice, giving instructions, sharing relatable stories, etc.
Ask yourself: how can you provide value while differentiating yourself from other writers? That’s how you become a paid blogger – consistently create value. And that’s how you make money blogging.
Make Money Blogging for Beginners
Writing and promoting yourself is the right way to make money blogging. Having good content and an even better social media presence gets you to the top. Focus on one task at a time if you’re a beginner.
For starters, put yourself on a schedule. Choose one day of the week (or more) to write a new article. Stick to that schedule for a month at least.
After that, start focusing on social media – without losing track of your writing schedule. See how you’re doing in three months and adjust accordingly.
What kind of blogs make money?
Consistent writers who put out quality content on their blogs make money. While certain niches or subjects make more money than others – the key as a beginner is to create content that people want to read.
Don’t choose a particular subject because it makes money. Choose a topic you genuinely know and love. Put your efforts into creating a long-term project that people will love regardless of market swings.
Stay away from trends. For example, people went crazy for cryptocurrency throughout 2020 and 2021. Nowadays? It’s just too saturated and controversial. Stick with evergreen topics that people will need information about for years to come.
Blog Income Streams
So what are the common blog income streams needed to make money blogging? Happy you asked!
Display Ads
Setting up ads on your blog is one of the oldest ways of making money online (other than selling stuff). Make sure you don’t overdo it, though. Plenty of great blogs have lost a big part of their visitors over annoying ads.
The best ad strategy possible is to keep them non-invasive. Pop-up ads, tricky ads, and misleading ads are a no-no. They destroy value and credibility. But do ads right and you can make easy passive income!
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing allows bloggers to earn money by selling products indirectly on their blogs. Post affiliate links to other sites and get a commission every time someone buys something. There’s no need to ship products, handle inventory, do customer service, or do anything other than sell.
Making money with affiliate marketing takes time but it’s worth it. Just make sure you disclose that you’re an affiliate and stay in compliance with FTC rules. Otherwise, you could get penalized for not doing it.
Brand Sponsorships
Athletes get sponsorships – and so do content creators. You may get money to promote products or to write about them on your blog. Companies will send you the product to review it – and you get to keep it without paying (most of the time, at least).
You can ask companies for sponsorships if you’re bold enough. They will approach you on their own when you’re big enough.
Digital Products & Courses
Selling e-books and courses is not a bad way to make money. It’s difficult to sell them at first – but you will do so effortlessly when you’re a big name in your niche. Creating an email newsletter and selling courses through it is the best strategy.
Services & Consulting
Establishing yourself as an authority figure isn’t to create value and attract visitors alone. It also opens the door to working as a consultant. People will approach you to help them with their business.
That’s why using social media is crucial. Put yourself out there so other people and companies can contact you for different business opportunities.
You could make more money consulting than writing past a certain point.
Give It 6 Months
Write content on a schedule for a month. Then, as you continue to follow that schedule, start promoting yourself on social media for a month. That’s two months’ worth of work. Wait for a third month before you decide what to do – whether you drop the blog or continue.
Blogs take at least 6 months -sometimes years- to take off. Three months is enough to see whether you’re having some success or not. Consider choosing a new direction if you have no visitors after 6-8 months or 100 blog posts.
The Fastest Way to Make Money Blogging
The fastest way to make money blogging is to get big names to promote your content. You may have to pay them to do so – or you may get them to do so in any other way (such as cross-promotion). Having an ongoing visitor stream from the get-go is the only way to make money fast.
There’s no point in promoting an empty website. Make sure you have plenty of content ready before you do so!
How to Make Money with a Blog
The Written Word
Writing is what keeps your blog alive. Promoting your blog, researching keywords, and playing the social media game are all a must. Without creating new content, none of that matters, though.
Sharpen your proverbial pen: read as much as possible, study your competition and practice. You don’t have to publish or upload every piece you write – but you need to write as much as possible.
Great Visuals
Design is a big part of blogging. Your website needs a good face – otherwise, people will leave before paying attention to your content. Humans are visual animals, so you have to appeal to that side first.
Having great visuals is not hard, though. Keeping it simple is the best strategy. Use a basic color scheme, and don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options.
Growing Blog Traffic
Traffic growth is how you make money. Other people will promote your content every now and then. Most of the time, growing traffic is a job on its own.
Make the most out of Twitter and Instagram to grow your blog. Using LinkedIn isn’t a bad idea either – as long as you can write for the right audience there.
Writing is half the job. Attracting visitors is the other half.
Optimize Revenue
There’s more than one way to make money blogging. Setting up ads is but one way. You can also sell products, promote other people’s content, create courses, and more.
Optimizing revenue is all about finding the most efficient way of making money. For example, ads are a great way to make money if your visitors don’t want to pay for something.
On the other hand, having fewer ads on your site may help you make more money if that attracts more visitors (who pay for stuff).
Scale
Choose the right size for your blog. Don’t fool yourself: having a million visitors who provide no money for you is worse than having 100 customers.
Sometimes, you will benefit from having less traffic. Check your data analytics and see how much effort you’re making to land each visitor – and which part of your demographic puts money in your pocket.
You may have to scale down and appeal to that side. Or you may have enough potential to scale up and make more money attracting more visitors.
As your income grows, you may want to consider hiirinig virtual assistants and outsourcing your content.
FAQ
How long does it take to make $500 per month blogging?
You could make $500 in your first month if you’re lucky. Most people take a couple of months -sometimes a year- before hitting the $100 monthly mark. Don’t let that discourage you. You’ll always make a little more than before if you play your cards right.
Think of making money through blogging as an ongoing process. You’ll earn $50 today, $75 next month, and so on. You’ll have to make your way to the $500 per month goal.
How quickly can you make money blogging?
You can make money right as you start writing – in theory. More likely than not, it will take a long time before you start making serious money.
The hardest part is making your first hundred dollars. After that, any blog will grow exponentially.
The important part is not to stop writing. Consistency is key. Write something new weekly or bi-weekly. As long as you stick to a schedule and continue to put good content out, you’ll be on your way to making money.
How much can you make per month blogging?
It’s impossible to tell how much money you can make without knowing your niche, output schedule, and data analytics. Putting serious effort into improving all three is fundamental to making serious money.
The honest answer is this: you can make pennies writing. You can also earn thousands of dollars every month. It’s all up to you.
That’s the thing about people who make money: they put a lot of hours before they start earning.
How long does it take to make $1,000 blogging?
Consistent writers who create quality content can make $1000 in a couple of months. Making $1000 every month is a different story – and may take longer than a year to get there.
The best way to approach a new blog is to treat it like a passion project. Forget about money for a while and write.
Make sure you are researching keywords and using them correctly. The key that unlocks the $1000 mark is having plenty of traffic every day.