Nowadays, blogging has become popular among many people due to its various benefits. It allows individuals to effectively express their interests, establish a following, and potentially generate income.
Although blogging began as a pastime, it has rapidly evolved into a feasible career path for numerous individuals. As a matter of fact, there are currently individuals, including myself, who earn their entire livelihood from their blogs as professional bloggers.
If you are considering starting a blog or are already blogging and wish to monetize it, this guide is intended for you.
Blogging As A Career – Is It Viable?
Absolutely! Blogging has the potential to be a full-time profession.
In reality, bloggers are earning millions by simply writing and sharing their thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on their blogs.
Making money through blogging is not a quick and easy way to become wealthy. To be successful as a blogger, one must have commitment, regularity, and put in the same effort as any other occupation.
Blogging involves performing all the tasks required for a digital publication or newspaper independently, including content creation, site maintenance, and social media outreach.
As long as you have a laptop or computer and an internet connection, you can conveniently blog from anywhere in the world.
How Much Money Can You Make From Blogging?
Answering this question can be difficult because there is no universally applicable answer.
The amount of money you earn from your blog is determined by various factors, which include:
- The niche or topic you write about,
- The strategies you use to monetise your blog,
- The amount of traffic your blog receives,
- Your writing style and ability to engage your audience,
- How consistent you are with creating new content,
Typically, professional bloggers earn varying amounts of money from their blogs, generally ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 per month. However, it typically requires a significant amount of traffic to generate a decent income through blogging.
Money Making Strategies For Bloggers
Similar to other businesses, blogging should not solely depend on one revenue stream. Successful bloggers diversify their earnings by employing various money making strategies.
1. Google Adsense
If you are a brand new blogger, Google Adsense is the simplest method to monetize your blog by running ads from the Google Display network on your website, although the revenue generated from these ads is not substantial.
Even if you receive a thousand visitors per month, your earnings from Google Ads may reach a maximum of $50. However, this is a good beginning point! During the first year of my blogging, I utilized Google Adsense; later on, I transitioned to an ad network to achieve higher CPM and CPC.
2. Advertising/Publisher Networks
Once you have achieved a monthly page view count of 25,000 or more, it is advisable to discontinue using Google Adsense and instead partner with an advertising network (also known as publisher networks) to handle the display ads on your website. This partnership guarantees that you maximize your ad earnings. Generally, these networks receive a percentage ranging from 20% to 40% of your website’s display ad revenue.
Even if you receive a commission, you can earn a significantly higher amount of money by collaborating with an advertiser/publishing network instead of directly working with Google. Certain bloggers excel in this aspect, making over $20,000 per month solely through display ads. Additionally, there are frequently ad/publisher networks that focus on your specific area of interest. Hence, a basic Google search for [your niche] ad networks is likely to yield several options for you to contact. However, some networks have strict criteria regarding their partnerships, so contacting multiple alternatives might be advisable.
3. Affiliate Ads
Affiliate marketing is a legitimate way to earn a substantial income by placing ads on your website. It is possible to generate profits in various niche markets by recommending products or services and receiving payment each time someone registers through your referral link. These ads, known as affiliate ads, bring benefits to both bloggers and advertisers. Advertisers benefit from guaranteed sign-ups, while bloggers typically earn a higher commission for each confirmed registration compared to a mere click. Rather than receiving $1-$3 per click, you can potentially earn between $5 and $500 (or even more, depending on the product) when someone registers using your provided link.
How can you earn this amount of money? Ensure that you only endorse products or services that you have faith in and/or utilize. Suggesting a subpar or spam-filled product solely to gain financial benefits is a surefire way to alienate your remaining audience. The trade-off is not worthwhile.
To ensure authenticity, prioritize seeking out affiliate partnerships with products you genuinely endorse or utilize. It is worth noting that not all companies openly offer affiliate programs; some reserve them for a select group of bloggers. Consider contacting the creators of your preferred products or services to inquire about potential affiliate programs. Although they may stipulate minimum traffic requirements, make a mental note to reconnect with them once your website traffic increases.
Amazon Affiliate Ads
Amazon is a highly popular affiliate program that allows you to earn money when a reader purchases a product through a link you provide. Though the payouts may not be as substantial as those from selling directly, Amazon offers a user-friendly affiliate platform and allows promotion of a wide range of products. Furthermore, if a higher-priced item is promoted and subsequently purchased through your link, the commission you receive will be greater.
One of the factors contributing to the success of individuals who blog about electronics, cameras, and pricey products is their ability to greatly profit from affiliate advertisements. Whenever a TV is purchased through their referral links, they can earn as much as $200 for each transaction, with certain transactions providing a maximum of 10% commission. Consequently, these earnings accumulate rapidly.
4. Sponsored Content
As your blog grows larger, there will be an increase in the number of people who will contact you and propose payment for featuring their content on your blog. You will receive numerous requests, with approximately 100 individuals reaching out each week, seeking to contribute posts to Millennial Money. Generally, they will offer an amount ranging from $50 to $1,000 for publishing one of their articles on your blog.
When considering the cost of sharing someone else’s written post, you may initially find it to be a significant amount of money. However, it is crucial to exercise caution as Google disapproves of this practice. If they perceive that you are regularly publishing paid content, they might blacklist your blog, a detrimental outcome that can significantly impede your recovery efforts.
It is important to carefully consider the frequency of posting sponsored content as it tends to be of low quality and may contain poor links. Both Google and your audience will notice if you link from a subpar blog post to a poor link. Therefore, take caution in accepting sponsored content posts, or alternatively, request a significantly higher payment and compose them on your own.
5. Direct Display Ad Buys
There are two ways to go about placing a banner display ad on your website to promote a product. Firstly, certain brands or companies will contact you directly for this opportunity. Alternatively, you can proactively reach out to companies that match your target readership and blog niche. Emphasize the benefit of having a display ad appearing on every page of your blog to ensure it receives the highest possible visibility.
When blogging, the amount of money you can earn per display ranges from $200 to $2,500 per month, depending on the niche. The most lucrative option is to sell a 728×90 banner ad, as it offers maximum visibility when placed in your blog header. However, it is important not to overcrowd your blog with ads. Generally, you can only sell a limited number of direct display ad purchases at once.
You could consider placing smaller ads on your blog sidebar, like those tiny square ads on websites. Certain bloggers earn a significant amount of money by using targeted 100 pixel / 100-pixel ads. Although there was an app interested in having their ad displayed on the Millennial Money homepage for a month, I do not place ads on my homepage.
In the end, I was given an offer of $15,000 for a duration of one month, which I found impossible to reject. Consequently, I created a temporary section on my homepage exclusively for displaying their advertisement. It is always advisable to negotiate – let the other party propose the initial offer and then request a sum that is at least $100 – $200 greater. Remember not to miss out on any potential earnings.
6. Digital Products
In addition to advertising and affiliate marketing, another method for generating income from your blog is through the sale of digital products.
Digital products are products that you can download or access online, such as eBooks and courses that you can sell from your own website.
One advantage of digital products is their ability to be sold multiple times without the need for creating new inventory. This implies that after investing effort into creating a digital product, it can consistently generate income for an extended period, ranging from months to years.
Included in these products are:
- Courses: Courses can be in any format, including video, audio, text, or a combination of all three. They can be offered as part of a membership site or sold individually.
- EBooks: Ebooks are usually PDFs and can be about anything from cooking to business to dating, depending on your niche.
- PDF Guides & SOPs: PDF guides and SOPs (standard operating procedures) are usually shorter than ebooks and can be about anything from starting a blog to fixing a leaky faucet.
- Tools & Templates: Tools and templates can be things like Excel spreadsheets, PPT templates, etc.
One issue with digital products is the amount of time needed to create them, along with the requirement of a sizable audience prior to selling them.
7. Link Sales
The focus of search engine optimization is on link building, which involves obtaining backlinks from other websites to your own.
Search engines like Google use backlinks as one of the ranking factors to determine the importance of websites, which is why they hold significance.
If you possess a website with high-quality content and authority, you have the opportunity to sell links on your site. The price of a single link within an article will vary from $10 to $500, depending on the authority of your website.
It is important to note that this approach should be considered as a supplementary source of income and should be used cautiously as it may result in Google penalizing your website if executed incorrectly.
8. Services
By possessing a blog, you already possess an existing audience of individuals who are interested in your opinions. You can capitalize on this by providing consulting, teaching, or coaching services.
If you work as a financial planner, one way you can provide assistance is by offering your services to individuals who need help with their finances. Similarly, if you work as a fitness coach, you can provide online personal training as a way of reaching out to potential clients.
One advantageous aspect of merging blogs with services is the ability to construct a distinct personal brand and establish genuine connections with your audience. Consequently, this can potentially result in obtaining higher-paying consulting or coaching opportunities in the future.
9. Get Into Videos
Blogging encompasses more than just writing articles; it also involves generating income through creating and uploading videos on video sharing platforms like YouTube. These platforms present valuable chances for bloggers to grow their audience and generate revenue from their content.
Offering something different than just text-based content, connecting with your audience becomes a great way to engage with them.
Additionally, research suggests that videos will account for 82% of total Internet traffic by 2022.
If you are currently not making videos, now would be a good opportunity to begin.
10. Blog Flipping & Sales
If a blog has been developed successfully with a devoted audience, it can be regarded as an asset that is capable of being purchased or sold akin to any other business. Consequently, one can make a profit by selling it.
What is the most enjoyable aspect?
Depending on the niche and monetization strategy, blogs can be sold for anywhere between 10 and 100 times their monthly revenue. Affiliated blogs tend to have higher selling prices. Therefore, if your blog generates $1,000 per month, its potential selling price would range from $10,000 to $100,000.
For individuals seeking to cash out, this exit strategy proves to be an excellent option.
You have the option to purchase an existing blog, enhance it, and subsequently sell it at a higher price, thereby making a profit.
