These days, everyone is getting into blogging, and there’s a valid reason for it. Blogging offers a fantastic platform to share your interests, grow a following, and potentially generate income.
Originally, blogging began as a recreational activity, but it rapidly transformed into a feasible profession for numerous individuals. In reality, a noteworthy number of professionals, including myself, now solely rely on their blogs as a source of income.
This guide is for individuals who are considering starting a blog or are already blogging but are interested in monetizing it. I aim to serve as your mentor blogger and address any questions you have regarding earning money through blogging.
Blogging As A Career – Is It Viable?
Can blogging be a full-time career? The answer is definitely YES!
In reality, bloggers are able to make millions by simply typing out their thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on their blogs.
To make money blogging, it is crucial to recognize that it is not a quick way to become wealthy. Achieving success as a blogger requires dedication, consistency, and hard work, just like any other job.
When you blog, you undertake all the tasks involved in working for a digital publication or newspaper, including content creation, site maintenance, and social media outreach, without any external assistance.
As long as you have a laptop or computer and an internet connection, you can engage in blogging from any location around the globe.
How Much Money Can You Make From Blogging?
The question is difficult to answer 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,
In general, a significant amount of website traffic is necessary in order to generate a satisfactory income from blogging. On average, professional bloggers earn between $1,000 and $10,000 per month from their blogs; however, the income of each blogger can vary greatly.
Money Making Strategies For Bloggers
Just like any other business, blogging should not depend on only one revenue stream. The most successful bloggers expand their earnings by utilizing various money-making strategies.
These are some of the most popular and effective techniques to earn money through blogging.
Advertisements
Bloggers frequently earn money through advertisements, which can take various forms such as banner ads and sponsored widgets. You have likely come across these ads on numerous well-known blogs.
Below are the outlined steps on how to generate income through blogging with the utilization of ads.
Google Adsense & Other Ad Networks
An advertisement network serves as a means for connecting bloggers with advertisers, with Google Adsense being the most widely-used network. However, alternatives such as Media.net and AdThrive also exist.
To utilize an advertising network, all you need to do is create an account and insert a small piece of code into your blog. Once the code is inserted, the advertising network will display suitable advertisements on your blog, allowing you to earn money whenever someone clicks on or views an ad.
Ad networks utilize three models to compensate bloggers: cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-mille (CPM), and cost-per-action (CPA).
- CPC means that you earn a commission every time someone clicks on an ad. This is the most common way that ad networks pay bloggers. Adsense follows this.
- CPM is short for cost per thousand. It means that you earn your revenue based on the price of 1,000 advertisement impressions. So, if an advertiser is willing to pay $10 CPM, you’ll earn $10 for every 1,000 ad impressions.
- CPA is short for cost per action. It means that you only get paid if someone clicks on an ad and then takes a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
There are many ad networks besides Google Adsense that can be more effective and offer higher payment. However, it is recommended to choose a partner that is Google Certified Publishing Partner. The list of such partners can be found here.
Direct Advertising
Direct advertising can be an effective way to generate revenue for blogs that have strong traffic and a devoted audience.
Through direct advertising, you collaborate with companies or brands to generate sponsored content or ads tailored for your blog. Consequently, these companies or brands will provide you with a fixed payment for each individual who views or interacts with the advertisement.
When there is no middleman, you typically earn a higher amount of money per view or click compared to an ad network.
One disadvantage of direct advertising is the challenge of finding advertisers that align well with your blog. Additionally, companies typically approach bloggers with offers once they have built a substantial audience.
One way to address this issue is to search for advertisers directly on ad marketplaces such as Adclerks.
Native Advertising
Native advertising is essentially the same as direct advertising, with the only notable distinction being that native ads are specifically crafted to seamlessly blend in with the content of your blog.
Native ads are designed to resemble regular blog posts instead of being clearly labeled advertisements, which can make them more effective and less intrusive in comparison to traditional banner ads.
If you select a reliable native ad network, you can eliminate the drawback of native advertising, which is the potential interference with your reader experience due to displaying irrelevant ads on your blog.
If you are interested in native advertising, some ad networks that specialize in this type of advertising, such as Taboola, Mgid, and Outbrain, could be a good starting point.
Native advertising is not a lucrative form of advertising, as the CPCs are typically low. Thus, a substantial amount of traffic is required to generate decent earnings.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves rewarding you, the affiliate, for every visitor or customer you direct to a business’s website, based on their performance.
In simple terms, affiliate marketing involves recommending a product or service to your readers, and if they make a purchase, you receive a commission.
If you have a blog about hiking, you can create a post about the top hiking boots and provide a link for readers to purchase them. If a reader clicks on the link and purchases the boots, you can receive a commission.
There are times when affiliate marketing can be more beneficial than ads since some brands provide recurring commissions, allowing you to generate income from a single reader on multiple occasions.
Selling freelance writing services
If you enjoy writing, the easiest and best way to start is by getting paid to write for others.
If you are unsure about which niche blog to focus on, you can choose to invest your time in writing for other individuals or platforms instead.
As you work more, not only do you ensure a reliable and consistent source of income, but you also gain knowledge about various niches.
If you want to sell your freelance services, you have the option to sign up on freelance platforms such as PeoplePerHour, Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork.
If you have the skill to manipulate words skillfully, you can set a price of at least $50-75 for each article.
Once you know where to look, you will find several takers in the digital realm, believe us when we say there is a lack of good writers.
After spending numerous hours honing your own skill and expertise, you could consider becoming an instructor for other aspiring writers as another way to generate income through blogging.
Consulting/Instructing
You might be curious about how expert bloggers manage to attract clients who are willing to pay $500-1000 per hour for coaching services.
Once you have established yourself in the industry as a prosperous blogger, it becomes quite straightforward to persuade individuals to pay for your expertise and wisdom.
Frequently, individuals often reach out to us with the intention of acquiring further knowledge on topics such as blogging, growth hacking, and digital marketing.
Many individuals find it challenging to identify their niche, determine an effective marketing strategy, or comprehend the optimal format for their content to maximize engagement and conversions.
By providing insights and proven tips, you have the ability to assist multiple individuals.
There is a large number of experts available who are offering their services to advise and assist both aspiring entrepreneurs and established businesses.
Neil Patel, Sam Ovens, and Brian Dean, along with numerous other bloggers and entrepreneurs, demand considerable fees for consultancy services provided to Fortune 500 companies.
If you have confidence in your expertise and the value you are providing to your clients, you have the potential to become one of the best-paid instructors/consultants over time.
Getting speaking gigs
After you have provided your services as a freelancer and gained knowledge in giving instructions, it is now time to proceed to the next stage.
If you can earn $100-500 per hour through consulting or instructing, it would be simple for you to demand $300-1000 for each speech or public speaking engagement.
By sharing your success and learnings, you are allowing hundreds more like you to know the secret.
Suppose you have successfully achieved the status of an influencer through your powerful blog, which provides valuable content to numerous individuals.
As you progress, others will begin to acknowledge your skills and expertise, leading them to desire your guidance and urge you to share your story with others.
The greatest advantage is that you will be adequately rewarded for promoting yourself even further.
Initially, not everyone receives high paying gigs, but it is not necessary to be a Gary Vaynerchuck in order to earn from this.
Organizers are willing to pay a significant amount of money for speeches that provide valuable insights and have the potential to generate sales for products or services.
Not every blogger possesses good public speaking skills, so it is important not to rush into it without proper consideration.
Even if the journey doesn’t go well, it is not the end. Just remember your purpose – your passion for blogging and the benefit of earning money from it.
Online courses and programs
You are already aware that individuals desire guidance towards success and are willing to pay for it.
If you are able to run a successful blog, it indicates that you possess a superior understanding of the field compared to the majority of other bloggers. As a result, you now have the opportunity to generate income from your blog by offering and selling your courses or programs.
From instructing individuals on blogging and advancing their online business, to becoming their life mentor to enhance their skills in their pursuits, there are numerous ways in which you could assist them.
If you enjoyed the consultation process or have a large client base, you may find it frustrating to constantly answer basic repetitive questions.
To potentially earn more, the most effective solution is to generate your own tutorial or course.
In addition to platforms such as Udemy and Coursera, it is possible for you to have your own collection of lessons to distribute to your audience.
Take your pick from an interesting topic such as improving blogging skills or creating your website with WordPress, and provide unprecedented value to your audience.
One can find numerous bloggers who are successful in selling their online courses, such as Pat Flynn, who is worth checking out.
If the lack of motivation is not enough, we can provide information on the significant earnings that some tutors derive from their premium courses and programs.
Top interior designers earn a few hundred thousand dollars at home, whereas lifestyle coaches can earn up to $1 million annually solely from their online courses and programs.
Selling your ebooks
Are you familiar with Mark Manson’s book titled ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’?
Starting as an online blog/article piece, the book’s journey astonishingly led to selling over 4 million copies.
Mark Manson’s highly successful article led to him securing a deal with Harper Collins, and as a result, we were given a book that we all thoroughly enjoyed reading.
Not everyone has the opportunity to experience such success and secure deals, but you can certainly create and sell your own ebooks on platforms like Amazon.
It may be hard to believe, but certain businesses engage freelance writers to create ebooks for them, and then, these ebooks are sold in large numbers, resulting in significant profits.
Ebook or book writing is not a simple task as it involves more than just thinking and dedication; it necessitates comprehension and a continuous flow of captivating elements to sustain the reader’s interest. Although uncommon, it is possible to earn money by blogging online.
Advertising on your blog
Advertisements are one of the most popular and highly preferred methods for generating money through blogging.
One of the most popular ad platforms used by bloggers is Google Adsense.
Although advertising through such platforms may yield mixed results, it is still worth attempting to utilize a few of these platforms.
Although advertising platforms may yield inconsistent results, certain niches still benefit from additional advertising efforts.
Placing advertisements on your recipe, news, and fashion blogs might be beneficial as other methods may not generate sufficient income.
There are alternative platforms like AdThrive, Mediavine, and Media.net that you could consider instead of solely relying on Google Adsense.
In order to have ads displayed on your website, these platforms require certain conditions to be met beforehand.
