How to Make Money Blogging (+ How to Start and Get Traffic)

Blogging is among the top methods for earning money online, even though it can take time to attract readers. Nevertheless, with sufficient effort, it is achievable to generate up to $50,000 per year through blogging.

The effectiveness of blog monetization techniques relies on the niche and audience of your blog. Identifying the most effective method may require some time and effort, but with perseverance, it is possible to generate significant earnings.

This article contains all the necessary details required to start blogging and earning income.

How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?

Generating an additional $500-$2,000 monthly through blogging in your initial year is quite simple. Moreover, in the following years, say 2, 3, 4, and 5, you can escalate your monthly blogging income considerably. According to Glassdoor, based on multiple salaries submitted anonymously, bloggers typically earn more than $50,000 annually.

I know several full-time bloggers who have achieved great success, earning more than $200,000 annually by working only 10-30 hours per week. As previously stated, I shared my income report detailing how I made over $400,000 through my blogging side gig.

Although they are a minority, I am acquainted with bloggers who earn millions annually and still spend less than 10 hours per week working (what a dream!). This translates to an incredibly high return on investment in terms of time.

Your earning potential is determined by the amount of traffic you receive and the size of your email list.

It is possible to earn $25,000 to $50,000 in your initial year of blogging, followed by $100,000 or more in the second year, and then $250,000 or more in the third year. Finally, by the fourth year, you can earn $500,000 or more through blogging.

8 Ways to Make Money as a Blogger

1. Affiliate Marketing

Opting for affiliate marketing is a rapid approach to earning income through blogging. This strategy is a favored choice for several individuals due to the following reasons:

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.

Affiliate marketing can be highly profitable for bloggers. A prime illustration of this is seen in the case of Pat Flynn, the founder of Smart Passive Income, who garnered more than $100,000 within a month from his affiliate links.

In order to begin affiliate marketing, a blogger must enroll in an affiliate program. Popular networks for locating these programs comprise FlexOffers, ClickBank, and ShareASale.

Bloggers who are granted access to an affiliate program will receive an affiliate link which they can insert into their blog content. When a visitor ultimately makes a purchase through the link, the blogger will receive a commission.

The percentage of the product sales price that bloggers can earn from commission is determined by the affiliate programs they select. Commission rates range from 5-30%. If the affiliate products have higher prices, the commissions earned by them will be higher as well.

In case you wish to earn money through affiliate marketing, contemplate implementing the subsequent suggestions:

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.

2. Paid Ads

Selling ad space on your blog is another effective blogging strategy that can generate income. Single Moms Income is a prime model of this as it earned a monthly passive income of $1,031.81 in 2019 from ad displays alone.

Google Adsense is among the most preferred services among several ad networks that one can begin with.

There are several explanations why numerous bloggers opt for Google Adsense, such as:

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.

To earn online through Google AdSense, the first step is to establish a Google account and send an application. The application will undergo Google’s scrutiny, which may take a few hours to a few days prior to approval.

In case your Google AdSense account is not accepted by the team, consider exploring other options like Media.net, PopAds, and Chitika.

Maximizing revenue from paid advertisements can be achieved by implementing the following suggestions:

Know the advertising program’s rules. You must read and comply with a program’s ads policies.
Use organic traffic-building techniques. Most ad networks forbid web owners to click on their own ads or pay people for clicks. Try to drive organic traffic using such marketing practices as search engine optimization (SEO).
Test different ad types and placements. Look for ad space sizes that generate the most amount of clicks and sales.

3. Online Consulting

Consulting can be a lucrative online income stream for bloggers who possess specialized knowledge in a particular industry and are open to sharing it. The amount one can earn as a consultant varies depending on the field of expertise, with some earning up to $90,000 annually.

Neil Patel is an instance of a blogger who generates revenue through consulting services and earns $20,000 per month as an SEO consultant.

Typically, a consultant is 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.

Starting your consulting business requires no initial capital investment. All you need to do is set up a web page containing a contact form to enable potential clients to inquire about your services. Additionally, browsing job websites such as FlexJobs and Glassdoor is an excellent way to identify consulting prospects.

It is important to bear in mind that there are several factors to take into account prior to commencing with this online money-making approach.

Registrations and licenses. Some states might require people to have a special certification before starting to operate as a consultant.
Consultant rates. Price is a significant factor that can attract and retain clients. Ensure to check how much other consultants in your industry are charging before setting rates.
Special training. Consulting requires additional skills such as public speaking, training groups of people, offering feedback effectively, and analyzing and presenting data.

4. Sponsored Posts

Publishing sponsored content is another effective way for bloggers to monetize their blogging endeavors. Plenty of bloggers earn substantial amounts of money by posting reviews of different products and services.

By means of sponsored posts, bloggers are able to receive compensation for promoting brands or products they admire, demonstrating their personal usage of these items and how they may be advantageous to others.

Depending on their level and traffic, a blogger may set a fixed fee per review. For instance, Alexis charges between $750 and $1,500 for every sponsored post she publishes on her blog Fitnancials.

To earn money from writing sponsored posts, consider implementing the following 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.

5. Direct Display Ad Buys

You may be contacted by certain brands or companies to place a banner display advertisement on your website in order to market their product, or alternatively, you can initiate contact with companies that cater to your specific readership and blog theme. Emphasize the advantage of having a display ad present on each page of your blog in order to gain the highest level of exposure.

The amount you can earn per display on your blog typically ranges from $200 to $2,500 per month, depending on the niche you are writing for. The most lucrative option is to sell a 728×90 banner ad, as it will be the most visible when placed in your blog header. It is important to exercise caution when including ads on your blog, as you may only be able to sell a limited number of direct display ad buys at once.

However, if you desire it, you could try incorporating smaller ads similar to those tiny square ads seen on other websites on your blog sidebar. Some bloggers earn a considerable sum of money from targeted 100 pixel / 100-pixel ads. Though an app had wanted advertisement space on the Millennial Money homepage for a month, I don’t allow ads on my homepage.

I was eventually offered $15,000 for a one-month placement, which was too good to pass up, so I created a temporary box on my homepage dedicated to their advertisement. It’s important to negotiate and allow them to initiate the first offer, then request an additional $100 to $200. Don’t settle for less than what you deserve.

I was completely astounded when a company compensated me for tweeting for the first time. It was hard to believe that I received $500 for merely chatting on Twitter for 30 minutes. It was an amazing experience. Now, I have earned anything from $500 to $3,000 for promoting other people’s material through simple social media promotions. If you are a niche influencer or specialist, you are probably capable of making money by promoting items or services on social media. The more followers you have, the more money you can receive.

Having a significant social media audience can be lucrative when it comes to paid promotions. There are bloggers who focus on fashion and travel, and who have a considerable Instagram following, earning at least $5,000 monthly just by endorsing products within their niche. Although they also maintain a blog, the profits increase as their social media following grows.

Numerous highly successful bloggers derive their income through this method. By selecting a suitable niche and collaborating with affiliates, you can significantly increase your earnings by promoting monetized content through Facebook or Google ads. This approach to monetizing blogs is becoming increasingly popular and effective.

You can purchase Facebook traffic for your blog at a cost of 3 cents to $2 per click and afterward, a percentage of that traffic will typically convert by subscribing or making a purchase through one of your affiliate links.

It is necessary to control the amount of money spent on ad clicks to produce affiliate income. Though it may require Facebook and/or Google ad experimentation, once you discover the winning formula (such as spending $1 on ads and earning $5 in affiliate income), you can swiftly expand. I am acquainted with bloggers who spend $20,000 or more on ad traffic and profit over $30,000 on it! Some bloggers even generate over $1 million in monthly income by obtaining and monetizing paid traffic. While I am not proficient in this type of monetization, it is an avenue I have been exploring and developing on Millennial Money.

8. Online Courses

Although launching a course immediately after starting your blog may pose a challenge, creating a course can be a lucrative method of earning income through your blog. Presently, it’s simpler than ever to monetize your knowledge and teach others. You have the option of using plugins such as WordPress LMS to host your course on your own WordPress blog or going for a third-party platform like Teachable.

I introduced the initial Millennial Money course in 2017, but due to its overwhelming popularity, I had no choice but to remove it a mere 30 days after it became available. Although providing assistance to all the students enrolled in the course was a test, it generated a significant amount of income.

Several of my blogger friends have successfully introduced courses that have generated six-figure incomes, and a few have even surpassed seven figures with their courses (yes, you heard that correctly – they have earned more than $1 million from course launches via their blogs). So, if you’re considering launching a course, research the market and your potential competition first. I’ve also observed instances where bloggers spent considerable effort building courses that turned out to be unsuccessful.

Consider carefully what could distinguish your course from others already available before deciding to develop it. Determine what unique value your course could offer, which would convince people to choose it over other options. Do your research to find out if your target audience is likely to be interested in purchasing your course. Waiting until you have developed a strong understanding of your audience’s preferences and needs by writing on your blog is often advisable before launching your course.