Have you started a blog and want to know how to make money from it?
Maybe you're thinking, "I don't have the time, skills, or resources to earn money blogging.” Or perhaps even, "My blog isn't big enough yet for me to start making real money.”
But that's where you might be going wrong. There are many ways to monetize a blog - some that can help you generate an income quickly, while others will take a bit longer to set up and profit from. In this article, I am going to give 10 ways you can start earning an income thanks to your online blog. Let's get started.
Top Ways To Make Money With Your Blog
While an online website is just a hobby for most bloggers, there are various ways to sell digital products, consulting services, and affiliate products when choosing a profitable niche. The following methods are listed in no particular order and will help you generate an income from your blog.
Add Advertisements On Your Site To Generate An Income Stream
Online ads are an easy way to make money with your blog. By using Google Adsense, you can monetize your site by allowing Google to display ads related to the topics discussed within your blog.
The main advantage of this type of advertising is that it takes almost no additional time after you've created the content for your blog since the ads will be displayed automatically after adding some code to your website.
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There are many types of web advertisements, including popups, in-text links, and banners. The prices for web advertisements vary depending on the number of impressions they receive (how many times they are viewed) and the type of industry you’re working in.
Adsense programs provide content creators with an excellent opportunity to monetize a blog. With Google offering two types of Adsense programs (Adsense for Business and Adsense for Individuals), this is something that both new and experienced bloggers can make use of.
Ads on your site can help you generate an income stream quickly, provided that you have some type of audience and regular readers. As you start getting consistent traffic to your website, you’ll be better able to predict how much you’ll make from this advertising program.
Sell Ad Space Directly To Other Companies
Companies often pay big bucks to have their logo displayed prominently on another company's website if they can ascertain that their target audience visits such a website. If you want to make money fast, then sell ad space directly to other companies related to your niche or industry.
For example, if you wanted to start a music blog and sell ad space, then approach companies that are in the business of music. If you wanted to start a tech blog and sell ad space, then approach companies that are in the business of technology.
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You don't need many advertisers to jumpstart this type of revenue - just one advertiser willing to pay for the right amount of clicks/views/etc is a good start. When selling ads, the more traffic your site gets, the easier it will be to sell out ad space.
If you have a mildly popular blog, you can reach out to companies that deal with topics relevant to the content on your site.
These ads can be text-based, banner advertisements, or even consist of sponsored posts - they might link directly to the advertiser’s website or provide information about a product/service offered by the advertiser.
Selling these ads is an effective way to make money online because once they’re set up, all you need to do is maintain your target audience. To get started, make a plan and contact relevant advertisers to maximize your revenue potential.
Sell Products Or Services Related To Your Niche Directly From Your Blog
There are specific types of blogs that make the most money when compared to everyone else. For example, blogs that target the law industry make more money than those target people with the hobby of collecting stamps. With that said, there are products or services that can be found in any industry when it comes to selling online.
You can make money by promoting affiliate links or selling your products or services related to your niche. What's the difference between product promotions through affiliate links and ads? With product promotions, you're controlling what appears on your site since you pick and choose what to promote - this could be anything from cooking products, guidebooks about how to fly a drone, etc.
On the other hand, when you use an advertising product like Google Adsense, random ads are displayed automatically without you having any input on what gets shown.
In addition, offering various types of products or services directly from your blog gives visitors more opportunities to buy something - not just ads that they don't want.
If you have a popular blog, offering products for sale directly on your site can be very profitable. The key is to ensure that the products offered are relevant, so they do not distract visitors from reading your content.
Create A Business Directory Of The Top Companies In Your Area
A business directory can be highly profitable for your blog if you're located somewhere with many physical businesses that target the niche you’ve chosen.
First, try to find the most popular or high-profile companies in your market related to your niche. These can be the high-profile businesses that you reach out to first. Once you have an idea of which businesses you want to include on your blog, start contacting them directly. Ask if they would like to share their website link and details about their business on a particular page on your site. You might ask for a small fee for this service but make sure the price makes sense so people will pay it.
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Alternatively, you can also list the first couple of businesses for free and use this as social proof to get (paying) companies to say yes to your proposition.
Don't forget to create an easy-to-use directory, so readers know where each company is located, how to contact them, and the exact product or service that they provide.
Think about posting company reviews as well, which will also help you increase your skills when blogging. Posting honest reviews makes the companies want to stay listed on your blog even more since they know that your opinion holds its own weight. It also gives your audience more reasons to buy from these companies which is a win-win for everyone involved.
Sell Products And Services That You're Great At
Your target audience will be able to tell if you're talking about something you're an expert in. This means that they will believe what you're saying and trust your advice when it comes to buying the products or services you mention.
If you excel at something specific such as graphic design, web development, or social media marketing, then open a shop page on your blog so people know how they can contact you.
You could also create online courses related to your niche and sell them directly from your blog (more on this later). Offering your services is a great way to make money blogging because once word of mouth spreads about the (excellent) service you provide, you will no longer have to go out and find work. Instead, people that are already pre qualified will come to you.
Become A Consultant
If offering your services on your blog isn't something that you're interested in, the next best thing that successful bloggers do is provide consultancy about the essential items in their niche.
You can show people how good you are by getting positive testimonials from your readers, who will say what a great job you did when consulting on previous projects. This is one of the best ways to prove that your skills are well-known in your target market.
The easiest way to get consulting clients through your blog is by showing results you’ve gotten for others in the past. Simply detail all of your services on your blog page and show everyone what you do to get customers results. For example, if you offer web development consultations, show screenshots or images of websites that you've helped make better in the past through your advice.
You could also start writing free tutorials on your blog about something related to your niche. This will provide value to readers while proving that you're an expert in what you do, which is then presented as an opportunity for them to hire you.
Start Giving Seminars
There are many ways marketers make money from a blogging business and another way is by hosting seminars directly on their blog. These seminars should be led by yourself but you can also entice the help of experts in your niche to come and speak too.
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This is an excellent way for experts in their field to make money blogging because you can charge an entry fee for these seminars and then share the profits between all of the instructors.
You will need to create some kind of registration page where people can register, purchase tickets or sign up if they're interested in attending your event. The great news is that once someone has registered for an event, you have an email address (i.e., a qualified person) to whom you can provide value and send future promotions.
Be sure to post about the seminar and any promotional offers you're running on your social media pages. This will help keep your brand top-of-mind and encourage people to attend your event (or even just check out your blog to learn more about what you do).
Creating An Online Masterclass About Your Subject Matter
Another great way to make money blogging is by teaching people about your skillset and sharing exactly how you do it. This can be done with an online class that you run on a membership area within your blog.
For example, if you were a web designer, you could blog about how people could create their website for free using the most effective tools available. You could then create a masterclass where you go into more premium features or services related to what they have learned during this process. This means that people that want to learn more can do so while you earn an income from your knowledge on your blog.
In addition, once you have created all of your masterclass content, there is no additional work involved on your part - talk about passive income. An automated system collects payments from students who have enrolled in your online course and then provides them access to lectures and videos that will guide them through the process of creating their website.
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Once this is ready, you could then advertise it on your blog and other social media pages to bring traffic back to your site. You could also offer a free online class (which could also be the introduction section of your course) and encourage people who enjoyed the content to sign up for the paid version. This is a great way to get more people to come back to your blog and learn more about the skills that you’re an expert at.
Selling Templates
Finally, many bloggers also make money through their blog by selling templates for design work such as WordPress blog themes or e-book covers. This can be done with video training programs within different niches too.
This can be done by either taking payments directly on your blog or through an affiliate network (like JVZoo) where you can create a buy now link as well as a sales page to promote your offer.
Once you've created it, you can then share this with other bloggers in your niche who have large followings on social media that will push the traffic back to your site. Suppose they mention it or create a blog post about it on their site. In that case, all of their followers will be able to use a specially created link (that is specific to the other bloggers) to purchase whatever premium template you're offering.
By doing this, you'll generate an income from your digital products through each person who completes the transaction. It's a great way for bloggers who do not have quite as much traffic (yet) but still wish to monetize their blog because even if only 5% of people who click on your affiliate link make a purchase, you'll still make a decent amount of money.
How To Set Up Your Blog Correctly To Profit From It
Setting up a blog on WordPress and letting it sit idle with just the occasional post or two is not nearly enough to profit from your online blog.
To have a successful blog profit from it, you need an effective plan - one that will allow you to attract targeted readers and advertisers who want to reach them, all while achieving definite goals in the shortest time possible.
Here are some ways to prepare your blog when it comes to making money from it.
Optimize The Design Of Your Blog To Make It Look Professional And Inviting
This is one of the most important tips for bloggers who want to monetize their blog to maximize earnings.
How you present your website will affect whether visitors continue reading or leave right away because they think that nothing is interesting on your blog/website. For example, if visitors come across obscure ads (that are not relevant), distracting pop-ups, and a messy design, they're not going to stick around very long.
To improve the design of your own blog, you can use paid services such as Fiverr to find qualified designers or download themes that will instantly improve the look and feel of your blog.
Make Your Blog Go Viral With More Engaging, Creative Content
Creating viral content is a great way to make your blog more profitable and gain a larger readership. This can be done through planning and strategizing your posts - avoid the use of clickbait and instead create valuable material that will prompt viewers to share it with others via social media networks.
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As a result, you'll make more money from visitors who are coming back to look at new content that may appeal to them - which is why it's important to come up with creative ideas for posts. Moreover, you have to be willing to test them out to see what works and what doesn’t.
Start Building Your Email List Today
A lot of bloggers who are making money blogging do so by selling their products or services to their email list subscribers. An email list allows you to communicate directly with your readers and inform them about new products, promotions, updates, events, etc.
This will also enable you to receive real-time feedback from viewers, such as opinions about whether they like (or dislike) specific content that you have published on your blog. If you set this up well, you’ll be able to use such feedback to constantly provide the people on your email list with the right type of content they’re interested in.
By putting in the time and effort into building up a large email list, you'll be able to attract more brand deals (which means more income), receive free samples and test products to review, and create a more powerful blog that will be able to generate revenue.
While this might seem like a long way off at this point, building momentum starts with taking small steps - so never be afraid of the work involved if you are serious about making money with your blog.
How To Make Money With Your Blog - FAQ
The amount of money you make is completely up to you. If you want to blog about something that nobody cares about, then chances are that you won’t have much success when it comes to monetizing your blog.
On the flip side, if you write about something that is in demand, many more people would want to read your blog, which means that the sky's the limit if your blog keeps attracting more and more readers.
The simplest way would be just to sign up for a Google account and submit your blog to Google Search Console. After that, it's all about consistently creating top-quality content that attracts the right type of people to your blog.
As time goes by, you can also look into getting backlinks from high-authority sites. However, we recommend that you really focus on creating content that people love to consume and share with others in the first place. Check out our guide on how to do SEO for your website for more information.Whatever you choose to talk about, make sure it's original and, most importantly, interesting for people to read. If it isn't, then there is no point in writing a blog about it. Use your personality and opinions when creating content. In the end, it has to be something that you (as a reader) would want to read and be excited about.
An affiliate program is basically where someone (the advertiser) agrees to pay other people (the publishers) if they can get others (customers) to buy their product or service through the publisher's website or blog. The advertiser will then pay each publisher according to how successful their efforts have been in boosting the advertiser's sales.
An online store is a website where you can buy digital products, while a blog is more of a place where you write about different topics that people are interested in. In addition to the fact that you can't purchase anything from blogs (by themselves), there isn't much difference at all.
Most bloggers do usually have a link within their site which will lead visitors to an online store if they want to go ahead and buy something straight away.
When it comes to these two mediums - blogging and eCommerce sites - both have their pros and cons. At the end of the day, it all depends on what your ultimate goal is when it comes to your online presence.
Conclusion
There is no secret formula to making money with your blog. While it is not a very complicated process, it does take time to set up and get the ball rolling. However, if you are ready to put some work into it, I'm sure you can find a way for your blog to become profitable.
One final tip to give you would be to keep things simple and start small at first. Try out a few examples from this post yourself and see what works best for you. Finding the right mix of ads, affiliate marketing, and products that makes your blog profitable is something that you’ll have to test until you start seeing the results that you want.
