Building a new career online and making money blogging is a great way to achieve more flexibility and freedom in life. But how do people make money blogging exactly?
If you’re just about to start a blog, you want to make sure your monetization strategy is on point from day 1.
You need to know what your long-term goals are and what you want to achieve. Then, you can work your way backward and track each step you need to take to get there.
While it’s easy to make money with your blog when you have thousands of readers, it is difficult to earn substantial online income when your blog is brand new.
In this post, I will walk you through a few powerful but realistic money-making methods for your blog.
If you are just starting out, make sure you check out my monetization tips for brand new blogs at the bottom of the article.
Let’s get started!
Here are a few related articles you may want to read, too:
- How to Make Money Blogging for Beginners (The Smart Way): The Ultimate Guide
- 7 Critical Things You MUST Do Before Launching Your Blog
- How Much Does It Cost to Start a Profitable Blog?
My story: How I make money blogging right now
In this article, I’m going to walk you through my own journey with making money online through blogging.
I thought it would be helpful for you in case you’re thinking about starting a blog for earning passive income online.
My blogging journey has been long – and it hasn’t been easy.
I have put in an incredible amount of work into everything you see here and on my other blogs.
But despite a few rough patches, it has been a fun and empowering journey!
How it all started:
I started blogging back in 2016 when I was still working 9-5 in an office job.
Everything was going great: I had a nice job, a steady income, and I loved the industry I worked in.
But I started feeling like I wasn’t made for it.
Did I really want to spend the next 40 or so years sitting in an office day in and day out?
At that time, I had discovered programming and web development. It was something I felt 100% passionate about. I was spending my evenings (and sometimes nights, too!) learning how to code and create computer programs and websites of my own.
Coding was so much fun that I decided to quit my job.
And soon after that, I started a blog about my journey. I shared helpful tips and learning resources I used with other beginner programmers.
Recommended: 8 Easy Tips for Starting a Successful Blog TODAY
At that time, I wasn’t thinking about making money blogging. But before long, my blog traffic started to grow and I became aware of monetizing my content.
But unlike a bunch of other bloggers, my story wasn’t exactly a supernova explosion of instant financial success.
How I started making money blogging:
I had started a small web design business of my own, so that was paying my bills.
I loved working with different clients, learning more about how to build amazing websites every day.
And in the evenings, I spent my time creating more content for my blogging projects.
Slowly but surely, my blogs started making money through display ads and affiliate marketing. And even though I am not making six figures (at least not just yet), my blog income has made my life a whole lot easier.
Where I am right now:
Even if I can’t put tons of work into it regularly, the passive income allows me to take more time off.
I can spend more time with my family and friends. I’m free to work from anywhere in the world and I decide when I want to “go to work”.
In short: blogging has given me the freedom to work whenever and wherever I want.
I don’t know how long this is going to last but I feel so grateful for the opportunity to tap into this powerful online income source to make a decent living.
A word of warning about monetizing your blog
Before we dive into more details on how do people make money blogging, I want to take a minute to let you know that earning money online with a blog is not easy.
Starting a profitable blog is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
There are no shortcuts to success in this industry. You need to put in a lot of hard work and extra hours if you want to make a living as a blogger.
As in every article I write, I want to be as honest with you as I can. Especially when it comes to monetizing your blog, I want you to have realistic expectations.
That being said, in this article I will walk you through a few powerful money-making methods that have worked for me and other bloggers I know.
Just keep in mind that you won’t see progress overnight. In fact, you will need to put in tons of effort early on before you can see any substantial income from your blog.
Hence, blogging is just like any other business. Most beginners start seeing profits after 12 months of blogging.
Therefore, make sure you have a solid blogging strategy to follow. If you know exactly what you need to do to achieve your goals, you are more likely to keep going when things get tough.
How people make money blogging: Quick overview
The most important thing about making money with blogging is your blog niche.
If you are new to blogging, make sure you choose a profitable niche before you do anything else.
Once you know what you will blog about, it is time to do some research about the different monetization methods you can use.
Make sure you know your target audience before creating any content for them. After all, you need to know their question and problems in order to help them out, right?
When you are ready to write your first blog post, you want to figure out how you will make money with your blog in the long run. And that’s what I will help you with today.
Let’s look at my favorite money-making methods you can use!
1: Display advertisements
Display ads are the easiest and quickest way to start making money with your blog. They’re easy to set up and the income is 100% passive once you get things running.
But how do you make money with display ads, then?
First, you need to pick a display ad network to work with. Here are some of the most popular ad networks for small blogs:
You will place their ads on your blog and they are displayed to your readers. Depending on the ad network you choose, you will earn money in two different ways:
- Pay per click advertisements (PPC) will get you paid only when the readers on your blog actually click on the links put up in the ads.
- Pay per view (PPV) or impression ads will generate revenue based on how many people are on the given webpage coming across the advertisement.
At first, your display ad income will be small. The more traffic you have, the higher your ad income will be.
Thus, just have patience here and focus on creating valuable content your readers love to consume.
To get started with display ads, check out my article on how to make money with ads on your blog step-by-step.
2: Affiliate marketing
For most bloggers, affiliate marketing is the most powerful way to make money online apart from selling products of their own.
If you have a product you would like to recommend to your readers, you can become an affiliate partner and earn a commission for every purchase through your blog.
Compared to display ads, affiliate marketing is much more dynamic. It requires action from both you and your readers.
Here’s how affiliate marketing works:
- Choose a relevant affiliate product to promote:
When you know what your readers are struggling with, it’s easy to find products that could help them out. - Create a comprehensive, helpful article:
Discuss your readers’ problem in a value-driven blog post. Include an affiliate link in your blog post, too. - Solve the problem with the affiliate product:
Introduce your affiliate product and explain how it makes things easier for your readers. - Earn affiliate income with each purchase through your link:
When your readers click on your affiliate link and purchase the product, you earn a commission – at no extra cost to your reader, of course.
All in all, affiliate marketing is the best way to start making money when you’re just starting out.
As long as you know how you can help your target audience by recommending a product you trust and use, you can make your first sale quicker than you think.
Here’s a helpful article about how to write the perfect blog post. Feel free use the tips for your affiliate product posts, too!
3: Sponsored blog articles and paid content
Publishing sponsored, paid blog articles is quite simple. You team up with a brand or a business and write an article where you promote their products. If this helps your target audience with their questions and problems, it’s a win-win.
Most often, paid content consists of:
- Product or service reviews
- Comparison articles
- Informational articles about the brand etc.
Of course, your blog can’t survive on paid content only. Most often, sponsored articles have a tendency to sound too promotional and obvious.
Therefore, make sure you publish plenty of your own, valuable content, too. Nobody wants to read a blog that’s just a glorified billboard packed with paid content.
Thus, when it comes to sponsored articles, less is more!
4: Selling your own products and services
If you are interested in making some serious money with your blog, you should consider producing and selling your own products.
I know this might feel like a distant goal if your blog is brand new. However, most blog niches allow bloggers to create their own products much quicker than you might think.
How about writing an e-book to sell in your niche? With some careful planning, you could finish your first e-book in a matter of weeks.
The best thing about selling your own products is this:
You get to keep 100% of the revenue.
Instead of earning a small commission from an affiliate product, you have full control over everything.
Therefore, make sure you start by connecting with your audience. Find out what they need and create a product that makes their lives easier. You can create the perfect product for just your readers, meaning that they’re much more likely to purchase it, too.
The first thing you need to do is to start a self-hosted blog. That’s the only way to have control over your blog name, your content, and your online sales. Setting up an e-commerce system on your blog is no big deal these days.
How do people make money with brand new blogs?
Of course, monetizing your blog is easy if you already have a ton of traffic and email subscribers.
But what if your blog is brand new? Can you still make money online?
Absolutely.
Let’s look at a few powerful money-making methods for online income when you’re just getting started.
1: Find freelance work online
If you want to become a successful blogger, you need to be comfortable with writing.
And since you will use your writing skills to make a living in the long run, why not use them for earning a side income now already?
Here’s why you should give freelance writing jobs a try:
- Work whenever you want: If you’re doing this as a side hustle, online freelance work allows you to determine your own schedule. Do your freelance work during the day and spend your evenings with your blogging project.
- Improve your writing skills: Gathering writing experience will help you become a better writer. As a blogger, this will certainly come in handy.
- Tap into abundant opportunities: With an online freelancing platform, you can apply for jobs anywhere in the world. As long as you have solid writing skills in your language, you’re likely to find freelance work online.
You can easily find small freelance jobs on websites like Upwork.com or Freelancer.com.
It might take some work to land your first job and your rate might be lower than you expect. But once you have your first stellar review from a client, getting your next job will be much easier.
2: Offer your services to other bloggers
Every blogger out there is doing a bunch of similar, repetitive tasks. Any blogger who’s doing all of this alone can easily feel overwhelmed with everything on their plate.
There’s a lot to get done and some bloggers just hate certain tasks they do, such as:
- Strategy and planning
- Research and writing
- Online marketing
- Emails and cooperations
- Accounting and administration etc.
For some bloggers, online marketing might be something they love. But for many of us, it’s just something we need to do even though we’d much rather spend our time doing research and writing, for example.
Now, if you’re a huge fan of online marketing and you love spending your time spreading the word about your blog, why not offer your help to other bloggers in your niche, too?
Use your blog as a platform to market your services. Focus on a very narrow niche service first for maximum efficiency. Offer competitive rates to gather some practice first. You’ll be surprised by how many bloggers might be willing to work with you.
3: Support small online businesses in your niche
It’s no secret that the Internet is packed with millions of businesses who need help with their websites, blogs, or social media presence.
If you know how to set up a professional-looking blog with a few sub-pages like “About us” or “Contact us”, you already know more than 99% of these businesses.
Needless to say, those business owners might be willing to hire you to help them with building their online presence.
You could start by targeting small businesses in your area first. Approach them with a professional touch, let them know why you’d be the best person to help them out. Offer a competitive hourly rate or charge a project-based fee.
Again, this money-making method allows you to learn more about how the world of blogging works. Not only will you help others, but you’ll gather more online experience in your niche, too.
4: Promote a specific affiliate product
Last but not least, there’s affiliate marketing.
Now, you might think you need thousands of readers to start making money with your blog. However, the amount of traffic is just one half of it. The other half is the quality of your blog traffic.
Here’s the deal:
Even if your blog is new, you can promote a specific product or service with a powerful landing page on your blog. If you get it right, you can start making money literally overnight.
For a complete step-by-step guide to affiliate marketing, check out my article Affiliate Marketing for Dummies.
This is what you should do:
- Choose an affiliate product you know and trust:
Start by picking a product you use for your blog. It needs to be something you’d be comfortable recommending to anyone, including your best friends and family. - Create a landing page:
A good landing page is just a sub-page on your blog that focuses solely on a single product or topic. When you’re promoting an affiliate product, you could build a landing page with a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial on how to use it, for example. As long as your landing page solves a problem your readers are struggling with, they’re likely to purchase the product you’re recommending. - Promote your affiliate product page:
When your landing page is all set, you need to start marketing it to the relevant target audience. You can use social media, paid Facebook or Google ads, or approach a medium in your niche and ask if you could write a guest post for them with a back-link to your landing page.
The best way to make money with an affiliate product landing page is to start by finding a problem your readers have.
Then, solve that problem with the product and with your landing page article and promote the heck out of it. Try my proven Pinterest marketing strategy to drive traffic to your affiliate post fast.
Final thoughts: How do people make money blogging?
Even if you are just getting started with blogging. Even if you have never made money online before.
You can earn passive income with your blog with a few powerful monetization methods we discussed above.
The most important thing is to choose the right blogging niche before your do anything else.
As long as you have a step-by-step strategy to achieve your blogging goals, all you need to do is to work on one step at a time. This way, you can easily track your progress and feel like you are getting closer to your goal. Slowly but surely, you can build a solid online income source with your blog.
If you are new to blogging, make sure you check out my post on how to start a successful blog step-by-step. Then, figure out a long-term monetization strategy by combining at least a couple different methods.
Please let me know if you feel like I missed something in this post or if you have any questions about how do people make money blogging. I love learning about what you’re struggling with and how I could help you out with my upcoming articles.
- How are you planning to make money with your blog?
- What money-making methods have you used with a brand new blog?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!