Chances are if you are reading this you either…
-Have a blog and are looking for ways to make money
-Have a blog and are looking for ways to make MORE money
-Are thinking about starting a blog and wondering if you can make money
Whichever one of those statements best describes you, this post is for YOU! I’m going to share several ways you can make money with a blog and then share tips for increasing the amount of money you make.
-Here are ways you can make money blogging (in no particular order)…
1. Affiliate Marketing/Links
Affiliate marketing/links means you get paid when your reader takes action. Basically what that means is if your readers click on a link and then buy a product, you get a portion of the sales. You can sign up for different affiliate networks or work with a company/product directly.
So for example, I have partnered with Tone & Tighten for an affiliate program so each time someone clicks on the link and buys a book, I get a portion of the sales. (p.s. not blogging related but if you’re looking for a new workout program I’d recommend checking this one out… Click here to visit Tone-and-Tighten.com.)
I would recommend checking out this post from Amy where she gives some great tips for using affiliate marketing/links and gives you a list of affilliate networks you can sign up for.
2. Advertisements
There are several different ways you can do this so we’ll cover a few of them. If you do nothing else after reading this post, I would suggest signing up for Google AdSense and then installing those on your blog. Even if you don’t have a lot of readers just yet, this is a way to begin passively making some money. However, as your blog grows I would suggest looking into different ad networks who can help you make more money than Google AdSense (for many of them you need to have a certain number of pageviews per month) or setting up your own sidebar ad program. If you are looking to set up your own program, Passion Fruit Ads is one way to help you set that up on your blog.
3. Sponsored posts
In my experience there have been two ways I’ve gone about doing sponsored posts…the first is through networking and connecting with companies directly. The second is through a network that facilitates connections between brands and bloggers.
I would offer one word of warning for these first three suggestions…don’t over do it! I recently came across a blog and the 10 most recent posts were all very clearly (and obnoxiously) sponsored posts. I didn’t feel like I was reading a blog to hear the voice of the blogger but rather sitting through commercials…and I don’t have time for that! So I’m all about having sponsored posts, ads, and affiliate links…but make sure your blog doesn’t come across as one giant billboard!
If you’re looking for networks to join here a few that I am a part of or have heard good things about from other bloggers…
If you’re still looking for more blogging networks here is a list to peruse.
4. Freelance Writing
Your blog isn’t the only place you can make money. Once you’ve established yourself as a writer, start submitting posts to other sites that are looking to pay for your contributions. Different sites offer varying levels of compensation and make sure you think about the time it will take to find pictures, include links, communicate with the company, etc when you are determining your prices. Here are some resources on freelancing blogging to get you started…
Make Money from Freelance Blogging by the end of the Month
5. Offer services
Once you’ve started to build up an audience, your blog can become a platform for offering services either to other bloggers or to a particular niche.
One example of this for me personally is I offer link up services. So bloggers who want to link up their posts to various link-up parties but don’t always have time to do it themselves
Be creative with the services you offer…you can offer coaching, web design, virtual assistant, and so much more!
6. Sell products
The wonderful thing about selling products is that for some products the bulk of the work can be done up front and then the money continues to come in down the road. This is especially true if you publish an ebook. The majority of the work is in writing the ebook but then once you begin to sell it, you will keep making money without having to continue to invest a ton of time and energy…you’ll probably want to continue to promote the book but that takes way less time than it took to write the book! Again, be creative with what products you sell and ask your readers what they need…printables, planners, products on Etsy…the sky is the limit!
Money-Making Tips
All of the above suggestions are great ways to make money on your blog but I also wanted to offer some general money-making advice…
– Choose your platform wisely…technically you can move your blog to a different platform later on but speaking from personal experience, it’s much easier to just start with a good platform. I think it is easier to make money on WordPress than on Blogger but please note, if you are on WordPress you have to be using wordpess.org…you MAY NOT monetize a wordpress.com blog!
– Diversify, diversify, diversify…it is very unlikely that your blogging income will come from just one source. There will be months when companies aren’t looking to do very many sponsored posts so if all of your income comes from sponsored posts than your income will be lower than you’d like. I would suggest creating several different streams of income for your blog so that you are making money every month.
–Don’t expect to make $33,875.93 your first month…you’ve probably seen pins on Pinterest about how a blogger made $20k or $30k in a single month with blogging but the reality is they didn’t do that their very first month.
-Create quality content…good content will bring new readers to your blog and continue bringing older readers back. And let’s be honest, without readers most of the ways to make money just don’t work! If nobody is reading your blog then there probably isn’t anyone clicking on the affiliate links or the ads in your sidebar.
–Build a community with your readers …the reality is that your affiliate links will work a LOT better if your readers trust you and your suggestions! Brands want to work with bloggers who are influencers and the best way to become an influencer is to connect with your readers and create a community.
–Study blog income reports…looking for new ways to produce income? Check out how other bloggers are doing it to get ideas! There are quite a few bloggers who produce income reports on their blogs and I have found some great ideas through those reports. Many of them also share what’s worked, what doesn’t work and you can learn from their successes and mistakes.
Smart Passive Income – just a note…I’m pretty sure there are very few bloggers making this kind of money but I just wanted to give you an idea of how this blogger diversifies!
Connect with other bloggers.,. other bloggers can offer tips and suggestions for how they’ve made money, increase your network because while a sponsored post might not be a good fit for their blog it might be great for you and they can pass it along. I would suggest connecting with other bloggers on social media, finding a blogging tribe (my tribe ROCKS!), attend a blogging conference (I’m going to Blended in September) or through link up parties.
Whew, that was a lot of information! I’d love to hear…
Do you make money with your blog? What has been the most effective way for you to make money blogging? What questions do you have about making money with your blog?
