How to Make Money as a Blogger

In this article we’ll be covering how to make money as a blogger.

We’ll start by outlining the seven most popular methods bloggers use to make money.

Then, we’ll go over the important framework bloggers need to follow to start and make money with their blog.

Which will set you up perfectly so you can make money as a blogger yourself!

Popular Methods to Make Money Blogging

While there are many ways to make money as a blogger, we’ll keep it simple and focus on those that are the most popular and easily achievable for bloggers.

Also, a few of the links to products in this post are affiliate links.  This means if you click through and go on to make a purchase I’ll make a small commission at no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products that I know will provide good value for readers like you.

Here are the most popular methods to make money as a blogger:

Earn Money with Affiliate Marketing

One of the first (and easiest) ways to start making money as a blogger is through affiliate marketing.

With affiliate marketing, you include links in your blog posts to other companies’ products.

When people click through those links and go on to make a purchase, you earn a commission.

Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing

To get started, you signup to become an affiliate for the product you want to link to.

I go much deeper into this in my post on Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing.  It’s definitely worth the read!

The best way to be successful with affiliate marketing is to test out the product you’re considering linking to first.

Then if (and only if) you really like the product, write a review or recommendation blog post about it.  Include your links inside that post.

If you don’t like the product, don’t recommend it.  Even if it’s a high paying affiliate.

People can spot bogus recommendations.  It’s best to avoid those and not ruin your blog’s reputation.

I have a great case study on my own experience with affiliate marketing and how it can be a good source of passive income.

Here’s that case study:

How I Made $5,521.62 From One Blog Post

Display Google Adsense Ads on Your Blog

Another easy way to get started making money as a blogger is to include Google Adsense ads on your blog.

You see these often on many blogs and websites.  They can be images, text only or even videos.

While putting ads on your blog is easy to do, I’d suggest waiting until you get regular traffic to your blog each day.

Until then, you won’t make much.

The way to get started is to signup for a Google Adsense account.  Once you get approved, you’ll be able to get a small block of code that you put on your blog to make the ads appear.

Then, when a visitor clicks on an ad, you get paid for that ad click.

Keep in mind, you’ll be losing that visitor to another website when they click on the ad.

However, some ads can pay well in certain niches.  You’ll need to determine if it’s worth it or not.

Sell an Online Course

To sell an Online Course, you take your experience in a topic and teach it through videos, audio and presentations that you create for your course.

It takes time to create an online course, but the return on investment (your time, mostly) can be great since online courses can be sold for a premium price.

So, if you have expertise in a particular topic and aren’t afraid to teach, I’d definitely suggest trying to make money as a blogger through online course sales.

Make Money with Digital Products

Another product you can sell is a digital product.

Two popular examples of digital products are eBooks and “done for you” templates.

For example, I created an eBook called “Wine with Friends” that goes along with my wine blog, Honest Wine Reviews.

I sell it on Amazon on their Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.

Just as popular as eBooks are templates.

These are things like personal financial workbooks, Instagram post templates, lead magnet templates and more.

Many people just aren’t good at graphic design.  Because of that, people are willing to pay for an easy-to-use template.

If graphic design interests you, creating templates to sell on your blog might be right up your alley!

Sell Printables

A trend that continues to grow with bloggers, is to sell printables.

Printables are things like planners, workbooks, calendars, spreadsheets and other items that you print out and use.

They’re great products to help people get organized, solve problems, track their progress and more.

And, the barrier to entry to creating them is low.  Often times, something as simple as a finance tracker can be made using a spreadsheet program.

You may already have things like these that you previously created and use everyday for yourself.  If you think they could help someone else, they probably can.

You probably won’t be able to see your printables for a high dollar amount, but if you sell enough of them it may be worth it.

Earn Revenue with Coaching

To become a coach, you first need to have enough expertise in a topic so that you can coach someone else.

Now, you might be wondering, what kind of coach could you become?

Well, there’s a lot of different types of coaches.  But some of the more popular ones include:

• Fitness
• Finance
• Healthy Eating
• and of course, many more.

So, if you have expertise in a topic where you can help others, it might be worth your time to give coaching a try.

To start selling your services as a coach, you create a page on your blog that specifically explains your services and includes a link where people can contact you to learn more.

And as an added bonus, the blog posts you write for your niche will help to get people to know, like and trust you.

Those blog posts will increase your chances of someone reaching out to learn more about your coaching services.

Get Paid to Be a Freelance Writer

One of the things that takes up a lot of time in the blogging world is creating content.

Blog posts, for example, require quite a bit of research.

Plus, the time it takes to actually write the posts.

Now, if you love writing, then becoming a freelance writer might be perfect for you.

If you’re good at writing, and are willing to do the research to write a well thought out article, there’s plenty of opportunities out there.

So, similar to a coach, you would create a page on your blog to sell your services from.

It could also be a place where you showcase your portfolio by linking to posts you’ve written.

So, love to write?  Become a freelance writer!

Earn Money Through Sponsored Posts

A sponsored post is a blog post you write in partnership with a company that pays you to include a mention of their product in your post.

While it’s not uncommon for bloggers to make hundreds of dollars or more for a sponsored post, you’ll need to have a lot of traffic to be successful.

That’s because the sponsor’s goal is to get as many eyes on their product as possible.

Also, sponsors like to see that you also have a large social media following.

So, if you have the traffic and social presence, consider putting a page on your blog for sponsors to learn more about you and why they should work with you.

Create a Membership Site

The last method to talk about is the growing trend of Memberships, also called Membership Sites.

With a membership site, you create a platform where you publish premium content and charge people a recurring fee to access that content.

Often times the content is also enhanced by private access to a community and office hours with you (the instructor).

You’ll also find cases where someone has blended their online courses and membership site.  In this case they provide access to their online courses as part of the membership.

Depending on membership levels they setup, you’ll have access to various courses and features depending on the cost.

For example, at the “base” level you may only have access to one or more online courses.  Whereas at the “premium” level, you get all the courses, office hours, access to the community and more.

The big advantage of this method of making money is that your income is recurring and easier to plan on.  Whereas, with an online course it’s usually just a one-time payment.

The disadvantage is the ongoing maintenance and creation of premium content.  If the membership site becomes stale, members will stop paying the recurring fees and leave.

Step-By-Step Framework to Start and Make Money with Your Blog

Now that you’ve seen seven popular ways bloggers make money, let’s cover the framework to get you there.

To make money as a blogger, you first need to make some decisions about your blog.

You’ll then need to get your blog online, start promoting it and start selling.

Here is a framework you can follow to get your money making blog up and running:

Choose Your Niche

Start by getting clear on what your passions and skills really are.

This is important because your blog should reflect those things and if you try to create a blog that’s out of alignment with your passions and skills, you may not be able to sustain it.

You see, when you’re passionate about what your blog is about, that will show up in your writing.

In turn, that will make people more interested in what you have to say.

They’ll literally feel the excitement in your words!

And when you blog about something that you’re skilled in, people will identify you as an authority in your niche.

How-to blog posts (for example) are great for this!

Solving someone’s problem through a well-written how-to post is a great way to get someone to remember you and to come back for more.

Now, while you’re thinking about how your skills and passions can be turned into a blog, also think about potential products or services you could offer on your blog.

Give some thought to whether there’s a market for your product or service, too.

If your potential product or service intersects with your passions, your skills and the market, you’ll then have the best chance to make money as a blogger.

Evaluate Your Market

After you’ve come up with an idea for your product or service, evaluate the market to see if it’s viable or not.

It’s OK to have a unique spin, but a product or service that doesn’t address a need is unlikely to be successful.

Once you’ve determined that there’s a market, commit to your product or service and plan to use your blog to sell it.

Determine Your Brand

After determining your blog’s niche and your product or service, there’s another important decision you need to make.

And that is the type of brand your blog is going to be (Personal or Descriptive).

A personal brand usually means that your blog’s name (and domain) is going to be your own name.

A descriptive brand means that your blog’s name and domain is going to reflect the description of what your blog is about.

An Example

As an example, the blog you are reading right now is called Online Business Ambitions.

It’s not named after me (Jon Rogers).  It’s named after what the blog is about (Online Business).

So that means it’s a descriptive brand and not a personal brand.

Something to keep in mind is that as time has gone by, many personal name domains have already been taken.

So, you may not have a choice but to go with a descriptive brand name.

Also, if you want to sell your blog one day, it will be harder to sell a personal brand than a descriptive brand.

But, at the end of the day, the choice is yours!  Both work, so do what you feel is best for you.

Get Your Blog Online

Once you’ve got all the stuff we talked about above sorted out, the next step is to get your blog online.

To do that, you purchase a hosting package that often includes both your domain name and the service to put your blog onto the Internet.

One of the most affordable and popular hosting companies is Bluehost.

They offer hosting for a very low monthly price and give you your domain name for free for the first year.

When you signup with them, their online wizard walks you through getting your blog online.

It’s pretty straightforward.

Click here to learn more about Bluehost

They’re definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re a beginner and blogging is new to you.

Get Started with Email Marketing

After your blog is up and running, the next big step is to build an email list.

Your email list is your list of subscribers that are interested in your blog and want to hear more from you.

If you’re truly interested in making money as a blogger, building an email list is very important.

Once you’ve gained your subscribers’ trust and given them lots of value by emailing then about your free content, you then can sell to them.

You could email them about your latest offering or about an affiliate product you recommend, for example.

But as mentioned above, before selling to them, be sure to email them each week about your latest blog posts or even just to give them some great tips and advice related to your niche.

That’s how you give them value…  Through free content.

Now, to build your email list, many bloggers swear by a company called ConvertKit.

I use them too, and have found that they make email marketing as easy as possible.

You can even use them to build landing pages that you’ll use to get subscribers onto your email list.

Everything I’ve described above comes free with the ConvertKit Free Plan.

And as you grow, they offer paid plans that let you automate all your email marketing and do even more.

But, when you’re first getting started, the free plan is perfect! 

Start Promoting Your Blog

Once your blog is up and running, you’ll need to let the world know about it!

You can start with social media and move on to more advanced methods as time goes on.

Also, there’s a great cycle of promotion that occurs as you start to build your email list (mentioned above).

You see, as people come onto your list, you’ll start emailing them.  That in itself is promotion that keeps people coming back to your blog!

Start Selling

Whether it’s your product or service, or products you’re an affiliate for, begin promoting and selling in order to actually make money from your blog.

From here, continue by developing more income streams and increasing promotion of them.

By doing so, you’ll be well on your way!

FAQ’s

Conclusion

And let’s wrap up by summarizing what we covered.

Popular Methods to Make Money as a Blogger:

• Affiliate Marketing
• Google Adsense Ads
• Online Courses
• Digital Products
• Coaching
• Freelance Writing
• Sponsored Posts

The Step-By-Step Framework to Make Money as a Blogger:

• Choose Your Niche
• Evaluate Your Market
• Determine Your Brand
• Get Your Blog Online
• Get Started with Email Marketing
• Start Promoting Your Blog
• Start Selling

I hope you enjoyed this post and I’d love to hear from you!

Comment below with your thoughts on this post AND your best advice on how to make money as a blogger.