How does Blogging Make Money?

There may be affiliate links in this article about “how does blogging make money?” read the full disclaimer here.

After you read this article you will have learnt the answer to the question “how does blogging make money?” 

I don’t want to faff around so let’s get into it!

There are 3 main ways to monetise a blog.

1. Advertising
2. Affiliate Marketing
3. Creating and selling your own products or courses

1. Adverts

You probably know there are 2 different ways to make money from advertising:

1. Advertising Networks
2. Direct advertising/ sponsored posts

Advertising networks

This is probably what most people will think of when they think of making money from adverts.

There are a few different networks that bloggers can use but here are the main ones:

• Google AdSense- Little requirements, I’ve heard it helps to have a website for 6 months
• Monumetric- need 10,000 page views a month
• Mediavine- need 25,000 page views a month
• Ad Thrive- need 100,000 page views per month

As you can see there are different requirements to work with each network but the ads generally pay more the harder the requirements are.

So how do you get paid from having adverts on your website?

That is the right question!

You generally get paid in one of 2 ways:

1. Cost per thousand (CPM) i.e. $4 for every 1,000 views 
2. Pay per click (PPC)

If you are a new blogger it’s best to start with Google AdSense even though the pay will be the lowest.

It will probably pay around $2 per thousand “impressions” (how many people see the ad i.e. view your website) i.e. 10,000 views in a month pays $20 (so it’s not much!)

Now, I can almost hear your mind saying…

“But that will make my website look tacky!” 

You may have a point but here are 4 BIG reasons why you should use adverts ASAP:

1. Your readers will be used to seeing ads… so it won’t be a big shock when you add them!
2. If you have a post that does go viral you will be thankful you had them on there.
3. Something is better than nothing, it can offset other costs such as automatically pinning on Pinterest with tailwind 
4. People are used to seeing ads everywhere (Youtube, TV, Podcasts, Newspaper etc.)

Not only that, you can actually help connect people with products that may help them if you choose good and relevant adverts to what you write about.

Starting with AdSense helps to learn the process.

It will make the future switches much easier to know where to place the ads and how to work with the network etc.

Related Article:

Bloggers! How to make money with Adverts

Direct Advertising/ Sponsored Posts

Now, this way is slightly less well known but it can be more lucrative for beginner bloggers.

Direct advertising is when a company reaches out to you to either publish a post on their behalf or ask you write a post for them. It may be a review of a product or simply a post about their industry.

The idea is that they would want a link to their product or their own website and your blog will send targeted traffic there!

The price of this can vary greatly but will typically be over $150 and can go into the $1,000’s depending on how relevant and big your website is.

So let’s move onto the next monetisation method…

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2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the best thing for bloggers since sliced bacon!

A big reason some people never start (or quit too soon) is because they don’t know what product to create… YET!

The best thing about affiliate marketing is that you can start earning a decent income without even having your own product! It’s not uncommon for bloggers to earn $6,000+ per month from promoting other people’s products. 

Now, I used to get a bit funny about “selling” stuff to people. Especially when it isn’t even my own product!

However, let me ask you this…

Have you ever watched a film that you recommend a friend go and see at the cinema? Or have you ever told a friend about an amazing deal after you found one in H&M? 

Of course you have!

That’s why as long as you only recommend great products that will help other people, you’ll actually be providing a service. If they buy it and it helps them then they will thank you for it!

Affiliate marketing is all about connecting people that are already looking for a product.

The important thing is to be honest.

I mean think about it… If you’ve tried the product out you are much more likely to know some of the things that other people will be concerned about or looking for.

Related articles:

• 8 Ways to Avoid a Scam Online
• 6 Questions all Bloggers Need to Answer

There are loads of other programs or products you can become an affiliate of and a whole range of different “niches” (topics) you can choose to write about.

Examples:

• Amazon Associates– anything!
• Shareasale– almost anything!
• Clickbank– mainly digital products
• CJ Affiliate program– almost everything
• Shopify– eCommerce
• Rakuten– Online store

And here are some popular blogging affiliate links:

• Leadpages- Online marketing tool
• StudioPress- WordPress themes
• ConvertKit– Autoresponder
• Bluehost– Hosting service
• Tailwind– Pinterest scheduler
• Wealthy Affiliate– Affiliate marketing training, support and hosting service.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can monetise your website and particularly how you can get the most success from affiliate marketing then try out this free email course. 

Some of what it covers:

• What do you NEED to get started (that most people don’t know)
• How to write quality content
• Optimise the 2 most important pages on your website
• The secrets to email marketing 
• What is the future of digital marketing?
• Get traffic on tap

So this leads us onto the third and last way (or is it the last way?) of monetising a website…

3. Creating and selling your own products 

So this is where the big boys and girls make the BIG money!

Check out Brand Gaille’s Income Report Study. This shows how bloggers earning over $25k per month make 80% of their income from their own courses. 

However, you don’t have to be an experienced blogger to start creating some of your own products.

For example, you could create a free 7-day Pinterest course, that you’d send out with your autoresponder, and a $7 Workbook that compliments this course nicely so you can get the most out of it!

Try out this free course if you want to instantly get more eyes on your website (FYI there is not an upsell for a $7 workbook!!)

There is one thing to bear in mind though…

Make sure people actually want what you are offering.

This is a common mistake that some businesses make early on. They may create an amazing product but they have not tested to see who their target market is or IF anyone wants it!

The beauty of blogging (if you do offer good content) is that you will begin to have subscribers and people that are interested in what you are doing.

You can then just ask them what they want or what they find the most interesting and create products related to this!

So as I hinted earlier there is another way to make money online.

It’s great to get some income early on, and it’s great to learn more… 

BONUS- Consulting or Services 

So this is not necessarily a way to make money from your blog. However, it is so closely linked that I think it should be included in this post on how does blogging make money.

You can write/ proofread/ advertise for other businesses or bloggers for an agreed upon rate.

Some people may start writing posts for less than $0.10 per word but some freelance writers will earn $1,000’s per post that they write for someone else.

It’s a great way to supplement your income when starting out in the blogging world.

This will require hustle to find people or companies willing to do this, and you may have to offer a lower price than what you are worth to get started and learn the ropes. 

Grant Sabatier speaks about how overdelivering early on can have huge benefits to create a system that other people want and are willing to pay more for.

Check out the podcast for more details:

How to make $50,000 in 4 days and Reach Financial Freedom with Grant Sabatier.

Feel free to contact me here if this is something you are looking for:

mike@maketimeonline.com

Related articles:

How to Make Money at Home

Another way some bloggers will make money is by consulting or coaching other bloggers.

This can really vary from specific feedback, goal setting, deciding on a niche etc.

Remember to pin this post on “how does blogging make money”…

How does Blogging Make Money Summary 

As you get closer to the end of this article you begin to realise the answer to the question, how does blogging make money.

There are the main 3 ways to monetise a blog:

1. Advertising 
2. Affiliate marketing
3. Creating and selling your own products

But remember, consulting or offering services is the most common way for bloggers to start making money early on. It helps to learn and develop these skills, whilst making money from doing so. 

And do you begin to realise the importance of starting a website and continuing to learn? 

Keep changing for the better

Mike