Blogging is an excellent way to make money online (that isn’t a scam). In this post, I’ll share 7 of the top ways to make money with your blog.
I have to warn you that blogging is not a get-rich-quick type of scheme, so if you’re expecting to make money a day after your blog launch, you’ve set your hopes too high.
The most remarkable thing about blogging is that you can make money in the comfort of your own home, and there is no limit to how much money you can actually make.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, where I may receive a small commission on purchases at no cost to you. You can read my full affiliate disclosure here.
Can you make money blogging?
Yes, of course! Blogging is one of the best and most flexible ways to make money online.
Many bloggers can support their families, and the average blogger’s income is around $33,188/year (according to Glassdoor).
To make money blogging, you’ll need to stick out the first 3 to 12 months. In this time, you’ll most likely be writing content for free, learning Google SEO, and growing your social media.
It can be really tough, but the sky’s the limit to making money if you persevere.
Some people think it’s ridiculous how long it takes to make money, but everyone would be a blogger if you could make money on the first day.
Making money from blogging is also dependent on how much time you put into it. If you write a post every 2 weeks and don’t do keyword research, I’ll have to warn you that the results won’t be good.
So yes, you can make money blogging, but it’s also primarily based on how much time and effort you put into your blog.
Read my step-by-step guide on how to start a blog today
How do blogs make money?
Blogs can make money in dozens of ways, anywhere from advertising to writing sponsored posts or even selling digital products.
Below, I’ve included 7 different ways of how blogs make money.
1. Advertising
Advertising is the most common way to make money from blogging. Ads types are usually CPC or CPM.
CPC (Cost Per Click): Where you get paid only when someone clicks on an advertisement.
Example: Make $0.50 for each click.
CPM (Cost Per Mille/Thousand): Where you get paid a set amount for 1000 impressions.
Example: Make $25 per 1000 page views.
Advertiser Networks:
– Google Adsense ($100 minimum payout)
– Ezoic (10,000 monthly page views minimum)
– Mediavine (50,000 monthly sessions minimum)
– AdThrive (100,000 monthly traffic minimum)
The greatest thing about advertising with blogging is that it’s purely passive income.
Once you have a backlog of posts and traffic, you can earn a healthy amount from advertising without doing anything.
A great example of passive income is Adam Enfroy, who earns $485 each day with ads alone.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to make money from blogging. To make money, simply insert a tracking link (provided by the affiliate network) into one of your blog posts. If a person clicks on that tracking link and buys the recommended product, you earn a commission on the total purchase.
Commission rates can vary from company to company and are often between 1% to 40% (sometimes even more). For example, if a product is bought through your link for $199 and the affiliate commission rate is 40%, you’ll earn $79.60.
Affiliate networks to join:
– Amazon Associates (rates vary from 1% – 10%)
– ShareASale / Awin (15,200+ advertisers, 150+ million sales generated in 2019)
– ClickBank ($4.2+ billion paid out)
Helpful Tip: Search in Google: [Product/Service] Affiliate Program
Earning money through affiliate marketing is one of the most profitable ways to make money from blogging. This is because there are no overhead costs, and it’s pure profit.
I was able to earn my first affiliate commission of $2.09 with 55 page views. It goes to show you don’t need thousands of page views to make your first commission.
Affiliate Marketing Statistics (source):
– 48% of affiliate marketers globally earn $20,000 a year.
– 9.55% of all affiliate marketers are making over $100,000 a year
A great example of affiliate income is Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, who earns $50,000+ a month from commissions alone.
3. Sell digital products
Another way to diversify your income as a blogger is to sell digital products. The type of products you sell will depend heavily on the kind of niche you’re in.
Digital product examples:
– Ebooks
– Images or videos
– Printables (you can download my free savings printables below 😉 )
Where to sell digital products:
– Etsy
– Gumroad
– Sellfy
Selling digital products may not make you rich, but it can supplement your income.
4. Freelancing
Freelancing is a great way to provide a type of service and get paid from it.
For example, if I wanted a blog logo to be made for me, I could hire a freelance graphic designer on Fiverr to make it. They provide me the logo, and I pay them. It’s as simple as that.
The great thing about freelancing is that it’s really flexible, and you can be paid well.
To make money with freelancing from blogging, your content would need to align with the services provided. For example, I wouldn’t be writing photography reviews if I were a freelance makeup artist; it wouldn’t make me any sales.
Remember to link your freelancing services in your blog posts and create a page in your menu. This will give you the best chance to be hired and to make money.
Examples of freelancing:
– Writing content
– Logo design
– Proofreading
– Social media marketing
– Web design
5. Selling Courses
A great way to make money as an established blogger is to sell courses. I say an established blogger because, after 100 or so posts, your audience will have trust in you.
I couldn’t imagine that many people are buying courses from a blogger with 3 posts. Also, as a beginner, the course may not sell and could be a colossal waste of time and money. You need to learn what your audience wants to buy.
Platforms to sell courses on:
– Teachable
– Udemy
– Thinkific
Tip: Go onto Amazon and search a category in your niche. This will show you if others have found success selling products in that specific niche (try to find products with more than 100 reviews).
6. Flipping Blogs
Flipping your blog is a more extreme way to earn money as a blogger, but it can be highly profitable.
Blogs can sell anywhere from 12x, 24x, or 36x their monthly revenue. If I was making $4000/month on this blog, I could sell it for $144,000!
You could start up a blog, write about 30 or so posts, leave it for 12 to 16 months and sell it. In that time, your blog posts will be optimized for Google SEO and will be making money.
Where to sell a blog/website:
– Flippa
7. Write Sponsored Posts
Writing sponsored posts is a great way to earn consistent money from blogging. It’s as simple as writing about a brand or product and being paid by the brand to do so.
The rates change from niche to niche, but bloggers can expect anywhere from $100 – $1500+ to write a sponsored post.
Always make sure to have a contact page on your blog. This will allow potential brands to contact you.
Remember: Don’t undermine your payments to be accepted by a brand; learn to value your work.
Best blogging platform to make money
The best blogging platform to have complete control over your blog and monetization would be WordPress.org.
With WordPress, you can have complete control over where to place ads, affiliate links, you can sell products and more. You could choose a platform like Wix, Squarespace, or Blogger, but you won’t have the same freedom to make money compared to WordPress.
WordPress powers over 455+ million websites (source), so you’re in safe hands. The platform is entirely free, but you will need to buy a domain name and web hosting.
Step-by-step guide on how to start a blog with WordPress
I recently changed my web hosting from Bluehost to Cloudways (Digital Ocean) and absolutely love it. The speed and ability to host multiple websites on one server are what sold me.
Fastest way to make money blogging
The fastest way to make money from blogging would be by providing freelancing services.
Gaining consistent traffic from Google takes time; it can be anywhere from 6 to 12+ months. Instead of waiting for traffic to come, you can do freelancing work in the meantime.
Another fast way to drive traffic to your blog and to make money is by using social media. Participating in Facebook groups, posting to Twitter and Pinterest is an excellent way to get traffic to your blog. More traffic leads to sales and affiliate commissions.
I personally use Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog through manual pinning. Carly’s course, ‘Pinteresting Strategies’, teaches you how to drive traffic to your blog from Pinterest. Carly can drive 300,000+ visitors a month from Pinterest alone.
Buy Pinteresting Strategies (use the code ‘PINNING5’ for $5 off!)
Conclusion
So there we have it, how to make money blogging in 2021. Hopefully, these 7 ideas will allow you to make money online and expand your income streams.
With a lot of hard work and perseverance, you can make a full-time income from your blog.
How did you make your first dollar with blogging?