People are often surprised to learn that people make a living as a blogger. I am not here to disappoint you. Yes you can make a lot of money blogging!
There are bloggers making over $20,000 month, but blogging requires time and work if you are looking to replace your full-time job. Trust me, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it!
Online content has become a huge demand over the past few years due to the rise in technology and the amount of users on the internet.
If you’ve dwelled on the subject yourself, you might be aware of what a blog is. I get a lot of questions from people asking me “What is a Blog” and “How do Bloggers Make Money”. Then I am here to help!
This post may include affiliate links. If you make a purchase using any of my affiliate links I may get earn money, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more please read the Affiliate Disclosure.
WHAT IS A BLOG?
A blog is an online space where you can post multiple kinds of content for an audience to see. You can choose from a bunch of different niches, and your content would provide entertainment, information, or both.
A blog answers viewers questions.
Whether or not someone is looking for new recipes for the instant pot, how to start a business, or even information on dating and marriage, the search engines will most likely lead you to some form of blog.
HOW DO BLOGGERS MAKE MONEY?
So how a blogger make money? Making money as a blogger comes down to driving traffic to your website.
Once you get traffic to your website, there are different ways to generate income from those page views.
ADS
Ads allow businesses to promote themselves on your blog. When your audience sees an ad they like, they click on it, maybe even purchase the product. Either way, they provide the business with value in the form of sales or traffic. In exchange for the opportunity to advertise, the ad network pays the blogger.
In order to make real money with ads, you have to work with larger ad networks such as Mediavine and Adthrive. In order to partner with those networks you have to meet their minimum requirements?
While some ad networks have a minimum limit of monthly sessions or page views required to partner with them, others don’t care at all.
For example, in order to partner with Mediavine, they require 50,000 monthly sessions (60,000 page views). In contrast, Adsense does not have those requirements, so it is typically easier for a new blog to start working with them early on, but the pay is minimal.
Any particular brand or company relevant to the type of content your blog has, could also contact you directly to display their ads on your blog.
HOW DOES A BLOG MAKE MONEY THROUGH ADS?
There are two ways you generate revenue through ads:
- Paid per click (paid for every person who clicks on the ad)
- Paid per impression (paid on every impression the ad gets, regardless of whether the audience clicks on it).
If you’re working with an ad network, you get your revenue through their system. However, if you’re working with a brand or business directly, they are responsible for your payments.
WHEN IS A BLOG READY TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH ADS?
Essentially, you can start putting on ads right after starting your blog. But if you just started, you probably don’t have an audience yet. If people aren’t visiting your blog, why would anyone want to display their ad on it? So, unless you have an audience or page viewership of at least 25,000 per month, you can’t generate a decent income from ads.
Don’t worry, it sounds like a lot, but getting there does not take a lot of effort. It just requires patience and consistency.
SPONSORED POSTS
Sponsorships are collaborations between a blogger and a company or brand, where the company pays the blogger to promote their service or product.
A sponsored post is a post in which whatever you publish on that post is for the sole intention of promoting your sponsor’s product or service to your audience.
You just have to introduce and discuss the product or service with your audience. For that, you get paid by the brand.
HOW DOES A BLOG MAKE MONEY THROUGH SPONSORSHIPS?
The brand itself reaches out to you and offers you sponsorship. They pay you directly, and that’s how you make revenue.
Certain agencies and networks act as mediums to connect brands and bloggers of similar interests. By working with these networks, you can get sponsored indirectly.
If you choose the first method of working directly with the brand or company, the payments are usually negotiable. However, the case is different when you decide to work through an influencer network such as (Influence network), then the pay rate is typically non-negotiable.
WHEN IS A BLOG READY TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH SPONSORSHIPS?
Think about it!
Why would brands want to sponsor you for promotions? There are only two things you can provide them with: an audience or useful content.
If a brand is looking for sales and viewerships, you must have a good number of viewerships. If they’re looking for relevant content, make sure you have enough of it on your blog.
Ready to learn where blogs usually make the big bucks?
PRODUCTS
You read that right. You can sell products on your blog, and what is a blog that sells products?
A Business!
A Money Making Business!
You can sell so many different kind of products on your blog, and the big money makers are not even physical products.
Thats right! You do not have to physically make anything or ship anything to gain a lot of income monthly on your blog.
Products can include physical products such as custom apparel, hair products, accessories. You can create your own unique product that you know your viewers would take high interest. Many bloggers make a brand out of their blog and start their own business online – their content gives them authority in their niche which creates consumer trust.
But products also include DIGITAL PRODUCTS such as courses, guides, workbooks, templates, ebooks. You make these products once, and then make them available for immediate download to print or customize, or read.
Digital products are considered passive income, because after the creating the products, no additional work is needed you to make money other than driving viewers to your page.
HOW DOES A BLOG MAKE MONEY THROUGH PRODUCTS?
It works the same way a business does. Your customer pays you, and you can receive the amount directly or have a team that handles your revenue. If you plan to sell digitally, you can offer digital methods of payment. If you plan to sell on stores and counters, you can get your revenue by hand.
WHEN IS A BLOG READY TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH PRODUCTS?
Essentially, you can start selling products as soon as you create a blog. However, stats conclude that you only get revenue from 5 to 10% of your audience. So, the more audience you have, the better chances of making good sales.
SERVICES
Like products, you can offer paid services on your blog. These could be consultations, catering, evaluations, coaching, or anything else that aligns with your blog’s niche.
What is blog’s potential to sell services? It works the same way you sell products. If you market your services the right way, you’ll get plenty of revenue through your audience.
HOW DOES A BLOG MAKE MONEY THROUGH SERVICES?
When your audience recognizes your expertise in your respective niche, they start considering investing in any other services that you might offer.
Suppose you’re a finance manager who is running a blog about your work, interests and finance-y stuff. In that case, you can offer your audience consultations to help them in managing their own personal or business finances. Either way, your client or customer will be the one paying you. They may pay you directly or through a manager/assistant.
WHEN IS A BLOG READY TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH SERVICES?
As soon as you create your blog, you can start offering your services. Again, the more traffic your blog has, the more money you can generate.
There is no minimum limit as to when you’ll start earning income. You might get ten bookings for consultations out of 10 subscribers or none at all. It depends on how effectively you market your services and display your content.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Being an affiliate means you’re advertising someone else’s product or services in exchange for a commission on every sale they make from your referral.
It may sound similar to being a sponsor, but with a sponsor you are getting paid just to advertise, and as an affiliate you are getting paid a certain commission for getting people to sign up or purchase a product.
For example:
You may find a blog recommending a product, and when you click on that product it takes you to amazon to purchase. That person is an affiliate with amazon and is getting paid a commission if that product is purchased within a certain time frame. This is where “cookies” come in. The cookies link you to the referral link, and that’s how they know you sent that viewer.
Another example is someone recommending Canva to make Pinterest posts, they may even offer a discount. If they are an affiliate for canva they will use their affiliate link, so if you sign up for canva they get paid a commission with canva.
Money you make as an affiliate marketer can be a one time commission, or it can even be a monthly commission you make each month as long as the person you referred is still paying monthly for a particular service.
HOW DOES A BLOG MAKE MONEY THROUGH AFFILIATE MARKETING?
How much money you can make depends entirely on the individual affiliate program and its details.
Their are many affiliate marketing programs you can earn substantial income from
WHEN IS A BLOG READY TO MAKE MONEY THROUGH AFFILIATE MARKETING?
Some brands and businesses have a minimum quota of subscribers, followers, and viewerships before you can become an affiliate. If the brand you choose to work with does not have a minimum requirement, you can start marketing whenever you wish.
However, the amount of audience still matters. The more people you have following your blog, the more sales you can make, and the more revenue you get.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s actually not that difficult to make money off of a blog. All you need is a plan, useful content, creativity, and the will to put in the work.
Take the first step: create your blog and start uploading valuable, original content.
What is a blog that generates money overnight? Non-existent!
There are no shortcuts to blogging.
You need consistency and patience to grow your audience. Once you have enough people visiting your blog, the money will flow. So, making content that attracts your audience and giving them value should always be your priority.
Time is money! Just START!
