As a blogger celebrating his 10 years behind the keyboard, I’ve found it a creative way to engage a broad audience for a wide range of purposes. Too often, new bloggers are starting to look for unique ways to make money blogging.
There are plenty of stories of people who make five to six-figure incomes monthly. And there’s also a ton of stories of people who gave up the journey before becoming successful. I’ve gathered twenty-three ways to make money blogging.
It’s important to remember that these aren’t get-rich-quick schemes, and many times blogging won’t make you rich. But incorporating these can make you some money, no matter what level of blogging you are currently at.
Here are numerous ways you can make money with a blog:
1. Affiliate
If you study any of the majorly successful bloggers, you’ll notice a recurring theme. They all participate in affiliate sales.
When a blogger becomes an affiliate, they receive a commission for any sales from their recommendations. If I were to tell you to run over to “The Best Site Ever” and purchase “The Greatest Invention in the World,” I would be affiliating for “The Best Site Ever” brand.
Signing up as an affiliate is one of the easiest things you can do to generate passive income. But it takes time and effort to get things set up before you see any income from this source.
There are plenty of affiliate sites that offer an assortment of brands looking for affiliates like ClickBank, Google AdSense, or CJ Affiliates. Or you could go straight to the source, like Target, Amazon, or Chewy.
There are two important things to remember about using affiliate programs.
One, compare the commission rates and payout options before deciding. Many times, you can sign up to affiliate with multiple brands. Second, when recommending products, choose higher-priced items, so you make more money.
Many companies send out weekly or monthly emails with products they want you to feature or recommend, making it easy for your to plan your affiliate pieces in advance.
2. Sponsored Posts
Another way to make money from your blog is through sponsored posts. With this method, you create content on your site that another company sponsors. You get paid by a business to write on your own site because they use your platform to access your audience.
There are multiple types of sponsorship content, including product reviews, buyer’s guides, recommendations, or company reviews that include links to the different landing pages.
In most cases, you are responsible for creating the content that the business sponsors. But in rare cases, a brand may provide you with a piece that they wrote. All you would have to do is upload it to your blog.
Although you are promoting a company or their wares, sponsored pieces are not advertisements. The goal is to educate and help your audience with a problem. Then you can explain why your recommendations would be the best solution.
Regulations set by the FTC (Federal Trade Commissions) require you to disclose any relationships you may have with a company you are featuring.
Usually, the statement goes at the beginning or end of your post and provides the company’s name, what you receive in return, and the terms.
If you get free products in exchange for a review or receive a commission from a sale, you have to inform your readers. And you have to be honest – you can’t say a product is great if it’s defective.
3. Product Reviews
There are plenty of companies that offer free products in exchange for product reviews. This method is a great way to get free stuff, but many businesses won’t offer monetary payment.
You can also combine product reviews with affiliate linking or sponsorship posts so you can make affiliate commissions from the products you’re reviewing.
When reviewing products, list the different features, their performance and compare to other brands, and relate them to real-life events to demonstrate what they can do.
4. Business Directory
Another great option for your blog is to create a business directory. This directory should consist of businesses within the same niche.
Your extensive list should include the business name, address, contact information, and website. The goal is to provide your readers with all the information they need in one handy area.
Once you’ve compiled all of your data, you can charge a fee for readers who want to obtain a copy. You have the option to set a wide scale of prices, depending on the size and collection of your list.
There’s no limit to the number of directories you can create but be sure you put effort into using up-to-date information. A few popular topics include directories for real estate, weddings, pets, restaurants, or home services.
5. Resource Page
Once you become an expert in your field, your opinion carries a lot of weight for your readers. Use your blog to recommend resources that you use, including services, products, and tools.
Is there an app that you rely on to keep you organized or makes your job easier? Do you use unique software that isn’t well known? Help your readers become the best by giving them the proper tools.
For writers, the best tools are Google Docs (or Microsoft Word), Grammarly, and Hemingway Editor. With these three key ingredients, you can craft well-written, error-free documents.
6. Job Boards
As a blogger, it can be challenging to find paying jobs. The same challenge exists for many types of independent or freelance workers.
Hosting a paid job board on your site is a great way to get repeat visitors – I call this term sticky. Many people choose to limit their boards to one particular niche, like writing or photography. But it’s possible to do an all-encompassing board.
There are multiple ways to monetize a job board. You can charge weekly or monthly subscription fees for access, but you’ll need to keep these continually updated with new jobs to be of value. Or you could charge a one-time fee for a list of jobs for the day or a whole week.
7. Ad Space
One of the first things most bloggers do when they’re ready to monetize their blog is selling ad space. With ads, you receive a fee for many views.
The downside of using ads to produce an income is it can take a long time to set up and accrue enough money to make a real profit. And depending on the number of ads and their placement, you may lose some customers. Many people refuse to stay on a site that keeps lagging due to the number of ads.
But if making money through ads is something you want to try (it can make good money), there are a few ways to do this. Signing up for a Google AdSense Pay per Click account is one of the most popular options.
8. Promote Services
You shouldn’t just use your blog to recommend other companies’ products. It’s also useful for marketing your unique services.
Most people host a blog in the same niche as their expertise area. Always be on the lookout for ways to promote your skills or services to your followers.
Create a price page listing the different services you offer and the prices. It’s also a good idea to provide an in-depth biography section highlighting your experience and career achievements.
Don’t be shy about tooting your own horn. You’re trying to convince your readers to choose you over the competition. Give them plenty of good reasons.
9. Sell Products
You shouldn’t just use your site for selling other people’s goods. Most blogs allow you to use plugins to install a shopping page.
Items you can sell on your blog include:
- Services like home repairs, cleaning, or pet care.
- Products like pictures you’ve taken or logos you’ve designed.
- Goods you’ve made like jewelry, clothing, or soaps.
- Even digital goods like templates.
When you sell digital products, there’s nothing to package or ship, saving you time and energy. Once you upload a digital good, multiple purchases can occur without refilling the product.
10. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another way to sell goods on your blog to make money without holding and shipping the items physically.
When you operate a drop shipping service, you offer goods for sale on your blog. Once a customer buys an item from you, a third-party supplier fills the order and ships it to your customer.
The best thing about selling using dropshipping is that you never have to worry about holding or keeping inventory stock. You won’t need to have any of the stuff you’re selling. You have to have a partnership with a supplier. Shopify makes it easy to add dropshipping to your blog.
11. Consultations
Another way to monetize your blog is to offer paid consultations to your customers. To be in a position to consult, you need to be a total expert in your niche.
In my case – I do blog content for expanding eCommerce brands as it’s something that has personally worked well for me.
You can offer one-time consultations for a flat fee or set up repeat sessions for a specific time period. If you’re going to use consultations, you’ll need to determine how you’ll communicate.
A consultation session can be done through Zoom, over the phone, through email, or instant message. Many people charge by the hour, however, I charge per project with instalment plans and I’ve become very selective towards who I work with.
12. Coaching
Coaching is similar to consultations, except you’ll likely meet with a single client multiple times over a set period. When you consult, you usually have multiple single-time customers.
When you coach a person, you help them learn how to do a process for themselves, using expert advice you’ve learned throughout your career.
To be a good coach, you have to know how to communicate fluently and how to break things down in a helpful manner. You can charge by the hour, session, or project.
13. Webinars
Most successful bloggers have discovered the power and profit of using paid webinars. When you host a webinar, you are streaming a live video to teach or inform about a topic.
Many webinars allow customers to attend the meeting in person (virtually) and host a question and answer session before ending.
You can use your blog for advertising the webinar you’ll be hosting at a different site or host the live event on your current site.
Charging a fee to access the webinar is an easy way to make money blogging, but you need to make sure you’ve got the right stuff to say and the proper equipment.
14. Online Classes
Do you have a foolproof way to learn a new skill or trade secrets that you’ve learned through years of experience?
With the right knowledge and experience, you can develop a series of online classes. Plenty of bloggers have created online courses that break down a complex topic into easier to manage lessons.
You can charge a fee for the entire collection or offer each lesson for a single price. Each piece should focus on one topic and cover all aspects of that area.
15. Bootcamps
Bootcamps are a fun way to inspire your clients to reach a set goal. Many fitness experts use a 30-day boot camp to Get in Shape, while fashion experts may offer an Achieve this Look in 6 Easy Steps camp.
There are unlimited options for what type of boot camp to host or how long they last. You can also offer different payment options based on your preferences.
16. Contests/Giveaways
One of the best ways to attract new visitors is to host a giveaway or contest. Everyone loves the chance to win free stuff.
You can set terms that require customers to buy an entry as a way to monetize your contests. Or you can limit the giveaways to paid members of your site, encouraging new members to sign up.
Working in partnership with other brands who contribute prizes is a great way to get extra promotions and reduce the amount of money you’ll have to spend on rewards.
17. Private Groups
Another easy way to make money blogging is to set up private groups. When you set up private access, you give paid customers access to more content than they would get as a free user.
You may decide to limit the number of free posts a client can access before they upgrade to a paid account. Or you could set up a member’s forum that’s only available to paid subscribers.
Many bloggers choose to set up a tiered membership, which allows your followers to enjoy paid content within their budget. Each higher tier increases in price and available features. You may also decide to offer discounted prices or free items as a thank you to your paid members.
When you have something of value, customers will be more willing to part with their money to get access to what you’re offering.
18. Public Speaking
If you’ve built up a following online as an influencer, you can use your popularity to score local public speaking gigs.
You may have to start speaking at events for free, but with the right exposure, you can start making real money by becoming a public speaker.
Many online fans enjoy getting to meet their favorite bloggers face to face. So be sure to market your speaking gigs on your blog and social media platforms so you can attract fans that already know your brand.
It can be tricky trying to find public speaking roles. Social media is a great place to advertise your availability. Contacting event managers may also help you score a job.
19. Write eBooks
If you’ve amassed a lot of knowledge about a topic, consider publishing an ebook or a whole series of ebooks that teach others everything you know.
You have a wide range of options when it comes to writing ebooks about your chosen niche. You can write short ones that explain a topic but don’t detail the many aspects. And then you could offer these separate pieces as a full collection for a set price.
Or you could write an all-encompassing guide that’s thousands of words to serve as a guide of sorts for your niche.
When publishing ebooks, you could choose to pitch to a publisher, self-publish using a booking agency, or publish them as downloadable PDFs directly off your website. When you publish through an agency, you can often get more exposure by being included in the company’s library.
20. Make Tutorials
For most people who’ve made it big, it took years of doing everything wrong before you figure out how to do it right. You can share your trials, errors, and successes to help others in your field of expertise learn how to do things right the first time around.
Many new beginners are willing to pay the price for resources that can help them get to the top faster rather than wasting time with methods that don’t work.
As someone who’s been there and done that, you can use your collective experience to create useful paid tutorials. You can offer these tutorials for varying prices or make them all the same price.
Some people even prefer to offer monthly memberships that allow customers access to all of the tutorials during your membership period.
21. Sponsor Social Content
If you have a large following, you can cash in on your popularity by accepting offers for sponsored social content. When you use this method, you share your client’s links or content on your social media channels for monetary reimbursement.
Using your social media sites for business should not be a new concept for anyone serious about developing a successful, well-known brand.
You can use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest to share your client’s content. Setting up a post can be done in a matter of minutes, and since it’s social media, there’s no need for creating long, time-consuming posts.
Bloggers and established influencers can make anywhere from a meager $25 up to $500 per post. Of course, the number of followers and your influence will affect how much you can charge.
22. Site Sponsorship
In many cases, you can receive site sponsorship, which means that a company or business provides full funding for your site and therefore has control of your site’s layout, look, content, and advertisements.
When you use sponsors for your site, you’ll usually have to display their name or logo in all your banner ads, any popups you allow, and in the sidebar. There may also be restrictions on what other advertisers you can use.
You may also have to publish content specifically curated to match the sponsor’s tone of voice and content. If getting your site sponsored by a business sounds like a good idea, shop around to find businesses that match your ethics and values.
Remember that your name will be linked to theirs, so you don’t want to choose a company with bad standings or reputation.
23. Donations
The final way that you make money blogging is to ask for donations. Instead of charging your clients for your content, you can add a donations page or start a Patreon account.
Then you can create a popup or a banner at the top of every page that says thanks to your readers for their support. It should then ask them to consider making a small donation as a sign of appreciation for your useful content. Word this request to match your business needs.
Many professionals would be willing to donate money to other professionals if they receive something valuable to build a better career.
When you’re first starting with blogging and websites, you may feel self-conscious about asking others to give you money. But consider this – you’ve done all the work, and you’re offering a valuable resource to the general public for free.
Allowing your customers to pay as a donation means that everyone can benefit from your work, regardless of their budget. They may only afford a $5 donation, so you would lose some customers if you were selling your products for $20 or $30.
In Closing
I’ve given you twenty-three valid ways that you can make money from writing a blog.
The best sites will combine various methods so you can earn passive and active income, even when you’re not updating or posting new content. Affiliate linking will get you the biggest earnings, as they have done for me.
Happy blogging.
