Are you thinking, “Can I make money blogging?” You may see hundreds of blogs across the internet. They are helpful resources that can offer you advice, expertise, community, and more on every topic under the sun.
But can blogging make you money?
The simple answer is YES! Blogging can make money. Want proof? Head to Google and type “blogger income report” and you’ll see the results.
These are real income reports from bloggers.
They show:
- How much the blogger made (usually over a month, quarter, or year)
- How they made money
- Income sources
They might also show other helpful info like traffic sources, why they chose to publicize their income report, and additional helpful tidbits that you’ll love.
So you see, bloggers DO make money.
My first blog started earning four figures per month in the first few months and I’ve mastered a strategy to rinse and repeat the process on blogs I create (psstt.. I’ll be talking about this in this blog). So keep reading while we uncover more about how bloggers make money.
7 Ways you Can Make Money Blogging
There are a few ways that blogs make money, here are a few examples:
- Ads
- Products
- Services
- Courses
- Sponsorships
- Affiliate marketing
- Offer Memberships and Subscriptions
So these are the 7 main categories of blog income. Let’s break down each one.
Ads
Ads are the most passive form of blogging income. You apply to an ad network like:
Then, once approved, you can have ads on your site.
With Google Adsense, you’ll have the freedom to go in and create different ad sizes, get the ad code and place it anywhere you want on the blog, like your sidebar, your header or footer, in the body of your blog posts, etc. Then, when visitors click those ads, you get paid.
Easy!
They don’t have to sign up to anything, buy anything, or do a trial. You get paid on the click!
With Mediavine and Adthrive, these networks are reserved for higher traffic bloggers. Mediavine grants approval once you hit 50,000 sessions per month and Adthrive will approve when you’re at 100,000+ monthly page views. Then, they manage all the ads for you. They will place them on your site and you literally do nothing, while you sit back and earn money blogging with the passive income that ads produce.
Products
Products can be a great form of passive income, when you venture into digital products.
Here are some examples of digital products bloggers sell:
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Craft Patterns
- Stock Photos
- Printables
- Templates
Examples of physical products:
- T-shirts, sweatshirts (merch)
- Mugs
- Prints
- Books
Products can make bloggers the most money. In fact, this blogger is known for her $400,000 product launches.
$400K!
That is a very lucrative annual salary multiple times over, isn’t it?
Freelance Services
If you have a blog in a niche that you have a lot of experience in then you might be able to provide services to your readers.
Examples include:
- Consulting
- Coaching
- Other services related to your niche.
One of the best things about freelancing is it doesn’t require any upfront investment in time or money. You can just start offering a freelance service to your current audience.
Courses
Sponsorships
Sponsorships are one of the most fun and rewarding ways to earn money as a blogger.
If you get a sponsor, you’ve made it to the big time! Ok, not really but you are getting there and yes, even newbie bloggers can get sponsors.
I got a paid sponsor that earned me $250 promoting them in my first month on a brand new blog! Not $250 in product either, $250 cash, straight to my PayPal account. And, you can totally do the same.
Working with a sponsor means you have partnered with a company to promote them on your blog.
A partnership like this means you’ll earn cash, free product, or both, in exchange for promotion on your blog. Promotion might include things like:
- An email blast to your email subscribers
- A social media blast to your social media fans and followers
- Feature on your blog
- Running a giveaway for the company
- Doing a video demonstration
It’s like when celebrities get paid to promote companies like Wheaties or Weight Watchers. Same thing. Today, influencers are becoming the new “celebrity.” Consumers are looking for real advice and turning to actual people instead of celebs. They want someone they can relate to and that’s hard to do with a movie actress, recording artist or other celebrity.
You can make money with sponsors. You got this!
Affiliate Marketing
I usually start earning affiliate commissions in my very first month on a new blog. Here’s how it goes: you refer products to your readers and you will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to the consumer) when they buy.
You refer a computer that has a 10% commission tied to it. The referral turns into a sale of $1,000. Your commission is $100, or 10%. Get it?
The key to making good money with affiliate marketing is consistency. Read more about my best practices with blogging and affiliate marketing.
Memberships and Subscriptions
Do Bloggers Make Good Money?
This blogger makes $5K to $7K per month from her blog.
This blogger earned $25K per month, after blogging for only 2 years.
This blogger makes $100K+ per month, blogging about personal finance and budgeting.
Yes, bloggers can make good money. It’s a lot of hard work and a small portion of bloggers ever make a full time income.
What does it take?
- Consistency
- Time
- Respect for the craft
- Dedication
The bottom line is, if you treat it like a job, you can make a very lucrative living.
How Do You Become a Blogger and Get Paid?
Interested in jumping on the bandwagon? Want to become a blogger?
Here’s how you do it:
- Step 1.) Pick a blog name
- Step 2.) Get hosting and domain
- Step 3.) Connect WordPress and add content
- Step 4.) Launch!
Get the step-by-step free guide on how to start a blog and make money that shows you how to start a profitable blog in 10 minutes!
How Do Beginner Bloggers Make Money?
Beginner bloggers make money the same way intermediate bloggers and seasoned bloggers make money: ads, products, services, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing commissions.
Income will probably start small. Then, the more you blog, the more your promote, the more traffic you’ll get and the more income you will make.
How Do You Start a Free Blog and Make Money?
You can start a free blog on Medium but you will start a money making blog with hosting through Bluehost (which includes domain, SSL certificate, and more) so your blog will look like this:
this is my blog (dot) com
Instead of looking like this:
this is my blog (dot) medium (dot) com
The first option, going self-hosted, is the way you wanna go. Investing money in yourself and your project is not a bad thing. Plus, it’s affordable. Monthly hosting is under $4/month. Grab our Bluehost offer here to get this awesome deal!
Tools to get started
Depending on the direction you go, there are some helpful tools that can help you automate, get you organized, save time, save money, and make you more money.
- Tailwind
- MissingLettr
- Teachable
- Sendowl
Tailwind is all about social media scheduling for Pinterest and Instagram. It helps to automatically post on your behalf, saving you a ton of time. No need to hire a social media manager if you’re using Tailwind. And, it’s super cheap, at around $10/month. Use our link and get a free 14-day Trial. (Did I mention I personally use this and have been a customer for years?) Highly recommended.
Missing Lettr is a social scheduler, creating amazing social campaigns for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. It’s around $20/month and lets you create campaigns over periods as long as a year! I’ve been using this for a few years as well. It’s super easy to manage and I still get emails from readers asking what tool I use to share my blog posts on Twitter on autopilot!
Teachable is THE COURSE PLATFORM for creators. If you’re a blogger, you will want your digital course on Teachable. They make it so easy to create a curriculum, set pricing, collect a payment, taxes, and more. I have been using them from the very beginning, creating almost a dozen courses! Super flexible system AND you can add affiliates too! Pricing starts at around $29/month.
Sendowl is the platform that delivers services and digital products to your customers. I use them for ebooks and services.
So, you will add your digital product, set your price, and Sendowl will give you a payment link (and buttons..eek) that you can display across social media, your website and other places. Then, when customers buy, they digitally deliver the goods and pay you. Starting at $9/month!
YOU WILL LOVE THIS RELATED POST: How to Make Money Blogging with Affiliate Marketing
Final Thoughts
Blogging is a lucrative industry. And, it’s a secret that a lot of folks simply don’t know about it.
Start your money making blog, break free and enjoy all the perks that come with blogging:
- Freedom
- Flexibility
- Unlimited income potential
- Be your own boss
