How Do Bloggers Make Money? : A Step By Step Guide

Making a living off a blog may seem like a pipe dream to most people, but you could actually pull it off. The big question is: how?
How do bloggers make money?

Sure, you have topics that you’re passionate about, and you know how to set up a professional-looking blog. But how do you turn that blog into a cash cow? The answers are all here on this post.

If you want to be your own boss and ditch the 9 to 5 life, you can earn a lot by sharing your insights and expertise in your little corner of the web.

Guide for How to Start a Blog

Table of Contents

Blogging As A Money-Making Venture

I’ll be upfront and say that some ways to make money through a blog are easier and faster than others. Some ways take time and effort to earn.

The best part is that you don’t have to choose just one. Ideally, you want multiple revenue streams to maximize your earnings.

That being said, it’s smart to focus on one or two at a time to build them up and make them secure.

Truth be told, blogging as a money-making venture is a different journey for everyone. The revenue streams that are right for you may not be suited for someone in a different niche. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to what you came here for.

Advertising

If you ask a person off the street how bloggers make money, they’ll probably say, “through advertising.” This is the most popular money-making tool in a blogger’s toolbox.

Yes, most of the time, it’s not the most lucrative, but it’s extremely easy to set up. Perfect for beginners. Here are the common ways advertising can make you money through your blog:

Display Ads

Have you noticed that when you browse the web, you’ll occasionally get ads for stuff that you were just eyeing on Amazon? Those, my friend, are display ads.

The site that you’re visiting earns a little bit of money if you click on one of those ads. Hence the term “pay-per-click” (PPC) advertising. They’re essentially virtual billboards that sites rent out.

Now, display ads may not be your best bet for a number of reasons. One, it turns people off when there are too many ads on a webpage. A ton of ads don’t exactly scream safety and trustworthiness.

Two, it won’t make much of a difference if the traffic on your site is not that significant. You will need thousands of visitors clicking on those ads to see a somewhat decent cash flow.

Lastly, it encourages people to click off your site. Sure, you may have gotten that $1 from a click, but your visitor is off somewhere else checking out someone else’s products or content.

Still, it’s a legitimate way to make money with a blog. If you want to get started on advertising, study and set up Google AdSense.

Ultimate Guide To Starting Your Blog

Affiliate Marketing

You can work within an affiliate network where you can promote products and services of multiple companies or work with one directly. I like affiliate marketing because you can make your content profitable as long as there is an audience for it.

For example, you could write a post about how to take better care of your skin with affiliate links to skincare products of the company who’s paying you. Naturally, you’d have to update this post if they come out with new products. This way, your post will always generate income as long as someone wants to read about this certain topic.

Digital Products

If you don’t want to push someone else’s products on your blog, you may want to consider selling your own. This is a great way to establish your brand and be your own reputable online entity.

There are a couple of products that you can sell that will stay true to what your blog is all about. Of course, it all has to be related. Think of it as making a whole package that you can market to your audience. Here are some ideas:

Online Courses

The main reason why one starts a blog is to share their knowledge and expertise. People go to blogs to get information. While you may be happy to offer your content for free, it’s in your best interest to charge those who are really into your niche.

Let’s say you have an art blog where you post your work and inspirations. You could offer online courses to fans who are interested in learning how to make art in your style. Sure, it will take time to create a course and hold it over sessions, but the profit margins are much more impressive.

Ebooks

Ebooks are all the rage now since we’re all reading on our Kindles and tablets. It’s no real secret that bloggers have jumped on this train and made a lot of money by publishing their own.

In your Ebook, you could include exclusive information that you don’t share in your blog. It’s a great way for your audience to have a condensed and comprehensive item about all your content.

If writing an Ebook is daunting to you, you can always outsource the job and do quality checking to see if the finished product is on-brand with the rest of your content. Then again, it’s always better to have a product straight from the source.

Another version of this product is a workbook. Workbooks are different from Ebooks in that they’re a lot less involved. Workbooks are guides for the reader, so it may look like something that one has to fill out. For example, you can lead your reader through the process of managing their emotions or finances.

Memberships

If you see that you’re starting to have a loyal following, it would be profitable for you to set up a paid online community. Once a visitor subscribes to you for a fee, they gain access to your premium content.

Premium content takes some work, yes, but the pay-off is worth it. Premium content could be stuff like classes, printables, videos, dev logs, downloads, and tutorials. Of course, it’s not limited to only these forms.

Setting up a paid membership is not advisable for beginner bloggers, though. Who would subscribe to someone who does not have much content? First, you need to establish your reputation as a reliable and respected source. Time is money, after all.

Using Your Blog As A Portfolio

Your blog can be used as a tool to advertise your skills and expertise. Think of it as an online portfolio. As you work on your blog as a way to show your interests, it can also double as a way to show your clients what you’re capable of doing.

If you can’t monetize your blog that much yet, you can always use it to bolster your other streams of income. Here are a couple of services your can offer as a novice blogger:

Freelance Writing

Perhaps this is the most obvious kind of service you can provide to others as a blogger. Since you’re already writing your own content, you can make some money writing for someone else.

The advantageous side of freelance writing, aside from the money, is the practice. You get to hone your skills, all while receiving some compensation. You can also look at this as an authority-building tool.

When your name gets out there, and readers in your niche recognize your by-line at their go-to websites more and more, the more you’ll establish yourself as a figure in your community.

It is a common misconception that freelance writers are horrendously underpaid, but I don’t believe that for a second. Some bloggers rake up more than six figures a year by writing original content.

Virtual Assistant

It’s very easy to get a job as a virtual assistant, especially if you have your skills on display. Online entrepreneurs need to delegate tasks to make their lives more manageable, so virtual assistants are currently in high demand.

Let’s say you have impeccable grammar and have extensive experience in writing; someone could use those skills for proofreading. You could also be tasked to write and send out promotional emails. Being a virtual assistant is essentially being a remote secretary.

It’s a decent way to earn some extra income just by making schedules, doing light administrative tasks, and maybe tapping into your more unique skill set.

Digital Marketing

Once you get into blogging, you’ll find out that there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. Managing a blog is a lot more than publishing content. You also have to consider the visibility and profitability of your blog.

Even if you have top-notch content in your blog, it’s not going to make you money unless you reach a significant number of visitors. That’s why you’ll soon have to be an expert in SEO, social media strategies, and content marketing.

These skills fall under digital marketing, which is highly sought after by all savvy businesses. Once you learn the ins and outs of blogging and how to make your pages profitable, other companies may want to hire you to use your expertise.

It’s a viable side hustle that could supplement your blog. In fact, your blog could be all about how to perform tight SEO, and that in itself could be your portfolio.

Monetizing Your Skills

The sky’s the limit when it comes to profiting off your skills on the internet. It’s a wise move to make an inventory of your skills to know the strongest ones that you could monetize. You may even want to learn a new skill or enhance one that you have. You can offer services such as video editing, coaching, graphic designing, managing social media.

How To Earn Money Through Blogging: A Step By Step Guide

Okay, now you know the different ways to make a profit off a blog. Now let’s plan your journey to your first $1,000. This is not going to be a cakewalk. That being said, when you hit that $1,000 mark, it gets easier to make more.

If you follow this guide to the tee, your blog will be a cash cow in a matter of months. You’ll be surprised with cashflow once you get past the first hurdles. It’s only a matter of patience and dedication.

If you’re determined to quit your more conventional job, blogging can be a legitimate source of all your income. Now, let’s get to the steps and get you that first $1,000.

Related Reading: Costs To Run a Blog

Step 1: Decide on a niche.

A common myth out there is that you have to be totally passionate about your chosen niche. Sure, it helps you’re completely engrossed by your interests. But in reality, you just have to like certain subject areas to keep you motivated in creating content.

Don’t be hung up on having to create content that hasn’t been done before. The internet is vast, and there are tons of people out there who are creating content in your niche. What you should be focused on are your own voice and your own style. That’s what your audience is going to appreciate.

You have to find a way to set yourself apart from your competitors. You don’t have to live and breathe your niche. There is certainly room for your thoughts and contributions.

So what should your content be about?

Well, here are some things that make a lot of sense. Naturally, you have to find something that you won’t get sick of in the future. Ask yourself if you wouldn’t mind still writing about a certain topic year from now.

Next, you have to find something that is getting a lot of hits on search engines. There is a market for everything, but some topics are more profitable than others. For example, more people would be interested in reading about how to lose weight than movie reviews of obscure Turkish movies.

Finally, you need to have a little more knowledge on the subject than the layman. People will not keep visiting your blog if you have nothing new to offer them, right? Formal education or extensive research will be beneficial to blogging about that certain niche.

Step 2: Put up your blog.

If you’ve already set up your blog, then you can skip this step. If not, let me walk you through it. I recommend that you study up on WordPress. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but maybe you don’t know how it works.

Think of WordPress as a blueprint for your blog. It’s what’s called a content management system (CMS), and WordPress is the easiest to use, especially for beginners. Virtually anyone, even without programming experience, can set up a website now with WordPress. No coding knowledge is necessary.

In the beginning, you have to pick between the “Self-Hosted” or “Free WordPress” options. If your end goal is to make money through your blog, I suggest you go with “Self-Hosted.” Why? Even if you have to fund your blog, this option will be a lot more flexible when it comes to customization and monetization.

Don’t worry. Hosting a site is not all that expensive. The whole endeavor is only going to set you back a couple of bucks a month. It shouldn’t be a big deal, and the pay-off is well worth it.

Another question you might have is: what’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? When you check out the free version of WordPress, you’ll find that your customization options are quite limited.

In the free version, you don’t even get to own your site. It also tends to look unprofessional and much like other people’s. Plus, the domain will be in this format: “yourblogtitle.wordpress.com.” I’ve never heard of a successful blogger without their own domain.

So self-hosting really is the way to go, and you shouldn’t consider the alternative even if it’s free.

Related Reading: The Medium Model – How Bloggers Make Money On Medium.

Step 3: Plan your content.

Now it’s time to curate your content carefully. Remember, some niches are more profitable than others. You also have to choose one that you won’t get sick of in the foreseeable future.

Strategy is key when it comes to monetizing your blog. You have to plan the type of content you publish and how you create it. For now, you have to focus on writing articles that are going to be irresistible to readers. You don’t want to start off writing for a nonexistent audience, right?

Don’t know where to start? Study the leaders in your niche and try to emulate them. This isn’t to say that you should straight up copy their content. Of course, you have to put your own spin on it, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a leaf out of their book.

How To Find Topics To Write About

You may have some ideas right off the bat, but what if you hit a wall? One method you can use is to find other topics that other people are looking up on the web. This will help you generate more organic traffic from Google.

First, search some of your niche-related phrases on Google and Pinterest. See what comes up on the “related searches.” If you don’t want to go through all that trouble, you can always try free keyword tools.

Remember, you don’t have to pay for complex and unaffordable keyword research tools to optimize your content. Simple free ones will let you know what people want to read, so you should never run out of stuff to turn into high-quality content.

Being Deliberate With Your Content

Keep in mind that everything you publish should have a purpose. That’s why it’s vital to plan out your content. You want to put stuff out there to build your authority and boost your popularity. You want to build an online community and get people to sign up for your mailing list.

Eventually, most of your content should be geared towards making money through affiliate sales—Pepper your content with calls to action. You have to encourage your audience to engage with your content even further.

Great Blogs Aren’t Built In A Day.

If you’re like me, you’re not going to be a blogging whiz right off the bat. You may end up writing a couple of articles that you will later have to delete. Don’t be discouraged because you’re always learning.

Like everything else, content creation takes practice. The more you create, the more you’ll get to know your audience, and what kind of content garners more attention. Once you get the ball rolling, you should be able to produce high-quality content without a hitch.

You also shouldn’t fixate on the fact that there are many blogs out there within your niche. The content that you plan on creating may have been done thousands of times in the past, but there is no substitute for your voice.

Just remember that your community will grow over time if you put the work in and stay patient. You’ll be competing with your niche leaders in no time. There is a certain charm to small-time bloggers, so take full advantage of that.

Some readers prefer blogs that are a little more obscure because big blogging entities tend to produce soulless content just for profit. So don’t worry about saturation, and focus on making content that will be useful to those who need it.

How To Format Your Blog, So People Will Want To Stay On It

Rule number 1: NEVER PUBLISH WALLS OF TEXT.

When you bombard your readers with dense walls of text, that’s a surefire way to turn them off. You should not be writing academic papers here. A blog post is a whole other beast.

The internet is all about fast information. People want to get as much information in the shortest time possible. Rare are the readers who will want to stick around and muddle through a swamp of heavy text.

Okay, so we do away with long paragraphs. How do we write then? You have to break down blog posts into bite-sized chunks. Maybe you also want to use a more conversational tone and not too technical.

And don’t be too casual because some will find it hard to take you seriously. Just write as if you’re a very informed friend. Mind the spacing to make your pages look more inviting.

It might be tempting for you to set up multiple media accounts, thinking you can manage them all. You may bite off more than you can chew. I certainly made this mistake and the beginning, and let me tell you, my traffic sucked. No one was visiting my pages, and I wasn’t making any money.

Where did I go wrong? I didn’t realize that I couldn’t micromanage. What I should have and what you should do is to choose one social media network and focus on it. If you have no clue which one to pick, I suggest you go with Pinterest.

For a brand new blog, it’s going to be hard to end up on the front pages of Google right away. So I suggest you use Pinterest as a boosting tool.

Using Pinterest To Widen Your Audience

Save Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a later time. We’re going to focus on Pinterest, for now, to drive up your traffic. So how exactly do we use this platform to bulk up your readership?

First, set up a business account. You shouldn’t be using a personal account for your blog. Why? With a personal account, you don’t get access to Pinterest Analytics. You also wouldn’t be able to use “Rich Pins.”

With a business account, you even have the option to make Pinterest promote your pins for a fee. Before I get ahead of myself, I have to tell you that you don’t need to do that just yet.

For now, make as many Rich Pins as possible. These are free and presented as a bold link title. They are much more attractive to users who are perusing Pinterest to stick stuff up on their boards. All you have to do is verify your blog with Pinterest.

How To Boost Your Visibility on Pinterest

Next, you want to create a “Best Of” Board. You need to do this for the sole purpose of linking people back to your content. You have to avoid pinning other people’s sites and promote only your own. Ideally, you want to create other boards for other people’s content, so you don’t get confused.

Think of this board as your representation on Pinterest. When people are checking out your account and considering whether or not they want to follow you, this board will give them an overview of your content in general.

They have to know what kind of content you’re contributing to the community. To make your board more visible, make sure to use hot keywords in your board description. It’s as simple as that.

If you want a ballpark number of how many pins you should have on this board, that number is around 50. If you don’t have that much content yet, you should link multiple pins to your posts.

This is to give your posts a fighting chance. You may have written a knockout post, but that would be useless if no one is enticed to click on it. How do you make readers check out your pins?

Make attractive graphics. These don’t have to be overly complicated. Just use different image backgrounds and multiple key phrases. People respond differently to all sorts of calls to action, so it’s best to have them all covered.

Making multiple pins will bulk up your pin count, which is very useful in the beginning when you don’t have much content yet. It gives the illusion that you have more to offer. When your Best Of board is looking more impressive, you also up your chances of getting accepted to group boards.

Two or three pins for each post are decent amounts. However, if you think that certain posts deserve way more attention, you may want to increase that amount to 10 pins. Even that shouldn’t be overkill.

Branding Your Pins

When you’re an avid peruser of Pinterest, you get the sense of who created certain pins. Perhaps you associate one pinner with a certain color or font. This is marketing at its finest.

When people connect distinct themes to quality content, the more they’re encouraged to visit those blogs. You can start by unifying all your pins by creating a look for them. For example, you may want to go for a nice bright backdrop with crisp block fonts – anything eye-catching.

By doing so, you separate your pins from the rest and keep them from getting overlooked. Having your pins in a strict theme also goes a long way when it comes to branding. Your audience will get more and more familiar with your pins, which means more clicks.

Here are a couple of tips you should consider when making your pins:

Choose a color and stick to it. Consider your logo or the main theme of your blog. To make things more uniform, customize your pins to reflect your brand.
Always include block and script fonts. Mix it up, and don’t think that jarring blocky letters will always get more attention.
Make sure you use high-res backgrounds. Nothing screams unprofessional more than blurry images.
Switch up the layouts. Make sure that each pin is distinct enough, even if it adheres to the overall theme.
Make sure each one displays your logo or your web address to boost brand awareness.

We can recognize big-time brands like Apple and Nike from a mile away for a reason. It’s because we see them everywhere. This is what you’re trying to emulate. You want to create a solid following by establishing your brand and making it recognizable.

To make your pins look like they’ve been made by a pro, try programs like Photoshop or Canva. They’re very easy to use, and both give you a lot of options for customization.

Joining Group Boards

Don’t obsess over the number of followers you have on Pinterest. If you keep making quality pins and content, the followers will come. In the meantime, focus on how engaged your current audience is.

To find out how engaged they are, make full use of group boards. When someone makes their profile accessible to others, this generates a group board. So when you join one, you essentially get someone else’s followers at no cost.

Don’t let anyone tell you that they’re not as effective as they used to be. Joining group boards is a legitimate way to amp up organic traffic to your blog. This is even more applicable to those who have less than a thousand followers. So how do you get started?

First, make a list of boards that are within your niche. You want to pick accounts that are popular and frequent posters in the community. You can use sites like PinGroupie to zero in on different topics that you can turn into profitable content.

Take note that even if a group board has a large following, it’s not automatically worth your time. You have to check a board’s overall quality score and engagement through sites like Tailwind. Let’s say you find a very active board. That doesn’t necessarily mean it has a lot of engagement from its followers.

When you have a list of boards that you want to join, you have to apply to each of them. Each board has an admin, and they all have unique application processes. Some may require you to send a DM, leave comments, or shoot out an email.

To keep you from getting lost, I suggest that you start a spreadsheet containing all the boards you want to join and their application processes. Yes, it’s a tedious process, but it’s worth it. When you start hearing back from people, you can tick them off your list.

The trick is to cast a wide net because some people are going to turn you down or ignore you. That’s just the way it goes. To up your chances of getting accepted, create personalized messages for them. If there’s something that you can offer them in return, go for it because it couldn’t hurt.

What happens if you get rejected? Wait a while and try again. There are plenty of reasons why you think some group board admins gave you the cold shoulder.

For one, they could have just missed your message, or it just slipped their mind. Also, as time goes and your profile improves, you have a higher chance of getting accepted. That’s why it’s important to check back on your spreadsheet every once in a while.

Think of it this way: you have nothing to lose. Just remember to be polite and don’t send the exact same message that you sent before. It’s a little something extra when you show someone that you’re truly eager to join their group.

Take Advantage of Automatic Pinning

I said that you should focus on Pinterest, but that doesn’t mean you can pour all your time into it. Building a website and managing social media is a hell of a balancing act.

I suggest you use a Pinterest schedule so you can breathe a little easier. Instead of having to stick pins onto all your group boards manually, take advantage of the free available software that can do that for you.

The best example of this kind of software is Tailwind. It can even tell you which group boards see a lot of engagement from your audience. Knowing that statistic, you can then replicate pins that you know work well. You can also get rid of the ones that don’t get that much attention.

With Tailwind, there is something called Tribes. A tribe is a collection of bloggers who also publish content in your niche. Being a member of a tribe, you contribute your own content as well as benefit from others.

Best of all, Tailwind offers a free trial. So you don’t have to pay as you check out the cool stuff you can do on there. When you realize how essential it is, it won’t hurt to make the investment if you’re serious about generating heavy traffic.

Step 5: Start setting up your blog as a money-making machine.

Now that you’ve done the steps above, you’re ready to begin monetizing your blog. It’s vital that you do the above steps before you explore this part. Why? Most bloggers are too eager and naive and end up failing because they go straight to this step.

Blogging isn’t easy money. It takes a lot of the necessary foundational work to see some real results. When you build a strong foundation, you’re much more likely to turn your blog into a well-oiled machine that makes you money in your sleep.

Is blogging as a full-time source of income attainable? Certainly. Is it going to be a breeze? Absolutely not. Your first $1000 is probably the hardest money you’ll ever make. You can easily get that $1000 with much more conventional side gigs like doing deliveries and dog walking.

That being said, there isn’t much of a trajectory doing those jobs. With blogging, once you get past the initial hurdle, you’re well on your way to making thousands of dollars a month.

So to recap, at this point, you should have:

Picked a topic that you like and is popular on the internet
Put up your blog with its own unique domain.
Made around ten optimized posts
Did some real work on Pinterest or some other social media platform
At least a traffic of 5,000 views per month – If you’re not quite there yet, be more rigorous with your social media management.

Without loyal eyeballs and curious folks all over your blog, there isn’t a point in going further. Make sure you have all the past steps pat-down before you proceed.

How To Earn Money From Your Blog As A Beginner

My main source of income when it comes to blogging is affiliate marketing. As I said before, affiliate marketing is a type of advertising that you do on your blog based on commissions. As early as now, you should try to implement this in hopes of getting bigger commissions.

With affiliate marketing, your job is to generate leads for the company that’s paying you. So when they get a sale or signup, you get paid anywhere between $1 to $100. This is the model to use if you find a company that fits with the type of content you produce.

For example, a fashion blog can directly link to items from an online clothing store. Similarly, a health and wellness blog can directly link to apps that can help you manage your diet. It’s just a matter of finding things that are necessary for your niche.

Why am I advising you to start with this over some other method of monetization? With this method, you’ll learn the ins and outs of marketing. If you start with creating your own products to sell, that will take time to create and promote. You are just not ready to make that kind of risk this early in the game.

As a beginner, you’re better off attaching your brand to already established companies and getting paid for their sales.

How To Zero In On The Products That You Should Feature In Your Blog

If you’re already pretty familiar with your niche, then you must have some idea of the products that you could promote in your blog. If not, study up on your industry leaders and check out what kind of products they promote.

Since most sites, no matter how big or small, do affiliate marketing, you’re likely to get a good list of popular products in your niche.

Here’s a tip: when you see a product being advertised on an already successful site, you can bet that that company is forking over some serious money. So it would make sense for you to promote the same product to get the same kind of benefit.

Of course, you actually have to like and believe in the products that you promote. No one appreciates a liar and a sellout. Modern audiences value authenticity, and it’s important to be yourself.

It’s Time To Sell, Sell, Sell

Make a list of products that you could sell on your site. Again, you want to make sure that some of these products are also promoted by more prominent figures in your niche. It’s time to do some affiliate marketing.

How Do Affiliate Networks Work?

Affiliate networks are platforms where a lot of bloggers connect with larger companies that want to advertise. When you join one, you will have the ability to apply as an affiliate to the companies that are a part of that network.

The most popular ones are Amazon Associates, CJ, ShareASale, Flex Offers, and ImpactRadius. These are good places to start, especially if you want to learn the ropes. If you have a company in mind that is not a part of any of the networks, you can always hit them up and ask if they have an affiliate program that you can join.

How To Figure Out Where To Put Affiliate Links

First, you have to find out which of your posts are doing well. You always want to lean into content that generates the most traffic. When you find out what those are, you will have to edit them.

As you go through past posts, spot the areas where you can slip in affiliate links. If necessary, edit them in such a way that these links are “highlighted.” I can’t stress this enough: be mindful of how you push products.

Some bloggers just throw in a bunch of affiliate links and call it a day. Some try to force links in areas that don’t make sense. Always remember that your audience is always looking for authenticity. You’re much more likely to hold on to them if you mention products in a more organic way.

In a way, you’re trying to be sneaky about it, so no banner images. Make sure you use mainly text links because these feel more natural as they view your posts. This method will generate more trust in the long run. You don’t want your site to be just a catalog for other companies.

This is going to be a long process, but it’s always good to refresh your old content. You may even be asked to revise some posts of yours when the company that pays you comes out with new products. It is beneficial for them and for your bank account.

A Human Touch

Because of the internet, we’re getting used to more personalized advertising. We get enticed by hearing stories and reviews. This is what makes affiliate marketing an effective model. We tend to trust individuals and not corporations.

Even though your blog is a business, you should always consider the needs of your readers. This whole thing isn’t going to work if you don’t value your audience.

The “meat” should always like in your content and not in the products that you’re promoting. If they go through your post without clicking affiliate links, they should still benefit from it somehow.

Consider the user intent and always try to meet it. That means it’s okay to use affiliate links, but don’t overdo it. It also helps to lead your readers to other types of content in your niche that you don’t produce. This will give them a sense that you are a part of a community and are willing to help out fellow bloggers.

Add Other Monetization Methods One At A Time

It’s easy to get excited and to set up multiple revenue streams all at once. Why would you not want to make a lot of money all at once? But the major takeaway that I want you to get from this post is that a lot of people fail when they run before they learn to walk.

When you fully grasp affiliate marketing, then it’s time to add one more stream. You can choose from the many methods I’ve tackled above, but I suggest you start with offering a service.

As you’re slowly building up your blog, it will soon become an impressive portfolio. You will then be able to advertise your skills and lend them out for a price. This is the quickest way to make money as a novice blogger.

If that seems too ambitious for now, go with some display ads. If you’re starting to see a rise in your traffic, display ads are a nice way to generate a passive, albeit smaller, income.

When you really start to get the hang of it, you can move on to other revenue streams like making your own digital products or getting sponsorships. Once you become a reputable figure in your community, the money will just start rolling in.

FAQs

I hope you have a very clear idea of how your journey to monetization is going to go. Now that you have a blueprint of blogging as a money-making venture let’s get to some questions you may still have.

How much money are we talking about here?

It makes sense that most beginner bloggers ask this question. You want to know whether blogging is a viable source of income or not. It is. Now, how much money you can make depends entirely on how hard you’re willing to work.

You also want to factor in how much of a risk-taker you are and what monetization methods you’re going to employ. I do quite well working on this blog, but it wasn’t all daisies getting to this point.

Honestly, it would have taken a lot less time and energy if I studied all this information beforehand instead of learning the ropes on my own. There are always going to be bloggers who make less than you and more than you. What matters is you’re willing to work for the amount of money you want to earn. There are virtually no limitations as long as you keep expanding your business. After all, a blog is a business.

Before you start your journey, manage your expectations. Do you want to supplement your existing income, or do you want to build the next big digital empire? The choice is really up to you.

How long before I start seeing real money come in?

Again, this is entirely dependent on your strategy. If you follow the guide I’ve written out in this post, it will probably take around 4-6 months. You could pull it off sooner if you’re not working alone and you’re a marketing savant.

There are some bloggers out there who managed to earn six figures within their first year. It takes determination and luck, but hell, you could very well have both. If you put the time in, it certainly is possible to make blogging your primary source of income.

What kinds of blogs make the most money?

This is a great question to have when you’re trying to figure out what niche you should enter. Like I said before, some topics are more profitable than others. Generally, people look for information on the internet encompassing self-improvement.

That means blogs about wellness, nutrition, personal finance, fashion, and business get a lot of hits. That being said, profitable areas are not limited to these niches. As long as it’s not too obscure, there’s bound to be a sizable audience for the content that you’re an expert in. You can even make money as a lifestyle blogger. There are 4.66 billion internet users in the world, after all.

How do I make money quickly as a novice blogger?

As a blogger with the intent to make money, you have to follow these three steps:

Produce unmistakably stellar content that people will benefit from
Get more eyeballs on your content
Advertise products that make sense within your content

There, I condensed it for you. The fastest way to make money is really by offering services because you either get paid upfront or after you finish a project. I’m just assuming that you’re asking about a more passive, scalable income. If that is your goal, then I suggest you focus on the three steps above. Just master monetization tactics and employ them immediately.

This Is Just A Crash Course

Blogging is an ever-evolving business venture, and there are plenty of tools and techniques that you need to discover on your own. If I want to write everything about making money through blogging, I’d have to publish a couple of books.

What I hope you’ve gained from this post are the starting tools to make money off your blog. You pretty much know all it takes to get going and take your first steps as an online mogul.

If you follow all the steps I’ve listed above (in order), you will have set a strong foundation for multiple revenue streams that can earn you a significant income. Anyone with enough passion and determination can make blogging their full-time job.

You will only master the art of monetizing content when you start doing it yourself. You have interests, talent, a little know-how, and an internet connection. I’d say it’s time to join the exciting world of blogging and its potential monetary benefits.

How Do Bloggers Make Money?