Today’s post is the one that many of you have been waiting for. I don’t think a single day goes by without me receiving an e-mail regarding how a person can make money blogging online and/or how to make money online.
If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.49 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free blog domain (a $15 value) through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting. FYI, you want to be self-hosted. This is essential if you want to monetize your blog as you will appear more professional and this will help you monetize your blog tremendously.
Sometimes it’s bloggers who e-mail me, but half the time the e-mails are from readers who do not have a blog but are interested in starting a money making blog.
As most of you have seen, a big bulk of my income every month comes from my blog in some form (I made over $320,000 online in 2015): advertising, affiliate income, consulting and so on. This How To Make Money Blogging post will be all about various ways that you can make money blogging.
When I started my blog in August of 2011, I never thought I’d be where I am at today. Now, I blog full-time, earn a great income, and I travel full-time, as you can see from my monthly online income report updates.
My extra income from my blog started slow, but within the past couple of months it has jumped significantly. I spend all of my extra time on finding extra income methods, and it definitely seems to be working.
Don’t forget these other posts in my blogging series:
- Tips for Beginner Bloggers Part 1 – The Basics – This post is all about tips for beginner bloggers and I talk about mistakes that I made and also how you can get ahead.
- Blogger or WordPress – Tips on How to Move – Are you still on Blogger? There are SO many reasons why you should switch to WordPress now.
- How to Start a Blog – Tips for a Beginner – This post had a very similar title to the first post on this list, but this post is mainly about how to get started with your hosting, picking a domain and actually starting your blog.
- My Monthly Online Income Reports – I show you exactly how I earn a living each month along with valuable tips to help you along the way.
- How To Monetize A Blog: How I Grew A $5 Million Blog – This is a great blog post that shows you how I make money blogging.
How to make money online blogging:
Use advertising networks to make money online.
This includes Adsense, Media.net, and many, many other companies.
You can place Adsense or other ad networks (such as Media.net) ads pretty much anywhere on your blog. Usually, bloggers place them in their sidebars, but you can also place them within posts, only on your homepage, as a banner above your header or within your blog’s footer.
It’s an easy way to make money blogging as all you have to do is insert the code that is provided to you. In general, the more page views you receive, the higher your income from ad networks will be.
Take part in affiliate marketing to make money online.
You can sign up for the waitlist for my affiliate income strategy online course here. I will be sharing tips on how I earn over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing. By signing up for the waitlist, you will have access to it as soon as possible!
Affiliate income is something I’ve been working on more than ever lately. I am earning around $30,000 a month from it, and I believe it will continue to grow.
Affiliate income is great because you can create a post, review, etc., and then that post may earn you money years down the line with minimal work needed to maintain that article. It can be somewhat passive, which is what I love about it.
I believe recommending products you believe in is best. A lot of my affiliate income is from my How To Start a Blog post and that is because I include everything a person needs to know about blogging in that tutorial.
There are many affiliate programs out there, and you can always check out your favorite products to see if they have an affiliate program.
Affiliate income is where you will have a link (such as with my Bluehost link) and you recommend products in your blog posts. Then, when someone clicks on your link and buys something (according to the requirements of the affiliate program), you then make money. There is usually a 30 or 60-day wait on your funds, but that seems to be normal as Adsense does something similar as well.
Avant Link – This is an affiliate company that I highly recommend. They have many different companies that you can sign up for and they are easy to work with.
Flex Offers – This seems to be one of the top affiliate programs/companies out there. There are a lot of companies on Flex Offers. You just sign up for Flex Offers and then after you are signed up, you can sign up for individual companies to promote. There are numerous companies for which you can get affiliate links for, such as clothing stores, Starbucks and so on. If you like a company, I bet you will find an affiliate program on there for it.
Commission Junction – This is another favorite affiliate program website of mine.
EJunkie – I’ve promoted a couple of ebooks that I love through here. There are tons of books on this site and I’m sure you could find something to promote.
Amazon’s Affiliate Program – I just started using Amazon’s Affiliate program, but I am excited about it. You promote products from Amazon and hopefully readers click on your link. You then get a percentage of the sales.
Swagbucks – I also use Swagbucks as well. I don’t make a ton of money from it, but I do cash all of my referral points for Amazon gift cards.
Related articles:
- 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
- 10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home
- 10 Things I’ve Done To Make Extra Money
- Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month
Direct advertising.
Direct advertising is when a company reaches out to you and asks you to either publish a post on their behalf that they write or you write a post for them. The post may be about a product that they sell, a review of their company or product, a post about something related to their industry, and so on.
If you decide to do direct advertising, please be aware of how much you should be charging. There are numerous websites out there that have guidelines publicly available. The other day on Facebook (I won’t say who it was), I noticed that someone was offering $5 text link ads to her readers who blog as well. There were TONS of people who jumped at this and were commenting saying that they wanted in.
People, your blog is worth much more than $5!
I always recommend that a person charge at least $150 for a blog advertisement, and once your blog is more established you may be able to charge a few thousand PER post.
Staff writing/consulting in order to make money online.
I don’t know if this should be included in today’s post, but it does fit in. You can write for other websites and there is usually a set fee that either you or the website owner sets. It seems like many websites have staff writers, and I even have one of my own (Jordann). Read my post So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer to learn more.
Blog consulting can be a variety of things. Perhaps you can help other bloggers learn how to blog and are staying on call to pretty much be their “coach.” You can also offer market research opportunities for advertisers and companies and offer them consulting on their new products, companies or websites.
Are you interested in learning how to make money online? Are you interested in making money through blogging?
Please check out my article How To Start Your Own WordPress Blog if you are ready to start blogging.
How To Start A Blog Free Email Course
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Leave a Reply
Thanks for this post! Lots of great info. I have been blogging for years on the side and am really looking forward to doing it full time (which I think will be soon!).
Affiliate marketing is my favorite way to make money from blogging. When I purchase a product or program, I enjoy sharing it with others, so it can help them as well.
I’m always inspired by stories like yours, and I wasn’t aware of some of the affiliate companies you mentioned. Thanks again!
Faith D.
Thanks for sharing. I’m new and all help is appreciated from your end to materialize my cherished desires.
good solid post thanks
Hi Michelle,
I love doing sponsored posts and product reviews. They generate quite handsome amounts for me 😉
I agree with all of the above. This was so intriguing. I blog to have an “out” in life, to have some “me” moments, to offset being a stay at home mom. However, if I could earn an income to at least cover my costs, and make a fee extra dollars, I would be thrilled! I’d love to be able to tell my husband that I am contributing financially! 🙂
Shital Bhalani
I think Blogging, advertising, affiliate income, consulting is big opportunity for income. I think it not only income, its also interesting task. I found so much fun on it. I am really thankful for all these information/post! I am so much interested in social media marketing and affiliate marketing.
My blog is about 7 months old and the most I’ve made from it in one month is about $9.54 but I am still happy with even such a small amount.
My goal with the Phroogal Blog wasn’t to make money but to increase awareness of my brand as I build Phroogal platform. But, after meeting and connecting with so many bloggers, it only made sense to see where and how one can monetize the traffic that comes in and do it tastefully.
I am very interested in starting a blog. And all for it I am a little concerned with earning money though do I get a check in the mail or is it through something like PayPal where I need my account number online…
I loved this post so much, Michelle. Definitely bookmarking it. Thanks for all the helpful info – can’t wait to read the next installment!
For me blogging is just one way of earning extra income. But if you are just new to it, I will recommend not relying so much on it as your only source of income. Learn the ropes, get yourself better and better at it then decide later if this type of profession is good for you. Will it be sustainable until the end? So for me, blogging is just a part time job, I am keeping my job which gives a steady source of income.
Great post and so true about the first year being the toughest, I recall reading somewhere that a majority of blogs do not continue past their first year.. infact quite a lot never post any content at all!
You’re an inspiration, Michelle! I can’t believe the kind of growth you’ve been displaying on your site and through your earnings. Well done!
Please keep up the great work. I’m thinking about breaking down my earnings month-to-month very soon.
-Sam
Mr. Maroon and I are very new to the blogging world. We did a bang up job in January. And then somehow life got in the way… excuses! We have recently started back, and I must say that I’m completely addicted to it. I find myself trying to frame almost every single thing that happens in my day-to-day life into a worthwhile post.
We have a burning desire to achieve financial independence, or more importantly, employment independence by 2020. Every day I think more and more about how I could use our blog platform to accelerate that progress. I find this article inspiring and very informative. You can be assured that I plan to continue reading and researching in my quest to leave the J.O.B. that I currently rely on so heavily.
Thanks for all of the advice, Michelle!! I will be back again very soon!
Google Adsense is a good way to monetize your blog if you are writing about how-to posts. It has worked on my blog.
At first I have to test which ad is better (image or link) and its position. Don’t forget to dress up the ad whether you want it to stand out or blend in the content.
Tip: ads placed inside and close to the post are clicked often = more $$$ earnings.
Just a warning though, don’t clutter your blog and choose ads that will benefit your readers.
Earning through blogging takes time. The challenge is will you stick to it long enough to enjoy the rewards? Say you will.
Press on. Keep the words marching on.