How to Make Money Blogging

The best way to make money from blogging is to create your own self-hosted blog and fill it with awesome content.

If you can’t do that or you don’t have the inclination, the next best option is creating blog content for other people. Let’s take a deeper look into the subject.

To make money online from blogging to replace your day job, you need to go into it with a business mindset. If your goal is to create a blog that generates passive income each month, you need to allow enough time for your blog to mature and earn trust.

This can take many months or years to achieve. So this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. Taking the second option and blogging for other people can generate income more quickly but that might not be what you want to do in the long term.

Remember though, you could always do both if you have enough time on your hands and enjoy writing!

With that out of the way, let’s look at two ways you can make money from blogging.

1) How to make money from your own blog

Starting a blog on its own domain is THE best long-term solution. If you haven’t started a blog yet, go read that article. It goes into a lot of detail and was written for beginners.

For the rest of this post, I’ll assume you already have a blog set up and you’re looking to turn your hard work into consistent revenue.

There are many ways to make money from your blog. They can be grouped together into sections – passive and active.

Passive income

Passive income refers to earnings that are generated with minimal effort or active involvement once the initial work or investment has been made.

It’s often the reason why people get into blogging. But don’t be fooled. Generating passive income from a blog isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. So be prepared to work hard before you start seeing results.

Unlike active income, which requires ongoing time and effort to earn money (such as a traditional job where you exchange time for a wage), passive income streams continue to generate revenue over time, often with little to no additional work required.

However, in the case of blogging, and other ways of generating passive income, your blog posts will need updating and improving over time.

Display advertising

Implementing display ads from networks like Google AdSense or Media.net allows you to earn passive income based on impressions or clicks. Once set up, the ads run automatically, and you earn revenue as visitors view or interact with them.

Here’s a list of ad networks that bloggers can consider for monetising their websites through display advertising:

Google AdSense: One of the most popular and widely used ad networks, Google AdSense offers contextual ads that match the content of your website. It provides various ad formats, including text ads, display ads, and responsive ads, and offers customisable options to fit the design and layout of your site.

Media.net: Media.net is a contextual advertising network that serves relevant ads based on the content of your website. It offers high-quality display ads and supports multiple ad formats, including native ads, display ads, and video ads. Media.net provides responsive ad units optimised for both desktop and mobile devices.

Raptive: Raptive is an ad management company that partners with high-quality publishers to optimise ad revenue and provide premium ad experiences for readers. It offers personalised support, advanced ad optimisation technology, and access to premium ad networks to maximise earnings for bloggers.

Mediavine: Mediavine is an ad management company that helps bloggers monetise their websites through premium display advertising. It offers advanced ad optimisation, personalised support, and access to premium demand partners to increase ad revenue and improve user experience.

Ezoic: Ezoic is an AI-driven platform that helps publishers optimise ad revenue and user experience through automated ad testing and optimisation. It offers ad revenue optimisation, website monetisation solutions, and data-driven insights to improve ad performance and maximise earnings.

BuySellAds: BuySellAds is a marketplace connecting advertisers with publishers for direct ad sales. It offers various ad formats, including display ads, sponsored content, and email newsletter sponsorships. Bloggers can list their ad inventory on BuySellAds and set their own prices for ad placements.

Infolinks: Infolinks is an advertising platform that offers in-text, in-frame, in-fold, and in-tag ad units that blend seamlessly with the content of your website. It provides additional monetisation options for bloggers looking to diversify their revenue streams and maximise earnings.

These ad networks offer bloggers opportunities to monetise their websites through display advertising, native ads, sponsored content, and other advertising formats. It’s essential for you to evaluate each ad network based on factors such as ad quality, user experience, revenue potential, and compatibility with their website’s content and audience.

Affiliate marketing

Integrating affiliate links into your content allows you to earn commissions when visitors make purchases through those links. By recommending products or services relevant to your niche, you can generate passive income as long as your content remains accessible and continues to attract traffic.

Choose the Right Products: Select products or services that align with your niche, audience interests, and content. Choose reputable affiliate programs with high-quality products, good commission rates, and reliable tracking systems.

Build Trust with Your Audience: Focus on building trust and credibility with your audience by providing valuable content, honest reviews, and recommendations based on your personal experience and expertise. Be transparent about your affiliate relationships and disclose any affiliate links in your content.

Here’s a list of some of the biggest affiliate networks you should consider using:

Amazon Associates: Amazon’s affiliate program, known as Amazon Associates, allows website owners and bloggers to earn commissions by promoting Amazon products and driving sales through their affiliate links.

ShareASale: ShareASale is a large affiliate marketing network that connects merchants with affiliate marketers. It offers a wide range of products and services across various niches, including fashion, beauty, home, and technology.

CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction): CJ Affiliate is one of the oldest and largest affiliate marketing networks, representing thousands of advertisers and publishers worldwide. It offers a diverse selection of affiliate programs across multiple verticals.

Rakuten Advertising (formerly Rakuten Marketing): Rakuten Advertising is a global affiliate marketing network that provides access to a broad range of advertisers and publishers. It offers affiliate programs in categories such as fashion, electronics, travel, and more.

Impact: Impact is a comprehensive affiliate marketing platform that offers a suite of solutions for advertisers, publishers, and agencies. It provides access to affiliate programs, tracking tools, reporting analytics, and partnership automation features.

FlexOffers: FlexOffers is an affiliate marketing network that connects publishers with a wide range of advertisers and brands across various industries. It offers a user-friendly platform, real-time reporting, and flexible commission structures.

Awin: Awin is a global affiliate marketing network with a vast network of advertisers and publishers. It offers affiliate programs in diverse verticals, including retail, finance, travel, and lifestyle.

PartnerStack: PartnerStack is an affiliate and referral marketing platform designed for SaaS (Software as a Service) companies. It helps businesses build and manage affiliate programs to drive customer acquisition and revenue growth.

These major affiliate networks offer a wide range of affiliate programs and opportunities for publishers to monetise their traffic and earn commissions by promoting products and services across various industries and verticals.

Evergreen content

Creating evergreen content—content that remains relevant and valuable over time—can generate passive income by consistently attracting organic traffic from search engines. Focus on topics and keywords with enduring interest and search demand to ensure your content remains relevant and continues to drive traffic and revenue.

Email marketing

Building an email list and implementing automated email sequences can generate passive income by promoting affiliate products, digital products, or premium content to subscribers. Once set up, email marketing campaigns can continue to generate revenue through ongoing engagement with your audience.

Active income

Active income refers to earnings that are directly tied to the time and effort you put into work or activities.

Unlike passive income, which continues to generate revenue even when you’re not actively working, active income requires ongoing participation and input to earn money.

Sponsored content

Seeking sponsored opportunities allows you to monetise your blog by partnering with brands and promoting their products or services through sponsored posts, reviews, or collaborations.

You need to actively pitch brands, negotiate terms, and create sponsored content tailored to their needs and your audience.

Once your blog is established, brands and sponsors might start approaching you directly.

Product creation

Creating and selling digital products, such as e-books, online courses, templates, or software, allows you to monetise your expertise and provide additional value to your audience. You need to actively develop, market, and promote your products to attract customers and generate sales.

Consulting or coaching

Offering consulting or coaching services related to your niche allows you to monetise your expertise by providing personalised advice, guidance, and support to clients. You need to actively market your services, acquire clients, and deliver value through one-on-one or group interactions.

Events and workshops

Organising and hosting events, workshops, webinars, or virtual summits allows you to monetise your expertise and engage with your audience in a more direct and interactive manner. You need to actively plan, promote, and facilitate these events to attract participants and generate revenue through ticket sales or registrations.

Membership or subscription model

Managing a membership or subscription model allows you to monetise your blog by offering exclusive content, resources, or community access to subscribers in exchange for a recurring fee. You need to actively create and deliver value to subscribers, retain members, and foster a sense of community to sustain the subscription model.

By combining passive and active monetisation strategies, you can diversify your income streams, maximise your revenue potential, and create a sustainable income from your blog on its own domain.

It’s essential to balance passive income opportunities that generate revenue consistently over time with active income streams that require ongoing effort and engagement to drive results.

How long does it take to make money from a blog?

While there’s no guaranteed timeline for making money from your blog, many bloggers start seeing income within 6 to 12 months of consistent effort and strategic planning.

However, it’s essential to focus on providing value to your audience, building meaningful relationships, and continually refining your approach to blogging and monetisation to achieve sustainable long-term success.

Here are some considerations for new or first-time bloggers.

1. Content Quality and Consistency: High-quality, valuable content is essential for attracting and retaining readers. Consistently publishing informative, engaging posts can help you build credibility, establish authority in your niche, and attract a loyal audience over time.
2. Audience Growth: Building a sizable and engaged audience takes time and effort. It often involves promoting your blog through social media, search engine optimisation (SEO), guest posting, networking with other bloggers, and actively engaging with your audience through comments, emails, and social media interactions.
3. Monetisation Strategies: Certain monetisation methods, such as display advertising and affiliate marketing, may generate income relatively quickly once you have sufficient traffic to your blog. Other strategies, such as selling digital products or offering services, may require more time to develop and market effectively.
4. Traffic and SEO: Generating organic traffic from search engines can take time, especially if your blog is new and competing with established websites. Consistently optimising your content for relevant keywords, building backlinks, and improving your website’s SEO can help increase your visibility and attract more visitors over time.
5. Monetisation Thresholds: Some monetisation platforms, such as ad networks and affiliate programs, may have minimum payout thresholds that you need to reach before you can withdraw your earnings. It may take several months or longer to reach these thresholds, depending on your blog’s traffic and revenue-generating potential.
6. Persistence and Patience: Building a profitable blog is a long-term project that requires patience, persistence, and dedication. Success rarely happens overnight, and it’s essential to stay motivated and continue improving your blog’s content, promotion, and monetisation strategies over time.

2 ) Freelance blog writing

There is a crazy amount of demand for freelance writers these days. The content marketing revolution means people are publishing more online content than ever.

According to this article on Marketing Profs, two million blog posts are written every day.

Great news for freelance bloggers and writers!

Yet, while there are plenty of businesses wanting and needing fresh content, there are also plenty of people from around the world willing and able to supply it. This makes freelance writing a competitive space to be in. And this is noticeable in the rates on offer across the various sites where freelance writers find work.

If you look in the wrong places for this type of work, you’ll soon discover the crazy cheap rates people offer for “high-quality content.” They expect you to write 1,000 words (sometimes more) and infuse your article with lots of graphics and screenshots.

And how much are some people offering to pay the lowly freelance writer for this type of epic content? I’ve seen online ads offering a measly $10 or $20!

But you can avoid the low-paying clients and find work that pays well. You just need to know where to look.

Try using one of the popular online job boards listed here. These job boards may not be the places to find the best work, but they are a good starting point.

You might have to trawl through a lot of adverts to find the perfect job(s) for you. But if you’re persistent and focused, you stand a good chance of finding what you’re looking for.

A word of advice when using these boards – read the advert thoroughly and follow the instructions within. Some advertisers include specific requirements you must follow, such as mentioning a word in your application or using a particular subject line. They do this to stop spammy applicants who apply for every job they see. Failure to follow the instructions could mean your email gets ignored.

Also, always be on the lookout for rip-off merchants and people who offer silly money for quality work. Before you start searching, put on your BS Detector and turn it up to the max.

Problogger

Everyone knows this one! It’s been around for years and is the go-to board for new and established freelance bloggers. Its popularity is great for advertisers but means tons of competition for freelancers.

Pay rates vary wildly but you can find well-paid jobs here.

Visit Problogger.

Blogging Pro

Another popular freelance blogging job board with plenty of work opportunities. This one isn’t as busy as the Problogger jobs board, but it’s one you should check whenever you’re looking for work. Going off the recent listings, Blogging Pro posts about three jobs a day.

Visit Blogging Pro.

Upwork

Upwork is a huge freelance marketplace with a global reach. Because of this reach, you often find more low-paying jobs than high-paying ones. With perseverance, you can find some great blogging jobs.

TIP: When you’re looking for new opportunities on Upwork, use the advanced search filters.

Visit Upwork.

Freelance Writing Gigs

The boards at Freelance Writing Gigs contain curated job adverts from various sources such as Indeed, Blogging Pro, and Craigslist. They publish a new page each day that lists the newly found writing and blogging opportunities.

Visit Freelance Writing Gigs.

Indeed

Indeed is a massive job site for everyone, not just folk working in the digital space. To find blogging work you’ll need to enter a relevant keyword into the search box. ‘Blogger’ is a good start but do expand on that and search for things like ‘writer’, ‘content’, and ‘copywriter’ too. Leave the ‘where’ field blank to return more results.

Visit Indeed.

Media Bistro

Media Bistro has a huge list of jobs in the digital and creative sectors. You’ll need to filter the results to dive into the ‘Writing & Editing’ section or use the search function to quickly find relevant results. Huge companies like Bloomberg and Verizon advertise here.

Visit Media Bistro.

Freelance Writing

Freelance Writing runs a curated jobs board featuring ads from many of the sites listed above. It also runs a section of exclusive ads, which you can easily find by using the search filter.

Visit Freelance Writing.

When you first start freelance blogging, don’t expect to earn a lot of money per job. You might get paid around $50 for 500-750 word articles. It’s not a bad rate for a complete newbie and it will increase as you gain experience.

After a short while, you could be earning $150 or more for longer articles.

Wrapping up

I hope this article gives you enough information about the two typical ways people make money from blogging. I admit I’ve only skimmed the surface of the topic but I hope you have a clearer view of how it works, and realize that anybody who has the passion and determination can make a living from blogging.

One piece of advice I would give you on the topic – is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Create as many revenue streams as you can as you never know when one will dry up.