So you want to make money blogging? Of course you do! Let’s be real, blogging is definitely work, so making moeny behind the scenes is important to a majority of us.

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Ads

Making money through ads on your website is a great way to make money without doing anything more than you already are. Ads run in the background, and you don’t have to think much about them.

Google Adsense is the easiest Ad Network to sign up for that will allow you to make money blogging quickly. The general guidelines are that your site needs to be at least 3 months old, and you need at least 30 quality articles (that actually help the reader) on your site. Your content needs to be original and and attract an audience. However, there is no minimum traffic requirement, unlike other Ad Networks like MediaVine.

The money I make from Google AdSense on my Fiddle Leaf Blog website covers ALL of the costs of my blog on a yearly basis. I make a little more than $100 a month currently as of May 2021.

While ads seem like an easy way to make money blogging, they are highly dependent on your traffic and whether your audience is clicking on the ads themselves. Google Adsense is notoriously strict when it comes to “invalid traffic.” i.e. you or other clicking on ads just to rack up dollar. So a word of caution: NEVER click your own ads. NEVER tell your spouse or best friend or parents to click on your ads. It’s not worth it. Google Adsense will put you in a review period that can last about 30 days, during which time you won’t be eligible to display ads at all.

Additionally, too many ads on your site can annoy the heck out of your readers. So ensure that they are tasteful and not popping up between every paragraph!

Otherwise, ads can be a great way to cover the base costs of your blog without having to work harder!

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is another way you can make money blogging fairly quickly. You can sign up for the Amazon Associate program right away! This allows you to start linking Amazon items in your blog posts to make commission. The great part is, the reader does not have to buy the exact product you have linked. If you’ve linked faux florals, and they click through your link and buy toothpaste, you still get credit!

RewardStyle is another popular Affiliate platform, and the Etsy Affiliate program through Awin is amazing! You can actually get $30 per referral to the Etsy affiliate program. They also regularly offer $30 Etsy credits just for submitting blog posts with Etsy affiliate links. When you sign up, it will charge you $5 as a test, but don’t worry, they give it back!

Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize on the front end, but it DOES take work and time. However, it also makes you a great resource for your audience, because they don’t have to go searching for things you recommend to them. Once you build up an email list with a good number of subscribers, you can also include affiliate links in your emails – just be sure to disclose whenever you are using them (see the disclosure at the beginning of this post as an example)!

Brand Collaborations

Brand collaborations are the BIG TICKET ITEMS when it comes to making money blogging. Working with brands is a ton of fun, and you can really leverage your great content and traffic (the higher your traffic, the larger the potential is for more money). Working with brands, creating media kits, and understanding contract language just a few things we go over in my blogging course OWN Your Influence, because the information about brand collaborations would never fit into one blog post!

But as you develop as a blogger, keep in mind that you can leverage your influence online by working with brands and charging them for your content and exposure!

Guest Posting

Guest posting is not something I personally do, but is certainly something to consider. There are many sites out there, especially those who sell physical products where a blog is secondary, who are looking for blog contributors. Often, these business owners are willing to pay you to write articles for their site. If you notice a site you love that seems to have multiple contributors to their blog (even large brands like Home Depot do this), you can always reach out to ask them about the process for guest posting.

A great thing about guest posting as that most of the time, you’ll be able to get a backlink to your blog. That means that the blog you contribute to will link back to your website, which is great for both exposure and your SEO!

Selling Products/Services on Your Site

This is another BIG TICKET item. Once you have an established audience who knows and trusts you, you can begin to offer wither paid services or products to them, depending on your niche. Pocket products are a GREAT way to start.

Think of a pocket product as a beefed up lead magnet, or freebie, that you might offer your audience as a bonus for signing up for your email list. Create something similar that packs a ton of value (an e-book, mini course, etc.). Then offer it to your audience for between $17 and $47. This keeps the price point low enough that most people wont second guess purchasing it, especially if they already know you offer huge value to them! Products that solve a problem or pain point for your audience seem to be the most successful!

SHOP MY BLOGGING ESSENTIALS

I hope this article helped you think outside the box when it comes to monetizing your blogging business. Blogging does not carry the same instant gratification as social media. But in the long term, it helps you build a business you own and control.

If you have any questions or comments or other tips on how to make money blogging, I’d love to chat with you in the comments below! And if you’d like to learn more about how I make money blogging, you can review all of my income reports right here on the site!

Until next time…

XO,

Ana

P.S. Are you a content creator who wants to learn to start a money making blog but you aren’t sure how or where to start? Join me in my FREE blogging workshop! Just click the pink button below to claim your seat!