Most people would agree that it would be a dream come true if they could make money blogging.
The sad truth is that most people just aren’t willing to work hard enough to make money blogging, or maybe they just don’t know how to monetize their blog.
If you’re one of the few that is willing to put in the time and effort to make money blogging, then read on.
Maybe you want the freedom to work when you want wherever you want. Or maybe you just want to earn some fun-money. Whatever your reason for wanting to make money blogging, this article details 7 ways you can do just that.
1. Sell Ad Space
Ads are one of the easiest ways for you to make money blogging. All you have to do is add them to your blog (pun intended) and then make sure people see them. If you can drive enough traffic to your blog then your ads will start to make you money.
There are a handful of different ad types that you can sell:
- CPM
- CPC
- CPA
- sponsorships
- job listings
Let’s look at each type in more detail.
CPM Ads
CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand (M is the roman numeral for 1000). This means you get paid some for every 1000 people that see an ad.
The amount you get paid varies depending on the ad size, placement, product and more. $2-$3 is common for CPM banner ads though.
CPC Ads
CPC stands for “cost per click” so you get paid every time someone clicks an ad. Rates for CPC ads are much lower than CPM (well under $0.20 per click) and are also more difficult programs to be accepted into.
CPA Ads
CPA stands for “cost per action” and can have a pretty high payout. Simply put, when someone completes an action (like signing up for an email list) you get paid.
Sponsorships
A sponsorship is when someone pays you to mention their brand. Have you ever listened to a podcast and heard them say “This episode is sponsored by…”? That’s an advertisement.
There are all kinds of things you can get sponsorships for:
- your entire blog
- individual blog posts
- podcast episodes
- videos
- etc.
The price of sponsorships will be dependent on the content getting sponsored. The larger the audience, the more negotiating power you’ll have. You could also work with an unpaid sponsor to give your community a great deal on a product or service.
Job Listings
Have you ever heard people say “it’s hard to find good people these days”? It’s true and people are willing to pay to find them. If it’s relevant to your blog you could get people to pay you to list open job positions.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing (also known as cost per transaction or cost per lead) is another way you can make money blogging. In a nutshell, you promote products and then when someone clicks your link and buys it you get a cut of the sale. Affiliate marketing can be really effective if you build up your personal brand and only recommend great products.
3. Community
Depending on the niche your blog is in, you could create a community where like minded people can connect. Often these are called “master-minds”, but in the end it’s a community built around a given topic.
At this point you might be wondering why anyone would pay to be a part of a community. The reason is because it can often be difficult to find people that you want to interact with. I pay $400 monthly to be in a community with others that strive to build passive income. We share ideas, network, help each other out, and provide support for each other when things aren’t going well.
I could create my own passive income community (and I’d like to in the future!) but for now I’m happy to pay to learn from others. It’s much cheaper than going back to college!
4. Coaching
You’re probably an expert at something and there are probably people that would pay you to teach them. Coaching is a great way to learn something quickly because you can ask someone with experience specific questions. Often what takes someone years to learn can be taught in a matter of months.
5. Premium Content
You spend a lot of time creating content so why not have people pay you for it? If your content can help someone make $5000 then it’s worth at least 10% of that ($500). And if you have knowledge that very few people posses then it’s definitely worth something. Package it up nicely, market it, and make some money with it.
6. Promote Your Other Business
If you have another business, like a lawn care service, you could use your blog to find new customers. This is called content marketing. By using your deep expertise in a subject you can inform people why they should hire you or your company for the job.
7. Sell Your Own Products
Instead of selling other people’s products, why not make your own? If you have a great product, selling it yourself make you more money in the long run. Selling your own product is also much cheaper than paying someone else to advertise it.
You could create a digital product like an eBook, an online course, or an industry report if you have the right data. And if you have the skills you could even create a physical product; ship it to customers yourself or sell it on another channel like eBay or Amazon.
Closing Thoughts
There’s no shortage of ways to make money blogging, but don’t expect miracles to happen overnight once you start. Maybe you won’t make money directly from your blog posts, but if you’re willing to think outside the box you can still earn big bucks selling:
- ad space
- affiliate products
- community memberships
- coaching
- premium content
- leads
- products
Recent Comments