You may be wondering can you really make money blogging? I’m here to tell you that you most definitely can. Making money from a blog is easier than you may think. Yep, the sky is the limit when it comes to making good money from a blog and there are tons of bloggers who are killing it every day.
I never in a million years thought I’d ever say this, but…blogging is one of my favorite ways to make money online, hear me out. I’ve never been an amazing writer, I’ve never had the dream of writing a novel or publishing articles but do you know what I do have a passion for?
Helping people. I like providing resources for people who are looking to solve problems. I created this finance blog to answer the questions I had several years ago. If you want to have the flexibility to work from home and earn money online I highly recommend you look into starting a blog.
When I first started blogging, I was making $0 and had no clue what I was doing. Honestly, there is a ton of things to learn when it comes to blogging. I’m learning something new each and every day. Believe me, it’s not one of those get rich schemes where you start making money overnight.
We have spent countless hours researching, reading, listening to podcasts, joining various Facebook groups and purchasing programs for advancement.
However, within a year of learning the basics of blogging, my blog began to grow. Each and every day the amount of money I make in affiliate marketing grows. This is extra money I have on top of my 40 hour a week job.. Seriously, how cool is that?
I started this blog just about a year ago and now it’s my absolute favorite way to earn extra income.
This article may contain affiliate links, full disclosurehere
Table of Contents
How to Start a Blog and Make Money
Step 1. Create a blog
Before you learn how to monetize a blog, you must have a blog! If you’re new to blogging and are still trying to learn how to start one read this post about how to start a blog. The setup process is really easy.
If you’re still with me and are looking for additional resources to give you the overall picture of blogging check out this course. Scrivs from Dare to Conquer will teach you everything you need to know about starting a blog and will even help you to achieve you first income goal! !
To be honest, starting this blog was one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a long time. The opportunities and income potential that I can achieve are really motivating.
You too can start a money making blog check out my start to finish blog tutorial here. You can start a blog at a discounted price for only $2.95 a month (that’s over 60% off). Plus, get a FREE domain name ($15 value) when you sign up through my tutorial.
Believe me You DON’T need to be the best writer (I’m obviously not) or even subject matter expert in what you blog about. Start today!
Step 2. Create interesting blog content
In other words, write blog posts based on what people are searching for. There’s really no reason to try a different niche for your first blog.
In the beginning, I thought I could write about whatever I wanted and readers would be interested in it. This is as far from the truth as it could be.
It has taken me some time to realize that I need to keep my audience in mind and the question WIIFM? (What’s in it for me)? Those who are reading your content don’t want to hear about you and your life experiences they want you to be able to help THEM with THEIR problems.
Many readers come to learn about a specific topic. They aren’t coming to hear about what you did last weekend. A good blog will engage the reader and deliver value.
If you want to expedite your path to making money with a blog check out the 7 most profitable blog niches. These are the niches that are proven to make money fast.
An excellent way to find topics that people are interested in is to use thePinterest search engine. If you type the word “RECIPES” into Pinterest, you’ll see some of the most popular keywords that are commonly searched such as “healthy,” “quick,” and “easy.”
Use these keywords to guide you in writing high quality and meaningful posts.
Step 3. Actively grow your email list
An email list should be one of your top priorities when it comes to building your blog. By building your email list you are increasing your opportunity to make money.
Your email list is a great way to create passive income. Email lists are full of people who will potentially buy the things you create, read your content, and tell others about your blog.
To create a mailing list there are tons of service providers out there. We use and love Convertkit, signing up with Convertkit costs a little bit more than other providers but the platform allows you to do SOOOO much more.
We were customers with bothMailerlite and Mailchimp but had unfavorable experiences with both of them.
Once signing up with Convertkit all integrations have been seamless and the customer service is far superior to the others.
Step 4. Drive traffic to your blog
As a new blogger, you need to work on increasing your page views. The more people that visit your site and read your material the higher your chances are at making money.
We love Pinterest for driving traffic to our site. There are various other ways to drive traffic to your blog such as Facebook, Google SEO, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, guest blogging, joining forums.
However, at this point, Pinterest is the winner for us in driving traffic to our blog.
Step 5. Monetize your Blog
The best way to monetize a blog is by creating multiple streams of money-making opportunities.
1. Advertising
Most beginner bloggers start by advertising on their sites. This is the easiest way to create revenue because it’s passive. If you want to make good money through advertising it is crucial that your website gets a lot of traffic.
If you’re hoping to make thousands of dollars thenyou will need to get 100’s of thousands of page views per month.
- Display Ads –Many beginning bloggers start with Adsense for display ads because it is one of the easier companies for low traffic bloggers.
As your traffic increases and you are receiving more page views you can apply to higher paying companies such as Mediavine (you need a minimum of 25,000) and AdThrive (you need a minimum of 100,000 page views a month)
- Take a look at Michelle from Making Sense out of Centsincome report. Michelle had over 400,000 page views in the month of March and made almost $250,000. Of that $2,550 came from display advertising.
2. Sponsored Posts.
Companies will pay you to write posts mentioning them and their products or services. These posts are written to gain popularity through promotion.
The best way to make money “name dropping” these products is to find natural places to “plug” inthis information. Sponsored posts fall anywhere from traditional blog posts to advertisem*nts.
3. Affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is promoting someone else’s work, service, or product. A great way to do this is by writing about a product or service. By providing an in-depth guide, tutorial, or review about your experience with using an affiliate product you can turn readers into buyers.
If you are genuine in your promotion of the product, it’s more likely you will make a sale. You make a sale or “commission” when someone makes a purchase from the link you provide to the affiliate site.
There are thousands of affiliate programs to join. Some that we participate in are:
- Amazon Associates- You get paid when readers purchase Amazon products through your affiliate link
- Bluehost – The host we use to start our blog.
- Convertkit – The email provider we use to stay in touch with our readers
- Newspaper by Theme Forest – The website theme we use and recommend.
- Flexoffers– Wonderful customer service and great products
- Shareasale– A collection of 1,000’s of companies available for affiliate marketing
I also highly recommend a couple blogging courses. If it weren’t for these courses we wouldn’t be making the money we are today. These courses have fast-tracked our success.
- Making Sense out of Affiliate Marketing
- Pinteresting Strategies
- Dare To Conquer
Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite and most profitable income streams. It is similar to advertising but does not rely on the traffic you receive to your site.
We have been learning a lot about affiliate marketing and are implementing new strategies in our posts daily.
If you would like to learn more about affiliate marketing Michelle fromMaking Sense out of Affiliate Marketing is definitely the person to learn from. You can read about my experience with taking her coursehere
4. Product Reviews and Giveaways
This is a good way to increase revenue by promoting the products you use and enjoy. I have a couple different posts that I have linked various companies to because I use their products daily and really enjoy the benefits they have provided in my life.
5. Digital Products
At some point, many bloggers begin creating and selling their own digital products. Digital products are great products to sell because of low risk and no overhead. Examples of some of the digital products that bloggers create:
- Ecourses– Teach others a skill that you are good at or educate them about something they don’t know
- Ebooks-Publishing an Ebook is quite easy and profitable for many bloggers
- Membership Sites-Educational platforms with a community appeal
This FREE 7 Step Course on how to launcha money-making online course is fantastic for people wanting to learn how you can make money by teaching others.
Can You Really Make Money Blogging?
The answer is YES you can! Many bloggers make a decent amount of money.Successful bloggers have been able to quit their full-time jobs and pursue the life of their dreams. If you are looking for a FREE 12 Day-Blogging Bootcamp to get you started click HERE
Follow us onPINTERESTfor financial independence, early retirement, FIRE, budgeting, saving money and frugality
How Long Does It Take To Make Good Money Blogging?
It depends on your level of dedication. Blogging is not a get rich scheme. I know you hear many bloggers telling their stories of how they are making thousands of dollars each month. It’s true! You can make great money but it takes WORK.
It takes commitment and lots of working hours to build up to earning a decent income. Some bloggers may see a decent part-time income in approximately 6 months but allow yourself 1-3 years before you expect a full-time dependable income from it.
Keys to remember to be successful and make money from your blog
- Create valuable content
- Get new people to see your content
- Make a sale
- Get an email address
Please don’t hesitate to drop us a comment or send us an email if you have any questions about how to become successful and make money blogging.
