I think that the vast majority of bloggers dream about making money from the blog, and preferably enough to be able to live off it. And it’s not that strange. Who wouldn’t want to be able to be their own boss? Manage their own every day, and be able to work from home or anywhere else in the world? Besides, living off of something that is fun, and maybe a great hobby?
Many bloggers live full time off the blog. But when you see how many people live from blog revenue compared with how many people, in fact, blog, it is a relatively small proportion who actually earn large sums of money from this activity.
But there is a substantial percentage that earns a little. Maybe 500 for a post on Instagram, or a few thousand patches for some pictures and a collaboration. But not enough so that one can live off it.
I have limited experience with these things, and therefore cannot say bombastic what works best yet. But since I’m going to do some of these things in my blog, I have read a lot: both on the subject, identifying options, and other blogging experiences in different ways.
The most important and most interesting thing is that before it was mostly just possible to make money through regular ads. But now there are many more ways to get income! Ways you yourself have more control over, and that can give you much greater profits.
Through all the reading I have done, I have been left with quite a few thoughts on what I think is working and worth to aim for and what is not. And even though I have not started to do it yet, I have decided what I’m going to do when I start. Moreover, perhaps more importantly, what not to do.
Here are six ways you can make money on your blog, and which methods I think you should concentrate on:
1. Making money with ads
Ads are currently the most common way to make money blogging, and it’s pretty much what people associate with making money blogging. There are several ways to earn from ads. Some are better than others, but in general, it consists of showing someone else’s content on your blog.
You can sign up on different networks that place ads on your blog, such as Google AdSense. You then put the network ads on your blog, and you have some influence over which ads will be shown. You earn money when your ad appears, or through people clicking on your ad.
This is not something I do, and so advertising is the kind of income I recommend the least.
Why? Because the main point of such ads is to send people somewhere else.
You earn money sending people out of your blog so that they can spend their money on other people’s content or products. Not very sensible, if you’re thinking a bit over it.
Besides, these are usually extremely low-paid. I tried to have Google AdSense on my blog for quite a while. I got paid $600 for three years… In the end, I think the ads were just annoying, so I took them away. I don’t miss them, the blog looks a lot neater without them.
You put the rule in categories for which ads you want to have that are at least relevant. But you can certainly run the risk of getting ads that are entirely different to your blog.
2. Making money from sponsored posts/collaborations
This is also common, and there are quite a few bloggers who have larger or smaller collaborations with businesses.
As a rule, find deals that state that you write blog posts about the product. It may be that you have been sent foods to use to create recipes that contain these items. Or it may be to show how a styler’s garment looks or to do makeup tests. As a rule, engage in such deals also advertising them in other channels, for example on Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat.
I have no idea how much they get paid. But it’s probably more lucrative than other ads, depending on the company you collaborate with. It will of course also vary according to how large the audience the blogger has is, and readership means much for advertisers.
You should also make yourself a media kit if you want to drive with collaborations.
3. Making money from affiliates
Affiliate marketing is another form of advertising, which I have a lot more faith in. By being an affiliate, you will get sales – revenues, and it pays you to send people out to other people’s pages because you also get something back from doing so.
They have, for example, a discount code that you can enter in an online store. The code is specific to the blogger, and when you use the code that is entered in the system, the reader who uses it gets a discount, and eventually, the blogger gets paid a fixed percentage of the sales with the code.
It’s not always that there is a code, an affiliate can also be a link. They contain the link codes that help the store see which blogs it comes from, and the blogger gets paid a percentage of the sale.
How much you get varies from place to place, many have fixed deals. But there are also cases where it is negotiated so that it can also vary from blogger to blogger.
This is one of the things I so far have started to look at, in which I think there is a better way to make money from compared to others.
But…
You do, of course, what you want with your blog, but I would like to encourage you to be selective about who you become an affiliate for. Select products or businesses that are within your niche, and thus are relevant to your readers. This increases the chance that they actually click and buy, and thus also increases your income.
In addition, you should only recommend products or companies you actually like and can stand for. Do not recommend credit cards or loans, for example. Keep in mind that your readers trust you. If you recommend something, chances are reasonably high that they will try it. If it then is nonsense, junk or something that does not correspond to their expectations, it is not the product or the company that goes above and beyond. It is you and your blog. It is you who are losing readers and credibility.
I have started with NameCheap, the company I use as hosts. I think they are the best I have used, and have absolutely no problem in recommending it to you. I use it myself, I know that it is good, and then it is no problem for me to recommend it.
Would you like to become an affiliate? There is a network for it too, just like with ads. But many companies have their own program, and I’d rather recommend going directly to the companies you are interested in. NameCheap has, for example, a separate page for what you are seeking. Amazon.com also has its own program.
4. Making money selling services
This is probably the point you can make the most money on. As a blogger, there is a good opportunity to start offering services.
I have not started with this yet, but this is also one of the things I’m possibly going to test out in the long term.
For my part, there may be a help to set up a blog from start to finish. Or maybe training in WordPress. Or it can be to give feedback on a blog and help to improve it.
There are many opportunities to sell services across many industries and niches. Do you blog about fashion? When can you give consultations? You can help people to find the style that suits them, or maybe they don’t know what kind of colors they dress in and need a color analysis. Maybe they need a shopping round of guidance/help. If you blog about interior designing, you can help them find the style and the products they are looking for, or help them to design their new kitchen, for example.
If you are a food blogger, you can maybe provide a course. Or maybe you can set up and make food for someone in a company. Or sell cakes to private buyers. Maybe you are a web designer and can design websites or giveaways for customers. Or keep the lecture. Perhaps you blog is about knitting, and you can create a course.
There are many things you can do, with which you can earn quite well. But it’s also a lot of work in such a kind of service. You have to be good at planning, keeping deadlines and having a system. You must also deal professionally with customers. Not all clients are nice, and you have to be prepared to find that people may be unhappy or difficult to collaborate with and it is part of the job.
PS: remember that if you are going to do such things, you need to create a sole proprietorship and make sure that if you make more than 50.000 dollars, you have to pay SALES TAX to the State. You do not need to tax if it is casually. That is that you have a regular job which is your main job, and you do not earn as much money. But as soon as it turns into an income, you can live on, or your main income, you must also pay taxes.
5. Making money by sell your own online courses
Have you ever thought that you could make and sell your own online courses? Probably not!
This is a point I think is very exciting, and that I know I’m going to try for myself!
To make and sell your own course on the net is a fairly new way to make money. But US-based bloggers are well underway and make shitloads (excuse my language) of money from courses.
Now, I am not saying that we all are going to make a million a month by making and selling courses online. It does not happen. But that it is possible to make some income, I’m pretty sure!
Online courses take some time and work to plan and create, they must be comprehensive and have quality content. But the advantage is that once you have created them, they stand there and sell and make money without you having to do anything more. You must, of course, continue to promote the course and follow up with participants, but the course is located where available for new students each day.
There are several platforms on which you can make such courses, and there are also many ways to do so. I have a separate Board on residual Agonized with lots of links on how to create online courses, click and see if you want to know more!
6. Making money by selling your own products
In the same way, you can create online courses and sell them, you can also create your own products and sell those, as well! This is also a point I think is very interesting, and that I’m going to test out.
There are many different products to make and sell, such as eBooks, online workshops, physical products, and membership pages.
For my part, it will, for example, be applicable with eBooks that guide you through anything. Maybe how to create a blog from A-z? Or how WordPress works. I can also make and sell workshops, maybe a 3-hour workshop where we go through how to set up WordPress. Or a workshop where we go through everything you have to do with the blog to get a good SEO.
Here, too, there are great opportunities, no matter what you blog is about! If you blog about knitting, you can create your own patterns and sell them. Or you can knit garments and offer physical products. If you are a designer, you can, for example, sell posters.
These things will give you less income than a course. But the products can also be easier and less time-consuming to make and can be a great way to start.
The downside of it is that it is a great deal of work to sustain and maintain such a page. You have to publish exclusive content on a regular basis so that people get what they pay for.
What do you think; do you have a lot of good ideas for your blog? What do you think about the various proposals?
Learning approach.