Do you want to set aside your 9 to 5 job and earn money with your WordPress blog instead? This is possible with the right strategies! In this article, we describe four different methods to generate an income with blogging.
How to make money with your WordPress blog?
1. Ads
When it comes to making money with your WordPress blog, advertising is probably the easiest way. You can start displaying ads from, for example, Google AdSense, Google’s own advertising network. The nice thing about Adsense is that you do not have to have substantial visitors volumes to participate in the program. Ads can start showing within 10 minutes of installing their code and even if you have just a few visitors, you can make (some very little) money, if they do click on the ad.
An alternative is to sell advertising space on your WordPress blog directly to advertisers. This can be very profitable if your WordPress blog already has a significant amount of visitors, because you are not dependent on an advertising network, you do not have to leave a percentage of your profit to the middle men.
AdSanity is an excellent plugin for those who want to place ads on their blog. It simplifies advertising management and helps you make more sales with minimal effort.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing helps you make money when someone buys a product based on your recommendations. It works really easy: you sign up for an affiliate program, choose a product that you like and place an affiliate link to that product in one of your blog articles. When someone clicks on your link and then buys that product, you get a commission, which is generally a percentage off the sale.
This is the best way to make money blogging. Affiliate marketing means that you are blogging about a certain service or product, or provide tips about a product or service. When that reader then decides he wants to purchase that product or service, you will receive a commission (money) for it. You can at the same time promote someone else’s product and earn money there. There is no limit as to the amount of products you can promote, but of course, you have to keep it simple, so your blog remains a place for reviews and tips, and not a blatant marketplace.
The differences between affiliate marketing and Google Adsense
Unlike Google Adsense, you choose for yourself which product you’re going to sell and get your money per sale, instead of per click. You can better target the products and moreover get paid a lot more with affiliate marketing, compared to CPC.
3. Freelancing
You can also get started as a freelancer. For example, as a freelance copywriter (this is how Lorelei started off), guest blogger, web designer or SEO specialist. In your blog articles, you can show your skills and expertise and thus attract the right segment of paying customers. Register at the Chamber of Commerce put a good description on your site of the services you offer, and make sure people can easily contact you via email or phone.
4. Sell products
If you want a stable flow of passive income, you can also set up an eshop and link it to your blog. You can then attract customers by blogging about the products you sell.
With the right strategy, it is very possible to generate a good income with your blog, and by “good” I mean $X,XXX to $XX,XXX. You can sell digital products such as e-books, but also physical products, if you make something hand crafted, or unique. If you prefer not to be involved in inventory management, you can focus on your blog, and opt-in for the drop shipping option, which is still increasingly popular. The ordered products are then sent directly by the wholesaler to your customers and you only collect the middleman’s fee.
What are the most popular topics for a blog, in order to make money?
We all would want to have a unique blog about “ourselves” so that it both reflects our inner thoughts and makes money along the way. However, in reality, not all topics and niches earn money equally. Some niches and topics are more lucrative than others and pay a lot more for adverting or per sale. To make money with a blog, you will need to choose topics that generate a lot interest and visitors.
The most popular topics to make money are: travel, finances, beauty, fashion, makeup, health & (ironically…) how to make money online.
These are the top paying niches but also the most competitive ones. Forget about being #1 in Google for the term “fashion” or “beauty”, but you can still target a lot of long tail keywords and work your way up to the top in a niche that has a big potential. Good luck!