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How to earn money from your blog? [2022] - Learn how to monetize in 8 Different Ways

Updated: Jul 15, 2022


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You have learned about various ways to drive traffic to your blog. It's now time to learn how you can make money from your blog.


If you missed the previous steps on how to start a blog, you can find them below.

These are some of the best ways how you can monetize your blog traffic.

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This guide will help you start a blog and make money from it. Just keep in mind, that you can't expect to make a lot of money fast unless you already have a large audience.

Monetization should not be your primary focus right now but something you work towards step by step.

Knowing how you want to make money blogging before starting this new journey is helpful.

While your readership grows, some of these monetization strategies are easier to implement than others.


1. Freelancing (Selling Your Services)

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Selling your services is the best way to make money quickly from your blog.

This includes blogging jobs and freelance writing gigs. Today, with tools like Grammarly, almost anyone can write and develop this skill, which can let you earn more money in the long run.

To land a freelance client, you only need a strong pitch. This is why it is important to start a blog first.


You can also sign up on Fiverr and offer your writing services there.

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Your key blog pages (About and Contact) should be completed by now.


You will also need to showcase a few examples of your work.

Don't be discouraged if you don't yet have work examples. If you are able to sell a skill as a service, you will be ready to pitch to potential clients.

This skill could be:

  • Writing. (One of the most critical blogging skills that you will want to master)

  • Paid advertising campaigns or SEO

  • Marketing

  • Design

  • Photography

  • Developing

  • Public relations

  • Management of social media

  • Virtual assistance

  • Community-building

  • Management of projects or business strategy

  • You can make any skill monetizable.


Put some extra time aside and try to learn about freelancing.


2. Affiliate Programs

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Since we started this blog, our affiliate income has steadily grown to be the largest source of revenue for our business.

We have structured our blog to earn affiliate income due to how passive it can be once you have done the hard work in finding sustainable traffic sources for your content.

It is a smart decision to pursue affiliate marketing within your niche.


What is an affiliate program?


Here's how affiliate programs work: First, you receive a tracking link from the company for which you are an affiliate.

You will then place the tracking link in posts on your blog.

Then you can incorporate it into other places where you reach your readers (just make sure you don't violate affiliate terms and conditions).

You will either earn a percentage or a set fee each time someone clicks the tracking link and completes a transaction.

You can get compensated by referring new customers to your affiliate partners.

Most of the largest brands have affiliate programs.

Amazon associates are just one of many examples of companies that have lucrative programs.


You can also join ShareASale, which is one of the biggest affiliate marketing platforms, where you can easily find brands and companies to partner with.


If you're looking to start your own affiliate program, you can use tools such as Rewardful, which makes it easy and straightforward.

Udemy and CreativeLive are key players in niches such as online education.

After you have built a readership, you can broker an affiliate deal with companies offering relevant products to your audience.

Although all income sources for blogs are subject to market changes, affiliate marketing has been the most reliable and sustainable over the past decade of blog monetization.


3. Sponsored Content

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Suppose you don't already have a large audience on your blog or social media accounts. In that case, it will take time to build your readership enough to where you can monetize with sponsored content.


What's sponsored blog content?


It's generally when a company, brand, or individual pays you fees to place their content (or offer) in front of your audience through a blog-sponsored post.

How many visitors do you need to attract blog sponsors?


It all depends on the niche and engagement of your readers, but sponsors will want to see your traffic reach at least 5,000 monthly readers.

This can be not easy to achieve. The first year of blogging can be challenging, as you won't see a significant amount of traffic.

You can expect to see bigger numbers during the second year, as traffic usually starts to increase significantly.

You just have to be aware, that it will take time to figure out who your audience is and what traffic strategies work for you.

Once your readership increases to approximately 5000-10,000 per month (on average), sponsored content becomes feasible.

Sponsored content is a great way to keep your readers happy without causing them to be upset about a lot of ads.


4. Online Courses

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It's not that hard to put your best advice, strategies, tactics, and tutorials, into an online course.

This will allow people to learn much faster than they would if they had to go through the whole tedious process of trial and error by themselves.

An online course can be a great way to monetize your blog.


You don't need an enormous audience to make money from online courses. You can also create an ebook that could be available to your audience by solving one of their problems.


How do you launch a profitable online class?


Once you have some visitors to your blog, encourage them to interact with you.

Ask questions, give free downloads, and share your advice.

You can also ask them to join your email list or reach out to you personally.

Discover their most significant challenges as they relate to your blog's broader topics.

You can help them in unique ways by using your skills, knowledge, and experience.

Once you have identified the best way to help your readers with a specific problem, you can pitch them individually by email or other means.

They will be able to pre-order your course and get coaching while you are working on the course material.

If people will be willing to give you money for your product or service, it will confirm that you are solving a real problem. They will also assist you in curating your course content and making it better.


5. Traditional Blog Advertisements (Ad Networks)

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There are various networks such as Taboola, Outbrain, Carbon Ads, and many more.

They partner with bloggers and pair them up with ads from various publishers (advertisers).


How much money can I make from my blog ads?


It really depends on the network you're working with and the type of blog that you have. While CPC (cost-per-click) and CPM rates are higher in some cases, they could be more strict in allowing you to promote products on your site. The type and content of your blog will also affect how much you can make from ads.

Which ad networks are best for bloggers?


Google AdSense, Mediavine, and Monumetric are some of the top blog advertising networks you should consider applying to. Dedicated networks may offer higher payouts depending on the niche in which you blog.

CPC and CPM advertising doesn't generate much money (or at least not as a source of substantial blog income) until your traffic exceeds 1 million monthly visitors.

It may not be a good monetization channel if you only have a few ads on your blog sidebar. It can be a great way to make money on your blog if you have the right expectations and bring significant traffic to your blog.


6. Podcast Sponsorships

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A podcast is a great way to begin monetizing your blog.

Your traffic and early listener numbers can be used to book sponsorships with brands that are interested in reaching your audience.

To sweeten the deal, you can combine podcast placement offers with sponsored posts on your website.

Although it may sound like a distraction, I can understand why you would want to launch a podcast while still learning how to blog.

However, a podcast is not as complicated as having casual conversations with other bloggers within your industry.


Podcast sponsorships: How to make money


If you're just starting out (are new to the whole process) and have less traffic, we suggest recording a few episodes and just launching your show.


It will take time to gain traction, but eventually, you will get people who listen to your show and enjoy it.

You can reach more listeners by being a guest on other podcasts within your area. So, pitch yourself to other podcasts.

This way you'll be able to grow and eventually land some sponsorship deals.

7. Software Tools and Physical Products (eCommerce)

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Similar to launching an online course to your blog readers, selling a physical product or software tool is another excellent way to monetize your audience.

It is even better if you plan on starting an eCommerce store to sell products that are related to what your readers need. You should be aware of various eCommerce website-building tools out there, which make the whole process seem a lot easier.

This all boils down to solving the problems that your blog readers are facing.

Consider that 75% of online shoppers use social media to help them make their purchases.

eCommerce is a way to make money from a blog audience. It's a lot easier than it used to be, especially with the birth of dropshipping and order fulfillment services.

You can also leverage loyalty programs to encourage customers to refer friends and purchase.

These programs include first-time customer discounts or free one-month trial, gifting programs, and other incentives.

These channels offer opportunities to amplify your message and spread your products via word-of-mouth marketing efforts at a fraction of the cost of comparable advertising fees.


How to easily launch a product for your blog audience


You can quickly create a blog and build relationships with only 10 readers.

Then work with them to identify a problem you are interested in solving by creating a digital or physical product.

Next, focus on solving the problem repeatedly yourself.

Then create a plan for action to help those 10 people in their unique circumstances.

Furthermore, ask your readers to "pre-order the product" from you.

Then, you will work with them to create a personal coaching program that you'll use to make sure your product solves their problem.

You'll have a solution that is based on your readers' needs at the end of the validation process.


8. Business Partnerships

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This is the most tricky way to monetize your blog. You never know who you might meet. What about future podcast guests? There are many opportunities to partner with you.

There are not as many ways to create these kinds of partnerships.

Besides growing your brand and your reach on your blog, it is essential to be open to new ideas and people you across.

If you find someone you want to work with and collaborate within your area, you should strategize how you can help their business.


Final Tips for New Bloggers


Growing a successful blog boils down ultimately to being enthusiastic and engaged with your blog.

You must give people a reason to read what you blog about.

Connect with others in your niche, write exciting content and share what you are doing.

Traffic, monetization, and all other things will follow.

This guide was written because we believe starting a blog is one of the most life-changing, empowering decisions you can make.

We hope you now feel confident enough that you can start your own blog and not just bring traffic to it but also make money by doing something you enjoy.

​💡 This article is part of a series on how to start a blog.


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