How to Make Money Blogging?

Some of the Best Ways to Make Money Blogging

Are you interested in creating your own blog but don't know how to make money with it? Don't worry; I am here to help you; in this article, you’ll see everything you need to know to make money blogging, with different methods that can be really useful for you.

light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, connected by wires representing how sponsored posts can light up a blog

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another excellent option for making money; it’s a very simple form of marketing in which you, as the owner of a blog, can sell the products of another business, obviously with their consent, and generate a profit from the agreed percentage.

In this type of marketing, everyone wins; while the users who visit your blog, i.e., potential customers, can find products that they might not have found on their own, you, as the blog owner, and the owner of the business you’re selling products from, gain a certain amount from the sales.

Getting an affiliate to sell your products isn’t as difficult as it seems; according to many statistical data, at least 81% of brands have affiliate marketing programs, so with your blog, you can make good money from the sales of products of such brands.

focused person drawing website ad space on a computer screen determined as they sketch out the design

Selling Advertising Space

Just as advertisements are published on television or on the street, you can do the same with your blog and "rent" your space for advertising. It’s a really profitable way to earn money with your blog since the more content you have, the more potential advertising space you’ll have.

It’s one of the easiest ways, but not the only one, to earn money with your blog, although it will depend exclusively on the visits you receive on it. This is the case with pay-per-click ads; it remunerates you a fixed amount for each click on an ad placed on your blog.

It’s considered as advertising space, in addition to the already mentioned method of sponsored posts that I mentioned at the beginning; however, in this case, I refer exclusively to ads that appear both above and on the sides of your blog, although you can also choose the space that will be rented for ads.

professional woman working on a laptop, providing her services online

Offer Services

One of the most profitable ways to make money on your blog is to use it as a showcase, advertising your services, regardless of their type. Let's say you offer a legal advice service, but you have no way to promote it physically without having huge competition in your local area; in that case, you can create your own local advice blog and focus on providing your services to the public. In these cases, it’s even likely that you’ll have to advertise yourself on other more well-known blogs with paid ads, at least for the first time.

This was just an example, but you can provide the service you prefer, except for freelancing services, which I’ll mention later, just to differentiate them from the most common services. The possibilities are endless, being able to choose between the already mentioned legal advice, psychology, vacations, lodging, and much more.

women walking through a digital store, surrounded by endless rows of products on all sides

Digital Products

Just as you can sell your digital services, you can also sell products of the same type; here, you also have many options for digital products to sell, including stock photos, songs, digital tools from Adobe, FruttyLoops (FL), and other PC programs, programming bots, virtual assistants, electronic programs, online program licenses, and paid services, among others. Some consider this option to be much better than the next one below since you’ll never have to interact with customers physically.

woman works at her laptop, surrounded by the products she is selling online

Physical Products

The other option for selling products is to sell physical products; as I mentioned briefly in the previous option, many prefer selling virtual products, although this is still a great alternative. Here you can choose to sell thousands of different products on your blog, including clothes, paintings, food, documents, books, kitchen items, tools, cell phones, cakes, balls, and a very long etcetera that is endless.

Compared to digital products, I consider the sale of physical products to be much broader but nevertheless much more competitive. It would be best if, on your own, you look for products that aren’t so widely sold or that, at least in your area, aren’t so regular.

man and a woman sit at their couch, focused on their screens as they take an online course and make notes

Online Courses and Workshops

Are you a professional in any subject and want to teach it? Having your own blog also opens the door to selling online courses. With your blog, you can encourage people to sign up for upcoming online seminars you'll be giving to the general public, whether it's about languages, history, cell phone repair, math, college support, philosophy, or even driving courses (yes, there are those).

It’s recommended that you look for ideas on the Internet because you never know if the topic you feel so expert about can be really searched by many. The good thing about this option is that you don't actually have to be present in live classes if that's what you're afraid of, but you can sell courses with recorded classes.

woman lies comfortably on her couch, her iPad in hand as she reads an ebook

Books and E-books

As the title says, you can use your blog to sell your own or used physical or electronic books. This is an excellent option in case you have many books at home that you’ve already read and don’t use anymore or, in a much more extreme case, you’ve bought an eBook online and have already finished it; in the latter case, the difference is that, compared to physical books, which you can have in a library, eBooks don’t have much use after being read.

Instead of leaving them gathering dust and taking up unnecessary space, use your blog to sell them and generate a profit, as small as it may be, at least to start making money.

microphone standing in front of a large crowd of people

Speaking Gigs

If you know TED Talks and you’re passionate about exposing topics for followers to listen to, you can use your blog and use it as a platform where people can sign up for your talk events, whether they’re virtual, being a much simpler option, or physical (for this, you’ll obviously need a space in which to hold them).

group of people stands together, their faces lit up with excitement as they discuss their plans for coaching their clients

Consulting/Coaching

If you’re a psychologist, lawyer, or even a therapist, it’s a great idea to offer your consultancy online using your blog.

One option is to provide an appointment form, where people can purchase consultations online with you or in person. However, the first option is much simpler and more effective. Once your clients get an appointment, you'll only have to introduce yourself and make a video consultation call with them, whatever the subject may be.

You can also choose to provide your coaching or personal trainer service, again, either physically or virtually, and with a very similar modality, providing your clients with appointments and communicating with them that same day.

woman sits at her home office desk, working on her laptop as her husband and kid play beside her

Selling Freelance Services

In this case, I have a much broader section where you can find hundreds of freelance services. Freelancing is a practice in which thousands of people provide online services. One of these services, for example, is article writing, something that you’ll certainly need for your blog and that, if that’s what you’re mainly dedicated to, you can even offer through your new blog.

Another freelance service can be graphic design, and you don't need to be a professional, although demonstrating university knowledge is always more attractive. With a little knowledge of Adobe programs and virtual drawing, you can provide graphic design services to many companies or potential customers who visit your blog looking for this service so essential nowadays.

Are you a translator? Translation services of different languages are really in demand nowadays, either for companies or on your own, being able to translate legal documents, subtitles, books, and more, and then selling them on your blog.

You can also opt for many other freelance services, such as photography, scriptwriting, copywriting, and much more.

customized globe on a person's hand, illustrating how directories can connect people across the world

Create a Paid Directory

Finally, I recommend an option to generate profits with your blog that is complementary to other options you may have read about here: I'm referring to paid directories. Integrating a vertical paid directory is an excellent option to monetize your blog, with a great appeal, which is that it doesn't replace other existing sources of income.

You can create paid directories with your blog in three ways: as a page with subpages, this being the most basic version; with a WordPress plug-in, integrating a directory into your blog; or with a hand-programmed directory, in case you really know what you want to offer, but there is no simpler way to do it.

Successful Blogger Tips

Now that I've told you which are the best options to make money with your blog, either with affiliate marketing, selling physical products, selling books, online courses, talks, freelance services, and more, you should know that some of these require a much higher traffic on your blog than others.

Some of these methods, such as selling ad space, will generate almost no money if you decide to use it on your newly started blog since the profit is based on clicks, and therefore no visits mean no clicks, and no clicks mean no money.

It is important that one of the main things you have in mind when you want to generate a profit with your blog is to plan the monetization correctly, knowing which of the previous options will adapt better to the number of monthly visitors you receive.

Monetization Schedule

Your monetization schedule should be elaborated from day 1, and it is extremely important that you are clear about your future goal so that you don't get stuck with only one of the existing ways.

At the beginning of your blog, in which you receive between 0 and 1000 monthly visits, one of the best options to monetize your blog is to do consulting; although it may seem contradictory, at the beginning of your blog will need you to build relationships and attract users (potential customers) who feel comfortable with you or your blog and can recommend it to more people.

Once you get more than 1000 monthly visitors, you can start with what I consider to be the best way to generate a profit with your blog, which is affiliate marketing. As I already mentioned, this allows you to sell other businesses' products and generate your profit through sales percentages. I recommend that you keep this method permanently on your blog; it will start to work regularly from 1000 monthly visits and will increase as you have more and more visitors.

When you see that your blog has started exceeding 5000 monthly visitors, you can start providing much more personalized and focused services in what you're an expert. Whether with services or courses, this flow of visitors per month will be perfect to start with this method, as it will allow you to have customers from the beginning while still having affiliate marketing as a personal income method.

You can start giving courses in your specialized field or provide freelance services, such as design or copywriting, whatever suits you best.

Finally, I reach the "final" stage, so to speak, where you should have already surpassed 10,000 monthly visits; at this point, you will not change your form of income; you'll continue with affiliate marketing and continue to offer online courses or services; however, you'll add a key part that will most likely give you the most income: memberships.

Just as large websites give course memberships, going from the most basic plans to premium plans, you can do the same and add plans for your courses or your services. If you're unsure how this tactic will work, you can start with low prices, discount offers, free trial months, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an LLC for my blog?

It is not mandatory to declare your blog as an LLC, especially at the beginning, where the income is much less, and you can only declare it as personal income. However, once time passes and you start generating a much higher profit, it is advisable to have an LLC since it offers many tax advantages when it comes to paying your taxes, which I will discuss next.

Do bloggers pay taxes?

Yes, bloggers are required to pay taxes on their income, no matter how minimal, regardless of whether it is an LLC or a one-person business. It all depends on the amount of money you earn from your blog; the higher your income, the higher your tax liability.

Let's suppose that, among all your options, you've decided to turn your blog into a store and sell different physical products there. This way, you'll have to pay sales taxes within the United States; as annoying as it may sound, you don't have to worry too much since many e-commerce platforms used to maintain an online store automatically perform these tax calculations.

Can a small blog make money?

Yes, of course, it can. Your blog can generate a profit no matter how small it’s. The most modest bloggers can generate between $20-$100 per month in their first year, which can increase over time.

Can you make 10k a month with a blog?

Although the earnings with a blog aren’t usually huge and vary a lot, with years of work and a really good base of monthly visitors, it’s possible to generate 10 thousand dollars a month with your blog.Although the earnings with a blog aren’t usually huge and vary a lot, with years of work and a really good base of monthly visitors, it’s possible to generate 10 thousand dollars a month with your blog.

Do beginner bloggers make money?

Some of the ways I discuss in this article are perfectly suitable for beginner bloggers, although, obviously, the profit they generate will not be the same as that generated by a blogger who has been building his structure for years. For example, selling physical products is recommended for beginner bloggers, although, in comparison, it'll be very difficult to make a lot of money in the first few months, let alone earn a living.

Do bloggers get paid monthly?

In general, yes. The vast majority of bloggers charge monthly the total amount acquired for visits, although there is also the possibility of charging annually.

Do bloggers earn millions?

Earning millions is a strong word, and although it seems impossible to achieve with a blog, the case of Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, who earns more than 2 million a month with her news company, which started in 2005 as a simple blog, should be analyzed.

What does this mean? While it is possible to generate that huge amount of money, it is impossible to do so without evolving, i.e., moving from your blog or online family business to a company. At some point, if you are very successful, you will see profits start to increase exponentially, which will indirectly force you to have your own company.

Although some bloggers may make millions through their visits, advertising, and memberships, this isn’t the most common, so you shouldn’t expect that by blogging, you’ll become a millionaire in an instant.

How can I monetize my blog fast?

The fastest way to make your blog generate a profit is through selling articles, advertising, or paid subscriptions. However, I recommend you be patient since monetizations usually take some time.

How much do you make per month with a blog?

This question is somewhat broad and requires a large and elaborate analysis of what the earnings of different niches look like, as it is unlikely that a cat blog, for example, will generate the same earnings as a huge tourism blog.

In the first months or even more than a year, your blog can generate up to $500 per month, while other much larger blogs with thousands of visitors per month can generate more than $10,000 per month.

Keep in mind that the most successful bloggers of all, who have had their own blogs for years, earn up to seven figures per month in income; there is no magic formula to earn money with your blog, and everything will depend exclusively on the effort you put in, the patience you have and perseverance, avoiding giving up when you see that the income does not appear.

How do bloggers actually make money?

Once a blogger selects the option they want to earn money, they must know how that same money is collected and how they can get it and have it in their hands.

This depends exclusively on the method they have chosen; in case they have chosen the option of selling digital products, physical products, courses, freelance services, or conventional services, most likely, the payments will be made through PayPal, one of the most important payment applications in the world, as well as through bank transfers or other online methods, such as Skrill or Payoneer.

Unlike this, if the ad method has been chosen on your blog or another method that relies exclusively on advertising, payments can change and be given even by Google Pay, a Google payment platform that rewards blogs automatically for their ads on Google Ads. Bloggers who generate a profit with their blogs usually do so through advertising on their site or through visits. They also do so with paid subscriptions or product sales.

How do bloggers get paid?

It all depends on what methods of income they have. If a blogger sells subscriptions or products, the most normal thing is that they receive their income through some international payment application, such as PayPal.

On the other hand, if they receive their money through Google Ads advertising, they will most likely get paid through Google Pay.

How much do beginner bloggers make?

A modest beginner blogger who already generates a profit with his blog usually earns around $20-$100 per month, although some consider a beginner's starting income as high as $500 per month.

How much money can you make from creating a blog?

Although there’s no estimate of how much you can earn from blogging alone, the highest figures can be as high as $100,000 per year.

How many visits per month do I need to have to make money?

Although there's no set amount of visitors per month that will ensure you can earn a fixed amount of money, it is recommended that you've at least a few hundred visitors per month. As I mentioned previously, there are different monetization strategies that you should follow depending on the number of clicks you get each month.

With this strategy in mind, you will see that even with less than 1000 visits per month, it is entirely possible to generate a profit, however small it may be.

Is it easy to make money with a blog?

The answer is simple: no. It is not at all easy to make money with your blog, but that does not mean it is impossible; as I already told you and as you should keep in mind, the basis of making money with your blog relies on the constancy you have, the content you create, the quality of it and how you predispose yourself to your new business, avoiding getting frustrated, especially in the beginning.

Which blogs generate the most money?

Although there is no one type of blog that makes more money, some niches are more effective or searched in the major search engines than others. For example, investment, tourism, food, or pet blogs are always in demand, so you can choose one of them, create your content and try to monetize it as effectively as possible.

Despite this, you'll find that these niches are extremely competitive because, being the most effective, they are also the most used by new and existing blogs. In this way, generating a profit can get a little complicated, at least at the beginning.

For this reason, I recommend that you look for a type of blog that is not as sought after (but also not searchable) so that you have a little more room for growth.

How many followers on a blog do you need to make money?

To generate the minimum possible monthly profit with your blog, you’ll need around 2000 followers per month. Statistically, the more visitors you have per month, the higher the profit.

How long does it take to make money from a blog?

According to the latest statistics, a blog can begin to see its first earnings 12 months after its creation; despite this, many blogs generate their first earnings within 6 months.