If you’ve ever wondered how to, or if you can make money blogging, you’ve come to the right place.
One of the reasons that people start a blog is to make extra money. There’s nothing wrong with that, and there’s no reason to be ashamed admitting that (even to yourself).
However, some people don’t know how it works or where to go for help – especially if they can’t make head or tails of Google AdSense, or it just doesn’t work for them.
So, they conclude that it’s impossible to legitimately make money blogging.
However, that is a false assumption that will only keep you frustrated and dissatisfied cos it is actually possible to legitimately make money blogging and this post will show you how.
You don’t have to do everything on the list; (#1 is super important, though then you can) pick the methods that work for you.
But by the time you get to the end of this page, you’ll find at least two ways that you can definitely make money blogging.
1) Build a brand your blog visitors trust
In order to make money blogging, you must think of your blog not as a space that lives on the internet, but as a fully legitimate brand in its own right.
Here’s the thing – people only buy from brands they know, like and trust.
If your audience doesn’t trust you, you can attend expensive sales classes or hire all the influencers you can find and it’s not going to make any positive difference to your bank account.
People don’t just buy a book, a jar of face cream, a dress, a holiday or anything else; they buy an expectation created by a seller.
The consistent message that the seller gives out about themselves is what makes a buyer trust them.
If the seller hasn’t given a potential buyer a reason to trust what they’re saying, no sale.
Brands take time to build because trust takes time to build; if you’re trying to make money overnight, you really should not start a blog.
Because if you’re not ready to be intentional about using your blog to build a brand that your audience will trust, you’re simply not going to make money blogging.
2) Advertising
This happens when you sell space on your blog, and it can happen in different ways (display ads, private ads, or sponsored ads) but there’s a number of things to know before you take an advertiser’s money.
If you’re going to use advertising to make money blogging, do remember that the ad offer needs to be relevant to your audience.
The fact that you’re offered a decent amount of money to advertise something to your audience, is not a good enough reason to.
Say you run a blog helping women with African hair, why would you agree to run an ad on your blog for garri?
Sure, sometimes the reason that an African woman’s hair isn’t thriving as it can, is her diet. And some African women eat garri.
But unless garri has become some sort of hair treatment, there’s no reason for women who come on your blog for African haircare tips, to be bombarded with ads for garri.
You must also ensure the ad offering is fit for purpose, if you truly want to make money blogging.
So, again with example of the blog helping women with African hair, if you put a product in front of that audience promising to grow their hair just because your advertising fee was good, but it actually damages their hair – your audience loses trust in you.
And that tampers with your potential to make money blogging, whether in the long-term or short-term. Why risk it?
Another thing to remember if you truly want to make money blogging with advertising is do the values you’ve shown your audience conflict with that of the advertiser?
Like I said in #1 above, people aren’t just buying a product; they’re buying into a brand.
So, even if a product is actually relevant to your audience, and it’s fit for purpose (so it does what the manufacturer claims it will), but your audience doesn’t like the advertiser for whatever reason – you’ll hurt your blog by having that ad on your blog.
When two brands collaborate (or are seen to do so), there is an assumption that they share similar values. So, if your blog collabs with a brand that your audience doesn’t like, how are you going to make money blogging?
Some of your audience might ignore the ad, but others will be turned off.
You can even advertise your own products (and this will fall under private ads); more on that at #4 below.
But whatever type of advertising you choose – display ads, private ads or sponsored ads – to make money and, ensure it’s relevant to your audience, fit for purpose, and aligns with the values your audience expects.
3) Affiliate products
This is another option you can use to make money blogging.
Here, you (the blog/ger) get a commission on every sale made when someone buys via your affiliate link, but the buyer doesn’t pay anything extra for buying via that link.
You can sign up to affiliate networks or go private. Just as with the advertising option, whatever affiliate product you put in front of your audience for you to make money blogging, has to be relevant, fit for purpose and in line with your blog’s values.
Affiliate products can just be related to what your audience is used to seeing on your blog – the product doesn’t necessarily have to be a repetition of your message.
So, if your blog gives young lawyers a taste of what to expect in practice through tips and interviews with older lawyers, your affiliate product could be lawyer’s coats and wigs from a particular supplier in the town where you live.
If you have a link to their shop on your blog, anyone in your audience buys after clicking that link and you get a commission on that sale, the link is an affiliate link.
4) Your own products
For the purpose of this post, products are physical or virtual.
So, physical books, eBooks, T-shirts, mugs, courses, workshops, etc.
And they’re an excellent way for you to make money blogging, because if you’ve built trust with your audience as a brand, some will want what you’re selling.
So this blog educates a certain kind of creative and one of our company’s products is the Create A Character Online Course.
But prior to anyone who could benefit from the course buying it, they’d have seen, liked and learned from any of our blog posts on creating character in fiction. Or would have seen and attended this webinar.
They have a reason to trust us, the course is relevant to them and it is fit for purpose.
Same way a woman whose blog is about women empowerment would find buyers in her audience if she released a book on the same subject.
Or someone with a trusted hair blog would get customers from her blog audience if she came out with a line of haircare products.
Because people buy from brands they know, like and trust.
And sometimes, they’re already looking for the next step to getting the result your free material has been telling them about.
Meaning that if you have a next step but you aren’t showing it to them for whatever reason, you are actually cheating them.
So another way to make money blogging is to advertise your own products on your blog. But remember relevant and fit for purpose as your audience may already be looking for it.
Other times, it’s not about getting to that next step; it’s about identifying with a brand that they love. So, if you sell a keyholder or a T-shirt with your book cover on it, it’s not going to get the user to the next step. But some people will buy cos they really like you.
5) Your services
Another way to make money blogging is to sell your own services.
From coaching to consultancy to speaking gigs and done-for-you services, they can be as varied as possible as long as they are relevant and fit for purpose.
If you blog about overcoming anorexia, debt or childlessness – don’t pull back if you’re asked to speak at an event where attendees are dealing with those very issues.
While nobody has all the answers, you can even host an event/conference/summit (including a virtual one) with the general theme of what your audience has come to expect from you, and they’ll happy to attend for a fee. Because next step.
They’ll even bring their friends in a similar boat, especially if there are other speakers.
You can offer one-on-one or group coaching in the area your blog audience know you for, and make money blogging that way because of your expertise in that area.
But you need to build a brand that people know, love and trust if you’re really going to make money blogging.
6) Learn more about it
As I said at the beginning of this post, every way I’ve listed might not be appropriate for you to make money blogging.
So, if you want to know how to make money blogging in a way that’s appropriate for your blog, sign up below (if you haven’t already) to learn more about it
Did you learn anything new or surprising about how you specifically can make money blogging? Let us know in the comments section below.