What’s your dream life like? Are you traveling the world? Do you have an amazing home and loving family? Are you stuck at a job you tolerate or worse, hate? Not so much that last one, right? My dream life is to have a career that is as flexible as it needs to be to accommodate my real life. Sound like something you want too? Blogging can be a wonderful way to get there. Blogging offers you freedom to not only express yourself, but to connect with other people, and work from anywhere on your own schedule. There’s just one thing holding you back, how can you make money blogging to create your dream life?
There’s no one right way to make money blogging, in fact, the best strategy uses multiple income streams to help you create an income that’s as flexible as you need it to be. I’m going to share several ways you can make money blogging, so you can grow your blog and use it as a tool to help you reach your dream life.
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Affiliate Programs
Affiliate programs are rewards programs, you get money based upon the number of new customers or sales your links generate. You get paid a small portion of each sale. The most popular affiliate program is arguably the Amazon Associates program. It’s huge market place that everyone shops at, so it works well for bloggers in any niche. Affiliate programs are a great way to start out making an income from your blog. You already have products that you know and love, you probably recommend them to people too, that’s exactly how affiliate marketing works, but when your friend buys you get paid. You don’t need to have lots of traffic to make this work (though it can help) you just need to have a good relationship with the followers you do have and share only things you believe in.
Recommended Affiliate Programs
Sell Your Services
Selling services is one of the best ways for bloggers to make money. As a blogger, you have a certain set of skills. Other people may find themselves in need of such skills, so why not charge for those services? Virtual Assistants or VAs are a popular service that many bloggers offer. It can involve any sort of service that people need, from social media management to making appointments or travel arrangements. If you are artistic you may offer graphic design services, or photography. The possibilities are endless! Fashion consultations, home decor or organizational consultations, life or blog coaching, tutoring, whatever skills you have could be turned into a service you can sell on your blog. The key to services is to ensure it’s a service that your blog’s followers are interested in. If you run a fashion blog, fashion consultations would be a great option, French tutoring? Maybe not so much.
Sell Digital Goods
Digital goods range from eBooks, to Photoshop brushes, graphics, patterns, WordPress themes and more. You can sell them on sites like Creative Market and Etsy or on your own blog. Digital goods are very flexible way to make an income blogging. No matter what niche you can create something that your readers are interested in. Ebooks on a topic that you blog about are always a good option. For example if you are a food blogger you could create a recipe book. A fashion blogger could create an outfit style guide, a photo-blogger could sell stock photos. The options are truly endless.
Ads
Ads can be a very hit or miss way of making money with your blog. Many people do block ads, and there’s nothing you can do about that. How much you make using ads depends on two main criteria: how targeted they are to your audience and how much traffic you get. It really is a numbers game and high traffic really will help you get more income from ads on your blog. There are also many ad networks that require 10,000 or even 25,000 or more traffic a month to even get accepted. So for many bloggers the best paying ad networks aren’t an option. Ads can be a good supplemental income, but I would not use them as your only income stream. If you are a blogger with low traffic, selling services, digital goods or using affiliate programs is a more lucrative way to spend your effort.
Sell Physical Goods
Physical goods are another great options to make money from your blog. Books, planners, clothing, personal care products, artwork and more are all different types of products you could sell. Some bloggers make their own handmade goods, other’s may order from a supplier. There are many ways you can use physical products to create an income from your blog. Several green living types of bloggers I follow sell handmade soaps and herbal products. Many sell essential oils too. A fashion blogger might create their own clothing lines, or sell their handmade jewelry. Still other bloggers may make planners or physical books.
Classes & Masterminds
Online classes are hugely popular. If you have knowledge about a subject (which I know you do since you are blogging about it) you can create your own online course about that topic! From how to start your first garden, to how to use a manual camera you can create a course about anything you are knowledgeable about. Mastermind groups with reoccurring monthly payments are another great way to make a passive income, especially for bloggers in business related niches.
Patreon
Patreon is a newer platform that allows creators of all types to get monetary support from their fans. The fans can pay a monthly fee that is set by the creator, and in return get some sort of reward from the creators. Creators get a steady income stream and can focus more on creating. It’s a win-win solution for all creatives and their fans! Creators have full control over the rewards they offer, the prices they set and even if the fees are monthly or not.
The following is an affiliate link. I will get a referral bonus based upon the number of creators you refer in your first 30 days using Patreon.
Join Patreon here! Use my link to get a referral bonus based upon the number of creators you refer!
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts can be a very lucrative way to make money blogging. A business pays you to create a blog post about a certain topic and you then share it on your blog. It can also refer to paid social media posts. Sponsored posts can be worth several hundred or even thousands of dollars in compensation. However, it can be hard to get sponsored posts as a new blogger or a blogger with a smaller following. Don’t let that discourage you though! Niche bloggers with small followings can be very successful with sponsored posts if they have an engaged following. Numbers matter less than reaching the right people. Bloggers can contact brands directly about sponsored post opportunities or work with agencies who act as the middleman between bloggers and brands.
Places to Find Sponsored Posts
Brand Ambassador
Brand ambassadorship is similar to sponsored posts, but offers a longer working connection between you the blogger and the brand you are working with. Each brand can approach brand ambassadors differently but it will usually involve writing blog posts that feature the brand you work with, and sharing social media posts about the brand. It’s especially popular in sports and fitness niches.
There are many ways you can make money blogging! By using multiple income streams you can build the life you dream of by blogging. No blog is too small to start thinking about monetizing! Blogs large and small are capable of helping you make money and reach your dream goals.
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