Blogging is a hobby that many people have been able to monetise, sometimes being able to leave their full time job to blog (that's what I did!). Some bloggers are making serious cash, and you might be wondering how they are doing it! Blogging is great, whether you want to write about something you are passionate about as a hobby, or you are looking to make some extra money. How do bloggers make money? Let's take a look.
You might be wondering if, and how, your favourite bloggers are making money. (Remember that is can take around a year of blogging to see results, and plenty of people will want you to work for free.)
Some of us declare our income in monthly income reports (click here to see a list of 65 bloggers who regularly post income reports) but others keep it to themselves. Here is how bloggers make their money, including some ways you might not have thought about.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is where you promote a product or a service and you earn a commission for every sale that you drive. There are so many positives to affiliate marketing – one of the biggest is that someone doesn't have to buy a product or service that you have linked to there and then. If they come back and make a purchase at a later date, you can still earn a commission. In addition, you can leverage the true value of your affiliate data by using an affiliate management tool like Strackr that helps you connect your affiliate network in minutes. Affiliate marketing is by far my biggest monthly earner. I have put together all of my affiliate marketing secrets into one place for you, in How To SMASH Affiliate Marketing as a UK Blogger. In this video and text course I cover everything from which affiliate programs to join to how to get over that fear of emailing your list. If you are interested in affiliate marketing then be sure to check out my guide to getting started with affiliate marketing.
Advertising
Selling advertising space on blogs is a great way to earn money from blogging. The easiest way to get started with display advertising is to use a service such as Google Adsense and Mediavine. Display the code on your blog and earn some advertising income every time that your advert is displayed, and also when it is clicked. Bloggers can also sell advertising space to brands and other bloggers, either privately or with the help of an agency.
Sponsored posts
A sponsored post is where a company ask you to write about them, their products or their services for a fee. This can be a great boost to any blogger’s earnings and how much they are paid often depends on their stats. Every company is looking for something different, it could be a high number of page views, a large social media following or just good domain authority. As a blog reader you should be able to tell which posts are sponsored, as they need to have a disclosure telling you that they are sponsored.
Social media
There are companies and brands who are looking to get their products or services in front of many consumers, and one way that they do this is to ask bloggers to advertise items on their social media. The great thing about this is that anyone can make money from social media, not just big blogger. If you have developed a decent social media following then consider monetising your social media accounts.
Selling related products or services
Bloggers typically have an area of expertise, and therefore they are known as an authority on that subject. This means that they can offer additional products to their readers. Massive bloggers like Zoella have created beauty ranges, but it can be anything. Publishing books, creating products, selling printables or even making courses to sell to readers is a great way for bloggers to make money. Another way for bloggers to make money is to offer virtual assistance to other people, usually bloggers or brands who need some help with blogger outreach (finding other bloggers to work with) and social media.
Public speaking & event attendance
Similar to selling related products and services, if a blogger is well known in their area of expertise then they could be offered paid public speaking jobs. It could be anything from a short speech to an entire day's workshop. Alternatively, brands may pay for bloggers to attend their event – the blogger gets a fee for attending and usually a fee for their travel and the brands get publicity.
Reviews
Every blogger has a different policy on accepting items for review – some bloggers are happy to accept the item as payment, whereas other accept the item and charge a review fee on top. Regardless of whether they accept the item as payment or they take an additional payment, the review should be honest and unbiased, and the blogger should be telling you that they received the item for free.
Make your own blog and start making money from blogging
If all of this sounds good and you aren't put off by hard work (this stuff doesn't happen overnight) then you might want to consider making your own blog and seeing how you can successfully monetise it. There are 5 steps to earning money from blogging:
- Decide what to blog about
- Build your blog – here's my full tutorial for creating a WordPress website
- Create useful, awesome and amazing content
- Get visitors to your blog
- Start monetising your blog
Start your blog in just 7 days
I love the freedom that blogging gives me, and I have been lucky enough to generate a six-figure income from blogging. Over the next 7 days I want to help you with not only the technical aspects of starting a blog, but also deciding why you should blog, how to launch and how to make money from your blog. Best of all, this challenge is totally FREE! Sign up here.
One Response
I can’t imagine myself as a blogger. I don’t know what could I write about 😀