How To Make Money Blogging: Your Guide For 2024

Blogging is a small business idea with the potential to make hundreds of dollars monthly, whether by driving product sales for your individual brand, earning commission from affiliate programs, or making a space for digital ad sales.

This guide shares how you’ll be able to earn cash blogging, with 11 revenue streams utilized by skilled bloggers who earn a full-time income through their web sites.

How much money can bloggers earn?

Blogging has high potential. Well-established bloggers like Ryan Robinson—who runs a blog about blogging—could make upward of $30,000 monthly. Adam Enfroy, who began blogging in regards to the business of blogging in 2019 as a side hustle, generated $1.5 million from his blog just two years later.

It’s not only monthly revenue that bloggers can money in on. Marketplaces like Flippa list blogs on the market, lots of which include hefty six-figure price tags. Bloggers money in when their creative project is acquired. 

Unfortunately, not every blogger could make tens of millions through their website. The income potential of your blog is determined by two aspects:

• Your area of interest. Do people spend large sums of cash on products in your industry? The software industry, for instance, will be lucrative, since many firms pay recurring commission. Bloggers can earn small amounts every month, long after the client made the acquisition.
• Your monetization strategies. Some blog monetization methods are off the table for brand spanking new bloggers who need to keep on with their core values—like not being paid to post content you don’t agree with. This could impact earning potential within the short term.

Methods to earn cash blogging: 11 ideas

1. Select a profitable area of interest
2. Construct an email list
3. Write sponsored product reviews
4. Sell promoting placements
5. Join an affiliate internet marketing program
6. Offer services
7. Sell digital products
8. Sell physical products
9. Create a membership community
10. Monetize YouTube videos
11. Product a podcast and get a sponsor

1. Select a profitable area of interest

A distinct segment is a selected topic inside a broad topic, equivalent to vegan recipes. By selecting one in your blog, readers construct an association along with your site. They know exactly what they’ll get when visiting, improving your possibilities of being their first port of call when searching for advice.

“Before monetization, it’s all about quality and expertise if you need to stand out,” says Mushfiq, founding father of The Website Flip. “First, determine what your area of interest is and why you ought to be writing about that, and make a persona for yourself to be who you might be in that topic. Once that happens, you’ll construct a following over time. Monetization follows later.”

You’ll find bloggers making a living in a wide range of niches, from business software to pet accessories. Though not all niches are good ones. 

A profitable blog area of interest meets three criteria:

1. It’s something you’re expert at and/or curious about. Blogs need plenty of consistently high-quality content to construct an audience and develop into monetized. Not only will or not it’s more enjoyable to blog about something you’ve gotten a real interest in, but you’ll increase the likelihood of generating money. It’s easier to follow a hobby we enjoy.
2. There’s low competition. Popular blogs, brands, or forums in your area of interest indicate others are making a living in it. Similarly, do a Google search to evaluate keyword rating difficulty. It’ll be harder to drive organic traffic if big-name brands (with even larger marketing budgets) are dominating the primary page of search results.
3. There’s clear monetization potential. Take a look at monetization opportunities for every area of interest in your shortlist. Do firms in that area of interest pay to advertise their products on other blogs? Are there many affiliate programs that sell products in that industry? Each are telltale signs of a profitable blog area of interest. 

2. Construct an email list 

To earn cash out of your blog, you wish loyal readers who value your recommendations.

The most effective ways to do that is by constructing an email list for your individual blog. When someone opts in to listen to out of your blog, you’re given permission to achieve readers in a single place more sacred than all others: their inbox.

“Email marketing is by far essentially the most lucrative sales channel for me. I don’t even really attempt to sell directly from other channels anymore, as an alternative directing people from social media, collaborations, and search engine optimisation to my email list,” says Brittany Berger, founding father of Work Brighter.

Encourage blog visitors to enroll to your mailing list using a pop-up box. The goal is to make anyone visiting for the primary time opt in to to hearing from you using an incentive, equivalent to:

• Free checklists
• Lists of resources or advisable products 
• Blog content packaged in a PDF (equivalent to printable recipes)

Once they’ve signed up, proceed nurturing that relationship with educational or entertaining content. You’ll construct an audience able to buy products off your recommendations.

Take it from Lily Ugbaja, who initially began her blog FindingBalance.Mom “because I desired to stay home with my son, do something I really like, and still earn cash.”

It took Lily two weeks to earn cash from her blog: “I used emails to advertise my products and relevant affiliate products with tripwires and Facebook groups. You add lead magnets to your site so people enroll after reading your article. As a substitute of a hit page, you share a one-time offer—a low-end product at an excellent discounted rate, $7 in my case.”

Despite the blog seeing lower than 1,000 monthly page views, Lily says she ended her first month earning over $100, which soon became a couple of thousand.

It’s also possible to charge your email list for access to exclusive content. Many bloggers monetize through monthly subscription fees which grant subscribers access to extra content. You need to use a platform like Substack to publish on to your audience and receives a commission through subscriptions.

3. Write sponsored product reviews

All businesses want social proof to indicate their customers that their products are value buying. A method for them to gather that’s by paying bloggers to publish reviews.

Reach out to your favorite brands and ask in the event that they’re curious about sponsoring a review in your blog. If you happen to use the product outside of the aim of the review, this tactic essentially costs nothing. You’re simply getting paid to share your opinion of a product you already own.

Nevertheless, this monetization strategy gets slightly murky. In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Fashion Nova $4.2 million for suppressing negative reviews, regardless that—supposedly—a third-party service solicited them. 

The FTC has a complete set of guidelines that pertain to ecommerce merchants and, ultimately, the bloggers they’re paying to write down sponsored reviews.

Avoid landing your blog in hot water by:

• Disclosing whether you’re incentivized to write down the review. If you happen to’re being paid to publish a review, for instance, include the next disclaimer within the introduction of your article: “I’ve been paid to write down this review and will make a commission in the event you purchase this product.”
• Being honest. Share the nice and the bad to assist readers make an informed decision about whether or not they can buy the item you’re reviewing. There’s a reason de-influencing has develop into a trend.

4. Sell promoting placements

Corporations are willing to pay bloggers for promoting placements on their web sites. Lend them otherwise unused space in exchange for a fee.

There are two routes to constructing this income stream in your blog:

1. Negotiate with firms individually. Find firms in your area of interest and ask in the event that they’d be curious about promoting in your site. This approach is more time-consuming and also you’ll need strong negotiating skills, but done well, it could net essentially the most sum of money.
2. Use an promoting network. Prefer the hands-off approach? Platforms like Google AdSense, Mediavine, and Raptive (formerly AdThrive) claim space in your blog and handle the billing of advertisers. Simply embed the code in your site and receives a commission to indicate ads.

For Emily Brookes, a blogger at Emily May, display ads are essentially the most lucrative sales channel. “Some 60% of my blog’s revenue comes from display ads,” she says. “Ads make me money consistently every month, even after I haven’t published any recent content.”

To make promoting a considerable revenue stream in your blog, driving website traffic must be a priority.

Ad networks like Google AdSense pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM), with the average CPM for display ads falling across the $1.25 mark. The more people exposed to the adverts in your blog, the extra money you’ll make. 

Some platforms require bloggers to satisfy minimum page-view requirements before applying to hitch the network. It’s an investment that can pay dividends in the long term. Monica Lent, founding father of Not a Nomad Blog, generates the best share of revenue through any such blog promoting.

Afoma Umesi runs her book blog, Reading Middle Grade, on the side. “I had no experience and began blogging as a hobby before seriously deciding to monetize the positioning,” she says.

“I needed something passive, so I selected ads and affiliate links. I don’t need to make or sell digital services or products straight away and I’m not an enormous fan of sponsored posts, so ads were the proper fit. All I want is traffic.”

Reading Middle Grade earns between $800 and $1,000 monthly—three-quarters of which comes from any such promoting. Afoma says: “Don’t be afraid or ashamed to make use of ads. They’re inconvenient for some users, but in the event you provide value and use them reasonably, most users barely notice the ads.”

5. Join an affiliate internet marketing program 

Internet affiliate marketing is the technique of recommending products to your blog’s audience. You’ll receive commission once they purchase the product using your custom link.

It’s a fantastic revenue opportunity for bloggers, for the reason that content you share will already be influencing their purchase decisions. Make your blog a hub for educational content and also you’ll construct the know, like, and trust aspects needed to make a sale.

The fantastic thing about affiliate internet marketing is you don’t must create your individual products. Plug into an existing ecommerce business and develop into a virtual salesperson for them. There’s no must worry about producing marketing materials, shipping products, or coping with customer support.

To earn cash blogging using this method, join an affiliate networks like ShareASale or ClickBank. Browse available programs in your industry, apply to hitch them, construct custom links, and track affiliate revenue through the dashboard.

It’s also possible to seek for high-ticket affiliate programs from merchants selling expensive products, equivalent to electronics, jewelry, or software. Bloggers earn sizable checks when recommending those items to readers. Shopify affiliates, for instance, earn 100% commission on the primary two payments of any subscription plan.

6. Offer services

A natural byproduct of constructing your audience means more people associate your name with the blog topics you write about. That’s a fantastic option to construct authority—something people search for when hiring people to finish a service.

“If you happen to’re within the B2B space like me, consulting is an enormous revenue generator,” says Mushfiq, founding father of The Website Flip. “If you’ve gotten some expertise and individuals are genuinely reading your content, what type of consulting are you able to do for them? It’s a high revenue, low commitment option to earn cash blogging.”

While running a service-based business is time consuming, it could be a fast option to earn cash online. Demand a better hourly rate, and find high-paying clients, through the use of your blog content as a option to show your expertise. 

Examples of services you’ll be able to sell alongside your blog include:

• Consulting services
• Graphic design
• Freelance writing
• Virtual assistance 
• Classes or workshops 

Save time scheduling appointments and taking payments with apps like Acuity and Calendly. Promote your service through the blog—be that a standalone landing page or display ad in your sidebar—and begin booking recent clients. 

7. Sell digital products 

Digital products are a more scalable option to earn cash by selling things alongside your blog. Unlike service-based businesses, you don’t exchange time for money. And in contrast to selling physical products, there’s no shipping or manufacturing costs.

You may create digital products once and sell an infinite variety of them via your blog—hence the phrase “construct once, sell twice.”

“I made a decision so as to add printables—and shortly other digital products—to diversify my income and put more control in my very own hands,” says Dylan Houlihan, founding father of Swift Salary. “To this point, I let readers determine how much they’d wish to pay for my printables, which is why revenue numbers haven’t been crazy. Nevertheless, I actually have clocked over 800 downloads, so I’m quite happy with that.”

Work out which digital products your audience would buy using a reader survey with the query, “What problem do you wish help with that the blog isn’t already solving for you?” Answers can unveil ideas you’ll be able to package and sell as:

• Ebooks
• Printables
• Workbooks  
• Online courses 

Benjamin Houy has been running the blog French Together full time for near 10 years. A part of the blog’s monetization strategy includes digital products—particularly a French course, which drives 90% of the blog’s revenue.

“Ads and affiliate links will be great monetization strategies depending on the area of interest, but making a product is each easier and more profitable than most bloggers think,” Benjamin says. “Your product doesn’t need to be the very best product ever if you launch it, it just needs to be something your audience will find genuinely useful and can be pleased to pay for.”

“Selling your individual product is amazing since you get to enhance it based on people’s feedback and also you don’t need to worry about affiliate programs being discontinued or an increasing number of people using ad blockers,” he says.

8. Sell physical products

Does your blog have a cult following? Loyal readers of a blog quickly develop into raving fans, wanting to support their favorite influencer. Help them try this—while also generating income in your blog—by selling physical products.

The print-on-demand model works well for small blogging businesses because you only pay manufacturing costs when a reader purchases a product. There’s no excess inventory, storage fees, or high upfront costs when bulk manufacturing products.

Use a service like Printful or Printify to create custom merchandise, equivalent to:

• Mugs
• T-shirts
• Stickers 
• Posters
• Tote bags
• Phone cases 

Prefer something more hands-on? Start your first online store and treat your blog’s audience as your initial customer base. 

Richard Belton has been blogging about maple syrup on his blog, Kaito Ridge, for nearly eight years, using the positioning as a option to generate income through Amazon affiliate commission. He then switched his blog monetization strategy, taking control on his site’s income by launching a Shopify store

9. Create a membership community

Give your most engaged readers a VIP experience—one they need to pay a small fee in exchange for. The sort of community is a vital a part of social connection—something especially essential in a world becoming increasingly online-first. Not only have communities shown to enhance mental health, but 52% of shoppers will spend more on brands (or blogs) with shared values. 

Take it from Michael Keenan, who runs a membership community alongside the Peak Freelance blog: “If you happen to need a consistent revenue stream in your blogging efforts, create a membership program. You may offer exclusive content like handbooks and courses, special offers—even a Slack channel just like the one we provide for Peak Freelance members.

“Arrange your membership fees on a monthly or yearly basis. Provide a small discount for many who pay yearly. This offers you a pleasant money injection you need to use to develop recent content and products for members.”

10. Monetize YouTube videos

It’s possible to earn cash on Youtube as an expansion of your blog content.

Add video marketing to your list to maximise affiliate commission. Some 88% of individuals have been convinced to purchase something after watching a branded video. Make that your tutorial, review, or haul and also you’ll get rewarded when a viewer purchases off the back of your suggestion. 

Increase the dollars you earn through your blog by treating every bit of content like the muse of a video script. Record yourself talking in regards to the same topic, then edit the video and upload it to YouTube.

The bloggers behind A Beautiful Mess, for instance, published a YouTube video that demonstrates the best way to create built-in shelves. The video description directs people to the blog write-up, which accommodates affiliate links to the products utilized in the tutorial. 

This strategy works for several reasons. First, not everyone enjoys reading online content. Some people prefer to look at videos. You’re potentially alienating hundreds of individuals by only producing written text.

Secondly, Google and YouTube are the 2 hottest search engines like google and yahoo on the planet. Sharing content to each platforms increases the likelihood of your goal reader finding it—and due to this fact, purchasing products you’re an affiliate of.

For some queries, Google’s algorithm pulls YouTube videos within the search engine results page (SERP). The very first thing you’ll see on the SERP for “the best way to groom your dog at home,” for instance, is a YouTube video on the subject.

The most effective part? An energetic YouTube channel expands your revenue opportunities.

The platform comes with its own set of monetization features, including the YouTube Partner program, which is out there to vloggers with greater than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Once enrolled, YouTube will display advertisements before your video loads. You’ll receives a commission each time a viewer watches it—a pleasant option to complement your blog income.

11. Produce a podcast and get a sponsor

Podcasts are more popular than ever, with over 100 million US residents expected to take heed to podcasts in 2024. 

But episodes don’t just fill time on morning commutes. Studies show that 70% of listeners will visit a brand’s website after hearing about its products through podcast sponsorships. One other 67% will spark a conversation with a friend in regards to the item in query. Each points make them attractive propositions for brands seeking to expand their reach.

Capitalize in your audience’s attention by producing your individual podcast. Record yourself talking a couple of topic in your area of interest and syndicate each episode to a streaming platform like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Reach out to brands in your area of interest with sponsorship opportunities. Sell ad space and provides firms a shortcut to achieve their audience in exchange for a sponsorship fee. 

This podcast revenue calculator shows a blogger with:

• 10,000 episode downloads 
• 4 recent episodes every month
• Two adverts (one pre-roll) 

…can add upward of $16,000 per yr in revenue.

The downside to the podcast approach is it could be costly—each by way of money and time. It takes time to construct a relationship with a brand new audience. You’ll also need equipment, equivalent to a high-quality microphone and editing software, to supply the podcast itself.

But get it right and there’s the potential so as to add one other lucrative revenue stream to your blogging business.

How long does it take to earn cash blogging?

While you’ll be able to technically earn cash straight away from blogging, it typically takes a little bit of time.

Some with an entrepreneurial mindset make their first $100 online inside a couple of months—like Brittany Berger, founding father of Work Brighter, who began earning money almost immediately. Berger created a straightforward $20 digital download, which she promoted in her weekly newsletter and her newsletter signup page. “By starting that early on within the blog’s lifetime, I used to be capable of convert an enormous portion of the audience,” she says.

“I feel waiting to launch something until you’ve gotten an even bigger audience can find yourself creating more pressure for yourself, so I’m glad I experimented with a small product when my audience was small.” 

Mushfiq Sarkar also began blogging on the side of his full-time job back in 2008. Though Mushfiq had no prior marketing experience, he says, “I left my job in April 2021 to deal with The Website Flip since it was growing significantly and I used to be more keen about growing this website and blogging.”

Now, the blog makes significant revenue despite only being a couple of years old: “I launched at the height of the pandemic in April 2020. A number of people knew me by name, but not that I used to be an energetic blogger or someone who covered the industry. I began earning money fairly quickly—inside a month or two.”

Blogging is often a side hustle people take up with the hopes that, someday, they’ll have the ability to quit their day jobs. Yet the length of time it takes to generate substantial income varies from blogger to blogger.

Turn your blog right into a money maker 

Constructing a blogging business isn’t a linear process. The most effective revenue generator is determined by your area of interest, relationship along with your audience, and content formats you’re producing. Focus first on constructing great content and a loyal readership, after which experiment with these monetization tactics.