How to Monetize Your Blog and Earn Money

To start a blog or not, that is the question in 2021. With so many free content management systems available, it seems that anyone can showcase their work to the world. And truly, they can. In fact, some of us probably know that one person who’s decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon and see where it’ll take them.

And we don’t judge them. After all, people want their words to be seen and shared among the masses. But starting a blog is just the tip of the iceberg. Once you do it, you’ll inevitably be confronted with the question “Okay, now what?”

Well, now is your moment to shine and explore all the ways in which you can make money from your blog. Yes, this might seem like the most frustrating and arduous of tasks, but it really doesn’t need to be. It might not turn you into a millionaire, but it can produce enough to help you support your family.

So, if you’re wondering how to monetize your blog, we’re here to help you! Let’s see how you can start your success journey this year!

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We’ll start with the most common way bloggers earn money — by displaying ads on their respective websites. Most novice bloggers opt for two types in this day and age. And those are:

• PPC Ads: Pay-per-click ads are those banners that are visible on almost every website, either as part of blog posts or sidebar. According to this online advertising model, you get paid every time your readers click on the ad. These ads are typically used to drive traffic to websites;
• CPM Ads:  In case you’re not sure, CPM stands for “cost per 1,000 impressions.” Here, advertisers determine their desired price per 1,000 ads served. As a publisher, you get revenue each time a CPM ad is shown on your page and viewed by your reader.

As you want to know how to monetize your blog, we’ll mention one popular program that helps you run ads and earn revenue.

Google AdSense: The Go-To Advertising Program

Perhaps the most popular ad network among publishers is Google AdSense. And it’s understandable why they favor it. Instead of doing things the old-fashioned way and contacting advertisers, your task is to simply place the banner on your website and let Google AdSense do its magic. In other words, the program chooses relevant ads for your content and all that’s left is for your readers to click on them.

So, we suggest that you invest in an ad network because this will save you time and connect you with advertisers in a matter of moments. You won’t need to devote days, or even weeks, to finding companies that want to run ads on your website. The ad network will do everything instead of you.

Will You Immediately Earn Revenue With PPC Advertising?

Even though PPC ads are the go-to solution for content creators, there is one downside to them. Namely, you can make lots of money only if you have massive amounts of traffic, i.e. at least 10,000 visitors per day. So, don’t expect to cash a large cheque immediately. Increase your website traffic and you will see this pay off over time.

But don’t let this discourage you because we have more suggestions on how to monetize your blog!

Sell Private Ads

The advertising world isn’t completely dependent on ad networks. You can take matters into your own hand and bypass them entirely. However, this would mean that you won’t have a middle man (e.g. Google AdSense) to assist you in finding advertisers; you would do everything by yourself.

Nevertheless, there’s a silver lining here — you can set ad rates and be your own boss. Earn a steady profit by posting numerous ads on your blog. These ads can come in the form of banners, text, or links. Apart from them, you can also offer to write sponsored posts in which you plug an advertiser’s product or service.

Of course, ads aren’t your only path to revenue. Our other options will answer your question on how to monetize your blog and give you more ideas!

Affiliate Marketing

As a blogger, you can tap into affiliate marketing to earn money as well. This especially comes in handy if you’re a new blogger and don’t have your own products and services to offer. In fact, affiliate marketing is an integral part of digital media today; around 15% of the total digital media revenue comes from it. So, let’s check how it works!

Basically, our job is to promote a company’s products in order to get a commission for every sale you bring in. Don’t worry, there’s no scam! Every affiliate provides you with a unique link which you then include in display ads. Once a reader clicks on that affiliate link and purchases something, you get a percentage of the sale.

You can make the most of affiliate marketing by using Amazon Associates, or you can establish partnerships with businesses with their own affiliate programs.

Sell Digital Products

You might not be up for advertising other people’s products in which case you should consider selling your own digital merch. This is a great way to make money from your blog. You can effectively sell any type of digital product as long as it’s aligned with your content. Let’s look at some of the items you can offer:

• eBooks
• Online workshops
• Fonts, photos, or graphics
• Downloadable software

However, before opting for one of these avenues, you need to keep one thing in mind: the items need to be relevant and useful to your target audience. A lot of bloggers out there assume that they’re launching a digital product their readers want and they don’t take their input into consideration. But you shouldn’t follow in their footsteps! First listen to your audience and then create a product.

Sell Online Courses

Are these two options not enough for you? We’ve got you covered! To help you solve your dilemma regarding how to monetize your blog, we’ll list more options.

If you’re looking for another way to earn a steady revenue, look no further than online courses. This option is terrifying to some novice and even veteran content creators. But if you find something you’re really good at, then the transition to online courses shouldn’t scare you.

Just consider developing helpful and valuable courses that will resonate among your audience. If you put your heart and soul into them, then they’ll start selling like crazy, thus creating another possible income for you.

The courses that sell great are those relating to technical skills, including web development and graphic design. But you can also tap into the finance field and teach people about currency investing or stocks. Remember to examine your competitors and provide content that is head and shoulders above theirs.

Offer Coaching Services

Sometimes people look for more detailed instructions that they can’t find in a book or online course. Therefore, they start seeking one-on-one coaching to expand their knowledge and understanding of the matter in question.

Coaching is a monetization strategy used predominantly by those bloggers who’ve hit it big with their books and/or courses. They opt for it when they want to add another revenue stream. However, even if you’re yet to find success online, you don’t need to abandon the idea of offering coaching services from the get-go.

Bear in mind that coaching, like the aforementioned monetization strategy, banks on your ability to employ your skills and experience to help others solve problems and learn something new.

Offer Paid Membership

Companies with subscription business models are gaining momentum in this day and age. In fact, one term has been invented to describe them — the subscription economy. It covers businesses like Netflix and Spotify. So why don’t you start banking on this model as well?

Think of a membership site as a gated section where members subscribe once a month to receive exclusive content. All of them share a common interest and are willing to pay for more information. To satisfy their cravings, you can send them exclusive articles, advice, or webinars.

You have to keep one thing in mind here — your exclusive membership needs to offer something far more valuable than the things you provide for free do. So, don’t forget to develop something useful that will be worth the price your readers are paying.

Email Marketing

Another powerful method for making money from your blog is email marketing. It goes without saying that the first step is to build your email list. With a strong connection with your readers, you can generate substantial revenue by marketing both your own products and services and those of others.

If you work on your subscribers from the beginning, then you’ll have the opportunity to retain those first visitors as your lifelong readers. Until you expand on your content marketing strategy, you can send emails to notify your subscribers about a new blog post or you can share some exciting news with them.

Over time, as you adopt different monetization methods such as affiliate marketing or selling your digital products, you’ll already have a loyal audience at your disposal who’ll be happy to hear about your next move via email.

Now, let’s take a look at one tip that differs from the above-mentioned ones.

Build Your Credibility

If you take your blog seriously and work on building your credibility, then you can open another world of money-making opportunities. We’ll explain this through an example. Let’s say you decide to focus on the entertainment industry. You ensure your posts include accurate information and you add a personal touch.

As a result, the number of readers increases and your blog becomes extremely popular. That popularity makes you a recognized figure in the entertainment industry; people want to hear what you have to say about a new Martin Scorsese movie or the Marvel universe.

Once you establish that authority, people might come to you and propose that you co-author a book with them on 100 most influential movies or speak at conferences. 

Admittedly, this isn’t a direct form of profiting from your blog, but it has helped some earn exorbitant amounts of money. Take Martin Lewis for example who was able to obtain a direct revenue stream. Namely, Martin sold his blog MoneySavingExpert for £87 million after attracting more than 5 million subscribers.

Not bad for a blogger, right?

Choose Your Own Monetization Strategy

To sum up, not all of these tips on how to monetize your blog are going to be effective for you. So, don’t be afraid to do the work and see what method is suitable for you and your readers.

Needless to say, making money from your blog will take persistence and grit, but it can actually pay off in the long run. Just listen to your audience and see what they need. They are the ones who’ll visit your website frequently and you don’t want to drive them away by attacking them with too many PPC ads or irrelevant products.

But don’t worry, you’ll learn what works for you and your blog over time. For now, why don’t you select your initial monetization strategy and start implementing it?