The post Earn Money from Blogs: Best Blogging Ideas That Make Money appeared first on Business & Branding Tips.
Want to earn money from blogs? These blogging ideas that make money will show you how to write blogs and earn money from blog writing.
Can you make money blogging? Does blogging make money? How do you make money blogging? How do I start blogging and earning money? How can I earn money from writing blogs? How long does it take to make money blogging?
These are some of the most common questions new bloggers ask. For new bloggers, diving into the world of making money through blogs can be overwhelming. In this article, we address the question of how to create a money-making blog.
Why Do Bloggers Fail to Earn Money Through Blogging?
Blogging is highly competitive today, and it’s not easy to grow a blog and make money today. However, there is never a lack of opportunity to make money blogging.
With constant technological updates and new products being released, there are always new opportunities and ideas for blogs to make money.
So why do most bloggers fail to earn from blog writing? Here are the most important reasons why most people who try to make money blogging fail.
#1. Unrealistic expectations
They have unrealistic expectations of how fast their readership will grow and how much money they will make. When these expectations have not been met, the disappointment can crush the desire to continue blogging.
Keep in mind that, even if you’re a marketing genius or have a really great idea for a blog, you won’t become a successful blogger overnight.
Building the kind of traffic that will help you earn enough to make a living will, in all likelihood, take at least several months, or even years.
You need to keep the faith and stay committed to your blogging goals during this initial lean period. So, don’t quit your day job to become a blogger, until you’re earning enough with your blog.
#2. Lack of business acumen
The other trap many bloggers fall into has to do with a lack of business acumen when they decide to start earning money from blogging. Having a great idea or a wonderful writing style is no longer enough to get attention.
To earn money from blogging, you have to treat your blog as a business the way successful and famous bloggers do. When you start writing blogs and earning money, you need to plan a regular posting schedule to ensure your blog is updated regularly.
Establishing a distinct business entity or brand for your blog solidifies your blog’s identity in the competitive digital landscape, and gains credibility and trust from your audience and potential collaborators.
It allows you to operate with a clear structure, separating personal and business finances to ensure long-term success. To maintain financial transparency and compliance, enlist the expertise of a qualified accountant.
An experienced accountant can offer valuable insights into tax regulations, deductions, and financial planning tailored to the specific nuances of your blogging venture.
This not only ensures that you adhere to legal and financial standards but also optimizes your tax strategy, potentially saving you money in the long run. Using accounting programs or personal tax prep software further streamlines the financial management process.
These accounting tools can track expenses, generate detailed financial reports, and automate bookkeeping tasks, providing you with a comprehensive overview of your blog’s financial health.
With accurate and up-to-date financial information at your fingertips, you can make informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and strategize for future growth.
You can launch, optimize, and automate any business with the 100 Tasks Solopreneur System, a proven step-by-step process, framework, toolkit, and community for aspiring business owners.
Make a sound blogging business plan and update it as you learn more about the blogging business. Running a blog as a business safeguards your financial well-being and positions your blog for sustained success.
#3. Failing to invest in yourself
Failing to invest in yourself is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a new and aspiring blogger. When you invest in yourself, you’re investing in your future and allowing yourself to grow and learn.
You need to be constantly pushing yourself to new levels and learn the secrets to blogging success from famous bloggers who have achieved what you hope to do.
By failing to invest in yourself, you’re limiting your skill set and ensuring that you’ll never reach your full potential. To succeed in life, you need to be constantly growing and learning.
A proactive approach to your blogging education ensures your blog remains relevant, optimizing for emerging opportunities and maintaining visibility amidst the ever-changing online environment.
Maintain a competitive edge by staying abreast of industry trends and evolving search engine algorithms. Adopt the latest blogging techniques like AI writing skills. Constant adaptation to new technologies and strategic shifts is crucial for blogging success.
How To Start a Blog and Earn Money
So how to start a blog and earn money? And how does a blog make money? It depends. Professional bloggers use many different blogging business models, but in general, to monetize your blog, you need to build targeted traffic that converts into sales.
The more traffic your blog gets, the more sales you can generate, and the more advertisers and affiliate programs will agree to pay you. If you want to earn money through blogging, you have to know what it takes to write money-making blogs.
However, getting enough traffic to make a profit takes time and effort, and too many new bloggers spend all their time writing posts, and almost none on blog marketing and promotion.
You might think it’s important to post updates every day, to build traffic and keep readers and search engines returning to your blog. However, it does not matter how often you update your blog, if nobody’s reading your content!
To start earning money by writing blogs, focus on creating high-quality, SEO blog posts, and spend more time building links and relationships with other bloggers.
Ultimately, you want to earn enough income to outsource your blog content writing and promotion tasks and focus on increasing your blogger earnings.
#1. Choose a profitable blogging niche
A crucial first step to earning money through blogging or online businesses is choosing a profitable niche. A niche can be defined as any group that shares a common interest such as filmmaking, writing novels, soccer, or arts and crafts.
Here are some tips to help you choose a niche that is right for you:
- Determine your interests and passions
Consider your true interests as well as the subjects you enjoy learning about and discussing. This can serve as a fantastic place to start when picking a niche. Make a list of all the things that captivate your interest and that you’d like to become an expert on.
- Consider your areas of expertise
Are there any in which you are particularly knowledgeable or experienced? This can include areas of interest related to your professional studies or subjects in which you have some expertise.
Having expertise in a subject is pivotal for enhancing Google’s E-E-A-T and YMYL scores for your blog. Demonstrating a deep understanding of your niche positions you as a credible source, attracting both users and search engine algorithms.
By consistently producing high-quality, authoritative content, you will establish trust with your audience and contribute to a positive E-E-A-T evaluation, potentially boosting your blog’s visibility and ranking in search results.
You’ll be able to impart your knowledge to others and comfortably offer professional consulting or coaching services, so this may be a good specialty for you.
- Conduct market research
Once you’ve come up with a few viable niches, do some niche research to determine whether there is a market for that particular product or service.
Analyzing search trends, industry reports, and rival activity can all help you find the information you need to select the major themes to focus on and base your content on.
Research which blogs make the most money in your niche and subscribe to them to learn what works. Take into account elements including competition, trends, and prospects for expansion.
- Validate your ideas
Once you’ve identified a few prospective niches, use these idea validation tips to see if there’s interest in your suggested niche by conducting surveys of your target audience online.
- Be prepared to pivot if required
It’s crucial to avoid picking a niche that is too narrow and to be ready to pivot if your niche becomes obsolete in the future.
Whether you’re creating an internet business venture or a blog, it’s crucial to pick a niche that is sustainable as well as profitable in the long term.
Make sure you choose a blogging niche and keywords that are profitable enough to help you generate sufficient blog earnings for the time and effort you’ll be spending on building traffic to your blog.
#2. Optimize your blog for search traffic
This step-by-step bloggers’ SEO checklist will show you how to do SEO for beginners to increase your blog rankings and search engine traffic.
Surfer’s SEO tools will help you tailor a data-driven strategy for your niche, generate compelling content ideas, and improve organic traffic with smart algorithms and actionable insights.
SEMrush’s SEO toolkit will give you a bird’s-eye view of your competitor’s SEO strategies, including main traffic sources, keywords, backlinks, and more.
These SEO tools will help you find the best blog ideas that make money in your niche and learn what sort of products and services customers are willing to pay for.
These SEO courses will help you learn how to write blogs and earn money with SEO-optimized content for bloggers:
- AIO Blogger Course
- SEO Blueprint for Bloggers
- SEO Copywriting Certification Course
- SEO Website Technical Audit Fundamentals
- Blog Post Writing: Create Engaging Blogs
According to the SEMrush blog, there are four main types of keywords that classify buyer intent:
- Informational keywords to provide an answer to a specific question or general information.
- Navigational keywords to find a specific site or page.
- Commercial keywords to investigate brands or services.
- Transactional keywords to complete an action or purchase.
The ideal percentage of informational content to commercial content for blogs can vary depending on the blog’s purpose, audience, and niche. However, a common guideline is 70 to 80 percent informational content and 20 to 30 percent commercial content.
“70-80% informational content and 20-30% commercial content is ideal for blogs.”
This balance helps keep your audience engaged and interested in your content while still allowing you to promote your products or services in a non-intrusive way. Ultimately, the best approach is to experiment and find the mix that works best for your specific blog and audience.
#3. Promote your blog posts on Pinterest
There are several reasons why new bloggers should focus on Pinterest search instead of Google SEO for accelerated blog growth and increased traffic.
Promoting your blog on Pinterest involves creating visually appealing pins that link back to your blog posts. Use high-quality images with engaging text overlays to attract attention.
Optimize your pin descriptions with relevant keywords to enhance searchability with this Free Pinterest Keyword Research Tool. Join and actively participate in Pinterest group boards related to your niche to expand your reach.
Maintain an active presence and use Pinterest’s analytics to track performance and adjust your strategy accordingly. Consider using Pinterest ads for broader visibility.
Learn how to build blog traffic with these Pinterest bloggers’ courses. Consistently engaging with your audience by responding to comments and messages helps build a loyal following.
#4. Learn how to boost blog conversions
You must learn how to convert visitors and readers into buyers to increase your blog earnings. To do this, you need to learn how to improve conversions.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is one of the best-kept secrets for driving revenue for your business because it allows you to make more money from the traffic you already get without having to find new pockets of customers or spend money on advertising.
Your conversion rates tell you whether your site is generating revenue, and knowing your numbers can help you get more value out of the traffic you already have.
You can learn the science and art of successful conversion rate optimization in this professional course on How to Convert Visitors Into Buyers. It includes over 50 real-world examples of turning a website into a click-driving, sales-generating conversion machine.
You’ll discover what makes a website or landing page effective at driving action and how to use these strategies to help your business grow.
Learn how to calculate conversion rates, remove friction from your funnel, optimize your pages, perform A/B testing, and measure your results by the end of this course.
18 Money-Making Blog Ideas
With the right content strategy, you can use the blog monetization strategies below to increase your blogging earnings and make money from your blog.
Choosing the best blog monetization option depends on several factors, including your blog’s traffic, audience, content type, and personal goals. Here are some guidelines for how to choose the best blog monetization option:
#1. Earn money with affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is the fastest way to learn how to monetize your blog from day one. It’s the process of selling other people’s products for a commission and works best for blogs with targeted, buying-intent traffic.
- Pros: Can be very lucrative, especially if you promote high-ticket items or recurring commissions.
- Cons: Requires strategic content creation and may need large volumes of traffic to see significant income.
- Consider if: Your blog attracts visitors with purchasing intent and you can seamlessly integrate affiliate links into your content without compromising quality.
You can start by looking for affiliate programs that meet your blog reader’s needs and complement your business. When you link to these products and services from your blog and get a commission on each sale through your affiliate link.
If you want to learn how to monetize your blog with Amazon’s products, join the Amazon affiliate program and incorporate Amazon links to your blog.
Services such as web hosting or marketing software that require a subscription are some of the best-paying affiliate programs and networks since they offer a recurring income as long as your referral stays with the service.
These super affiliate income tips will help you earn more affiliate commissions, increase affiliate marketing sales, and boost your affiliate marketing earnings.
In the Launch Your Blog Biz program, you’ll learn how to build, launch, and make money with your first blog, including designing your blog, writing articles, building your email list, getting visitors to your blog, and making your first $1,000 and beyond.
Click here to get the Launch Your Blog Biz Course
#2. Earn money with advertising
Monetizing with advertising works best for high-traffic blogs.
- Pros: Relatively easy to set up, can generate passive income.
- Cons: Requires significant traffic to earn substantial income, and can clutter your site.
- Consider if: Your blog has high traffic and a broad audience. You prefer passive income streams that don’t require constant updates or interaction.
Once you have an established blog with a regular readership, it is relatively easy to learn to monetize your blog with Adsense and increase your blogging earnings through advertising.
Here are two ways to do that:
- Display Ads: Use ad networks like Google AdSense to display ads on your blog. You earn money when visitors click on the ads or view them.
- Direct Advertising: Sell ad space directly to businesses or advertisers. This can be more lucrative but requires a larger audience.
Selling advertising directly to companies that want to put banner ads or sponsored links on your blog can be fairly lucrative. You can reach out to businesses that sell products your readers may be interested in.
If you’ve chosen your blogging niche well, there will always be businesses that complement your blog niche and are willing to sponsor giveaways for competitions and promotions on your blog.
With strong negotiation skills, a sales background, and experience in pitching proposals, renting blog space to interested companies can be lucrative.
The downside is that, even for bloggers who have spent months or years blogging, any money from advertising revenue may not add up to a large sum. Here are some advertising networks you can sign up with:
- MageNet – A monetization platform with an anti-fraud system that lets website owners earn ~$50+ /day by placing contextual ads on their sites
- Infolinks – Views and clicks count towards your earnings. When visitors engage with your Infolinks ads, you earn.
If your blog is in a niche with a demographic of interest to advertisers, you’ll be more likely to turn a profit than if it is on a fairly obscure subject that does not draw the audience advertisers want to reach.
Many new bloggers make money blogging with Google’s AdSense program. This requires very little effort, but you may make less money through this method than you had hoped.
However, you don’t have to have a lot of page views to increase your blog advertising income. The RPM Revamp Course will show you how to increase ad impressions step-by-step and maximize your ad revenue on the traffic you already get to your blog.
You’ll learn about the differences between types of content (AKA their respective earning potential) so you will know ahead of time what kind of revenue to expect per post. You’ll also get printable checklists to organize your RPM improvement projects.
#3. Earn money with sponsored posts
Sponsored posts work best for niche blogs with a loyal audience.
- Pros: Can earn higher payouts per post and build relationships with brands.
- Cons: Requires negotiation and often more work per post, which can affect your blog’s authenticity if not managed well.
- Consider if: You have a strong, engaged audience and your blog content aligns well with specific brands. You are comfortable negotiating and maintaining relationships with sponsors.
Many bloggers and online influencers skip over sponsored posts. However, if you’re not earning money through sponsored posts, you’re leaving money on the table.
In my experience, sponsored posts are the easiest way to make money blogging – even easier and more lucrative than ads. In the Making Sense of Sponsored Posts Course, you’ll learn the following:
- What are sponsored posts and how they work
- Why sponsored posts are a fantastic source of blogging income
- How to pitch brands
- How to build trust and not lose followers
- Required disclosures that you need to know about
By hosting sponsored posts you can earn money from blogging very quickly. You can sign up as a publisher with these guest posting and content distribution platforms that connect bloggers to advertisers looking for sponsored article placements.
- WhitePress® content & influencer platform
- Adsy guest posting service
- Editorial.ai guest posting service
While sponsored posts are a great way to make money while sharing the products and services you love with your audience, often bloggers will work for days to write a sponsored blog post and not get paid by the brand or face confusion over how payment will be received.
If you’re not using one of the guest post services above, you need to enter into a written Sponsored Posts Contract before you start partnering with brands. Without this legally binding contract, you’re out of luck if the brand decides to not pay you for your sponsored work on time or forgets to pay you at all.
Click here to get the Making Sense of Sponsored Posts course
#4. Offer freelance writing services
Freelancing is best for bloggers looking to leverage their skills.
- Pros: Can generate immediate income and build your professional portfolio.
- Cons: Time-intensive, less scalable than other methods.
- Consider if: You have marketable skills related to your blog’s content (e.g., writing, design, marketing) and want to offer these services to clients.
If you want to earn from blog writing without waiting months and years, then freelance writing is one of the best ways to start earning money by writing blogs.
You can use your blog as a platform to improve your writing skills and learn how to write money-earning blogs that readers love.
In the Write Your Way to Your First $1k course, you’ll learn the blueprint for setting up your freelance writing business and the tools and strategies you need to attract, land, and retain clients.
Becoming a freelance writer is a great strategy if you love to write blogs and earn money, and it’s one that famous bloggers like Jon Morrow teach and recommend.
- Offer to start a company blog for clients
As blogging becomes a lucrative business, a lot of established companies are getting in on the action by building blogs that provide a friendly face for their organization.
Once you build your writer platform as a successful blogger, offering corporate blogging services and writing blogs for companies, is another excellent way to earn money from blogging.
Often, a company will employ an established blogger with a web content writing business to create a company blog designed specifically to appeal to that company’s customers and create positive associations with the brand in consumers’ minds.
More than one writer who never even dreamed that they could make money blogging has been approached to write a company blog, and offered quite a pretty penny for this kind of gig.
- How to learn blog writing & earn money
In the Monetize Your Blog With Freelance Writing course, you’ll learn what you need to start making $2,000/month as a freelance writer and making money blogging by using your awesome skills as a writer.
In the Freelance Blogging in a Weekend course, you’ll learn how to earn money from blog writing, whether you’re writing for clients or for your own blog.
This step-by-step guide to blog writing for businesses is ideal for those who want to become freelance bloggers, write blogs for clients, and offer blogging services for small businesses.
You’ll learn about blogging as a marketing strategy, about freelance blogging rates, how to write conversational blog posts for easy reading, find blog topics that rank easily, generate the perfect headline and CTA for your clients, and fix your writing for better engagement.
Click here to get the Freelance Blogging in a Weekend course
#5. Start a YouTube channel
Starting a YouTube channel works best for blogs with engaging, visual content or that feature how-to posts, reviews, and tutorials.
- Pros: Access to a large audience and multiple monetization options (ads, sponsorships).
- Cons: Requires video production skills and can be time-intensive.
- Consider if: You can create compelling video content related to your blog’s niche and want to expand your reach.
YouTube has become a very popular platform with billions of users, so it offers a great opportunity to reach a large audience. Creating videos can also be a fun and creative way to express yourself.
Unlike some other social media platforms, YouTube is not exclusively for personal use – there are also many opportunities for business and marketing uses.
For businesses, a YouTube channel can be used to promote products or services, share company news and announcements, or even provide video tutorials or How-To videos.
And because YouTube is so popular, there’s a good chance that your target audience is already using the platform, which makes it easier to monetize.
Some reasons why you might want to start a YouTube channel are that you’re passionate about a particular topic and want to share your knowledge with the world. Or perhaps you’re a talented musician or indie artist and want to share your work with others.
You don’t even need to be outgoing or charismatic to earn money on YouTube. If you’re an introvert, you can create a faceless YouTube channel without showing your face and become successful on YouTube.
For example, Matt Par started out on YouTube at the age of 14 and built 9 different YouTube niche channels, without even showing his face.
His Tube Mastery & Monetization course is a complete roadmap to take beginners all the way to make a full-time income and has just as much content for the veterans to scale their businesses and perfect their techniques.
#6. Start a lucrative side hustle
Promoting a side hustle is the best way to monetize blogs showcasing personal skills or expertise.
- Pros: Can be highly personalized and helps build your personal brand.
- Cons: Time-consuming, requires consistent effort.
- Consider if: You have a marketable skill or service (e.g., consulting, coaching, freelance work) that you can promote through your blog.
Writing is not the only business or job you can take on as a blogger. In addition to freelance writing, here are some lucrative side hustles you can start while building your blog:
- General virtual assistant jobs
- Pinterest virtual assistant jobs
- Transcriber or transcriptionist jobs
- Freelance digital marketing jobs
- Start a dog treat bakery
- Teach English online
As it can take a good amount of time to learn how to earn from writing blogs, having a well-paying side hustle can offer financial security while you build your blogging business and increase your income.
#7. Sell eBooks, courses & coaching
Selling info products is best for authority blogs in a specific niche and can help you learn how to monetize your blog from day one.
- Pros: High-profit potential, you retain full control over pricing and content.
- Cons: Requires time and effort to create quality products, and needs effective marketing to drive sales.
- Consider if: You are an expert in your niche and can create valuable, high-quality products such as eBooks, courses, or workshops. You can market these products effectively.
Selling information products, such as eBooks, online courses, or coaching programs, is another excellent way of earning money through blogging and taking your passive income to the next level.
Use your blog as a platform to promote consulting services or coaching sessions. Offer personalized advice to individuals or businesses. If your blog establishes you as an expert, you may be invited to speak at events or offer sponsorships for industry-related conferences.
You could compile some of your best blog posts into an eBook with new and exclusive content, self-publish it on Amazon KDP, and promote it through your blog.
Even if all your blog posts are freely available online, you’d be surprised how many people are willing to pay to have all the information easily and conveniently available in an eBook.
Turning your blog into a book can transform your blog content into a lasting product that builds your personal brand and authority, and generates income.
You can create and sell your online courses or offer e-training in your virtual learning academy and set up an affiliate program to let your affiliate partners do the marketing and selling for you.
This is the route that most professional and famous bloggers take once they have built up enough traffic and sufficient subscribers to help them test out various ideas and see what sort of topics their readers want to know more about.
The Sensei LMS WordPress plugin helps you effortlessly create immersive and interactive online courses, whether certification training, formal education, or simply sharing your expertise.
It seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce and allows you to sell your courses through one-time payments, subscriptions, or memberships.
MiloTree Cart offers a hassle-free solution for selling digital products using AI-generated sales page checkouts, one-click sales funnels, coupons, and upsells.
In under 10 minutes, non-technical creators, bloggers, and entrepreneurs can set up and sell unlimited memberships, digital downloads, workshops, coaching, and courses.
Podia is a creator-friendly community-building platform on the market because it allows you to sell your digital products, eBooks, and courses, host a community, and email your audience, all on one platform without using several different platforms and tools.
In the Six-Figure Course Creator program, you’ll uncover the secrets to developing and marketing your online courses, and discover the blueprint to earning a six-figure income through your blog by offering impactful courses that transform lives.
Click here to get the Six-Figure Course Creator program
#8. Sell printables and downloads
Selling printables and downloads works best for creative or educational blogs.
- Pros: Passive income and scalable.
- Cons: Requires initial effort to create quality products.
- Consider if: Your audience is interested in downloadable content (e.g., planners, templates, worksheets) and you can create these products.
Selling printables and downloads on Etsy is a lucrative avenue for bloggers to monetize their content. Printables, which include digital downloads like planners, artwork, and organizational tools, appeal to a broad online audience seeking customizable and instantly accessible products.
Etsy, a well-established marketplace, provides bloggers with a ready-made platform to showcase and sell their printables, tapping into a vast user base actively seeking unique and creative digital goods.
Pinterest, a visually oriented social media platform, complements this strategy exceptionally well. Bloggers can create visually appealing pins that showcase their printables, driving traffic to their Etsy shop.
Pinterest’s algorithm favors content with engaging visuals, making it an ideal space for promoting printables. Additionally, users on Pinterest often search for inspiration and solutions, making it a valuable tool for bloggers to reach their target audience.
By strategically utilizing keywords, creating eye-catching graphics, and establishing a consistent pinning schedule, bloggers can increase their visibility on Pinterest and attract potential customers to their Etsy shop.
The combination of Etsy and Pinterest not only provides a convenient sales platform but also capitalizes on the visual appeal that printables offer, making it a lucrative strategy for bloggers looking to monetize their expertise and creativity.
In this course on How to Sell Printables On Etsy and Market Them On Pinterest, you’ll learn how to earn passive income on Etsy with printables and make more sales using Pinterest.
#9. Start a membership site
Starting a membership site works best for blogs with loyal, engaged audiences.
- Pros: Recurring revenue and builds a strong community.
- Cons: Requires consistent content updates and member management.
- Consider if: You have a dedicated audience willing to pay for exclusive content or services, such as tutorials, webinars, or a community forum.
If you start a membership site and sell access to premium blog content, ensure your content is unique, interesting, useful, engaging, and worth paying for. This will help convince people to purchase access.
Promoting your content is key to letting people know it exists, and be sure to let people know where they can purchase access, and why they should do so. With a little effort, selling access to your blog content can be a great way to generate some extra income.
You’ll need to choose a pricing model and decide whether to charge per month, per post, or give away access for free in exchange for an email address. Once you’ve chosen your pricing model, here are some ways in which your audience can purchase access to your content.
- Create a membership community
You can start a membership site or community through a free platform like Podia, the most creator-friendly membership platform on the market, with no transaction fees and an all-in-one website builder to sell courses, webinars, downloads, and community.
Podia eliminates the technical headaches of connecting a bunch of third-party apps to help you host a free or paid community, sell digital products, and email your audience, all on one platform.
- Use a WordPress membership site plugin
Alternatively, you could set up a membership site on your WordPress blog with a membership site plugin like MemberPress, which will help you accept credit cards securely, control who sees your content, and sell digital downloads.
#10. Start a paid newsletter
Starting a paid newsletter is best for blogs with valuable, exclusive information, such as financial and investment tips and insights.
- Pros: Recurring revenue and builds a direct relationship with your audience.
- Cons: Requires regular high-quality content and subscription management.
- Consider if: You can provide exclusive insights, tips, or content your audience is willing to pay for regularly.
Starting a paid newsletter that offers exclusive content, insights, and updates can be a great way to monetize your blog and connect more deeply with your audience.
To launch a paid newsletter, start by defining your unique value proposition, and offering content like in-depth analysis or exclusive interviews. Use a platform such as JetPack’s Newsletter feature, which allows unlimited sends and seamless subscriber management from WordPress.
Set a pricing strategy, considering monthly or annual fees, and offer a free trial or special launch pricing to attract initial subscribers. Develop a content plan to regularly deliver high-quality, engaging content.
Promote your newsletter via your blog, social media, and other channels, highlighting its value. Engage with subscribers by responding to comments and soliciting feedback, fostering a sense of community.
Finally, monitor performance metrics like open rates and subscriber growth to refine your strategy and ensure continued success. By following these steps, you can create a successful paid newsletter that monetizes your blog and provides value to your audience.
#11. Start an eCommerce store
If you want to sell your own products through your blog starting an ecommerce store is the best option to monetize your blog. It works best for blogs with niche-specific products.
- Pros: Offers full control over products and pricing and potential for high profits.
- Cons: Requires inventory management, customer service, and marketing efforts.
- Consider if: Your blog has a dedicated audience interested in your niche products. You have or can develop an e-commerce store to sell these products directly.
You can set up an eCommerce store on a subdomain and sell art online, or you can sell any other products from your blogs, such as craft products, pet products, and even dropshipping products.
You can build and sell your own products such as WordPress themes, plugins, SaaS, and software products, and use your blog to sell them. These eCommerce guides will show you how to start an eCommerce business with the best eCommerce platforms, solutions, and software.
You can also build online stores (almost) free and add eCommerce options to your WordPress blog with WordPress eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce.
Don’t forget to include a link to your online shop in your blog navigation menu and create a sitemap for your online store. This will allow website visitors to browse through your product catalog and make purchases directly on your site.
If you don’t want to start an eCommerce store on your blog, you can learn how to sell your products on Amazon with these tips to start an Amazon FBA business and use your blog to promote your Amazon store.
Here are some ways to sell eCommerce products from your blog and earn money:
- Write product reviews
The first is by writing product reviews on your blog. You can write an honest review of the product with the benefits and drawbacks in comparison to other products of the same type and also include case studies, demos, and use cases.
- Include product links in blog posts
You can include product links in your blog posts when you mention a product that you sell. This will allow readers to easily purchase the products that you’re writing about.
For example, if you’re writing a post about summer fashion trends, you could include a link to a bathing suit in the post so readers can click on it and purchase it.
This takes a bit more work, but it can be effective in driving traffic from your blog to your store.
- Don’t forget eCommerce SEO
To sell eCommerce products from your blog, you need to have a good amount of website traffic coming to your site. The best way to do that is by improving your eCommerce SEO.
These eCommerce SEO best practices will help you improve SEO for eCommerce sites and boost your eCommerce website rankings.
#12. Host a job board or directory
Hosting a job board or directory works best for niche or industry-specific blogs.
- Pros: Can generate significant income and be a valuable resource for your audience.
- Cons: Requires setup and ongoing management.
- Consider if: Your blog targets a specific industry or niche where job listings or directory services are in demand.
If your blog is in a specific industry, you can create a job board, freelance marketplace, or any business directory related to your blogging niche. If you publish a real estate blog, you can showcase properties and real estate listings in your business directory.
WP Job Manager, an open-source job board plugin from Automattic, creators of WordPress.com, simplifies job listing management without requiring coding skills.
Directorist is a free WordPress Directory Plugin that helps you create customizable and scalable directory listing websites with advanced features like easy translation, search filters, custom fields, and maps.
This plugin simplifies the process, enabling the development of industry-standard, scalable, and user-friendly online business directories.
Directorist’s premium modules support monetization through various schemes, allowing you to generate additional revenue for your directory listing business.
Click here to check out Directorist
#13. Offer rank-and-rent lead generation
Rank & Rent Lead Generation is a business model where you create or acquire websites and optimize them to rank highly in search engine results for specific local keywords.
Once the websites rank well, you “rent out” the leads generated from these sites to local businesses that need customers. This blog-earning idea is best for SEO consultants or agencies experienced in content creation, SEO, sales funnels, and lead generation.
- Pros: Low startup costs, scalable with traffic growth, builds authority, offers passive income.
- Cons: Time-consuming, competitive SEO, client acquisition challenges, and revenue uncertainty.
- Consider if: Skilled in lead generation and online engagement, committed to long-term blog management to diversify income.
Essentially, Rank & Rent Lead Generation involves generating leads through organic search traffic, then leasing or selling those leads to businesses operating in relevant niches, providing them with potential customers who are actively searching for their services or products.
For example, you can build and rank a real estate blog to generate local leads for real estate developers using the steps below:
- Use keywords to attract local real estate buyers searching for insights on specific locations or projects.
- Publish thought leadership pieces on emerging trends and innovative development techniques to establish credibility as industry leaders.
- Regularly publish articles targeted at real estate buyers showcasing successful urban development projects with project highlights.
- Offer downloadable guides or host free webinars on specific locations with detailed metrics requiring contact details for access, converting visitors into leads.
- Encourage visitors to schedule consultations or sign up for a newsletter offering exclusive insights.
- Share your blog content on online real estate groups and forums, positioning it as an authoritative resource.
- Approach developers with a business proposal offering to showcase their projects in articles and landing pages.
- Charge developers per lead captured, work out a monthly retainer, or promote real estate projects for a commission via email newsletters and online messaging services.
In this Rank & Rent Local Lead Generation Guide, you’ll explore local lead generation and the scalable passive income potential of the Rank & Rent business model.
You’ll learn how to rank digital assets for rental income, generate local business leads, discover lucrative niches, build professional websites, and master comprehensive SEO strategies for on-page and off-page optimization.
You’ll also gain insights into optimizing Google My Business listings to attract more customers, securing deals with local businesses, and automating processes through outsourcing for efficiency.
You can extrapolate the rank-and-rent lead generation business model via blogging to any industry, including local businesses, SaaS startups, and more.
#14. Host an event or webinar
Hosting an event or webinar is best for blogs with an engaged and interactive audience open to live interaction and learning.
- Pros: Can generate significant income, build strong community engagement, and establish your authority in your niche.
- Cons: Requires substantial planning, promotion, and execution effort. Can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
- Consider if: You can provide valuable insights through events or webinars with guest experts, and are adept at public speaking and event management.
Organizing online events or webinars related to your blog’s niche can be a lucrative way to engage with your audience and establish authority.
EverWebinar’s webinar platform transforms webinars into automated marketing powerhouses. Deliver perfect webinar presentations consistently without your physical presence.
Convert your webinars into money-making events with live offer displays. Post-webinar, you can tailor emails based on attendee actions, whether they missed, left early, or stayed until the end.
Seeking sponsorships from relevant companies can also help offset costs and enhance profitability for your money-making webinars.
Start by identifying your niche and target audience, ensuring your events align with their interests. Plan your event thoroughly, covering topics, speakers, schedules, and promotional strategies, and choose the appropriate format based on your resources.
Build your audience through blog, social media, and email promotions, encouraging engagement and participation. Create attractive sponsorship packages, offering options for logo placement, mentions, sponsored sessions, or promotional materials.
Identify potential sponsors that align with your event’s theme and audience, and craft a compelling pitch highlighting the benefits of partnership. Negotiate sponsorship terms, ensuring agreements meet both parties’ needs.
During the event, deliver on your commitments to sponsors by providing visibility and promotional activities. After the event, provide sponsors with analytics and express gratitude for their support to foster ongoing partnerships.
By effectively leveraging your blog’s influence and organizing events that resonate with your audience, you can attract sponsors, provide value to both parties, and generate revenue while enhancing your blog’s credibility.
#15. Sell your blog on Flippa
Flipping your blog works best for experienced bloggers and entrepreneurs.
- Pros: Potential for a large payout and can focus on building and selling.
- Cons: Requires substantial effort to build a valuable blog, one-time payment.
- Consider if: You have experience in growing blogs and are interested in building a blog to sell it for a profit.
Flipping blogs is a strategic process involving the development of a blog to sell it for a profit. The value of a blog can vary widely based on several factors, including its traffic, revenue, niche, content quality, and brand reputation.
Generally, a blog can sell for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several hundred thousand dollars or even more for highly successful and established blogs.
For example, a blog that generates a consistent monthly revenue through ads, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, or product sales can be valued based on its monthly or annual earnings.
Typically, a blog’s value is calculated as a multiple of its monthly revenue, with the multiple ranging from 20x to 50x or more, depending on the blog’s growth potential, niche, and other factors.
On the other hand, a blog that doesn’t generate revenue but has high traffic, quality content, and a strong brand presence can still be valuable to the right buyer.
In such cases, the value might be determined based on the blog’s potential to monetize through various means.
Here are some steps to help you embark on your blog-flipping journey:
- Build topical authority: Start by creating topical authority with niche-specific content that attracts and retains a dedicated audience.
- Optimize for search traffic: Implement effective bloggers’ SEO strategies to boost visibility and increase traffic to your blog.
- Monetize in multiple ways: Monetization is key to building the blog’s value. Use diverse channels such as ads, affiliate marketing, and product sales to monetize your blog and generate revenue.
- Track and optimize revenue: Tracking and optimizing these revenue streams will help maximize profits and increase the overall value of your blog.
- Get a free valuation: You can get a free online business valuation with Flippa’s intelligent valuations engine.
- List your blog for sale: When the blog is ripe for sale, list it on Flippa. Provide potential buyers with detailed analytics, revenue reports, and a comprehensive overview of the blog’s potential for growth.
- Engage and negotiate: Engage actively with potential buyers, showcasing the blog’s strengths and potential. Negotiate skillfully to secure a favorable sale that reflects the true value of your hard work and the blog’s potential for future success.
Ultimately, the value of a blog is subjective and depends on the buyer’s perception of its worth. Conduct thorough research, understand your blog’s value proposition, and seek professional advice when selling a blog.
Discover the secrets of flipping domains on Flippa for substantial profits with the Hidden Flippa Secrets Website Domain Flipping Course. Learn to build residual passive income by selling your blog or website using the easy-to-use Flippa system.
If you decide to sell your blog on the Flippa marketplace, you’ll get access to expert advisory with world-leading matching technology to ensure you sell quickly, for the best price at the lowest fees.
Click here to create your free Flippa account
#16. Ask for donations
Asking for donations works best for community-focused or non-profit blogs.
- Pros: Simple to implement and builds a supportive community.
- Cons: Requires a loyal and supportive audience.
- Consider if: Your blog provides significant value to your readers, and they are willing to support you financially through donations.
Adding a donation button or linking to platforms like PayPal or Patreon is a great way to allow your audience to support your blog voluntarily. Here’s how you can effectively implement this:
- Choose a Platform: Select a reliable donation platform such as PayPal or Patreon. These platforms allow users to make one-time contributions or set up recurring donations.
- Create an Account: Set up an account on the chosen platform. Provide necessary information about your blog, and customize your profile to reflect your brand.
- Integrate the Donation Button: For PayPal, generate a donation button through the platform’s tools, and embed it strategically on your blog. If using Patreon, create a link or button that directs readers to your Patreon page.
- Explain the Purpose: Clearly communicate why you’re seeking donations. Explain how reader contributions will support your blog, whether it’s covering hosting costs, improving content quality, or expanding services.
- Highlight Benefits: Showcase any perks or benefits that donors may receive. This could include exclusive content, early access to articles, or personalized shoutouts.
- Promote on Your Blog: Place the donation button or link prominently on your blog. Consider adding a call-to-action in blog posts or a dedicated donation page explaining why support is crucial.
- Regularly Acknowledge Supporters: Publicly acknowledge and thank donors on your blog and social media platforms. This recognition not only expresses gratitude but also encourages others to contribute.
- Provide Updates: Keep donors informed about how their contributions are being utilized. Regularly update them on the progress of your blog, upcoming projects, or any improvements made possible through their support.
- Engage with Your Audience: Foster a sense of community by engaging with your audience. Respond to comments, emails, and messages promptly. Encourage feedback and suggestions, making donors feel like valued members of your community.
- Explore Tiered Donations (Patreon): If using Patreon, consider offering tiered donation levels with varying perks for each level. This can incentivize higher contributions and provide a more personalized experience for donors.
- Promote Ethically: Be transparent about your financial needs and ensure that readers understand that donations are optional. Avoid pressuring or guilting your audience into contributing.
By integrating donation options and maintaining transparent communication with your audience, you create a mutually supportive relationship where readers can contribute voluntarily to the success and sustainability of your blog.
#17. Start a subscription box service
An unusual way to earn money with blogs is by creating a subscription box service. This money-making blog idea works best for bloggers with engaged audiences in specific niches like cooking or beauty.
- Pros: Creates a new revenue stream, enhances reader engagement, builds community, and offers collaboration opportunities.
- Cons: Requires significant time and initial investment, entails logistical challenges, and depends on maintaining product quality.
- Consider if: You have a dedicated niche audience, resources for setup and management, and enjoy curating unique experiences for subscribers.
Subscription box services are an unusual online earning idea that involves curating and sending out boxes filled with unique and interesting items related to a specific niche that aligns with your blog’s theme and audience.
For instance, if your blog focuses on cooking, the mystery boxes could include unique ingredients, cooking gadgets, or recipe cards. The first step is to choose a niche that resonates with your readership.
Once you have a theme, source interesting items that fit this niche. You could partner with small businesses and artisans, or even create your own products to include in the boxes. The key is to offer something exclusive and intriguing.
Next, set up a subscription model where readers pay a monthly fee to receive the mystery box. Use your blog to create excitement and anticipation around the boxes.
These courses will show you how to create a profitable subscription box business with real-world examples and actionable tips:
- How To Start & Run Your Very Own Subscription Box Business
- The Step-by-Step Guide to Your Own Subscription Box Business
Share teasers, behind-the-scenes looks at the curation process, and testimonials from satisfied subscribers to build hype and attract more customers. Engagement with your audience is crucial.
Encourage subscribers to share their unboxing experiences on social media using a specific hashtag. Feature these posts on your blog to create a sense of community and entice potential subscribers.
To add extra value, offer exclusive subscribers-only content such as special blog posts, video tutorials, or access to members-only forums. This enhances the appeal of the subscription and strengthens the connection with your audience.
Use feedback and analytics to track the success of your mystery boxes. Pay attention to what your audience loves and make adjustments accordingly.
This blogging idea to make money can generate income and deepen engagement with your readers, creating a unique and memorable experience that sets your blog apart.
#18. Grow a brick-and-mortar business
Using your blog to promote a brick-and-mortar business works best for local or niche blogs.
- Pros: Drives local traffic to your business and builds community presence.
- Cons: Limited to your local area and may require significant offline effort.
- Consider if: Your blog targets a local audience or niche that aligns with your brick-and-mortar business.
You can use your blog to share information about your brick-and-mortar business with potential customers. A famous and oft-quoted case study is that of Marcus Sheridan, the owner of River Pools and Spas (RPS), a small business that sold swimming pools in Virginia and Maryland.
Sheridan built his company into one of the largest pool companies in the United States by using a blog to grow blog subscribers, increase site traffic, and generate leads, even during low-demand seasons.
In addition to educating customers about your products or services, you can use your company blog to share use cases and product demos, and announce new developments, special sales, promotions, coupons, or discounts that you’re running.
You can even share customer testimonials or product reviews, images of customers using your products or services, and feature stories of happy customers on your blog. This is a great way to create social proof and show potential customers that you’re worth doing business with.
For instance, in a dog bakery business, you can leverage your blog to educate customers on why your products are ideal for their pets.
You can showcase birthday cake photos and videos of furry customer celebrations on your blog, announce new products and promotions, and even share homemade dog treat recipes.
In addition, you can use your blog to connect with other businesses in your industry, create partnerships or collaborative marketing efforts, and engage with potential customers or vendors.
How to Choose the Best Ways to Monetize Your Blog
So how do you choose the best ways to monetize your blog? Here are some tips:
- Analyze Your Traffic
Check your traffic volume and sources. High traffic generally favors advertising, while targeted traffic might be better for affiliate marketing or selling products.
- Understand Your Audience:
Know what your audience values and what they might be willing to pay for. Engage with them through surveys or feedback to gauge their interests.
- Assess Your Content
Match your content type with monetization methods. Educational content might be better for info products, while lifestyle content could attract sponsorships.
- Consider Your Goals
Decide if you want passive income or are willing to invest time in active income streams like freelancing or creating info products.
- Test Multiple Methods
You can start with a combination and see what works best. For example, you might run ads while promoting affiliate products to see which generates more income or sell printable checklists on a blog that showcases video and print tutorials.
Aligning your blog’s traffic, audience, and content with the right monetization strategy, can optimize your income potential and ensure a sustainable and rewarding blogging journey.
This table helps you compare different monetization methods based on traffic needs, speed of earning potential, and other key considerations to find the best fit for your blog.
How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?
Many factors can affect your blogging income, such as the subject matter of your blog, the size of your audience, and the effectiveness of your monetization strategies.
It really depends on your blogging business model, your blogging niche, how much traffic your blog gets, and how well it converts. Building an audience and earning a significant income from a blog can take time for a blogger.
Many professional and famous bloggers make hundreds of thousands of dollars from their blog(s), but it took them years to get there. Your ability to earn money by writing blogs can vary widely from zero to hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.
Some bloggers make very little, while others make significant amounts. To maximize your blog’s earning potential, explore more than one strategy for monetization.
Diversifying your revenue streams allows you to establish multiple sources of income, unlocking the full financial potential of your blog.
How Long Does it Take to Make Money Blogging?
The time it takes to start making money from blogging can vary widely based on several factors, including your niche, content quality, marketing efforts, audience engagement, and monetization strategy.
Here are some general considerations:
- Establishing Traffic
Building enough might take several months to a year or more. This depends on how effectively you promote your blog through SEO, social media, guest posting, and other strategies.
- Building Authority
Building trust and authority in your niche takes time. Consistently providing valuable content and engaging with your audience helps establish credibility.
- Monetization Strategy
The type of monetization method you choose can impact how quickly you start earning. For example, advertising revenue through platforms like Google AdSense might generate income earlier than selling high-ticket courses or services.
- Audience Engagement
The level of engagement and loyalty of your audience plays a crucial role. A highly engaged audience is more likely to respond to your offers and recommendations.
- Persistence and Consistency
Blogging success often requires persistence and consistent effort over time. It’s not uncommon for bloggers to invest several months or even years before seeing substantial income.
While some bloggers may start earning within a few months, it’s more typical for it to take six months to a year, or longer, to generate significant income from blogging.
Which Blog Topic is Best for Earning Money?
Several blog topics can be highly profitable, especially if they attract a large audience and can be effectively monetized. Here are some popular and potentially lucrative blog topics:
- Personal Finance and Investing
Blogs about budgeting, saving money, investing, and financial planning attract a wide audience. Monetization opportunities include affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, rank-and-rent lead generation, and selling financial products or courses.
- Health and Wellness
Topics like fitness, mental health, nutrition, and holistic wellness can draw a dedicated readership. You can monetize through affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and selling subscription boxes with your own products or services.
- Technology and Gadgets
Reviews, tutorials, and news about the latest tech trends and gadgets can attract a tech-savvy audience. Monetization can come from affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and advertising.
- Travel
Travel guides, tips, and destination reviews are popular. Monetization opportunities include affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, selling travel guides or courses, rank-and-rent lead generation, and advertising.
- Food and Cooking
Recipes, cooking tips, and food reviews can attract a broad audience. You can monetize through affiliate marketing (e.g., kitchen gadgets), sponsored posts, and selling cookbooks, cooking courses, or subscription boxes.
- Fashion and Beauty
Fashion trends, beauty tips, and product reviews can attract a large audience. Monetization includes affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and selling subscription boxes with your own fashion or beauty products.
- Parenting and Family
Parenting tips, family activities, and educational content for children can attract a dedicated readership. Monetization can come from affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling products or courses.
- Personal Development
Topics like productivity, self-improvement, and motivation can attract a wide audience. Monetization opportunities include selling courses, books, coaching services, affiliate marketing, and sponsored posts.
- Home Improvement and DIY
Home renovation tips, DIY projects, and interior design ideas can attract a large audience. You can monetize through affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling DIY guides or courses.
- Career and Business
Tips on career advancement, entrepreneurship, and business management can attract professionals. Monetization opportunities include affiliate marketing, sponsored content, selling courses, business and career coaching, or consulting services.
When choosing a blog topic, it’s important to select one that you are passionate and knowledgeable about and consider the potential for monetization and the interests of your target audience.
Now that you know about all of these blog ideas to make money, you need to remember that earning money blogging is not an overnight achievement.
While it’s possible to learn how to monetize your blog from day one, it usually takes time, effort, and a lot of traffic to make money blogging.
You can uncover what it takes to earn money from blogs by learning the secrets of famous bloggers, and how they earn money through blogging and building their businesses online.
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