Can You Really Make Money Blogging? (Yes, Here’s How)
As a blogger whether you’ve already set up an audience or are new to the entire landscape, you might probably already be wondering how you can make money blogging.
Below are ways through which you can make money from your blog:
Proven Ways to Monetize Your Blog
Display Ads
These are a type of online advertisement that involves a combination of text, images and a URL linking to a customer’s website. They can be static or changing.
Display advertising campaigns are run through advertising networks like Google Ads, Facebook Ads which are known for their powerful tools that target specific audiences.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays commission to an external website for traffic sales generated from referrals.
For example, this blog post by moneycrashers.com, which is a personal finance blog, contains many affiliate links.
This blog post about the best cash advance apps is a good example as you can see, when one of the site visitors signs up through their links, they earn a commission.
The biggest benefit of affiliate marketing is that it’s cheap to set up. You don’t require capital to buy products yourself.
Affiliate marketing is also flexible, in that you can switch affiliate programs without extra costs.
However, the downside to affiliate marketing is that you’ve less control over quality and customer support.
So if your audience gets a bad experience with your recommendations, they may not trust you again.
To get started with affiliate marketing:
Step I: Choose an affiliate niche
Having a single affiliate product niche is not a must but focusing on one niche usually earns you more commission.
Step II: Decide on your marketing channels
You may decide to create an informative blog related to your niche, create videos for your social media platforms, or even build a product review site.
It’s always best to choose the marketing channel you’ve the highest interest in.
Step III: Choose Affiliate program
Choose an affiliate program suitable for your niche. Broad affiliate programs like amazon affiliate programs may work for you at the beginning but it’s better to consider what your audience desires.
Sell Digital Products
Digital products are intangible assets that can be sold repeatedly without replenishing the inventory.
You create the product once and sell it forever.
Digital products offer high profit margins, infinite scalability, easy sales automation and a global client reach.
For example online courses on Udemy are an example of a Digital product.
Here is a list of Digital products to create and sell online:
1. Ebooks and In-Depth Guides
These are books containing well structured knowledge sold out to your audience to read via smartphones, tablets,computers, eReaders(like Amazon Kindle, Kobo, or Nook).
Ebooks contain text, images, or even interactive elements like hyperlinks. You can distribute them as download files in formats such as EPUB,PDF, MOBI/AZW, etc.
They can be anything from a business idea, technical subject or even a mental wellness guide.
Ebooks are a good fit for those with low upfront costs and those who want to introduce themselves as an authority.
2. Online Courses
Online courses are structured online interactive learning programs that are taught and taken over the internet instead of a physical classroom.
Online courses take the form of video lessons(recorded or live), reading materials(PDF’s, slides),Quizzes or assignments to test understanding,
discussion forums or chats.
It’s very easy to set up if you have a skill to teach.
The e-learning industry is massive because people are constantly looking to upskill and courses go for higher prices.
3. Digital Planners and Templates
Digital planners and templates are downloadable, customizable tools from which one can make budgets, content calendars, project management documents or printable checklists and worksheets.
They are easy and quick to set up for those with design skills.
4. Website Kits And Themes
These are pre-built website templates that you can customize to come up with a website quickly.
They’re in high demand because many people need a website but don’t have enough money for building a product from scratch.
Customers can just bring in their own content saving them hours of work and money.
For creators with web design skills website kits and themes offer a scalable business model.
5. Software and Web Applications.
This can take the form of a wordpress plugin, desktop software or any piece of software.
This is a good venture for skilled software developers.
6. Membership sites
A membership site offers exclusive content to paying members. Premium content can be a video or ebook, etc.
It can even take the form of a job board whereby premium members receive an email list of the best job offers.
7. Design assets
Designers, marketers, and content creators use digital assets as resources to quickly make visuals without starting from scratch.
These can include UI/UX templates(figma, etc), fonts, Icon sets, branding kits etc.
Other developers or designers are usually your customers since they love saving time.
8. Research reports and data
The world right now runs on well-researched data and expert industry analysis.
Experts in specific markets can conduct research and compile results as premium reports for sale to businesses, investors and professionals.
One advantage of this product is that customers are willing to pay top dollar for it.
d. Sponsored Posts and Brand Deals
Bloggers, especially influencers, can make money through brand deals by promoting goods and services for other brands.
Usually this kind of arrangement depends on how many people you’re able to reach as a blogger.
Sponsored posts are written forms of content that brands or companies pay bloggers to write or create to increase brand awareness and drive website traffic or get more leads.
How to attract brand partnerships.
Consistently blogging for about a year
Grow your mail list to at least 500 or more subscribers
Grow a social media channel with a following of at least 500 people
Your turn to sell
The blogging landscape is vast and full of opportunity.
By leveraging your unique skills and knowledge, you can create valuable assets that help people around the world to solve their problems, as you make money from your blog.
The journey from idea to succeeding online requires dedication, consistency and the right tools.
Contact us to help you set up your wordpress website