*Be sure to read my affiliate disclosure page before reading this post. If you click a link and purchase something, I may make money from your purchase at no extra cost to you and I need to know you can live with that. 😉 Now that legal stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about how bloggers make money!
If you’ve been on my blog before, you’ve heard me talk about starting a blog as a way to make extra money for traveling. I also talk about it a lot in person, as some of you can attest from talking to me. No matter where I go, whenever I talk about starting a blog, I get this question, “How DO bloggers make money, I’ve always wondered!”
It seems people there is a black magic associated with blogging! Is it black magic? Is there some big secret that has to be unlocked? No…it’s nothing like that.
I wish the answer was as simple as a cut and dried formula, but now that I have a better understanding of it myself, I can see that almost every blog has MULTIPLE sources of income and each one is WILDLY different from another. Let’s look at a few of the big ones.
ADVERTISING
If you’re anything like me, you HATE ads on websites. I can’t tell you just how much I hate them, but it’s a lot! However, once a website starts to get some traffic (some do this from the beginning), they seek out advertisers.
There are advertising networks such as Google Adsense and others like it. You can use these sites to find and insert code in various places like sidebars or other places. They will usually pay based on your traffic (impressions) or per click on each ad.
This is a way MOST bloggers make money and is probably the most common way to do it.
AFFILIATE SALES
I was absolutely SHOCKED and BLOWN AWAY by all the different ways to be an affiliate when I began blogging. I knew you could sell other people’s stuff on Amazon and a few other retailers, but I had NO IDEA that I could sell just about anything.
Most retailers have an affiliate link at the bottom of their site. Check out Walmart, Target, or even Old Navy. They all offer affiliate programs that will give you a small portion of the sale if you send business to them. This is one way that lifestyle or fashion bloggers make money.
As with most commission sales jobs, the more money your client spends, the better your payday. This is why many travel blogger will sell flights, hotel rooms, and even cruises on their website and they receive a small portion of each sale from their site. The sale is bigger, so is the payday (if you know someone who blogs, I HIGHLY recommend you use their links to buy your trips…it costs you nothing extra and helps them out!).
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Maybe I shouldn’t break these two up because the premise is the same, but another way bloggers make money is that they will find an affiliate program or course that fits their site well and they sell it on their site.
You’ll see me talk about starting a blog a lot. I feel like even though blogging has little to do with traveling, it still fits because you have to make money to travel. Blogging is a great way to do that. I bought the Pro-Blogger Bundle from Create and Go and liked it so much, I decided to sell their products on my blog.
There are also affiliate programs for web hosting plans, WordPress theme companies, as well as individual WordPress themes like the one I used on this site.
I’ve seen other bloggers selling other courses on their sites as well. The folks from Create and Go originally had a health and fitness blog. They were able to find an affiliate yoga program that they sold on that site.
All kinds of programs are available to sell on your blog.
SPONSORED POSTS
Companies will actually offer to pay bloggers to write about their products and services. You may see a lot of this on YouTube especially. Sometimes popular vloggers will make a video about a certain product that goes along with their product.
Same thing with bloggers. A company such as Merrill might pay an adventuring travel blogger to write about a new hiking boot that’s coming out or something like that.
When it comes to sponsored posts, bloggers are usually SUPER selective. They want to be sure the product they are writing about is something they really love before they write about it.
DIGITAL PRODUCTS
This one is a biggie and is probably the ABSOLUTE BEST way that bloggers make money. No matter the niche, there’s almost ALWAYS some common questions or concerns that readers have.
If you can get inside your readers’ minds (or email boxes using a service like ConvertKit!), you can learn what that commonality is. Once you know that, you can write either an e-book or an e-course to sell directly on your site. This cuts out the middleman you have with affiliate sales and puts the profit directly in your own pocket.
Some bloggers will also sell digital products on websites like Etsy. I’ve seen a lot of financial bloggers post their budgeting worksheet designs on Etsy.
Another way bloggers make money is by offering a paid membership site. They might have an ongoing program you can pay to access. One such site I’ve seen is a guitar lesson website. You pay per month to access their library of lessons.
Selling photos is a great way bloggers make money. It’s a digital product that they can upload and forget. I’ve actually considered this, but haven’t gotten to that point with my photography yet.
TRAFFIC
Traffic is king when it comes to bloggers making money. It’s all well and good to have affiliate links, and ads on your site, and even your own digital products, but if you don’t have traffic, you don’t make money.
Most bloggers use some sort of digital marketing to bring traffic to their websites. I personally use Pinterest as a traffic source. Instagram and Facebook are also great ways to bring traffic and connect with your followers, but I know a lot of bloggers will pay for advertising to bring readers to their site.
I use word of mouth as a last resort because I just don’t talk to strangers that much and I’d literally have to talk to hundreds or thousands of new people each week to have the same reach Pinterest has for me.
HOW IS THE MONEY PAID OUT?
This is also a common question. When bloggers make money, their affiliate program will usually pay out through PayPal or through a similar website or network.
If you have an e-book or e-course, the program that hosts your digital product will pay through a service like PayPal as well. Basically, the money is almost always deposited directly into your account. Some of the services also offer to write you a check if you prefer.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE MONEY?
It’s a tricky question to answer how long it takes for bloggers to become profitable. It depends on so many things, that it would be impossible to insert a formula. Things that you could do to monetize quickly would be:
- create a visually attractive website
- find a great affiliate program to sell, or create your own
- write properly keyworded posts and take care of your SEO when you write
- make catchy titles and matching pins to draw traffic
- network with other bloggers to grow your readership
- use email marketing to keep in touch with your readers
- work, work, work on your blog…the more you work it, the more it will work for you
- seek the support of like-minded bloggers for advice
The people at Create and Go were able to monetize their blog within the first few months and had a $40,000 month within 6 months, but they also quit their daytime jobs and worked on their blog day and night…full time. Most of us aren’t able to do that, so it takes longer. (That’s why I recommend their products, find someone who is successful in whatever you want to do and mimic what they do!)
SHOULD BLOGGERS MAKE MONEY?
This seems to be a hot topic of debate…although I honestly don’t understand that. I guess people feel like information should be free.
If you happen to be one of those people, challenge yourself for a month to sit down each week and write a 1,500 – 2,000-word essay about anything at all. Research keywords for your subject (whatever makes you happy), then make sure you sprinkle those words throughout your essay. When you’re done, find some visually stimulating images (for free if you can).
If you can do that for a month, you’ve barely scratched the surface. There are also graphics that need to be created such as the featured image you see that’s associated with each post, as well as a pin and any other marketing material. Oh, don’t forget to find appropriate group boards to pin your content on while you’re at it! 🙂
That’s not even mentioning creating and keeping up with the emails!
I don’t know anyone alive that would do all of it for the heck of it. If a person is willing to do all of this work, I think they should profit from it, don’t you? It CERTAINLY IS work. It’s usually fun work, but NOT ALL fun and games!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Blogging can be a GREAT WAY to make money. It takes some time and discipline, and a little diligence, it can become profitable. It’s also a lot of fun to meet new people and learn new skills.
It’s not a get rich quick scheme and I can’t promise you will ever make any money. What I can do though is promise it won’t happen if you never start! You know, if I heard it once as a kid, I heard it a thousand times: “you never know until you TRY!” So how about it, will you give blogging a try? Leave a comment.
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