Bloggers can make millions a year or a very healthy full-time income, however, others can make less, and some make no money at all. To make money blogging you’re going to first need to have a blog. Whether you are a business or individual person your blog should be based on something you have knowledge around, are passionate about, and can create quality content around. Setting up a successful blog is a difficult, and hard thing to do, it may seem easy in theory but when you get into it and try to master all the different aspects of a blog it is tremendously hard. It requires the same time and effort as a regular business like owning a clothing store or a restaurant. The first few years are normally the same as a regular business like low income, little traffic, and figuring out your industry, and audiences. It is when you can successfully master the art of blogging, and best convey a particular message to a large audience of followers that you will reap the financial benefits. Here are 4 ways to make money blogging.
1: Advertising
Advertising is where many bloggers start making money. As your traffic, and brand grows advertisers will be willing to pay a good deal of money to get exposure to your following. If your audience suits their marketing efforts, and whom they are trying to target with a particular product then they are willing to pay you well. Here are ways to incorporate advertising into your blog:
- Display Ads
- Giveaways
- Competitions
- Sponsored Posts
- Video Advertising
- Sponsorships
2: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a business model where you promote other brands products or services in exchange for a commission. You advertise, and link to that product or service using your unique affiliate link which is given to you by the owner of the product or service. When someone clicks through that link, makes a purchase or completes a desired action set by the company, you earn a commission and make money. This is one of the most popular, and most profitable income streams. It is great because you can highlight products or services you love, and use without having to do the work of creating or maintaining that product yourself. Depending on how big, and engaged your audience is, you could be earning commissions within hours or even minutes. It can guide future product creation as well.
3: Products
i)Digital products
Digital products are great because they don’t require inventory, and can be distributed to quickly, and easily. There are no overheads and it is low risk. Examples are E-courses, online classes, workshops, Ebooks, content, photos, audio or video. Digital products’ take work to create but have been lucrative sources of income for bloggers. If you are going to choose to sell digital products then you must ensure it is relevant, and useful to your readers. Bloggers can make the mistake of thinking they are developing something their readers need. Listen to your readers first, and then create a digital product around that which provide them will value, and satisfy their needs.
ii) Physical products
Physical products are products created by a blogger that are tangible. Selling physical products has become more popular with bloggers especially ones with large followings as they have a loyal base of customers to market to. It can be extremely profitable but can get complicated to manage with the manufacturing, inventory, logistics, returns, etc. Physical products require continuous work, and are hugely time-consuming that can take away from creating blog content. Handmade products, manufactured products, and arbitrage products are all examples of these.
4: Services
Bloggers can use the expertise related to their blog topic and get paid when others hire them. Services can be offered locally or virtually in person or online. A common way that many bloggers make money is through offering services to their readers. Blogger services might include anything from training, and coaching to holding events or other beneficial freelance services. Offering a service to people is a great way to make money, and make it quickly because costs are low, little to no inventory is required, and you get paid for a skill you have. However, this is not scalable so other revenue streams should be used in conjunction with this.
Bloggers make money directly on their blogs, and indirectly from their blog. They use their blog as a hub or base then have many income streams stemming from there. Multiple streams of income amount to a huge monetization of income for the blogger. Successful bloggers have a different combination of income streams. There is no right or wrong way in blogging that’s the beauty. There are endless possibilities to find a combination that works best for you. The key is providing your blog readers with value, and when your following is big and engaged then implement some of the 4 ways outlined above then money will come from that.
If you would like to learn more about how to grow your brand, and business through blogging then visit us online today, and book a consultation.