How to Make Money Blogging in
2022: The Ultimate Guide
Do you love to blog and want to make some extra
cash? Blogging is a low-cost
business idea with the potential to make
thousands of dollars per month. This guide shares how you can make money
blogging, with 11 revenue streams used by professional bloggers who earn a
full-time income through their website.
11
Ways to make money blogging
1. Choose a profitable niche
2. Build an email list
3. Write sponsored product reviews
4. Sell advertising placements
5. Join an affiliate marketing program
6. Offer services
7. Sell digital products
8. Sell physical products
9. Create a membership community
10. Monetize YouTube videos
11. Produce a podcast and get a sponsor
How
much money can bloggers earn?
The potential for blogging is virtually unlimited.
Well-established bloggers like Ryan Robinson—who runs a blog about blogging—can
make upward of $30,000 per month. Adam Enfroy, who started blogging about
the business of blogging in 2019 as a side hustle, generated $1.5 million from
his blog just two years later.
It’s not just monthly revenue that bloggers can cash in on.
Marketplaces like Flippa list blogs for sale, many of which come with
hefty six-figure price tags. Bloggers cash in when their creativity
project is acquired.
Unfortunately, not every blogger can make millions through their
website. The income potential of your blog depends on two factors:
·
Your niche. Do
people spend large sums of money on products in your industry? The software
industry, for example, can be lucrative, since many companies pay recurring
commission. Bloggers can earn small amounts each month, long after the customer
made the purchase. (More on this later.)
·
Your monetization strategies. Some blog monetization methods are off the table for new
bloggers who want to stick to their core values—like not being paid to post
content you don’t agree with. This can impact earning potential in the short
term.
How
long does it take to make money blogging?
Blogging is typically a side hustle people take up with the
hopes that, one day, they’ll be able to quit their day jobs. Yet the length of
time it takes to generate substantial income varies from blogger to
blogger.
Some with an entrepreneurial mindset make their first
$100 online within a few months—like Brittany Berger, founder of Work
Brighter, who started earning money almost instantly. Berger created a simple,
$20 digital download, which she promoted in her weekly newsletter and her
newsletter signup page. “By starting that early on in the blog’s lifetime, I
was able to convert a huge portion of the audience,” she says.
“I think waiting to launch something until you have a bigger
audience can end up creating more pressure for yourself, so I’m glad I
experimented with a small product when my audience was small.”
Mushfiq Sarkar is another blogger who started blogging on
the side of his full-time job back in 2008. Though Mushfiq had no
prior marketing experience, he says, “I left my job in April 2021 to focus on The
Website Flip because it was growing significantly and I was more
passionate about growing this website and blogging.”
Now, the blog makes significant revenue despite only being a few
years old: “I launched at the peak of the pandemic in April 2020. A lot of
people knew me by name, but not that I was an active blogger or someone who
covered the industry. I started earning money fairly quickly—within a month or
two.”
11
Ideas to make money blogging
Looking for a creative side hustle that will generate
extra income? Whether you’re starting a new blog or growing an existing one,
here are 11 ways to make money blogging.
1.
Choose a profitable niche
A niche is a specific topic within a broad topic, such
as vegan recipes. By choosing one for your blog, readers build an association
with your site. They know exactly what they’ll get when visiting, improving
your chances of being their first port of call when looking for advice.
“Before monetization, it’s all about quality and expertise if
you want to stand out," says Mushfiq, founder of The Website Flip.
"First, figure out what your niche is and why you should be writing about
that, and make a persona for yourself to be who you are in that topic. Once
that happens, you’ll build a following over time. Monetization follows
later."
You’ll find bloggers making money in a wide variety of niches,
from business software to pet accessories. Though not all niches are good
ones.
A profitable blog niche meets three criteria:
·
It’s
something you’re skilled at and/or interested in. Blogs
need a lot of consistently high-quality content to build an audience and become
monetized. Not only will it be more enjoyable to blog about something you have
a genuine interest in, but you’ll increase the likelihood of generating money.
It’s easier to stick with a hobby we enjoy.
·
Low
in competition. Popular blogs, brands, or forums in your niche indicate
others are making money in it. Similarly, do a Google search to assess keyword
ranking difficulty. It’ll be harder to drive organic traffic if big-name brands
(with even bigger marketing budgets) are dominating the first page of search
results.
·
Monetization
potential. Look at monetization opportunities for each niche on your
shortlist. Do companies in that niche pay to advertise their products on other
blogs? Are there many affiliate programs that sell products in that
industry? Both are telltale signs of a profitable blog niche.
2. Build an email
list
To make money from your blog, you need loyal readers who value
your recommendations.
One of the best ways to do this is by building
an email list for your own blog. When someone opts in to hear
from your blog, you’re given permission to reach readers in one place more
sacred than all others: their inbox.
“Email marketing is by far the most lucrative sales channel for
me. I don’t even really try to sell directly from other channels anymore,
instead directing people from social media, collaborations, and SEO to my email
list," says Brittany Berger, founder of WorkBrighter
Encourage blog visitors to sign up to your mailing list using a
pop-up box. The goal is to make anyone visiting for the first time opt into to
hearing from you using an incentive, such as:
·
Free checklists
·
Lists of resources or
recommended products
·
Blog content packaged
in a PDF (such as printable recipes)
Once they’ve signed up, continue nurturing that relationship
with educational or entertaining content. You’ll build an audience ready to buy
products off your recommendations.
Take it from Lily Ugbaja, who initially started her blog FindingBalance.Mom “because
I wanted to stay home with my son, do something I love, and still make money.”
It took Lily two weeks to make money from the blog: “I used
emails to promote my products and relevant affiliate products with tripwires
and Facebook groups. You add lead magnets to your site so that people sign up
after reading your article. Instead of a success page, you share a one-time
offer—a low-end product at a super discounted rate, $7 in my case.
Despite the blog seeing less than 1,000 monthly page views, Lily
says her first month ended with over $100 and, soon after, $100 became "a
few thousand" each month.
"Think of your blog as a means to an end rather than the
end itself," says Lily. "Most successful bloggers monetize with
products and affiliates and those streams don’t convert without serious
planning. Build funnels, build backwards. Start with a product you want to sell
then create blog content that supports the sales of that product."
3. Write sponsored
product reviews
All businesses want social proof to show their customers that
their products are worth buying. One way for them to collect that is by paying
bloggers to publish reviews.
Reach out to your favorite brands and ask if they’re interested
in sponsoring a review on your blog. If you use the product outside of the
purpose of the review, this tactic essentially costs nothing. You’re simply
getting paid to share your opinion of a product you already own.
However, this monetization strategy gets a little murky. The
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently fined Fashion Nova $4.2 million for
suppressing negative reviews, even though—supposedly—a third-party service
solicited them.
The FTC has a whole new set of guidelines that will affect
ecommerce merchants and, ultimately, the bloggers they’re paying to write sponsored
reviews.
Avoid landing your blog in hot water by:
·
Disclosing
whether you’re incentivized to write the review. If
you’re being paid to publish a review, for example, include the following
disclaimer in the introduction of your article: “I’ve been paid to write this
review and may make a commission if you purchase this product.”
·
Being
honest. Share the good and the bad to help readers make an
informed decision about whether they should purchase the item you’re
reviewing.
4. Sell
advertising placements
Companies are willing to pay bloggers for advertising placements
on their websites. Lend them otherwise unused space in exchange for a
fee.
There are two routes to building this income stream for your
blog:
1. Negotiate
with companies individually. Find
companies in your niche and ask if they’d be interested in advertising on your
site. It’s the more time-consuming approach and you’ll need strong negotiating
skills, but done well, it can net the most amount of money.
2. Use
an advertising network. Prefer
the hands-off approach? Platforms like Google
AdSense, Mediavine,
and AdThrive claim
space on your blog and handle the billing of advertisers. Simply embed their
code on your site and get paid to show ads.
For Emily Brookes, a blogger at Emily May,
display ads are the most lucrative sales channel for my blog. "Some 60% of
my blog’s revenue comes from display ads," she says. "Ads make
me money consistently each month, even when I haven't published any new
content.”
To make advertising a substantial revenue stream for your blog, driving
website traffic should be a priority.
Ad networks like Google AdSense pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM),
with the average CPM for display ads falling
around the $1.25 mark. The more people exposed to the adverts on your blog, the
more money you’ll make.
Both Mediavine and AdThrive also require bloggers to meet
minimum page-view requirements before applying to join the network. It’s an
investment that’ll pay dividends in the long run. Monica Lent, founder of Not a Nomad Blog,
generates the highest share of revenue through this type of blog
advertising.
Afoma Umesi runs her book blog, Reading Middle Grade, on
the side. “I had no experience and started blogging as a hobby before seriously
deciding to monetize the site,” she says.
“I needed something passive, so I chose ads and affiliate links.
I don't want to make or sell digital products or services right now and I'm not
a huge fan of sponsored posts, so ads were the perfect fit. All I need is
traffic.
Reading Middle Grade currently earns between $800 and $1,000 per
month—three-quarters of which comes from this type of advertising. Afoma says,
“Don't be afraid or ashamed to use ads. They're inconvenient for some users,
but if you provide value and use them reasonably, most users barely notice the
ads.”
5. Join an
affiliate marketing program
Affiliate
marketing is the process of recommending products to your
blog’s audience. You’ll receive commission when they purchase the product using
your custom link.
It’s a great revenue opportunity for bloggers, since the content
you share will already be influencing their purchase decisions. Make your blog
a hub for educational content and you’ll build the know, like, and trust
factors needed to make a sale.
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need to
create your own products. Plug into an existing ecommerce business and become a
virtual salesperson for them. There’s no need to worry about producing
marketing materials, shipping products, or dealing with customer
service.
To make money blogging using this method, join an affiliate
marketing network like ShareASale, AWIN, or ClickBank.
Browse available programs in your industry, apply to join them, build custom
links, and track affiliate revenue through the dashboard.
You can also search for high-ticket affiliate programs from
merchants selling expensive products, such as electronics, jewelry, or
software. Bloggers earn sizable checks when recommending those items to
readers.
6. Offer services
A natural byproduct of building your audience means more people
associate your name with the blog topics you write about. That’s a great way to
build authority—something people look for when hiring people to complete a
service.
“If you’re in the B2B space like me, consulting is a big revenue
generator. If you have some expertise and people are genuinely reading your
content, what kind of consulting can you do for them? It’s a high revenue, low
commitment way to make money blogging," says Mushfiq, founder of The
Website Flip
While running a service-based business is time consuming, it can
be a quick way to make
money online. Demand a higher hourly rate, and find high-paying
clients, by using your blog content as a way to demonstrate your
expertise.
Examples of services you can sell alongside your blog include:
· Consulting services
· Graphic design
· Freelance writing
· Virtual assistance
· Classes or workshops
Save time scheduling appointments and taking payments with apps
like Acuity and Calendly.
Promote your service through the blog—be that a standalone landing page or
display ad in your sidebar—and start booking new clients.
7.
Sell digital products
Digital products are a more scalable way to make money by
selling things alongside your blog. Unlike service-based businesses, you don’t
exchange time for money. And, unlike selling physical products, there’s no
shipping or manufacturing costs.
You can create
digital products once and sell an infinite number of them via
your blog—hence the phrase “build once, sell twice.”
·
“I decided to add
printables—and soon other digital products—to diversify my income and put more
control in my own hands. So far, I let readers decide how much they’d like to
pay for my printables, which is why revenue numbers haven’t been crazy.
However, I have clocked over 800 downloads, so I’m quite proud of that.” —Dylan
Houlihan, founder of Swift
Salary
Figure out what digital products your audience would buy using a
reader survey with the question, “What problem do you need help with that the
blog isn’t already solving for you?” Answers can unveil ideas you can package
and sell as:
·
ebooks
·
Printables
·
Workbooks
·
Online courses
Benjamin Houy has been running the blog French Together full
time for eight years. Part of the blog’s monetization strategy includes digital
products—particularly the French course, which drives 90% of the blog’s
revenue.
“Ads and affiliate links can be great monetization strategies
depending on the niche, but creating a product is both easier and more
profitable than most bloggers think,” Benjamin says. “Your product doesn't have
to be the absolute best product ever when you launch it, it just has to be
something your audience will find genuinely useful and will be happy to pay
for.
“Selling your own product is amazing because you get to improve
it based on people's feedback and you don't have to worry about affiliate
programs being discontinued or more and more people using ad blockers.”
8. Sell physical
products
Does your blog have a cult following? Loyal readers of a blog
quickly become raving fans, eager to support their favorite influencer. Help
them do that—while also generating income for your blog—by selling physical
products.
The print-on-demand model works well for small
blogging businesses since you only pay manufacturing costs when a reader
purchases a product. There’s no excess inventory, storage fees, or high upfront
costs when bulk manufacturing products.
Use a service like Printful or Printify to
create custom merchandise, such as:
·
Mugs
·
T-shirts
·
Stickers
·
Posters
·
Tote bags
·
Phone cases
Looking for inspiration? Her First $100K sells
merchandise with messaging its target reader supports. You’ll see phrases the
blog is known for, like “Smash the Patriarchy” and “Financial Feminist,” on
branded tote bags and t-shirts.
Prefer something more hands-on? Start your first online store
and treat your blog’s audience as your initial customer base.
One of the world’s most infamous beauty brands came to life
thanks to the founder’s blog. Emily Weiss shared beauty tips on her blog, Into
The Gloss, and built an audience of loyal fans. She later developed a skin care
line that served the blog’s readership. That was the starting point for Glossier—a
beauty brand now valued at over $1 billion.
Richard Belton is another entrepreneur who took this approach.
He’s been blogging about maple syrup on his blog, Kaito Ridge, for almost
eight years, using the site as a way to generate income through Amazon
affiliate commission.
However, Richard recently switched his blog monetization
strategy—and took control of the site’s income potential—by starting his first
Shopify store. “I’m in the process of directing my articles, blog posts, and
informational posts to link to my own Shopify store and reduce reliance on
Amazon,” he says.
Read more: How You Can Make Passive Income in 2022
9. Create a
membership community
Give your most engaged readers a VIP experience—one they have to
pay a small fee in exchange for.
This type of community is an important part of social
connection—something especially important in a world becoming increasingly
online-first. Not only have communities shown to improve mental health,
but 52% of shoppers will spend more on brands (or blogs) with shared
values.
Take it from Michael Keenan, who runs a membership community
alongside the Peak Freelance blog: “If you want a consistent revenue
stream for your blogging efforts, create a membership program. You can offer
exclusive content like handbooks and courses, special offers—even a Slack
channel like the one we offer for Peak Freelance members.
“Set up your membership fees on a monthly or yearly basis.
Provide a small discount for those who pay yearly. This gives you a nice cash
injection you can use to develop new content and products for members.”
10. Monetize
YouTube videos
Have you joined an affiliate program in an attempt to monetize
your blog? Expand your reach—and subsequently, your income streams—by
diversifying the content you create. Let's dive into the different ways to make
money on Youtube as an expansion of your blog content.
Add video marketing to your list to maximize affiliate
commission. Some 88% of people have been convinced to buy something
after watching a branded video. Make that your tutorial, review, or haul and
you’ll get rewarded when a viewer purchases off the back of your
recommendation.
Increase the dollars you earn through your blog by treating each
piece of content like the foundation of a video script. Record yourself talking
about the same topic, then edit the video and upload it to YouTube.
The bloggers behind A Beautiful Mess, for example,
published a YouTube video that demonstrates how to create built-in shelves.
The video description directs people to the blog write-up, which contains
affiliate links to the products used in the tutorial.
This strategy works for several reasons. First, not everyone
enjoys reading online content. Some people prefer to watch videos. You’re
potentially alienating thousands of people by only producing written text.
Secondly, Google and YouTube are the two most popular search engines in the world.
Sharing content to both platforms increases the likelihood of your target
reader finding it—and therefore, purchasing products you’re an affiliate of.
For some queries, Google’s algorithm pulls YouTube videos in the
search engine results page (SERP). The first thing you’ll see on the SERP for
“how to groom your dog at home,” for example, is a YouTube video on the topic.
The best part? An active YouTube channel expands your revenue
opportunities.
The platform comes with its own set of monetization features,
including the YouTube Partner program, which is available to vloggers with more
than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Once enrolled, YouTube will
display advertisements before your video loads. You’ll get paid every time a
viewer watches it—a nice way to supplement your blog income.
Read more: YouTube Affiliate Marketing: 7 Pro Tips to Earn
Extra Income
11. Produce a
podcast and get a sponsor
Speaking of alternative formats, podcasts are more popular than
ever. More than half of US consumers have listened to a podcast—up
from 33% in 2015.
But episodes don’t just fill time on morning commutes. Studies
show that 53% of listeners will search online for more information after
hearing about a product through podcast sponsorships. Another 35% will spark a
conversation with a friend about the item in question. Both points make them
attractive propositions for brands looking to expand their reach.
Capitalize on your audience’s attention by producing your own
podcast. Record yourself talking about a topic in your niche and syndicate each
episode to a streaming platform like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Reach out to brands in your niche with sponsorship
opportunities. Sell ad space and give companies a shortcut to reach their
target audience in exchange for a sponsorship fee.
This podcast revenue calculator shows a blogger with:
·
10,000 episode
downloads
·
Four new episodes each
month
·
Two adverts (one
pre-roll)
…can add upward of $16,000 per year in revenue.
The downside to this podcast approach is that it can be
costly—both in terms of time and money. It takes time to build a relationship
with a new audience. You’ll also need equipment, such as a high-quality
microphone and editing software, to produce the podcast itself.
But get it right and there’s the potential to add another
lucrative revenue stream to your blogging business.
Turn your blog
into a money maker
Building a blogging business isn’t a linear process. The best
revenue generator depends on your niche, relationship with your audience, and
content formats you’re producing. Focus first on building great content and a
loyal readership, and then experiment with these monetization tactics.
·
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