You may have seen the topic of “making money with a blog” on Pinterest or other blogs, but have you ever wondered if it’s something you could do? And where do you even start? I’ve gathered some info for you on the five most popular ways to earn money with your blog, some of which I have used myself.
1. Affiliate marketing
– recommending physical or digital products to earn a commission. Some examples are: recommending a camera or beauty products, using Amazon or Target affiliate links. You would need to register as an affiliate before you can get links with your own identification. This helps the company know that referrals came from you. Once you copied the link, you can paste it on your website and have visitors click to buy as a result of your recommendations.
2. eBooks and Courses
– combining your knowledge together in a book or course format to teach others what you know. Everyone has something to share or teach, whether it’s a story or instructions on how to use Canva or Gmail. Write your story and publish a Kindle eBook on Amazon. Sell on your blog or on the big wide Amazon Marketplace.
Courses are a whole other ballgame and a level up for sure. A few of the places where you can set up and sell your courses are Teachable, Udemy and Skillshare.
3. Sponsored content
– getting paid by a sponsor to write on your blog about your experience with their product. The topic could be related to food or baby products, sponsored content is done all the time by lifestyle bloggers. Typically you would need to have a lot of views on your site before a company would ask you to write a post about their product.
4. Photos and Printables
– taking beautiful photos and creating useful printable forms and selling them on your site. If you have an eye for design and love to take pictures, you could sell them on iStock and other sites like many already do. Bloggers or online content creators are always looking for great images and there is only so much you can get for free. Printables are on the rise and people are willing to pay for forms or worksheets that make organizing their life easy.
5. Publish ads
– using Google Adsense or selling ad space to (local) businesses. This is not one of my favorites because I get annoyed by too many ads on a blog and you can’t always determine what type of ads become visible. I refuse to clutter my websites with ads in all corners of the site. Earning money with ads can be really slow and you’d have to experiment with different platforms. Some only allow you to sign up if you have thousands of visitors each month.
Now, selling ad space is different in that you determine the type and quantity of ads on your website.
What are the income opportunities
Your income will depend on:
- The product
- Your input
- Your audience
Income from products
With affiliate products you can earn between 4-50% commission, with Amazon being at the bottom of the list and promoting i.e. course programs at the high end. Using Amazon affiliate links is the easiest way to get started, but their commission ranges between 4-7%. It’s good choice if you don’t have a lot of time to promote and just want to add some links in your blog post. Recommending high-end courses is a bit more involved and you would need to have followers who love your content and recommendations
Some people sell eBooks for 99 cents and others for $19.99. Pricing depends on the topic and quality of your book. You get to keep 35-70% depending on the program you sign up for.
Again, depending on your topic or where you sell, courses go for $9.99 up to $2000 and what you keep is linked to the platform you use.
If you have a lot of views, you could make anywhere between $100-500 (more anyone?) for a solid post with sponsored content.
Photos may sell anywhere between 50 cents to $30 (I once paid $45 for two), prices vary.
Printables can go from $1 for a one-page famous quote, to $47 for a recipe binder.
The payback from ads ranges from 3 cents to $3 or more, again, depending on the topic with financial ads on the top.
If you have high visibility you can name your price and ad space may go from $5 to $100 per month.
Income related to input
When I mentioned your involvement, I was referring to the energy and work you are willing to invest in your blog, using any of the methods above. It takes time and effort to post about products, write an eBook or sponsored content, take beautiful pictures or create printables.
That’s only the first part, because you’ll have to share your products or content with the world, currently in the form of Social Media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to name a few.
Another, more efficient way is using newsletters or email marketing.
Income and audience
Email marketing ties into your audience. If you have followers, they are hopefully also on your mailing list. While I am still working on building mine, I keep hearing how important it is to have a decent mailing list. It’s THE tool to connect with your audience, the right audience that is. If they like what you are sharing, these are people who want to hear from you. Unlike social media, where your posts disappear in the sea of tweets, posts and pins; you own your mailing list. Social media platforms make you vulnerable to changes their founders can make anytime.
This was a “brief” overview of ways to earn money with your blog. Are you using any of these methods? Or do you have a better way? Please do share below!
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