Have you ever thought about your favorite bloggers and wondered how bloggers actually make money? Have you ever wondered what it would take for YOU to be able to make money blogging, just like I do?
My blogging story
Before I tell you my story and how I make money blogging, if you want to read the legal-ese version for this site, you can read my full disclosure here. In short (because who wants to read legal-ese?), I use affiliate links (explanation below) to make money from this site at NO COST to you. All opinions are my own and I don’t get paid to write these posts. Cool? Cool!
Let’s continue…
I started my blog after my baby was born in 2015 because I knew I didn’t want to go back to work. I wanted to be a stay at home mom for my little boy and I was desperate to make this blogging thing work.
Maybe you’re in the same boat!
I struggled a lot at the start… but you can read my tutorial on how to start a blog here so you don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.
These days, I make money from my blog and working on my own terms as a freelance Pinterest Manager.
This blog is still pretty new (and it doesn’t always get my full attention) but it’s already making money through:
1. Making Money With Ads
I’ll admit it – as a reader, I don’t really like ads…
But as a blogger? I love them!
They are totally passive income, and it’s free to do.
There are bloggers out there making thousands of dollars a month, just from the ads on their site! I’m not quite there yet… but I’m working towards it.
2. The Real Earner: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another fantastic and easy way for new bloggers to make money from day one. The way affiliate marketing works is you sign up for affiliate programs with companies who sell products your readers are interested in and they give you a special referral code or link. Anyone using your link gets credited to you and you make a small commission.
The more people you reach, the more money you can make.
You can easily find companies to affiliate with in affiliate networks… or you can just sign up to become an affiliate for Amazon. Everyone knows Amazon and shops there and they sell everything you could think of, which makes them one of the best companies to affiliate with.
Note, to use affiliate links on your blog, you need to include a disclaimer like this one. And you’ll find the Amazon specific one over there on the sidebar >>>
How Does Blogging Work?
You want to know the real secret to being a successful blogger? It’s thinking about your blog like it’s a magazine or a media company.
Blogging isn’t about telling the world about your day. At least, not anymore. (Certainly not if you want to be successful).
Blogging is about providing entertainment and information to your audience.
How much does it cost to start blogging?
Would you believe you can get started for less than $4 a month?
That’s hardly anything!
Here’s the cheapest place I’ve found to start a blog. In fact, I use them myself because they are that awesome! You can’t go wrong starting out there.
Are you ready to start your blog? Check out my tutorial to get you going.
More ways to make money blogging
These were just the two ways I’m making money on this blog. There are quite a few other ways to make money blogging, like:
- Sponsored posts – when a company pays you to write about them
- Freelance writing – where a company pays you to write blog posts for them to publish on their site
- Selling services – you can offer all kinds of services from proofreading to Virtual Assistance.
- Selling a subscription – did you know there are people making money taking pictures of pretty stationery and selling them as a subscription service? Cool, hey?
- Selling ebooks – if you know a lot about a topic, you can package it up into an ebook and sell it.
- Online courses – if you’ve got a skill you can money teaching students how to do it for themselves
- Direct sales/network marketing – a blog is one of the best ways to draw interested people to you.
Are you ready to start a blog?
I’ve got a step by step tutorial that will guide you through the logistics of setting up a brand new blog of your very own. Click here to learn how to start a blog.
