If you're wondering how to make money with a blog for beginners, you've come to the right place. Many bloggers are making thousands of dollars per month using simple monetization strategies. In this article, I'll share ideas to earn money blogging.
There are a ton of ways to do it and they can really help you build passive income.
Before diving in, I want to stress that blogging is a long game. There is no overnight success and it is a lot of hard work. However, it is possible to build a profitable blog and even a six-figure or seven-figure blog!
If you want to know how to start a blog and make money, read on to see exactly how successful bloggers do it!
How much income can you make: how to make money with a blog for beginners
Blogging for beginners is a fun way to earn cash, and starting your own blog might be your dream. But how much do people make with a blog? Is it even possible to make a full-time income this way?
It is totally possible and many people make great money from blogging. There's a massive difference in income, so you could make no money, or you could make upwards of $100,000 a month.
It depends on a variety of factors like the time and effort you put in and monetization strategies, as well as other things.
What niche when wondering how to make money with a blog for beginners?
What is the best blog niche for making an income? Blogging for beginners isn't always about picking a hobby and going with that. You also need to write about what people are interested in reading.
Now, it's possible to make money with any niche. But fitness, finance, fashion, and technology all tend to be profitable.
When will you earn an income after you learn how to make money with a blog for beginners?
That depends on you, and the amount of traffic you can get for your blog.
Since you need readers in order to make a profit, it's all about how fast you can build an audience. You can get people to read your blog posts through guest posting, keyword research, and social media marketing.
Then you'll have people buy your products, read your posts, and purchase things like coaching or webinars.
How to make money with a blog for beginners: a guide
There are many ways to earn money blogging for beginners. A lot of bloggers today have built large audiences but have no monetization strategy. As a result, they leave money on the table.
We don't want that to be you. However, before we walk through how to make money with a blog for beginners, you actually need to have a blog.
If you're completely new to blogging, not to worry. There is a lot to learn about things like web hosting, plugins, search engines, and keywords, but we've got resources for how to start a blog and make money.
We've put together the ultimate guide on how to become a blogger. Our guide will show you everything you need to know to get your blog up and running. It includes advice about domains, WordPress blog thoughts, and how to promote your blog on Twitter and other social media.
We've also put together a list of the best books about blogging to give you additional insights.
If you already have a blog and you've built a dedicated audience, then you are in a good position to make money from your blog. And keep in mind you can do this regardless of whether you are a food, fitness, fashion, travel, or lifestyle blogger. Any blog can make money!
Below we discuss how you can start to earn money blogging. Let's dive in!
Affiliate income
Affiliate income is one of the most popular paths when it comes to how to make money with a blog for beginners. Basically, companies approach bloggers who have active and engaged audiences and pay them money for displaying their products.
You can also approach companies via affiliate networks and sign up for their affiliate program. A method like this can work really well both for the company and for the blogger.
In order to get your creative juices flowing, below are some examples of blog posts that work for this income stream:
- Product comparison articles
- Product reviews
- Tutorials on how to use software or a product
- Round-up articles on the best products to use to solve a specific problem
To get started, you first need to have some traffic coming to your website. But keep in mind that you don't need millions of people reading your blog.
In fact, you can get started with a small audience and begin affiliate marketing. What's most important is that you have an engaged audience. You can start off by advertising your blog on Pinterest and Facebook groups, and also Instagram, and then start to monetize after that.
How to start making affiliate income
Once you set up your blog and have some traffic, you can start trying to make an affiliate income. You should start by applying to a network and then you can work with them to add affiliate links to your site.
Some affiliate networks you can apply to include:
Affiliate links will be provided to you by the companies you work with either directly or via the affiliate network. These links will have specific tracking codes that track conversions from your link.
If a reader clicks your link and buys something that you recommended, you can earn a commission. Easy money!
Advertising (Google AdSense)
The quickest way to start making money blogging is through Google AdSense. With this form of monetization, Google pays you for displaying ads on your blog for visitors to see.
However, it can pay very little, especially if you have a smaller audience. But if you want to know how to make money with a blog for beginners, it's a pretty easy way to do so.
Despite this, Google Ads are still a great way to make passive income. You likely won't replace your salary with it, but the extra dollars can be worth it! Other advertising networks include Raptive and Mediavine but they have a monthly traffic minimum before you can sign up.
Some bloggers may choose not to show Google Ads on their blogs. Because ads can lower the experience your target audience has and make your blog look busy. If you don't like the idea of display ads, there are other ways to monetize your blog.
How to set up Google AdSense
You'll need to create an account and then you can set up Google AdSense. They'll place ads on your blog and you can start earning. Very simple, but effective.
Coaching
Do you love working with people? Are you good at teaching? If you answered yes to these questions, you may consider offering coaching services.
Coaching is a great way to monetize your new blog.
People are constantly searching for coaches for various reasons. Some are looking for help with a big life transition while others may be looking to boost their performance in a certain area. Whatever the case, you could be the solution they've been waiting for.
How to set up your coaching service
In order to get started, you can offer one on one coaching to clients. Let them know through email marketing or your blog that you'll be offering coaching services. The challenge with that, however, is that you only have a limited amount of time each day.
To overcome this challenge, you can branch out your one-to-one coaching services to provide group coaching or pre-recorded coaching with limited in-person support. It will help you scale your business without burning out!
Consulting
When wondering how to make money with a blog for beginners, try offering consulting services, which is different from coaching.
As a blogger, you likely have specialized skills that you can sell to a company. For example, you might be a pro at SEO or you might be an excellent copywriter. Use these skills for your consulting services.
How to advertise as a consultant
Whatever additional skills you have, share them on your blog and social media channels. Use sites such as LinkedIn to find additional prospects and link back to your blog. And let your readers know about your consulting business.
While consulting is a great way to make additional money, it is important to note that it is harder to scale than other channels such as affiliate programs.
eBooks
A truly great way to make money blogging is by writing Books, especially eBooks.
eBooks, as a digital product, are an excellent source of income because you put in the work once and you're done. If you constantly make high-quality content and want some passive income, this is for you.
Additionally, the upside is limitless. Once you upload a book online, it can be purchased by hundreds if not thousands of people over and over again, making eBooks a great source of passive income.
To get started, take a look at your most popular blog content. Note which articles performed well, and look at the ones with the most shares. That will give you a good idea of what to write about in your eBook.
Additionally, you'll be glad to know that you can repurpose your existing blog content into your book. It will make book writing so much easier!
How to sell your eBook
eBooks can be sold on third-party sites such as Amazon, however, one of the best ways to sell eBooks is via your own website. When you sell on your own site, you get to keep most of the proceeds. On third-party sites, you will have to pay a lot of fees that will eat into your profit margins.
Be sure to let your email list know about your book and where to purchase it.
Freelance writing
A great way to make money blogging is by offering freelance writing services on your website. Which could range from writing blog posts for other sites, helping brands with their content strategy, or helping businesses with their copy needs.
Freelance writing is really great for beginning bloggers who might not yet have an audience to sell their own products to. It is also great if you're looking to boost your income while building new partnerships and networks.
How to start freelance writing
You can check out job opportunities for writers online on sites like ProBlogger, or reach out to other bloggers. Ask around and see who needs help with writing. With enough networking and some time, you should be able to get a few writing jobs, and then move on to bigger jobs after you get some experience.
Online courses
e-Learning has taken on a whole new meaning of late. A few years ago, taking classes online was unheard of, but now, it is very popular. People take classes online for everything you can imagine - from cooking to lessons on how to decorate their homes.
Regardless of the niche, you can find a ton of opportunities to create and sell your very own online course!
At this point, your blog audience knows you and trusts you and they likely want to hear more from you. A course can be a great way to build that communication line. And it can help you with how to make money with a blog for beginners.
How to run an online course
To get started, you'll want to determine how much time you'll dedicate to the project. Some courses are as short as an hour, while others can be over 20 hours. If this is your first course, you'll want to stick to something simple.
Next, you'll want to know what your audience needs. Are there specific skills they are interested in learning right now?
Before jumping in headfirst and creating a course, you'll want to survey your audience to know if this is a topic they are interested in.
For example, at Clever Girl Finance, we spent time listening to our audience and found out that people wanted foundational courses in personal finance. As a result, we now offer a ton of free courses!
Once you've determined what your audience needs, you can start thinking about the content of the course. Courses that show how to do a particular skill tend to do extremely well.
Additionally, courses that contain evergreen content will serve you well in the long run. Although it's not a deal-breaker, selling a course that is only relevant for a specific timeframe will limit your income potential.
Lastly, you'll want to choose a platform to house your course. Udemy, Skillshare, and Teachable are top go-to options.
After doing all this, you need to actually create the course. Making your curriculum can involve recording videos, writing up outlines or informational pages, and additional research for what your clients want to know. Then you need to organize all of that content into an easy-to-understand format and start marketing.
Host paid webinars
If you're looking to establish your authority and want to know how to make money with a blog for beginners, you might want to consider hosting a webinar. Webinars are an excellent way for new bloggers to connect with their audiences all over the world.
During the webinar, your audience will be able to interact with you through live chat. You can host either a free or a paid webinar. Free webinars are perfect for building trust, raising awareness, and selling products.
Paid webinars, on the other hand, are perfect for teaching new skills. Your participants know you're an expert and they are coming to you to acquire knowledge. In general, paid webinars provide in-depth information and require more time for Q&A.
How to host a paid webinar
To get started with hosting a paid webinar, you'll want to do the following:
Firstly, pick a topic. Find a topic that is in demand and that is easy to go over in an hour. You can see what is trending on your blog and other online forums to get some ideas.
Next, you want to determine an outline for what you want to share in the webinar. Typically, you will have a 5-minute intro, 45 mins for the meaty part of the webinar, and then 15 to 30 mins for Q&A.
Thirdly, you'll want to create your script and presentation slides.
Lastly, you'll need to set up your payment methods for the webinar. Most webinar services will help you set up a payment page easily. If your webinar service provider does not offer a payment method, you can use a plug-in that will allow you to collect payment information or a simple Paypal link.
You can learn how to make money with a blog for beginners!
As you can see when it comes to how to make money with a blog for beginners, there are a variety of options. And each of these options can be applied to different types of blogs! To get started, just pick one option and once it's all set up you can add on others.
Whatever monetization strategies you put in place, always remember that your reader comes first. Be sure to serve the best content and partner with trustworthy brands. It will only be a matter of time before you start to earn money blogging!
Now you know how to start a blog and make money, but when you need advice on what to do with all that extra cash, check out our awesome free course about budgeting or our investing course bundle!