You are probably wondering how do bloggers make a living? Now before we move on, make sure you know what is a blog. We get it that blogging looks very attractive with all these posts on social media depicting bloggers chilling on the beach. They pretend to be working with a cocktail by their side. Well, unfortunately, this is not the reality. At least for the majority of bloggers. Blogging is by no means offering a quick-rich formula. However, you can make money just by creating content but it takes time, effort, commitment, and patience. Without further ado, here is how to monetize your blog, right here, right now.
Google Adsense
Regardless of whether you are just starting out or your website has been online for years, Google AdSense gives you a chance to generate an alternative revenue stream. This is how it works – you lend Google some space where it places ad banners. When your visitors click on these ad banners you earn a small commission. Sure, it won’t be enough to buy a Lambo but it is still money. Depending on the ad campaign, the cost-per-click (CPC) may differ from $0.01 to $0.50 or even higher.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate links allow you to sell products without having an online store or even have any products at hand. Ever wanted to talk about your favorite music albums, books, hardware, auto parts? Great, online retailers are your friends then. Actually, those who have affiliate programs are your partners. For example, you join the Amazon affiliate program and link every product you write about to Amazon. Then when someone purchases this product from Amazon you receive a percentage of the sale. The online retailer uses your affiliate link to know, which customer came from you and which product he purchased. Of course, it’s not just Amazon out there. Dig deeper and you’ll find hundreds and thousands of affiliate programs.
Sponsored articles
Well, this works only on well-established blogs. The idea is that once you become popular a lot of people read you and trust your content. Businesses know that and they want to reach your audience because they see it as potential clients. You can, of course, review the proposed content, approve it, reject it, and most importantly charge it. However, it is important to make sure your readers understand which content is sponsored and which is your own. Make user-friendly submission forms to further automate the process.
Writing reviews
This is somewhat similar to sponsored content but the difference is that businesses ask you to review their products, services, hotels, etc. The idea is to write a good review and thus promote your client’s services. No, it’s not lying, unless you explicitly make misleading and false statements. You can combine reviews and affiliate marketing to further boost your income.
Online Store
It doesn’t matter what you blog about. You can always add an online store to your blog and make money. What you sell should be somewhat similar to what you write about. For instance, if your blog focuses on SEO, you can always create a course on SEO and sell it online.
Use your imagination, what else can you sell – an e-book? Pay-per-view content? Handmade accessories? As they say “Sky is the limit”.
Other revenue streams might be generated through private forums, webinars, consulting, developing and selling WordPress themes or plugins. However, the latter requires specific skills and knowledge, as well as a well-developed business strategy.
