Maybe you’ve poured your heart and soul into your blog, crafting compelling content and sharing your passion with the world. Now, you’re ready to turn that passion into profit. But you’re wondering how to monetize your blog like other bloggers making money online from their sites.
Some boast of quitting their day jobs and living the dream. Well, thinking about joining them is easier than you think if you have the right plan. And that’s the goal of this article: Help you learn how to monetize your blog, transforming your passion into a thriving business.
Laying the Foundation for Blog Monetization
Before jumping into monetization strategies, you need a solid foundation to support a successful money-making blog. And I’ve got you covered with our guide on how to start a blog. But in a gist, you should:
Choose Your Niche
Build a Strong Community
Create Top-Notch Content
Learn Basic SEO
Read our guide on how to start a blog if you haven’t yet!
How to Monetize Your Blog – Top Strategies
Once you have a solid foundation, you can begin exploring the many ways you can monetize your blog.
1. Display Advertising
Display advertising offers an easy way to generate revenue from page views as it requires less direct effort from the blogger than other monetization strategies. And Google AdSense is the leading player in the field, seamlessly integrating ads into your website.
Google AdSense
Once you apply to the program and are approved, ads tailored to your website and audience are displayed alongside your content. These range from display ads and text ads to link units, generating revenue with each visitor’s click.
Ad networks like this pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM), and the average CPM for display ads is around $0.30 to $2, so it makes more sense for bloggers with many page views.
Many blogs supplement AdSense revenue with affiliate marketing programs. For example, Top 6 Digital generated a 30% increase through a marketing campaign using pop-up opt-in forms to entice readers with affiliate links.
Remember, transparency is essential when earning revenue through any advertising campaign. AdSense policies dictate that you let your audience know your blog features ads and comply with FTC requirements for disclosing affiliate partnerships.
Media.net and other Ad Networks
These allow you to partner with diverse advertisers to show more ads related to your content. These include well-established companies like PropellerAds, Adsterra, and Ezoic. With various options available, you can choose a network that meets your blog’s individual requirements.
2. Affiliate Marketing
If you want to consider a less intrusive option than AdSense, try affiliate marketing.
And that’s no wonder because you’re seamlessly integrating recommendations for products and services within your content. An affiliate marketing program offers extra earnings for bloggers when a reader purchases through your special affiliate link—earning a percentage of the sale.
The best part?
You get to choose the products or brands you think your audience will enjoy most. This turns your blog into a trusted resource and fosters a strong bond with your community.
For bloggers like you who enjoy creating authentic relationships with their audience, this option is a great choice for monetization. It turns readers into valuable allies. If you want to start affiliate marketing, you need to learn the ropes—no worries, I’ve got you covered!
How it Works
But to ensure that you get the most out of what affiliate marketing programs offer, it’s best to promote products related to your blog’s focus. That way, you can increase the chances that your readers are already interested in learning more and making purchases.
Wondering what brand to partner with? Check out the following top Affiliate Marketing Networks:
Shopify
Amazon Associates
Rakuten
eBay Partner Network
Leadpages
ConvertKit
Semrush
Fiverr
ClickFunnels
Elementor
These affiliate programs boast a massive selection of thousands of brands. They’ve built partnerships with names from a variety of industries, expanding options for monetizing your blog with products aligned with your niche and reader interests.
But the most important factor is to choose an affiliate program that includes both the popular items everyone is talking about and unique treasures that aren’t so obvious.
3. Sponsored Posts and Reviews
Here, you partner with brands to promote their products or services directly within your blog content. These involve sponsored blog posts — content created by the blogger for the sponsoring company on their specified topic — or paid reviews on a company’s products.
Start by researching networks for influencer marketing to connect with brands that align with your blog.
Many companies look to established bloggers as ambassadors and allies, integrating influencer marketing campaigns within their strategy for greater brand awareness. This is also true for bloggers whose following extends to a popular presence on social media.
Influencers can monetize a following of at least 10,000. Reaching this “micro-influencer” threshold often yields payment for posts about products and services — in many cases earning up to $100 for a single sponsored post.
For instance, platforms like Upfluence make it easier to get your work seen, bringing together brands like Netflix and Kayak with influencers to help them get connected for partnerships.
But if you want to go it alone, start by putting together a powerful media kit to show brands you are the best match for their campaign goals.
4. Sell Digital Products
Yup, you can monetize your blog by selling digital products. These include e-books and workbooks, templates, digital planners, artwork, design resources, photography presets, and courses.
These offer recurring revenue or passive income as you create the product once and then earn through repeated sales. The trick is creating quality digital products and identifying a pricing strategy to match your marketing approach.
Moreover, it would be best to sell items based on the passions and expertise driving your content. The best about this? There’s no waiting around to find partnerships for advertising, and you maintain full control of the sales process.
5. Offer Services
Think of this strategy as applying your passion for providing expert services based on the topics that drive your blog content. Especially if you have established trust with your audience, you can now offer services since your target audience knows your expertise and reputation.
For many people, it’s a dream come true — make money doing what they love. The options here are broad and often limited only by your willingness to get creative in turning passions and expertise into profitable service-based opportunities.
This includes providing consultation services, offering mentoring and coaching, or turning professional skills like writing into freelance writing services. Freelancing offers plenty of potential for making money online.
6. Sell Physical Products
If not services or digital products, you can also monetize your blogs by selling physical products. Here, you partner with third parties or sell directly from your own e-commerce shop to integrate your brand into an assortment of merchandise.
Popular options include selling t-shirts and coffee mugs emblazoned with your company’s logo or selling items like handmade bracelets from your crafts blog. But, consider using a print-on-demand company to create and ship products.
That way, you won’t be stuck shipping products.
However, remember that launching the first product for a new brand is risky, and there are no guarantees for success, even when you spend a lot on marketing.
Ruth Soukup, the successful entrepreneur behind Elite Blog Academy and Living Well Spending Less, knows this.
She wrote about her experience in launching a physical product for her site for the first time back in 2015. She decided it was time to roll out the first Living Well Planner for her brand; she invested an incredible 400k upfront on marketing and printing for the first order!
And that’s how she illustrates that it’s smart to build up a base of capital through various income streams before you monetize your blog through your own brand.
7. Start a Podcast
Another way to monetize your blogs is through podcasting. It can expand the content of your blog—giving you a voice—and also provide an opportunity to promote it to new readers.
Through this, you can help establish deeper connections, expand your online presence, and partner with brands to earn money through sponsored content.
Podcasters with large followings earn a great deal of income this way. Podcast fans number more than 100 million US citizens — illustrating why these marketing platforms appeal to a range of brands.
It’s not only profitable for those running the podcasts, but listeners enjoy interacting with brands that take this approach as well.
Did you know that 70% of listeners visit a website for a specific product or service after hearing about it on a podcast? This means that as your podcast grows in popularity, you may be able to join an ad network or find your own sponsors.
Moreover, many podcast hosts ask for donations through Patreon. This is a good way to start monetizing your content right away.
8. Set Up a Membership Program
Want to make consistent income from your blog? Membership programs can help. They give you recurring revenue and help you build a strong community around your content.
Think about what your audience really wants. What exclusive content or perks would they find valuable? Here are some ideas:
Online courses and workshops
Members-only webinars or live Q&A sessions
Early access to new blog posts or content
Exclusive discounts on your products or services
Once you’ve decided on a product or service, choose a membership platform that fits your needs. Popular options can help you manage members, process payments, and even host your exclusive content.
Don’t forget to promote your membership program on your blog, podcasts, and social media. Highlight the benefits and make it easy for people to sign up!
9. Monetize Email Marketing
Once you’ve built a great blog and grown your audience, you can also monetize it with email marketing.
Now, you’re probably wondering how to make money from all your hard work. This is where email marketing comes in. It can be a very effective way to monetize your blog. But first, you need to grow your email list.
You can do this by adding signup forms to your blog. Make sure they’re easy to find. Also, offer a little something extra for signing up. This could be a free ebook, a discount code, or exclusive content.
But how do you actually make money from email marketing? Incorporate the ideas above:
Affiliate marketing: Promote products or services you love and earn a commission on each sale made through your unique affiliate link.
Sell your own products or services: Use your email list to promote your own ebooks, courses, coaching services, or other offerings related to your niche.
Sponsored content: Partner with brands to share sponsored emails with your subscribers. Just be sure to disclose these partnerships transparently.
Email marketing gives you a direct line to your most engaged readers. These are people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. They’re more likely to become loyal customers and support your work.
Conclusion
With so many approaches, you’ll find that the ways you can monetize your blog are expansive, challenging, and sometimes confusing.
But by remembering these key strategies, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your dream—turning that blog into a flourishing money-making venture.
Another is to focus on quality and create content people can use in real ways. That way, you’ll organically grow an engaged community. Focus on content first, and then find the monetization approaches that best fit your blog goals and niche once you’ve established a community.
FAQs
How much money is 1000 views on a blog?
This varies and depends on several elements.
For instance, you can earn $1.25 CPM using Google Adsense.
CPM translates into Cost Per 1000 Impressions (M stands for “Mille” which is latin for Thousand), so you’d earn $1.25 with 1000 Views if someone clicked on one or more ads from that batch of impressions. Keep in mind that not all ad platforms will have the same CPM rates.
How many views do you need to monetize a blog?
It’s possible to begin making money even with very limited website views, as it ultimately comes down to how you’re monetizing your content.
As we explored, advertising programs like Google Adsense generally bring in more money as website traffic grows. It also depends on the niche you choose when setting up your website and your content approach.
However, choosing topics with a narrow, less competitive niche and well-written helpful articles yields greater traffic through searches, bringing in steady CPM earnings with just a few dozen daily visitors.
How do I start my own blog and monetize it?
Get started by selecting the topic for your website and then buying your hosting through a hosting service, from established providers like HostGator or BlueHost to more limited choices with a lower monthly fee.
Once set up, you can get your web address with an assortment of domain extensions. A “.com” is considered the go-to as it is recognized universally, creating greater legitimacy for blogs and improving visibility within searches.
From here, begin building content centered around helpful and compelling advice — drawing on your passion and knowledge for the niche.
Once you’ve begun attracting traffic and followers, explore various avenues for monetization. Consider which methods align best with your goals, niche, and risk tolerance, as each individual is different.
How can I make $100 on my blog?
With an established website generating thousands of views a week, you can monetize your blog. It’s possible to make $100 in just a few days using platforms like Google Adsense or supplementing revenue through affiliate sales and product recommendations incorporated in content.
But for newer blogs with limited views and readership, it can take more time to make money.
Try diversifying your efforts by incorporating a few income strategies. Create an e-book with a compelling topic aligned with your niche, offer paid subscriptions to an exclusive group of subscribers to your newsletter or email list, or sell branded merchandise like shirts through a third party.
