After five months of blogging, I finally made my first $100! I’ve shared before how I didn’t start this blog strictly as a hobby, I started it because I eventually do want to generate an income from it. Some blogs make money right away, some blogs take years to start generating an income – mine seemed to take an average amount of time. My goal was to start making money within six months of starting my blog.
I started blogging at the very end of September 2014 and made my first $100 at the end of February 2015. That’s five full months of consistent posting, sharing, commenting, switching themes and the like for $100. If you’re looking to “get rich quick” from your blog, you’re in the wrong place. In order to make money blogging, you have to really love writing or else the fun factor is going to fizzle out and your blog most likely will, too.
So how did I make my first $100 blogging? It could not have been easier…
Google Adsense!
There’s a lot of debate out there on whether or not you should put ads on your blog immediately (or at all) or wait until you develop consistent readers before trying to monetize your blog. I decided to post ads from day one. I had a few reasons for this:
I wanted to make money. Even if I was only making $0.01 per day. that’s better than nothing! I started my blog to meet like-minded people, grow my freelancing business and make money. Placing ads on your blog is one of the easiest ways to make money since it’s completely passive once your ads are up and running.
I wanted my readers to know my blog had ads. Some people never put ads on their blog and there are a lot of readers who prefer that. I didn’t want to not have ads and then put them up a couple months later and lose readers. I wanted to be honest from the start and by placing ads on my blog right away, my readers know I’m trying to make money from my blog and they can expect to see ads every time they visit my page. No surprises.
I wanted to learn about Google Adsense. Putting ads on your blog isn’t rocket science, but it does take some time to figure out. I use three ad networks – Google Adsense is my main one, Media.net is my second one and Sovrn is my third one. Before I started focusing on content, I wanted to know how to monetize my blog. I read about ads, affiliates, sponsor posts and more and signed up for everything I could. I researched Google Adsense and got tips on the best places to put your ads, how big the ads should be, etc. Now, I’m focusing on content and growing my readership. Once I have more readers and more valuable content, I’ll look into affiliate advertising and sponsorship programs.
Use my tutorial on how to start a blog and receive a copy of my ebook – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging – for free! Plus, you’ll receive a special discount from Bluehost available to my readers only!!
Have an idea for a blog name?! See if it’s available here:
When I first started this blog, I actually had about $10 sitting in my Google Adsense account from an older blog of mine that is no longer active. For the first five months of this blog, I generated anywhere from $15-$30 each month. Google Adsense doesn’t release a check to you until you hit $100, which I finally did at the end of February.
There truly is, in my opinion, no “easier” way to make money blogging than with ads!
Ready to up your blogging income?! Take a look at these 6 steps to profitable blogging!
Update: I now use The Blogger Network for all of my ads. Instead of making $15-$30/month, I’m averaging $200+/month and growing!
Tips on How to Make Money Blogging
I’m definitely no expert, but I do hope to one day bring in a full-time income from this blog. Going back to the beginning, I named my blog “the frugal millionaire” with the hopes of sharing my journey to becoming a millionaire. I’m no where near millionaire status now, but when I do get there, it will be interesting to look back and see the entire journey here on this blog from day one. Here are a few of my tips on how to make money blogging:
Ads. I honestly do not think ads are the best way to make money blogging, but it’s certainly one of the easiest. If I ever generate more income from other sources, I would highly consider getting rid of my ads as I know they can be annoying.
Affiliates. There are thousands of affiliate programs out there. Amazon Affiliates is probably one of the largest and easiest to get started with. If you mention a product or a book on your blog, use your affiliate link so readers can purchase the product themselves if they wish to, and you’ll get a small commission from their purchase. I’ve only done this with books and my Valentine’s Day guide so far, but I do plan on using more affiliate advertising in the future. Again, right now my goal is to focus on content and growing my blog.
Check out these 6 steps to profitable blogging! >>
Write an ebook. Lots of bloggers write their own ebooks and sell them on their blogs. I absolutely hope to do this in the future, but again I want to have more of an audience before I release my first book.
Update: I wrote my very first ebook that was released in January 2016! It’s called The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging and was created to help out newbie bloggers with getting their blogs up and running! If you use my Bluehost tutorial to start your own blog, I will give you my book for FREE!
Get freelance writing jobs. This is how I’ve been generating most (well, all, except that $100) of my income. I’ve been freelance writing for almost four years now and have gained a good amount of clients. Want to know the best thing I’ve done for my freelancing career? Started a blog! I’ve always wanted to write about personal finance (my degree is in finance and I LOVE talking income, budgets, spending, saving, retirement and the like) and this blog has gotten me a good amount of jobs in my chosen field.
If you are wanting to start your own blog, head over here for a step-by-step guide on how to get started!
UPDATE!! I run my blog through Bluehost, the #1 recommended hosting provider on WordPress. If you want to start a blog, I highly recommend signing up through my link to receive your hosting service for a special discount! And, your domain name (ie www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com) is FREE!!! Start a blog and send me an email or comment on this post!
Ready to make money blogging?! Check out my 5 post ideas that will make you money!
Do you make money blogging? Have any tips to share?!
diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
atCongratulations on your first $100! May there be many, many more.
I’m looking to create an income via my blog, too so I’ll be checking back to see what gems the generous blogging fraternity (sorority?) have to share.
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Diane!! So far ads are the only way I’ve made money, but I’m hoping as time goes on I discover other ways…and I will absolutely be sharing them on the blog!!
Toni says
atThanks for sharing. I have previously blogged but took a ‘break’ for a bit…but have a new blog launching tomorrow. I started this blog not just as a hobby but hopefully something that will generate an income because blogging is what I love to do. I wish the best of luck of many, many more $100!!
Sarah Brooks says
atBest of luck with your blog!!! Is it thriftygirlbigdreams?? I will definitely be checking it out!!
Toni says
atYes. Thrifty Girl. Big Dreams. (www.thriftygirlbigdreams.com) is the new blog.
Melody says
atCongrats on your first hundred smackers! I wish Google had a lower threshold because sometimes waiting for that hundred bucks seems to take awhile, but hey – a Benjamin in a few months is better than no Benjamin at all!
Your blog is off to a great start, and it’s all uphill from here. Congrats, girl! Can’t wait to see you get to that million!
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Melody!! Appreciate the encouragement!! Yes, it did take forever to wait for that $100, but in the end I’d rather receive a check for $100 then a bunch of $10 ones haha 🙂
Jayleen @ How Do The Jones Do It says
atCongratulations! You give me hope! I made my first $75 through Amazon affiliates this month. It came from a post I did on $10 Dirty Santa gifts. Who knew?!
Sarah Brooks says
atDid you?!?! That’s awesome!!! Congratulations!!
Jef says
atCongrats Sarah! I’d love to keep tracking and motivating each other on the way to becoming millionaires :). At the same time for me it’s about the passive income as well as net worth
I’d say that 100$ is probably the hardest as it probably starts slow and you’re learning plenty about the process, once you understand the way it works I’m sure you’ll get this happening a lot quicker.
Looking forward to learning along with you as well.
Cheers
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Jef!! I’m all about passive income, too. While the blog definitely isn’t passive at this point, I do hope one day it generates income without much work!
Christina @ Embracing Simple says
atCongrats on making your first $100 off your blog, Sarah! That’s so fantastic. I have no tips because I’ve yet to make any money off my blog yet, but I’m hoping to eventually get there someday too. As you said, blogging is definitely not a “get rich quick” strategy!
Sarah Brooks says
atAgreed! It takes a lot of hard, consistent work. Good luck to you, too!!! I know you’ll be able to monetize if you want – your blog is great!!
Mrs. Maroon says
atYay!! Congrats to you! I have not yet taken steps to monetize, but have big dreams. Geez, I haven’t even followed your email advice yet. But someday. And very soon. I do hope you’ll continue sharing about your successes!!
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks!! I will definitely continue sharing the details on how I’m making money on the blog! Best of luck to you, too!!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
atYay! Good job. It all starts with that first $100. We make money in a lot of different ways but it all started with Adsense.
Sarah Brooks says
atAwesome!! Thanks for the encouragement!! Also just went to your page and LOVE the new site!! Can’t wait to browse around!!
Mike Collins says
atCongrats on your first payday! It’s a great feeling and I hope you get to enjoy it many more times in the future
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Mike!! Appreciate the encouragement 🙂 I checked out your blog – love it!!
ARBM says
atCongrats on the $100 milestone! I didn’t start my blog with the intention to make money from it, but maybe someday I’ll have the ambition to try… Keep up the good work, you’ll be a millionaire in no time. 😉
Sarah Brooks says
atHahah mayyybe one day 🙂 I plan on sharing everything regarding making money blogging, so feel free to come back if you ever decide to monetize!!
Ben Luthi says
atCongrats! I think it took me about 9 months to get my first $100 from Adsense. It’s a HUGE milestone!
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks Ben!! I’m hoping to consistently make a bit more from Adsense…but for all I know it will take another five months to hit $100 again LOL
Kristin says
atWoohoo, congrats! That is SO exciting! I am still waiting to hit the $100 threshold too, but just made my first affiliate income this week. Great job!
Sarah Brooks says
atThat’s awesome!! Congratulations!! Affiliates are harder for me for sure. The only network I’ve used is Amazon Affiliates and I haven’t made anything yet, but the only thing I “promote” are books and then my Valentine’s Day guide haha. Great job!!!
Abigail @ipickuppennies says
atCongrats! I remember being so excited to get my first payout from Adsense. My blog still doesn’t make much money. I don’t have the time to pursue advertisers or petition for sponsored posts (that I would actually be okay doing, which aren’t many).
But one nice trickle of income is referring people to cash back sites. Mr. Rebates is the best residual: You get a bonus when your referrals get rebates for the life of the account. I make $100-200 a year because my readers like to get cash back.
Ebates has referral incentives. They’re one-time bonuses, but you get extra if you refer multiple people in three months. So that can add up.
Tennille says
atCongratulations on reaching your first $100.00! I’m a long way off yet but I have also recently seen a slow increase in my adsense as well.
Debtless in Texas says
atThat is quite the milestone, congrats!
Sarah Brooks says
atThanks!!
Sebastian Henry says
atGreat blog post! Really inspiring and motivating post and story. I just launched my blog approximately 2 months ago and am trying to drive traffic with YouTube also.
You can check it out here if you want: http://www.sebastianhenryblog.com
Jessica Johnson says
atThanks so much for your article! I started my blog in June this year and have been slowly learning as much as I can. I was unsure how I even go about a lot of the ads and the affiliate links so I appreciate the help.
Monica says
atThank you for sharing. This is inspiring! I have started my blog and hope to eventually make it profitable. Great job!
Christina says
atCongrats and I hope that you’ve only continued to grow! One of the things that I love the most about the blogging community is their desire to help and motivate others along the way!
Magnolia says
atHi! I actually got started with my blog thanks to finding your blog on pinterest. I used your link and signed up for bluehost and added wordpress and i have been blogging for the past month! I absolutely love blogging. I didnt start monetizing yet but i also started my blog with the intent of making an income. I have a small amount of followers thanks to participating in wordpress daily prompts and really connecting with other wordpress bloggers. I applied 3 times for adsense and have not yet been approved. I am concerned that it may be hard for me to monetize as i dont want to lose any of my readers. for me this started to hopefully replace my husbands income one day as he isnt able to work due to severe anxiety. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
Sarah Brooks says
atHi Magnolia!! YAY for starting a blog!! I am headed over to check it out right now!! Very weird Adsense hasn’t accepted you yet; I would keep trying. When I started my blog (2014) I got in right away but they may have changed the guidelines a bit. Once you have like 20K readers per month, switch to The Blogger Network!! They do all the ads for you and my ad income has quadrupled each month. Then when you hit 100K readers/month, switch to AdThrive!
I think that’s a FANTASTIC goal to make enough money so your husband can quit his job. That’s my ultimate goal, too 🙂 My biggest piece of advice is to just stick with it for a while (1-2 years) before you expect to see huge results. It takes time for Google to recognize your site, and it can take even more time to learn all the different ways to make money and promote your content. You seem to be serious about your goal, though, so I see no reason why this won’t happen for you!! Best of luck! Can’t wait to check out your site!!
Joe from Imperfect Disciples says
atDo you have links to the Blogger Network and AdThrive?
Sarah Brooks says
atHi Joe! The Blogger Network is now Monumetric: https://www.monumetric.com/ and AdThrive is here: http://www.adthrive.com/ Best of luck!!
Nancy says
atThanks for sharing your tips. I appreciate it!
Kyla says
atCongrats! I’ve been blogging since February 2016 and I have to say that I haven’t had any income from my blog. Maybe because my blog isn’t hosted? Or maybe because I am aged under 18 (I’m 16 by the way). Kindly help me out. College is right around the corner (after 2 more years) and I want my blog to help even a little to pay for my tuition fees in the future. ?
Sarah Brooks says
atHi Kyla!! I will definitely be checking out your blog 🙂 I had a Blogspot blog before starting this one and never made any money. However, I only had that one for a few months before purchasing my WordPress one. I’ve *heard* it’s WAY easier to make money with a self-hosted blog. I think this is because your domain name doesn’t have the “.blogspot.com” in it so companies and readers take you more seriously. Bluehost is actually offering a sale through tomorrow for $3.49/month, but you do have to purchase at least one year in advance. Here’s my tutorial and if you use my link you’ll receive that discount. It’s regularly $3.99/month, though, so still affordable!! Let me know if you have any questions!!
Rebekah Steenbock says
atcongratulations! and thank you for the post too. I just started my blog, and I will try the blogger network. Thank you for the suggestion. Again, congratulations!
Tyler DeBroux says
atGreat job on making your first $100!
Kristina says
atWow! It’s a start right? I’ve had Miley blog for months; only recently have actually started posting. I was so intimidated at the fact that, maybe my stuff sucks. I’ve always known that I wanted to monitize too. I’ve been looking into Ads. Still deciding where’s the better place to go with.
Sarah Brooks says
atHi! Thanks for the comment 🙂 I’m sure your blog will be awesome!! Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!! As far as ads, I recommend Google Adsense to start 🙂 Other programs require a certain number of pageviews to join, but with Google Adsense I’m pretty sure all bloggers can join. That’s the program I used until a few months ago when I switch to The Blogger Network. Best of luck!!
Barbara Ann says
atI have been dragging my feet and coming up with so many excuses. But I read you and my last concern I’d hardware. My laptop is really old and was bought used. I’ve had it crash and had it brought back to life again. Can you refer me to what is needed minimum and dream big list? I’m close to being able to purchase a new computer.
Thanks Barbara Ann please feel free to e-mail me
Sarah Brooks says
atHi Barbara! I had a veryyyy slow computer for a while and just recently upgraded to an ASUS. I actually wouldn’t recommend an ASUS as I’ve personally had some problems with it (it wouldn’t turn on so I had to send it back and right now the mousepad doesn’t work). If you only need the internet and don’t do much downloading, a Notebook would probably suit you just fine!!! For blogging, the most downloading I do is images 🙂
Tara says
atI just started blogging and building up my etsy shop. This post was really helpful!! It’s so true even if I’m earning 1 cent it was more than I was earning yesterday! Still trying to build up more content and finesse it all! Thank you for your post! Maybe you’ll have some tips for me!
Lissey says
at…congratulations!! I have started my blogs but now sure how to make profit out of it yet.
I have Adsense but still nothing happening. Is it because I am writing in a different language than English. Thanks for sharing
Queen Obioma says
atCongrats, I have started my blog on website design and blogging profits, Is 3 weeks old now and I have made $20, Some times It gets scary with all the nformation and the big money the guru’s flunt the make. But I love you. This is the least amount I have seen. So I am confident I will measure up.
Thanks Queen
edira says
atHi Sarah,
I’m a new blogger and I’ve been obsessing about whether or not I should display ads on my blog, especially AdSense. I think I’m going to do it. Thanks for the encouraging post!
Talea says
atI have been reading through tons of blogs recently trying to learn the best ways to monetize my blog and I LOVE your forwardness. It’s nice to read that it took you time, too many instant success stories are a good way to foster false hope. Thank you for your insight, I’ll definitely be revisiting this post and some of your others as I continue to learn and grow my blog.
Talea
epicreality says
ati found your post via pinterest and honestly i have had google ads for months and been blogging for years. have never made a cent i have even tried other affiliates and although i get many readers nothing! no extra income. i wish it was as easy as everyone says….anyways thanks i liked your webiste
Sarah Brooks says
atHow many readers are you getting per month?? If you’re getting even 20,000 or so, you should definitely be making some money from Adsense. Mine added up slowly but I did get a $100 check every few months or so at the beginning!
Palesa Makuru says
atI want to put ads on my blog once I have enough content on my blog. It’s still very new so I also want to put ads in the beginning. Better than not making money at all
Palesa | http://beingpalesa.com
oysana says
atgoogle adsense allowed to float ads?