Three Simple Ways I Make Money Blogging

I’ve been very transparent around here lately regarding blogging and my hopes for the future (if you’re new, I have a goal to make $10K per month within one year, and I’d like most of that income to be through blogging). I’ve been at this blogging thing for a little over a year now, and it seems like I’m finally starting to make a little headway in this whole income thing.

A little background: I started my blog to make money; I did not start it just as a hobby. If you’re looking to do the same, I have an eBook coming out in January that will help you set up your own blog that you can use as a business to make money. I’m so excited about it, and I hope you are too!

I took my blog very seriously at first, and then I sort of fell off the bandwagon a few months in. I didn’t stop blogging, but I stopped trying to monetize, I didn’t have an editorial plan, and I just didn’t have a general direction at all. My book can help you make sure you don’t fall into the same rut.

So, I didn’t really begin taking my blog seriously again until September of this year. This month, I made $380 from my blog which will be reflected in my next income report. That’s not much, but it’s something. Today I wanted to share the three simple ways in which I’m monetizing my blog.

Three Simple Ways I Make Money Blogging

There are seriously so many ways you can make money blogging, and while some are easier than others, there really is no right way to go about this. You have to do trial and errors to see what works for your blog and your audience and you have to constantly be testing different things. If you’re new to blogging, this may seem confusing. However, I can assure you that if you stick with it, you will learn what all of these different things mean and how you can apply them to your blog. Blogging takes time, so don’t expect or try to learn everything in one fell swoop.

Google Adsense

This is the very first way I monetized my blog. From day one, I had ads on my blog. I know ads can be annoying, but for new bloggers it can be a fun way to measure success at the beginning. At first, I made pennies per day, but even then it was still fun to see every night what I had made! Now, I’m not making much more than that. I’ll have days where I make $3 and days where I make $0.50. Overall, though, I’ve made more than $400 from Google Adsense in the one year I’ve had a blog. And, making money through ads is seriously the easiest way to make money. Once you set them up, you’re done!

My book will show you how to set up all of your ads and where the best spots are to place them!

Sponsored Posts

I’m not too good at sponsored posts. I am a member of Moms Affiliate (now Socialix) and have made $50 from that site on my “Home Updates” post. There are a ton of sponsorship programs like Socialix out there that you can apply for, but you usually have to have quite a few pageviews. I’m currently at a little more than 30,000 pageviews per month but don’t plan on pursuing more sponsorship programs until I’m at 50,000 or more. I’ve also had companies reach out to me asking me to put a link to their company in one of my posts. My fee for that is pretty hefty but it is something I’m willing to do as long as I agree with the company. I would guess I’ve made close to $400 from inserting links into older posts.

Affiliate Sales

This is my absolute favorite way to make money blogging, but I haven’t made too much money from this yet 😉 Here’s how affiliate sales work: I like a product, so I mention that product to my readers. If my readers purchase the product through my link, I get paid a small commission. My Bluehost link on how to start a blog, for example, is an affiliate link. I’m advertising a course on my sidebar called “30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success” which is an affiliate link. I’m also promoting my friend Christina’s holiday course, Savor the Holidays, as an affiliate. So, if you were to purchase any of these items, I would make a small commission. You as a buyer don’t pay any more money, but you do get to help support a blogger 🙂 If you start your own blog, hopefully other people will do the same for you!

My book will be going into detail on how you can find products to promote as an affiliate! I am the most excited for this section of my book and think it will be such a good tool for bloggers!

How do you make money blogging? Do you have any questions for me?