Blogging has a low barrier to entry, especially because it’s a low-cost business model.
And done right, it can make you a lot of money.
In this guide, I’ll tell you 8 ways to make money with a single blog.
Let’s jump right in.
Complete Guide: How to Make Money Blogging in 2022
Let’s address an important question most new bloggers have in mind before getting started.
How Much Can You Make with Blogging?
The short and sweet answer is: There’s no limit to how much money you can make with blogging, or how long can you keep making it on autopilot.
For instance, Forrest Webber is managing a $1.5m blog portfolio, without even writing a word himself.
But, it’s also true that not everyone gets to be successful in this industry.
Successful blogging requires the execution of the right strategies and a lot of patience.
10 Best Ways to Make Money Blogging
- Choose a Profitable Niche
A niche is a topic within a broader industry. For instance, vegan recipes would be a niche in the broader diet market.
But, why should you pick a niche and not a market for your blog?
Here are the two reasons:
- When you talk about a particular niche, it’s easier and faster to build credibility in that space
- Ranking your blog posts is relatively easier in a niche as compared to a market
The recipe of a profitable blog niche has three main ingredients:
- You’re good at it
- It’s low-competition
- You can achieve your monetization goals with it
Picking the right niche is the first step toward a successful blogging portfolio.
- Join Affiliate Programs
There’s a reason why most bloggers are also affiliate marketers.
A blog is a perfect place to promote affiliate products.
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to own a product or handle customer service after a sale.
Just pick your favorite products that have an affiliate program and earn money by promoting them.
But, those products should be relevant to what you regularly talk about.
For instance, if you have a blog in the search engine optimization niche, you can promote SEO tools.
Also, make sure whatever you promote on your blog is valuable and helpful.
In addition, to be on the safe side, always explicitly disclose that you’re using affiliate links in your posts.
Some of the most popular affiliate programs are:
- Amazon Associates
- CJ Affiliate
- AWIN
- Impact
- Sell Services
Blogging is a great way to establish authority as a service provider.
So, you can eventually sell more services by talking about related topics on your blog.
For instance, if you’re a writer, you can offer your services at the end of your blog posts.
Or, maybe you’re a veteran in your industry and can offer consultation?
Other examples of services you can sell are:
- Graphic design
- Web development
- Online classes
- And more
- Sell Digital Products
Unlike a service-based business, you don’t need to invest your time to get paid for a digital product.
A digital product once created can bring in regular income on autopilot.
Plus, there’s no limit to how many times people can download a digital product.
After all, there’s no inventory to keep and manage.
This makes selling digital products one of the most rewarding monetization strategies for bloggers.
Here are a few digital product examples:
- Ebooks
- Online courses
- Workbooks
- Sell Physical Products
You don’t have to own a physical product to sell it on your blog.
The print-on-demand business model helps bloggers sell physical products with their designs imprinted on them.
All you need to do is sign up on platforms like T-spring and Printful and create custom merchandise, such as:
- T-shirts
- Mugs
- Posters
- Phone cases
- And more
- Build an Email List
You can rank your blog posts on search engines and generate passive income for a while.
But, what if your blog gets hit by a Google update?
If you want to make your blog income sustainable, you need to build an email list. A list of loyal readers who’d value and act on your suggestions.
When someone gives their email address to you, they’re essentially giving you permission to reach out to them later.
Once you have a decent-sized email list, you won’t have to worry about other traffic channels.
But, of course, more traffic means more money, so you want to maximize your traffic sources.
So, how do you go about building your email list?
You can use opt-in forms on your blog posts to grab the email addresses of your readers.
You can even bribe them into giving their email addresses by offering lead magnets such as:
- Free checklists
- Helpful ebooks
- Blog posts packaged into a PDF
- A free trial of a software
- And, more
Plus, you can use Facebook lead generation ads to build your email list.
- Sell Ad Placements
This is probably the most popular method of monetizing a blog.
You can rent out particular places on your blog for a fee.
Companies are willing to pay bloggers generous amounts if there is enough relevant traffic on their blog posts.
But, of course, you can only work with advertisers in your particular niche.
There are essentially two ways to generate blog income with this strategy:
- Work with individual companies: Find companies in your industry and ask them if they’d be interested in showcasing their business on your blog.
Although it can be a time-consuming process, done well, you can make a lot of recurring income with it.
- Sign Up for an Ad Network: The second one is relatively easier where you work with an advertising network that handles advertisers for you.
Examples include Google AdSense, AdThrive, and Ezoic. All you have to do is paste their code on the backend of your site.
In most cases, your blog has to fulfill a certain minimum page-view requirement.
Google AdSense and Ezoic don’t have such requirements but they do check your site manually before approving it for ads.
The good thing with this monetization strategy is that you only need to bring traffic to your blog posts and don’t need to sell anything.
- Publish Sponsored Posts
You can also let brands publish their posts on your blog and charge a certain amount of money.
If your blog gets a good amount of traffic, many companies would be willing to pay a handsome amount for a sponsored post.
All you’d need to do is talk about their product.
You don’t have to wait for companies to approach you either.
Reach out to relevant businesses and let them know you’re open to sponsorships.
Final Thoughts
You can generate multiple sources of income with a single blog.
However, blogging isn’t typically a straightforward journey.
You need to pick the right niche, create great content consistently, and identify the right monetization methods.
The kind of money you can generate with your blog depends on:
- The niche
- Content formats
- Your audience
Here’s a quick breakdown of all the blog monetization strategies we’ve talked about in this post:
- Promote affiliate offers
- Work with ad networks
- Sell services
- Sell digital products
- Sell physical products
- Build an email list
- Publish sponsored posts
