How do bloggers earn money? How do blogs make money? These are the questions that burn on every aspiring blogger’s mind.
If you’re just starting out as a blogger, you’ll want to know whether it’s possible to make money blogging. Likewise, more established bloggers are probably wondering how they can earn the most online with blogging.
Everybody wants to know how do bloggers get paid, and the answer is really quite simple.
Read more: Blogging vs Vlogging: The Battle of the Century!
How Bloggers Make Money and Get Paid?
Bloggers get paid by offering something of value in exchange for money.
Therefore, before you can start earning money on your blog, you have to have a resourceful site. The type of value you offer will differ depending on how you plan on monetizing your blog.
There are 5 top ways bloggers make money: affiliate marketing, ads, sponsored posts, services, and products.
In this post I’ll be breaking down the following so that anyone can understand how bloggers make money and get paid.
Each section will start with a blog’s monetization strategy and then answer the following questions:
who pays the blogger?
what sort of revenues can you make as a beginning blogger with that method?
tips on how to get your blog ready for creating revenue in that way.
To ensure that you obtain the most helpful knowledge, I have attempted to provide the most in-depth overview of blogging for money.
Below I will be providing some brief insight into my hope you can use to become a successful online content creator and blogger.
Read more: How to Monetize a Blog: the 4 Most Profitable Ways
#1. Bloggers Make Money with Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a technique used by bloggers in which they publicly promote selected products and services of another company in exchange for profits.
Yep, it’s a win-win. Each blogger is assigned their own URL which they can share with their readers. Whenever someone clicks on that link and completes an order, they get a commission.
Bloggers can get a commission and a fixed amount for the sale or lead, the percentage depends on what you prefer.
Most bloggers turn to affiliate marketing as a supplement to their income. There are 2 ways in which they can become affiliates: The first is through the company’s affiliate marketing program and the second is by joining an affiliate marketing network via their own website.
Search for an affiliate program for a specific company
Do you want to become an affiliate of a company or product? To do so, please search the company or product’s webpage for an affiliate program.
First, head to the company’s website and scroll down to their site footer. A hidden tab in the footer may lead you to the company’s affiliate program.
Sometimes the affiliate program can be difficult to find. Next, try doing a site search on Google. “Affiliate Program” site: companyurl.com.
Different companies might use different terms for affiliate programs, such as partner programs, rewards programs, or a referrals program. Try plugging in these words into search engines to find an affiliate’s page.
If you can’t find a suitable affiliate program, try reaching out directly to the company. Dig around for an email address or contact form and reach them on social media.
Become an affiliate marketer for other influencers or bloggers.
Do you know any bloggers within your niche or a complementary one who have created and sold their own product, course, or ebook? You might want to reach out to them and see if they have an affiliate program.
Although they might be the “competition” becoming an affiliate for them could prove mutually beneficial. They have a wide range of offers available, and you might find one that clicks with your website/social media channel.
One approach to this is you can handle the sale for them and talk about their product on your blog. This will pay you and help them too.
When you write a review of the blogger’s product and then publish it to your blog, they will share the post with their followers that way. You’ll grow your own audience which is the best part!.
So, not only are you making money but you are increasing your potential reach!
When You Can Start with Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to monetize your blog if you’re starting just now. By using affiliate links, you can promote wherever and whenever you want throughout your blogging journey! The more people looking at links, the easier it will be to generate traffic.
It’s important to remember that some affiliate programs, like Amazon, have minimum sale qualifications or pageviews. Research the specifics of each partner before applying for the affiliate program.
Affiliate marketing can be a great thing for beginning bloggers because it’s simple to get started:
- It doesn’t take as many pageviews as ads to be successful.
- When looking to sell a product, it is best to find one with an already proven track record of sales rather than struggling to attract interest.
- It can be a good idea to practice selling someone else’s product before you create your own.
Who pays the blogger?
Many bloggers are paid through affiliate networks. Even when I’ve found programs via a company’s website, they are managed by the network to track and pay out any potential commissions.
Payments are generally made monthly when $X$ amount of sales have been made. At other times, you might be paid a commission directly by the company whose products you are marketing in order to produce good content.
You’ll typically see a higher commission percentage from digital products rather than physical products.
Tips for making money with Affiliate Marketing:
If you want to be successful in affiliate marketing, having a platform (blog + email list), is the first and most important step.
Good content that resonates with your target audience is paramount for a successful blog. It has to be marketed, too. Establishing a platform may also involve building trust and authority with the people who visit your blog.
If you want to make money with affiliate marketing, you can’t just drop a link and expect it to work. You need to be strategic about your monetization plan.
Affiliate marketing works best when you are marketing a product that you have tested and used.
#2. Bloggers make money with ads
So let’s start with ads, which are likely the most well-known way to monetize a blog.
Bloggers usually sign up with an advertising network to place ads on their blog. Some networks use targeted ads, meaning that the ad will change depending on who is viewing the blog, what they’re reading, etc.
Find here the top ad networks bloggers are associated with:
Adthrive – minimum of 100,000 monthly pageviews
Adsense – no monthly minimum to apply
Sovrn – no monthly minimum to apply
Mediavine – 25,000 monthly sessions
Bloggers have two main ways of getting paid by advertising networks: impressions or clicks.
(PPC) Paid per click – Every time someone clicks on an ad, bloggers can receive a small amount of money.
(PPI) Paid per impression – these ads don’t require the viewer to click to receive an income for the blog author. They are paid per impression, which is how many times an ad is viewed.
When you are ready to start placing ads on your blog, your ad network will help you and guide you through the process. You might see ads in any of these common areas:
Header
Sidebar, frequently sticky
In post after x amount of paragraphs
Across various images, (a personal note: I think most of these are extremely intrusive, but many bloggers are making incredible money from this)
Sticky footer on mobile
When Bloggers can start monetizing with ads?
Becoming a successful blogger is often a slow and challenging process, but there are ways to start earning money from it. One way you can make money through blogging is by pitching ads – this strategy won’t make you wealthy but since the individual blog has low overhead, the pay can be decent.
As a beginning blogger, the reason you can’t make money from ads is because you don’t yet have enough traffic. Although some bloggers place ads on their site early, realistically they won’t make much money unless they are getting around (10.000 – 25,000) pageviews per month.
If you want to monetise your site and start earning money sooner for all the hard work you’ve put in, simply wait until your pageviews reach (10.000 – 25,000) before introducing ads.
Who pays the blogger?
Many bloggers have ad networks they are tied to and they get paid a monthly income through these networks. Some brands will contact the blogger directly though, and pay them a set rate for posts on their blog.
Tips for making money with ads:
To make money on ads, you need traffic. And lots of it. One way to attract more visitors is to produce quality content your readers enjoy. The next thing you need to do is promote that content so people visit your blog.
In order to make money via ads, focus on content that makes people addicted to coming back. Once your blog exceeds (10.000 – 25,000) monthly unique visitors you can start focusing on secondary sources like Google Adsense.
#3. Bloggers make money from services: coaching & consulting
People need help, this might be because they want to learn more or just want someone to talk with.
Some people just want an easy way out and hire personal assistants to carry out things that they would usually do themselves. There are many bloggers on the internet who offer their services to others so that they can help or answer any questions about their niche – similar to what you might find in a forum.
Your blog can be your business and make you money, if you know how to use it correctly. When people visit the blog, they will see your expertise on an issue and be inclined to come back for the services you provide.
Besides your blog, offering services is a great way to get the word out about what you do. There are endless opportunities for services that match up with the content you write on your blog.
Connection is the foundation of our success. It leads others to us and we lead others in turn. Together, we’re unstoppable!
Offering coaching or consulting packages can be an excellent way of understanding the needs of your target audience. I tend to think of lots more blog topics when I am in direct communication with my target audience.
Examples: coaching or consulting packages on any topic – fitness, relationships, decluttering, social media management, graphic design services, personal shopping services.etc.
Finance blog offers financial coaching
Wedding blog offers mentoring for wedding brands
Breastfeeding blog offers breastfeeding consults
I didn’t realize how excited I was about making money with my blog, until I sat down to write this section. While it might not be a long term monetization plan for you, it can be a good way to start making a little cash, and build up your authority
Or, you might find that this the right long-term plan for your business.
When can you start monetizing with services, consulting & coaching?
Anytime! Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to shoot for with your first few clients. You might want to get started before you feel totally comfortable and ready. It’s always a good idea to have some content under your belt and a social presence that connects you with people.
Who pays the blogger?
Going back to the customer. As a blogger, you’ll set the rates and collect payments. You can use Paypal to send invoices right to your clients without having to handle much of anything at all.
Tips for making money with services:
Brainstorm what would pain your target audience. What are their needs/desires? What could you do to make their day easier?
The next thing you need to do is reach out to a few people or your small group of friends and offer your service at a low price. When you first start out, set your rates low but don’t sell yourself short (we’ve all been guilty of that before and it never ends up well).
A great place to start for coaches is a group coaching package! You can put together a month-long coaching program for your niche, and make it super valuable so that the participants love and recommend you and your blog. They can also supplement their coaching with your content. This has strong potential to be super successful!
By paying attention to their questions and difficulties, you can find new content and product ideas.
When you first start out it can be more beneficial to reach out to specific people rather than trying to market your email list or social channels.
#4. Bloggers make money with sponsored posts
Sponsored content is a type of advertisement a company pays you to create content about their brand or product. The sponsored content usually looks like any other blog post you produce with the same tone and voice (disclosed that it is sponsored).
Read on: How to Make Money on TikTok
Companies like to work with content creators as a way of advertising their product in an editorial format. They value content creators’ influence, voice, and authority because they know that the content can reach so many people.
That is why they want to work with you on your blog and platforms (site, instagram etc).
Sometimes sponsored posts will ask you to write content & produce pictures for the entire blog post process and other times companies will simply pay for just one aspect of your content creation.
There are a variety of sponsorship options available to bloggers:
- Photography
- Articles
- Videos
- Styling and staging
- Social media posts
- Live videos
- Emails
It depends on the campaign, but a blogger’s contribution can be anything from an Instagram post to a blog entry. With each campaign, it is important to make sure that you focus on reaching your target audience.
You can search for sponsored content opportunities through a network of influencers.
How do bloggers get sponsored opportunities?
Big bloggers are able to leverage sponsorships and develop relationships with them because they offer a lot of value in their content and audience.
New bloggers and even existing bloggers may need to do some legwork before getting sponsored. If you have a brand you know you want to work with, you can pitch your idea or rates directly to them.
One of the most popular places for new bloggers to research sponsored opportunities is through Influencer Networks. In marketing, they’re called Sponsored networks.
Brands (or rather their agencies) can use influencer networks to find and hire the right content creators. Once you’ve applied and joined an influencer network, you will be able to see these jobs and apply for them as well.
When can you start monetizing with sponsored posts?
You’ll need to have multiple blog posts with substantial content before you can partner with brands. Many brands and networks will want to see that you’ve been blogging for at least 6 months and have a significant amount of followers.
Audience size is less important when compared to ads. Companies will want to make sure you have a relevant audience before paying for content creation.
Who pays the blogger?
The way that a blogger is being paid from a sponsored post depends on the connection between the brand and the blogger. If they are communicating with each other, then the company pays them directly.
When bloggers apply to sell sponsored posts through a network, the network will pay them for it. When a blogger works directly with a brand to run sponsored content, the commission rate can be negotiated
Bloggers and writing influencers in general work with sponsorship and content aggregation networks in order to land sponsored gigs. These collaborations usually come with predetermined rates or the customer would have approached that specific influencer for a quote.
Make Money Blogging with Sponsored Content- Tips:
If you want to make money via sponsored post, these tips will help:
- It’s important to hone in on your unique writing style and ideas.
- Focus on a particular audience + make them love you.
- Improve your photography skills.
- You may want to think of ways in which the blogs values and brands align with those of the company you’re deciding to work with.
- Like we discussed in the previous few points, to sustain and grow your audience, continue working on that.
Whenever you get the chance to produce sponsored content, keep in mind that you’re still writing for your readers and giving them high-quality articles. This way, you’ll be able to continue producing sponsored content for them and keep them happy.
#5. Bloggers Make Money Creating and Selling Products
Many people assume that bloggers make their money primarily through ads. But as it turns out, some of the most successful bloggers today have their own product and sell it to make a living, without ads.
Bloggers either sell products like ebooks, education programs and subscriptions or physical goods, or buy and resell products themselves.
Let’s look at the different types of products that bloggers create and sell.
Online Courses
In this day of information, it’s no wonder that we are bombarded by knowledge. But this is a discussion for another day.
Many bloggers now know a lot about one particular topic and can easily share that knowledge with their readers. They are able to accomplish this by creating their own ebooks, guides, online courses or workshops.
A large number of bloggers are trying to make money online by charging their audience for their expertise so that the audience can learn too.
Why?
Bloggers often produce educational content as it’s what their blog is about. So a product that educates would be naturally appealing, for example: a multi-course training sequence in an area of expertise you know a lot about.
Second, selling a course is more lucrative than some of the other options. You can set your price and make 100% commission from it.
In the end, a larger following isn’t as crucial to start making money from ads and sponsored posts. Obviously, the higher number of followers you have will earn you more.
A lot of people want to learn and grow, and they will pay you if they have a way to do that. You should be providing the way.
Digital Products
Bloggers want to create digital products for their work because of how much success they’ll see. This includes guides, printable planners, invitations or party printables. A few examples of these are meal plans and visual aids for presentations.
Digital products are popular because they are inexpensive to create and don’t require any physical developments.
Once you’ve created a digital product, using a WordPress plugin like Easy Digital Downloads or a tool like Gumroad or Paypal will allow you to sell it and deliver it.
Physical Products
Blogging is a great way to promote and share your products with the world. The people who use it most often are creative entrepreneurs, who share their advice and own creations with others.
Some bloggers have been working on their product for a long time and start their blogs as a promotion mechanism for that. Others build blogs around their idea or in response to a need they see in the market.
Connecting your blog to an online shop like Etsy can provide a lot of benefits. For example, you can create an easily accessible storefront and list several items at once with an Etsy Shop.
You can sell physical products on your WordPress blog by using the WooCommerce plugin. Other bloggers use Shopify to create their blog and storefront, instead of WordPress.
Memberships and Subscriptions
Memberships and subscriptions are an important way that bloggers generate income. They offer exclusive content to paying members only; this ensures it is never sold to other people or sites.
Wholesale Products
I’m actually surprised that more bloggers don’t talk about this – it’s a fantastic way to make money online and not have to create your own product.
There are two main ways bloggers make money from selling products they purchase from wholesale suppliers.
They purchase the product and handle all the shipping and packaging for that product
They work with a wholesaler who delivers the products to customers. This means bloggers just need to sell the product on their site while the wholesale company packages and ships it.
Example: North Star Balloons is a popular and reputable balloon company with the focuses on selling balloons to businesses.
For example, if a party blogger or wedding blogger wants to join the e-commerce game and open up their own balloon shop, they can do so by opening up their very own site. For those interested in buying balloons they are often shown blog posts featuring these balloons that offer a link to buy them.
Books
Publishing a book can make sense for some bloggers. They have a lot of content written and writing books is really natural for them. Some self-publish and others are signed by publishing firms. If a blogger has the time, they may want to pursue this option.
Blogging can provide a platform for you to get your product noticed. There are plenty of ways for you to create and sell products – there are no hard and fast rules!
When you Can Monetize Your Blog with Your Own Product?
Great! I’m glad you’re considering launching your product. Just keep in mind that launching it as soon as you start blogging can be risky/may not be a worthwhile investment.
Data reports show that only 2-3% of people will buy a product on their own accord. As such, you should have at least 500-1000 loyal subscribers to your email list before launching your product.
Who pays the blogger?
This is great news for bloggers who want a product to generate revenue without having to worry about an intermediary like a middleman taking their cut! Since the customer pays directly, this means you don’t have to wait until an affiliate link converts before you start earning.
There are still costs involved, such as paying a credit card service fee and fees for the tool or app you’re using to sell your product.
If you are selling a physical product, there is the cost to create the actual product and there are also shipping fees to take into account.
Making Money Blogging by Selling your Own Product: Tips
Before you get started on your white paper, it’s important to know who you’re writing for. What are their major pain points, needs and desires? Try establishing your authority and credibility first so that people will feel safe approaching you with their questions.
Growing your email list should be your top priority if you are a business who sells products. You can then use your email list to pitch and sell your items.
It can be really tempting to show what you can do with your first product, but as a beginner, I recommend you start off small and work towards something a little bit bigger.
Go Forth and Make Money Blogging!
You should spend some time today sitting down and writing out what you will do to monetize your blog.
To have a successful blog, you will need to offer something of value in return for money. What do you want to create or offer as an incentive for readers? What is your blog’s profit model?
Conclusion: How Bloggers Make Money?
Making money isn’t always easy. It might not seem like it from the outside, but I’ve been there, too with the same doubt in my mind. You just have to keep moving and trust that you are working your way there.
it get even tougher when you have to create a new post, promote it and do everything possible to keep that audience interested in your blog posts
You have an audience that loves your content and you are focused on making money with it. Nothing could be easier, monetizing just happens.
Don’t be put off by all the stories of people making thousands a day. You CAN make money blogging if you’re willing to put in some work!
Is setting goals for a new year on the top of your list? Write down your goals and visions, and take the necessary steps to implement them. It may seem challenging at first, but you can do it!
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1 thought on “How Bloggers Make Money and Get Paid? Top 5 Ways Explained”
All smart channels here. The sponsored post stream prospers if you accept posts aligned with your niche that yield sizeable rates. None of this 5 dollar per post stuff bandied about by outreach folks. We mean 100 bucks or more per post. I go the passive route now, selling only my 2 blogging course but back in the day accepted and placed sponsored posts. If it is a match, place and profit.