When I first started blogging, I’ll admit that I was thinking of all the successful blogs I had seen and wondered if I could be them. I wanted to know if I had what it took to make thousands of dollars in blog revenue, making my day job an option as opposed to a necessity. But is it even possible to make money blogging as beginners?
I was willing to do whatever it took to make money with a blog. One of the big reasons was being able to work from home and make my own schedule. I mean, who doesn’t want more day-to-day freedom? But this can be easier said than done when you are first getting started.
I wanted to know how to make money blogging as beginners. Some bloggers will have you believe that you don’t until you reach a certain number of page views or followers.
Well, I am here to tell you that you can monetize your blog even if you are just starting. I made money with my blog within its first few months and was making thousands while still learning the basics.
I am going to tell you how you, too, can make money with your blog sooner rather than later.
Product or Service
Let’s start with one of the bigs ones—a product or service. Having a product or service is a great way to make money from day one. There are several different things you can do when it comes to creating a product or service.
Digital Products
Digital products are probably one of the most popular product types that one can sell to make money with their blog. Digital products can consist of online courses, workbooks, videos, and other products that exist solely online. These are great because you create them once, then watch the cash roll in!
The downside to having a digital product is choosing the right product, and the time it takes to create it. While you could make good money with this from day one, if you have a good product idea, make sure to take time to do your research first. If you already have your product idea ready to go, I say go for it!
Physical Products
Physical products never go out of style. If you have something people want to buy, you’re in business.
Items can range from crafts, t-shirts, or even manufacturing a product of your own to sell on your blog.
Buying online is hot right now. And sites like Shopify make it so easy to set up a store right on your blog. Selling a physical product is something you absolutely can do on day one.
You should understand the downside of this too: getting the product to sell it. If you are selling a physical product, you typically have to buy a bunch of that product in bulk before selling. This requires money upfront. In some instances, this is not always the case, such as through dropshipping. But it can be a pretty hefty price tag when starting, so choose your physical product wisely.
Services
Services are enticing because there is not a whole lot of upfront work to do to offer a service. Simply create a page on your blog describing your service and wait for orders to come in. I’ve seen people do this for consulting, coaching, social media management, email marketing, being a virtual assistant, and copywriting. As a blogger, you have a lot of skills that other bloggers and businesses would love to use!
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts have to be one of my favorite ways to earn income on my blog, and it’s a simple way to make money blogging for beginners! It can be quite lucrative if you do it right—you can make anywhere from $50 -$10,000+ for a single post.
In case you are wondering what a sponsored post is, it’s blog posts that you write on your blog that features a brand, and that company is paying you to do it.
While the concept of sponsored posts is a simple one, it is not necessarily an easy road to cash. You first have to find these opportunities by applying to them on various influencer networks or by pitching them directly.
Not sure where to go to find influencer opps? You can sign up for my FREE list 126 Influencer Networks below.
Once that is done, you have to come up with a blog topic your audience not only wants to enjoy but also meets all the agreed-upon criteria with the sponsor. Then, the work isn’t over once you write the post. You have to make sure it gets eyeballs, too, so the sponsors come back for more partnerships. One way to do this is by sharing your post on your various social media channels.
While it is work, it is so worth it! It looks good to work with big brands and mention them to people you work with later on. But it all starts with getting the right opportunities.
If you are interested in having sponsored posts delivered directly to your inbox, you should sign up for the Blogging Money Update. This newsletter sends 30-45 opportunities per week, ranging from $50-$5,000. So finding excellent opportunities should not be hard to do!
Learn more about the Blogging Money Update here.
Affiliate Marketing
Okay, now, let’s talk ways bloggers make some passive income: affiliate marketing. Here is how it works. You sign up for relevant affiliate programs on channels like Shareasale and Affiliate Window. Here, you can find several brands that are willing to pay you for sales and leads that come from your blog.
Just add affiliate links to relevant posts and promote your content as you usually would. You get paid for the lifetime of the article. Easy peasy!
Similarly to sponsored posts, you must regularly share your blog posts to see the full benefits of affiliate marketing. I am a firm believer in putting affiliate links in all of your content just in case an article goes viral, which is affiliate marketing gold!
And of course, make sure you add proper disclosures to all your content with affiliate links. Take a look at mine at the top of this post if you want an idea of what it should say.
Advertising
Lastly is advertising. Everyone (non-bloggers) seems to think that this is the primary way bloggers make money.
And for those who are getting lots of traffic (and I mean like millions of page views every month), this may be the case. But if you are just starting, you are probably just grateful to get ANYONE on your site, let alone hundreds or thousands of people.
But it is still vital to establish some sort of ad network on your blog even while still growing your audience.
And here is why: every visitor’s click matters. Let’s say it takes you a couple of months to get to 1,000 visitors a month to your blog. If you waited until that third month to put ads on your site, you wasted all the clicks before that. Had you implemented the ad platforms, you could’ve been earning—even if it is a small amount.
While ad platforms like Mediavine and AdThrive are for more established bloggers with over a certain number of sessions, Google Adsense is an excellent way to make money blogging for beginners.
There aren’t many requirements to join, and the amount of traffic you receive doesn’t matter. Win-win! Just don’t expect to make a ton with ads initially. However, as your blog grows, so will your revenue in this area.
Making money blogging as beginners takes time. There is no myth about that here. But that does not mean that you shouldn’t pursue monetization options early.
Start with advertising as soon as your blog is set up and has a couple of posts. Make your way to affiliate marketing after that, and start pitching brands for sponsored opportunities as you build on your blogging habits. As you become more established with a considerable email list, then, and only then should you pursue creating a product.
But you want to make sure that even though you have money on your mind, you are still establishing all the beginner blogging basics, such as making sure your site is set up correctly, your branding is in place, and you are regularly creating content for your blog. And most importantly, make sure you have goals in mind.
Download my free worksheet that gives you the prompts you need to write down your blog goals for the year with the signup form below. Once you have your goals in mind, I am confident you’ll be able to start making money with your blog in no time at all!
What questions do you have about making money with your blog? I would love to read them in the comments! I promise to reply.
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