That’s the million-dollar question everyone asks, including Mary from Colorado, who recently emailed me for advice on her blog.
Like many of the people who come to my blogging workshops, Mary was ready to get to the point.
Mary had been blogging for six months and was finally ready to start making money from it.
“How can I make money from blogging?” Mary asked, then told me what she’d been doing so far.
To get things started, Mary added some advertisements to her blog and promoted some affiliate products.
Now, finding those things weren’t working and wondering what else she could do to make money from blogging, she’d contacted me for advice.
So, I had a look at Mary’s blog. “Woah!” I thought.
“Hold your horses, Mary. It seems like you’re missing something here. Before you can make money from blogging, you need to get a firm grasp of the basics.”
But Mary hadn’t hired me for a blogging consultation yet, so I could have spent more time offering her detailed solutions.
Instead, I gave her two simple solutions to help her make money from blogging.
One thing you need to do before you can make money from blogging:
Get A Decent Blog Design
You can’t make money from blogging unless your blog inspires trust.
Mary’s blog looked as if it had been thrown together by a three-year-old, and that didn’t inspire confidence.
She’s not alone. I still see a lot of people who are in pain because no one is reading their blog, and they can’t work out why.
And, of course, how can you make money from blogging if no one is visiting or reading your blog?
The answer is you can’t, and if that’s the case for you, a bad blog design is usually the culprit.
You may be a new blogger or new to your field, but your blog doesn’t need to advertise that to the world. It should present you as the established professional you want to be.
Sometimes, bloggers have a reasonable design that needs to be tightened up and improved to make it more user-friendly and easy to read. But there was nothing to work with on Mary’s blog. No logo. No branding. No clear message.
If she wants to make money from blogging, Mary will need to invest in a decent blog design.
So Can You Make Money From Blogging Or Not?
I haven’t tackled the million dollar question yet so let’s move on to the juicy bit. How can you make money from blogging?
Mary mentioned that she had been ripped off as well.
She told me that she couldn’t afford my professional blog design services and my book because she had spent all her money on an e-course called “Instant Internet Riches Through Blogging.”
I want to let you know that I’ve changed the names (especially Mary and mine) to protect the innocent.
The course had a really long sales page filled with annoying animated arrows and prompts to click.
If you are still not convinced, I also promised to offer (in the form of endless bonus products) $2,500 worth of value for only $200.
Is it just me, or is that impossible? Yes, you can get good deals on good products in sales, but I’ve never seen any classic item reduced by over 90%.
Even in factory outlet stores where designer goods are heavily reduced, it’s only because they’re long out of fashion or they were badly designed and didn’t fit anyone.
But I digress.
You can make money from blogging, but only in the long term. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s no such thing as instant success.
Hopefully, after six to twelve months, you will be able to start making money from blogging.
How You Can Make Money From Blogging?
So you have a good blog design, some great content, and engaged readers? Excellent!
Then you’re ready to make money from blogging, and these are some ways you can do so:
1. By Using Your Blog as a Marketing Tool for Your Existing (Or New) Business Services and Products
I sell my web design, blog design, consultation, and copywriting services indirectly through my blog.
I don’t give them the hard sell, but I have found new clients through my blog—or rather, they’ve found me.
I believe this is the most accessible way for people to make money from blogging, so my blogging advice focuses on helping business owners and writers market their services or products.
It’s the most realistic way to make money from blogging, although you might not be able to track your income directly unless people buy directly from your blog.
2. By Selling Your Own Products
I am selling my blogging ebook. Electronic products like ebooks, video courses, or podcasts are easy to sell online because there’s no shipping involved, but you can also sell other products like t-shirts.
If you have a good readership and people like your blog, you can then create products related to your niche and sell them.
Most blog readers are happy to pay for quality products.
This can bring in an additional income stream, and as your blog grows, you can choose to focus more on that if you wish.
3. By Becoming An Affiliate Reseller for Quality Products
I recommend a handful of products I believe in and know might help my readers, such as the Generatepress WordPress theme.
Make sure you stick to related products you really recommend. Readers come first; money comes second.
Again, this is an additional income stream for me, not a primary source of income.
I like working with people. My core business is web marketing, not retail, and I want to keep it that way.
4. Advertising
I’m experimenting with this at the moment.
It’s not my favourite way to make money from blogging because I prefer to keep my blogs looking clean and attractive, but it’s definitely something I need to look into.
5. Diversify Your Blogging Income
Diversification is the key to success with any financial investment. By diversifying, you cut the risk and can track what works and what doesn’t.
Professional bloggers diversify their blog income by using all of the methods above (and often others, too, such as membership sites) so they can make money from blogging. You should, too.
Are You Just Blogging to Make Money?
I’m not clairvoyant, but if that’s the case, your blog will fail.
By trying to make money from blogging too soon, Mary was killing her blog and losing her reader’s trust.
You have to blog about something you love; you have to be able to sustain that passion and feel it to keep blogging long-term and build a genuine connection with your readers.
You Can Make Money From Blogging, But Not Straight Away
But in the meantime, until you start to make money from blogging, you can enjoy these other benefits blogging has to offer:
- Networking opportunities.
- Confidence building.
- New friendships.
- Writing practice.
- Personal growth.
- Business building.
- Increased focus.
- Improved motivation.
- Opportunity to establish your expertise.
What do you think? Can you make money from blogging? Do you want to? If so, what would be the best way for you to make money from your blog?
Quick Links:
- Tasks New Bloggers Need To Accomplish Before Writing a Word
- Key Elements of Writing Great Headlines
- Types of Blog Posts People Love To Read
- Ultimate List of Blogging Statistics and Facts
Conclusion on Can You Make Money From Blogging in 2024
All in all, making money from blogging is possible. It might not be easy, but it is completely possible.
However, you may need to adjust your expectations and the timeline for when you see actual returns.
Generally speaking, most people wait a few months before they start seeing positive cash flow from their blogs.
You should also invest time in researching the best strategies for monetizing your blog so you can maximize your potential financial return on investment.
With consistency, patience and strategic online marketing, you can create a successful blogging business that earns you money every month!
For anyone looking to make money from blogging, there is no better time than now to get started – so what are you waiting for?
