There are three avenues to make money with blogs. Essentially you will be able to sell advertisement space, recommend products and services on Posts, and recommend products and services on Emails.
All of them start with writing valuable content. The goal of the blog is to get viewers. When you have viewers you are able to offer products and services that help your viewers.
It may be better to use verbiage about recommending products instead of selling, but that is essentially what you are doing.
Read: 200 Different Niches You can Build a Business Around
Table of Contents
1. Advertisements from a Network
A network is really convenient. You only need to set it up once and then they will keep on sending you money for your traffic.
Check Google AdSense, Ezoic, MediaVine, and AdThrive. Each has limits on who they will allow to be on their platform and certain requirements. Their ad revenue rates are also different.
Google AdSense has the lowest return for the views, but it’s very popular because everyone knows Google. Ezoic tends to slow your pages down, but you can start it with a lower view count.
MediaVine and AdThrive have larger returns but you need a sizeable amount of views before they even consider your website.
2. Advertisements Directly From a Company
This is a little bit more work. You will have to set up the ads on your website. If they are a bigger company, they may work with you especially if they are already spending money on Google Ads. You can send an email or give them a call.
At times, they might reach out to your directly. This can result in higher payouts than a network, but it’s a lot more work to negotiate with the company. If they back out, you will need to find another company to replace their spot.
Read: Blogging as a Side Hustle
3. Selling Your Product or Service Embedded in the Post
Selling your own product or service can be a great benefit for your viewers. If you have something created, you can offer it to people. If it’s a digital product it’s pure profit.
If it’s a physical product, it’s still better than paying Amazon or some other person a part of your profits. If you are able to, you should sell it right from your post.
Recommending Products on a Recommended Page
I recommend that you put things that you can recommend on a post. If you create a document, you can write down all the affiliate products and services, that you can recommend.
If you don’t have a product or service, you can recommend another post.
Read: 200 Different Niches You can Build a Business Around
4. Online Course in a Post
You can recommend an online course. This can be something that you created or something someone else created. You can leverage the expertise of other people when you are recommending a product.
I have a course that I recommend as well. My course is on building a land investing business. Essentially, you buy land and sell it for a quick cash profit or for owner finance.
The way I sell my course is by giving people a video tutorial through a webinar. Once they see that the course is good, they can purchase it if they want to.
5. Consulting Services in a Post
Consulting can be something that you give out to people after they join some course, software, or service.
EXP Realty has recruited a lot of coaches using this model. If you join EXP as a Realtor, you get a piece of their commission and the commission of anyone they recruit. The real estate coaches are able to recruit clients and train them for “free.” They get paid when their students do really well.
This works well with software as well especially if it’s a recurring model. You can train people to use a certain software for their business. If you recommend people to a product, you can get a commission for your services. This is essentially affiliate marketing.
6. Physical Products in a Post
The most popular way to recommend physical products is by using the Amazon Affiliate Program.
You can recommend physical products that your clients can use. This can be on a post or a page. I would actually put a recommended list of products and services right on the page.
7. Capture Their Emails In Order To Sell A Product or Service Embedded in an Email
If you are recommending a product or a service, I would make sure that you are getting a sizeable profit for it.
At some point you want to be able to sell your product or service. Offer value and offer value when you are selling your product or service.
Recommending in an Email
Collecting Emails is vital for any blog. A lot of marketers believe that email is the lifeblood of a business. If something happens on your platform, you are able to guide them to a new one.
If you are looking to sell or recommend something, you can send it right to them with an email. Email is way to increase viewership and offer great products and services.
8. Online Course in an Email
You can create an automation. If you are recommending an online course, you can give an introduction before you send them to their lead capture page.
Create a chain of emails that you build up trust. Try to answer any objections and pitch the online course.
You can use a platform like Thinkific, Teachable, or Thrive Apprentice to host your online courses. I’ve personally used Thrive Apprentice. It’s good if you need an blog and want to put it all in one place.
9. Consulting Services in an Email
Offer consulting around a problem. If you are offering an online product, you can offer consulting services to enhance your offering.
If you create a retainer model, this can become a recurring stream of revenue for you. Essentially, you can be a kind of coach for people for a product or service.
You can send them to a post that talks about consulting as an option. Another option is to send them to a webinar or do an offer stack. An offer stack is just multiple products and/or services for a price. It increases the value of your offer.
If you have some expertise, there are people willing to pay a lot of money to get your advice.
10. Physical Products in an Email
You can send a description about a physical product. Have a link that connects to a page talking more about the product or to the checkout page.
This is a great option as well for discounts or bulk offerings. A lot of people sign up to get these exclusive offers. If you have some kind of obvious physical product, it can be a good way to get sales.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What type of blog should I create?
Decide on a niche that you care about. Check books, recent purchases, and expertise to help you with your niche.
I created an article that goes over a multitude of niches to help you get started: 200 Different Niches You Can Build a Business Around.
What should my first step be in creating a blog?
You will need web hosting. Bluehost allows you to create a domain and webhosting on the same platform. They will sync you up with WordPress, so you can write your articles.
How much money can I make with blogging?
You can make thousands of dollars from ad revenue, online courses, and consulting. You can make a full time living from this business and more.
