Monetizing a blog is not something that happens overnight. It takes time, effort, and dedication to create a successful blog and monetize it.
However, if you’re passionate about blogging, it doesn’t have to be a challenging task. Instead, monetizing your blog can be rewarding and lead to new opportunities.
To help you get started on the right track and achieve success with your blog, we’ve outlined some useful tips for monetizing a blog as a business.
We’ll start by looking at blog monetization requirements. Let’s dive in!
Find Your Blogging Niche
The first step toward monetizing your blog is finding your blogging niche. A blogging niche is a specific topic related to your industry or profession that you will be blogging about.
To determine what your blogging niche should be, you can use a few different methods. They include:
#1 Your industry or profession.
#2 What are people looking for when they visit your industry blogs?
#3 What are their pain points?
Let’s say it's SEO, you can consider questions like, are they looking for on-page SEO, Content writing strategies, or Technical SEO among others?
If you’re having trouble narrowing down your niche, you may need to look outside of your industry.
Once you’ve found your blogging niche, it’s time to start blogging and creating content.
The next section will highlight another consideration that you should not overlook.
Build Your Brand Before Monetizing-By Understanding Your Target Audience and Choosing The Right Platform
Building your brand before you start monetizing your blog will help you in the long run and make it easier to monetize your blog.
When it comes to branding your blog, there are two important things you’ll want to focus on:
#1 Name - Your name should be short and easy to remember, but it should also be relevant to your industry and niche.
#2 Brand Design - Your design is another important aspect of branding. It should be professional, easy to read, and memorable.
If you are designing your blog layout yourself, keep these things in mind.
Next, you’ll want to understand the needs of your target audience. If you don’t already have an idea of your target audience, you can do some research to help you determine your niche’s target audience.
Once you know who you’re blogging for and what they’re looking for, you can choose the right platform for your blog.
You should choose a platform that is easy to use, requires little to no technical skills, and gives you enough space to grow and diversify your blog.
In the next section, you’ll get some of the immutable principles that you should “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” —not literally!
Five Laws Of Blogging You Need To Be Aware of Before Starting
Once you’ve decided to monetize your blog, it’s time to follow the “Five Laws of Blogging,” as outlined by Michael Hyatt.
Being aware that blogging is a long-term commitment, these laws will keep you succesful.
#1 Focus - Don't try to be everywhere at once. You'll discover that straying off topic will cause you to lose your primary audience.
#2 Quality Content - Quality over quantity. The key to a successful blog is to create quality content. The quantity won’t matter if your content isn’t good.
#3 Relevance - Stay relevant to your niche and industry. You’ll have a better chance of building a strong, engaged following if you’re providing value and helpful information to your readers.
#4 Authority - Authority is a sign of trust, and trust is what will help you monetize your blog. You can increase your authority by publishing great content and linking out to other high-quality sources.
#6 Consistency - If you want to grow your blog, you need to be consistent with your publishing schedule. Publishing posts a couple of times per week is a great place to start.
You will realize even before we go on, being a blogger and monetizing your blogging will be easier if you follow the above requisites.
In the next section, we’ll look at 15 supreme tips that can get you started—the last 3 will completely transform your business.
15 Tips You Can Use to Turn Your Blog Into a Business
1. Be Easy To Find
Once you’ve published a few posts and you're making progress towards monetizing your blog, it’s important that your blog content is easy to find.
This will help you gain more readers and grow your blog. You can make your blog more discoverable by using relevant keywords and including them in your blog’s title, description, and images.
You should also make sure your blog has an XML sitemap so it can be easily discovered by search engine bots and crawlers. Additionally, you can use an SEO plugin to make your blog easier to find.
Once you’ve made it easier for your blog to be discovered, you can start earning revenue and building a business around your blog.
2. Monetize Your Blog Through Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is, perhaps, the most obvious way to monetize your blog, but it’s also one of the most effective.
You can promote products that you like and recommend to your readers, receiving a percentage of the sales generated from your readers’ purchases of those products or services.
You can choose from a wide range of products, from Amazon products to digital products from other websites.
You can also choose freelancing services (on affiliate from Legiit) that will appeal to your specific niche, so you can focus on a specific group of people—and earn a 15% commission.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when pursuing affiliate marketing as a method of monetization.
Pros
- First, make sure you understand exactly how the program works. Different affiliate programs will have different rules and regulations.
Cons
- You earn a smaller amount per sale since you’re only receiving a commission from the sale.
- You may have to pay a monthly fee to join an affiliate network, which can be a potential setback.
Affiliate marketing is best if you have a large amount of traffic on your blog, so focus on growing your blog traffic, community and network.
3. Publish Guest Posts and Reviews
If you’re trying to make some money from your blog, you can monetize it by accepting guest posts. You can offer to publish guest posts on your blog and get paid the author fee.
Many authors, especially those just starting out, will be more than happy to take you up on this offer, and you can make some money off their content. You can also monetize your blog by reviewing products that you’ve purchased.
If you’ve bought a new Laptop or mug, for example, you could write a review of it, and then you can include a link to where you purchased it from. You can then link to the supplier’s website through a referral link and get paid a commission for each sale that you help generate.
What are some of the pros and cons of this option?
Pros
#1 Earn extra revenue
#2 Fresh content in your blog
#3 Gain more publicity
#4 No more hassles with hosting ads on the blog
Cons
#1 Lengthy negotiations about a topic, length, and compensation fees.
4. Sell Both Digital and Physical Products To Your Audience
Depending on your blog’s niche, you could sell physical products to your audience. For example, if you blog about gardening or cooking, you could sell books that are related to these topics.
However, if you’re running a fashion or beauty blog, you could sell beauty products like skincare products. You can also sell your own branded merchandise, such as t-shirts and mugs with your blog’s logo on them.
You could also sell your own books. If you’re able to write an ebook that your audience would find useful, you could potentially make some good money from the royalties.
Now let’s look at some of the pros and cons;
Pros
#1 More money from blogging
#2 More substance in the eyeballs of your audience
Cons
#1 Each product you sell goes through a long process of approval and paying taxes.
If you have the time and are up for the challenge of working through a lengthy approval process, selling products on your blog can be a great way to make extra income.
5. Monetize Your Blog By Offering Membership-Only Content
Many bloggers make money from their blogs through a membership program. Once someone subscribes to your blog, you can offer them access to exclusive content, only available to members, as well as other benefits.
You can also use a membership program to secure more consistent revenue by charging monthly or yearly subscription fees.
If you write once or twice a week, this can be a good way to ensure that your revenue remains consistent throughout the year.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re considering starting a membership program;
#1 Don’t put your members with an overly long wait for new content.
#2 Provide value for their money
#3 Don’t make your membership plans complicated.
6. Establish a private forum
You can develop a paid-access forum on your website as an alternative to making the whole thing a membership site.
A forum is essentially a page on your website where users may interact and discuss a variety of issues while also seeking your individual counsel.
A forum is a fantastic method to boost interaction and create a community around your site.
By using a WordPress forum plugin, you can quickly set up a private forum on your website.
7. How To Monetize Your Blog with AdSense
Another way to monetize your blog is with Google AdSense. You can sign up to be an AdSense publisher, and they will give you a code that you can add to your blog.
When your readers click on the ads, Google will pay you a portion of the revenue generated from those clicks.
Depending on your blog’s niche, you may also be able to monetize with network ads. Network ads are ads for other companies' products and services that appear on your blog.
You can sign up to be an affiliate and earn a commission from these ads each time one of your readers clicks on them and completes a purchase.
8. Sell Ad Space Directly
If you’re interested in directly selling ad space, you can reach out to potential advertisers and let them know that you’re having an ad space for sale.
You can also put a disclaimer on your blog that you’re open to selling ad space, which can help you to find advertisers.
Before you start selling ad space, make sure you understand the FTC guidelines for blogging. Bloggers must disclose any relationships they have with advertisers and must not write false or misleading content.
If you want to sell ad space, you can also put an ad on your blog that includes your blog and goals, and contact information, letting advertisers know how to reach you.
Different ad networks and their requirements
When you’re first starting out, it’s a good idea to try out a few different ad networks to see which one is a good fit for your blog.
Some ad networks require you to have a certain amount of traffic, while others do not. Be sure to research ad networks to find out their requirements and what type of ads you can expect to see on your blog.
Ad networks often allow you to select the types of ads that you want to be displayed on your blog. You can select which networks and advertisers you want to work with and which categories of ads are allowed.
You can also set up filters, so those specific ads are not allowed on your blog.
9. Start a Podcast or, Paid Webinar and Other Virtual Summits
Another way to monetize your blog is by holding live events and inviting your readers to attend.
You can hold virtual summits where you invite experts to come and speak to your readers and charge a fee to attend.
You could also start a podcast, which is an audio or video blog that you can record and publish to your blog.
You can also sell products, such as a report, from the event.
10. Accept Donations
Depending on your blog’s niche, you could also choose to accept donations from your readers.
If your blog is about a specific cause, you could encourage your readers to donate money to your cause. This can be a great way to monetize your blog and take advantage of your readers’ generosity.
Before you choose to accept donations, make sure that you’re in a position to do so. You don’t want to put your blog in a bad position by accepting donations that could lead to legal trouble or affect your reputation.
Make sure you know your state’s laws surrounding accepting donations and check with your blog host to see if they have rules about accepting donations.
11. Secure Sponsorship
If you want to monetize your blog with sponsorships, you can approach potential advertisers and offer them a sponsorship opportunity on your blog.
This can help you to secure a regular income from a single sponsor, and it can make it easier for advertisers to reach out to your readers.
For instance, if you land a deal with betting sites or sports channels like Supersport you will be hitting the road running with success.
When you approach potential advertisers about sponsoring your blog, make sure you have a plan for how their ads will appear on your site.
You can let the advertiser know that you’ll place their ads in a specific section of your blog or you can let them know that you have complete creative control over where and how their ads appear on your site.
Before you approach potential advertisers, make sure you understand the FTC rules for blogging and make sure your blog meets their standards.
12. Sponsored links
Another way to monetize your blog is to sell sponsored links. This is when you let an advertiser pay to have a link placed on your blog.
When readers click on the link, they are taken to the advertiser’s website. In return for the link, you are paid a fee by the advertiser. While this option is easy, quick, and effective, it can also be risky.
If you don’t choose the right advertisers, you could damage your reputation and lose readers. However, if you choose the right advertisers, selling sponsored links can earn you a decent amount of money each month.
13. Selling Your Freelancing services
In this section, you need to now pay attention to detail like never before—remember the promise?
Another way to monetize your blog is to sell your freelance services. If you have experience in a particular field, you can reach out to potential employers, create a portfolio of your past work, and offer to complete projects.
If you have a skill that is in demand, freelancing is a great way to make money from home.
Do you have a talent for graphic design? Startups that require infographics or logo design may be able to hire you on a freelance basis.
To find a freelance job, you can use freelancing websites like Legiit to make money.
Many people don’t actually know this, but Legiit is more than just a freelancing site, it is a community that allows you to determine your own worth starting at 5$ and above.
Additionally, you get an opportunity to interact with like-minded professionals that boost your skills, confidence level, and ability to network and partner.
There are literally hundreds to thousands of people who’ve earned six figures by selling their freelancing services on Legiit and you too would be on your step in the right direction.
A breath of fresh air now, isn’t it?
14. Sell Courses and Training
Another way to monetize your blog is to create and sell courses and training.
If you have a particular skill that you’re knowledgeable in, you can write a course or create a training to sell to your readers.
Once you’ve created your course, you can host it on your blog, or sell it through legiit.
FYI, this new feature by legiit allows you to make money in three ways, first by meeting professionals and freelancers in blogging, selling your freelancing services, and now selling your courses. Interesting right, huh?
So, in order to sell your courses, you’ll need to create a product that is high quality and worth the money.
Additionally, you’ll need to promote your product on your blog to draw attention to it or on the Legiit platform (will look at this in a few).
15. Bonus Tip: Build an Email List For Long Term Marketing Goals
While you’re building your blog and monetizing it, it’s important not to lose sight of your long-term goals.
At some point, you’ll want to stop relying on ads to make money from your blog, and that’s when email marketing comes into play.
To create a successful email marketing campaign, you’ll want to start building your email list early.
You can do this by including a sign-up form in the sidebar of your blog. This way, every reader who visits your blog has the option to sign up to receive emails with content that is exclusive to email subscribers.
By having an email list, you’ll be able to reach out to your readers with new content, products, and deals. You’ll also be able to send them survey questions, polls, and exclusive giveaways that are only available to people on your email list.
From Promoting Your Blog To Monetizing It: Exclusive Hacks
If you follow the above tips to the latter, your journey to blogging and earning money with from it will be part of your daily life.
Now, whether you choose to use either of the above tips or a combination of all of them, it is time to get focused and promote it like a pro.
We hinted earlier that in this text you will find an exclusive hack that will get you started—and you are already feeling nervous. This is the right moment to discuss step by step on how to use the Legiit freelancing platform to your own benefit.
First, you need to sign up for a free account with Legiit—it's very easy. Legiit also enables the hosting and selling of services and sometimes free consultations with professionals in the SuperstarSEO.
Next, you pick the right niche (maybe related to your area of blogging) or other and create a service that you will be selling. Be it a training course or just a service.
To attract new customers and locate your prospective audience, you may also post in the Legiit Facebook Group.
And there you go, just remember in case you need help, you can contact a support team here.
Conclusion
Monetizing a blog is something that can be extremely beneficial to bloggers who are looking to make money from their passion.
There are many different ways to monetize a blog including affiliate marketing, product sales, and freelance services.
It will take time and effort to make your blog profitable, but it’s definitely worth it. Now that you know how to monetize a blog, it’s time to start making some money from your passion.
Start by assessing your current situation and figuring out what you need to do to succeed. From there, you can begin to implement these tips and monetize your blog.
With hard work, determination, and passion, you can turn your blog into a profitable business. All the best!
How To Monetize a Blog: Frequently Asked Questions
Can you monetize a free blog?
Yes, you can monetize a free blog. However, if you choose to monetize your free blog, then you’re not a blog owner anymore — you’re a publisher. Instead, you’re earning revenue from advertising and sponsors.
How quickly can you monetize a blog?
First, you need to focus on creating the best blog you can before you start thinking about how you’ll monetize it. By creating a quality blog, you’re setting yourself up for long-term success.
How many views do I need to monetize my blog?
You don’t need a certain number of views to monetize your blog. Instead, you need to have a profitable blog.
How do I monetize my blog in 2022?
You are not late if you’re just starting out today, we still have a few months ahead, if you follow the above guidelines, yes you can!
How long does it take to make $500 per month blogging?
It depends on what type of blog you have and your efforts. If you’re blogging about sports, then you might make $500 a month sooner than someone who blogs about knitting.
