Make Money with a Blog: Let’s Demystify This

@wanaktek via Twenty20

Is it possible to make money with a blog today? In a time where everyone is talking about making money from social media, blogs seem to be left behind.

But what if I told you that understanding how to make money from a blog is really what can guarantee your long term permanence in the digital environment? Listen closely.

Having a blog is synonymous with owning a home; you can control all your content and monetize it. What I mean by this is that having a social media account is putting your assets (a.k.a your content) inside a home (a.k.a a social network) that doesn’t belong to you.

If you don’t respect the rules that the social network sets, you can see your account deleted and lose access to all your content … as well as your audience.

That’s one of the big reasons I often say that if you have an online business, it’s essential to have a digital presence, not just a social presence.

In this sense, a blog can be your key to this digital presence. And you can still make money from it!

In this article, I’ll explain how you can monetize your content and start making money with a blog.

Table of Contents:

• Do you know who you’re talking to?
• What should be your strategy?
• — “My goal is to make money from my blog”
• — Differential
• — Strong points
• — Needs
• — Channels of Communication
• Choosing the best way to make money with a blog
• — Affiliation
• — Digital Products
• — Services
• — Advertising
• What to keep in mind to make money from a blog
• — Quality
• — Write about what you know… but also about what people are looking for
• — Google can be your best friend
• — Keep direct contact with your readers
• Conclusion

Do you know who you’re talking to?

How is your audience?

First, you have to know who your target audience is. I know, I know… All this just to talk about target audiences?! But I wouldn’t talk about it if it wasn’t essential to build a really strong digital presence and earn money from a blog.

The real monetization of your blog will only work if…

• you know your audience,
• and you publish high-quality content that addresses the issues and needs of your audience.

Therefore, if your goal is to make money from your blog, you should demand exceptional quality from all of your content. So don’t write content that as no value or where you’re just selling something.

Use your blog to add value to the internet. After all, in this time of so much information and digital stimulus, what will make your reader trust your opinion is the quality of what you give them.

What should be your strategy?

Once you’ve defined your target audience and the problems your content will be solving, the next step is to think about:

• your goal
• your differential
• your strengths
• your needs as a digital creator
• and the communication channels that you’ll be using.

“My goal is to make money from my blog”

Saying that you want to make money from your blog is not enough. We all want to make money from a blog… But how much money do you want to make? What are we ready to do to reach this goal?

Identify your goal with these reflections:

• What is the minimum revenue per month that you want to achieve? (How much you want to earn with your blog)
• How much time and effort do you plan to dedicate to your blog?
• When do you want to reach this goal?

Be realistic in setting your goal. For example, maybe it’s not realistic to want $5k per month after just one month of dedicating only one hour per week to your blog.

As an example, with my Portuguese project (Nomadismo Digital Portugal), my goal with the blog alone (not with the digital products that I’ve associated with the project) is to have around 350€ per month with an average dedication of 1-hour per week.

Differential

Once you’ve set your goal, you have to understand how you can highlight your differential.

Be a diamond, be different!

Like you, your readers will be reading a lot of content online. When you create content online, you have to be aware that you will compete with hundreds of other sources of content.

To attract more readers, you need to know what your differential and strengths are. Using them will help your content stand out among so many others.

Identify your strengths. What are you good at?

• Are you good at inspiring people to take action?
• Do you have a natural aptitude for creating good images and illustrations?
• Are you good at bringing people together and creating communities?
• Can you simplify complex processes and concepts?

Knowing what you’re good at will help you choose the best ways to make money from your blog.

Many people spend a lot of time and effort trying to improve things they aren’t good at instead of focusing on things they’re already competent at.

For example, I’m good at inspiring and motivating people in work and entrepreneurship issues, I have digital and digital marketing skills and I can explain topics that are usually presented in complex ways.

Strong points

Once you’ve identified your strengths, the next step will be thinking about the strengths of your blog.

In a blog monetization strategy, it must be adapted continuously. Over time this strategy will evolve with the success that you’ll be achieving.

To reach greater conversion with your content, it’s essential to have a strategy that fits your blog — without thinking too big or too small.

Here are some topics you can use to start this reflection:

• What is your level of influence today? Do you already have “a name” in the market or niche you want to position yourself in?
• Do you already have experience in the topic?
• Do you already have an audience (this can be via social networks)? If so, what’s the number (followers, subscribers, etc.) associated with this audience?
• How broad is the niche audience you want to position yourself in?

If you already have a blog, you can also make yourself these questions:

• What’s the traffic you currently have on your blog?
• What’s the average time a reader stays on your site?
• What are the pages and posts with most of the traffic and reading time?
• Are your readers engaged in the comment sections and do they send you emails?

If you have a blog, knowing these numbers is very important. Having a Google Analytics account is essential to create a strategy that will allow you to make money from a blog.

If you don’t have one yet, create yours now in Google Analytics. If you use WordPress on your blog, you can use a free Google Analytics plugin that installs and configures Analytics on your blog.

Needs

Think about the problems that your audience has

Many bloggers and content creators don’t know what their readers’ primary needs are. However, having this information is not only useful for creating the best content for them, but also for identifying the best opportunities to make money from your blog.

Knowing your readers’ needs will help you identify the best partnerships, brands, advertisings, and monetization opportunities to apply to your blog.

“But Krystel, I don’t know what problems my readers have… I want to create the best content for them, but I don’t know their needs”

Well… there’s no simpler way of knowing this: ask them!

You can use social networks (the stickers and quizzes on Instagram Stories are great for this) or make content on your blog or newsletter where you ask your audience the following questions directly:

• What problem do you have related to insert your niche?
• What do you expect to learn from me?

One thing I realize with my project is that people feel special and grateful when they feel they’re at the center of your concerns.

On my project Nomadismo Digital Portugal, the audience is mainly on a phase of professional dissatisfaction and they are seeking to understand how digital media can be a way to deal with it. I created my work as a remote freelancer and started a digital project from scratch so I have the knowledge, skills, and experience to help my audience do the same.

Channels of Communication

You don’t need to use all the channels you have at your disposal on the internet to start a monetization strategy with your content. It’s important to understand which channels of communication you’re most comfortable working with on a regular basis.

For example, if you’re uncomfortable using Instagram daily, maybe it won’t make sense to invest your time creating daily and/or original content for Instagram.

Note that this is different than not being present: being present in social media is important. But awareness of where you most enjoy being and what you most enjoy doing will help you to direct your energy into things that you enjoy.

Of course, you’ll always have to do some things that you don’t like it so much. But if you’re starting a blog to make money and add value to your life, don’t choose a path where you know most activities will make you unhappy.

Think about the following questions:

• Do you like social networks? If so, which ones?
• Do you like talking to people directly? If yes, in person or online (video, webinars, live video…)?
• What are the values ​​that you will not go against?

For example, I know the importance of social media, but it’s not the kind of channel where I like to invest my energy. I spend some time on social networks just to leave “seeds” of my content and, well, be present. But I prioritize my energy in writing content and producing broader knowledge content such as online courses. I love talking to people and I organize events, webinars and other kinds of community content.

Choosing the best way to make money with a blog

It’s time to identify the best ways to make money with a blog.

While you can only apply one of the ways that I’ll mention, I suggest that you try several methods.

An Italian proverb says that we shouldn’t “put all the eggs in one basket”. And that’s what I mean: Try different approaches to managing not only the risks but also to understand which ones allow you to achieve the greatest results.

So let’s find out what ways you can use to make money from your blog.

Affiliation

Being an affiliate is recommending a product and getting a commission for the sale made with your recommendation.

The price that your reader is paying is the same as if he had discovered the product himself. Since it’s considered an investment in marketing, brands don’t mind investing a portion of the sale value in an affiliate.

Requirements to Make Money with a Blog Using Affiliation Programs

• Traffic: If you have no visitors to your blog, no one will buy the product you’re recommending;
• Influence: You have to have a trustful bond with your reader. He has to trust your opinion and recommendation to make the purchase.

Steps to use affiliation to monetize a blog

• Create good and useful content that places you as a reference and influence in your topic;
• Promote products that you use, know and like. Although you may be affiliated with products you don’t use, this may affect the connection that you have with your readers if the product isn’t good.

One interesting thing about affiliate programs is that they use cookies. If your reader doesn’t buy the product the moment they visit the website for the first time, but returns to the product site later and decides to buy, you can still earn your commission with these cookies.

Make sure you read about the cookies when you subscribe. This may influence the way you communicate the product. If the product has an immediate cookie, requiring the person to buy the product immediately, you’ll have to make a “more aggressive” promotion.

Where to find products to affiliate with?

Many products are subscribed to affiliate networks. In these affiliate networks, you’ll find a lot of different products. I recommend that you visit these sites to get a sense of which products have affiliation possibilities.

You also find affiliation programs individually on some websites that prefer to run their programs internally.

Here are some of the affiliate networks I recommend:

• Hotmart
• Awin (brands like Kiko, eDreams, Logitravel, Etsy, Europcar, Michael Kors, Aliexpress, New Balance, MyProtein, Nike, among others)
• Impact (brands such as NameCheap, Envato Market, Uniplaces, 99designs, Lenovo, Getty Images, among others)
• CJ (brands like 1Password, AccordHotels, Acer, AirFrance, among others)
• ShareASale (brands like Hostelworld, CityPass, Thinkfic, Weebly, Reebok, SheIn, among others)
• ClickBank

Where can I use these affiliation links on my blog?

You can embed and insert your affiliate links in posts but you can also create resource/tool pages. If you get a lot of questions about the tools and products you use, you can create a page about this.

I created a page on my project where I list all the tools, applications, and products that I use in my business.

Digital Products

Creating digital products is a powerful way to earn money with your blog. As you increase your credibility, you are also creating products that are yours, selling them directly and without intermediaries!

I wrote a post about this topic: “Digital product: how to create one?”.

Requirements to make money using digital products on a blog

• Knowledge and experience in a particular subject.
• Credibility: You need to have some credibility on the topic.

What it takes to start creating a digital product

• Time
• Dedication

A lot of people think you need money to create a digital product. But in reality, the two main investments are time and dedication.

However, depending on the format, you may have to invest in some tools. But in general, all digital products can be made for free or with minimal financial investment.

In this article about digital products, I explain the step by step process to create a digital product. But, to resume:

• You should start by identifying the need your readers are willing to pay for;
• You have to create free content that is useful, relevant and valuable to build trust with your readers.
• Once your product is ready and launched, you can sign up for affiliate platforms like ClickBank or Hotmart. That way, other people can be your affiliates and can promote your product in exchange for a commission.

Services

Do you sell services? Are you a freelancer? You can use your blog to sell your services too!

Making money from a blog does not necessarily imply direct monetization. While you can promote products through affiliation, you can also use the blog to promote your work.

Having a blog where you create content about your professional topic is a great way to work on your brand. You can use your blog as a “business card”.

Requirements to use my blog as a freelancer

• Be good at communicating your services;
• Create content that is directly related to your services.

If you want to use your blog to promote your services, you have to create content that appeals to your potential customers. Content needs to talk and/or resolve questions your potential customers have.

For example, if you’re a virtual assistant, you can create a blog with content that explains…

• What is a virtual assistant,
• What is a virtual assistant for,
• What services does a virtual assistant provide,
• How is the process of working with one,
• etc.!

This type of content is content that solves a question or problem and prepares your customers for the purchase of your services.

To encourage action, it’s also important that you create a list of your services.

Advertising

Finally, one of the most used methods but one of the most difficult to earn a good income from it: advertising.

To make money from advertising, you need to have a good amount of traffic on your blog.

Requirements to Make Money with a Blog Using Advertising

• Blog with good traffic;
• Have space available on the blog where you can place advertising.

If you want to use ads on your blog, you have some options:

• Advertising with direct brand partnerships
• Affiliate advertising
• Advertising with AdSense and other advertising platforms

Direct brand partnerships

Working directly with brands means to close a deal with a brand. With that, you can work with the brand on a visual ads deal (put banners on your blog), work on sponsored articles, or other product placement content.

This is a recurring practice on blogs that have a lot of traffic and a lot of followers. To have these kind of deals, you must (1) contact the brand directly or (2) be contacted by one.

In moving forward with such partnerships, you must be protected by a contract!

Affiliate Display

As an affiliate, you’ll often have access to banners and visual elements that you can place on your blog.

These visual elements will be linked to your affiliate link and if someone clicks on that banner or image and buys the product, you can earn your affiliate commission.

Display with AdSense

Finally, you can subscribe to Google AdSense. By being part of Google AdSense, you can place automatic banner ads on your blog. You get paid depending on what visits your blog has and how often these banners are clicked.

What to keep in mind to make money from a blog

Quality

The quality and the value of your content should be your primary concern in everything you do on your blog.

Don’t write only to include affiliate links. Add value to your digital presence and your brand!

Write about what you know… but also about what people are looking for

Before you start producing content, do keyword research to see if there’s demand on that topic.

If several people are searching on Google on this topic, it may be a sign that your content will lead to readings and money.

You can use the free Ubersuggest tool to do this search.

Google can be your best friend

I know that we’re in the midst of a “social media era” but the truth is: when we need something, we go to Google. If we have an urgent need, the search engine is where we turn to solve our problem.

If your content is well-indexed, useful, relevant, and solves a person’s problem, it will appear as the suggested result of your search.

Organic traffic is a way of getting readers if you don’t want to invest a lot of time on social networks.

Appearing on the first page of results on Google results is a science. If you’re interested in learning more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which stands for the techniques implemented to properly index search engine content, send me a message — it’s one of my core services as a freelancer.

Keep direct contact with your readers

You can get a lot of traffic on your blog. You can have a lot of followers on your social networks. But if you don’t have direct contact with your readers, these numbers mean nothing!

The real value of your blog is in your email list. You can create this mailing list using MailChimp which has a great free plan or by betting on more professional tools like ConvertKit.

Then be sure to keep regular contact with your mailing list so that it’ll continue to be nourished with your content and knowledge.

Conclusion

Each of the monetization methods requires work at different levels.

However, they are all related to the belief that you should treat your reader with respect — by creating quality content.

I believe the secret to long term success on the internet is trust.

I don’t mind if a blogger or a content creator sells to me or promotes products if, in everything he does, I take some value.

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. I may have missed some points, but I believe it’s still quite comprehensive.

However, tell me in the comments if you have any questions and if you liked this article. Feel free to share it with others who are curious about how they can make money from a blog.