Are you running a blog but you don’t make money from your blog because you don’t know how to monetize your blog?
Then learn how to monetize a blog and you will start making money in no time.
In this article, i will show you the different strategies and methods bloggers use to monetize their blogs.
P.S. If you don’t have a blog, read my step-by-step guide on how to start a blog.
Despite blogging for many years, some bloggers have not progressed.
Do you know the reason why? Because they have not learned and mastered the basic skills needed to succeed in blogging.
So how can such bloggers succeed? Simple! Let the bloggers improve in the following key areas:
- Niche. Find a profitable niche.
- Content creation. Create excellent content.
- Marketing. Employ different ways to drive organic traffic to your blog.
- Monetization. Use a variety of strategies to monetize your blog.
Strategies To Monetize a Blog
Different bloggers use different methods to monetize a blog. Do you why this is the case? Because the method of monetization you choose should suit your site.
As an affiliate marker, ensure that the structure of your site is ideal for the strategy or method you are using. However, bloggers must use different strategies to monetize their blogs.
Here are some of the profitable ways to monetize a blog:
1. Make money from affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is an act of recommending other people’s products or services. There are so many affiliate programs to join depending on your niche.
For example, bloggers who teach people how to start blogs can join a Bluehost affiliate program.
If you want to access a host of affiliate programs from one place, you will have to join an affiliate network. An affiliate network offers several affiliate programs in one place.
You can find a huge list of products or programs to promote from affiliate networks such as:
- ShareASale (This is my best pick).
- Amazon
- Commission Junction
In affiliate marketing, you promote the products of other people or companies and earn a commission for every sale attributed to you.
Affiliate marketers are salesmen and women. Therefore, they work the same way as most salespeople. They help promote and sell a company’s product and earn a commission when someone buys.
Here’s how it works:
Before you monetize your blog, ensure that you have:
- A profitable niche.
- The affiliate product you are promoting is profitable.
- An audience with a potential budget for the products you will promote.
2. Show Google AdSense on your blog
Google AdSense is another great way to monetize a blog. You have to apply to Google. Then Google will review your website. If it meets Google standards, then Google will approve your application.
How you will make money from Google Adsense.
Sometimes you will be paid when a reader clicks on the ad. This mode is called cost per click (CPC). So whenever a visitor clicks on the ad, you will be paid a fixed amount of money which is set by the advertiser.
Another way bloggers earn money from Google AdSense is through cost per thousand impressions (CPM) where the M stands for 1000. With CPM ads, you are paid for ad views and not clicks.
Google Adsense is a good way to start earning money online if you are a beginner blogger.
2. Write ebooks and sell them
Selling ebooks is one of the most popular ways bloggers choose to monetize a blog. However, this is ideal for bloggers who have been blogging for a while.
The amount of money you will make largely depends on your knowledge and authority in the niche. Writing and selling ebooks is the fastest way you can use to monetize your blog.
Why? Because it doesn’t require applying for approval before writing.
So as soon as you have reasonable traffic on your, write one and try to sell it.
Is it difficult to write an ebook?
Most people think that writing an ebook is very difficult. But it is not as difficult as you think.
Why is not difficult? Because you can make an ebook from your existing blog posts.
Therefore, writing is only difficult for beginner bloggers who do not have a lot of blog posts on their blogs. So if you have been blogging for a while, choose some of your best blog posts and create an ebook.
Is it expensive to produce an ebook?
With the advancement of science and technology, writing an ebook is easier than before. You can produce an ebook at no cost.
Have you ever heard of Canva? Well, you can create an ebook for free using Canva. Start from the cover-up to the content.
First, write the contents of your ebook and then design a cover. Then convert your ebook content into PDF. The PDF eBook can then be sold on your WordPress blog with the help of a plugin.
The best plugin I recommend for selling digital products on blogs is Easy Digital Downloads. It is easy to use and has all the features you need to sell your digital products.
Where can I sell my ebook?
Sell your ebook on your blog or on other platforms like Podia. You can publish your ebook on Amazon Kindle. They take 30% of the money realized from the sale of an ebook.
But it is important to sell on Amazon Kindle because if you sell a lot of books, you will gain an iconic status which is likely to attract organic traffic to your website.
4. Create Online Courses and sell them
This is another great way to monetize your blog. However, this is ideal for bloggers who have been blogging for a while.
Courses require extra effort. Because they are not like ebooks whose effort only ends at publication. Courses need support.
There are two important support systems namely:
- Premium version with support and
- Basic version without support
Choose the system which is suitable for your situation. Then analyze carefully the different learning management systems (LMS) for selling your course to your readers.
I recommend you LearnDash with MemberPres.
5. Start offering freelance services
One of the easiest ways to monetize your blog is to become a freelance writer for high-traffic blogs in your niche.
What is a freelance service?
A freelance service is a service a person renders on a contract basis. If you have been blogging for a while and started collecting emails right from day one, am sure you have a good number of subscribers in your email list.
In addition to that, you are now an authority in your niche since you have been blogging for a while. Along your blogging journey, you have acquired a lot of experience and knowledge.
To this effect, offer your knowledge and experience in exchange for money. This freelancing is a great way to monetize your blog. It doesn’t require investments of money.
To succeed in this regard, you need to have a reliable way of how you are going to be paid by the people that you will be working for. First, find out the freelance services that people need.
Once everything is put in place, you need to set up a payment method that will help you get paid. There are so many WordPress plugins that can do this job very well.
The WordPress plugin I recommend is the invoicing plugin called Free books.
Make money blogging as a freelancer. For a start, you can just start offering your services to your current audience.
6. Become an online coach
There is an old adage that goes: “knowledge is power.” Indeed knowledge is power. If you have knowledge of your blog niche, then start offering coaching services.
Start an online coaching business on your website or blog that will be offering to coach people. A host of coaching services can be offered.
The coaching services may range from offering advice, and guidance, to setting up goals and improving one’s life. Whatever your area of expertise is, you will offer one-on-one help to your audience with coaching sessions.
It will be important for you to set up a booking form so that readers can schedule consultation sessions from your blog. You will need to install and activate an appointment plugin.
7. Start your online consulting business
A consulting online business is another great way of making money from a blog. The visitors to your blog visit your site to look for different solutions to the challenges they’re experiencing.
Offer practical solutions to the challenges people encounter in their lives. You don’t need a huge investment of money for you to set up a consulting company on a WordPress blog or website.
All you need is to create a page with a form so that users can request more information.
If you want to create a successful and professional, mobile-friendly form, I recommend WPForms. It is my #1 form builder.
8. Sell WordPress Themes
Website developers and designers have the potential to make an of money online. More than ever before, websites or blogs are on the increase. If you are well versed in coding, try to create great WordPress themes and sell them.
Of course, it is sounding easy but you need to have a lot of technical skills. To realize money from the themes, you need to create stunning and responsive themes.
To learn how to code for WordPress and create themes for sale.
9. Sell physical products online
If you have physical products like T-shirts, trousers, caps, and shorts, then start selling your products online.
Once you start selling your premium themes, you can either sell them on your WordPress website or on some marketplace such as MOJO Marketplace
You will need plugins that are specifically designed for creating online stores.
The #1 plugin I recommend for creating online stores is Woocommerce.
10. Develop WordPress Plugins
If you are a WordPress developer start thinking of how to create Plugins. Plugins are crucial in WordPress. If you understand how plugins to function, then you can develop some WordPress plugins that you can sell.
However, for you to develop WordPress plugins successfully, you will need to have PHP knowledge. When people use them and they discover that your WordPress plugins are very useful, they will start looking for your premium plugins.
If you selling the plugins on your WordPress website, you can sell them using a simple but efficient plugin known as Easy Digital Downloads.
11. Create graphics on your site and sell them
The future of content creators looks bright. Great content which is accompanied by graphics goes a long way in conveying a message accurately and faster.
Hence, if you have the expertise to create eye-catching graphics that explain the content with simplicity, then do not hesitate to create a website that will sell graphics.
Create graphics like stock images or logos and sell them on your site with the help of an eCommerce plugin. You can also join and make use of online marketplaces to sell your graphics too.
Graphics are in demand today more than before. This will be a great way to make money from your blog. There are millions of bloggers in tens of thousands of locations globally.
All these bloggers who create content on a daily basis need photos for their blog posts. So the demand for graphics is huge. Design great graphics and sell them on your blog to make money.
12. Earn money by flipping your website
In this day and age, smart people have resorted to working online to earn incomes to sustain their families. So everyone wants to create a website or blog for their online business.
Therefore, flipping websites can be a great way to make money online. What then is flipping websites? Flipping a website is an act of selling an already established website.
If you know how to create a website, then you have the potential to make money. Some people who want to create websites or blogs do not know how to go about it.
So they may decide to purchase a website that is already established. Thus be in the business of creating blogs, getting reasonable traffic to them, and selling them online.
This is a lucrative business. If you are planning to venture into this business, then you will do well to visit a website like Flippa. It serves as an auction site.
Final Thoughts
The best ways to monetize a blog include affiliate marketing, Google Adsense, selling online courses, selling digital products, selling ebooks, offering online consulting and coaching services, selling themes and plugins, and flipping websites. Monetize your blog to start earning money.