How To Make Money From Blogging: A Quick Tutorial

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

Updated 3.21.24

Potential bloggers, new bloggers, and seasoned bloggers alike want to know how to make money from blogging.

The short answer is this: write quality content. Add it regularly to your site. Build traffic. Then choose options from three different big-picture ways to make money from blogging. Implement those income streams and start making money from your blog. 

Repeat.

But before we dig into all of that, the first question to answer is …

How do bloggers make money?

Here’s a surprise for many who want to solve the Big Money-Making Blog Mystery: bloggers don’t make money from writing posts. Bloggers make money by selling products or services. The blog post is a sales vehicle. 

Naturally, this may make plenty of would-be bloggers squeamish. Put me in that camp. I don’t want to “sell.” And I don’t want to think of pages on my site as simply long-form ads.

But let’s stop for a minute and think this through from the viewpoint of you as a reader. Why might a blog post lead you to buy something? Likely, the content on the post showed you how to answer a question or solve a problem. The post moved you to take the next step. The next step required you to buy something.

That’s what happens on your blog, too. As readers come to your site, they get information to solve their problem or answer their question. They’ll also see products and services on your site that help them reach their goals. So they purchase those products and services. And you make money.

The way you make money from your blog doesn’t begin with selling. It begins with providing quality content for readers. Lots of it. Consistently.

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What are some different ways to make money from blogging?

There are 3 big-picture ways to monetize a blog or website. Within those big-picture categories are at least 16 specific income streams you can put into place to make money from blogging.

1. Sell other people’s products. You can (1) sell ads through a network, such as Mediavine. Or you can (2) sell ads directly to a private business. You can also become an affiliate partner by offering products on your site through (3) Amazon Affiliates, (3) Google AdSense, or through an ad network like (4) Rakuten Marketing or (5) Share A Sale. Affiliate sales earn you a percentage of what the consumer spends.
2. Sell your own products. (6) Books, (7) eBooks, (8) online courses, (9) paid webinars, (10) membership into a special area of your site, (11) printables – all of these products earn you direct income. You can also (12) get other people to sell your products by becoming an affiliate and paying other bloggers or biz owners a percentage every time they sell one of your products. And you can (13) sell space on your blog for sponsored posts. You own your blog, right? That means it’s your product and your space to sell.
3. Sell your services. If you’re in business – whether you’re a dentist or insurance broker or graphic designer – you can (14) use your site as an online calling card to generate sales for your professional services. You can also sell your services as a (15) coach or (16) consultant through your site.

Combined together, these money-making opportunities can create a significant income stream from your blog.

How do beginner bloggers make money?

The quickest and easiest way for beginner bloggers to make money is through affiliate links. It’s simple to set up an Amazon Associates account or a Google AdSense account. And those vendors don’t require minimum traffic to your blog, so it’s a good fit for beginning bloggers. 

But before you jump onto your latest post and begin plastering links up and down the page, allow at least six months for search engines to start noticing your site. Otherwise, they’ll think you’re in the blogging business for some quick cash.

Plus, six months will give you plenty of time to build a solid stable of posts … at least thirty. If you’ve got less than that, then wait to accumulate more content before you monetize your blog. Search engines want to know your blog has some substance or they will send up big flags attached to your domain name. 

The truth of the matter is that making money from a blog is a long-term proposition. Let me explain further.

Is it easy to make money from blogging?

Yes and no.

Yes, it is easy to make money from blogging because anyone can do it. The internet is available for all takers who are willing to do the work. Provide good information to readers online about any topic (yes, literally any) and you can make money from blogging.

But is it easy to make money from blogging if you expect to do so quickly? No.

Blogging for money is a long game. The internet is getting crowded. You’ll have to do some work to get your site noticed and you have to build substantial content. That means identifying what makes your blog unique from other websites and blogs … searching for keywords that are appropriate to your topic and your audience … consistently writing quality content.

But blogging is a terrific side hustle that can gradually turn into a full-time gig if you work at it steadily. As you add new pages regularly and optimize them with keywords that readers search for, more readers find you. 

Do that and you’ll build a site that readers love. They will trust you. Over time, the search engines start to recognize your site as an authority. Your site will gain traffic.

When your fans cheer for your content, then it becomes easier to make money from blogging because you have a following in your niche. Build your blog and your income from it grows, too.

What types of blogs make money?

Any. Many. All. Write quality content, build traffic, and you will have readers who become consumers. 

Having said that, certain types of blogs are more conducive to making money than others. 

Travel blogs, for instance, don’t simply give readers information about places to visit. Travel blogs offer ideas about where to stay at those destinations … restaurants to eat in … activities that are “must-do” at those locations. All those tips and reviews and ideas can come with affiliate links that earn cash for the blogger.

Consumer blogs and niche blogs are another money-maker. Debbie Gartner, The Flooring Girl, blogs about hardwood flooring, painting and home decor. She makes $20,000 a month from her blog. Copywriter Nick Usborne started his Coffee Detective site as a hobby. The site regularly pulls in $4,000 or more a month and Nick has since created a course to teach writers like you and me how to build a money-making information site. (Learn more about How to Write Money-Making Websites.)

What types of blogs make money? More money-making niches include health and fitness, finance, technology, and business/marketing.

How to make money from blogging

But the best types of blogs to make money are those in a niche that you love. (Here's a post that explains "What is a Niche Site?")

If you’re passionate about a topic, you are excited to share about it with readers. You won’t dread writing yet another post about it. When readers post questions or comments, you’re thrilled to respond. New products? New services? You follow the trends, so you’re already aware of what is happening in the industry.

So to answer the question, "How to make money from blogging?" ... there’s no better way to  than by creating a content-rich money-making website on a topic you love. Wait to monetize your blog until you’ve got a solid structure and more than a couple dozen pages. Continue to add to it regularly.

You’ll know it’s time to start making money from your blog because readers will start asking you for more information, products, and services.

And you’ll jump at the chance to give it to them.

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