How to make money from blogging

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Want to know how to make money through blogging?

A few years ago, I realized that a lot of bloggers with personal websites were making money, some even making huge numbers! Many of them seemed very ordinary, just like you and me. So, how exactly do they do it? Can you make money from blogging too?

Three steps to making money through blogging

Create a blog and then create quality content related to the topic to build their authority.
Select and implement revenue streams relevant to your topic.
Stay engaged with others online and keep your blog top of mind.
When others are looking for relevant topics online, you need to make your blog their go-to resource. If they visit and seek your advice, then you can make money from all kinds of income.

How to make money with a personal blog

The most successful bloggers use their blogs as hubs (or online bases) and then build a variety of revenue streams from there.

It's important to use your blog as a hub where you can control all the information and attract a significant number of new visitors every day through them. These sources of income include ad placement, affiliate marketing, selling digital/physical products, offering online services, etc., which I will describe in detail below.

You can make money directly through your personal blog, plus indirectly through related opportunities for other income, and the trickle from multiple streams adds up to a huge river of wealth.

How much money can a personal blog make

It varies greatly from blogger to blogger, with some making millions of dollars (or more) a year, but people like me only make a full-time income that most people envy. Others make very little, and others make essentially nothing.

How much money you can earn from a personal blog site
While it's interesting to know how much a blogger makes, the most exciting part for me is how much he is able to make. It's not easy to make money, but as you build up over time, the income you earn will continue to rise with almost no cap.
What's even more amazing is that there are also no limits to the avenues for generating income through blogging, which is one of the reasons why I love writing blogs.
Reliable data on blogging income is hard to come by, and while some organizations have done surveys on the subject, most of them are outdated or the samples are too small to reflect the true level of the industry. Some of them have executed extremely well and earned great fortunes, and we present below some of the million dollar plus bloggers.
1. The Huffington Post (Huffington Post)
The Huffington Post is a U.S.-based blog site originally founded by Kenneth Lerer, Andrewe Breitbart, Jonah Peretti and Arianna Huffington to provide news and original content covering topics such as politics, business, the environment, entertainment and technology, among others.
The blog was founded in May 2005 and in 2006 a bank invested $5 million. A few years later, the blog raised more than $15 million and was acquired by AOL (America Online) in 2011 for $315 million.
2. TechCrunch
TechCrunch was founded by Michael Arrington in 2005 to provide technology-related news and information, and has now formed alliances with many websites. It has proven to be a very smart financial move and is known as The TechCrunch Network.
In 2010, the site was sold to AOL (America Online) for a whopping $25 million.
3. Gawker
Gawker is a New York City-based blog, founded by Nick Denton in 2003, that provides news and gossip about Manhattan, focusing on the media and celebrity industries.
Over the years, Gawker has captured many high-profile investors and loyal customers, so it is no surprise that it is one of the most financially successful blogs in the world.
Unfortunately, this site ceased operations in August 2016.
4. Lifehacker
Lifehacker is a blog about so-called life hacking, basically providing tips and tricks for everyday life. It is actually owned by Gawker Media and was launched in 2005.
With advertising revenue, they have been a huge financial success, including a lucrative advertising sponsorship deal with Sony.
5. Mashable
Mashable is a news and blogging site founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. It is considered one of the best sites in the social media space and one of the largest in the world. The site was rumored to be sold to CNN for $200 million earlier in 2012.
6. Fail Blog
Fail Blog is a comedy-based personal weblog created by Ben Huh in 2008. It contains a variety of comedy stories, as well as funny acts in the form of photos and videos.
Within 5 months of launch, the site was sold to the popular Cheezburger, Inc. Their main revenue comes from advertising, investments, and over 1 million visitors per month. In addition, they launched their own success book in 2009, which sold very well.
7. Smashing Magazine
Smashing Magazine was founded by Sven Lennartz and Vitaly Friedman to provide resources and advice to web designers and developers. In addition, they serve others in the computer industry, evaluating software and web-based tools.
With a wide range of products and various advertising deals, as well as investors and loyal visitors, they make huge profits.
8. Business Insider
Business Insider is a business and entertainment based weblog founded in 2009 by Kevin, P Ryan and is considered one of the most trusted sources of business information.
They have many different investors and advertising sources, and many advertisers are eager to promote their products on them.
9. Engadget
Engadget, a technology blog founded by Peter Rojas covering consumer electronics and technology devices, was named one of the best blogs of 2010 in TIME (Time).
They offer their own app for download (for a small fee), plus their own show. All this, plus lucrative advertising, means that Engadget is one of the most financially successful weblogs around.
10. The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is a blog founded by Tina Brown in 2008, initially focused on posting news and insights.
In 2010, they merged with Newsweek and created The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, which proved to be a very successful financial move.
In addition, they also make a good profit by publishing books.

About Revenue Report

Some bloggers publish regular income reports, but more and more people are stopping doing so. When reading income reports, keep two things in mind.

Understand the difference between gross and net income. Most reports only list gross revenue, with the really important net revenue being hidden. We recently received an income report with a super impressive number in the title, but it wasn't until I read the entire article that I realized the blogger was spending more than half of their gross income on Facebook Ads alone. What's more, they have tons of other expenses.
Every blogger is unique, so it's hard to draw general conclusions. If you find some bloggers making a lot of money and copy them writing about the same topics, it doesn't mean you will get the same results as them.

How long does it take for a personal blog to make money

If you spend a lot of time each week building and maintaining high quality content, you will usually see revenue after a few months.

For hardworking new bloggers, it takes at least 3 to 6 months to earn a decent part-time income and 1 to 2 years to earn a satisfactory full-time income. Of course there are always exceptions, but after a decade or so of active personal blogging, these are reasonable averages.

There are so many things you need to learn and understand now, such as website design, content libraries, social media, and relationships with your readers, to name a few.

If you are hoping to start a good blog today and earn a full time income in a few months, the idea is very unrealistic. If you need to make money immediately, then blogging is probably not the best option.

But don't get discouraged! I was teetering on the edge of failure (and giving up) for the first few months, and I had failed two sites before the Top 10 review, but now I'm able to earn a steady income. If you have the time, it's worth the effort.

What are the ways to make money from personal blogs

There are currently five main sources of income, but each has unlimited possibilities.

Ad Placement Affiliate Marketing Digital Products Physical Products Services

Companies want to offer their products to potential customers, and if your readers are their ideal customers, then they may be interested in advertising on your blog. There are several ways to start online business.

Display advertising: sidebars, headers, footers, or images in the content.
Giveaways and reviews: advertisers offer you a free product, which you highlight on your blog.
Sponsored or underwritten articles: you mention the advertiser's product in the article and they pay you a commission.
Newsletter/Video/Podcast Sponsorship: Videos, podcasts, or mini-ads in emails.
Placing ads is easy and it is a popular source of income for many bloggers. However, it is not as profitable as it used to be because you need a huge amount of traffic to really make a profit. In addition, it can have an impact on the user experience and make your site look less than professional. Therefore, this is not our top recommendation.
As an affiliate marketer, you advertise an advertiser's product or service to your readers and point them to it through a unique affiliate link. When someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase (or completes an action set by the advertiser), you get a commission. With thousands of affiliate programs now waiting for you to join, we have written two articles about the best affiliate programs.
If you are a newbie, check out the best advertising affiliates and, after you have mastered the basic promotion methods, check out the advanced affiliate programs below.
If you are a seasoned veteran, check out the best high commission advertising affiliates. As the name suggests, these affiliate programs offer very high commissions, but they are also very difficult to promote and are not suitable for newbies.
Affiliate marketing is my favorite and most profitable source of income. You can highlight favorite products or services without having to create or maintain them yourself. For a more in-depth look at this topic, check out: The Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing.
Blogging business, Many bloggers create and sell their own digital products, which require no inventory and can be distributed quickly and easily, essentially without any risk. The following are some examples of digital products.
E-courses: teaching others what you know, selling it over and over again.
Online courses: similar to e-courses, but with the difference of real-time training.
E-books: very lucrative for many and very east to crate using PDF editing software.
Premium content: content that must be paid for to be viewed.
Membership site: a hybrid of teaching and community.
Photographs: many photographers sell the photographs they take online.
Audio or video: create music, voiceover or Youtube video clips.
Apps, plugins or themes: perfect for users who love to code.
vector graphics for other websites
This is one of my favorite sources of income, but I haven't mastered this yet and am trying to learn the ropes.
Some blogs sell physical products, the following are some examples of products.
Books: after blogging, many bloggers started publishing traditional books.
Handicrafts: good option if you own a manufacturing plant.
Manufacturing products: many bloggers discover manufacturers and bring their ideas to life.
Retail Arbitrage: Can you find special offers? Re-sell them at a profit on sites such as Amazon.
Face-to-face meetings, classes or special events: sell tickets or experiences.
Over the past few years, a large number of bloggers have started selling physical products. While it is possible to make money at this, the whole process is quite complicated and inventory, logistics, returns, etc. are all factors you need to consider.
Some bloggers provide expertise related to the subject matter of the blog and are paid when hired, for example
Speaking engagements: some bloggers start to hold speaking engagements everywhere after setting up their personal blogs.
Virtual assistance: services for individuals, organizations or companies, but they work online rather than into the office.
Freelance: providing services to clients, similar to virtual assistance.
Planning, decorating, cooking: some bloggers offer face-to-face services for local readers.
Offering your services is a great way to make money fast because of the low start-up costs and the fact that you need almost no inventory. But the downside is that it is not scalable, you have limited time and can only earn what your time frame allows.

How to start making money through your personal blog

After you get your blog up and running, first focus on creating at least 10-20 solid posts to make sure they are informative enough and useful to your visitors.

Next, determine which ways your articles can be profitable and implement one at a time until you find the one that works best for you.

In the meantime, build relationships wherever potential readers hang out, such as on social media. Don't just promote, but be a useful part of the conversation, and people will eventually see what you can offer. But for most people, this step can be omitted because search engines will bring you lots of visitors after a few months.

Can I make money through free blogging?

The answer is yes. However, when you use free services, many features are limited, and most importantly, you cannot build unique and beautiful websites.

If you really want to earn income from your blog, then the best way to get started is with a hosted WordPress blog, which is very inexpensive, check out our step-by-step tutorial here.

5 additional tips for making money through blogging.

Creating as many revenue streams as possible, diversification can increase profits and reduce risk.
quality content is the key to long-term success, and you cannot avoid this.
Every blogger has a different income mix and there is no one way that works for everyone.
Do not clone another blog exactly, find a unique perspective.
Successful personal bloggers don't start out trying to make money; instead, they publish on topics they really enjoy and can write about for years. As time builds up, the profits will naturally come pouring in.
Now, you already know how to make money through blogging, but there are many more details worth knowing. To help you get started faster, we've written a detailed article - the ultimate guide to affiliate marketing.