Last Updated on Mar 13, 2020 by James W
Everyone dreams of making a living from the comfort of their sofa. Waking up, putting the coffee on and working in your pyjamas seems like a dream come true. For those who have started a blog and wondered whether this life is a possibility, yes, it is. It’s by no means easy, and you’ll have to be prepared to work hard. But, there are plenty of bloggers out there making up to six-figure sums from their humble blog. There’s no reason you can’t be the next big success story.
Of course, before you think about monetizing, you need a steady flow of traffic. You need a community that hangs on your every word. In the digital world, numbers breed money, so that’s your first job. Following that, you need a sound strategy to monetization. Let’s take a look at your options, shall we?
- Build traffic – Let’s make one thing very clear, you can’t monetize a website without traffic. So, if you’re just getting started or have just a few hundred visitors, don’t think about monetizing yet. Instead, focus on building a powerful community and extending your reach. Hire an online marketing company and get a steady flow of traffic to your site. Only then can you think about making some money.
- Host advertising – This is the most common type of monetization for modern blogs. You’ll host adverts for other companies or blogs in return for a small sum. You could use Google’s AdSense programme, as many bloggers do. Or, you could reach out privately to businesses to offer your ad space. It’s worth bearing in mind that you’ll need a lot of traffic to make money in this way. Don’t make the business mistake of relying on ads alone, implement other strategies too.
- Affiliate programs – Affiliate programs have proven very successful for bloggers. It involves embedding products on your site and taking a cut of the sales. Amazon run a very profitable affiliate program that many bloggers swear by. Others prefer to approach relevant companies privately.
- Use it to promote your own sales – Put simply, it’s difficult to make money from ads and affiliate programs alone. Instead, most of the richest bloggers use their site as a platform for their products. You could use a photography blog to sell your prints or t-shirts. Use your imagination here and figure out what your audience would buy from you.
- Offer expertise services – Most bloggers use their site to build a reputation. They position themselves as an expert; then sell their skills. SEO experts, for example, will use their blog as a platform for consulting or coaching. They’ll sell ebooks and offer tuition to small businesses. Think about what expert services you could offer.
- Sell it – Our final option is an easy one, just sell it! Once you’ve built a reputation and a loyal community, your blog has value. Businesses may want to buy access to your audience or make your blog part of their service. There are auction sites that will help you sell your site, or you can contact investors privately.
There you have it, folks! Making money from your blog is possible if you work at it. First of all, build those numbers and slowly turn it into a lucrative business. Good luck and please do share your success stories with us below!
