This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.
Are you a beginner blogger looking to make money blogging? Check out this guide with my best tips for making money blogging as a beginner!
When I first started blogging in 2012 I thought the only way to get paid was to have ads on your blog. Boy, was I wrong! There are so many ways that you can make money blogging.
Now, there is one thing I want you to remember. To make money blogging it does take time. You should not expect to make a full-time income overnight, however, in my experience, it is possible to be profitable within your first few months of launching your blog.
If you haven’t set up your blog yet follow this tutorial on how to start a blog and make money.
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FIVE WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WITH A BLOG AS A BEGINNER
In this post, I am going to introduce you to five ways you can monetize your blog.
1. Advertising
The first monetization route that many bloggers jump to is ads. They set up their blogs, sign up for Adsense and they expect to have the money start rolling in.
Unless you have thousands and thousands of pageviews each month it is more than likely that your ads will only pay for your coffee, not your Caribbean cruise.
I have chosen not to have ads on this site. However, they are one of the main income earners for my blog Today Mommy. Using ads is totally your choice.
I recommend waiting to put ads on your site until you hit 25k sessions per month (sessions are slightly more than pageviews). At 25k sessions, you can apply for Mediavine. With Mediavine your RPM is generally a lot higher. RPM is your revenue per 1,000 sessions or pageviews (depending on which platform you use).
Your RPM can vary by niche but once you get on a premium network like Mediavine typical numbers range from about $9-25 RPM. This can also vary by the time of year. From October to December when brands are pushing their ads for the holiday months usually rates will go up.
There are two primary ways that you are paid for ads.
Pay Per Click
Meaning you get paid each time someone clicks on the advertisement.
Pay Per Impression
These ads are paid based upon the number of times the advertisement is seen.
Pinterest can help you increase your ad income by increasing traffic to pages where you have ads posted.
Ads can be one piece to your monetization puzzle, but be sure to implement them strategically.
2. Affiliate Marketing
I LOVE affiliate marketing. Essentially, affiliate marketing is sharing products you love with your readers and when they make a purchase you earn a commission. What is great is that this is at no extra expense to them and oftentimes they get special perks if they use your link.
For example, when someone uses my Tailwind link instead of getting just their first 100 pins free they get their first month free!
Affiliate marketing is the first way I started making money from my blog. There were so many tools and resources that helped me grow my blog and businesses so it was easy to share with my readers.
In my first month of blogging, I purchased the course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing from Michelle of Making Sense of Cents. I have been a fan of hers for YEARS and she makes over $50,000 a month in affiliate sales, so I was excited to implement her strategies.
Within two days of starting the course, I made my first affiliate sale and by my third month of this blog I made over $1200 in affiliate income!
For most bloggers, I would recommend starting with affiliates to monetize your blog. It is easy to do and can be very lucrative.
Here are a few affiliate networks you can join:
- ShareASale
- FlexOffers
- Awin – They have a $5 fee to make sure you are legit, but you get it back with your first payout.
- CJ Affiliate (Formerly Commission Junction)
- Amazon Affiliate
You can read more about the best affiliate programs for bloggers here.
Bonus Tip: Don’t forget you can use affiliate links on Pinterest!
3. Sponsored Posts
On this blog, I mostly talk about my Pinterest marketing experience, but I actually was an influencer marketing coordinator for two small businesses for two years.
So there is a chance that I have been the person on the other side of your sponsored post pitch!
Sponsored posts can be a great way to bring in some money from your blog and get your blog in front of a new audience. Often times, if the brand you work with is a small business you will get lots of social media love after your collaboration.
Before you begin pitching for sponsored posts be sure to create a media kit. This is like your blogs resume. You want to include a friendly picture, a bio and relevant statistics to your blog. I recommend at least including your social media statistics and page views for your blog. Bonus points if you include demographic information about your audience.
To find sponsored opportunities you have a few options you can work with a sponsorship network or you can personally reach out to different brands.
If you are interested in joining a network, here are a few popular options.
- Izea
- Linqia
- Social Fabric (Collective Bias)
- Tap Influence
- Pollinate Media
Another great way to find brands to work with is through an app called Collabor8. This is an app that helps influencers and brands connect. I have coordinated some of my favorite sponsored posts thanks to the Collabor8 app.
For more information on sponsored posts read this post here.
4. Services
Your blog can be an amazing platform to promote your services. Having your own blog will give potential clients a taste of who you are. Write posts relevant to your service and include your services in your posts.
Having your own site will build rapport with clients. For example, Miranda Nahmias makes thousands of dollars a month from her virtual assisting services. She has been able to attract new clients through her blog and now has a thriving business.
Services to make money blogging:
- Virtual Assistant
- Freelance Writer
- Pinterest Manager
- Run Facebook Ads for bloggers – watch this free training on how to run FB ads and then market your services!
There are tons of different services you can offer on your blog to help you make money as a beginner. If you don’t have a lot of traffic or an audience yet it can be difficult to make money blogging. When you offer a service you just need a few clients to make a significant amount. This is the fastest way to make money blogging as a beginner.
5. Selling Your Own Products
This may be my favorite monetization method of all. On your blog, you can sell digital or physical products. Creating and selling your own products is incredibly rewarding.
Similarly to the services section, you can use your blog as a platform to gain customers for your products. If you have an Etsy shop for blog templates, for example, consider writing blog posts about web design and branding then funnel your readers over to your shop.
My blog is more of an educational platform to teach women how to build successful blogs and online businesses, so I created a course called Mom Blogging Mentor. In this course, I teach other mamas how to successfully launch a profitable blog.
I’ve helped 700+ moms in this course and I’d love to help you too. You can check out Mom Blogging Mentor here.
Creating your own product can be a bit of a “what came first the chicken or the egg” scenario.
You can approach it two ways.
1. If you already have a blog but have not created a product yet here are a few tips to help you establish what to sell.
First, analyze your audience. Which of your posts have the most traffic? This can be indicative of what your readers are most interested in. Which posts have the most comments, repins and shares?
2. You have a product but have not launched your blog.
Analyze who the target market for your product is and consider what they are interested in. If you sell baby items, for example, you may want to blog about prenatal yoga, the best baby shower gifts and sleep strategies for new parents.
A few more ideas for how to make money blogging with your own products:
- Digital products on Etsy or Creative Market
- Physical products on Amazon via their service Fulfilled By Amazon
- Courses hosted on Teachable
- Dropship items on Shopify (Check out this guide on a Shopify side hustle here.)
- A membership site
- Handmade items on Etsy (One of my readers made over six-figures doing this!)
- An ebook delivered via Amazon or DPD
- Direct Sales products that you love
You really can make money with a blog!
If you invest the time and treat your blog like a business you will be able to make money from your blog.
One question I am often asked is, “When should I monetize my blog?” Honestly, I started adding affiliate links to my blog in my first month.
By my second month, I made about $400 in affiliate income and my third month I made over $1200 in affiliate income. In my third month, I also launched the pre-sale for my first course Pin to Profits.
I’ve now gone on to sell over $60k in online courses alone!
Related: The Ultimate Guide To Creating An Online Course
When you start monetizing your blog just remember to keep your reader in mind. Only share what would benefit them and avoid plastering ads all over your site. In all of the ways mentioned to make money blogging your reader is your customer.
How do you monetize your blog?
Also read,
How to Start A Mom Blog For Beginners
How to Make Money Blogging With Sponsored Posts
How to Make Money Blogging With Affiliate Marketing
35 thoughts on “How To Make Money With A Blog For Beginners”
Great article!
This is a very comprehensive post. It’s informative and helpful truly an ultimate guide on how to make money with your blog. I also love affiliate marketing. I have made this a rule to myself not to do reviews for products I have never used yet. One of the ways I monetize my blog is by offering my coaching services.
very nice and helpful post. you have a great website keep up the great job!
Very very informative! I had a hard time with the “products creation” thingy and your how-to guide is no less than a boon..so thanks ya!
Hey! Yes, creating your own products can be a great way to monetize a site. I usually start with affiliate marketing with new blogs because creating courses or books can be time-consuming but it is a great way to make money blogging as your site and audience grow!
I loved this post. Very didactic and comprehensive. Thank you very much! I’ll be a mom in just few months and I am excited to start also a new chapter in my professional life investing in help people through a blog and online services. Your blog for sure will be very helpful to guide me in this path. Thank you! All the best!
Hey!
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Blogging can be a great way for you to make money and for you to serve others online. Let me know if you have any questions as you get started!
XO,
McKinzie
Thank you
Amazing share, McKinzie. I’m a huge fan of your blog and your success has inspired a lot to me. Hope to achieve a stable income like yours one day 🙂
Hi Brandon!
Thanks so much for your comment. It definitely takes persistence to make money with a blog, but it is absolutely possible. Keep up the hard work!
— McKinzie
Best article on ‘make money from a blog’. Thanks for your such amazing and helpful information. I loved it so much.
Hey Rihana!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m glad this post about how to make money blogging helped you 🙂
McKinzie
Thanks for giving this wonderful information you explained clearly how to start making money from blog. I hope I will get also Adsense approval on my travel blog – https://ilcroatia.com/ . Thank you!
Like you ideas and solutions about make money with blogging here.
I also learn some how to make money solutions for doing blogs. Thanks for what you shared here.
Wow This is an in-depth post but clear and concise! Thanks for this one. I would definitely save this and implement your strategies.
Such a useful post – thank you so much!
Hey Sarah!
You are so welcome, best of luck making money with your blog!
Very detailed article, when I got started with blogging way back in 2012, there weren’t many step-by-step guides around. This can be a great jumpstart for anyone looking to get started.
Hey Faith!
I started blogging in 2012 too. There definitely was a lot less information available then. A lot of it over the years I’ve had to figure out by trial and error, but I’m so happy that I can share all I’ve learned with new bloggers 🙂
I never thought about signing up for blog networks. I am definitely going to have to. It would be nice to make some extra money from sponsored posts. You also made me realize that I need to work on developing a few digital products. Thanks for this!
Hey Jasmine!
Sponsored posts can be another great way to make money blogging. I’m planning to do more of that this year too. Best of luck with monetizing your blog 🙂
I have been blogging off and in since 2009 but haven’t made a cent since I never took it serious.
I plan on doing so now and hope I make money from my effort.
I totally get that! I blogged for years and didn’t really understand what I was doing and didn’t make anything either. Once I really started treating it like a business and came up with a strategy I was able to grow my income fairly quickly. Best of luck in monetizing your blog!
Hey, what a great article! Thank you for the useful information! 🙂
Hey Emily!
Thanks so much for commenting. I’m glad you found it helpful.
XO,
McKinzie
Hai, your blog is just awesome I always read your post and learn a lot.
Thanks for a good read. This blog is really of great help.
Thanks, these are great tips. Another great way to make money is by creating a youtube channel to promote your blog.
Thank you for helpful information. I started a new blog few months ago and I have implemented many of your strategies here. Hopefully it will work for me. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Sara!
I’m so glad that theses tips on how to make money blogging helped. Best of luck with your new blog 🙂
Thanks for your own great and excellent and effective ideas and advice and solutions here how to make money with blogging here now.
I found that with blogging there are many opportunities to make some sort of income. With dedication and hard work, nothing is impossible. I learned that patience is key and promoting your content (without being to spammy) is a must!
As a new blogger, you have to learn how to get readers to your site. Affiliate links and ads are a great source to earning money. Another great affiliate marketing program I like to use is Tailwind and eBay.
Thank you for sharing this post. I found it inspiring and resourceful. Your blog is always packed with full of valuable information.
Hey there. This is really good. Being a digital marketer I agree with everything you said. You shared much value. Keep the good work up 🙂
Hi!
Thank you for this very useful list of things to do.
Silvia
This is an awesome article. You have explained everything. thank you for this detailed information.