There are many ways to make money blogging: some good and some bad. Here we focus only on the best and most proven ways to monetize your blog (sometimes don’t even involve selling). So, let’s start with the how :
1) Affiliate Marketing.
The best way to make money through blogging is to associate with affiliate marketing. The first thing you can do is promote other people’s products through an affiliate marketing program like Amazon Associates. For every sale that you send to Amazon by promoting a product after clicking from your website (and ONLY after clicking the link from your website), you get anywhere between 3% – 15% commission of that sale. There are thousands of companies that offer affiliate marketing: look around and find one right for you. A newbie-friendly option is ShareASale.
2) Flip Your Blog.
When making money through blogging, you need to work on your content. If you have a blog that covers a topic that can produce information in written form (like a tutorial, a list of resources, or just a plain article), then you might want to try selling your articles or blog posts as ebooks. You can use free ebook cover maker software or hire Fiverr to make them for you (for $5). Once you do this and upload your ebook- to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, it will be available both in digital and paperback versions for everybody worldwide to read. Prices vary but keep in mind that people on the Internet are used to free content.
3) Sell Products You Use and Enjoy.
If you like or use products that may be of interest to other people, why not ship them yourself? This way, you get both affiliate marketing fees (like in point 1) while at the same time earning money by selling things you enjoy buying yourself.
4) Start Your Website That Offers Freelance Services.
This strategy involves creating a website about a particular skill you have, then offering your services on it. Not only will you be able to make money, but you also build your portfolio and set yourself up as an expert in the field.
5) Make Money Blogging by Using Google Adsense.
If you have a blog, you are probably using Google’s very own Adsense to monetize it. But did you know that there are other ad programs out there? For example, Media.net is the Yahoo / Bing Network’s equivalent of Adsense. The main advantage here is that Media.net pays higher rates than its competitors (meaning more money for YOU) because it specializes in serving ads on blogs and websites like yours (also known as “contextual” or “targeted” ads).
6) Create an ebook.
Ebooks are great for monetizing your blog because you can write about pretty much anything and make money out of it. All you need to do is create a simple one using free tools like AuthorSTREAM or Scrappy’s ContentWriter (this one even allows you to upload your book directly to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing). If you want something fancier, then look into getting it done via Fiverr ($5), 99Designs ($299), or GraphicRiver ($49 + royalties). You should price them at $2 -4 on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or at $2.99 – $4.99 on iTunes, but don’t go much higher because ebooks are in high demand, and you will lose your audience if you overprice them.
7) Create a Membership Site.
A membership website is just that: users pay to access certain content/services hidden from non-paying visitors (like blog posts or videos). This may happen through paid subscriptions, one-time payments for specific services, or donations.
The benefit of having a membership site is that it can be sold many times over without losing traffic/value because different people can view the same work at other times. You can even sell it several times on the same day!
You can use a free version of membership software like Paid Memberships Pro or an easy-to-setup WordPress plugin that does the job for you, such as Magic Members. Prices vary from $25 – $199 per year, depending on your needs.