So you own a blog, or are thinking of starting one. A blog is a great way to interact with people over the Internet, whether it's to share your life, or a hobby that you have. Blogging is fascinating - what started as a simple way to log your life on the web (web + log = weblog = blog!) like a diary has now become a profession for some.
"A profession?", you're probably asking. Well, have you ever thought of monetizing your blog? Whether you're casually blogging or considering it as a career, it definitely doesn't hurt to have some extra income come in from your blog. But how do you monetize your blog? It seems a bit strange to think that you can get make money blogging - all you're doing is writing your thoughts and opinions on a certain topic, right?
Monetizing your blog is easier than you'd think! As long as you're blogging about something you like, are passionate about, and are willing to devote some time to, earning money blogging isn't difficult at all. Some examples of great blog themes to monetize your blog are travel blogs, lifestyle blogs, food blogs, beauty blogs, and makeup blogs. As long as the theme is something you're into, you'll be able to have fun with it while getting paid for it at the same time!
Today, we're going to look at the different ways to effectively monetize your blog.
Monetize your blog with affiliate marketing and AdSense
Monetizing your blog using affiliate marketing and AdSense advertisements are probably the most effective methods. Both of these methods provide you with direct and usually regular income streams, and they tend to be passive as well so they're easy to maintain!
1. Affiliate income
Affiliate marketing is a relatively easy way for bloggers to monetize their blogs. Basically, companies and brands ask bloggers to place a link to purchase their products/services on their blogs. A big company that provides affiliate links is, of course, Amazon. There are two ways that a blogger can make money from an affiliate link like this. One way is that whenever a visitor of the blog clicks that link and makes a purchase, the blogger receives a percentage of the money. The other way is when the merchant pays the blogger a certain amount a month to keep their affiliate link promoted on the blog, regardless of whether purchases are made or not. For obvious reasons, the first way is far more common.
If you're a big-name blog in your industry, there's a good chance that you already have companies and brands wanting to ask you to promote their products and/or services. If you're just starting out, then know that it's totally okay (and encouraged!) to reach out to companies and brands for affiliate marketing. You get to pick and choose which merchants have products and/or services that fit your blog's theme. You probably wouldn't want to be promoting an affiliate link for baking utensils when you're a travel blog, would you?
2. Advertisement income (AdSense)
Advertisements are similar yet different to affiliate promotions. Advertisements on blogs are very similar to ads you see in magazines or newspapers - you place an advertisement for a brand, product, or service on your blog, and the provider of the ad pays you a certain amount for it. There are two ways to place ads on your blog. The first way is to deal directly with advertisers. This is more work than the other option and requires steady traffic and a regular audience on your blog, but brings in more money. The other way is to use an ad network like Google AdSense. Using an ad network is the easier option, especially for smaller and up-and-coming blogs.
Monetize your blog without affiliate marketing or AdSense
Perhaps you don't want to place ads or affiliate links on your blog. In that case, monetizing your blog becomes a bit more difficult, but it's definitely not impossible! There are many ways to monetize your blog without AdSense or affiliate links. They just tend to be a bit more indirect!
1. Throwing blogger events
Gone are the days of major stranger danger on the Internet. In fact, every year there are many different kinds of gatherings and conventions for people who met on the Internet. Some examples are Vidcon, SXSW, and TECHmunch. Monetize your blog indirectly by throwing an event like this! You could organize and run a big blogger's conference with other bloggers, or host a small meetup for bloggers and/or readers in your area. Make money by charging a fee to attend, or by getting sponsored to throw the event.
2. Offering services
Some bloggers advertise services that they can provide on their blogs. These services usually correspond to the theme of the blog as well as the majority of the readership. For example, if you were a lawyer running a blog about legal advice, you could advertise your paid legal consultations. Or, if you were running a food blog, you could offer recipes or health consultations. The Callmart app would be a simple way to do this, as you can set your fee per-minute for whatever services you can provide and that suit your blog.
3. Selling your own products
Once your blog has a big enough readership, you can start selling actual products on it. Some blogs sell eBooks written by the blogger, or courses on whatever the blogger is an expert in. If your blog is tech-related, you could sell software. If you have an art or photography blog, sell your works! Or, perhaps you have a very distinct aesthetic? In that case, you could sell merchandise for your blog like T-shirts, bags, etc.
Make a blog with great content on WordPress and/or Blogspot
Of course, you're going to have to create or maintain a blog with great content if you want to monetize your blog using the methods listed above. No one's going to affiliate with, or click/view ads on, a blog that isn't interesting and eyecatching. The two most popular platforms for blogging are WordPress and BlogSpot. Both have their pros and cons.
1. BlogSpot
BlogSpot is a great platform for beginner bloggers, run by Google. It's free, and is fairly simple to use. As a Google product, you can easily use Google AdSense to monetize your BlogSpot blog. We recommend BlogSpot to bloggers that do not have a lot of technical knowledge, or do not care much about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Because the platform is so simple, it is difficult to control the visibility of your blog in search engines, so it does become a bit more difficult to monetize your blog on BlogSpot. Most BlogSpot blogs are accessed from the subdomain of blogspot.com, though it's possible to use your own domain by using DNS facilities.
2. WordPress
If you're looking for a blogging platform where you have more control, but require more technical knowledge, then WordPress is the way to go. WordPress is the world's most popular website management system. Using WordPress, you have complete control over everything from the design of the blog to the files hosted. WordPress also has over 54,000 plug-ins (as of February 2019) that you can add to your blog to gain more control over important factors that affect your ability to monetize your blog, such as SEO.
3. Making great content!
So what does it mean to have a blog with great content that'll bring in advertisers and therefore income? Firstly, it's important to run a blog about something that you're actually interested in. If you blog about something you feel is profitable but you're not really interested in, blogging will become a chore and not the enjoyable experience it's supposed to be. Not to mention, your readers will probably be able to tell that you're not actually into whatever you're blogging about and move on to find a blogger that actually cares.
Speaking of readers, great content will definitely bring readers and traffic to your blog. However, if you want to go the extra mile, there are ways to grow your readership in a shorter time! Figure out who your target audience is, then make your presence known in places they would hang out. This can be in forums, the comment section of bigger blogs, social media networks, etc. Make your great content known!
Once you have steady traffic and a loyal readership, keep it up by engaging with readers. Respond to any comments they add, reach out to them personally, and visit their blogs from time to time!
In conclusion . . .
What do you think? Monetizing your blog isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's just a bit of effort for great results! You can earn direct income through passive means such as affiliate links and advertisements, or through indirect means like throwing events, using apps like Callmart to provide services, or selling your own products. Create a blog with great content using platforms like WordPress or BlogSpot, and enjoy your new source of income!
We hope you enjoyed this article! For similar articles, or just some more fun reads to pass the time, check out Callmart's other articles. Also, if you're keen on making money through non-traditional means similar to blogging, don't forget to download Callmart for free and give it a spin!