There are many methods to monetize your blog.  Check out our tutorial to learn how to start earning money from your blog using affiliates, adverts, and other strategies.

Whether you create a place for digital ad sales, generate commissions from affiliate partners, or increase product sales for your company, blogging is a small business concept that may generate thousands of dollars every month.
This post offers advice on how to generate a full-time income from a content-based website, highlighting 11 revenue sources that professional bloggers employ.

How much money can bloggers earn?

Blog posts are a monetizable form of online content. There are many examples of long-running blogs attracting millions of readers and generating enough income to employ teams of writers and editors.

Not every blogger can make millions through their website, however. Typically, the potential income of a blog depends on two factors:

Niche profitability. Are the people who read a blog motivated customers? Will they regularly spend money on products or premium content? The software industry, for example, can be lucrative, since many companies pay recurring commission for referring customers.

Blogging income streams. The more monetization methods a blog has, the more opportunities to increase revenue.

11 strategies for earning money via blogging
1-Select a lucrative specialty.
2-Create an email list
3-Compose reviews of sponsored products.
4-Offer advertising space for sale.
5-Sign up for an affiliate marketing program.
6-Provide services
7-Market digital goods
8-Sell tangible goods
9-Establish a community of members
10-Make money off of YouTube videos
11-Produce a podcast and acquire a sponsor
1.  Select a lucrative specialty.

Spend as much time as you can choosing the ideal niche for your blog when you first launch it.
Within a larger topic category, a niche is a self-contained topic. For example, vegan dishes go within the larger topic of recipes.  Readers may form more robust connections between your site and the subject matter when you concentrate your blog on a certain specialty.  For example, if you position your site as the leading expert on veganism among all the general food blogs on the internet, a reader will know precisely where to go to get a vegan recipe for their dinner party.
Serving a well-liked specialty increases the likelihood that a reader will turn to you first when seeking guidance.
According to Mushfiq Sarker, the creator of the blog and newsletter The Website Flip, "if you want to stand out before monetization, it's all about quality and expertise."  Create a persona for yourself after determining your specialty and the reasons you should write about it.  After that, you will gradually develop a following.  Monetization comes after.
Though not all niches are suitable for monetization, you may discover bloggers earning money in a broad range of industries, from pet accessories to business software.  Three requirements are usually met by a lucrative blog niche:
It's something you like doing or are good at.
For blogs to gain readers and start making money, they must regularly produce high-quality content.  Blogging about something you really care about will not only be fun, but it will also make it more likely that you will make money.
Competition is minimal yet not nonexistent.
There is money to be made if there are rival blogs, brands, and forums in your niche.  However, if well-known brands dominate search results, it will be more difficult to get organic traffic to your website.
The potential for monetization is evident.
Examine the potential for making money from each of the niches on your shortlist.  Do businesses in that market pay other bloggers to promote their goods?  Does that industry have any affiliate programs that offer goods?
2.  Create an email list
Finding devoted readers who will devour your material is the next stage after coming up with your blog concept.
Developing an email list for your blog is one of the best strategies to attract consistent readers.  You have permission to contact someone in their inbox, a valuable online space, when they choose to receive blog updates.
"In my opinion, email marketing is the most profitable sales channel.  Brittany Berger, CEO of digital media firm Work Brighter, says, "I don't even really try to sell directly from other channels anymore, instead I direct people from social media to my email list."
Use a pop-up window to encourage readers of your blog to subscribe to your mailing list.  The objective is to encourage first-time visitors to sign up, maybe with the aid of an incentive like:
   ●  Free content that can be downloaded
   ●  Lists of suggested products or resources
   ●  VIP access to additional posts
Continue fostering reader relationships by providing benefits or incentives after they have signed up.  You will eventually develop a following that is ready to buy any goods you introduce or suggest.
Take it from Lily Ugbaja, who started her blog, FindingBalance.Mom, to make money while staying at home with her son.  It took her just two weeks to make money from her blog after harnessing email marketing. 
“I used emails to promote my products and relevant affiliate products with tripwires and Facebook groups,” she says.  “You add lead magnets to your site so people sign up after reading your article.  Instead of a success page, you share a one-time offer—a low-end product at a super discounted rate, $7 in my case.”
Despite the blog seeing less than 1,000 monthly page views, Lily says she ended her first month earning over $100, which soon became thousands.
You can also charge your email list for access to exclusive content.  Many bloggers monetize through monthly subscription fees, which grant subscribers access to extra content.  To publish straight to your audience and earn money from subscriptions, use a platform such as Substack.

3.  Compose reviews of sponsored products.
Social proof, or content that demonstrates to customers that other people are purchasing and enjoying a product, is what every business wants.  They can do this, for example, by paying bloggers to post reviews.
You can directly use your blog post writing abilities to earn money by submitting pitches or agreeing to review requests.  This tactic is particularly effective if you are able to review goods or services from companies that your readers will find interesting.
If you already use a product in daily life, you’ll likely have knowledge and opinions you can use.  With sponsorships, you’ll be compensated for sharing those opinions with your audience.
Reach out to your favorite brands and ask if they’d be interested in sponsoring a review on your blog. 
If you create review content, remember to follow best practices for disclosing the relationship between you and the product you’re reviewing.  Avoid landing your blog in hot water by:
Disclosing whether you’re incentivized to write the review.  If you’re being paid to publish a review, include a disclaimer in the introduction of your article, such as, “I’ve been paid to write this review and may make a commission if you purchase this product.”
Being honest.  Share the good and the bad to help readers make an informed decision about whether they should purchase the item you’re reviewing.
4.  Offer advertising space for sale.

Many businesses are willing to pay for face time with your readers.  You can monetize your blog by selling advertising space around the main content of your posts.
There are two routes to building an income stream with blog advertising:
Negotiate with companies individually.  Find companies you think your readers might be interested in and ask if they’d like to advertise on your website.  By talking directly to businesses, you may be able to negotiate larger bespoke fees.
Use an advertising network.  Platforms like Google AdSense, Mediavine, and Raptive match your web pages with advertisers.  Simply embed the provided code on your site to start displaying ads.
For Emily Brookes, a blogger at Emily May Designs, display ads quickly became her most lucrative sales channel. 
“Some 60% of my blog’s revenue comes from display ads,” she says.  “Ads make me money consistently each month, even when I haven’t published any new content.”
Joining an ad network or reaching out to advertisers is a popular way to make money blogging.  But to make advertising a substantial revenue stream for your blog, driving website traffic should be a priority.  Ad networks like Google often pay publishers just a few cents per 1,000 impressions (RPM), meaning your ads need to be seen by lots of people to generate significant earnings.
There are also some reports that blog visitors are becoming less likely to click on advertisements, especially if they’re placed by ad networks and aren’t closely relevant to a reader.
Afoma Umesi runs her book blog, Reading Middle Grade, on the side. 
“I had no experience and started blogging as a hobby before seriously deciding to monetize the site,” she says.
“I needed something passive, so I chose ads and affiliate links.  I don’t want to make or sell digital products or services right now, and I’m not a huge fan of sponsored posts, so ads were the perfect fit.  All I need is traffic.”
Reading Middle Grade earns around three-quarters of its income from this type of advertising. 
“Don’t be afraid or ashamed to use ads,” adds Afoma.  “They’re inconvenient for some users, but if you provide value and use them reasonably, most users barely notice the ads.”
5.  Sign up for an affiliate marketing program.
Affiliate marketing is the act of recommending products to your blog’s audience.  You’ll receive a commission when one of your readers clicks on an affiliate link and performs a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
This form of marketing is a popular revenue opportunity for bloggers, since the content you share can help influence readers’ behavior.  Make your blog a hub for helpful educational content, and you’ll earn the trust needed to persuade a reader to visit your affiliate partner’s site.
With affiliate marketing, you don’t need to create products.  Simply plug into an existing ecommerce business and become a virtual promoter for them.  Find relevant affiliate partners by browsing affiliate networks like ShareASale or ClickBank.  Browse available programs in your industry, apply to join them, build custom links, and track affiliate revenue through the dashboard.
You can also search for high-ticket affiliate programs from merchants selling expensive products, such as electronics, jewelry, or software.  Bloggers can earn sizable amounts when recommending high-ticket items to readers.  Shopify Affiliates, for example, can earn up to $150 in commission when a referral starts paying full price for specific subscription plans.
Keep in mind the golden rule when using affiliate marketing to make money from your blog: Never recommend a product that you don't think your audience will find useful.  It may be tempting to forgo reader trust in favor of an affiliate partner's large compensation rate, but doing so would probably lead to a long-term decline in traffic.

6.  Provide services
A natural byproduct of building your audience means more people associate your name with the topics you write about.  That’s a great way to build authority—something people look for when hiring people to complete a service.
“If you’re in the B2B space, consulting is a big revenue generator,” says Mushfiq Sarker, founder of The Website Flip.  “If you have some expertise and people are genuinely reading your content, consider what kind of consulting you could do for them.  It’s a high revenue, low commitment way to make money blogging.”
While running a service-based business is time-consuming, it can be a quick way to make money online.  Demand a higher hourly rate, and find high-paying clients by using your blog content to demonstrate your expertise. 
Examples of services you might sell alongside your blog include:
   ●  Consulting services
   ●  Graphic design
   ●  Freelance writing
   ●  Virtual assistance 
   ●  Classes or workshops 
Save time organizing appointments and receiving payments by integrating booking applications into your website.
7.  Market digital goods
Digital goods are a scalable approach to generate money by selling useful stuff alongside your blog.  Unlike service-based firms, you don’t swap time for money.  And unlike selling tangible things, there’s no shipping or continuing production expenditures.
You can produce digital items once and sell an endless number of them on your blog.
“I decided to add printables—and soon other digital products—to diversify my income and put more control in my own hands,” says Dylan Houlihan, proprietor of the blog-based website Swift Salary.  “So far, I let readers decide how much they’d like to pay for my printables, which is why revenue numbers haven’t been crazy.  However, I am very proud of the fact that I have received over 800 downloads.
Using a reader survey and questions like "What problem do you need help with that this blog isn't already solving?" you can determine which digital products your audience would like to purchase. Responses can reveal concepts that you can package and market.  Typical formats for digital products include:
E-books
Consider ebooks as in-depth analyses of the subjects that your blog's readers have expressed the greatest interest in.  For instance, if your blog is about mountain biking, why not compile your trail reviews and advice into a helpful guide?  By including more information and depth, you can sell your ebook for a fair price instead of giving it away for free.
Printables
A flexible kind of digital product is a printable.  For usage in your specialty, you may design checklists and plans as organized aids.  You might provide your readers with templates and designs to utilize in their work if you have a professional blog.  Since downloadable printouts are often inexpensive, adding useful content to your blogs is simple and accessible.
Workbooks
By enabling your readers to put the information they have learned from your blog into practice, workbooks keep them interested.  Readers can fill out exercises, track their progress, and follow along with any educational content you produce.
Online courses
Similarly, online courses let you package your knowledge into something bigger and more structured than a blog post.  Benjamin Houy has been running the blog French Together for a decade.  Part of his blog’s monetization strategy includes an online French course, which reportedly drives 90% of the blog’s revenue.
“Ads and affiliate links can be great monetization strategies depending on the niche, but creating a product is both easier and more profitable than most bloggers think,” Benjamin says.  “Your product doesn’t have to be the absolute best product ever when you launch it, it just has to be something your audience will find genuinely useful and will be happy to pay for.”

8.  Sell tangible goods
Is your blog’s subject matter connected to a variety of products?  Leverage what you know about your audience to sell them products likely to be of interest.
Nat Elson, proprietor of tea-based blog and business Cup & Leaf, advocates beginning by getting a few of goods from affiliates or dropshipping vendors, before extending your inventory or developing your own products. 
“To start off, you could just link out to other people’s products,” adds Nat.  “Once your blog is getting enough traffic that it seems like it’s actually generating a meaningful number of sales for other people’s businesses, you could start swapping out links with links to your own products.”
Another option to sell things via your blog is to develop apparel advertising your company.  Your dedicated readers may welcome the opportunity to acquire deliberately picked things that enable them to display their admiration of your work.  Use quality items, limited edition runs, and partnerships with reputable companies to make your merchandise attractive.
Use the print-on-demand strategy to launch your merchandise shop on a shoestring, paying for production only when a reader buys anything.  Bulk production eliminates superfluous inventory, storage expenses, and expensive upfront expenditures.
Custom merch shirts, mugs, stickers, and other one-of-a-kind things that complement your content may be made using a print-on-demand service.
If your readers express interest in purchasing your goods, think about setting up an online store on a different domain or as a part of your blog website.  In this manner, you can consider your blog readers to be your first clientele.
Adding e-commerce features to their websites, like product pages and checkouts, is made easy for bloggers by a number of well-known blogging platforms.
9.  Establish a community of members

Offer your most active readers a VIP experience, which they can only access for a nominal fee.  An essential component of social connection is this kind of community.  Communities have been demonstrated to enhance mental health, and 52% of consumers are willing to pay more for companies (or blogs) that share their values.
Chris Cantino, John Doherty, and Brian Clark
Take it from Peak Freelance blogger Michael Keenan, who also manages a membership community.
"Start a membership program if you want a steady source of income for your blogging endeavors," advises Michael.  "You can provide special offers, a Discord channel, and exclusive content like manuals and courses."
Michael suggests establishing monthly or annual membership fees.
"Offer a little discount to customers who make annual payments.  This provides you with a nice cash infusion that you can use to create new member products and content.
10.  Make money off of YouTube videos
Written content is the preference for many web users.  But if your blog doesn’t produce video, you’re likely missing the large portion of your audience whose go-to format is visual.
Posting engaging videos can help you make money on YouTube as an expansion of your blog content.  A reported 87% of people have been convinced to buy something after watching a branded video.  Make a video tutorial, review, or haul, and you’ll get rewarded when a viewer purchases off the back of your recommendation. 
Increase the ROI of your blog posts by treating each piece of content as the foundation of a video script.  The bloggers at A Beautiful Mess, for example, produced a YouTube video that explains how to make built-in bookcases.  The video description sends users to the blog write-up, which includes affiliate connections to the goods used in the instruction. 
This method is worth exploring for various reasons.  First, not everyone appreciates reading online stuff.  Some folks like to watch videos.  You’re possibly missing thousands of potential admirers by merely creating textual material.
Secondly, Google and YouTube are the two most popular search engines in the world.  Sharing material to both channels enhances the probability of your target reader discovering it—and consequently, buying things via your blog.
For certain searches, Google’s system pulls YouTube videos on the search engine results page (SERP).  The first thing you’ll see on the SERP for “how to groom your dog at home,” for example, is a YouTube video on the subject.
The finest aspect?  An active YouTube channel boosts your earning potential.  The platform comes with its own set of monetization options, like the YouTube Shopify affiliate network, which enables you to discover things to sell via your content—or producers to promote your products.

11.  Produce a podcast and acquire a sponsor
Podcasts are more popular than ever, with more than 110 million regular listeners expected in the US by 2029. 
Episodes, however, are more than just a way to pass the morning commute.  According to a 2022 study, 70% of listeners will go to a brand's website after learning about its offerings through a sponsored podcast.  An additional 67% will bring up the topic of the item with a friend.  They are appealing offerings for companies trying to reach a wider audience because of these two factors.
Launch your own podcast to capitalize on the interest of your audience.  Record yourself discussing a subject related to your specialty, then syndicate each episode to a streaming service such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Offer sponsorship opportunities to companies in your niche.  In return for a sponsorship fee, sell advertising space and provide businesses with a quick way to connect with their target market.
The podcast approach's drawback is that it can be expensive, both financially and in terms of time.  Developing a relationship with a new audience takes time.  To create the podcast, you'll also need audio equipment or studio time that you can rent.
How much time does it take to start a profitable blog?
Although a well-known blog may start making money straight immediately, it often takes time to develop a large enough following to generate revenue.
The time it takes to make money may be decreased by using monetization techniques.  Brittany Berger, the creator of Work Brighter, for instance, made money almost immediately after developing a straightforward $20 digital download that she advertised in her weekly email.
“By starting early in the blog’s lifetime, I was able to convert a huge portion of the audience,” she says.
“I think waiting to launch something until you have a bigger audience can end up creating more pressure for yourself, so I’m glad I experimented with a small product when my audience was small.” 
Mushfiq Sarkar also started blogging part time back in 2008, though he had no prior marketing experience.
“I left my job in April 2021 to focus on The Website Flip because it was growing significantly and I was more passionate about growing this website and blogging,” he says.
His newest blog earns big money despite just being a few years old.
“A lot of people knew me by name, but not that I was an active blogger or someone who covered the industry.  I began making money quite quickly—within a month or two.”
Blogging is often a side business individuals take up with the hopes that, one day, they’ll be able to leave their day jobs.  Yet the amount of time it takes to create big money differs from blogger to blogger.
Can I make a livelihood by monetizing a blog?
As the numerous successful bloggers in this piece indicate, it’s absolutely feasible to earn money blogging.  In reality, you may build enormous enterprises with several people based on blogs as the fundamental product.
That so, you’ll need to follow basic best practices to offer your blog the greatest chance of delivering a full-time income.
Invest your time
Building a successful blog isn’t an instant triumph.  It generally takes years of constant work.  For many bloggers, meaningful money appears months or years after they’ve created and maintained an engaged readership.
In this sense, lucrative blogging isn’t simply about publishing as many posts as possible.  Instead, it’s about optimizing every part of your blog to enhance engagement—from your social media presence to your email marketing methods.
Cover all distribution channels
Sure, blog postings are fantastic.  But have you investigated generating video versions of your material like TikTok or establishing a podcast?  You may discover where most of your audience spends their online time and how they like to consume material by posting across a variety of content channels.
Avoiding fierce competition is another benefit of using a multichannel content strategy.  If your blog articles are having trouble ranking against well-known websites, maybe Instagram Stories may provide you a wider audience.
Increasing your exposure across channels might also help you rank higher in search results.  The more often your material appears in various media, the more probable it is that each platform will value it and give it a better ranking.
Make your blog too important for Google to overlook by striving to be ubiquitous in your field.