Creating a blog that attracts a steady flow of traffic is one thing, but actually making money from it is another altogether. Whether it’s your primary source of income or a side hustle, knowing your options is a crucial step to making an informed decision. Better still, embracing multiple revenue streams can inspire faster growth and take your earnings to new heights.
While you might not need to use all of the solutions below, selecting the most appropriate for your blog can help you generate the funds you deserve.
On-Site Advertising
On-site advertising is the obvious starting point for generating revenue. Not least because you can start to use this solution straight away. This guide to using Google Adsense more efficiently will help you start to earn money even when your audience is small. However, you would need to build a huge audience to generate a significant income from this revenue stream.
Thankfully, there are a host of other on-site advertising opportunities to consider. This includes selling ad space on your homepage, paid affiliate links, and paid product reviews. Earning potential will naturally increase as your readership grows. If you have a distinct niche, though, even a modest fanbase could help you negotiate a good level of pay.
Guest Blogging
As a professional blogger, you should be committed to your craft of writing quality content. Once you have shown your ability to produce engaging posts, the door to guest blogging opportunities will be opened. From ghostwriting to contributed posts and articles, your ability to add value to a brand can be handsomely remunerated. It is especially true when working with big brands.
The direct payments gained from providing freelance work on behalf of brands and creators aren’t the only benefit. You will also find that it increases your exposure. Anyone that reads and loves your content (if credited rather than ghostwritten) may then look for your site. Once this awareness has been established, they can be converted into a loyal reader.
Merchandising
By now, you will have almost certainly seen a range of merchandise from another blogger or social media influencer. With the right advice on WooCommerce, you can turn your WordPress site into an online store. You can also navigate users to your products from within your blogs. Especially if you produce content like reveals or explainer guides. The next step is to find products.
Merchandising can take many forms. You could use print-on-demand services for fashion or homeware items. Alternatively, you could develop and launch a product yourself. If your eCommerce store is a little light, stocking or dropshipping items from brands you love can work well too. After all, many members of your audience will have similar interests.
Paid Content
While your blog should provide free content, there is nothing wrong with running a premium service. This could include more in-depth articles, guides, or additional media types. For example, you could produce a podcast or videocast before charging a small fee for people to download it. Alternatively, you could operate a monthly subscription that covers all of your content.
Paid versions of your content could additionally focus on ad-free options. It might not be a necessary step when your platform is still growing. As your blog grows in visitors and frequency of content, this can be the ace up your sleeve. It allows you to make money directly from your visitors while still giving them the chance to stay on free plans.
Tutor
Depending on the nature of your blog, people may often read your blogs for educational purposes. In these instances, you may find that it is possible to develop a comprehensive training course for readers. Whether you blog about health and fitness, photography, or business doesn’t matter. You will have opportunities to create generic courses and personalised plans for students.
As for a more generic post, publishing an eBook or a downloadable course of blogs and video posts can work well. Moreover, you can run video seminars for small groups or one-to-one learning in the appropriate situation. As long as the content gives value for money, you may find that this brings more revenue than your on-site efforts.
Monetise On External Platforms
As a blogger, writing may be the central focus of what you do. However, video and audio content doesn’t only keep things fresh for creators and consumers alike. It also opens the door to money-making opportunities on external platforms. With the right advice on monetising a YouTube channel, you can outperform the average user. This can bump up your revenue nicely.
You can also earn money from most social media channels by adding paid ads to your content. This is slightly different to putting ads on your website. When creating new content specifically for social media platforms, you can look to get this content sponsored for bigger ROIs. you will soon learn which avenues deserve the most attention
Ask For Donations
You could also add a donation link to your site. While you probably don’t want to keep asking or pestering people, a quick link on your home page may see your best readers send you a small fee when they can. Their support can help you create even better content. So, you should not feel any guilt about the funds achieved in this way, especially as you’ve not forced them.
It is OK to mention the donations every so often. Alternatively, you could show your appreciation by offering discounts on your merchandise. Or rewarding a random donor once per month. If nothing else, it creates a more positive atmosphere across the community you’ve created. If it helps you earn some extra funds in the meantime, that’s great.
Sell The Blog
Finally, if you’ve created a successful blogging brand, you could consider selling it. Many media companies actively look to acquire small ventures. If yours has a good following and is known to produce good content, it could be sellable. In turn, you may get a job working for the new owner or think about starting a new venture yourself. Either way, the sale of your blog could generate a fortune.
Disclosure: collaborative post
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