Making money from your blog is not only possible, it’s recommended, especially if you love sharing ideas.
It’s how we transform simple thoughts into something bigger, which brings us closer and unites us as a group, a tribe.
But for a long time, our ideas were imprisoned and suffocated, screaming for their freedom.
A privileged few had access to information, always controlled by large institutions, which, not by chance, are the ones with the most money and power.
But this era of centralized information is over.
Today, the world is increasingly connected.
The internet has won, becoming the main means of communication and wealth generation for ordinary people like you and me.
But over 11 years running a digital business that consistently makes 8 figures per year, I can see a fatal mistake that beginners are making in this market.
And I need to warn you about it before I show you how you can monetize your blog.
The Fragility of Businesses that put all their Eggs in one Basket
Most people start a digital business the easiest, shortest, and wrong way.
They build all their assets on social media, on rented land.
And what is rented land on the internet?
It is a land where you are not your owner.
A land where you don’t dictate rules, but rather obey them.
A land where you are not free to do whatever you want.
“Why build a blog?” they ask themselves…
“Everyone is on Instagram, right?”
“Why do I need an email list?”
“Everyone uses WhatsApp, right?”
On October 4, 2021, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp were offline for almost the whole day.
Imagine: investing 1 million in traffic to open the cart on Monday, with a discount, and making 90% of sales on Monday…
And precisely on that day, the most important day of the launch, the main platforms go down?
This is one of the invisible costs that can put your business at risk.
It is moments like this that reinforce my view of investing in blogs when everyone says otherwise.
Only through a blog and an email list can you have total control over what happens and what doesn’t happen in your business.
Don’t get me wrong, social networks are good ways to bring traffic to your website and improve your relationship with your audience.
But building your entire business on them is putting everything you have in the hands of the powerful Silicon Valley companies, which show no affection for you and your goals.
Maybe it’s time for you to build your online business on a terrain where you have total control, don’t you think?
There are still those people who consider themselves to be introverts and who don’t like the idea of being out there all the time, recording videos and doing live broadcasts.
And yes, it is possible to make money online without having a blog.
Is it Possible to Make Money Online Without Showing up?
Do you believe you need to appear in videos, do live broadcasts, and share much of your personal life to have a digital business?
I didn’t believe that…
But I’m the kind of person who runs away from crowds, parties, and a thousand events.
I still prefer being here, behind the computer, writing this text for you.
However, I always thought that, to follow my path as an entrepreneur, I would have to learn to let go more. I would have to do live broadcasts, record videos, and give lectures all the time.
For years, that’s what I did.
The result?
I ran away from my essence, experienced burnout, and didn’t achieve the results I planned for my company at the time.
I thought that doing exactly what all the other names in the digital market said was the “right thing to do”, and my results would be extraordinary.
When I saw the trap I had created for myself, I stopped everything and started reconnecting with my nature. With who I am and what I enjoy doing.
And a non-monetized blog is just a hobby.
When I returned to where it all began, I left behind what didn’t do me any good and found my way to sell on the internet:
- Without videos.
- Without stress and anxiety.
- And without showing my entire life as an open book on social media.
To this day, many people ask me why I publicly share (and for free) so much information about how it is possible to make a living from blogging.
And my answer is simple: I believe that creating a professional blog can radically change your life if you know how to make money with it.
With the right planning and an adequate strategy, you can monetize your blog, be recognized for your work, and still help thousands of people.
If this is your goal, check out these 6 ways to monetize your blog and create a successful digital business through it.
The Best Ways to Make Money From Your Blog
Blogging is not dead.
Here’s why it’s still worth it to make money from your blog:
- 93% of online experiences start with a search engine like Google.
- 92% of companies have gained customers through their blogs.
- Blogging strategies are 62% cheaper and generate 3 times more qualified leads for a website.
Now, if you are the kind of person who wants to monetize your blog effortlessly, without doing absolutely anything, these tips are not for you.
All the ways to monetize your blog that I will share require work, starting with building the foundation that involves these activities:
- Producing quality content;
- Generating traffic through SEO and social networks;
- Invest in growing your email list.
- And finally, creating/adopting a way to monetize your blog.
1. Affiliate Marketing
As an affiliate, you receive commissions through the sales of other people’s products.
For those who are just starting out and don’t know exactly what their audience wants to consume, selling products from other producers can be a good path.
Follow these criteria when choosing affiliate products:
- Keep it consistent. If you write about extreme sports, you’ll agree that it doesn’t make any sense to sell a makeup course, for example.
- The product needs to solve a problem or offer something that interests your audience.
- Don’t sell anything that you wouldn’t buy yourself, just because the commission is good. Remember that it will be your name, your blog, and your authority that will suffer if you offer a bad product.
- The popularity of a product, as well as the evaluation made by customers who have already purchased it, are factors that you should also take into consideration.
- Find out more about the subject in this article: “Affiliate Marketing: How to Generate Revenue for Your Digital Business Through Third-Party Products”
2. Selling Your Products
Creating your product and selling it on your blog is one of the most lucrative ways.
Although it requires much more effort, selling your own products will also yield much better results, as your audience will be much more likely to buy something you offer.
Tips for generating income with your products:
- Ask your audience what their greatest desires are, their unmet needs, and if possible, find out their objections. From their answers, you will certainly have one, if not many, ideas for future products.
- Your product could be an eBook, a video course, or even a mobile app. But start with one and create more over time.
- Keep in mind that the responsibility for delivering the product content is entirely yours, even if the sale is made by affiliates. Support is also on your account, as is the fight against piracy.
You will find ideas for creating your products in these articles:
- “How to create an online course: the 4 Cs that lead to success”
- “How to plan an online course that engages students until the end”
- “Digital Product: how to transform your knowledge and experience into a profitable business”
3. Exclusive Content for Members and Customers
You can create an area with exclusive content for members on your blog for a recurring monthly fee.
Many people like to be part of select groups and will be interested in having access to things that the rest do not have.
You can offer articles, videos, and PDF materials.
If you have valuable content that you want to offer, whether weekly or monthly, as long as it is regular, you can create a newsletter or digital magazine subscription and charge a monthly or annual subscription fee for this type of content.
If you are an author of fiction or non-fiction books, sell your publications without needing publishers, using platforms such as Amazon and WhatsApp.
The control is all yours, and so are most of the gains.
4. Banners and links
Google AdSense is a Google tool for including advertisements on your blog, where you receive payment based on clicks or views.
Some blogs still use this strategy and spread banners and affiliate product links across their website/blog to sell partner products.
However, spreading banners across your blog will clutter its design and will be ignored by visitors, who have learned not to pay attention to this type of information anymore.
Another disadvantage is that, to earn a small amount of money from clicks, you need a huge amount of traffic.
Therefore, I consider this the least attractive option for those who want to monetize their blog.
5. Sponsored Posts
Many bloggers are paid to talk about a product or service and recommend it. This is a sponsored post.
You can accept a contract from a company, but only choose products and services that you know or identify with.
To get sponsored post contracts from large companies for a reasonable price, you will need to have a large audience.
For established bloggers, attending an event can cost between R$2,500 and R$32,500.
A post without having to go to the location can cost between R$1,000 and R$15,000.
A video can cost between R$1,500 and R$40,000.
A mention of the brand by name can cost between R$700 and R$12,000.
A great option if you want to follow the path of digital influencers, but it is still fragile when we talk about digital businesses, because you depend exclusively on contracts with third parties.
Do you want to follow this path? Be sure to consider the possibility of taking advantage of your audience and creating your own products.
6. YouTube
But aren’t you talking about monetizing your blog? What does YouTube have to do with this?
Well, if you have no problem being in front of the cameras, YouTube is a great way to boost your blog’s earnings.
With the YouTube partner program, you can earn money by inserting ads into your videos. The more views, the more income.
Of course, your success on YouTube will depend on a few factors, such as the quality of the videos, the creativity of the content, and the number of subscribers to your channel.
In addition, you can use platforms like Patreon or Apoia-se so that your audience can contribute to your work.
All of this is using your already written blog articles as a script to record your videos.
Don’t forget: always post videos on your own blog to attract more visitors to your blog and increase the views of your videos.
These are just 6 ways to monetize your blog.
In my experience, the best way is, and always will be, to sell your own products through your blog, whether they are courses, mentoring, or ebooks.
And as a supplement to your income, you can sell affiliate products as tools that you use in your daily life.
This is what brought me here when I started my blog, believing in the dream of making a living from the internet.
Who knows, if you are willing to do your part, it might work for you, too.
