If you’re looking for a reliable side gig to help supplement your income and have a while to build something up, blogging may be just the thing you’re looking for. Blogging is a business opportunity that comes with extremely low startup costs, a flexible schedule, and the chance to earn a living while sitting at home in your pajamas.
It may seem hard to believe but many bloggers are able to earn a full time living online. How do they do it?
While there are many different ways to make money online, most successful bloggers use a combination of the methods listed below.
Google AdSense. This method requires the least amount of work. All you have to do is create an AdSense publishers account and paste a snippet of code on each web page you want ads to appear. Google automatically reads the content of your page and displays relevant ads. If a visitor clicks on one of the ads you make money (anywhere from a few pennies to several dollars per click).
How much you earn depends on the content you write about, the amount of traffic your site gets, and the percentage of visitors that click on your ads. Generally speaking, you need a good amount of traffic to make significant money this way.
Affiliate Links. Many merchants offer a commission to affiliate sites that help generate sales. For example, let’s say you own a site about fitness. You review various exercise equipment and link to the manufacturer’s website through an affiliate link. If someone clicks on your link and then makes a purchase you earn a commission on the sale. This can be a very profitable method but it takes some practice and requires targeted traffic.
Private Advertising. An extremely profitable way to make money with a blog is to offer private advertising such as sidebar ads or sponsored posts. But be aware that selling links that pass Page Rank goes against Google’s guidelines and it could negatively affect your search engine rankings. You could also lose your site’s PR which means most advertisers will steer clear of you. Use this method at your own risk.
Create a Product. This is probably the most difficult method simply because it takes a lot of time and hard work (unless you outsource it all) to create a product worth selling. You can sell a physical product or a digital one such as an ebook or training course. The best part is that you get to keep all the profits instead of only getting a small commission as an affiliate. Of course, you could always build your own army of affiliates to help promote and sell your product to the masses!
Speaking/Appearance Fees. Most bloggers will never reach the popularity level required to take advantage of this method but I figured I would include it anyway. If your blogs becomes very well-known and respected you could get paid to appear at conferences or business events.
Classic Ways. Even bloggers know about side hustles, getting roommates, finding quotes on getting lump sums from a current structured settlement from a website or two, selling their stuff, and even cutting expenses.
What do you think about blogging for a living? Which money-making method do you think is best?
Mike Collins is a freelance writer and blogger who specializes in personal finance topics. He’s also a husband and father of three children who keep him very busy. You can read more about his quest to achieve finance freedom for his family at WealthyTurtle.com
Mike Collins is obsessed with building new streams of income and achieving financial freedom so he can live life to the fullest with his wife and 3 amazing children. Read more about his adventures at WealthyTurtle.com.