4 Ways To Make Money Blogging

Interested in making money online, but don’t know where to start? There are different ways in which you can make money online. You can earn money quickly online with games, completing surveys and also with blogging. In this article we will go into more detail about what blogging exactly is and how you can make money with it. Blogging is not a bad revenue model, but you have to know what you are doing and where the opportunities lie. Read on to discover whether making money blogging is something for you.

What is blogging?

A blog is an article or post on a website. You usually say something useful in a blog, so that the reader really benefits from your text. Blogs can be about endless different topics: there are blogs about hacks, about how to create the most beautiful and special make-up looks, about how to raise a puppy and even about how to replace car parts. Have you ever looked up a tip or life hack on the internet? Chances are you found your answer on a blog.

Someone who posts texts on a website or blog is also called a blogger. A blogger posts a blog on his blog. In this context, a blog is the text and the website on which the text is published. The website on which the blogger publishes the text is often the blogger’s own: fully personalized to the blogger and tailored to the target group.

A blogger usually posts a blog every week, sometimes more often and sometimes less often. Most blog authors have a regular upload schedule, so blog visitors know when to expect a new post. How often the blogger uploads a blog depends on what he or she has to say. Do you want to write blogs about current events? Then you can probably upload an article several times a week. Do you want to write blogs about a make-up look or how to best clean certain surfaces? Then one post per week is also fine.

‘Vlogging’ has also become extremely popular in recent years. Vlogging is nothing more than video blogging: vlogging. Instead of writing it out in an article, the information is conveyed through a video. This can be done via a sit-down video, in which the vlogger sits in front of the camera the entire time and tells his story. It can also be done via a slightly more active video, in which the vlogger actively shows how he or she cleans something or shows step by step how he or she creates a make-up look.

Blogging is a hobby for most people. However, it can also be a job. There are plenty of bloggers who make money writing articles. There are different revenue models behind blogging.

Different ways to make money blogging

There are different ways in which you can make money as a blogger. To get straight to the point: there is little chance that after uploading a few blogs you will immediately be as wealthy as the world’s best-known bloggers who live in large American cities. Building a blog takes time and energy. Are you willing to invest this in your website? Then you can go quite far as a blogger. Let’s look at different ways you can make money blogging:

Write sponsored product reviews

There are few companies that do not need honest reviews. Preference is of course given to positive reviews, but many companies also find honesty very important. For companies, reviews are actually proof to the (potential) customer that their product or service is worth it.

When you just start blogging, you will probably have to approach your favorite companies for a collaboration. Many companies value a good engagement rate, i.e. the number of comments and likes you receive. Engagement is important, which shows that your readers have actually read the blog and understood the content. Do companies not want to work with you yet because you have too few readers? Then you can start posting reviews about your favorite products that you already have at home, so you don’t have to spend money on purchasing new products.

Is your blog more popular and consistently well visited? Then companies will approach you for collaborations. This often starts with small companies and will become increasingly larger companies.

When writing a product review, it is important to clearly indicate that you are being paid for writing this review (if this is the case, of course). If you don’t do this, there is a chance that your blog will fall into disrepute. For the reliability of your blog, it is important to always be honest in your reviews. So also share the bad qualities or results of a product or service. This way your readers can be sure that you are telling the truth.

Choose a profitable niche

Before you start writing blogs, it is wise to choose a profitable niche. A niche is a specific topic within a larger topic, such as cosplay makeup or plant-based recipes. By choosing a niche for your blog, readers know what to expect on your blog. For example, you won’t share a plant-based recipe one week and a tutorial on how to change engine oil the next. If you always write blogs within a certain niche, there is a good chance that readers will visit your blog more often.

There are endless niches about which you can write blogs. Not every niche is as profitable as the other. Some important requirements of a profitable niche are:

• Low competition:  choose a niche where there is little competition. There are already countless blogs about makeup looks and recipes, so choose a niche that is in demand. Nowadays, more and more people are choosing a plant-based diet: respond to the trend and write plant-based recipes. It is of course important that you actually find the niche you choose interesting, otherwise you will quickly be done with it.
• Potential to make money:  take a look at other profitable blogs they write about. In some niches you already know in advance that you can make money with them. Companies such as Techno are happy to pay bloggers to professionally review their products. Also look around to see if there are affiliate programs for products in the niche you want to write about.
• Topic that appeals to you:  perhaps the most important thing for writing a blog: make sure that the topic appeals to you. Only then can you be truly enthusiastic about a product or service and convey this to your readers. Your readers will drop out soon enough if you write blogs purely with the intention of (someday) making money with them. You must also really enjoy blogging.

Sell ​​advertising space

A popular way to make money blogging is to sell advertising space. This is literally what you think it is: you sell a piece of ‘space’ on your blog to companies so that they can place advertisements there. It is wise to take this advertising space into account when designing your blog. Work the space naturally into your blog’s layout so it isn’t too obvious or distracting, which can turn off readers.

You can sell advertising space in two different ways:

• Outsource it to an advertising network. By joining forces with an advertising network, you do not have to approach companies yourself for collaboration. A popular platform is Google AdSense. This advertising network takes over everything from you: they appropriate a piece of advertising space and arrange the invoicing of the advertisers. All you have to do is process the code you receive into your website. You then get paid per view of the ad. Almost too good to be true!
•  Negotiate with companies yourself. Do you prefer to keep control or do you simply not want to hand over any of your profits to a third party? Then you can choose to negotiate with companies yourself to sell advertising space. Approach companies and discuss the possibility of purchasing advertising space on your blog. Before negotiating, you must be strong and have a clear goal in mind. Approaching, negotiating and then incorporating it into your site also takes more time than when you work with an advertising network.

If you want to make serious money with advertisements, it is important that you get enough visitors to your blog. The commitment is therefore slightly less important if you only want to earn money with advertisements. Your main goal in this case should really be generating visitors.

Join an affiliate program

Affiliate marketing is a form of online marketing where you can earn money by placing affiliate links in your blogs. This form of marketing is a bit like writing sponsored product reviews. Unlike writing sponsored product reviews, with affiliate marketing you don’t get paid for writing the blog or review itself.

With affiliate marketing you deal with three parties, namely the sellers, publishers (also known as affiliates) and the consumers. The sellers are the companies, the publisher or affiliate is you and the consumers are the visitors to your blog.

Affiliate marketing works as follows:

• You write an article about a product and share a special link to the product page of the company you work with
• The customer clicks on the link and all steps taken by the customer (up to purchase) are then followed and linked to your link
• The customer makes a purchase via your link, as a result of which you receive a commission on the purchase amount of the customer’s order

In practice, there is a bit more to it than just these three steps. Do you want to learn more about affiliate marketing? Download my free ebook on how to get started with affiliate marketing.

If you, as a blogger, want to make money with affiliate marketing, it is advisable to join an affiliate network. There are several platforms you can join, some popular examples are commision junction and crackrevenue. You can also choose to register with the internal affiliate programs of companies themselves. This often means you have shorter lines of communication with the companies and you always share products from the same company. This can improve the reliability of your blog.

Sell ​​products

Selling products can vary from merchandise to educational courses or interesting e-books. When you write blogs about certain topics, it may be an idea to offer knowledge products about them. You can delve deeper into the subject in these knowledge products, courses or books. This way you can offer even more value to your readers.

Do you not immediately want to offer complete books or courses, but do you want to test whether your target group wants to invest in knowledge products or other products that match your blogs? Then design printables. These are digital files that you can download via a link and then print at home. Do you write blogs about life as a primary school teacher? Then it may be interesting to offer additional teaching materials. Then opt for teaching materials that are slightly different than usual: make the math problems fun and interesting or let the children write a story through language exercises. The possibilities for printables are virtually endless!

Have you built up a large following and do you feel that your readers are interested in wearing or using merchandise? Then release a number of clothing items with your logo or a slogan that you always use. You can also opt for canvas bags or beautiful stationary products – something less ‘in your face’ than a piece of clothing.

Making money blogging is possible.

Earning money with blogging is certainly possible, and in different ways. Choose a way that you feel good about and never forget the most important thing: blogging should be fun. Write about topics that you like and that you really relate to. Do you write reviews? Don’t forget to always be honest and share less positive reviews, even though companies may prefer not to do so. Ultimately, it’s all about you and your visitors. There are plenty of (other) companies you can work with!