One of the most-common questions when it comes to blog posts is “How can I make money blogging?”
Let me offer you some suggestions about how to monetize a blog post with these 5 proven ways.
As a note, there are lots of other ways to make money blogging if you branch off into your own services or products. But — for now — I’m talking strictly about the actual post doing all the heavy lifting to generate income.
- Running Ads — Whether you choose something like Google AdSense or advertiser sponsorships with custom ads, you can sell space on your blog. Any type of ad that would produce a significant amount of income will require that your blog have some pretty decent traffic stats. However, even if you are still building traffic to your site, you can begin now to incorporate AdSense ads so you have a good foundation when you do reach larger traffic numbers.
- Relationship Referrals — They don’t have to be blatant ads (banners, sidebar, pop-ups, etc.). You can do what I call relationship referrals. These would be set up with the product or brand beforehand.
This is sort of a drive-by ad much like what people do in TV shows and movies. You know, when you see Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible drinking a Pepsi while the camera zooms in for a close-up of his hands as he’s typing on his Mac laptop.
You don’t actually sell anything. The advertiser is paying for a certain level of exposure on your blog every month. People see a picture in the blog post of you using the product or they read about how you love your Mac, or you just bought a new Mac, etc.
By showing your relationship with the product, you’re positioning it as something you endorse.
- Sponsored Posts — These are sort of like ads, but different. A company pays you to write a blog post highlighting their products or services. This is something I want to get into so I have been paying close attention to others who do this successfully.
I LOVE the way Lynn Terry of TravelingLowCarb.com does this. She is an absolute pro! Yes, Lynn makes it clear that she is an affiliate for the brand. But she adds so much clever individuality to each post (creating a new recipe using the products, for example.) that everyone can see she isn’t just pushing brownie mix (or whatever).
Here’s a good example as Lynn highlights her own version of low-carb blondies using a mix she was reviewing.
From what I’ve been told, traffic and an engaged audience are key, and Lynn absolutely has that, so I reached out to her to see if she would be willing to share some advice with us. Here’s what Lynn had to say:
I do use Google AdSense on my blog, and I watch it closely — on my blog and on other sites. I watch for relevant products or services that are obviously targeting my audience (and me) for potential affiliate opportunities or advertisers.
I have found some GREAT products that way, and companies to work with. I never click on my own ads, of course, simply hover over them to see where they point and go there myself — or Google the product.
I find watching AdSense to be great for “lead gen” because you KNOW that merchant is actively trying to get in front of your audience AND that they have an advertising budget. 😉
I recommend signing up for http://www.socialbluebook.com so you can get a base or an idea of what you can charge for different types of advertising.
Thanks, Lynn!
- Affiliate Marketing — This is as simple as signing up for affiliate programs for products you use and love. Insert links into your posts that point to the products you mention. If you like a certain paid plug-in that your audience would genuinely find helpful, write a blog post that provides tips for using the plug-in, and include your link.
*** By law, in the U.S., you must reveal that your links are affiliate links. If you look at this post from my blog, for example, you’ll see a disclosure statement directly under the title.
- Insert a Call-to-Action — You can do this within the post itself or at the bottom. Most of my posts have a clear CTA at the bottom. For the link in #4 above, scroll down and you’ll see how I set them up.
- BONUS! Use Content Upgrades — One way to ensure you’re connecting with readers who are interested in a particular topic is to offer content upgrades. When you’re looking for how to monetize a blog post, these work great and they aren’t hard to set up.
A content upgrade offers additional information on the same topic as your post. So, using this post as an example, the site visitor just finished reading a post about writing bullet points (short bits of copy designed to engage people). I offer a content upgrade with a cheat sheet that shows how to drive traffic with tiny tidbits of text. It’s a natural progression. The cheat sheet also includes a coupon code and drives the reader back to my site to purchase.
I love using Thrive Leads for these forms. I am not a techy person and I have no trouble finding my way around Thrive Leads when creating forms. Once your reader opts in to get the freebie, it is sent via email or provided on a download page.
Cindy Bidar has some excellent information about using content upgrades. Read more in this post.
It may take a bit of time to learn how to make money blogging. Try some (or all!) of these ideas and see if they work well for you.
Ready to up your blogging game with more traffic, engagement & sales? Get my “Blogging Advantage: How to Create Blog Posts That Entice & Engage” ebook today. Save $10 when you use code BLOGADVBLOG (all caps).
Have questions about how to monetize a blog post? Ask them below!
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Fantastic information in an entertaining way!
Thank you!