Make Money Blogging

Who doesn’t like earning more money?  And money doesn’t grow on trees which is why you need to create a business to produce value to sell to others for a healthy income stream. A blog is a great business!

This “value” I speak of is expanded upon below. Believe it or not, the content on blogs is valuable. It’s informative, fresh, colorful, engaging and tends to generate emotion — and emotion sells products.

 

Money making blog on your laptop
Photos courtesy of Carlos Muza

There are millions of $ to be made via your online marketing strategy, as many already have done (see below). If you develop the right system, value proposition, create quality content, and then promote it strongly to reach the right audience and then draw big traffic volumes to your website, it can be your key source of income. Plan and launch it by 2024, and you can capitalize on the 2024 economic recovery.

And it can be source of personal esteem too. However, and I’ve learned this, it is hard work researching, writing, producing, editing, reworking, and keeping it running that’s a challenge. Exhaustion is a danger, which is why strong promotion is so important.  Creating value in your blog is not enough. You must reach a large, interested audience.

And this is where the promotional channels such as SEO and social media comes in. I don’t want to discourage you, but rather indicate that you will need reorient yourself to be enthusiastic, determined and optimistic.

The end result for some with talent and resources can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Overall, my blog has done that without much financial investment.  Pour money into it later and you might find yourself in the success club listed below.

This topic of earning money from your blog is a popular one for sure. Thousands of blogs and videos cover the topic.

Top Earning Bloggers

This is just a few of those earning big revenue:

Top Earning bloggers 2021.
Top Earning bloggers 2021. Data/image courtesy of targetinternet.com and founderjar.com.

Raelyn Tan offers another report on blogger income. And she notes that most bloggers don’t want to report their income.

There are very successful bloggers today who started out just like you are right now — reading a blog post you found on Google. You may have already read some posts on how to generate income, build traffic, and offer unique value to readers.  But maybe, you haven’t had that gut feeling that generates real action and commitment. Hopefully, this one will do it.

Once you achieve some blogging success, your confidence and energy will rocket. I know, I’ve been through it. I’ll tell you my story later.

A winning, powerful money making blog is a big project. It fact, it’s a business. Commitment is required to be sustainable.

Calm Down and Take It Slow

Initially, it’s best to understand and build the framework of your blog business before making attempts to branch out to build multiple revenue streams. Keep to the core basics at first so you can build value as well as your understanding and competence of each element.

Later, we can drill down into the details in each aspect of it (and explore blog business models). Doing too much or going granular too fast will result in you becoming overwhelmed and discouraged. Your brain can only take in so much. Treat it with respect by following a building process that sees you mastering each skill and making a complete customer-generating content funnel.

Blogger Income by Source.
Blogger Income by Source. Screen shot courtesy of brandongaille.com.

Let’s Keep it Simple to Reach your Income Goal

Keeping it simple allows you to do things right and build strengths so that this blog becomes your primary source of income. And, here’s what you don’t realize right now, is that many other things will flow from it, from job opportunities, travel, partnerships, new clients, new friends, and product sales.

There are tens of thousands of people earning big money from their blog and you can do it too. But there’s a lot of hype and fraud out there, so don’t be gullible. Focus on your business foundation and the rest will follow.

I’ve earned a lot of money from my personal blog.  I used it to develop new clients which actually produced the largest share of my income in the last 20 years. But the ad revenue is pretty sweet too.  Sadly, I treated the grand opportunity as a hobby and it suffered as a result.  We can get distracted and lose the path.

It can be the route to your dreams. And you can always get it rolling again when the missing ingredients arrive.  If you’re organized, inspired and have energy, you likely will make this project as successful with some tips here.

Tough Times Plus Big Revenue Generators

Another thing about planning and strategizing is that it can help you avoid being undermined by recessions, Google updates, and an inability to stay competitive. The economy and competition will present problems.  And in future, you will run out of energy and ideas if you don’t manage your blog business well.

Some topic niches do have a lot of readers, yet you must choose niches that resonate with you. You’ll do better if you are emotionally inspired by what you’re into.

Top Blog Niches.
Top Blog Niches. Screenshot courtesy of:https://www.rankiq.com/most-profitable-blog-niches-study/

There are other more lucrative, cash building and contract winning opportunities ahead for you, but you can discover and adjust to them later. It’s wise to pay attention to finding and creating your blog on profitable paying niche/topics which you can enjoy. Then whatever flows from that, you can manage later.

Here are what may be the key steps to build an amazing blog:

10 Elements of a High Revenue Blog

  1. Build Value for Your Readers
  2. Create a Winning Value Proposition
  3. Choose the Best Topics and Keyword Phrases
  4. Make Great Money with Great Content
  5. Structure Your Blog
  6. Choose the Right Blog Hosting Service
  7. Establish Sources of Revenue
  8. Marketing and Promotion
  9. Learn from Great Blog Revenue Models
  10. Find Great Bloggers and Learn from Them
  11. Blog Resources

Building Value

Great Blog for the readers.
Image courtesy of EasyBlogThemes and Brian Clark.

The first consideration for you is knowing through research what topics are in demand, what your target audience wants and needs, and how you’ll create value for them.

That value is usually information of some kind. It could be key insights, directions, ideas, visuals, music, fun and enjoyment, entertainment, advice, interactive tools, news, expertise, or perhaps some great products. Whatever the visitors receives is what they believe is your value proposition.

Another blog has a different value proposition. So, to clarify, every visit is an exchange of value. You give them what they want and they click on an ad or buy something from you.

The value in this post for instance is straightforward — a basic strategy to make money by blogging online. Making money from blogging is easy to comprehend and very desirable to an audience who knows about blogging or who can write and generate other content to post.

Of course, it also ties into posting on social media. The fact is, a lot of people today need to make more money and blogging is accessible. Many “nomads” travel around, creating interesting, first hand content for their blog and social pages, and Youtube page and live a fantastic life.  Google by the way is putting an emphasis on hands on experience in topics (to fight AI generated spam).

Create a Powerful Value Proposition


Audiences have interests and your gift to them has to be relevant and desirable. Creating a good value proposition is the starting point of a blogging for money business.

This first step is the foundation for your blogging success. Without a good UVP, your ability to generate revenue will be low. You can create a name and a key branded item that quickly which your audience will remember.

Pic courtesy of iigservices.com.

Presumably, you’ll be helping readers and viewers solve their problems and pain points, and providing confidence and entertainment (e.g., in our example, I’m helping you take a faster path to a sustainable blog). It’s what you offer and how you deliver it (presentation/style/promotion) that determines success.

You can learn how to write well and to publish your own content, as there are learning and digital tools to help you improve. Millions of bloggers will be using automated AI content tools to scrape and push out copycat content which will give you a challenge.  That’s why a building a unique business angle which they can’t duplicate is important.

Consider what you might have sufficient expertise in or what you are willing to learn. Keep it realistic. Also review the profitability of various topics. Some keyword categories are very lucrative, yet they are challenging to gain exposure on and build a following. It’s competitive. This just means that whatever keyword/topics you choose to focus on, you’re going to need to develop skills/knowledge that are valuable for your users.

Spend Time to Build a Value Statement for Your Readers

Create a UVP statement that expresses what you’re offering, why and for whom. e.g., “my blog will help guide investors on how to buy real estate or stocks so they can find and capitalize on the most profitable opportunities available.” The value offered then is increased awareness of investing opportunities and making more money from their investment money.

Then you need an angle, which is where the unique part of the unique value proposition comes in. You can create uniqueness many different ways. Some bloggers create an interesting array of topics, assets, words, and solutions that are tough to imitate. Others cover the topic with lots of graphics, photos and videos. While others offer humor, deep insights, advice, or a your best friend approach.

The value also is in whether you’re likable, honest, helpful and respectable, because people value such attributes in the blogger they read. If readers don’t like you, then your blog content will not be consumed. Fashioning a nice personality that doesn’t get in the way of delivering value is important.

There are bloggers/experts I won’t read because they’re offensive and arrogant. They talk in a negative tone with profanity for instance, and yet two of them are still popular. They make extra money with speaking engagements and some have new businesses launched (they’ve got money too). They became iconic in a sense and were getting away with bad things. Last time I saw both of them on YouTube, they were rough and disheveled.

The key is that it’s better to sound like a good friend who cares and really can help your readers.  People don’t respond or promote you until they feel you care and that you’re worthy of their respect. You’ll be developing a brand and this is what actually creates reader loyalty and support from other website owners.

Oh, and as mentioned, you may want to consider naming your blog as many bloggers do. Some even use a tagline.  The name helps to communicate your unique value proposition and make your blog memorable to first time visitors. It adds to impact and builds the essential quality which is significance.

Significance means you’re important and the best of the bunch. Now you can convert them to customers.

Choose the Best Topics and Keyword Phrases


Your new blogging business is all about the money, so choosing the right topic niche is essential. Your market research is all about finding the highest paying topics and covering them correctly.

Topics, categories, niches all come down to keywords for the most part. You need to discover what keywords belong in your topic niches. Study your topics first before using keyword tools. You need to know:

  • users pain points
  • keyword intent
  • content usage
  • hot topics and most viewed pages
  • most shared topics on social media
  • keyword search volume
  • difficulty of topics and keywords you’re targeting

Using Wordstream’s keyword tool, Google’s keyword suggestion tool, or the tool offered by ahrefs.com. They’ll help you find keywords, related words and actual blog posts on those topics. Then you can search on Google for those topics and find out how others have approached your topic and what content they created.

ahrefs SEO platform (link below) can also help you find content gaps, opportunities for new blog posts, and much more to help you compete more effectively on Google. These tools have a cost though, so you’ll find yourself using them briefly and perhaps looking for free tools.

Create Great Money with Great Content


After you have your key topics, you can create blog some uniquely valuable, informative posts.  You’ll find in your own searches how you like certain blogs that are written well and provide a nice reading experience. Yours must provide that same experience in the benefits, style, layout and flow of content.

The note on quality is important. There is a lot of competition so those who produce well planned and presented content tend to get their posts shared, liked and linked to. That brings more traffic and higher Google rankings and the upward spiral begins.

When visitors arrive, they are most interested in the one post they arrived on. However, the more other useful content you expose in that post can help keep them on your site (where they click more ads).  So the quality of the content helps serve all your money making objectives. Add on strong promotion and your revenue will grow.

There is a way to structure each blog to achieve all of your objectives.

Clarity in Flow Makes Your Blog Significant

Today, it’s important to have key, main concepts stated up front in the post. Don’t make make anyone or Google guess at what your post is about. Tell them the essence of your post (and about your blog) in a tantalizing fashion that doesn’t give it all away. Make them keep reading to get the full story. Hold back some of those key pieces they’re really after. Capture them first, make an impact, and they’ll follow the bread crumbs.

By giving them a big main piece right at the beginning, you make the article significant to them, so they’ll keep scrolling and reading. Impact and significance are important to keep them reading.  Once they get immersed in the topic, they’ll find it hard to leave your post.

Headings are Important

Your headlines should be interesting and enticing and may contain your top keywords (readers like keywords, but that doesn’t mean they have to be in it. There may be other words/phrases that are more magnetic). The first 2 sentences rushes them into the topic in an interesting way. The next sub heading and paragraphs then keep expanding on things, like a path to explore, and draw them further into your topic. Consider several good highly compelling points about the topic to present in the top 3 or 4 paragraphs because that’s what they will read to determine if it’s worth going any further.

A lot of readers scan a post, sometimes clicking pages just to determine whether your blog is worth it. Headings get the message they need to see.

You may want to limit the full blog post to 3 key points which you can elaborate in 2 to 3 sentences each.  Yes, long blog posts tend to rank highly, but most readers don’t have time for a 2,000 to 10,000 word post. If your opening is strong they may bookmark it for later.  Most readers have short attention spans so they won’t read more than 600 words.

If you’re an experienced writer or blogger, you may be used to producing epic level blogs, but everyone has to keep them reasonable in length and maintain a nice flow of narrative. Too much can spoil the articles.  Even with a nice flowing, slick, funny and immersive narrative, readers are rushed and tired.  Later, you can analyze your posts and rewrite them more closely for the readers.

Some say there is no good writing, only good editing. And it’s not quantity, it’s quality.

After finishing your first draft, you can edit it until the flow of your ideas is pleasing and establishes your purpose in creating the page.

Always have a certain purpose for the page so that you’re sure you got the job done right and they’re not lost.
You can use bulleted lists too to provide some quick, easy to consume details or features. Users like bullet lists.

At the right point in the post, you can insert a graphic, chart or photo to provide visual interest or a pause to ready them for the next set of headings and paragraphs. Information overload is a danger, so write like you’re writing to a friend who you don’t have to push too hard.

Keep your final copy fun and enjoyable. It needs to breathe to engage their imagination.

Of course search engine optimization comes into play too, yet advanced SEO is another topic. It’s best to write to suit your visitors interest in the topic. Otherwise, they’ll leave.

I’ve been a writer/search engine optimizer for 25 years and yes, we often torture articles with too much SEO. If you have to do too much SEO on your posts, it means you haven’t done enough promotion.  Focus in on the readers enjoyment and delight. Top bloggers do that.

Within your post, you can include charts, relevant photos, videos and pull quotes to create visual interest. Long sections of text are hard to read and most readers have a short attention span. That’s why using whitespace on the page can help the reader’s eyes rest and their mind refresh.

You can use a title graphic above the post to provide more visual interest. Images are valuable, as long as they aren’t too big in byte size. Slow pages are a pain for readers and for Google.

You must keep your blog fresh and update your blogs which have done well. You can review your time on page stats to see how long they’re staying on them.  And as content ages, rankings fall and traffic weakens. Freshness will be an issue as your blog grows. But in editing, you can freshen it and rework it for the latest interests of your audience.  All posts are lasting assets. You just need to rework them.

Structure Your Blog

Once you have your list of in-demand topics and keywords, you can build out the framework of your blog. You’ll create menus on your pages that contain key topics of interest. There’s a limit to how many menu links you should use. The link menus allow visitors to explore the most relevant subtopics or very popular topics quickly, or to see your about and contact us page too. Those links are part of the reader’s scanning process.

As far as Google is concerned, it will follow the links within your articles, so you’ll want to link within your page copywriting to other related blog posts you’ve written. That allows to you present a broader deeper coverage of your topic and allow them to progress as they please. Each visitor wants to explore their own unique content path, so make it easy with links to allow them to get to any topic they might be interested in.

This relates to building a content funnel, which basically means creating a series of content pieces that move the visitor toward a decision. When you create that decisiveness within your visitor, they’re more likely to click on an ad, buy something from you, or perhaps link to your website from theirs or share your link on social media. The funnel provides some purpose so they don’t just fade away and leave.

The longer they stay on your blog and visit more blog posts, the more revenue you’ll generate because these visitors are obviously interested in the topic. Your advertisers (Google Adsense) will also see they’re a good consumer for them and you’ll get higher click prices (that’s important).

So the content structure isn’t like a library. Your goal is to engage them as they wish so you can grow your revenue and subscribers.

Readers subscribe to blogs when they provide an informational or entertainment value so great that it would be a loss to not subscribe to it.” — Maki

Blog Hosting


You’ll need to host your blog somewhere. That means finding a blog host. Here are some good options:

  • GoDaddy — use their service to build a website and install a WordPress blog just like mine. They are great for their help/assistance with technical issues with hosting and website services, and they have a managed WordPress service too. Choose a good, fast blog template, set up secure server certificates, and more as a novice. It might be an option to gravitate to.
  • Bluehost — very inexpensive hosting services
  • Wix – again a service that creates a blog for you and where you can place ads
  • SquareSpace – they provide site templates so you can blog
  • Shopify – templated blog hosting with a Shopify ecommerce accounts so you can sell things
  • Blogger – popular, free hosting platform with simple templates.

Keep in mind that some hosting services won’t allow to post advertising on your pages or prevent you from other money making capabilities.

Hosting a blog yourself on your own website with a web hosting service (Godaddy, Bluehost, etc.) involves a lot of work and may require hiring a web designer. It requires ongoing maintenance and a knowledge of coding is necessary. If you choose a completed hosted blog then a lot of the technical issues are removed and you can focus on content creation, SEO, and social media promotion.

If you do become successful, you’ll want to move your blog to your own hosted platform and enable custom money making options. That means a web programmer will edit code and make sure your site works. If you end up making millions of dollars, then you can hire a team or an digital marketing agency to handle it all for you.

Sources of Revenue


You may want to begin using Google Adsense for publishers as your initial income source, since it’s the most accessible as you can see here on my blog. However, you need quite a big of traffic to make good money.  There are other alternative ad services, selling products, acquire a new client, find a sponsor, and affiliate programs such as Amazon.

  • Become a blogger for a company in your niche(s)
  • Sponsored posts — accept paid posts from appropriate vendors/brands
  • Google Adsense — apply to the Adsense publisher program and have ads appear on your blog posts
  • Shopify and Sell a Related Product (e.g., traveler merchandise on a travel site)
  • Amazon Affiliate Program — (place amazon code in your links and ads will appear)
  • Sell a Book – author a unique book on your subject and sell using Paypal
  • Sell your online course — teach your audience
  • Sell your personal/professional services
  • Find a Great Job — showcase expertise and promote on Linkedin too
  • Sell an App — this could be one you’ve had developed or any you find on Google Play
  • Do a Consulting Gig – provide a one time service in your specialty
  • Affiliate Programs – link to product providers with special ID code

Before you apply to any advertising network, you’ll must have in-depth content and a nice looking blog. You need to build traffic and create a great content experience — customers first.  A weak blog means your application will be turned down. Be patient and don’t get ahead of yourself.

The key task is to create a blog that offers unique value to readers so a growing list of subscribers/readers will take the appropriate action so you can make money.

Marketing and Promotion


Fantastic unique content, building visibility and drawing traffic are the precursors to being able to monetize your blog.  Until your blog has plenty of traffic, you’ll need to put a big effort into promotion. While bloggers are great at creating interesting content, they often fail to get it in front of the right eyeballs. Without reach to consumers, you can’t make any money from your blog.

If your blog fails, it may not be the content quality at issue, but rather the weak amount of promotion you’ve done.  Lacking a budget for promotion, you’ll need to be creative and promote hard on free channels. Getting traffic and building an email list is a smart approach. This accumulates and retains the readers you’ve built.

You’ll need to spend more of your time building content (blog posts, visual data, videos) initially, because they’re a medium for promotion.  Yes, SEO will be your top traffic and lead generator but it takes time for SEO strategy and content marketing to work.

These are the most popular promotional tactics:

  • Social Media Posting — build plenty of industry connections, and with consumers and influential people on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and post daily and acknowledge, view, and engage with relevant people (try the free tool from socialpilot.co).
  • Business/Promotional Partnerships — connecting with an industry related company (travel blogger + hotel brand or resort or cruiseline) can create brand awareness for you, sales, web traffic, new connections, and links to your website.
  • Contests and Free Giveaways — everyone loves useful freebies, and the prize has to be relevant and valuable or won’t make enough impact or signups
  • Blog Guest Posting — reach other blogger (blogger outreach) to ask them if they’d like free content for their websites in return for a link in it to your site. Getting a post/article on a top site in your desired topic/sector can be very helpful in getting seen.
  • Paid Sponsorships — seek out relevant websites where you might insert your ad or post some of your content
  • Hire Link Builders and Outreach agencies — if you’re UVP, content and promotion are weak, then you’ll be forced to build links to your site mechanically. The link builders will do all the difficult work related to getting your content out there and to acquire links from other websites. This will raise your Google rankings and traffic and give you the initial reach to build some revenue successes. Typically they start at about $3,000 a month but the best will $8,000/mo. or more).  Using Fiverr link builders and paid links is risky. Vet your link builders carefully.
  • Affordable PPC Campaigns — bid on low cost keywords or choose 4th to 8th rank on moderately competitive keywords. This is only advisable when you first develop a good promo offer or product to sell because cost per acquisition would be very high. Paying for exposure online is a rough way to gain visibility but if you’re ready for business it could generate an important lead to support your fledgling enterprise.
  • Collaborate with Related Bloggers — on a joint project which would be published on both of your websites
  • Do live podcasts (and stream on Google) with your subscribers to teach, engage, discuss, promote, share and sell to them

There are scams with some promotional opportunities and they won’t generate what you’d hope. You’ll learn later in future blog posts about how to qualify providers/channels and how to ensure you get the right results.

Adam Enfroy’s Blogging System


If you visit Adam Enfroy’s blog, you’ll discover how he’s optimized the complete system of blogging for money. He’s been very effective from the business and revenue standpoint. His subscription service is a compelling offer for anyone.

Even experienced, talented bloggers need help in bringing it all together. After all, a blog isn’t an online library, it’s a business with many dimensions. Adam has thought through a lot of the challenges and how to get organized. He’s got a slick  system — the kind of thing you’re wishing you had.

Find Great Bloggers and Learn from Them


If you want to be the best blogger, then read the best blogs and best experts in your topical segments and industry.

When these people become successful they tend to run premium content subscription offers to provide tips and lots of videos to a select audience of highly qualified readers. The videos themselves don’t provide much value other than directing prospects and readers to their blog where they can be properly engaged and turned into a customer.

Moving readers to the items that really engage and slow the readers experience down, so they can create a transaction is important.

Subscription offers are great sometimes while other times are worthless. We’ve all tried them and learned. Some are extremely well disguised scams, that ask for money before subscribers are remotely ready for such engagement or a purchase.

What more top bloggers/influencers do is build connections with relevant companies for big promotional deals and get involved in marketing and influence campaigns for them. You have to be quite a branded blogger to reach that amazing level.

The best bloggers will help you learn the right tone of voice, verbiage, and value propositions work with audiences.
There’s a learning curve with almost every element of your blog and growing revenue. Take it one at a time and you’ll bring your traffic, engagement, revenue continuously upward.

Systematic Application

If you use a blog business model such as Adam Enfroy’s, you’ll be able to comprehend and manage your project.  by planning and documenting, you become more aware of what you need to do.

Use the 10 steps I presented in this blog one at a time and master them.  The most important facets are building your value proposition because it is the foundation of everything else, and promoting well because your customers have to find you.

Please bookmark this post and add your comments below. I’ll be adding additional resources regularly.

Additional Money Making Blog Resources:


Ezoic — Ezoic’s ad revenue index

Impact Plus — Examples of value propositions

Social Pilot — Best Blogging Tools for Beginners

ahrefs  — Keyword Explorer tool

Search Engine Journal — Beginner SEO Guide

AI Marketers — Advanced Level SEO techniques

AI Marketers — How to Enrich your Content

Copyblogger — Storyselling 101: Build a Business Around Your Blog

Cappucino Blog — Best blog ideas for making money

DigiFloor – Best niche ideas for a blog

AI Marketers — Link Building Strategy

Userp.io — Link Building Services

Attrock — Link Building Agency

Respona – Link Building Software

DoFollow.io — High PR Link Building Agency

Setup Ad — How to Use Google Adsense

Influencer Marketing Hub — Guide to Facebook Advertising

Good luck getting your project built and launched. Only through this process will your blog business be clarified.  Get your unique content created, then go strong on promotion. Promotion is where the big money happens.

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