How To Turn Your Blog Into A Paying Gig
Did you know that only around 5% of bloggers make a full-time income with their blog?
The vast majority of bloggers have never even made $100 from their blog! These numbers may sound frightening, but in reality, there is quite a bit that sets the 5% of top earners apart from the lower 95% of the blogging world.Â
As someone who does earn a significant income from my blog, I am here to tell you the simple things you can do to go from a hobby blog into a paying gig.
This is not, by any means, a “get rich quick” type job. Blogging is a long game when it comes to making a sustainable income, but with some planning and hard work, you can turn your hobby into an income-generating online business.
Monetize Your Blog with Ads
The easiest way to turn your hobby blog into a full-time income-generating business is to monetize it with ads. While this won’t be a large amount of income at first, it will continue to increase over time as your traffic grows.
There are a number of different ad networks out there that you can use. Initially, most people start off with Google Adsense as there are no minimum traffic requirements to join. They do have the lowest-paying ads but are a wonderful place to start if you are a brand new blogger.
Here are a few other ad networks to be aware of once you reach certain traffic requirement thresholds:
- Gourmet Ads – 10,000 Page Views per month to join.
- MediaVine– 50,000 Sessions in a month to join.
- Adthrive – 100,000 Page Views per month to join.
Start Making Money through Affiliate Marketing
Another common way that bloggers make money is to utilize affiliate advertising. Affiliate advertising is when you, the blogger, talk about a product and link out to where someone can purchase it.
If that person makes a purchase, then you will get a small commission based on the value of the sale. There are a large number of factors that go into making money from affiliate marketing, but once again, this is not a ” get rich quick” type of income generation.
If you want affiliate marketing to be the main way your blog generates income, you will need to become well versed in SEO to know how to get people to your site who are organically searching to purchase specific products. You will also need to research the best affiliate marketing companies to work with. Some pay out large percentages and others pay out very small ones. That all depends on the value and type of products you are linking to.
Things such as tech and software pay relatively well, whereas things like food and clothes don’t pay a very high commission rate. Below you will find some of the most common affiliate platforms that you can join to start making income from your blog.
Many times, brands will host their own affiliate programs as well. So if there is a specific brand you want to work with, then don’t be afraid to reach out and ask them if they offer any affiliate incentives. Even if they don’t, it may not be difficult to convince them to start.
Start Working with Brands Through Sponsorship Deals
The most common thing most people think of when they think of making money from blogging is working with brand sponsors. This can be a very lucrative way to turn your blog into a business, but it takes a lot of time, hard work, and dedication to growing as a business owner.
When starting out working with brands, it is easiest to go through influencer networks. These are agencies where bloggers can sign up to browse through campaigns that are hosted by different brands. You will see if you fit brand criteria, apply for a campaign, and then either be accepted or passed over.
Influencer networks offer a sense of security as they are a third party that is handling all the legal and back-end sides of a campaign. They set up the deliverables, create the contract, and make sure that the creators get paid.
The downside of influencer networks is that they take a cut of the pay. They obviously get paid for their work, so the pay creators get through networks tends to be lower than it would be when working directly with a brand.
The other way to work with brand sponsors is to work with them directly. You can either pitch specific brands you want to work with or wait for brands to pop up in your email. I don’t recommend the latter though. It is always best to take a proactive approach to build relationships with brands.
There is an art to pitching brands so I recommend really doing your research on this before cold-pitching, someone, you want to work with.
Use Your Blog as a Resume
Something I don’t see often is people using their blog as a resume. While most bloggers want to figure out how to make money and be their own boss, sometimes you just need a steady job, and what better than to get a job in a creative field doing something you love?
There are so many companies out there now hiring writers, content creators, graphic designers, and while you may feel like you are ” just a little blogger”, the truth is you probably have more experience than you realize.
Make your website look professional and use the content you create as a resume and example of your work to send to potential employers.
This can work if you are looking for full-time employment, or if you are wanting to work as a contract employee or freelancer. Many companies now are outsourcing. Hiring content creators on a per-article basis to create SEO-optimized content for their blogs, websites, and social media platforms.
Show these companies what you can do, and you will be bringing in steady income in no time.
Start Making Money with Your Blog
There is no shortage of ways to make money from a blog. No matter your niche, there is a way to monetize your content.
Start thinking of content you can create that will be beneficial to readers who are looking to make purchases, then go in with affiliate links and start to see the money come in.
Reach out to brands you know your audience will love, and form long-term relationships showcasing relevant products on your website.
Make sure you have ads running in order to generate a passive income with minimal effort.
And always make sure your website is clean and professional because you never know when you are going to need to use it as a resume to land your next paying gig!
If you’re just getting started with your freelance life, check out How To Get Started As A Freelancer here.
Jessi Joachim is the owner and content creator at The Coffee Mom. She runs her family lifestyle focused blog while chasing after her two small kids and working part time at a local digital marketing agency.
