When I asked on my Facebook page recently what your burning questions are about making money blogging, this one was common.
First things first. Make sure you are creating really amazing content on a regular basis and taking steps to increase your traffic. In order to make any money, you have to visitors and you have to have something worthwhile to visit. 
Second, make sure you are building sincere, no-strings-attached relationships via social media, commenting, participating in forums, promoting others, taking part in link-ups and the like.
Once you've got those two things down, think about money. There are so many ways to make money online. I wrote about some here and here.
Here are some more ideas if you're just starting out.
Google AdSense
An easy way to start is to put Google AdSense on your site. AdSense is relatively easy to get into (make sure you have really great content) and is easy to set up and maintain. Explore here for the basics.
Private ads (sponsors)
You might also approach small companies and ask them if they would like to advertise on your site. The key here is to be proactive. Don't just throw up an advertising page and expect advertisers to come calling. Go to them.
Not sure how to do that? Find other blogs like yours that are your size or slightly larger. See who is advertising on their site. Contact those companies and ask if they'd like to advertise on your site too. Create a pitch and make it a win-win. (Here are my thoughts about pitches. I wrote it as though you were being contacted by a company but the ideas apply here too.)
"But what do I charge?"
Either figure out what other blogs your size in your niche are charging (some say right on their advertising page or in their media kit), or start with a monthly rate like $1 per 1000 monthly pageviews. For example, if your site gets 10,000 pageviews a month, charge $10 a month for an above-the-fold ad on your site. Consider giving a discount when you're just starting out.
Affiliate marketing
Another option is affiliate marketing. Basically, this means you promote products and if someone clicks through your unique link to that product and makes a purchase, you get a small percentage of the sale. This is a great way to start making money, especially if you are already writing about products you use and like. Read my post, Affiliate Marketing Explained, for more.
Create a product
I highly recommend you start thinking about creating your own product right off the bat. It's one thing I wish I had done sooner because there seems to be more profit potential (and control) in your own products.
An ebook is an easy place to begin. Here's how I wrote mine.
But ebooks are by no means the only products you can create. Digital products (ebooks, printables, etc.) are handy because they are cheap to make and easy to distribute, but you certainly aren't limited to them. Watch what kinds of products others are creating that you could make too. Start working on your own.
You might not launch it for a while, but if you carve out a small amount of time to work on it each day, it'll be ready to go once you have a good handle on things.
Offer a service
If you've got a skill others would find helpful, offer to help. You might even consider helping someone for free the first time around. Do an outstanding job and they just might spread the word about you. I'm going to plug The Bootstrap VA once again because, well, it's just very helpful.
The bottom line
The first thing to remember is that most bloggers don't make all their income directly from their blog, nor do they make their income from only one source. Instead, they use their blog as a way to gain exposure, build trust, be helpful and then they use it as a springboard to find other ways to generate income.
Be willing to start small, work hard and be memorable.
I know the whole "making money blogging" thing seems confusing at first, but it's really just creating more and more small streams of income that together, hopefully become a river.
Diversify. Experiment. Be observant. Be creative. Take initiative.
Read all my posts about Making Money.
Other posts in this series
- Q&A: How Do I Get Started Making Money as a New Blogger?
- Q&A: How Do I Network Effectively to Help Gain Name Awareness and Visitors?
- Q&A: Can You Really Make Money with Google AdSense?
Amy, this comment is overdue! Just today, I recently launched a new blog and the ability to do so was due in large part to your and your blog! Thank you for all of the wonderful posts, clear direction and guidance. While I still needed some technical help and have much to learn to boost my confidence on the technical end, your words provided much comfort and kept me from throwing in the towel many times! Keep up the great work and thank you! I "officially" thank you on my The 411 page and link to your blog.
Hi Cindy,
Congrats on the new blog, it looks great! Thank you very much for your kind words and I'm thrilled I could play a part in getting your site up and running. I hope it's a fun experience for you.
Once I tryed to participate GA, but they send me a message "Therefore, we are unable to accept you into our program"
)
How do you think, what atendence index should I have? Or what, don't know actually, they don't explain whats wrong with my blog
But I think its because it is so young
Anyway, thanks you for article
Excellent tips! Great post. Thanks for sharing. Lisa/Fresh Eggs Daily
First, Thanks Amy for the great advice you give out. Many others would charge for you knowledge but you give it so freely. Thanks!
I've been blogging for over a year and get about 50k pageviews a month and the money trickles in. It's a hobby right now but I've seriously thought about taking it to the next step maybe starting another blog or two. Over the past year I've done a ton of research and unless you are getting huge volumes of visitors, you can't make money on ads or it can't be your sole source of income. You need to add value by supplying a service or goods (consulting or books). There must be so many people that want to get into blogging that the most successful sites seem to be the ones that give out blogging advice! Amy is exactly right when she says that it takes time and a lot of hard work. One food blog I followed blew up and they quit their jobs within 18 months and that was this past year so it can be done, but I think it takes a lot of planning and hard work to get there. Good luck everyone!
Yes, lots and lots of hard work. And lots and lots of time! So true, Steve.
I think a lot of people get frustrated when they don't start making money overnight. Having a web site IS a great way to make money, but it takes a long time for it to make money unless you have a big advertising budget or the media discovers you somehow. I quit my full time job 7 years ago so it can be done, but I had been working on my site for many years before that in my spare time. Creating great content and creating links to your site is key. Once you start getting a lot of traffic to your site advertisers will actually seek you out. Adsense is also very profitable when you have decent traffic coming to your site. Also keep in mind that Adsense pays very differently depending on what niche you are in. For example, ads on cooking sites pay a lot less than ads on home decorating sites. This is why some people run more than one site so that they can see where they will profit most.
Rachel, I'm interested in how many visitors you are getting a month to your site? My CTR is abysmally low and I think it might be my niche. I have ideas for ebooks and other blogs that would be a better niche. This might be my starter blog and I would do another completely different niche but having learned a ton on this one leapfrog with the next one.
All I can emphasize is that you need a clean design, great content, active participation in the conversation about your niche, social media (Pinterest and Instagram are really driving a lot of traffic for me), great photography and be willing to be open to criticism. The field is crowded and if you want to float to the top, the road is longer than you expect.
Steve, my site gets on average about 150,000 page views a month. It was twice that a couple years ago, but all of Google's recent changes have really affected my traffic. Right now my traffic is about 2/3 from Google and 1/3 from Pinterest. When I started out blogging was not yet popular, so I didn't have a lot of competition. Now I have millions of competitors, so it is definitely harder to rise to the top. If your click thru is low then it probably is your niche. My site covers a variety of topics, and click thru does vary widely from subject to subject. It also depends on the size of the advertising budgets of the advertisers in that niche when you are dealing with Adsense.
Great advice, Rachel. Thanks!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for another great post! I've only been blogging for a month and your info and advice has been SO helpful to me!
I've decided not to even think about making money until at least my 6 month blogging anniversary. Instead, I am focusing on building traffic, producing good content, and forming relationships. Honestly I am having so much fun so far that the money issue is
not a worry for me at all.
As far as traffic and relationships, I wanted to suggest something that has been a huge help to me: take a chance and reach out to a more established blogger whose work you admire. Email them or introduce yourself on their about page. Let them know what you like about their blog, what yours is all about and see if they wouldn't mind you picking their brain a bit. I've done this on two occasions and as a result am now part of a fabulous networking group that is a great source of support. As long as you're being honest, genuine and it's clear that you don't intend to copy their blog, my experience has shown me that many bloggers are more than happy to help.
I'm now off to search your blog for answers to some of my burning questions. I always find what I need to know here!
-Ann
Ann -
Anyway, your blog is adorable. What website do you use or how do you manipulate your pictures? Amy had suggested Pixlr and I like that one, but just curious on your pics.
I completely agree on building relationships! I just began blogging a few weeks ago and it truly has been very therapeutic for me, who knew?
Thanks!
Cristina
Hi Cristina,
Thanks for checking out my blog! I totally get where you're coming from about blogging being therapeutic. I just visited your website and left you a comment there.
As for the photo editing, I use iPiccy.com as suggested by Amy in one of her posts here. It is free and very easy to use. I'd highly recommend it!
Good luck with your blog!
-Ann
Thanks Ann.
Amy, Thanks for all your great tips! I love getting your email newsletter, I'm always excited to see it in my inbox because I know there will be great info inside!
Thank you, Jenny.
Hi Amy,
I started blogging with WP about a year ago, I just launched my first website. I've lost followers with the launch and complications with sign in. (I hired someone to set up my site) I've monetized my site, but don't yet seem to be making anything. Do you have suggestions for placement of adds, or changes I could make? You are a big part of what gave me the courage to take a chance on this. Thank you.
You might check out this post for ad placement. Monetization is such a lesson in experimentation! Increasing traffic is key, so being part of the community should be happening at the same time you're tweaking your site. Slow and steady. I hope that helps a bit!
Hi,
Thank you. I'm totally part of a community. Until I hired someone to set up my website, I had a huge following. It turns out they didn't know what they were doing. Now there are problems with sign in and getting post updates. I still have a following but lost 100's. I am not computer savvy so I have no idea how to fix the issue, change add placements, or add plugins. It seems the more I read, the more complicated and confusing it becomes. If you have any suggestions, I'd be grateful!
I have been blogging for almost 12 months and it looks like I am going to just break even this year. However, I am okay with that I see blogging as a long term investment. My first year I have spent every last minute I can learning from sites like Amy's how to make my blog look the best I can and attract as many readers as I can with the time I have to invest.
Way to go Victoria. Next year I'm sure you'll keep seeing increases! Slow and steady is a great way to go.
It's not that I disagree that Adsense can make you money, it's instead that I think you are going to be really disappointed at your earnings. Some advertisers can do well, particularly for keywords that are very expensive for buyers to obtain. You will need some heavy traffic and some expensive keywords (Google doesnt disclose how much it costs to obtain certain keywords, but I could be wrong). Otherwise, you'll be looking at $1.87 per month in "revenue". Just my thoughts.
I agree with this comment. I have been doing this for around 15 months and adsense doesn't even cover my hosting fees. As more blogs are started, the odds of being seen, yet alone make money will be very difficult from my experience. A person needs a product or service they can sell for any real income. I can't say I have ever; or anyone I know for that matter; clicked on an ad and bought something. I would think the likelihood of others clicking and buying to generate much income is slim as well.
I completely dropped my affiliate programs. I chose name brand companies that were completely relevant to my site content, and they still made zero money.
Yes of course, all the methods written above are very helpful for those who want to make impressive money with blogging.
I choose internet marketing/affiliate marketing because of it is safer than Google Adsense.
My answer to the question – "how do I get started making money as a new blogger", would be to set your expectations as though you were opening up a brick-and-mortar business. That way, if the money comes in sooner, you will gain confidence. But if it takes a while to see the money coming in, you're less likely to become discouraged.
Finding someone to mentor or coach the new blogger would definitely increase the odds of them making money sooner.
Sound advice, Randy. Thanks!
Thank you so much!!! Your advice sounds great!! I am a new blogger so I'm learning all the ins and outs.
-Ashley