How do I make money blogging?
How do I make money blogging?Today, I’ve decided to spill my guts! I’ve been blogging for the last 7 years, and boy has it been a wild ride! I can’t believe it’s been 7 years, it feels like 1 or 2. I guess time flies when you’re….bloggin’.:)
I recently wrote some tips about how to start a blog and take over the world. Because taking over the world is our one true goal, right fellow bloggers? Right?
Blogging is totes my fave.
Yes, there are some cons. I get my fair share of rude comments or emails and sometimes the work is tedious, but for the most part, I love interacting with so many people all across the world! Ya’ll are my peeps.
Being successful in the blogging world doesn’t have anything to do with luck. It’s all about hard work & perseverance. (And goats. Lots of goats.) Like I said before, I’ve been blogging for 7 years, and only started to make an income about ONE year ago. For the first 5 years of my blog, I just wrote about our lives and the health struggles we were dealing with. About 2 years ago I started to get serious and write articles on backyard farming techniques, health tips, & real food recipes. That’s when it started to take off!
Learning how to monetize your blog can be a bit tricky at first. Take it from me that in order to really monetize your blog, you need to connect with other successful bloggers. I’ve spent the last 2 years networking with other bloggers, asking questions, and listening to their advice. Today, I’ve been able to surpass my husband’s income and turn this blogging thing into a real life job.
Our goal is to pay off the house, and have him retire early & run the blog with me. Here’s to hoping it happens!
How I make money blogging:
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Amazon Affiliates |
Every time I have a product in mind I want to share with you all, I link to Amazon with a special tracking code attached. I get paid a percentage (about 6-8%) on ANY purchases made in the next 24 hours after somebody clicks on my link. This is great because Amazon has EVERYTHING, and I can search for exact brands I like.
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My eBook & Online Class |
My book, Have Your Cake & Lose Weight Too! sells really well! I’m really glad I took the time to write the book. It took me about 6 months to write, but from what I hear, most eBooks should only take a couple months to write. I really wanted my book to be thorough, so I took my time with it. GOOD NEWS: My book is now available on Paperback!
My kid’s online class, Urban Farming for Kids, sells decently but not as much as my book. We take all the income from it and put it in a savings for them for the future. We did give the kids some bonuses up front from the first few months of sales:) I’m thinking of reducing the price or trying to promote the class on homeschooling sites to boost sales.
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Want to learn how to create your own e-book? Download this FREE CHEAT SHEET!
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Advertisements |
You’ve probably noticed the ads on my sidebar and at the top of the blog. Many people are shocked to hear that this ISN’T the biggest source of income for bloggers. Ads do “okay”, but not great unless you’re willing to place ads right in the content (blog post). I go back and forth over this. I’d like to make a bit more money with it, but I don’t want to annoy my readers. It’s a hard line to walk on:) There is another way to increase your ad revenue by signing on with an ad management company who specializes in DFP implementation. I have just started with this and am starting to see the numbers go up! I hired the company Media Vine.
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Sponsors |
Sponsors are companies who are willing to pay you for a blog post, giveaway, or review. If you have high enough traffic, then companies are willing to pay to reach your readers. You can work out a deal or arrangement, but it does take some time. If you are a health/wellness blogger, you’ll have to be more picky about who you choose to support. I really enjoy working with sponsors, but it isn’t a steady source of income for me currently.
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Other Affiliate Programs |
There are a lot of other ways to become an affiliate. You can become an affiliate of other author’s eBooks, or an affiliate of online summits & conferences. You can also become an affiliate for some companies like Vitacost or Wellness Meats. The income isn’t substantial (except for when there is a conference that your readers really like or a big sale), but it’s still a good thing to add to your options.
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YouTube Channel |
Now, this isn’t a place that I’m making the bucks (yet), but I thought I should give it a good shoutout, since some of my blogging friends do well on this platform. You can monetize with YouTube and earn money through them, but it does take time to build up your subscribers. Hey, now that you mention it, why don’t you subscribe to MY channel? (wink, wink)
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Essential Oils |
I have been using essential oils for about 2 years now and I’ve always been happy with them. I just recently was given the opportunity to wholesale distributor and I have to tell you, this is quickly becoming my best revenue source! I’ve been able to use my blog to help people all over the world. I have to say, I have just LOVED being sharing essential oils with others! I have been able to use my nursing background, my bloggy tech skills, my love for essential oils, and my interpersonal skills to help others make money, and THAT is just amazing.
GOOD NEWS: I am currently looking to expand my essential oils team, and I would love to work some of my readers! If you are interested in working with me and are interested in learning how to work from home, contact me here! It doesn’t matter where you live (even internationally), you can be part of my team:)
Is it ethical to make money through blogging?
I spend about 40-50 hours a week working on the blog. Much of it is done in the early morning hours and late evenings so I can spend the days farming & homeschooling. I don’t take weekends off. Ever. I live & breathe this blog, and I love every minute of it. Over the last 7 years I’ve sent my heart and soul out to the internet and have tried to provide helpful, free information to my readers. Today it’s awesome and amazing that I can finally make money doing what I love! So yes, I do believe it’s ethical. I make sure to promote only products that I would personally use myself, and support companies that I believe are trustworthy.
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HI
I have a few questions for you. What website builder do you use? How long did it take you to build your website?
Hi Roxie-
Check out DaNelle’s Resource page and you will see her suggestions on what to use: https://www.weedemandreap.com/resources/
I hope that helps!
Thanks -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Thank you for the info!! My sister and I started our blog about 7 months ago and have started seeing profit from Amazon affiliates and working with sponsors. Still looking to expand though!
Great article! My colleagues and I are starting a food blog at the moment, but we also plan to expand it on food-related themes as well. I see we have missed a couple of the plug-ins which are recommended here, mainly Easy Recipe. Is it compatible with the latest version of WordPress?
Yes, it is:)
These are some awesome tips, DaNelle! Attempting to profit blogging is unquestionably a test yet a work in advancement for me. I’m glad to the point this is working our for you so well and wish one day I could be as fruitful as you seem to be!
Indeed a great post about making money online.
Nowadays people are getting very much creative and wants to make some extra money from home.
The topic ” Make money from home ” is very much interesting and people get very much excited when they get to know about it. But people should understand, this isn’t that much easy as they are thinking.
According to me, Making money through Blogging and affiliate marketing is the best ways among all others explained here.
But to earn through blogging and affiliate marketing, You must need to work hard with lots of dedication.
You must have to follow these important steps.
1. You have to choose a profitable niche from which you can earn by promoting affiliate products.
2. Build a blog on that niche and provide helpful content to others.
3. Promote your content among potential readers
4. Drive traffic to your site and make money through it.
These are the basic steps you need to take to earn through blogging.
BTW Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post with us. 😀
Your blog is great and very informational. I’m off to check out more and read about your oils and other blogging ideas! Thanks again.
DaNelle, thank you so much for this!! I’m just starting a blog and was curious how or if it was even possible to make a significant enough amount of money. I will be coming back to visit a lot though!! Thank heavens for Pinterest, without it I wouldn’t have seen your blog! Thank you!
It’s definitely possible, but it does take time:)
Good point about ads being intrusive in posts. I elect to put an ad at the bottom of my posts, but I don’t use any pop ups or other truly annoying tactics.
I also haven’t started using any other monetization tactics yet bc of the age of my blog (less than 2 months), but I’ll see bookmark this post for reference when I do.
Thanks for an informative read. Hope to have the same success you have someday.
Hi I like your blog site. I was under the impression that a blogger should have one general subject but i have many different things i can talk about so I might have several topics. Do you think that would be too much? Also what do you think about using a free website like WordPress, blogger etc or a paid site? website? Thank you, I appreciate your input.
I talk about a lot of different subjects, but I have found that it’s best to stick as close to one general area as possible. WordPress & Blogger are great, it’s the hosting you’ll have to pay for. But I wouldn’t worry too much, it’s really cheap and by the time you are paying $250 a month for hosting (like me), you are making enough to cover the cost of it:)
I love the information you’ve given. I’ve been collecting info for setting up a blog and it’s inner workings for awhile now. I want, scratch that, need to loose a lot of weight and I wanted to start a blog about it. I’m hoping a blog will help keep me on the straight and narrow. *fingers crossed* plus since I’m gardening this year I want to incorporate fresh produce into the mix. Unfortunately the only animals I have are two cats and while one is definitely a big ham the other one refuses to have his picture taken (just like me). Love your blog DaNelle.
Haha, love it!
Thanks for sharing this! I am a newbie blogger and I am trying to learn from the veteran blogs. I love how you have your own style and niche. I am working on finding mine and actually found it encouraging that you kept going until you found yours. Thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks! Just keep blogging, it will pay off:) Just checked out your blog, it’s awesome!
Thanks for sharing these tips DaNelle! I have a real food blog and I used Food Blogger Pro to really improve it after you suggested their site. You’ve mentioned some ways here to monetize a blog that I haven’t looked in to yet and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Love your blog!
I stumbled onto your blog because of a picture on Pinterest and I’m so happy I did. I am a city slicker with dreams of becoming what I call a back yard rancher and farmer. I would love to start a blog, however I have no idea where to begin. I can definitely say that your post gave me some great tips, again, thank you! Oh, and just so you know, my back yard farm will include goats! 🙂
Haha, thanks! Yes, goats are a must!
Hello Danelle
Your wisdom is epic! I hate to break it to you though, I’m not getting goats… lol but I do aspire to work from home, turn my own blog into an income, raise/grow my own food and help my loved ones be their healthiest!
I’ll definitely be reaching out to you in the near future. When I’m settled in a house with land. Rather than livestock, I’ve learned about Aquaponics (combining fish keeping with growing crops in a closed loop system) and am super excited about setting up an Aquaponics Greenhouse one day. I live in Ontario, Canada. And, I’ve always wanted a year round Greenhouse. Aquaponics is fascinating! And a great source of sustainability.
I truly enjoy your stories/tutorials on this site and I am impressed with the work you’ve put into it. I discovered Weedem&reep only a few months ago. I’ve quickly become one of your dedicated stalkers as you so lightly put it in a post. hahahaa!
Congratulations on your recent successes! Cheers to many more! And thanks for guiding me in the right direction for my own health and in creating a purposeful career. 🙂 Lots of Love!
Aquaponics is so fascinating! Dude, you should write a blog on that! Haha, I’m happy to have another stalker:)
Thank you for the words of encouragement. I have been trying to get my website up and running and have just gotten bogged down and frustrated with it. My husband died a year ago and I lost my job due to stress and health issues. My son is home schooled and I really want to make my blog productive. Your message is timely. Thank you.
You’re welcome Deborah! It is possible, but it does take time and hard work:)
Great Article. Thanks a ton! It’s always been my dream to get enough readers to my blog to actually make a little money! I’d love to read a post some time that gives some pointers on increasing the number of readers on a blog!
Thanks so much! I know that currently I don’t have the ability to write as steadily as I need to to create real income, but I always appreciate learning how others do it, so that when I am able to, my blog can take off. (Or at least I hope so!)
I’ve been writing online for almost a decade (hello, livejournal!) but I just started this blog two years ago and started making steady income 6 months into it. I think it’s mostly due to perseverance,posting 4-5 days a week since week 1 with a new post going up at 4 a.m., and writing ‘articles’ as much as I write ‘day in the life’ type posts.
These are some great tips, DaNelle! Trying to make money blogging is definitely a challenge but a work in progress for me. I’m so glad that this is working our for you so well and wish one day I could be as successful as you are!
I know you will! You have a fantastic blog Margaret!