In this week’s episode of the Extra Paycheck Podcast we’re talking about different ways of monetizing an existing blog.
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If you’ve read through the Extra Paycheck Blog or listened to some podcast episodes you already know that I cover the subject of blogging quite often. I went into picking a niche, setting up the actual blog, marketing it and other details. However, I often receive emails from bloggers who already have a blog. Some of them have had a blog for years simply because they love writing. Many never thought of monetizing their “hobby” up until now. So where do you begin? How do you start making money with a blog?
There are several popular monetization strategies and that’s what I’ll be covering in this week’s episode.
Affiliate Marketing
Without a doubt my favorite way of monetizing content. Affiliate marketing has a very low barrier of entry and it’s completely free to implement. In short you promote products from online platforms such as Amazon and get paid a commission per sale. If this concept is completely new to you then check out my Affiliate Marketing explainer.
I use affiliate marketing on all of my blogs including the Extra Paycheck Blog. Just take a look at my list of tools. Sure, some of the tools there are completely free and I will not earn a commission if you decide to use them. However many others do have affiliate links attached to them.
Your Own Digital Products
Creating your own digital products is another great way to earn money. You can create an ebook, a video course or an audio guide. In fact you can create any piece of content and sell it as a product. It can be a training course or a simple entertaining content. Of course you need to make sure there is value in it and people will gladly purchase it. Make no mistake, this isn’t a shortcut to riches but simply another way to monetize your blog.
Your Own Physical Products
You might be into DIY and crafts. You know that cute pillow that you knitted and 100 people asked you where they could buy it? Well, you can sell it to them. Or you can sell them the materials they need to create their own pillow. You can also sell the “how-to” instructions as a video guide (digital product) along with the materials. There are many ways to create your own physical product or to have one manufactured for you. It’s actually simpler than you think. Have you checked out my case study where I explain how we made over $10,000 with out very first physical product?
Sponsorship
If your blog is gaining traction and has loyal followers then you definitely need to start looking into sponsorships. I haven’t done that personally but I’ve met a lot of people who have. Big companies understand that the customers trust a blogger more than they trust an ad online. This is why they want to partner up with bloggers in order to get more exposure for their products. Get in touch with brands that are relevant to your blog and they might be open to work with you.
Display Ads
This is another “big” monetization strategy however it’s my least favorite. I believe that ads are annoying and people have learned how to ignore them. Besides, ad-views and ad-clicks pay very little money. Do you really want to waste your blog’s space to show an ad that will earn you a penny (or less) is someone clicks on it?
Sure, there are sites that are making an impressive income from serving ads and banners but most of these sites have millions of visitors. Unless you’re playing in these kind of numbers I would recommend not touching any ads. You can use that ad space more creatively (and for more profit).
There are more tips and details in this episode so scroll up and press the Play button!
Resources mentioned in today’s episode:
EPP 061: Starting a Profitable Food Blog With Vicky Berman
EPP 090: Unique Ways To Profit From A Blog With Serena Appiah
EPP 096: Earning $90,000 From A Blog With Brock McGoff
Do you have any questions? Would you like me to record an episode about a specific subject? Anything to add? Use the comment form below 😉
Alex
