How much do bloggers really make? It’s more than you think! In this blog post, I’ll cover how blogs make money before introducing you to 9 bloggers making a killing online!
Blogging has changed in the last 20 years, but blogging is not dead, not even by a long shot. You can still make money online, even now!
What has changed is just how easy it is to build your own blog. With help from a blogging platform like WordPress and a page builder like Elementor, you can have your own blog up and running in no time.
How do blogs make money?
Many people want to start a blog for one reason: to make money. But actually making money off your blog is another challenge altogether, though.
While many people dream of making enough money online to quit their day job, it’s not the norm. With that said, some bloggers do make a six-figure income (and more) from their blogs. So how do they do it? Here are 4 ways blogs make money today.
Affiliate marketing
The best type of income is passive income. This kind of income is not something you actively have to work, only maintain.
Affiliate marketing is a form of passive income. The way it works is simple. You place links to a company’s product, and you get paid a percentage of every sale you bring in.
For example, one of the affiliate companies I promote is Hostgator, a great host for starting a blog. I can place an affiliate link to their site once and get paid for sales years after this blog post is published.
Advertising
Out of all the different methods of making money, display ads are probably the most well-known. Advertising is a big part of our daily media intake. You can find an advertisement almost anywhere you look.
Placing ads on your site is as simple as signing up with an ad network and placing their ad code on your blog. The ad network does the rest, showing relevant ads to your audience and paying you for your traffic.
Sponsored posts
Many companies prefer to advertise on blogs directly. Called sponsored posts, companies pay you to write about their products and promote them to your readers. They will want you to write a dedicated blog post about their products and share your opinion on them.
Like advertisements, the income that comes from sponsored posts depends on the traffic your site generates. Blogs with higher levels of engagement and traffic will be able to charge more money for sponsored posts. The company, after all, will want all the exposure they can get.
Selling digital products
One of the best ways to capitalize on the content you create is by turning it into a product you can sell. For example, if you have an abundance of knowledge in a specific niche, there may be people willing to pay you to teach them what you know.
You can turn your knowledge and content into digital products like ebooks or courses that your readers can buy.
The sale of digital products will generate passive income for your site. Like we mentioned above, this means you will not have to actively work towards earning that money. It will continue to come in as long as people can keep buying your products.
An example of a digital product is my own Hack Your Headlines Toolkit, which helps you unlock the secrets of writing viral headlines for your blog and email list.
How much do bloggers make, like really?
Not all blogs make money, but the following bloggers sure do. Here are 9 bloggers who are making a killing online.
SmartBlogger – $100,000+ a month
Jon Morrow’s site, Smart Blogger (https://smartblogger.com/), covers the ins and outs of blogging. He stresses the importance of smart blogging. To be a smart blogger, you have to know where you want to go and the tools you need to help you get there. Morrow’s site helps you navigate the tricky waters of the internet to give your blog a chance at great success.
Oh, and Jon did this while only being able to move his lips and eyes (read his unbelievable story here).
My Wife Quit Her Job – $80,000 a month
Jennifer and Steve Chou created their blog, My Wife Quit Her Job (https://mywifequitherjob.com/), as a way of telling their own story.
After becoming pregnant, Jennifer decided to quit her corporate job to spend more time at home. The Chou’s decided to open an online store to make up for the loss of Jennifer’s income. Within a year, they had a successful online business. Now, they are educating their readers on how to do the same thing.
Making Sense of Cents – $100,000+ a month
One of the most successful blog niches is finance, and Making Sense of Cents (https://makingsenseofcents.com) is one of the top blogs in its category.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner created her blog as a way to track her own finances. Years later, she has used the blog to pay off her student loans, quit her job, and travel full-time. Her goal is to help her own readers improve their finances and learn the best practices for handling money.
She continues to discuss her income openly with her audience and educates them on how they can earn a sizable income online.
The Blonde Salad – $200,000 a month
Chiara Ferragni is living every fashion lover’s dream. She started her blog, The Blonde Salad (https://theblondesalad.com/), in 2009 as a way of sharing her love for style and beauty. What started as a personal blog quickly turned into a massive website hosting millions of readers every month.
The truly impressive feat is how Ferragni turned her passion project into a multimillion-dollar fashion brand in 2013. She is definitely a great example to keep in mind.
Just a Girl and Her Blog – $41,000+ a month
Abby Lawson’s successful lifestyle blog, Just a Girl and Her Blog (https://justagirlandherblog.com/) offers readers tips on anything from home organization to do-it-yourself decorating hacks. She started her blog in January 2013. Today, Lawson and her husband both work full-time to maintain the blog as a family business.
Just a Girl and Her Blog showcases the importance of writing about what you’re passionate about. For Abby Lawson, her passion for her home and business turned into a successful blog.
Show Me The Yummy – $46,000+ a month
Show Me The Yummy (https://showmetheyummy.com/) is a food and cooking blog dedicated to sharing quality recipes for its readers.
Trevor and Jennifer Debth have been working full-time on their blog since 2015. Together, they create and photograph delicious recipes for their audience. They are also active on social media, which is a huge part of running a blog. You can find their yummy creations on Facebook.
Pinch of Yum – $60,000+ a month
Delicious realness is the essence of Pinch of Yum (https://pinchofyum.com/). Founded by a former teacher, the yummy cooking blog shares recipes made and loved by real families.
Pinch of Yum is all about enjoying the food you make and building a community through a love for all the goodness life has to offer. It lets readers know that cooking is totally doable and easy to learn.
Entrepreneurs Journey – $40,000 a month
Yaro Starak’s blog (https://yaro.blog/) covers exactly what you think it will: how to become a successful entrepreneur by building businesses online. Starak has owned and sold various websites, including a small editing business and a card game website.
Entrepreneurs Journey was born in 2004 and recently underwent a rebranding in 2018. Through his blog, Starak sells his own digital products and courses geared towards helping people become entrepreneurs in their own right.
Well Kept Wallet – $17,000 a month
Deacon Hayes founded Well Kept Wallet (https://wellkeptwallet.com/) in 2010 as a way to document his struggles with debt. Along with his wife, they wanted a record of their journey as they fought to get rid of over $50,000 in consumer debt.
Today, Hayes continues to make a full-time income off his blog by educating his readers about debt and the best ways to pay it off. He offers a few different courses focused on building your savings and managing debt.
Best blog niches to make money
When it comes to building your own blog, one of the main things you should keep in mind is the topic you want to write about. This is often where most people get a little stuck. It’s not easy choosing what you want to write about. However, don’t overthink it too much. Take the knowledge you already have in a specific niche and write about it.
Creating a focused blog will help your chances of becoming successful online. The days of writing about everything under the sun are gone. Today, readers online want to find focused information from an authority on the subject. Choosing a dedicated blog niche helps to establish your role as an expert in your topic.
There are a wide variety of niches to choose from. The internet is filled with tons of websites on every subject imaginable. However, there are a few key niches that tend to result in extremely successful blogs. Here are a few of the most popular niches to make money.
Online marketing
This is one of the most popular and profitable blogging niches. Marketing blogs like mine help educate readers on the best ways to make money online. There’s a wide variety of sub-niches to narrow down to.
Your blog can specialize in email marketing for small businesses, copywriting, or blogging, to name a few.
The best thing to do within the marketing niche is find a specific topic you’d like to focus on. Marketing is a very general term. To build an effective marketing blog, you have to focus your attention on one specific aspect of the industry. This will help you generate more traffic to your site and establish you as a reputable authority within the niche.
Personal finance
Many people seek guidance online when it comes to handling money. Dealing with your finances is not easy. Debt and other struggles can easily take control of your life. However, finance blogs are a forum for budgeting tips, paying off debt, and building your savings.
Whether you are just starting to handle your own finances or you have been doing so for quite some time, there’s always something new to learn when it comes to money.
Finance can be a great topic that reaches people from all walks of life. It’s also easy to develop quality digital products, such as online courses, to help readers learn more about money and debt.
Personal finance blogs can also cover any range of topics concerning money. This can include retirement plans, creating passive income, and tips on investing in the stock market. There are a lot of topics to write about!
Travel
Travel and lifestyle blogs allow us to live vicariously through other people and learn about new places we’ve never seen. For those with wanderlust, it’s a way of quenching our curiosity until our next trip. This is where travel blogs come in.
Blogs dedicated to travel can also help you navigate the logistics of planning a trip. While daydreaming about your vacation is all fun and games, creating an itinerary and booking flights can be a logistical nightmare.
Travel blogs can help by giving you insider tips on the best places to stay and how to get better rates for your flights. This type of content can apply to anyone who loves to travel. The resulting combination is a recipe for success: entertaining and educational.
Health and Fitness
Here’s another great example of a topic that holds something for everyone. Health and fitness blogs can choose their main focus from a huge group of choices.
If you’re passionate about mental health, tailor your content with a focus on the best mental health practices if you have a lot to say about healthy eating, build content focused on meal prepping, healthy alternatives to popular snacks, or the myths behind dieting.
Health and fitness blogs also create a great opportunity to offer educational content to your readers. If your blog is focused on exercise, you can film exercise videos explaining various movements. Food-lovers can break down the macronutrients that go into their favorite recipes. There is truly a world of options for the health and fitness niche.
Wrapping it up
So, how much money do bloggers make? Seasoned bloggers make well over $50,000 per month. But those bloggers have narrowed down into a specific niche and have been blogging for 10+ years.
What about new bloggers? Is there hope for new bloggers to make money fast? The answer is that while blogging is not as simple as it was before, there’s still room to make money if you do it right.
If you have a unique point of view to share with the world, get online and start writing! By using the tips and tricks you’ll find on Do Six Figures and my blogging courses, you can build your very own successful blog in no time.
Until next time,
Edwin, DoSixFigures.com
