Many people are searching for the best ways to make money online, and while it may seem outdated compared with social media influencing and other methods, blogging has been and continues to be a good way to provide income, whether it is your side hustle or a full-time job. If you are looking to start a blog and make money with it, here are some of the best ways to do it.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are special links that contain cookies that you place into your blog posts, articles, and videos. The links work like this: When someone clicks on an affiliate link in your post, they are taken to a site with products for sale. That site then places a cookie on their computer and for a certain period of time, such as 24 hours, you will receive a commission on anything that person purchases there.
Affiliate links can provide a little side money or a full-time income, depending on blog traffic, how much influence you have, and how well you utilize them. One caveat: You must legally place a disclaimer on your blog stating that you may receive money from your links.
Consulting and Coaching
Consulting and coaching are similar, with the main difference being that consulting is often done for companies and corporations, while coaching usually involves a single person. Consulting is also more about helping with specific problems while coaching is focused on training and developing strategies.
Of course, these terms contain a lot of overlap and may mean slightly different things to different people. Providing coaching and consulting to people for their business, work, or personal lives or to business and corporate teams can be a time-consuming process, and not at all passive, but it can be a great option for people with large blog posts or who have a reputation as an expert in their field.
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are like ads, but bigger and incorporated into your blog in a different way. With a sponsored post, you are writing a post for your blog that is like your normal posts but it’s being sponsored (paid for) by a specific company. The key here is to many your sponsored posts relevant to the company (they will probably tell you what they want you to write about) and to make the most relevant to your reader. You want to add value to your readers’ lives, not just write one long advertisement.
Host Giveaways
Hosting sponsored or unsponsored giveaways is a good way to drive traffic to your site and get new followers. This is done by having a product that you can recommend and that is relevant to your blog which you give away to one of your readers.
This is usually done with a raffle or drawing format, and typically requires readers to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment, joining an email list, and sharing links to the giveaway with their friends on social media.
The result is exposure, and if you do a giveaway of a sponsored item from another company, you will also be bringing exposure to them. Giveaways are fun for your readers and for you. Just make sure whatever you are giving away is truly a bargain and desirable, and make sure to do it in a fair way. Most people use a random selection generator to choose the giveaway winners. Giveaways often go hand-in-hand with product reviews.
Product Reviews
Product reviews are good for your blog, good for your customers, and good for the business you are reviewing. You can review anything- you don’t have to wait until a company sponsors your review, because you are adding value to your blog and attracting new readers every time you recommend a product they hadn’t heard about or review a product to help them make a purchasing decision. If you want to make money with your reviews, you will have to gain credibility in your niche and a large following. You can approach businesses and offer to review their product for a fee.
Many people do these reviews for free in exchange for the product itself, and while this can be a good way to get stuff that you want or need, it won’t be sustainable as an income source. Influencers have started asking for free products in exchange for exposure so much that companies and individuals are wary of this model and will be choosy about to whom they offer their products.
Remember, you have to offer value to both your readers and your sponsor, and if you have fewer followers or less influence than they already have, they are not likely to give you a free product in exchange for a little exposure.
Host Webinars and Courses
Hosting paid webinars and courses can be a good way to make money, but it can also be a hard sell. There are so many free courses available today that you will need to convince your buyers why paying you is a better idea than scouring the internet for free options.
You can do this by gaining accountability and reliability in the online community, by being open and frank about who you are and what you do, and by posting regular free content that allows your audience to see that you have credibility in your niche.
If your website is one big advertisement for your course, then your customers will feel like it’s a scam and no one will trust you with their money. On the other hand, if you already have loyal followers who come to you for advice and who have already gotten a lot of value from your site, you will have much better success with a course or webinar.
Write an Ebook
Writing an ebook is similar to hosting a course because once it’s written, you can sell it again and again. Writing a book is hard work and, like anything else, must be done with your customer in mind.
If your ebook is basically nothing more than a compilation of the material you have posted on your blog then you aren’t adding any value and your customers won’t trust you to continue following you. On the other hand, if your blog is the supporting act to your ebook while still providing value, your followers and your customers will both be happy.
Premium Content
Once you have many happy followers, consider adding premium content to your blog. This will allow you to cater your content in the premium section to your customers and post more general content on your blog.
Once you know what your niche is and have happy followers, you can use premium content for more personal and valuable advice. This is also a good place to become more intimate with your followers and give them a chance to know you better.
Share videos of your daily life, add snippets of funny events that happened to you (related to your niche, if possible), and let them feel more connected with you. Of course, all in a professional way and with a continued focus on the value your customer is getting.
