Over the years I’ve learned how not to make money blogging as well as what works to make money on the blog.
The blog, Inspire to Thrive was created because of an old retail website that started making money online. It’s not one single source but many tips and tricks from my experiences with success in the online industry that led me here today where we can share them together.
The biggest sale came when someone bought something off Twitter X without even knowing what they were buying…just because it had “@thislovely” at its end (for those who don’t know).
Those little letters make all the difference – especially if you’re new to blogging and are considering starting out today.
The website shut down after a divorce over a decade ago. However, I do miss running a retail website.
Table of Contents
How Not To Make Money By Blogging
Bloggers who claim they never made money blogging may have made these mistakes:
- Not being consistent with posting.
- They did not add CTA – Call To Action on their blogs.
- A blogger who only blogged and never sold anything.
- Blogs are filled with ads everywhere, discouraging readers and slowing down their sites.
- Bloggers that quit before they became successful.
- Not using SEO to generate more targeted traffic to your blog. (My biggest mistake in the first 7 years!)
- The bloggers did not invest in the right tools to save time or make money. (My second biggest mistake in the early years.)
What Has Worked to Make Money Blogging and Online?
Sponsored Posts
Having sponsors pay for posts that are related to your niche is a way to generate income from your blog. Usually, you have to have a high DA authority for your site to qualify.
Of course, you don’t want to accept every blog post offered for money.
The ones you accept should be relevant to your niche and something your audience would want to read. Otherwise, you could lose readership and traffic to your blog.
There have been many offers I’ve turned down and I do fewer of them each passing year.
Affiliate Programs
Today affiliate marketing is hot, especially in the blogging industry. There are so many software programs and tools that one needs for their blog to do affiliate marketing.
However, it is not easy to make a lot of money from these types of programs. One has to really market them to be successful. You will need more than 1 blog post about the tool to generate money from your blog.
I love offering affiliates on products I use and can recommend. You want to be able to answer questions about the products or services offered.
Today this method is my number one source of income, surpassing my services for clients. It only happened once I began to focus on SEO and invested in SEMrush tools.
Not only that but I invested more of my time in learning how to craft blog posts for affiliates to reach higher success with the blog posts.
Enstine Muki is the king of affiliate programs, see his informative post on how to make money blogging with affiliate programs.
Products like eBooks
There is nothing like selling your own product. eBooks are a great way to make money blogging by sharing your expertise on topics from your blog. Of course, you must promote your eBook and learn more to produce and promote it.
Many bloggers are tired after writing their eBooks and fail to promote them properly. Been that and done that.
There are many platforms you can offer your eBook on to make money from it. It is also a great way to get new email subscribers to your blog. Ryan Biddulph is the king of producing eBooks.
You can read how Ryan does 1 eBook per week! Not only that, but Ryan continuously promotes his eBooks everywhere! This tweet looks like it has a subliminal message for his eBooks.
More Ways to Generate Income Blogging
I have been blogging since 2012 and I know that many people are making money from their blogs. Some bloggers get paid a lot more than others.
It all depends on how popular your blog is, and the niche of topics you cover in-depth.
For example, writing about finance might not generate as much revenue because there’s only so much information someone can give them before they start getting bored with reading through articles every day!
There isn’t just one way to succeed: sometimes going at other tasks outside blogging helps too such as proofreading or even taking photos.
Many bloggers become consultants in their niche and provide services to small businesses. By becoming a leader in your niche you can then consult or teach.
This past year I’ve earned some money blogging by teaching a course on Udemy. I have another course in the pipeline to be released soon.
However, the reason I choose Udemy is that they do marketing for your courses on their huge platform that drives tons of more traffic than most bloggers could ever dream of having.
Other bloggers choose to sell the courses on their own sites as they can generate more money per course.
Marketing Your Blog
The old saying goes: You have to spend money to make money. That holds true for blogging too.
Bloggers may need to invest in ads to market their websites. There are many different types of ads online today. For example:
- Social Media Ads
- Native Ads
- Banner Ads on other sites
- Content as advertorials
- Traditional Media – especially if you are providing local services.
Imagine if you had a small retail business. How would you let people know that your store was open and where to find it?
A simple ad in the local paper or a Twitter X ad could go a long way toward drawing traffic into what’s already going great for this entrepreneur.
The same holds true with blogging, too–every post should be crafted carefully so as not only to inform but also draw readers in deeper than ever before.
A lot happens when we blog: We give out helpful tips on how best to use social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter X; announce new products coming soon at our online shop, etc.
It’s important then – just as much now more than ever to keep up appearances by consistently updating followers on social media.
However organic reach has declined so much that a blogger may have to pay for social media ads to reach all of their followers today.
Final Thoughts: Your Thoughts on Making Money Blogging
What ways are you using to make money blogging today? What have you found not to make money blogging? Do you use any affiliate marketing on your blog?
I’d love to know more in the comments below!
6 Ways Not To Make Money Blogging & How to Make Money Share on X
