Can You Make Money Blogging? 5 Ways to Make a Profit

Blogging for Profit

If you don’t already know, I firmly believe in having a website to promote your business. But, what if you want to make your website your business?

There are tons of examples out there of people who are making a profit from blogging. They have discovered their passion for a subject, and while providing valuable information to their audience they also manage to make a profit. But how are they doing this?

There are numerous ways to turn a blog into a profitable business. Let’s look at five possibilities:

• Create your own e-books on the topic of your blog
• Webinars and presentations
• Providing coaching services on your topic of choice
• Membership programs
• Affiliate marketing

This is not an overnight success idea. Blogging for profit will take work and time. You want to make sure you pick a topic you are interested and knowledgeable in. Make sure you pick something you have plenty to say about.

If you have a topic you are knowledgeable in, it will be easier to find opportunities for monetization.

(Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. I will not share any company/product I do not trust and use myself)

Create PDFs and eBooks

If you have expertise on a particular subject, you can offer a PDF or an eBook that you have created. You want to provide valuable information on your blog, but you can go more in-depth with an eBook.

Let’s say you are interested in arts and crafts, such as quilting. If you have unique patterns you can share, or expertise on certain techniques, you could create an eBook to share that information with beginners or someone looking for new ideas.

Think about what a beginner might want to know and come up with a written tutorial on that. There are many tools you can use to create it, and, depending on your platform plan, you can sell the resources directly from your site.

Keep in mind the time and resources used to create the books to determine how much to charge and do some research on what similar products are selling for online.

This could also work for printables such as planner pages, lesson plan ideas, coloring pages, etc. If you have a unique eBook or printable to share, you could promote it on your blog while you share your other valuable tips.

Webinars and Presentations

If you are more into video than written resources, you can create your own video on your topic.

With the quilting example, this could be a how-to start video with you showing the different steps, or a presentation of an advanced technique. Anything you can show in video form that you think people will be willing to pay for are good options for this.

You can sell access to your presentations directly from your site or use a platform such as Teachable or Udemy.

Even if you are camera shy, this option can work for you. If you are sharing something that doesn’t require you to be on the camera, you can share a PowerPoint or similar presentation.

Coaching Services

If you like the idea of working with someone one-on-one, you can also offer coaching services through your blog.

Do you have expertise in a topic that others struggle with? You can offer to coach them on how to do it.

For example, I know someone that has vast experience in grant writing. This is a valuable skill and is something she could offer to teach people. This is also a good one-on-one coaching subject, as you can give individualized attention while sharing your expertise.

There are other resources out there for writing coaches in general, for business coaches, for speaking coaches, etc. Anything you have experience and success in can be a source of income for yourself.

Membership Sites

Membership sites can be for group coaching programs, for access to specific materials, for advanced tutorials, or anything where someone pays a fee to gain access to special programs.

Some blogs have membership sites for certification programs, some have them for recipe programs, others have membership sites to gain access to large collections of printable materials.

If you have materials you could group into a series or a collection, a membership site might be a possibility for you.

Also, if you have access to other professionals willing to share their knowledge, you can create a video series for a membership program.

Affiliate Marketing

This is probably the easiest option for making money on your blog. That doesn’t mean there is no work involved, just that it is simpler to get started.

With affiliate marketing, you are advertising other products or companies on your site by posting affiliate links in the sidebars and in your posts. When people purchase, using your links, you earn a commission from the sale.

If you are going to do affiliate marketing, you want to make sure you pick products and companies you trust and use. By marketing their products, you are telling your readers you believe in what they are selling, so make sure you really do.

You also want to pick products that fit into your blog’s theme.

For instance, as much as I love the clothes from Holy Clothing, their products do not fit with my theme, therefore I don’t sign up for their affiliate program.

On the other hand, Ultimate Bundles has several bundle options that fit in with my theme, and I have purchased bundles from them that I have found helpful, therefore I do choose to market their products.

Choose What Works Best for You

If you are just getting started with blogging, or just now thinking of how to make money from blogging, you want to consider your options carefully and choose what is going to work best with your target audience and your chosen niche.

It can be very tempting to try to take a bunch of ideas on to have several money streams, but it may be best to take on a little at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed and so you can gauge the response of your readers.

I would recommend picking one or two options to start, taking the time to build up your revenue from those and learn how best to market your options. Once you feel more comfortable, you can add other revenue streams and go from there.

Want to know more about any of these options? Or, do you have one you’d like to add? Tell me about it in the comments.