The big question before starting a blog is “does blogging really pay?”
Yes, absolutely 👍
Few bloggers earn from $100 to $200,000 with their blogs.
These bloggers have started blogging as a side hustle or a hobby and turned their blogs into a passive income-generating machine.
Doug Cunnington from Niche Site Project builds Amazon niche websites and makes $30,000 to $100,000 from Amazon Associates.
Before looking at Six Figure Blogger’s we will understand how do bloggers make money
How do Bloggers Make Money from Blogging?
There are various ways to make money from blogging we will dig deep into how does blogging really pay
1. CPC & CPM Advertising
The first way bloggers monetize their blogs using PPC advertising. Google Adsense & Media.net these two are the major PPC Ad networks in the industry.
- CPC is cost-per-click, you get paid when every time someone clicks on the ads.
- CPM is cost-per-mille, which is the amount paid for a thousand impressions.
These ads are displayed based on the user behavior and topic of the blog.
Cost per click varies depending on the factors like the country from which the user clicked the AD and also the advertiser.
Top tier countries like United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, where most speak English the CPC from these countries will be higher than other Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries like India, Thailand, Russia, and etc.
Ex: When a user clicks on an AD, related to Trading on a Personal Finance Website/Blog from the United Kingdom then the CPC would be around $3-$10 and if the same scenario happened from India then the CPC would be $1-$5.
The location and niche are not only the factors but CPC also depends on various different factors.
Similarly, CPM also varies based on several different factors.
2. Direct Advertising
This type of advertising is similar to PPC advertising. When bloggers are driving more than 100,000+ visitors per month they sell AD space on their blogs.
Unline PPC Ad Networks here the advertiser contacts the blogger directly via e-mail or other means and discusses the prices of the AD placement.
Here the Blogger is full control over the prices, placement and builds a long term partnership with the advertiser.
BuySellAds is the largest marketplace that connects the advertisers and publishers for direct ad placements. You can also land a partnership with major brands like Microsoft.
3. Affiliate Marketing
The best alternative to PPC Advertising and one of the most highly profitable ways to monetize your blog with affiliate links and products.
Affiliate Marketing means promoting other companies’ products or services for a small commission.
This form of Monetizing is mostly popular among many bloggers and doesn’t necessarily need a blog or a website. You can start affiliate marketing on Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook.
I have made over $55,000 in affiliate commissions using a niche website with only 4 posts.
4. Sponsored Posts
After the blog is receiving a nice amount of traffic and became a reputed brand in their niche. Brands and services approach blogs to do a sponsored post on their product or service.
There are mainly three types of sponsored posts
- Writing a review of the product
- Guide or Awareness of the product
- Giveaway of product
An average sponsored post is charged around $250 according to influencers in IZEA. Most influencers charge up to $1000 per post in the fitness and healthcare niche.
5. Online Courses
The online courses boom has taken a rise in the last quarter of 2019 after the pandemic and since then bloggers, coaches, YouTubers, podcasters & authors are sharing their knowledge and making a living with online courses and coaching programs.
Alexa and Lauren made $200,000 selling courses and coaching products from their blogs avocadu.com and createandgo.com
These courses range from $197 to $997 depending on the type of products.
Online courses are not online limited to videos but also e-books, case studies & newsletters.
How much do Bloggers Make? Does Blogging Really Pay?
We will check out the Top bloggers who make 6 figures a month blogging.
1. Pat Flynn
Started back in 2008 and is been killing it with his blog smartpassiveincome.com he writes about making money online and passive income streams.
He owns multiple other blogs GreenExpertAcademy and SecurityGurardTrainingHQ which generates $10,000 a month.
Most of his income from online webinars, courses, e-books, affiliate marketing, digital marketing & consulting.
His Blog alone generates nearly $200,000 a month in revenue per month.
2. Melyssa Griffin
Melyssa is a well known female entrepreneur in the Digital Marketing Industry. Her blog generates over 100,000 visitors and she has 200,000 members subscribed to her e-mail list.
She drives most of the traffic from Pinterest and she is the role model for many female bloggers. She monetizes her blog with affiliate products, online courses, and consulting.
Check out all her income reports she published on her blog
She generates more than $200,000 per month by selling online courses and affiliate income.
3. Sarah Titus
A well-known & most inspiring mommy blogger teaches parenting and helps other mommy bloggers to start making money online. She drives most of the traffic from Social media websites.
She generated over $10 Million in sales by selling printables, binders, stickers, wall arts. And has over 100,000 customers and 80,000 in e-mail subscribers.
She made over $3.5 million in 2019 selling printables and courses. Check out her income report.
Every month she makes over $200,000 per month from organic traffic from social media sites.
4. Chiara Ferragani
Chiara Ferragani started her blogging journey in 2009 and rapidly grew her blog The Blonde Salad to 1 million visitors in a short period. She turned her blog into a million-dollar fashion brand.
- Chiara Ferragani was ranked no.1 on Forbes “Top Fashion Influencers List” in September 2017.
She drives most of the traffic from social media websites and direct advertising. She sells clothes, shoes, and accessories on her website and also monetizes with sponsored content and contextual advertising.
Earns around $200,000 a month in revenue with her fashion brand and blog.
5. Jeff Rose
Jeff is a certified financial planner and founder of Alliance Wealth Management, LLC. He sold his investment advisory firm in 2019 and started full-time blogging and educating people with Money, Wealth Management, Banking, Retirement, and Investing.
- His website GoodFinancialCents is featured as the “Top Money Blog You Should Read” – Kiplinger
He makes money by selling insurances, digital products, courses, and monetizing his website with affiliate links.
Earns more than $135,000 a month from his website.
6. Michelle Schroeder-Gardner
Michaelle is a financial analyst, she started her blog MakingSenseOfCents as a side hustle for some extra money to pay off her $30,000+ student loans. Eventually, within 2.5 years she cleared her student loans and making more than her regular job.
She left her 9-5 job and turned full-time self-employed working as a solopreneur and traveling the world.
She drives most of her traffic from Pinterest and Google. 40% of her income comes from affiliate marketing and selling courses.
Earns more than $150,000 per month from affiliate marketing and selling courses.
7. John Lee Dumas
John Lee Dumas Founder of Entrepreneurs on Fire in 2012. After working in the army for over 8 years and served in Iran. He came back to America and changed 4 Jobs. His friend introduced John to Podcats and he fell in love with the concept of podcasting.
- Since then he started his own podcast series “Entrepreneurs on Fire” and was awarded the Best of iTunes 2013.
Most of his income comes from Sponsorships, Paid forums, eBooks, Journals, Courses, Webinar, and Affiliate Marketing.
Makes more than $170,000 a month with his ebooks, journals, and sponsorships.
Conclusion
Blogging and Entrepreneurship are not so easy. These people have put in their hard work and dedication to build such online businesses.
At first, they made just a few $100 a month. Do not expect to become rich overnight.
- Check out How To Start A Blog & Make Money Blogging.
Hope this article helped you understand how does blogging really pays?
Let me know how do you monetize your blog, in the comments section below.
