Whenever I tell people that I have a blog, I often get asked the same question.
How do blogs make money?
The truth is some of them don’t. Neither do they want to. There are people who use their blogs as a form of communication and community. Making money from the blog itself is not their aim.
Many bloggers use their blogs as a platform for their business.
For example, a freelance writer who uses their blog as a platform to show off their portfolio and to attract clients.
Many companies have a website to promote their business and attach a blog for connecting with their customers.
Blogs come in a variety of shapes and forms. After all, there are millions of them.
Then there are the blogs that do want to make money.
As you can imagine incomes vary dramatically depending on the topic of the blog, the traffic they receive and quite a few other factors.
I thought I would share a couple of posts with you on how blogs make money.
Problogger
If you have your own blog and you have never heard of Problogger I would be surprised. Scratch that, I would be shocked. Darren Rowse from Problogger is a bit of a blogging legend.
In these two posts, Darren talks about how his blogs make money.
Problogger – How Do Blogs Make Money
Problogger – Why My Accountant thinks I Robbed a Bank
Smart Passive Income
I have talked about Pat before on this blog (I mentioned him and David in a post last week on great resource pages). I am a huge fan of Pat’s.
Pat posts his income report each month. They are fascinating stuff – detailed to the cent. Very insightful for a new or established blogger who is trying to get their head around the principles of making money online.
Smart Passive Income – Income reports
David Risley
While this post isn’t so much about how David makes money, it discusses the reality of making money with a blog. David states that a blog is not a business. In a nutshell, David is saying you need a product to sell on your blog to make money.
It is a thought-provoking post. What I found particularly interesting were the comments at the end of the post. David generated a lot of debate, disagreement, and discussion with this post.
David Risley – Reality Check A blog is not a business
Daily Blog Tips
This blog post talks more about the how of making money rather than discussing figures.
Despite this being a 2008 post (so some techniques may have gone out of fashion), I wanted to include it. As a fairly new blogger, I have not heard of half the money making ideas on this list, so I was intrigued. Let’s just say, this will be a post I will be going back and reading very closely myself.
Daily Blog Tips – Ways to Make Money Online
Daily Blog Tips has a category – Monetize should you want to read more of their latest posts.
Income Diary
Michael Dunlop from Income Diary talks about how to monetize your blog and how he really makes money from his website.
Income Diary – How I really make money from my website
Michael’s website has some interesting link posts on top young entrepreneurs, top earning blogs and 50 most influential bloggers of 2010.
Some of these posts are a little older, so some of the information may have changed as the Internet is a fast-moving beast. Many entrepreneurs will have sold their businesses or lost or made money. Taking that into consideration, still some fascinating reads in this lot.
Live Bold and Bloom
I found this recent post from Barrie Davenport from Live Bold and Bloom particularly inspiring because it is the one I can relate to the most. Barrie is in a similar niche to mine (ie personal growth).
Barrie’s blog is reasonably new and she is doing very well. Barrie talks about how she has made money so far. The best part about this post is that it demonstrates to other bloggers (not in the making money online niche) that with hard work and planning you can make money with your blog.
I am sure this post inspired a lot of bloggers – I know it inspired me!
Live Bold and Bloom – Make Money Blogging
Making money online is a constant learning and evolving process.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends on social media.
PS. Since the Internet changes so much this post is definitely due for an update, so stay tuned, it’s coming soon!
Hey Thea! Thanks for the mention and the link to my income reports. I really appreciate it. Also, I had never heard of Live Bold and Bloom before, so I’ll definitely have to check that one out. All the best to you! Cheers!
Hi Pat
Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.
I have been a fan of your blog for a while now. The income reports are fascinating stuff. It is amazing to see how well you have done since you started blogging. Very inspiring! I appreciate that you are so down to earth, honest and open. I also think the design of your blog is fantastic.
Glad to hear that I could introduce you to a cool new link on personal development.
Great to see you here and look forward to seeing you again soon.
Cheers
Thea
Fascinating read.
Thank you for your comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Making money blogging is definitely fascinating stuff.
Cheers
Thea
Great article, some really good information for new bloggers, I would also include anything by Steve Pavlina as although he is reviewing self development products his blogs make him a fortune in this niche alone and also give great insights into that field
Hi Kevin
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Thanks for the tip on Steve Pavlina. I was reading his blog fairly regularly a while back but I need to go back and revisit.
Great to see you here and I look forward to next time.
Cheers
Thea
Hi Thea,
Wow, this is a great post! Thanks so much for sharing this information. I am going to check it out; very interesting!!!
Karen
Hi Karen
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the post. There is definitely a lot of information to dig into when it comes to making money with a blog.
Have fun!
Cheers
Thea
very interesting
and it’s sad but true – most bloggers simply don’t make any real money from their blogs…
purely because there is no real business plan, and not much thought gone into it.
they just slap up some content and start driving traffic (when google doesn’t send some soon enough)….
and everything else takes a back seat
been there, done that
(still hate the t-shirt…)
This post needs to go out every month, I think. I can’t tell you how many newbies (and veterans) still think you can sit back and support your family on passive income (or any income, really) from a blog and nothing else.
I love the subhead: A blog is not a business.
No, it is not, people. A blog supplements your business. A blog informs your readers, clients, and potential clients about things that interest them. It provides solutions to common pains and issues. It’s worth repeating: A blog is not a business.
Hi Samantha
Thanks so much for commenting. Great to see you here.
I am glad you enjoyed the post and that certain points hit home. Making money from a blog is such an interesting topic. Some experts say it’s not hard to do, yet so many people struggle with it. Others say people are wasting their time trying to make money. Others are under the impression it’s a get rich quick option. It can all be a bit confusing at times.
I will definitely head over and check out your blog as well.
Thanks again for stopping by and I look forward to seeing you here again shortly.
Cheers
Thea
Thanks for the links to all the great resources. We’ve started changing the way we think about making money with our blog this year and are starting to see success. The first two years was really all about building an audience, now that we have grown, we actually do see light at the end of the tunnel and know that we can indeed make a living out of this. I’m going to be sitting down with a coffee later on to follow all the links and absorb the info you shared, Cheers!
Hi Deb
Thank you so much for your comments. I’m happy that the information will help you out. This post is proving quite popular, I think a lot of people are asking the same question.
That is fantastic that you are starting to see success with making money from your blog. It’s great that you know you can make a living out of the extraordinary things you are doing.
I hear you on the taking two years to build your audience though. Building the audience is the fascinating and sometimes frustrating part. I know over two years you would have put a lot of hard word, dedication and commitment into your blog.
Again thrilled to have you here and glad that you will get a lot of information out of the links.
Cheers
Thea
I have heard of problogger many times and visited the site several times as well. The content is pure quality and I believe when you solve a problem you will always get traffic.
I can recommend someone who makes money online and have valuable advice to share. Follow the link at: http://www.writeandearnaliving.com/p/home.html
The author’s name is Melody and she is really friendly and willing to help other people to become successful in making money from their writing online.
Love your blog Thea, I always check in and have a bit of a read every couple of weeks and you post some really great stuff. Keep up the great work.
Jel
Hi Janelle
Thank you so much for your comment. Lovely to see you here. I am so glad that you enjoy the blog.
I look forward to seeing you here again soon. 🙂
Cheers
Thea
Thank you so much for posting this! I have recently become a stay at home mother and while I enjoy every minute with my daughter, I have lately missed the feeling of contributing financially to my home. I have considered blogging but three things stopped me. First, I was overwhelmed by the entire setup and how it all worked. Second, with so many blogs out there, who would look at mine? Third, while I always have something to say about everything, I really am not sure what is worth putting out there on the internet and that will make money. You have answered my first two issues. I guess my third issue will just be a matter of prayer and taking chances. Again, thank you so much for this extremely helpful information!
Here’s a site that you will find helpful :
http://www.nonprofitwebsitesolution.com
http://www.webpartnergroup.com
if you start blogging , just keep posting, and you will see the results. Thanks for writing.
Great list Thea,, I follow all the bloggers except the last.
I can aggree that Pat and David are awesome.
Hey everyone … i think it will be perfect if we try to make the idea of making money using Blog by Video .. yes Flash Video which show how to the beginnerwill start …flash video will be Perfect
I have been a soap fan my whole life! I love talking about them facebooking , tweeting or whatever will let me be heard! lol I love posting comments or opinions for
my Soaps! I have a good following & people seem to like my style!? I have yet to figure out why? I am thinking about doing a blog! If I could make money writing about what I love;how sweet is that?
Great article. Agreed, there is no substitute for good content people that engages with the audience. The Content is king to drive inbound traffic to your blog. So provide quality, relevant, valuable and engaging content to your visitors to keep them coming back again and again.
I just started blogging and this was really interesting to read, thank you!
Hi Peter
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found the article helpful. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I hope you are enjoying the world of blogging!
Cheers
Thea
Great information in here. I think that getting started is the hardest part. A lot of the people who have already made money forget what it’s like to get started. I have a blog at http://gettingwealthyonline.blogspot.com that’s for someone just starting to try making money online. Please take a look if you have further questions.
Hi Thea,
I cannot thank you enough for this great article. I have been writing for private and institutional clients through third-party content writing firms on a wide variety of subjects. However, I have been struggling to find out the best ways to monetise a blog. I know it takes hours upon hours of work to grow a loyal audience of traffic to start monetising a blog. In my opinion, it will take a couple of years for a blog to start making money eventually. So, sticking with time and patience is the key to make money off a blog. Thanks for this great post.