How I Make Money Blogging

Making money blogging is somewhat of a taboo subject. It’s just something people don’t like to talk about whether it’s because talking about money isn’t “polite” or people just take it as bragging. I’m going to step over that silly little imaginary line, though, and talk about why it’s okay for bloggers to talk about making money with their blogs and why you should be making money from your blog. If you don’t agree or don’t like sponsored content or you’re not a blogger/don’t plan on becoming one, I’ll be back tomorrow with something you might find a little more appealing!

Running a blog isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time. That’s the first thing I tell someone when they ask me about starting a blog. It can be very time consuming and if you’re not ready to put in the time and the effort to start, grow and organize a blog, then blogging might not be for you. It sounds harsh, but I’m sure you seasoned bloggers are nodding your head with me right now.

Not only does blogging take away some of your time, it also costs money, too. Sure, you can get a blogspot.com domain and it’s free, but sooner or later you’re going to want a .com. Sooner or later you’re going to run out of photo storage and need to pay extra for the site you’re hosting your images on. Sooner or later, you’re going to want to pay someone to create an aesthetically pleasing design. And eventually you might to want to upgrade your camera or your laptop. It all adds up over time and that’s exactly why it’s so important to me to make some money off of my blog. Blogging is a hobby to me, but it can be quite the expensive hobby if you don’t have a little bit of income coming in.

Monetizing your blog can be scary at first. I’m sure you’re worried about what your readers will think and what your readers will say, but if you stay true to yourself and true to your voice, you won’t miss a beat.

1 | Linqia*: I’ve worked on a total of 32 campaigns with Linqia and they’ve definitely been my favorite company to do blog campaigns through. They give bloggers room to compose their posts and content to really fit their voice and creativity without all of the “include this but don’t include that” rules that some other companies can place on sponsored posts. With Linqia, you get paid per click on a unique link (or multiple links) that they provide you with for each campaign. You can include these links in tweets, Facebook updates and blog posts. They usually require one blog story per campaign.

2 | Sidebar Advertising: I offer sidebar advertising on my blog and have for a while now. It’s not for everyone though and requires a big commitment if you choose to offer perks such as social media promotion and guest posts. It requires a great deal of organization and diligence to keep it all straight, but this form of monetization for your blog can really open you up to other blogs and bloggers that you may not have found before! I’ve made some truly amazing friendships through my blog sponsorship program! You can also monetize through Google Adsence and other advertising networks, but that’s a step I have not yet taken with my blog monetization. Why you ask? That’s a very good question! I have no idea!

3 | Sponsored Posts: There are many different blogging networks that connect brands with bloggers through sponsored posts. A few of my personal favorites include Linqia, Social Fabric, Pollinate Media, The Motherhood, Clever Girls and Massive Sway. Sponsored posts are where I make most of my money blogging.

4 | Social Media Campaigns: There’s a couple of blogging networks that offer social media campaigns. The first one that comes to mind and the one I prefer using is BlogHer Influencer Network. I love that they offer Facebook, Instagram and Twitter social media campaigns and you can apply to whichever ones you think would suit you, your blog, and your audience. They’re so easy to work with + I have nothing but good things to say about them!

All in all, choosing to monetize your blog and how you monetize your blog is a very personal decision. It depend on the direction you’re going with your blog and where you want it to go in the future. I can tell you one thing, though. My blog at this present time is actually a third full-time income for my family. It’s something I never thought would come from my blog and something I would’ve never seen myself doing, but when the opportunity presents itself, you just gotta take it.

I never really understood that passion people spoke of when they talked about making their hobbies a business, but with blogging this is exactly what I’ve done. I’ve taken something I absolutely love doing: writing, photography, and social media — and created a brand and a source of income.

It truly is amazing!

Have you made the decision to monetize your blog yet? What’s your favorite way of doing so?

*This post contains an affiliate link to Linqia. Another reason I love them, is they pay me $5 per referral and a small percentage of your first campaign. You can get a referral link of your own when you sign up with them!