I’m not going to sugarcoat anything.

No fluff, no painting another picture than it really is.

And truth is…

Making money blogging is awesome.

Making money online is pretty awesome. 

Earning your first bucks online is so exciting!

I still remember the day when I sold my first ebook, I even remember the name of the customer.

Trust me, you will never forget that day.

Getting that first sale makes it all the more real, like this is all truly possible and that it’s ALL happening. 

I mean can you imagine waking up to an inbox full of sales?

This is the kind of thing that is possible with blogging. Totally passive income. 

 

 

I made over $15,000 in my first year blogging and it has since then turned my world upside down – in a good way for sure.

Before I started my blog, I didn’t even know that making money blogging was a possibility let alone that you could earn a decent income online while sleeping!

*The dream*

But making money blogging is not a get-rich-quick-game, it’s definitely a long-term thing. 

In this article, I’m going to share my experience with making money blogging, how I got started, and how you can make your first $100 online as a beginner blogger. 

Because let me tell you, if you put in the work and stay the course – making money blogging is possible for you too. 

 

 

Related Reads:

• Why Blogging & Introversion Is A Match Made In Heaven
• How To Start A Blog For Beginners
• How To Create & Sell Your First Ebook

 

 

 

 

How Do Bloggers Make Money

First of all, let’s cover the basics of making money blogging.

Before you put your own monetization strategy in place, we need to go over the different ways a blogger can actually make money. 

So, how do bloggers make money?

Well, there are 5 primary ways to make money with a blog.

 

 

Display advertising

Earning money through display advertising is passive.

You or an ad network place a code on your website and you earn money when people view and/or click on those ads.

How much money you make through ads will depend on how much blog traffic you’re getting.

The more traffic you get, the more money you can make with display advertising. 

 

 

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a super common way for bloggers to make money.

Typically, a lot of newbie bloggers start out with affiliate marketing (something I also recommend you do). 

The way it works is you place a trackable link on your site to promote either a service or a product by another company.

When someone buys through your link, you are then automatically compensated for the sale.

You can earn anywhere from 5% to 50% of the wholesale price. 

Word of caution: please only promote products and services that you have used yourself.

Be real, be honest, and be genuine about it. 

 

 

Sponsorships

Earning money through sponsorships and sponsored posts is not passive because it requires you to trade time for money.

You write a blog post on your site for the purpose of promoting a service, product, or company.

You get paid to write this post by the company who “hired” you. 

This is not something I recommend you start with because you will need to have built up a decent following.

The company you promote wants to get their product or service in front of as many people as possible and if you’re not getting enough blog traffic, it will be hard to land these types of sponsorships. 

See it as an opportunity down the road.

If you want to learn more about sponsored posts, I highly recommend you check out Making Sense of Sponsored Posts, which is a course created by two bloggers (Michelle & Alexis) who earn over $10 000 a month writing sponsored posts. 

 

 

Freelance services

If you have a specialty or a skill, you can also offer freelance services such as graphic design, Pinterest management, virtual assistant work, coaching, copywriting and so much more. 

Consider your amazing skills right now.

What could you offer to other people?

Dig deep, we all have something to teach.

 

 

Digital products

Ah! My favorite way to make money online.

I just love creating digital products for you guys.

Digital products include printables, ebooks, and online courses.

Earning money through digital products is also very passive.

You put down the hard work and create the product once, and then you watch the sales come in when you sleep.

No, but really.

It is a lot of hard work upfront, but once you’ve created a product that your audience loves, it’s pretty amazing to wake up to sales and knowing you just made a difference in someone’s life.

The great thing about creating your own digital products is that you control the price, the marketing, and the product itself.

You’re not reliant on an affiliate product that you’re promoting.

The creator of that affiliate product might remove the product from the market and you’ll be left without sales.

It’s just a lot more reliable (and scalable) to create your own digital products (once you know what your audience is interested in).

The purpose of your digital product should be to solve a problem for your audience and offer them amazing value. 

If you want to learn how to create and sell your first ebook, check out this blog post. 

 

 

The Truth About Making Money With A Blog

So here’s the real and honest truth about making money with a blog.

Blogs don’t make money, businesses do.

When you start a blog and the goal is to make money with it – you’re starting a business. 

This was the first thing I learned on my own blogging journey and it’s so true.

If you want your blog to be profitable and you eventually want to leave your 9-5, you’re starting a business. 

You cannot think that if you write amazing blog posts, the money will come rolling.

It just doesn’t work like that.

You being a great writer has nothing to do with you earning money blogging.

You need to have a plan and a strategy for monetization. 

I see so many bloggers make this mistake.

They focus all their energy on writing the perfect blog post and sit back and wait.

Even viral posts won’t make you money.

They will give you a spike in traffic but not a lot of money.

You have to have a monetization strategy in place in order to start earning your first few thousand dollars online and to be able to scale from there.

It’s not enough to write amazing blog posts and sit back and wait for the moolah to roll in.

You might make a few hundred dollars that way by luck or by having ads on your site, but you need to get strategic and have a plan in place for how you will monetize. 

 

 

Don’t be afraid to invest in your blog

Investing in hosting, a great theme for your blog, and an email marketing service provider is key.

The cold hard truth is if you don’t invest, it’s going to be really hard for you to make money blogging.

If the goal is to make money, you need to look at your blog as a business and invest in it.

You’ll eventually earn back this money.

I invested in my blog from day one.

I’ve spent thousands of dollars on courses, software, and services. 

Now, it’s not necessary you spend thousands of dollars your first year, but you gotta invest a little to get a little.

If the goal is not to make money blogging, then you can start a hobby blog.

I just want you to know what you’re doing when you start a blog – because you are in fact starting a business.

So yes my friend, you’re a CEO now. 

 

 

How To Make Money Blogging For Beginners

The steps you need to take to successfully monetize your new blog.

 

Start your dream blog

You obvs need a blog to make money with it.

If you haven’t yet signed up for hosting and started your blog, you can either learn how to do so by reading my step by step tutorial here or join my FREE Start Your Dream Blog Course for introverts and dreamers.

In this FREE course, you will learn everything you need to know to perfectly set up your new blog, including driving traffic to it, what to write about, and more.

▶ Join us here!

 

 

Create amazing content for your audience

Provide your audience with epic and amazing FREE content before you start selling to them.

Write content that your ideal visitor is searching for.

Focus on solving their problems and serving them with what they want.

One of the key things you’ll come to understand when you start a blog is that you’re not blogging for you,  you’re blogging for THEM – your audience, your people. 

Your blog exists to solve problems. 

Once you truly understand this is when your blog will take off.

At least, I know it did for me. 

Get really intentional about the content you put out there and make sure it is related to what you eventually want to sell, whether that is an affiliate product or your own digital products. 

 

 

Drive FREE organic traffic to your blog

You’ve written amazing content.

Now what?

This is when Pinterest and Google SEO will make an appearance on your blogging journey. 

You cannot make money without traffic (people who view your content).

• You need people to sell to.
• You need an audience. 

You get strangers to find your blog through targeting specific keywords that your ideal visitor is already searching for.

Simply put, this is what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about.

For example:

Let’s say your niche is “productivity”.

What would someone who wants to become more productive search for on either Pinterest or Google?

Perhaps…

• How to get things done
• How to become more efficient and productive
• How can I wake up early to be more productive

Get inside your audience’s mind, understand the problems they’re having and what they could potentially be searching for. 

I highly recommend you go all in and master one search engine first, learn all there is to it, the strategies, the tactics, the everything. 

Pinterest is how I got over 1 million views to my blog in my first year of blogging.

 

 

This is why I always speak so warmly of Pinterest and recommend it as the best platform for traffic for beginner bloggers. 

I invested in Pinterest Traffic Avalanche, a course by Create & Go back in 2018.

I’m so glad I went all in and immersed myself in Pinterest strategies. 

I learned from someone who had the results I wanted for my own blog.

I highly recommend you do the same.

This is how you will get results fast and you can skip any unnecessary mistakes along the way. 

Learn more about Pinterest Traffic Avalanche or read my honest review of the course. 

If Google is more your thing and you think your audience isn’t on Pinterest, then I suggest you check out Mike Pearson’s amazing course on Google SEO for bloggers called Stupid Simple SEO.

 

Build your email list

You might have heard the saying…

The money is in your list. 

Well, it really is. 

Your email list is your golden asset in your blogging business.

The people who sign up for your email list will be your most loyal and (most awesome) fans.

They want to hear from you.

You nurture your list by sending them tons of value for free so they’ll get to know, like, and trust you. 

These are the people who are most likely to eventually buy from you when you’re ready to sell.

They are your warm audience, your community, and your amazing tribe. 

Think about it. 

When have you ever visited a website and just bought something right off the bat without getting to know the brand or company behind the thing you’re considering buying?

My guess will be – never.

Unless it’s already a “trusted” company like Amazon or someone you’re already familiar with.

You have to build trust with your audience. 

You do this through email marketing. 

ConvertKit is the email marketing service that I use to collect emails with and therefore it’s what I recommend all my students use as well. 

They now offer a free plan for your 1000 first subscribers. 

 

 

Where To Start With Monetizing a Blog

I always say that you should learn, implement, and focus on one monetization strategy at a time – especially when you’re just starting out. 

Because it does take some time to learn how to craft your strategy and how it all works.

Now when you’ve gotten the hang of it and have a little more oomph in the game, you will want to diversify your income, but for now – focus on nailing down one strategy at a time. 

However, when you do feel ready to implement a monetization strategy into your blogging business, I highly recommend you start with affiliate marketing. 

Affiliate marketing is a good place to start with monetization.

It lets you test out other people’s products with your audience, seeing what they like and don’t like.

This might also spark inspiration for creating your own products down the line, once you see what works. 

You’ll also learn how to sell to your audience and you’ll get a better understanding of what they are interested in buying.

This way, you don’t have to spend time creating a product that won’t sell.

Test the waters with your audience with affiliate marketing first. 

For example:

If you notice that your audience is buying a specific affiliate product that your promoting (let’s go with a digital planner for example), then perhaps you can create your own planner and make it even more amazing?! Just an idea. ✨

This is actually how I understood just how interested you guys were in blogging, so I created my won blogging course that speaks directly to my audience (introverts and dreamers) – Dreamer To Blogger. 

Don’t start with ads.

You need at least 25 000 page views a month to qualify for the good premium ad networks.

Ads can be distracting for your audience and result in bad user experience.

Just my two cents.

 

Blogging is a marathon not a sprint

Be prepared to try out different strategies, not have them work out, and get right back up again to try something else.

You gotta be in it to win it and be willing to test different offers and monetization strategies.

You’ll never know what really sticks with your audience if you don’t give it a shot.

You have to have the foundation in place before monetizing. 

Create amazing content and build your audience first.

You don’t have to have something to sell on your website before you start driving traffic to it.

This is a BIG mistake.

You need to listen to your audience and offer them exactly what they want.

Don’t wing it!

 

 

When To Start Monetizing Your Blog

You just started your blog.

Do not rush into monetizing before you’re ready.

As I mentioned, you need to have the groundwork down first. 

You need to start with building a loyal tribe (your email list) and start driving consistent traffic to your blog before you start to play with monetization. 

I just want to be honest with you.

You won’t make money if you don’t lock in the foundation for your blog first. 

Here’s the equation that’s true for any type of online business. 

Traffic + Amazing product = $$$

No traffic + Amazing product (your own or affiliate) = —-

• You need blog traffic to make money.
• You need to have people to sell to. 
• You need to have an audience of loyal fans who are ready to buy.

Most importantly, you need to get feedback from your audience before you start selling.

You need to offer them what they want. 

You nurture these people through your email list. 

I’d say don’t start selling until you have at least 250 quality people on your email list. 

No list? No traffic? No money.

 

 

How I Started Monetizing My Blog

I started making money 4-6 months into blogging, mostly through affiliate marketing. 

By this point, I was also getting a decent amount of traffic to my blog which led me to sign up for a premium ad network (Mediavine) and I also started to earn daily passive income through display advertising. 

However, it was after I published my very first ebook, Dream Morning, that I started to earn a consistent income trough my blog.

I made over $15 000 in my first year while still working full time. 

Now I’m at the point where I’m constantly growing and scaling my blog.

I’ve created two online courses that also bring in revenue. 

• Dreamer To Blogger: a blogging course specifically designed for introverts and dreamers
• The Dreamer To Doer Academy: a personal development course

To say that I’m excited for the future of She Dreams All Day would be an understatement.

 

 

What Type Of Blogs Make The Most Money?

You can make money blogging with any blog as long as your focus is to provide your audience with amazing value.

Ironically, you’re probably not going to make money with a blog that you started solely for the purpose of making money.

You’re also not going to make money with a blog that purely exists for your own personal benefit.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally fine if you just want to start a hobby blog and share your thoughts about everything and anything in your life, but if you’re not speaking to an audience and offering them value it’s going to be hard to make money blogging. 

Giving your audience what they want and marketing this content to them is what will make you money.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a food blogger or someone who blogs about knitting, personal development, or dog training.

As long as you focus on your audience, you can make moolah online. 

 

 

Busy bee? Pin this article for later. 

 

 

How Much Money Can A Beginner Blogger Make?

I’m going to give you a really boring answer – it depends.

I know bloggers who started making money right out of the gate after just blogging for a couple of months.

It may take other bloggers years to earn consistent revenue with their blogs.

It all depends on how committed you are. 

If you’re determined to turn your blog into a side hustle or your full-time gig, it depends on how much work you are willing to put into your new dream blog and how much time you have to learn and implement. 

Blogging is not a get-rich-quick-scheme and it requires a lot of consistent hard work.

However, once you start making money it’s going to be much easier to scale. 

The sky’s the limit and anything is possible if you put in the work.

The online space keeps growing and there will always be room for new bloggers!

Remember you have to make your first dollar online, before you make your first 50 dollars, 50 dollars before you make your first 100 dollars and 100 dollars before you make your first 1000 dollars and so on. 

The key is to just start simple and scale from there.

 

 

Before You Go

Offering amazing value to your audience and solving problems is how you make money blogging.

Take a minute now and brainstorm ways you can start monetizing your own blog. 

However…

I don’t want you to rush into monetizing.

It’s important you go in order and set the foundation first.

Making money blogging is amazing and you will eventually but for now, focus on getting your blog up and running and getting your first 1000 visitors.

With traffic comes the possibility of monetizing.

Start building your email list and nurture your people with amazing value. 

That is how you make money blogging.