You have made it to the final day of the course where we are going to talk about how you can make money from your blog!
Keep in mind that this step can take some time as you continue to add content and grow traffic to your blog. You may not necessarily take any actions today, but you will be equipped with next steps on monetizing your blog in the future.
In today’s lesson, we’ll go over:
- How to make money with ads
- How to make money with affiliate links
How to make money with ads
Advertisements are the primary way that I personally make money with my blog. Right now, I average over $3,000 dollars a month from ads on my blog.
The first step to make money with ads on your site is to apply to an ad program. The best (and really only) good option for beginners is Google Adsense.
That said, joining Adsense is not open to anyone. It’s an application only process that has a few eligibility requirements.
Primarily, they want your site to have “unique and interest content that attracts an audience.”
Take that as you will, but basically, they will have someone review your site and deem whether it is up to your standards. Here are some questions to ask if you are wondering if you are ready to apply for Adsense:
- Is your content unique (including images and writing), or is it just a copy of what’s already available on other sites?
- Do you have any visitors to your site yet?
- Do you have at least 5-10 high quality blog posts?
Click here to learn more about the Adsense eligibility requirements.
If yes to all of these, you may be ready to apply! You can fill out an application by clicking here, and then clicking “Sign up”
Keep in mind… I got rejected the first time I applied to adsense and many other bloggers do too. I had to write more posts and up the quality before they accepted me a few months later. Don’t take rejection as the end of the world.
Just evaluate how you can do better and keep going!
Once you are getting some meaningful traffic you can upgrade to a “premium” ad agency like Mediavine (which is what I use.)
They are seriously the best to work with and will earn you a lot of money so I highly recommend it. Even though Mediavine requires 50,000 sessions per month to apply, they recently launched a monetization opportunity called Journey for smaller bloggers with 10,000 sessions per month.
Click to learn more about Journey.
This should be one of the next goals you work toward if you want to make money with ads!
How to make money with affiliates
The other way I make money with my blog is through affiliate marketing. This is where I make a small commission every time someone clicks on a product or service I promote on my website.
Similar to ad agencies, affiliate programs often require you to apply. Options that are great for beginners include:
Amazon Affiliates
With Amazon affiliates, you can link Amazon products from your blog and earn commission when someone clicks the link and makes a purchase. To apply for amazon affiliates, you’ll need an active website with recently published content.
Click here to learn more and apply for Amazon associates.
Reward style (LTK)
Reward style is a great choice for fashion, beauty, or home decor bloggers. Even though they are geared towards influencers, they do accept bloggers as well! They require a social media profile with a following (Pinterest counts), high quality & engaging content, consistent and frequently published content, and high quality editorial design.
Click here to apply to LTK Creator
Different affiliate programs have different commission rates, which basically means what % of the sale you get. They vary pretty drastically, so I’d recommend looking into this when getting started.
Once you sign up for an Affiliate program, you can start linking products you recommend all throughout your blog post where they are relevant.
You’ll want to make sure:
- your affiliate links fit in naturally with your content and are not overdone
- you are promoting products that will appeal to your audience and are in their price range
- you are only promoting products you actually recommend
Now…. What’s next?!
You’ve made it to the end of this course!
It’s an amazing accomplishment that you made it to the end of this course and did all 6 days. That just proves that you have the consistency and dedication it takes to become a blogger.
But you’re definitely not done with your blogging journey. My number one tip for you moving forward would be to focus on building habits, systems, and routines around your blog.
If you’ve read Atomic Habits by James Clear (one of my favorite books), then you know!
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
You’ll want to find a way that you can do the following tasks each week
- ✅ Write and publish blog content
- ✅ Create & publish Pinterest pins
And every so often:
- ✅ Research & plan blog topics and content
- ✅ Analyze what is working and what isn’t in Google and Pinterest Analytics
- ✅ Apply for affiliate programs and find new monetization opportunities
As for me, I truly love cuddling up on the couch on a thursday night with a glass of wine and a candle, laptop in hand, ready to work on my blog.
Make your blog authentic and enjoyable to work on, and you’ll be motivated to work on it for days, months and years to come. Trust me, it can really blossom into something life changing 😊
Thank you!!
I want to say a big thank you for following along with my course. As a fellow blogger, the support of others in the community is what keeps us all going.
I can’t way to see what you do with your blog in the future, and I certainly hope I’ve helped you take the first steps.
I hope that blogging will be as life changing for you as it has been for me.
Feedback + a chance to be featured
If you have any feedback for me on this course or you simply want to share what you liked about it, please email me a short blurb of feedback at rachel@daysinspired.com.
Here are some things I’d like to hear:
- your favorite part of the course
- something you learned in the course
- who you would recommend this course for
- how challenging you found the course
- anything you think I could improve upon for future students
If you do so, please include your first name and a link to your blog. You’ll have a chance to be featuring in one of my blog posts with a link to your blog.
