If you have a blog then you already know that it takes a considerable amount of work to build up a readership and keep content refreshed. It makes sense then that you’ll want to earn as much money from this effort as possible. That’s probably where our guide below comes in. Read it to discover 6 smart ways you can make more money from your blog.
- Make it a subscription service
One of the smartest ways to profit from your blog is to put some or all of it behind a paywall and ask readers to subscribe to access this content. The best thing about operating on the subscription model is that you get a very predictable and consistent income each month, which makes keeping on top of your finances easy.
For this type of model to work you will need to make sure you provide plenty of value. People just won’t continue paying if they are not benefitting. To do this you will need to add as much new content as possible. It also makes sense to tailor any paid content to the specific needs and interests of those subscribing. You can ask them about this by allowing comments on your post, or DMs, or you can even send them out short multiple-choice questionnaires.
Some of the most successful subscription blogs cover news and gossip. This makes sense as there is new, high-quality content all the time, and people may not be able to get the information anywhere else. Other blog subscriptions often come as part of a package of other services such as online classes, and tutorials. With readers paying for access to this and a community to discuss issues about the content, as well as just the blog.
- Collaborate with brands
Another way you can make more money from your blog is to collaborate with brands. Brands are always looking for ways to reach their target audience, and your blog has the power to put a brand in front of a huge amount of people. The good news is that you get to charge money for this service, and big brands are known to pay big bucks for the pleasure of collaborating with the right blogger.
There are a few things you’ll need to consider carefully first though. The first is what type of people and brands your blog may appeal to. For example, if you run a blog about fishing in North America, the target audience is likely to be males, probably 30-50. What that means is a make-up brand collaboration won’t make much sense for anyone involved.
Another thing you’ll need to consider is how you will connect to the right brands. Yes, you can contact them directly, but as every other blogger in your niche will likely be doing this as well, you may easily get ignored or passed over. Instead, signing up with a brand blog collaboration platform can be just the answer you are looking for. Indeed, such a platform can not only put you in contact with well-known brands but also find the right brand match for your readership, making the whole thing much more likely to succeed.
- Start a newsletter (and then sell space)
Another big trend in monetizing blogs right now is newsletters. These are email blasts-type documents that you send out to people who have signed up to receive them through your blog. Often bloggers will ask readers to sign up for this type of email to allow them access to the full site and to be able to leave a comment.
These newsletters are then sent out at regular intervals with updates about the blog, and other things that the readership finds interesting. Additionally, bloggers can make money by selling space on these newsletters to advertisers and brands, as this allows them to get their products and services in front of the right people. In essence, this approach is similar to selling advertising space on your site, it’s just via a newsletter instead.
- Embrace affiliate marketing
It’s an oldie but a goody, affiliate marketing is still going strong, and that means it’s well worth signing up to be an affiliate on your blog. Being an affiliate means that you promote a product or service and display links on your site to that product or service. When someone makes a purchase through that link you earn either a small set fee or a percentage of the value of that purchase.
Things you’ll need to consider when it comes to affiliate marketing include what types of products your readership would be interested in. For example, if you run a travel blog, then being an affiliate for a specific tour provider, accommodation provider, or transport provider may work well. Similarly, if you are a food and cooking blog, acting as an affiliate for a big online store like Amazon where people can buy food cooking and preparation items can work effectively.
- Sell an ebook
You can also earn more money from your blog by using it as a platform to sell an ebook. Ebooks are an ideal passive income source as they need only be created once, and can be sold over and over again. You don’t even need to write the entire book yourself as there are plenty of ghostwriters out there who make their living from doing this and will be able to replicate your voice.
Usually, the popularity of ebooks depends on whether they are crafted with the target audience of the blog they are being sold on in mind. For instance, fiction and novels are a lot less popular than practical guides that provide functional information on how to achieve something specific or solve a specific problem. A good example of this would be on a money and finance advice site where the blogger could sell an ebook guide that covers the way to get out of debt in a short space of time.
Final thoughts
You can see from the information above that there are plenty of ways you can make more money from your blog. You can also use more than one of these suggestions at the same time and truly maximize your income.