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I bet you’re here because you’re wondering how to start a blog and make money online from home.
Just over a year ago when I discovered that blogs could make money (and I mean more than just a full-time income), my thoughts were like…
“What?? You serious? Blogs make money? How do bloggers make money? Can you REALLY make money blogging from home?”
I kept reading about it and eventually learned that there were people who quickly became millionaires because of their blogs. I was hooked and became a little obsessed.
Those stories were oh-so inspiring, but they were VERY overwhelming and WAY too far-fetched for me.
So, I took a gazillion steps back and thought…
Wait a minute, why am I reading into the crazy successful stories? I don’t need to make $1,000,000 a year in order to help improve my family’s living conditions! 😱
I just thought it would be nice to make an extra $100, $500, $1,000, or $5,000 per month from a fun side hustle like blogging. For me, blogging sounded like one of the best ways to earn extra money online from home because it is very cheap to start one.
Considering other business ideas that I looked at wanted me to invest one million dollars to start, starting a blog to earn extra income was a no-brainer! (Gosh, if I had one million dollars sitting in my bank account, I wouldn’t need to look into home business ideas!)
So, in 2018, I made it my New Year’s Resolution to make an extra $500 per month! I set this goal because I started to really dislike my daytime job and needed a hobby to keep me from going crazy.
With that goal in mind, I constantly searched for articles online that taught you how to make money blogging.
📌 If you have the Pinterest app, don’t forget to save this blog post here on Pinterest so you can refer back to this detailed article so you can learn how to make money blogging!
How I made money blogging (as a beginner blogger)
As a new blogger with NO EXPERIENCE, it took me many months to make my first $100 blogging.
After 6 months into my blogging journey, I wrote my first blog income report and provided details on how I made $703.57 in one month as a beginner.
Fast forward another 5 months, I QUIT MY JOB and became a full-time blogger because I exceeded my expectations and made $6,840.01 in December.
Four months into the new year, I couldn’t believe that this small blog earned over $10,000 in a month!
And now I am earning over $20,000 per month blogging from home!
Starting a blog as a side hustle was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life because I was able to try it out without spending a lot of money!
Are you excited to learn how to make money blogging?
Are you a beginner and don’t know where to start? Join my FREE 7-day course where I will teach you how to start your blog the right way!
Today, I’m consistently earning over $10,000 now $20,000 per month with my small blog and I want to teach you how.
I like keeping things real — I have to admit that I’m NOT an expert (and I don’t claim to be one), but I can offer you valuable tips and share my experience so you can avoid making mistakes as a brand new blogger.
In my free e-mail course, I will guide you from starting your blog to growing your traffic and making your first income!
This is the course I wish I had when I first started my blog!
Can you really make money blogging?
You may be reading and thinking all of this is bogus and it’s a scam; that this whole blogging thing is impossible; and that you’ll never be able to earn any real income online.
I don’t blame you because I thought the same too!
It honestly NEVER crossed my mind that I could QUIT MY JOB last month to start blogging full-time.
I want you to know that I’m not special in any way.
I’m just like you, who decided to start a blog on a whim to see how it goes. If it works out, then GREAT! And if not, then oh well… at least I’ve tried it!
After struggling for many months and experimenting it out myself, I can tell you that making money with a blog is REAL!
So, YES, I’m super excited when I’m saying this to you… IT IS possible to make money blogging and anyone can get started for just $2.95 a month with NO experience!
Just so you know, blogging is NOT a get-rich-quick thing and it does require work!
But again, it’s absolutely possible to make money blogging as long as you take it seriously and stay motivated to make it work.
On top of that, you’re going to need to invest in a few affordable blogging resources as a beginner and actually implement those strategies onto your blog if you want to make money faster than most bloggers!
UPDATE: Because I get a ton of e-mails from readers asking how to start and build a profitable blog, I created The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days to help beginners like you build your blogs from scratch with NO experience and NO tech skills required. Many brand new bloggers have followed everything taught in this ebook and are seeing great results with their blogs!
You can also view all the blogging tools and resources you need as a beginner blogger at the bottom of this post. It’s personally what I used to get to where I am now. Plus, it’s at a VERY low cost to get started!
I’ll be honest to let you know that it will take time and a lot of learning to actually see results! But it is SO worth it in the end!
And nope, you DON’T need to be the best writer or an expert at what you blog about to get started! You’ll know what I mean when you join my FREE 7-day e-mail course here.
Read also: How To Start a Money Making Blog on WordPress (Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial)
Types of blogs that make money
Today, we hear of many different types of blogs that make money.
That list includes but is not limited to:
- Arts & Crafts
- Beauty & Fashion
- Debt-free Journey
- Food and Recipes
- Entrepreneurship & Business
- Frugal Living
- Health & Fitness
- Home & Gardening
- Home Decor and DIY
- Home Renovations
- Jobs and Careers
- Lifestyle
- Mommy blogs
- Money and Personal Finance
- Parenting tips
- Personal Development
- Technology trends (e.g. gadgets, apps, etc.)
- Travel & Eats
Here’s the thing.
Almost anything can make money as long as it offers a solution to a problem.
If you can hit your readers’ pain points and help them solve a problem, you will be rewarded!
After blogging for over a year, I realized that your content doesn’t have to be something groundbreaking, and there’s really no need to reinvent the wheel.
For example, in my niche, money, and personal finance, I could write something like…
- Drop App Review: How I Get Free Gift Cards By Using This Free App
- 6 Ways To Make Extra Money With Swagbucks
Here are some more examples.
If your blog is about beauty and makeup, you could write about:
- “How To Look Beautiful With No Makeup”
- “How To Apply Eyeliner For Small Eyes”
- “The Best Make Up Organizers From Amazon”
Another example is if you want to write about DIY and home renovation projects, you could write a blog post or come up with a tutorial on:
- “5 Things You Need To Renovate a Small Bathroom on a Budget”
- “How To Install a Toilet Flange”
- “How To Tile Your Kitchen Backsplash Like a Pro”
Here is one more example.
If you want to blog about home living and organizational hacks, you could write about:
- “15 Organizational Hacks That Will Instantly Make Your Stress Go Away”
- “12 Best Organization Hacks That Neat Freaks Will Love”
- “15 Dollar Store Organization Hacks That Will Save Your Life From Clutter”
As long as there are people searching for answers, there will always be demand for your content! I generally use the Keywords Everywhere tool to give me some clues. And don’t think that no one wants to read your blog just because there are similar ones that already exist.
The way you write, the stories you tell, and how you deliver your message is what sets you apart from everyone else.
No ONE person is going to have the exact same struggles or experiences as you!
Think about it this way…
There are 24 hours within a day and a gazillion people in this world. People can never consume too much or have enough. As long as there’s good content (for your target audience), readers are always going to be hungry for more!
Top money making blogs
So, who are the top money making bloggers and how much do they earn?
There’s actually a lot to list and that would be too long to name them here!
But to give you several examples, here are the blogs that bring in an amazing monthly income!
Note that the numbers fluctuate and blogging income will always be volatile.
- Huffington Post: $900,000
- Mashable: $480,000
- TechCrunch: $450,000
- Money Saving Expert: $110,000
- Lifehacker: $130,000
- Show Me The Yummy: $32,000
How much money do bloggers make?
I know, I know…
The list I just provided is extremely overwhelming to look at and very unrealistic for new bloggers who haven’t started yet.
But like I said at the beginning of this post, you don’t need to aim for $10,000, $20,000, $500,000 or $1,000,000+ per month!
So, you may be asking realistically how much money can you make blogging?
What if you could make $100 to $1,000 in extra income each month just from blogging? Imagine what that money can do for you. It could help you cover some of your living expenses like your utility bills, cable, insurance, groceries, and much more!
Or maybe you want to take it to the next level!
Perhaps you’re looking to start a blog and make $3,000+ so you could quit your job.
That’s doable too!
I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s easy, but IT IS very POSSIBLE as long as you are serious about it!
I personally started my blog as a fun side hustle and made some extra income on top of my full-time job. Just like everyone else, I started with $0!
In fact, I barely made any real money for many months in my blogging journey!
But I persisted and kept learning AT MY OWN PACE no matter how discouraged I felt.
AND GUESS WHAT?
I eventually made a few dollars to my first $100, $1,000, and over $10,000 per month within my second year of blogging! All because I kept an open mind and did NOT give up!
Even if it takes me over 1 year, I would still keep going.
No seriously, I gave myself the goal of making my first $1,000 per month within 2 years!
It’s much easier and less overwhelming when you set small and realistic goals at first.
Do not go for a free blogging platform!
Some of you might be thinking of starting a blog for free on WordPress.com or Blogger. DO NOT go that route!
It would be near impossible to make money when you sign up for a free blog because no one will take you seriously.
On top of that, applying to ad networks and affiliate programs will be extremely tough.
If your intention is to make money blogging, you will want to start your blog the correct way by following my easy step-by-step tutorial here. You will thank yourself for doing this!
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
This leads to my next point.
I get many e-mails from readers who say “I already have WordPress.com, but what’s this WordPress.org that Bluehost is asking me to install? I think I already have WordPress?”
Here are my answers to clarify any confusion…
WordPress.com
This is a free platform and you actually DON’T own your blog. That means they can remove any data or content you create on this platform because it is NOT self-hosted by you.
If you are blogging as a hobby or NOT planning to make any money from it, then using WordPress.com is all you need.
WordPress.org
On the other hand, with WordPress.org, you OWN your blog and you have full control when you go self-hosted with a web hosting company like Bluehost.
When you sign up for Bluehost, they will make it easy for you to install WordPress.org with their 1-click installation. And yes, WordPress.org is FREE when you go self-hosted with a hosting company like Bluehost.
Pros of going self-hosted with your blog
When you use WordPress.org through a self-hosted website like Bluehost, you have many benefits like:
- Choosing a variety of any free or paid plugin
- Customizing your blog design in whatever way you like (there are many FREE and paid themes to choose from)
- Installing Google Analytics where you can track your readers’ interests. This is a FREE and very powerful tool that can help you grow your blog!
- Flexibility (you OWN your blog so you can monetize it in whatever way you like — ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, set up your own shop, etc.)
Again, if your intention is to make money with your blog, you will want to go with a self-hosted web like Bluehost and install WordPress.org from there.
Read also: How To Start a Money Making Blog on WordPress with Bluehost (Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial)
How do bloggers make money?
After starting your blog and publishing your first 5 to 10 posts, you’re ready to learn how to make money blogging!
There are many ways bloggers make money with their blogs.
For now, as a newish blogger (who you can relate to), I am making money through display advertising and focusing most of my efforts using these winning affiliate marketing strategies.
Based on my personal experience, I can tell you that these two monetization methods are probably the easiest and fastest ways to make money for beginners!
Aside from those two methods, you can also make money blogging by creating your own products and writing sponsored posts.
How do bloggers get paid? Let’s go through each in detail.
1. Display advertising
I mentioned that this is probably one of the easiest ways to make money for beginners.
I say it’s easy because when you first start, you can immediately apply for Google Adsense or Media.net and start placing ads on your blog to make money from traffic.
BUT, it’s tough to monetize with ads when you’re new because beginners rarely start off with explosive traffic.
I personally started with Google Adsense and was excited to see my first $1.45 in my account, LOL! Woo-hoo, let’s celebrate our first milestone!
Hey, you know it’s that FIRST dollar that counts, right? It tells you that there’s potential to earn thousands of them!
It took me many months before I got my first paycheck from Google which was a couple of hundred dollars.
I was reading a lot about online jobs and how I could make extra money from home.
During that time, I learned that I could earn money from Google by advertising with Google Adsense as a beginner.
Here’s a screenshot of my Google Adsense earnings for August 2018.
Once your blog traffic increases, you’ll be able to work with ad management companies like Mediavine, which I highly recommend because they are TRULY amazing! Words cannot express how AWESOME they are!
When I grew my blog traffic to ~30,000 page views (25,000 sessions) simply by using these Pinterest traffic tips, I was qualified to apply for Mediavine. This allowed me to earn about 5X the amount compared to Google Adsense!
Mediavine’s customer service is beyond amazing because they promptly answer all of your questions and even help you with ad placement to optimize your earnings! 😀
With that said, I went from making ~$0 to a couple hundred, and now at least $1,000 USD per month just with display advertising alone!
⭐️ I have to say it’s mostly thanks to Pinterest, I am able to drive a HUGE amount of traffic to my blog just by using the platform! And we’re talking about over 100,000 monthly page views today!
Here’s a screenshot of my Mediavine earnings in USD for the month. This is just my display advertising earnings alone:
2. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to make money!
Why?
Because no matter how small your blog is (or how little traffic you’re getting at the beginning), anyone can start making money with affiliate marketing immediately!
You DON’T need 100,000 monthly page views to start monetizing!
You can get started with affiliate marketing as soon as you start your blog and write your first 5 to 10 posts!
For those who are new to blogging, you may be wondering what is affiliate marketing?
To answer your question…
You basically recommend or promote a product you love and/or believe would benefit your readers (by using your affiliate or referral link).
When the reader makes a purchase or signs up to something, you’ll get rewarded with a commission at NO extra cost to your reader.
An example of how I make money with affiliate marketing.
Since my blog focuses on personal finance, I like to blog about the best ways to save money and make money.
One of my favorite ways to help readers is by writing posts about the best money-saving tools I personally use to help me save money every day.
For example, I like to talk about free resources like Ebates and Drop.
If you haven’t heard about them, you should click on those links to check out my honest reviews. You could save a pretty good amount of money each year with those resources. The best part is they’re 100% FREE and doest not cost my reader anything!
In fact, when they (or you) sign up, I earn a referral bonus (usually between $1 to $25); and my readers will receive a $5 to $10 welcome bonus just for signing up!
You see, it’s a win-win for everyone!
Another way to make money with affiliate marketing is by joining the Amazon Associates Program. It is free to join!
There are many bloggers who are able to make thousands of dollars each month just by linking recommended products to Amazon.
For example, if I’m a blog that talks about home furniture and I recommend a nightstand product from Amazon to my readers, I will earn a commission when the reader clicks on my special link and purchases a cart full of stuff on Amazon.
Yes, you can make money even when the reader (who clicks on that special link) doesn’t buy the exact product that the blogger recommends.
So, instead of buying that recommended nightstand, the reader may decide to purchase something else completely random like a pair of shorts or underwear.
In the end, you would still earn a small commission from Amazon on the pair of shorts and underwear that your reader buys.
After reading all of that, you may think affiliate marketing sounds simple.
I’ll tell you that it really isn’t!
If that were true, every blogger would become a millionaire overnight!
You can’t just place affiliate links all over your blog posts or social media and expect someone to buy from you.
Affiliate marketing is very effective when you are 100% honest about your product reviews.
As I mentioned, the great thing about affiliate marketing is that anyone can start using it despite how new their blog is.
I love using affiliate marketing as a monetization strategy on my blog because I can recommend almost any product that I think will be useful for my readers.
Plus, if I’m already enjoying the product, I may as well mention it to my readers because it could help or benefit them as well! Again, it’s a win-win for everyone! 😊
Here are a couple of screenshots of the money I made online as a beginner with affiliate marketing after implementing these strategies.
$9,043:
$504.32:
3. Selling your own products and services
This is a fantastic way to make money from your blog. Instead of selling other people’s products through affiliate marketing, you can create your own products or services and sell directly to your readers and followers.
Here are a few examples of products you can sell:
- Clothing
- Handmade crafts
- E-books
- Printables (e.g. wall art for home decor or printable binders such as budgeting, organization, meal planning, etc.)
- Online courses
On top of that, you can also offer your services online such as 1-on-1 coaching, social media services, Pinterest Virtual Assistant, freelance writing, web design and so much more!
4. Sponsored posts
I left this for last because I don’t personally have experience with this.
I’ve learned that companies don’t pay very much when you have a smaller audience (this is likely the case for beginners). Also, keep in mind that if it takes you a long time to write an article, the return on investment (ROI) may not be as high as implementing some affiliate marketing strategies on your blog.
With that said, I’m going to focus my efforts on affiliate marketing and hopefully create my own product down the road.
If you’re interested, you can still make money through sponsored posts!
Regardless of how little you get paid as a beginner, everyone has to start from somewhere.
Companies will pay you a flat fee for mentioning or writing a review about their product on your blog.
Like affiliate marketing, you should be 100% genuine and honest when you are writing a sponsored post. You can land a sponsored post opportunity when you directly reach out to the company and pitch them your ideas.
Use Pinterest traffic to make money blogging
Yes, you’re going to need some traffic if you want to make more money with your blog.
And do you wanna know the brand new blogger’s secret weapon to drive massive traffic?
📌 Pinterest.
I know some of you may be raising your eyebrow at me thinking, “Say whaaa? Pinterest? Isn’t that just a hub for cutesy crafts, pink unicorns, and pretty decor?” 🦄
Um, yeah… that’s what I thought too.
Yes, it’s true that the DIY, crafts, gift guides, home organization, parenting, home decor, etc. types of blogs do extremely well on Pinterest. But you’ll be surprised at the amount of traffic you can get onto your blog if you learn how to use the platform correctly.
These Pinterest pageview tips will help beginners learn how to get traffic to their blogs.
But seriously, who would’ve thought a blog about money and personal finance could get traffic views from Pinterest?
I also wrote a full blog post that explains how Pinterest can help new bloggers make money almost immediately within their first year.
Again, it’s not to say you’re going to get-rich-quick overnight (and there are no guarantees), but it is a lot easier to get Pinterest traffic compared to Google when you’re a brand new blogger with no authority!
Once you become familiar with Pinterest, it’s time to focus on your Google traffic, which I talk more about later.
🌟 My traffic increased from 0 to 20,000 monthly page views within less than six months. Right after that, I was getting over 40,000 page views per month in my first year of blogging all because I dived right into using Pinterest!
Thanks to Pinterest, I’m able to make over $1,500 USD per month from ads alone (all from traffic)!
At the time of writing, my monthly page views increased to over 100,000!
UPDATE: After receiving so many questions from my readers every single day about how to get traffic on Pinterest, I created this very extensive and comprehensive guide called The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic by Finsavvy Panda. It literally gives you the exact steps I took to skyrocket my monthly pageviews from 0 to over 100,000. These strategies work because I started a second blog in a different niche, which also receives 100,000 monthly pageviews.
Make money blogging without a huge following
There’s a myth that you need everyone on the planet to follow you and a million page views to make money blogging.
I know it’s hard to get over that thinking, but as I said, you need to keep an open mind and tell yourself it’s possible!
I, myself, used to think that you need a huge following; and that you need to be popular in order to make money online.
Well, I was wrong, and I’m SO glad I gave this “blogging thing” a chance.
After having this small blog for over a year, I can tell you for a fact that none of those myths are true.
I was able to make my first $100 blogging with under 300 followers on Pinterest. And I made my first $1,000 with under 800 followers.
And those probably weren’t even my real followers (more like spammers following you hoping you would follow back), haha… so you could think of me having close to 0 followers at that time!
👉 Spoiler alert: though nice to have, your number of followers (at least on Pinterest) don’t really matter all that much. This metric doesn’t determine how much money you’ll make.
Let me ask you a question: Are you here to be popular online, or to make money online? 💵💵💵
[If you’re reading this, I think the answer is obvious, haha]. 🤑
I also want to point out that I rarely (almost never) used Twitter. I don’t even pay attention to Instagram or Facebook! It was too much and I didn’t want to spread myself thin.
When I first started my blog, I heard SO many amazing things about Pinterest, and that’s why I focused most of my efforts on it to drive massive traffic to my blog.
BTW, it’s not to say that followers don’t matter at all.
You will need to build a good amount of followers, but not just any followers. The key is to build true and loyal followers over time as you create more content, gain trust, and establish some authority. As a new blogger, these are things I’m still working on. 🙂
💡 PRO TIP: Choose ONE platform and learn it well. Focusing your effort on one thing at a time will yield you higher returns than you trying to be mediocre at everything. I don’t want to sound biased, but Pinterest seems to be most bloggers’ favorite weapon! Trust me, LESS is really more!
After making all those statements, my whole point is to tell you that I’m a no-name blog with very little followers, but I’m still able to make a few to several thousand dollars every month! Overall, I want to let you know that making money with a small and personal blog is possible!
Work on your Google SEO strategies ASAP!
I know you’re here because you were searching the following questions on Google:
- How to make money blogging
- How to make money blogging for beginners
- How do beginner bloggers make money?
- How much money do bloggers make?
- Can you really make money blogging?
- How to make money blogging from home
Chances are you landed on this page because you found me on Pinterest, or because you’re one of my e-mail subscribers.
Not because you found me on Google — hah, I wish!
And to be honest, you’re probably not going to be able to find me on Google (at the time I write this) because I made the biggest mistake ever when I first started my blog…
Can you guess what that mistake is?
Not learning or implementing Google SEO strategies sooner.
If you’re new to this, you’re probably scratching your head wondering, “What is SEO”?
This stands for “search engine optimization”.
All that means is learning how to rank higher on Google (ultimately on page 1) so that you or your blog post could be found by readers; hence giving you organic traffic from Google searches.
I know I just gave you the whole speech about how it’s much easier to drive a ton of traffic and start making money with your blog by leveraging Pinterest. I also said focusing your efforts on one platform at a time is the key to seeing great results.
Those are all true…
BUT I really, and I mean REALLY, regret not learning how to rank better on Google when I first started my blog.
If I had to do this all over again, the only thing I would change is spending a bit more time learning how to optimize my blog posts for Google.
Why?
Because it takes time for Google to recognize and rank you. You’re not authoritative in Google’s eyes when you’re a new blogger and that’s why you need to slowly build a good relationship with Google right from the get-go by following Google’s best practices for the long term.
At the end of the day, it’s important to diversify your traffic sources (e.g. Pinterest, Google, e-mail subscribers, etc.) if you want to reduce your risks and continue making money with your blog.
For example, if you focus 100% on one traffic source like Twitter, your earnings could potentially vanish overnight if Twitter somehow goes away.
Again, I’m not here to scare you.
I’ve been alive so far making over $10,000 per month just by focusing my efforts on Pinterest (knock on wood 🤛). But now that I’m over two years into my blogging journey, I’m learning how to diversify my traffic to reduce those risks.
Blogging Tools, Resources, and Guides For Beginners
As I said at the beginning of this post, I didn’t really make any money (other than that first $1.45 from Google Adsense) when I was a brand new blogger.
I was still learning how to use WordPress and how to write and structure my blog posts. Gosh, I didn’t even know how to properly insert a featured image on my post!
At that time, I didn’t even know what “affiliate marketing” or “sponsored posts” meant. I thought bloggers made money just from having ads on their blogs. Even with that idea, I didn’t know how ads really worked!
All in all, I had no idea what I was doing!
Through so many hours, days, months, and years, I eventually learned how to navigate my way through. I invested in a few blogging resources at the beginning and one of them was a bundle for $99. The bundle was great and it helped me make my first $100 to $200 with Google Adsense, but I eventually realize the bundle had too many resources that were irrelevant to me Not just that, but it didn’t have a structure, so I was digging through a lot of useless information, which was a waste of time!
I eventually realized that LESS is actually more! Once I focused on guides, courses, and resources that were more specialized in one area of blogging (e.g. Pinterest traffic, affiliate marketing, etc.), I was able to earn over $5,000 per month.
The good thing is I didn’t have to spend a lot when I was a total beginner. I just regret not investing in more focused blogging resources sooner because I had no clue!
To save you time and hassle, you can learn which blogging tools and resources I recommend in the EXACT order when you are a complete beginner.
My very short list of blogging tools and resources that you need as a beginner blogger:
1. 🖥 Basic Bluehost Plan – For just $2.95 a month (again, this low price is only through my link), you can start your blog and monetize it through display advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, creating your own products, and more. Again, you will NEED to go self-hosted if you want to make money blogging.
2. 💎 The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days ($35) – After blogging for over 2 years, I had A LOT of readers who asked me to create an easy-to-follow ebook to help them and other beginners learn how to build and launch their blogs from scratch.
Not only does this ebook guide you with simple step-by-step tutorials, screenshots, and instructions of EXACTLY where to go and what to do after starting your blog, but it also guides you towards the RIGHT pathway of building a profitable blog.
On top of that, this ebook teaches you all the costly mistakes to avoid as a brand new blogger that rarely anyone talks about! There’s more to just starting a blog and diving straight into learning traffic and monetizing strategies. I know because I am guilty of making these costly mistakes and NO ONE warned me! In order to build a successful and profitable blog, you’re going to need a treasure map to help you implement a solid foundation – you can find this secret treasure map here.
3. 📌 📈 The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic ($129) – I spent THOUSANDS of hours learning about Pinterest and seeing what really works and what doesn’t. I could have created this Pinterest traffic guide during my first year of blogging when I received over 80,000 monthly traffic from the platform. Instead, I waited until my 5th year of blogging because I wanted to understand the platform really well and make sure that everything I teach is based on my solid experience. So, FINALLY, I have created this massive Pinterest traffic curriculum that will help you understand how to use Pinterest, so you can increase your pageviews and make money with your blog. This is an extremely valuable Pinterest traffic resource that will help you properly set up your Pinterest business account, and strategize your content and the way you promote on the platform, so you can skyrocket your pageviews! It’s the exact steps I use to help me reach over 100,00 monthly pageviews for each of my two blogs!
🧭 You can use this golden compass to significantly increase your traffic here.
4. 🗓 Tailwind Scheduler for Pinterest ($120 per year) – Before using Tailwind, I was manually pinning to get 20,000 monthly page views.
AFTER using Tailwind and implementing Pinterest traffic strategies, my traffic increased to over 40,000 monthly page views, and eventually more than 100,000 monthly page views. As a result, I was qualified to work with Mediavine which allowed me to make $1,000+ USD per month with display advertising.
👉 You can get a FREE 30-Day Tailwind Trial, PLUS a FREE $15 credit when you use my link! 🙂
5. 🎨 Canva (free) – This is my favorite tool to use for designing Pinterest pins. You don’t have to be a graphic designer or pro to make pretty pins like this! It’s super easy to use; plus, it’s free! 🙂
There are a few more blogging resources and tools I invested in, but I only purchased them after when my blog was making more money. I realized that it was time for me to invest back into the blog. If you’re interested, feel free to check out my recommendations page here which I will update.
For beginner bloggers, I recommend keeping things simple at the beginning (especially when you’re on a tight budget). I was actually still using a free blog theme for over 2 years and I honestly should’ve upgraded it sooner, but I never had time. So, if you are a beginner and earned your first $500, I highly recommend changing your theme to avoid inconvenience down the road when your blog generates more income.
6. Affiliate Marketing ($197) – Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to make money with a blog. I only recommend doing this after you’ve learned how to get traffic to your site because no traffic, or very little traffic, means no income. Beginners often come to me and ask why they aren’t making money with their blogs yet, and when I audit their sites, the answer is clear – they haven’t even learned how to get traffic to their sites. It’s not possible to monetize a blog when there’s barely any traffic.
Always test and experiment!
I say this all the time in my blog income reports, but I’m going to say it again!
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how you make money with a blog.
I also want to mention that every blogger’s journey is going to be different.
Each blogger isn’t going to have the exact same audience, so things are going to work differently for everyone.
That’s why it’s important to keep testing different things and strategies until something finally clicks!
I was extremely frustrated when I was a few to several months into my blogging journey because I was struggling to make my first $1,000. But by following the strategies taught in the blogging resources I listed above, along with having a lot of persistence, I saw results faster than I could have imagined!
Start your blog today!
After reading all of this, some of you may either be extremely excited or nervous about starting your blog.
For the nervous people, you may be asking, “What if it doesn’t work out?”
I know EXACTLY how that feels because I was in that same position!
In fact, most people are (even the one who are feeling extremely excited)!
To be very honest with you, I’m STILL somewhat nervous about my blog because no one can predict what will happen in the future!
Nothing in life is certain, and I was only willing to try it out because it’s so cheap to start a blog.
It only costs $2.95 per month to get started; plus, you get a FREE domain name. (This low price is only through my link. I don’t know when this deal ends, so you will have to act quick to get this special price along with the FREE domain name!)
I personally went with the most basic plan as a brand new blogger.
My initial thoughts were…
If it doesn’t work out, at least I know I tried it — it’s WAY better than wondering and not taking the leap. I’ve always told myself that life is too short to keep wondering!
You just gotta do it, or you never will!
Click here for my easy step-by-step tutorial on how to start your blog.
Over to you — I hope I answered your question, how to make money with a blog for beginners! Are you super pumped to start your blog today? 🙂
Enjoyed this post? Don’t forget to share it and follow me on Pinterest! 🙂
Hi there, Ling!
I have a question for you. I started a blog as a project for a college course, but didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. I then found you. I paid for a domain with blue host, and began implementing your strategies to grow a blog. I also applied to Adsense since my blog is small. Would you be willing to take a look at my blog and tell me one thing that I should do differently or change?
My blog is http://www.aweekofbooksblog.com
Thank you!
@Elanyai – awesome to hear you started your blog!
I took a look and I can see you’re learning and making progress. You have an about me page and explained that you’ll be teaching your readers about homeschooling, which is great!
I also saw a lot of mistakes that you’re making which are very common amongst beginners and even those who have been doing it for a while. Everyone makes them and it’s okay as long as you’re willing to fix it.
For example, your urls (the way it’s set up) is going to hurt your blog in the long run. They need to be clean and target certain keywords. That way you are intentional about what you are writing and who you are writing for. This will allow people to find you on Google or Pinterest searches. That is just one little part.
At your stage, I wouldn’t focus on getting into AdSense. I would focus on rebuilding your blog and fixing backend things. I would also focus on creating more valuable content for your future readers.
There are a lot of more things that you need to get right at the beginning. It’s very long to explain it here as there’s many components and backend things that are required to building a successful blog. I jam packed a bunch of valuable information on my ebook, The Treasure Map to Blogging Success in 30 Days:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/blogging-success-ebook/
When I looked at your blog, I immediately knew that you’ll benefit from learning the material taught in this ebook.
I really want to see you build a successful homeschool blog and grow it in the next months and years down the road! It is very important to invest in your blog if you want to make money with it.
I hope this helps!
Hi Ling, thank you for this blog post. Starting a blog from my end is very challenging because of my country’s (Nigeria) banking policy to reduce monthly dollar limit to $20. I’m unable to pay for Bluehost web hosting and they don’t also have a plan that allows me pay in bits. I’m in the process of finding a reliable exchanger to fund my Paypal account. It’s so frustrating. I’m almost tempted to blog on a free platform. Any suggestions?
@Rachael – I do not recommend starting a “free” blog on any free platform especially when you’re looking to make money with your blog. I’ve had readers who told me they terribly regret starting a “free” blog because they had to go through the hassle of transferring everything over to their self-hosted blog after they purchased a plan. Plus, they said the plans are already so cheap and affordable that it was not worth the time to try a free blogging platform.
Most of my readers use credit cards from the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Europe, etc. but I actually have readers from Nigeria who started their blogs through Bluehost and were able to pay via PayPal! They were transferring money into their PayPal account so they could purchase the hosting plan online. Once you are able to do that, you can use this tutorial here to guide you:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog-on-bluehost/
Btw, you can also write a few blog posts in Google Docs in the meantime while you’re sorting this issue.
Hi Ling,
My name is Tupou and I am from Fiji Islands. I am very much intrigued by your blogging story and how you became financially free from depts, etc. I have been thinking of “baking/ food” as my niche, but I am not sure if it would be profitable.
Also just a few questions that have been bothering me is how will I earn from blogs if I write about my baking but don’t have a product to advertise?! Would I need to get it from an affiliate program?
I look forward to hear from you soon.
@Tupou – food and baking is an excellent niche!!! I have part of that on my lifestyle blog. I love it and my husband is also working on a food blog as a side project.
There are many ways you can earn an income including displaying ads on your site, affiliate marketing, selling your own products (could be physical or digital), and sponsored posts, which I talk about in this article.
And yes, you can find many products to advertise for with affiliate programs but
Unless you already have marketing experience and you know who your audience is and who you want to target exactly, I always recommend total beginners with no experience to start off with display ads because this will give them a taste of how making money online with a blog works.
I also have a blog profitable roadmap ebook here to help total beginners build a successful blog in 30 days:
https://www.finsavvypanda.com/blogging-success-ebook/
Hope this helps.
when it comes to affiliates, specifically Amazon, how soon should you or can you sign up? I have some post ideas written down but they would kind of be based around affiliates, for example what to have in your hospital bag, essentials for newborns. Pretty much all of the items are from Amazon.
I have read a lot and still have a lot on my list to read and learn but haven’t found a direct answer to that.
Thanks!!
@Lindsey – I don’t usually recommend signing up until you have at least some traffic coming in because they will kick you out if you don’t make qualified sales in the first 90 days, and you’ll have to reapply again. You need to learn how to get traffic first. I’d say at least 5-8k monthly pageviews to be able to do testing with affiliate on your blog If you’re a band new blogger.
I hope this helps.
I hope you’re doing well, I’ve seen your blogging income reports, in which you said, I earn most of the money from affiliate marketing, which product makes you the most money?
Waiting for your reply!
Hi Haider
My affiliate is diversified today, so it’s balanced with no one product making the most. When something goes down for a while, someone else will be picked up and balance it, which is why I always tell my readers it’s important to diversify your blog income with many different products. I also break these down in my older income reports. You’ll see it in there when you go into the details.
I hope this helps! 🙂
Well this was interesting, got me thinking now.
Morley
@Morley
Let me know if you have any questions about starting your blog or monetizing it. 🙂
Hey Ling. How are you? I love this! I started my blog in Nov.2020. I really need some coaching on some things. I am on Pinterest as well. I am going to buy your ebook.
I emailed you also. Keep going you are doing a Great job!
Blessings,
Nishia😇
@Nishia – I’m glad you enjoy this article. I hope you find my ebook helpful. It will answer a lot of of your burning questions about blogging for beginners! 🙂
I’m still checking my emails so you’ll hear a response from me soon. ❤️
Wow… This is amazing!
I have been following you since last year and I am so glad that you have achieved great success in blogging.
I am also a blogger and using Pinteres to drive traffic to my blog.. I also once went from 1K-20K Page Views… But everything gone suddenly. But I won’t give up. And you motivated me to keep going.
Thanks for sharing you blogging journey from.
Keep going!
I’m glad you are inspired and motivated. Keep up the awesome work and never give up. You’ve got this! 🌟
Dear ling,
I decided I will start writing blogs. I am soon buying my domain name. I have thought about writing personal blogs like about my own experiences, thoughts, opinions, perspectives. I used to write and post on Instagram story before and some of my followers said, ‘my writing was very raw and emotional’. I write in conversational tone. My question is; Will people want to read my personal blogs? If I write about things like; About my grandma, or about my birthday, about how I felt when I graduated college. Will people want to read that? Does my blogs really have to problem solving?
Hi Isoda
Yes, you really have to be solving problems and helping your readers. It’s all about helping them. You can be inspirational and motivational too by pushing and encouraging them with whatever problems or challenges they’re facing. It’s not to say you can’t talk about yourself but it needs to be used as an anecdote or example that will help them. For example, if I am a self development blog and I’m teaching someone to not be so negative all the time, or how to be happier, I will use words of encouragement. At the same time, I may tell my true and raw story of myself and my feelings so they know that I’ve gone through a similar struggle. While doing that, you still need to tell them how to actually solve that problem and make them feel better.
Another example is I could be a skin care blog and I could talk about my past skin problems and how upset/sad/frustrated/self-concious I was. There I’d be pouring out my feelings. But at the same time, I was able to achieve nice skin so I will teach people how to do that with a proper dieting, exercising, using certain skin care products like vitamin C and retinol, staying away from sun exposure and applying sun screen, etc. In those specific blog posts, that’s where you can introduce products you love and use and earn an income by taking about them.
Bottom line is: you can talk about yourself too a degree but readers need to be able to relate to you and trust what you say. Once they do, they well listen to your recommendation and your solution to their problems.
I hope these examples help.
I look forward to seeing you start your blog. I have a easy step by step tutorial that will help you start and create your blog account:
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog-on-bluehost/
I can’t wait to see you launch your blog!
Really valuable and detailed blog make money blogging. We come from the same niche and I have taken a lot of value from what you have shared.
Such an inspirational journey you have gone through leading to the 20k a month you mention from blogging.
I love to blog and share articles daily with me readers. Perhaps you may want to reach out and we can connect?
Thank you for dropping by, Mark. I’m glad you hard you enjoyed my blog income report series.
Feel free to reach out to me by email at ling @finsavvypanda.com. 🙂
WOW! This post was so resourceful and really gave me the motivation to keep going with my blog. Thank you so much! Ok now I’m gonna go read your other posts lol!
That’s awesome to hear that this post gave you the motivation to blog! Keep it up! 🙂
So I want to start my blog on WordPress.com and I already bought my domain on there. Would that be considered self-hosting?
Hi Andrea
No, that is not considered self-hosting. I highly recommend checking out this article – it will help you start a self-hosted blog the right way!
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/how-to-start-a-wordpress-blog-on-bluehost/
Let me know if this helps! 🙂
How many words should I write in my blog post?😅
This blog post will help 🙂
https://www.blogsavvypanda.com/first-blog-post/
Hi Ling can I really make money with blogging? Please can you help