Couple of years back, blogging was considered as not more than a journal. People only shared their blogs with those, whom they wanted it read. But now, the whole concept of blogging has changed. Blogging is no longer a selfless quest. Bloggers want their words to be seen, read and shared. They want to gain the attention of the masses and boost their authority in their particular niche. When I started blogging, I didn’t know anything other than writing, but over a period of time, I realised that there is much more to it. To bring the authority, you need to promote it much more than writing (it almost goes with 80:20 rule, where 80% is marketing and only 20% is writing)
However, clearly it isn't quite that simple. Not only is it difficult to drive traffic to a blog, but it's also tricky to monetize the traffic that you do receive.
To understand how to have a blog that makes money, you need to incorporate different strategies for monetization that work best. Here are some of the strategies that I follow to make the best out of it:
1. Affiliate marketing
Many bloggers rule out affiliate marketing. Perhaps, they think it’s too difficult, and they will turn followers away, or that their followers just won’t be interested. But let me tell you, if you’re not earning money through affiliate marketing, you are simply leaving money on the table.
Although the basic concept is quite (you place the link to other people’s products and services and every time someone buys that product of service, you earn a commission), but it’s actually all about creating systems, having regular visitors to your blog and building trust with them.
2. Create your own digital products.
By digital products, I am referring to eBooks and online course. Here are some of the reasons why I suggest creating and selling your own products:
- - You have complete control over it.
- - It’s a kind of passive income – you build it once and keep making money for years to come.
- - It improves your reputation in the blogging world (as not everyone has their own products).
- - Lot of people try to learn new things, so there is huge potential of making money through online courses.
3. Sponsored Blog Posts.
I love this one. Sponsored blog posts are the one which you write for the brands. Why do they want you to write for them? Here it is a Win-Win situation for both blogger and the advertiser. By writing posts on your blog, they are reaching out to the audience of your blog (which means they are reaching more potential buyers) and in return you are getting paid for this task.
Usually, all it takes is, creating a trustworthy blog with a ton of content and traffic on it and advertisers will start reaching out to you. You need not put lot of effort in finding advertisers for your blog.
4. Ad Revenue
This is the first and foremost method that I tried, because, when I started the blog, this was the only method of monetization that I knew. So I decided to sign up with Adsense – a reputable publishing network that’s collaborating with some pretty big names in different industries.
So many bloggers out there earn money from ads. However, some are against it, as don’t want to overwhelm the reader. These individuals are usually making pretty decent money from their own products or through affiliate marketing, so they avoid having ad network on their blogs.
Ad revenue can be a good addition to your site. It could also be the first monetization method that works well for you as it brings recurring income.
5. Freelance writing
Sometimes, it’s much easier to make your first money with writing as a freelancer and have some stable income before you begin earning from your blog. That’s what I did.
Many experts suggest that freelancing is the quickest way to kick-start your career in the digital world. You can easily do it alongside your blog.
6. Working with the Brands
Lots of brands, collaborate with the bloggers to publicize their business. Because they know, by collaborating with the bloggers they can reach wider and niche specific audience.
The whole idea of collaborations is to create a mutually beneficial relationship with the brand. They use your platform to promote their product, generate leads, and in return the brand provides you compensation, in terms of money or products.
But before you can begin to team up with brands, make sure that your blog has some regular audience. In fact, it gives you more stimulus if you have a large audience. Even if you’re still working on your first few thousand visitors on your blog, you may be appealing to brands, as they see the engagement more than the size of audience. This is visible through the shares of your blog posts on social media and the visitors leaving comments on your blog.
If a brand clicks over to your Facebook handle and only sees a list of scheduled posts only, then it will appear like you’re not trying to engage with your audience yourself.
HOW TO FIND BRANDS TO COLLABORATE WITH
Primarily, there are three main ways that you can get in touch with brands: through Blogging networks, reaching out to brands directly, or the brand reaching out to you.
Blogging Networks
There are 100s of blogging networks out there. Some of them are Country specific for example, Indibloggerhub caters to Indian Bloggers and Brands Only. But there are many which offer opportunities globally. Few of the best known are:
- - CLEVER
- - SOCIAL FABRIC
- - MASSIVE SWAY
- - POLLINATE
- - COLLECTIVELY
- - INSPIRED BLOGGERS NETWORK
- - THE WOMEN BLOGGERS
Reaching out the Brands
This one is the trickiest of all. It’s not easy to send an email that says, “Hey, I like you and I create awesome content so you should pay me to create awesome content for you”. Instead, follow them on their social handles, mention them on Twitter (or any other social network) or tag them in relevant Instagram post. Get on their bandwidth and then send a pitch email.
Brands are getting pitched by hundreds of bloggers and micro bloggers every day, you need to make yourself stand out with your pitch.
Bottom Line
When you start with your blog, it may appear like one of the most strenuous and frustrating tasks. With so much of information floating all around and tricky strategies to digest, it may become overwhelming for a few bloggers. Give yourself time, go step by step and gradually see your blog growing.
About Author
Jais is a Lifestyle blogger and a fitness freak. She’s a Creative-writer, Nature Lover, Animal Lover, an observer, a traveller on the path to self-discovery. She loves to share information on health & wellness, Blogging and Home based business Ideas. She blogs at https://getsethappy.com. Connect with her Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
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