Posted By Stacey Roberts20th of February 2017 Community Discussion 0 Comments
One of the most popular topics on ProBlogger (if not the most searched-for item) is making money blogging, and how to go about it.
There are so many ways of earning a living online, and we have almost just as much advice on how best to keep the dollars rolling in. Darren covers it quite extensively on his podcast, and it’s a topic we dive down deep in during every ProBlogger conference or event. If you’ve got a question, we would undoubtedly have the answer!
But because it’s so different, there’s no one real formula to success (and if there is, I’d probably say it’s “diversify“). Thats why I’d love to chat with you about what has worked for you and what hasn’t? What are the pros and cons of each choice for you? What would you love to try? What do you wish would be successful, but just isn’t?
For example, affiliate sales for me used to be difficult as it wasn’t as prevalent in Australia. Most of my income comes from freelance blogging, writing, and editing, and while affiliate income has grown, it isn’t what it could be if my audience was US-based. I also quite regularly had sponsored content on the blog over the years, but sidebar advertising wasn’t terribly successful. My next move is products (if only I can make the time!).
Where do you stand on making money? How much would you like to make? What kinds of income streams are you using or will you be experimenting with this year? Let’s chat!
About Stacey Roberts
Stacey Roberts is the Managing Editor ofProBlogger.net: a writer, blogger, and full-time word nerd balancing it all with being a stay-at-home mum. She writes about all this and more at Veggie Mama. Chat with her on Twitter@veggie_mama, follow onPinterestfor fun and useful tips, peek behind the curtain onInstagramand Snapchat, listen to her 90s pop culturepodcast, or be entertained onFacebook.
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Gaurav Heera says: 02/20/2017 at 1:29 pm
Hi Stacey,
Nice post ! really your every post is informative and helpful for us. Thanks to share. -
Ellen Chedid says: 02/20/2017 at 5:03 pm
Great discussion starter. I think the affiliate side of blogging is what can be a bit of a struggle for me and a lot of my fellow bloggers. I too am from Australia, so I wonder if it makes a different even though everything is online.
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Anna says: 02/21/2017 at 6:58 am
Agree with this! I’m from America though. I’ve only really utilized amazon affiliates – I’ve gotten rejected from others for low traffic and just have not had a lot of luck with amazon!
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:10 am
I think some affiliate programs are awesome – there are quite a few in Australia now, and even just a banner on your sidebar makes quite the difference. Amazon may start a new program when it launches here later this year.
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Mi Muba says: 02/20/2017 at 6:17 pm
Hi Stacy
It’s my one of the favorite topics like millions of people. Lolz
Right now my main source of income is Google Adsense but it is quite risky so most of the time I am afraid what if I lose this method if my account is cancelled or a competitor replaces it as it is going on in this fast era of technology.
So I badly want to put my eggs in so many baskets and for that I am trying hard to create my own products and to build my blog community to sell them affiliate products.
Many thanks for opening debate on this one of the hot topics of blogging.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:14 am
I think it can be a bit dangerous relying solely on Google traffic for income! It’s devastating when something happens and you’re not ranking any more. The more income streams, the better!
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Ravi Chahar says: 02/20/2017 at 6:33 pm
Hey Stacey,
Every time you read a blog and start thinking whether people are flaunting about money making blogging or they really do.
I have always been a fan of affiliate marketing and it’s one of the best practices you can do in every blog post.
Just like you, I never had any client to buy any product in my starting days. But you know once you build your authority, people start buyings.
Freelance writing can be something I would go for. Many prestigious bloggers don’t really have the time to keep the consistency.
They need diversity.
Thanks for starting this discussion.
~Ravi-
Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:16 am
I think my problem was more that there weren’t many affiliate programs in Australia and so that wasn’t an avenue I could use as well as I can today. It’s exciting to think where it is all headed!
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Jitendra vaswani says: 02/20/2017 at 6:59 pm
Hey Stacey, again great discussion here, people make money to live their dreams but I have seen that many people are afraid to take risk in their life to make money. I make money online by working like many mad internet marketers. There are no fix schedules but we have freedom to work on our own terms. Making money online is very broad term here and many people have different perspectives of making money on internet.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:18 am
This is very true!
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Matt Jackson says: 02/21/2017 at 5:51 am
Affiliate marketing is something that a lot of people look at and then shy away from, but in the right market and with the right optimisation it can prove way more fruitful than adsense et al.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:20 am
I totally agree! It can be quite lucrative.
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Mike says: 02/21/2017 at 1:43 pm
Hi Stacey,
Great idea for a post.
I make money online from a variety of sources including product sales and drop shipping of goods. From my experience there are a lot of people out there who think that selling online equates to making money without actually doing anything. Unfortunately, making an online business work is quite often at least as much work as an offline business.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:21 am
Sometimes even more work! Honestly, blogging is no free ride, that’s for sure. A good blog making a decent income is hard work.
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Amar kumar says: 02/21/2017 at 5:17 pm
Hey Stacey,
People require a lot of work and sometimes a lot of dedication before seeing a return on your time. But if you really want to make money online, work from home or turn an idea into a business, you can do it.
You can even earn money with apps if you don’t want to venture all the way to the computer. There are all kinds of websites that will pay you for various things, such as shopping, taking surveys or testing products. These websites won’t make you a millionaire, but they are great for earning some extra cash. Eventually, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
With best regards,
Amar kumar
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:24 am
Yes they can be handy when trying to earn extra income, but it’s not really monetizing a blog or making money from blogging, which some people want to do as it’s more lucrative.
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Jan Roos says: 02/22/2017 at 12:19 am
I do affiliate marketing from Amazon, Shareasale etc.
Then I also build a list on my sites and create sales funnels for info products to promote to the list.
That’s why I think it is important to choose a niche for your blog where people spend a lot of money on physical products as well as info products. Think the survival niche or cooking niche as an example.
Adsense also brings in a good chunk.
It’s best to be diversified with your income and you traffic sources.
Never depend on just one.
Hope that helps.
Jan
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:32 am
Yep, I couldn’t agree more!
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Peter Dutton says: 02/22/2017 at 7:05 am
Anyone care to share their thoughts on the pros/cons of building one or more “niche marketing” sites in addition to building a larger blog? I’m talking about sites promoting Amazon or other affiliate products, 20+ pages. I don’t mean “junk” or “get-rich-quick” sites, but with some unique and informative content as well as affiliate product links. Perhaps these would be sort of mini-blogs with a very narrow topic focus and and emphasis on monetization. Trying to get a handle on supplementing the retirement income with something that’s location-independent.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:33 am
Ah, now there’s something to think about! As long as it’s providing value, I guess anything could happen, really.
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Charles says: 02/24/2017 at 1:35 am
When it comes to relying on affiliate marketing, I think one of the hardest things is finding the perfect compromise between profitability and competition. I think a lot of markets, such as business, marketing, finance, healthcare and consumer electronics are pretty saturated right now. I run a popular science blog, partly as a hobby but, while there’s not so much competition, it’s not a particularly profitable niche either.
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:36 am
Yeah I can imagine saturation in general is a big issue, but even more so when it comes to affiliate marketing. I guess the usual rules still apply – be different to your competition, and develop trust with your audience so they’ll buy from you and not one of the million other blogs in your industry.
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lunaKM says: 02/24/2017 at 6:08 am
I have an adult niche blog, so a lot of the mainstream methods for affiliate marketing are not available to me. I get the most of my income from adult affiliates, direct ad sales and my own ebook sales. Also, Patreon has been a great help in building my supporting community. When people feel invested in what I’m doing they want to chip in – and Patreon allows them to do that. I’d like to make a decent wage over expenses and I’m about 1/4 of the way there after 7 years. Niche blogs aren’t nearly as popular so income building is slower.
I am also working on my first physical book that I plan to produce through Amazon’s CreateSpace if I can’t find an editor. My first draft due date (self-imposed) is April 1st and I have over 40K words so far!
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Stacey Roberts says: 03/09/2017 at 7:38 am
Fantastic! Sounds like you’ve figured out what works for you. Good luck with the book too, that’s so exciting!
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Monica Tan says: 02/28/2017 at 11:24 am
Hi Stacey,
Great idea for a post.
I make money online from a variety of sources including product sales and drop shipping of goods. From my experience there are a lot of people out there who think that selling online equates to making money without actually doing anything. Unfortunately, making an online business work is quite often at least as much work as an offline business.
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Jan Wild says: 03/08/2017 at 2:41 pm
I use a mix of things with varying degrees of success (we are still relatively low traffic). We have Adsense ads as well as some affiliate marketing (mostly Commission Factory). We are about to put up our first paid ad (as opposed to PPC). Sponsored posts are happening but I am wary of having our readers think we are always trying to sell them something. And yes, freelance writing, we have just done our first of these and have had an initial approach on another possibility.
I like the mix and the revenue is slowly growing so so far so good. -
Anna says: 03/09/2017 at 8:24 am
I have gotten rejected from Adsense and beacon ads due to low traffic. What do y’all think the best next step would be to begin producing an income? My current plan is to work on my SEO and hopefully build traffic that way. But not sure my current audience is interested in purchasing products.
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MMS TEC says: 05/16/2017 at 8:21 pm
Hello Stacey,
Incredible thought for a post.
I profit online from an assortment of sources including item deals and drop transportation of merchandise. From my experience there are many people out there who imagine that offering on the web likens to profiting without really doing anything. Lamentably, making an online business work is regularly in any event as much work as a disconnected business.
