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You’ve likely looked at their blogs, trying to figure out if this is something YOU could do too!
One big way that online businesses of any kind bring in the money is through product sales.
BUT…. what if you don’t have a product?
You have a great ideas for a blog topic, and are ready to start bringing in the cash…. even though you have no product to sell.
Maybe you just haven’t developed your product YET. Or maybe you never plan on developing a product!
Either way, there are still several different ways that your blogging hobby can turn into an income-generating career.
Let’s take a look at the main ways bloggers make money.
6 Ways Bloggers Make Money (without selling a product)
1. Be an affiliate.
You can actually get paid for simply recommending products that you love. Seriously!
The way it works is this:
- You find a product that you truly love.
- You see if they have an affiliate program.
- Sign up to become an affiliate for this product.
- The company, business or brand gives you a specific link to use when you recommend them.
- Recommend the product to your following, making sure to use your affiliate link.
- When people purchase through your link, you get a percentage of the sale.
- The business then pays you according to their set terms.
The beauty of this idea is that you get to make money, having absolutely NO product of your own. Plus, you don’t have to deal with any hassle of delivering items purchased. Once you recommend the product, your part of the job is done.
One tip: Make sure you truly believe in the products that you are an affiliate for! People can tell if you are just recommending anything and everything that will make you a buck. It’s better to recommend fewer things more often and heartily, than to recommend everything.
Need some recommendations of things to be an affiliate for?
- Ultimate Bundles – this company bundles together digital products and sells them in limited time events. Recommending relevant bundles to your audience is a great way to get them a massive amount of value, and also make money yourself! Head here to get signed up as an affiliate.
- Amazon – This is likely the more simple affiliate out there. Though their commissions are not a huge percentage, they can really add up. If you recommend an Amazon product on your site, if the reader clicks through your link – and purchases anything – then you get a commission. Head here to sign up as an affiliate.
- Bookshop.org – Do you recommend books? Use a bookshop link, and you get paid when your readers purchase! The beauty of this website is that all purchases are supporting local bookstores. So you can feel really great about impacting small businesses as well. Head here to get signed up as an affiliate.
- My products! – I have an affiliate program for every product I sell. If your audience would be interested in my social media membership, graphics packs, or the ebooks that I offer, contact me. =)
- Whatever products you use most often – First, look at that product’s website to see if there’s an affiliate program. If you cannot find out, reach out to the brand! Many businesses are willing to provide an affiliate deal of some sort for loyal fans promoting their products.
2. Put ads on your blog.
One of the simplest ways to generate some truly passive revenue is by putting ads on your blog.
Here’s how this works:
- Decide on an ad network that you would like to sign up with
- Go through their signup process to get your site approved
- Once approved, walk through the setup process to get the ads put on your site
- The amount of page views you have will generally determine your income
- As your page views increase…. sign up for higher paying ad networks!
The most common FIRST ad network to sign up with is Google Adsense. Their requirements are pretty flexible, and they allow those blogs with low page views to sign up in their beginning stages. They are also the lowest paying option, but you have to start somewhere!
Most other ad networks have bigger page view requirements.
Take a look at these options and see which one best fits your blog.
3. Pursue sponsored posts.
As a blogger, you can reach out to companies and pitch the idea of their sponsoring a blog post.
When they agree, you then write a post in line with their product. Often the sponsored post may include a review of their product in some way.
Note that you will need to disclose to your readers that they are sponsoring this post, but that the opinions are your own.
Before writing, you will decide on a pay rate from the company, and discuss what that includes. For example, it’s possible that the company would be interested in adding on social media posts or an email to your list.
Discuss the options and decide on a rate that you are both happy with. Also discuss the expectations. When will the work be done? When and how will you be paid?
Ironing out all of these details helps to protect both you and the company, and makes the process run smoothly.
Related posts:10 Tips for Writing a Blog Post (that people want to read!)31 Best Gift Ideas for Bloggers
4. Offer coaching or personalized training.
Though you may not have a physical product you are selling, you do have an area of expertise!
What could you coach your audience about? In what area could you provide them feedback?
Offer some 1 on 1 training or consulting time slots with you.
This idea benefits you and your blog in several ways:
- You get a larger chunk of income pretty quickly.
- You get a personal insight into your audience and understand their struggles and pain points much more clearly. You are then able to use that information to write more specific blog posts and social media posts. You are then better equipped to develop your coaching slots into something that really addresses your audience’s common pain points.
- You develop authority as an expert. As people get coaching from you, you start to be seen as more of an expert in your area. This only helps to drive your blog traffic, and also boosts your confidence!
- You can get reviews from the people you coach. You could use these on your blog, on your social media, or anywhere else you are wanting to get the word out!
5. Sell private ad space.
This is a little different from signing up with a company that serves ads on your site.
With this idea, you will reach out to companies, businesses, or brands and ask if they would like to have some set ad space on your site.
You would discuss a rate. Most commonly, they pay a set rate per month.
They provide you with the ad graphic. You put it up on your page where discussed. You link the ad accordingly. And the company pays each month for as long as you serve the ad.
6. Offer freelance services.
In this example, your blog becomes an avenue that you attract leads and customers.
You then offer your expertise in a freelance service that they hire you to do.
The sky is the limit on what these services can be! You could offer anything from technical support, to online decorating advice, to personal training.
Whatever your area of expertise is, offer that as a service for hire.
All of these options allow you to start bringing in blogging income, without having a set product of your own to sell.
You then are free to make future decisions as you go!
Would you like to develop your own product to sell? Great! Go for it. You can either pivot and start getting your income from that product instead, or simply use it to stack your income and grow your business.
Need some help in monetizing your blog? I HIGHLY recommend coaching from Alison Reeves. She has a program that can take your blog from a hobby to a money-making machine.
Don’t want to develop your own product? The good news is – that’s great too! Simply stick with these options above, and use them to grow your blog into a thriving online business.
Want to remember this How to Make Money Blogging without a Product to Sell article? Save it to your favorite Pinterest board!
Blogger is a popular blogging platform owned by Google that allows users to easily create and publish their own blogs. Many bloggers use the platform as a way to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences with a wider audience. However, did you know that it is also possible to earn money through the Blogger.com website by creating a blog?
There are several ways to monetize a blog, and the specific methods you choose will depend on your interests and expertise, as well as the needs and interests of your audience. Here are some common ways to earn money through a Blogger blog:
Advertising: One way to monetize your blog is to display ads on your website and earn money through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This means that you get paid every time someone clicks on an ad that appears on your site. You can sign up for an ad network like Google AdSense and place the ad code on your blog to start displaying ads.
Sponsored Content: Another way to monetize your blog is to write sponsored posts for companies. This means that you get paid to write about their products or services and promote them to your audience. Sponsored posts are a great way to earn money if you have a large, engaged audience and are willing to put in the time and effort to create high-quality content.
Affiliate Marketing: If you have a blog that covers a specific niche or topic, you may be able to earn money through affiliate marketing. This involves promoting products or services from other companies on your blog and earning a commission for every sale made through your referral link. You can find affiliate programs through networks like Commission Junction or Amazon Associates.
Selling Products Or Services: If you have expertise or experience in a particular area, you may be able to sell your own products or services through your blog. This could include ebooks, courses, or consulting services. You can use tools like PayPal or Stripe to accept payments and deliver your products or services to customers.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to earn money through a Blogger blog. However, it's important to keep in mind that earning money through blogging requires effort and dedication, and may not be a quick or easy process.
You will need to have a significant amount of traffic and a large, engaged audience to start earning substantial income through your blog. Additionally, you will need to be proactive in finding and pursuing monetization opportunities. With hard work and persistence, however, it is possible to turn your Blogger blog into a profitable venture.
How does a blog make money?
It’s important to be realistic when starting a blog. You won’t make passive income immediately. However, if you commit yourself to producing regular, high-quality content (try starting with at least two posts per week), you should start to see your blog pages ranking in search results for keywords that relate to your niche. This will help to bring more and more traffic to your blog, and it is at this point that you can start exploring ways to make money with your blog. Some ways to monetize your blog include:
- Advertising for companies whose target audience matches your blog’s audience. They can engage people who’ll be interested in their products and services through you.
- Sponsorship from companies whose products are appropriate to your blog niche. You may be able to secure agreements to write about their products, so that your audience is more likely to want to buy them.
- Affiliate partnerships with brands. These agreements allow you to share products on your site using a custom link and make a commission on any products sold after readers click through.
- An online store where you sell the things you write about in your blog. This store can feature products with affiliate links as well as custom merch featuring your blog’s own branding.
- Gated content with members-only access, where you charge a fee to read a certain set of blog posts or a specific blog. If you’ve written enough content, you could paywall a certain set of posts without needing to regularly write new gated posts.
It’s important to note that only some of your blog visitors will become customers or click on your ads, which is why it’s so important to have high visitor numbers. If an advertiser, for example, is going to place their ad on your blog, you both benefit if a large number of people are seeing the ad, since only a small number of your total visitors are likely to click the ad or buy a product.
What kinds of blogs make money?
There is no specific type of blog that is guaranteed to generate more passive income than another. Over 63% of the world’s population uses the internet, so the subjects people are interested in are incredibly broad. But you can still be strategic in choosing what kind of blog to write to make the highest possible passive income.
When you start a blog, you’ll first need to determine your niche. Choosing a niche for your blog is about finding a subject matter that’s popular with people searching the internet but that isn’t currently covered by many other blogs. If lots of people are searching around a particular niche, but not many people are blogging about it, then you may have found a potentially profitable niche.
Whichever niche you choose to focus your blog on, there are a few rules you should remember above all if you want your blog to start generating passive income for you:
- Post high-quality, well-researched, original content.
- Post content at least twice a week.
- Keep posting—if you’re going on vacation, schedule your posts in advance.
Consistently posting quality content in your niche will help you rank on search engines so that more people see your blog and are likely to visit it. Don’t forget to market your blog by collecting emails for a newsletter and sharing posts on social media. With quality posts and an engaged audience, you’ll be in a much stronger position to start monetizing your content.