Five ways to monetise a blog in 2022

So the blog’s up and running, there’s a good bank of loyal followers and regular visitors, and the content is flowing nicely. Now’s the time to put that thing to work as an additional income stream. It takes some know-how and some perseverance, but it turns out monetising a blog can be relatively simple with the right strategy. Here are some ideas to get started.

Revenue from ads

A blog can passively earn some income by featuring advertisements, particularly if traffic is relatively high. Of course, it helps to tailor what sort of ads are run to maximise the potential for the blog’s audience to take an interest, particularly if the ads pay per click. It’s easy to get started with Google AdSense, and there are lots of companies that offer ad services specifically for blogs. It’s worth having a read of the reviews and doing some research to ensure finding the one that’s best suited.

Events and courses

Running events from a blog is a brilliant way to make money out of it. Bloggers can host parties and networking events locally or online, and, depending on the blog’s niche, it can work well to put together a fun online event or meeting, charge a participation fee, and hopefully make a profit. Events can also be a great way to grow the blog’s audience. For bloggers with expertise to share, workshops and courses can also be great ways of bringing in some cash.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is another effective route to earning money through a blog. Brand affiliates post and share content about the brand’s products or services on their blog, and when a reader buys a product thanks to the blog, the blogger makes a commission. Depending on the affiliate, it’s possible to make between 10 and 50 percent commission one each sale. There’s a range of brands who work with affiliates and companies such as Affdeals can help facilitate things

Competitions

For bloggers with mutually beneficial connections to other businesses and brands, it can be relatively simple to set up a competition for readers to enter, with the chance of winning something exciting, such as an experience, tangible prize or discount. All that’s needed is a willing partner to provide the prize for free (effectively in return for free advertising and engagement), then the competition can be set up with an entry fee and all that’s left to do is pick a winner.

Subscriptions

Many blogs can be accessed for free, but the best ones and the best content are usually kept behind some kind of paywall. It’s a good idea to start readers off with free content, but to keep some of the good stuff just for subscribers. Bloggers can offer trial deals and varying tariffs depending on the length of subscription, or they can charge per article. This is a difficult balance to draw as having to subscribe or pay will scare some readers off, but if the content and benefits are good enough, it can work well.

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