How To Monetize Your Blog?

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliated links, if clicked I may receive compensation. Please read my full DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER POLICY for more information.

This is the second most asked question I get all the time. How to monetize your blog? As part of my Blogging 101 series I’m going to show you how you can monetize your blog!

Can you really make money by just blogging? Yep, you sure can! You really can make money from writing a blog. Many people are realizing that having a blog and writing about whatever they feel or life experiences, or advices, or whatever it is that they are “experts” at can in fact be quite a profitable venture. Some have taking up blogging as a part-time job, some do it just as a hobby to earn a little bit of extra income. You can earn a full-time income or a part-time income from blogging, but remember blogging is not a “get rich quick” type of gig. As I’ve stated in my post How To Start A Review Blog, blogging can be very hard work. It takes time and dedication. And if you’re reading this post, you’ve most likely have accepted that and want to take your blogging up a notch!

[bctt tweet=”Lists of sites you can use to #MonetizeYourBlog! ” username=”OneUniqueQueen”]

There are many ways you can make money from blogging: Advertising and Sponsored Posts, Affiliate Marketing and Selling Products and Services. Within these three categories there are many different ways you can earn money. With just a little research on these three ways of monetizing your blog you can surely find an area where it will best suit your needs. There is no right or wrong way to monetize your blog. And truth be told, it’s all about trial and error. Find what will work for you and your blog and stick with it.

Before you begin adding ads and affiliate links on your blog there are a couple rules YOU MUST follow:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires all bloggers to disclose their affiliate relationships. You need to make sure that you are clearly stating that there is an affiliate link in your blog post. You also need to make sure it is in your disclosure policy. If you’re unfamiliar with the FTC guidelines – I highly recommend you read the FTC report for more information.
Google requires you to have the nofollow attribute added to all sponsored posts and paid links, which includes affiliate links. If you don’t add the nofollow attribute to your paid and affiliate links you are in violation of Google’s policies. Google can ban your blog from their search results, which in turn can significantly hurt your traffic and blogging business. So it’s best to make sure that all your links have the nofollow attribute.

Below I’m going to list a few sites that you can join so you can start making money on your own blog. All these sites are free to join. I would never ever refer you to a site that charges you money.

Advertising & Sponsored Posts:

Best Buy Bloggers – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
LinkVehicle – Earn money by Sponsored Posts
Blogher/Sheknows – Earn money by Sponsored Social Media posts
Social Publi – Earn money from your social media posts
Webfluential – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Socialix – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Izea/Social Spark – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Blogdash – Earn money by Sponsored Posts
Tapinfluence – Earn money by Sponsored Posts
Influence Central – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
iConnect – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Social Fabric/Collective Bias – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Sponsored Tweets – Earn money by Tweeting
Sponsored Reviews – Earn money by Sponsored Posts
Blogsvertise – Earn money by Sponsored Posts and Social Media posts
Cooperatize – Earn money by Sponsored Posts

Affiliate Marketing:

ShareASale – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
Amazon Associates – Place ads for products and services that are on Amazon
Linkshare/Rakuten – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
Google Adsense – Place ads within your blog niche
CJ/Commision Junction Affiliates – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
Escalate Network – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
ShopHer Media – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
Educents – Place ads and Sponsored posts for education
Panthera Network – Place ads for tons of stores/brands
LivingSocial – Place ads for local deals
Skimlinks – Links are automatically added to your content
VigLink – Converts links to revenue generating links

Selling Products & Services:

Ebooks – Write and sell your own ebook. You could also use your blog to sell hardcover books. Blurb.com is a great website if you’re interested in self publishing.
Homemade Goods – Selling products that you’ve made at home, such as beauty products, clothing, accessories, etc…

If you have any other sites or ideas you’ll like to see added to this list, please leave a comment and I’ll be sure to add it in.