If you’re reading this, I assume you’re looking for how to make money blogging. Sorry to disappoint, but this isn’t the case. While it’s true that you can make money blogging (at least in a short-term sense), the majority of bloggers will never make a living from their work. Why? It’s quite simple: The majority of bloggers never put in the necessary work required to make money blogging. Moreover, many of those who do make a living from blogging don’t do so in a way that provides them with any kind of financial security. Instead, they do so by turning to ads and sponsorships, two of the worst ways to earn money online. Keep reading for more details.
The Majority of Bloggers Never Makes Much Money
When people think about making money blogging, they usually think about driving traffic to their sites through online marketing and then making money off the backs of those visitors through affiliate marketing or through selling and displaying ads. However, this is not the case for the majority of bloggers. To prove my point, I would like to quote Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko:
“If your aim is to make money from blogging (or you’re considering starting a blog), then you should probably reconsider. The vast majority of blogs never make any significant income. For every 100,000 blogs that are publicly listed, only about two or three make any significant income at all. Moreover, of those that do make money, many rely heavily on affiliate marketing, which is a sub-standard practice.”
In other words, if you want to make money blogging, it’s a very good idea to do so from the ground up. Building a loyal audience and then relying on them to purchase your products and services (such as affiliate links to popular merchants) is simply not a sustainable model.
The Dangers Of Affiliate Marketing
If you’re looking to make money blogging, then one of the best career options for you would be to sign up with a company that offers affiliate marketing programs. In an affiliate marketing program, you’ll promote and sell a product or service that’s bought and provided by a third party. In return for doing so, you’ll earn a commission (usually a percentage) when a product purchased through your blog’s affiliate link results in a sale.
The majority of affiliate marketing programs require you to build a network of blogs and websites that are then referred to as ‘affiliate sites’ or ‘sponsored blogs’. You’ll then be required to blog about products or services that are sold and endorsed by a company in exchange for a commission. For example, if a company sells health and fitness equipment, you might be asked to blog about the products’ benefits and reviews. Moreover, you’ll usually be required to include a link to the product being advertised in your blog posts. In most cases, you’ll also be required to maintain a certain standard of quality when blogging about the products you’re promoting.
The fact is that most affiliate marketers don’t make any significant income from affiliate marketing. According to affiliate marketing network Commission Junction, only 24.9% of affiliate marketers globally reported earning $1,000 or more annually from affiliate marketing in 2019.
The Dangers Of Advertising
Another popular way to make money blogging is to place advertisements on your site. When someone clicks on an ad or a sponsored link, they’ll be directed to a site where they can make a purchase, with the click fee (i.e. the money you’ll earn from the ad or sponsorship) typically being shared with the merchant or brand that sponsored the ad.
The major disadvantage of ads in general, and sponsored links and ads in particular, is that they’re almost always a chore to maintain. If you don’t actively monitor and maintain them, you’ll almost certainly lose money due to poor performance and low click rates. Moreover, it’s not just about the money; you’ll also end up spending a huge amount of time with these advertisements. If you want to make money blogging, avoiding ads and sponsored links is a must.
The Dangers Of Trying To Be Everything To Everybody
An important thing to consider if you want to make money blogging is to decide what you want to be when you grow up. If you’ve always wanted to be a writer, why not write? If you’ve always wanted to be a public speaker, why not give it a try? Ultimately, you’ll be happiest if you choose a career in something that you genuinely enjoy and that allows you to make a positive impact. Moreover, if you can combine your interests in a new way (e.g. writing about popular subjects while also being an expert in computer hardware), you’ll be able to create a diverse portfolio that’ll land you numerous freelance writing and editing gigs.
Keep in mind, however, that not all freelance writing and editing jobs are created equal. If you want to make money blogging, it’s a good idea to focus on a particular subject matter and to find work specifically within that niche.
The Dangers Of Trying To Be Popular
If you’re looking to make money blogging, then it’s a good idea to consider doing so on an established platform. Established platforms such as YouTube and Instagram are much more suited to content creators (e.g. bloggers) looking to monetize their content than newly created blogs. Moreover, established platforms allow for greater flexibility when it comes to choosing affiliate products to promote and for content creators to build a community around. As previously mentioned, the majority of the world’s greatest bloggers never made a significant income from their blogs. However, if you’re looking to make money blogging, then it’s quite possible that you’ll be able to find a niche and build a following on a platform such as YouTube.
As a content creator who builds a following on YouTube, I can personally attest to the fact that choosing YouTube as a platform is a great idea. Why? It’s quite simple: YouTube is the biggest video platform in the world and a fantastic place for people looking to make money online.
In my experience, most people who try to make money on YouTube fall into one of two categories:
- Content creators who make instructional videos on a variety of subjects
- Vloggers who regularly post footage of their daily lives
The great thing about the first category is that you’ll be able to choose from a range of affiliate products to promote. The downside, however, is that unless you have an instructional background, you’ll probably struggle to earn a living. At the very least, you’ll need to put a lot of time and energy into your videos. Moreover, the fact that you’re promoting affiliate products means you’ll be tethered to those products in some way. For example, let’s say you choose to promote smartwatches to earn a living. After the initial purchase, your viewer is now a potential customer for a different smartwatch company. In most cases, you’ll need to find a way to convince them that, while the first smartwatch may have been useful to them, the other brand provides better value for the money. If this sounds like a lot of work to you, then YouTube might not be the best place for you to be heading. On the other hand, vloggers who post regularly usually earn a living from the content they produce. However, just because they post frequently doesn’t mean that their videos are of high quality. In many cases, you’ll find that the quality of a vlogger’s content is directly proportional to the level of engagement their videos receive. In other words, if you want to make money blogging, then focus on creating content that’ll engage your audience.