I often get asked how bloggers make money. Today I am sharing a quick overview of some of the primary sources of income for bloggers and how I earn an income blogging.

There are multiple ways that a blogger can earn income, and all of the bloggers that I know have multiple revenue streams. Here are the main way bloggers make money.

Ad Space

One of the most popular ways to earn income is to sell ad space on your blog. There are several methods such as pay per click, pay per view, sell your own advertising, or pop-ups.

Affiliate Links

Another popular source of revenue is affiliate links. A blogger works with companies like Amazon and recommends products. When someone purchases a product through the link, the blogger receives a commission. The person purchasing the product pays nothing extra for using the link. I’m sure many of you have purchased things a blogger or Instagram influencer has recommended. I love getting recommendations from reputable bloggers.

Sponsored Posts/Content

A sponsored post/content is where a company pays a blogger to write content about their product. For example, a company might pay a food blogger to create a recipe using their product. The blogger must disclose that the post is sponsored.

Digital Products

A lot of bloggers create their own digital products like eBooks, courses, or printables. I have purchased several eBooks and courses over the years from bloggers.

Memberships

Some bloggers have membership sites where they create exclusive content for people who have paid to be members. I subscribe to several membership sites. A few of my favorites are Melissa Wood Health and Get Your Pretty On Outfit Formulas.

Coaching/Consulting/Freelance Services

People often need help getting things done, learning how to do something, or may be in need of an accountability partner. Bloggers offer services in their area of expertise to help and assist their members. I have used several consulting and freelance services over the past few years.

How Do I Earn Income Blogging?

For the past 3 1/2 years, I have not earned any income blogging. I started Small Gestures Matter to share what I had learned about clean eating, some recipes, and my love for hosting.

I took classes on how to create a blog and built the website myself. I also took several other classes about photography, email services, how to grow an email list, Pinterest, and the list goes on and on. I knew absolutely nothing!!!

When I first started, I had no idea how much time it would take to do ALL of the things. I thought I could create 3 new blog posts per week and still run my education business.

I quickly learned that I was clueless! I chose not to monetize my blog, even though I spent more time working on it than I did running my education business.

I have poured my heart and soul into Small Gestures Matter and spend countless hours and thousands of $$$ each year to keep it running.

SGM is my baby and after careful consideration, I have decided the time has come to monetize it.

How Do I Plan On Monetizing?

For the time being, I will not be putting ads on my blog. I am not currently an affiliate for any companies, but I will apply over the next few months. I will also offer my coaching services and definitely plan on creating some digital products. Not sure about sponsored content yet.

How does this affect you? For the most part, you will probably not notice anything different. I will still create FREE content every week! I will continue to create recipes, healthy lifestyle tips, and informational posts, and share on IG and Facebook.

I have always included links to products that I love. The only difference now is that some links may be affiliate links and I may earn a commission. This will not increase the price you pay for the product. I promise I will not bombard you with links in my posts.

I Need Your Help

I can’t do this without YOU! And there are several ways that you can help me that will not cost you anything.

1. Please let me know what content you would like to see on the blog and what you would like to hear more about on my weekly Facebook Lives. My number one goal is to help you. Your feedback is the most important way you can help me help you.
2. Open my newsletters, and click on the links to my recipes and posts that I provide each week. Pageviews matter to companies. In order to become an affiliate and work with companies, I need pageviews.
3. SHARE! SHARE! SHARE! Please share my posts and blog with anyone you think could benefit from my content or my coaching services.
4. Follow me on IG and like and comment on my IG posts and share them. The more engagement I receive, the more IG will show my content.
5. Pin! Pin! Pin! Please PIN my blog posts to your favorite boards on Pinterest. Just like IG, the more Pinterest sees my content, the more they will share it.
6. Join my private Facebook group Small Steps Matter and help me grow a community of amazing women who support and motivate each other to take small steps to live a healthier lifestyle.

Thank you so much if you have made it this far! I love this community so much! This has been on my mind for a long time. It’s important for me to share what’s on my heart. It is scary to start a new business and to put yourself out there!

As always, please let me know if you have questions or if there is anything I can help you with. 

xoxo,

Tammy