What began as a simple hobby became one of the most transformative decisions of my life: starting a blog and learning how to make money from it.
More than a decade after I first learned to monetize a blog, my site has generated over $5,000,000 in revenue. It’s still surreal to me, even though I lived every step of it.
At first I used the blog to track my personal finance progress as I finished school and paid off student loans. Blogging was new to me in 2011—I’d only heard about it in a magazine—and monetization strategies were just emerging.
Back then most bloggers relied on display ads and sponsored posts, but the ways to earn from blogging have expanded dramatically.
Today you can earn affiliate income, create and sell your own products, run display ads, and more—many of which can generate semi-passive income for bloggers.
I particularly love passive income because it makes blogging flexible. I can work from home, travel, and set my own schedule while continuing to earn from content I created earlier.
Blogging improved my work, personal, and financial life, and now I make thousands of dollars every month doing something I genuinely enjoy.
Monetizing a blog takes time and effort, but it’s absolutely possible. I started earning within six months of launching my site—even though I didn’t start it to make money—so imagine what you could achieve when you begin with the goal of monetization in mind.
Starting a blog was one of the best decisions I made. If you’re curious about blogging, I encourage you to start and learn how to monetize it.
How I earned my first income from blogging
Many readers know this story, but I share it because it shows how accessible blogging can be. When I launched Making Sense in August 2011, I just wanted to document my financial progress and connect with people who had similar goals.
As I connected with other bloggers, a friend introduced me to an advertiser who offered $100 to place an ad on my site.
I couldn’t believe someone would pay me $100 to advertise on my blog.
Although $100 wasn’t much compared to the effort I’d put in over the previous six months, it was a huge motivator. It proved that something I loved could generate income.
After that first $100, I dug into how to monetize a blog. Within a year I was earning around $1,000 per month, and two years in I was making about $10,000 monthly.
My income continued to grow, and today the site remains a reliable source of revenue.
How To Start A Blog — FREE Course
If you want to learn how to monetize a blog and haven’t started yet, I recommend my free course How To Start A Blog. It walks you through the basics of setting up and growing a blog.
Here’s a brief outline of the course:
- Day 1: Reasons to start a blog
- Day 2: Choosing what to blog about
- Day 3: Creating your blog — step-by-step WordPress setup
- Day 4: How to monetize a blog — the different income streams
- Day 5: Tips for earning passive income
- Day 6: Growing traffic and followers
- Day 7: Miscellaneous practical blogging tips
The lessons are delivered to your inbox, and they teach how to grow a blog from scratch. You can sign up for free in the form on the site.
Start with a plan for your blog
You can certainly start on a whim—I did—but developing a plan helps you launch with clarity. A plan helps define your niche, set goals, identify monetization opportunities, and stay organized.
I didn’t create a formal plan until 2015, four years after launching, and my income grew significantly once I did. I credit that growth to having a strategy.
When making a plan, consider these questions:
- What will you write about?
- How do you plan to make money?
- How will you reach and grow your audience?
- What are your short- and long-term goals?
Answering these will guide your decisions and keep you focused.
Write high-quality and engaging blog posts
Content is the foundation of any successful blog. High-quality posts attract readers, earn repeat visits, and enable monetization.
You don’t need to be an expert, but you should be informed, curious, and honest. Authenticity shows in your writing and builds trust with readers.
Tips for producing great content:
- Choose topics you care about; passion makes your writing engaging and sustainable.
- Ask your audience what they want to read—many ideas come from reader questions.
- Research thoroughly using news sources, studies, and statistics when appropriate.
- If you’re writing personal posts, be candid and relatable—your story matters.
- Provide long, helpful posts when possible. In-depth content tends to deliver more value and ranks better in search engines, but avoid padding with fluff.
- Proofread and revise. I used to read drafts many times before publishing; now I work with an editor to maintain quality.
Network, network, network
Networking is invaluable when you want to monetize a blog. Building relationships with other bloggers and industry contacts opens doors, provides support, and sparks ideas.
Ways to network:
- Connect with fellow bloggers
- Attend blogging conferences and events
- Share other bloggers’ content and engage on social media
- Follow niche bloggers and subscribe to their newsletters
- Join blogging groups and communities
Networking helped me land my first paid advertisement—so don’t underestimate its power.
Be prepared to put in a lot of hard work
Starting a blog is relatively simple, but growing it and learning to monetize takes significant time and effort.
Tasks include:
- Setting up and designing your blog
- Creating social media and promotional channels
- Writing high-quality posts
- Attracting and engaging readers
- Applying monetization strategies and learning continuously
Early on I spent more than 10 hours a week on my blog. When juggling a full-time job, I sometimes put in an additional 40–50 hours weekly. Now that I blog full-time, hours vary—some months are light, others intense—but the work never truly stops.
Despite the effort required, I love blogging, which makes the hard work worthwhile.
How to monetize a blog: 4 primary ways
Common monetization methods include:
- Affiliate marketing
- Advertisements and sponsorships
- Display advertising
- Creating and selling your own products (eBooks, courses, physical goods, memberships)
You can choose one method or combine several. I prefer diversification and employ multiple income streams on my site.
1. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing works well for bloggers: recommend a product or service you trust, include an affiliate link, and earn a commission when readers buy through your link.
This is my favorite monetization method because a single well-written post can generate income for years. Older posts continue to attract traffic, and readers still convert through affiliate links.
Affiliate marketing tips:
- Use a link shortener or link-management plugin to make affiliate links clean and user-friendly.
- Be honest in reviews—mention negatives if appropriate or skip products you don’t believe in.
- If you perform well, request higher commission rates.
- Build relationships with affiliate managers; they can offer deals, coupons, and special incentives.
- Create tutorials showing how to use the product and the benefits readers gain.
- Don’t overuse affiliate links—place them strategically at the beginning, middle, and end of posts.
2. Advertisements and sponsorships
Sponsorships and direct advertising were common early revenue sources and remain effective. Brands partner with you to promote products or services through posts, reviews, social media, or images.
Sponsorship income depends on your niche, audience engagement, and negotiation skills. Courses and guides on sponsored posts can help you increase earnings from this channel.
3. Display advertising
Display ads are one of the easiest monetization routes: join an ad network and ads are automatically placed on your site. Income is tied largely to page views.
Display advertising requires minimal ongoing work but usually pays less early on. Popular networks include Google AdSense, MediaVine, and AdThrive. I use AdThrive for my display ads.
4. Sell your own products
Selling your own products gives you control and often higher margins. Examples include:
- Online courses
- Coaching programs
- eBooks
- Printables
- Memberships
- Physical goods like clothing, candles, artwork, and books
I launched my first product—a blogging course—about five years after starting the site. I wish I had created products sooner because they’ve become a major revenue source and helped many people.
Have an email list
Start an email list from day one. I waited years to build mine and that was a mistake.
Why an email list matters:
- Your newsletter is yours. Unlike social platforms, email subscribers belong to you and aren’t subject to changing algorithms.
- The money is in your email list. Email often converts better for affiliate promotions and product launches because subscribers opted in to hear from you.
- Subscribers are loyal. People who let you into their inbox trust your voice and are more likely to engage and buy.
- Email delivers other content formats well. Use an email platform to create automated courses, sequences, and targeted campaigns to engage readers.
Attract readers
To monetize, you need an audience—but you don’t need millions of page views. Some sites with modest traffic earn more than sites with huge numbers simply because the audience is engaged.
Focus on building a loyal readership by serving their needs and delivering consistent value.
Ways to grow readership:
- Write high-quality, helpful articles
- Be active on social platforms where your audience spends time (Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.)
- Publish regularly—aim for at least one post per week
- Guest post to reach new audiences
- Make it easy to share your content with clear social buttons and prefilled share information
- Craft compelling titles; headline tools can help you improve click-throughs
- Apply SEO strategies so your content ranks in search
- Keep your site design clean and user-friendly
Grow through SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) drives organic search traffic. When your posts rank in search results, you attract readers who are actively looking for your topic.
Learning SEO is essential to sustainable growth, and there are many courses and resources that teach keyword research, on-page optimization, and backlink strategies.
Common questions about how to monetize a blog
Below are common questions related to starting and monetizing a blog:
- How many views do you need to monetize a blog?
- How do beginner bloggers make money?
- Why do bloggers fail?
- How many posts should I have before launching?
- How often should I post each week?
How many views do you need to monetize a blog?
There’s no fixed number of page views needed to make money. Success depends on your monetization methods, niche, email list size, site quality, and engagement. Some bloggers earn well with 10,000 monthly views, others with 100,000—it varies.
How do beginner bloggers make money?
Beginners can monetize with display ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and products. Display ads are usually the easiest starting point but often yield modest revenue until traffic grows.
How many posts should I have before I launch my blog?
Launch once you have at least one post and a basic design. Waiting to build a large backlog can delay action—start small and iterate.
How many times a week should I post on my blog?
Publishing more posts creates more opportunities for traffic, but consistency matters most. Aim for at least one post per week. I used to publish daily and now publish one to two times weekly.
Why do bloggers fail?
Common reasons include:
- Giving up too soon—blogging takes time to produce results.
- Inconsistent publishing—long gaps reduce momentum.
- Not investing time to learn blogging skills such as SEO, monetization, and content strategy.
- Not using a custom domain or self-hosting—these are important for long-term growth and monetization.
Blogging is a business: expect to learn, adapt, and improve continually.
How do I start a blog?
If you have more questions about starting a blog—choosing a name, designing a site, SEO basics, or how long it takes to make money—there are many helpful guides and articles that answer these topics in depth.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks for reading!
-Michelle Schroeder-Gardner
