Pico Mountain Killington Vermont
(Updated 7/5/2021)
New bloggers want to know how to make money.
But figuring out how to monetize your blog from day one proves to be tricky.
What do you know? What skills can you monetize? Do your new blogger skills fit pressing reader needs? Can you actually profit financially from solving reader problems?
Most beginner bloggers resist monetizing their blogs. Feeling uncomfortable fears arising during brainstorming sessions triggers doubts. Imposter syndrome runs rampant among new bloggers. But everyone should at least consider adding blogging income streams from day one to get comfortable with receiving money.
How to Monetize Your Blog from the Beginning
Adding income channels from day one of your blogging career conditions you to blog like an entrepreneur. Most bloggers struggle horribly to make money blogging by not thinking like a business owner. Add income streams from day one to feel good about receiving money for the helpful content you publish.
Think like an entrepreneur who blogs. Monetize your blog to hit the ground running.
Do not make the mistake of adding income channels years into your blogging career. Waiting to profit often leads to agonizing decisions alienating freebie-seeking readers. I have seen many veteran bloggers who torture themselves for months figuring out what income streams to integrate into their blogging campaign.
Start profiting early to think, feel and act like an online business owner who happens to blog.
Two Income Channels to Avoid
Most bloggers want to monetize their blog through two income channels.
For travel bloggers it seems that landing advertising or sponsored posts is the Holy Grail of monetizing manna. Everybody wants to land an ad from a top paying, branded powerhouse. Most bloggers outside of the travel niche also seek netting ad revenue and sponsored post opportunities.
Who would turn down a rich paying sponsored post from a world renowned brand?
Here’s the problem; until you become famous no brand with deep pockets will want to advertise on your website. Advertisers need high traffic blogs for promoting their businesses.
New or struggling bloggers seamlessly profit through dependable income streams intelligently selected. Picking ad or sponsored post channels makes no sense for a beginner blogger. Ad profits increase as your traffic increases. Businesses invest in placing sponsored posts on high traffic blogs.
However, exploring each income channel below gives you smarter options for profiting. Making money through blogging feels challenging because most people cling to a litany of money limiting beliefs. Choosing sound income channels eases money discomfort partially to make your job easier.
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Remove greedy or desperate emotions from the income stream selecting process. New bloggers who seek a quick profit often turn to Google Adsense for the alleged ease of opening the stream. Plastering an Adsense widget on your blog sidebar seems like an easy way to profit quickly. But just because copying and pasting code seems easy does not mean netting steady profits through the channel is easy.
Pay Your Monetizing Dues
Beginner bloggers usually fear investing time, energy and patient practice to develop profitable skills. Learning how to write effectively in order to become a freelance writer requires ample practice executed over a sustained time frame. Coaching clients demands you to learn the in’s and out’s of your blogging niche for months or even years. Pasting advertising code seems like the ultimate profit shortcut. Why would you work patiently for months or years to prosper through freelancing or coaching channels when you can work for a few seconds to prosper through advertising channels?
Reality slaps deluded bloggers squarely in the face. No blogger prospers through advertising channels until driving a heavy amount of highly targeted traffic. Earning a dependable income through advertising requires 1000’s upon 1000’s of blogging work hours executed over years. Few bloggers work intelligently for years enough to net consistent advertising revenue.
Blogging profits find bloggers who generously create and connect for a long time. But said bloggers need to monetize their blogs intelligently to become professional bloggers.
Important Note
I wrote this post with the premise that new bloggers write and schedule at least 3-5 blog posts before day one of their blogging career. Blogging leader Jon Morrow began his highly successful Smart Blogger blog using this smart approach.
“Day 1” means the first day that you publish a blog post. The first day you publish a blog post may be weeks or even months after you begin research, writing and scheduling blog posts.
I suggest preparing yourself for weeks by:
- researching blogging diligently
- researching your niche closely
- writing and scheduling at least 3-5 in-depth, detailed blog posts
New bloggers who prepare themselves in this fashion can monetize effectively through each stream below on the first day of publishing a blog post.
Consider these three income streams to monetize your blog effectively.
Offer Consulting Services
Bloggers specialize in one niche. Knowing a niche inside-out positions you to become a consultant in that niche.
Consider consulting income as a learn, teach and lead on the fly endeavor. Successful bloggers know learning and teaching is the way to prosper online.
Imagine blogging about social media. Covering the topic in detail for months gives you skills enough to be a social media consultant. Intelligently profit by helping people with your blogging experience. Blogging about social media gives you enough knowledge to help people run their social media campaigns across a wide range of industries.
Being a consultant requires ample clarity. One needs to be confident enough to command income through this channel since you offer advice for profits. But getting clear and confident lets you profit for knowledge rendered.
Build your client base patiently through referral marketing. Do a smash up job helping clients to land more clients through word of mouth marketing. But avoid bending over backwards for non-resonant clients. Know when to pass on potential clients and when to fire individuals who demand too much for your rates. Developing the skill of releasing individuals takes time and a willingness to feel uncomfortable.
Potential Downsides
Consultants trade time for money. Being a consultant works poorly for a passive income model. If you want to make money while you sleep or spend time offline consider skipping consulting work.
However, being a consultant can be a solid beginner blogger income channel to build a foundation for your online business. Simply know that active income channels require trading your valuable time for income.
Generate eBook Revenue
Write and self-publish eBooks to take advantage of burgeoning writing skills.
Bloggers write diligently to publish blog content. Monetize those writing skills by writing and self-publishing eBooks.
Open an eBook income stream to capitalize on Amazon’s global dominance. Amazon creates a seamless user experience. Profit by selling eBooks through the online titan for Kindle.
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Writing eBooks makes sense since you already possess increasing writing skills. Learning the eBook income model does not seem as taxing as other more detailed blogging income streams like coaching clients. But wading through eBook-related limiting beliefs challenges most bloggers. I struggled to write my first eBook for years. Fears concerning knowing enough to fill an eBook, formatting issues and the belief that nobody would buy my eBook plagued me until a friend coaxed me to self-publish.
After a few false starts before creating Blogging From Paradise I wrote and self-published my first eBook.
Solve pressing problems from your blogging niche through your eBook. Ask your readers for feedback. Poll your community to spot their biggest problems related to your niche. Write practical tips heavy eBooks to boost blogging income through this channel.
Practical Tips
- Write 500 to 1000 words daily to devote to your eBook; wrap it up within a few weeks
- Hire a professional proof reader or ask an eagle-eyed reader to edit your work
- Format the book for Kindle (check out Amazon’s helpful primer here)
- Considering selling eBooks through multiple platforms to diversify your blogging income streams
Consumer demand for eBooks continues to rise. Although some people prefer paperbacks the majority seem to enjoy reading eBooks on mobile devices.
Fill this pressing need by writing and self-publishing eBooks.
Be prolific. Kindle offers a short reads category perfect for 5000-8000 word eBooks. Pack detailed value into these short reads to establish a consistent income channel through your eBook library.
Prosper through Affiliate Marketing
Open affiliate marketing income streams to profit intelligently.
Most new bloggers do not possess the:
- skills
- experience
- confidence
- knowledge
to create a full-fledged online product. But anyone can sell something created by another entrepreneur.
Opening affiliate income streams leverages the skills of fellow entrepreneurs. Save time and energy. Devote time you would have spent creating your own product to creating, connecting and promoting your affiliate ventures.
Affiliate marketing offers bloggers a seamless income channel to establish. Being approved as an affiliate gives you a wide range of products to promote.
Tips
- promote only products related to your niche to maximize your earnings
- publish detailed, thorough content to gain credibility in your niche; readers purchase affiliate products from trusted bloggers
- optimize blog posts for SEO to drive targeted, passive, traffic to your blog; Google traffic tends to be ready to purchase affiliate products for its highly qualified nature
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Google users specifically want to fulfill some pressing end. Highly targeted Google traffic can slowly and steadily increase your affiliate income.
Avoid the common error of publishing thin content solely to promote affiliate products. Readers see through this strategy. Resist promoting a high volume of affiliate products too quickly. Avoid looking like a shill.
Publish in-depth content solving reader problems. Gain credibility in the eyes of your community. Increasing affiliate income is less about marketing and more about publishing robust content aligned with reader needs.
Conclusion
Deliberately think through your blog monetizing campaign.
Avoid suffering through headaches by opening the right income channels for you from day one.
Think like an entrepreneur who blogs to monetize your blog early.
