Disclaimer: This blog makes money through affiliate links. It costs you nothing but means we get a small amount to help keep the blog going. All affiliate links are denoted clearly with the asterisk.

There are many ways to make money writing online. Writing a blog is one of those ways if you do it right. Yes, you can make money with blogs.

I make money blogging. This isn’t the only one I have. Nor is it the only one I’ll ever have in the future.

Blogging is the way I make the most money with my writing. While I do have private clients and I do use residual income sites, my blogs are growing to a point where I’m the main earner in the house. And there is plenty room for growth.

The trick is to do blogging right.

Your blog isn’t a diary

Blogging has come a long way over the years. It used to be a place to make an online diary. You could write about your day, share little things about your family, and just make it about you.

To make money writing with blogs, you need to move on from that. While it is possible to still add some personality—and you should certainly do that—people don’t really care about your life.

They care about the parts that will help them. They want to know what you’ve achieved that can also help them succeed in certain parts of life.

I don’t tell you what my kids get up to during the day. When it comes to personal elements on this blog, I keep them to writing. I’ll share my writing experience in the past, whether it’s something I found that worked or a terrible mistake I made in the writing field. That’s how to add the personal element to the blog and keep making money with it.

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Offer information that is useful

It’s all about offering something that your readers need. This could be tips on how to take the best photos, or it could be lessons you learned about planning a vacation. It’s all going to depend on the niche of your blog.

And yes, if you want to make money writing with blogs, you need to make sure you have a niche. There are plenty of people who say they don’t have one, but when you start looking at what they’re writing, they have a niche. That is if they’re making money.

The ones that don’t have a niche tend to not make the money they want.

A niche helps your audience. When you write something that connects with them, they can check out the rest of your blog and know this is a place for them. They’re more likely to bookmark and return.

MORE: Why I chose my blogging niches

How to make money writing with blogs

Now you know the basics of getting started, you need to know how you can actually make money writing your blog. After all, writing it and publishing isn’t going to bring you the money.

Use advertising revenue

The quickest way to start making money is through advertising revenue. I used to use AdSense, but I don’t recommend it all that much. Now I’m on Ezoic, but it’s a platform that I’m still testing. My main goal is to get into Mediavine.

I don’t actually put ads on this blog. AdSense is really the only option with what the views are like on this blog (I’m not quite at 10,000 views). I also don’t trust AdSense with the “invalid traffic” error that has popped up in the past when I get an odd spike (that is natural and nothing to do with bots). It also slows the site speed down, which is bad for SEO.

So, until I get to 10,000+ views, it’s best to keep the ads off.

Opt for affiliate marketing

This is how I make money on my blogs. All of them.

Affiliate marketing is my favorite. I get to recommend products that I use or have used in the past and get a percentage of the income. While it takes work and you do need to learn how to make affiliate marketing work, it is one of the best ways to grow your income.

Amazon Affiliates has gained some negative attention in recent years, but it remains my No. 1 source for affiliate income. I also use affiliates for various products or courses I’ve used, including for my web hosting and various Pinterest courses I’d recommend.

You want to keep your affiliate products to those that you have used. People are going to see through you if you recommend anything and everything just to make a sale.

Sponsored posts and content

You could always go the sponsored route to make money writing with blogs. This can be a good way once you’ve built your blog and become a voice within the space.

With sponsored posts, you have people pay you to place links on your blog. In some cases, people pay you to write specific content that they share on their social media platforms. Or you can charge for promoting a specific product or service instead of going the affiliate route.

I’ve done these in the past. They’re not my main source of income, but they can be useful.

You’ll need to come up with a fee that you want to charge for the content. And you’ll want to come to an agreement on how long the post is on the site.

Use your blog to sell your own products

This has become my favorite way to make money blogging. I only do it on one blog so far, but it’s something that I’m growing for other blogs.

I prefer it over affiliate marketing, but affiliate marketing is still the main way I make money right now.

You can use your blogs to sell your own products or services. It could be printables, physical products that you ship, or even charge for your writing skills (just an example). You’re in control of the types of products that are on offer. You have control over where and how they’re sold.

It takes time to make the products. This can be a risk. However, the returns usually balance out or supersede the risks involved.

MORE: Can you make money writing fanfiction?

Do you want to make money writing with blogs? What are you struggling with right now? Share your thoughts in the comments below.