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How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs

Posted By Darren Rowse 6th of December 2005 Pro Blogging News 0 Comments

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My Personal Income Streams

As an update to this post I’ve more recently written one on How I make Money Blogging which highlights the most profitable ways that I use blogs to generate income. I’ve also written extensively on how bloggers make money in ProBlogger the Book.

How do bloggers make money from blogs?

How-Bloggers-Make-MoneyI’ve been reflecting this week about the amazing diversity of opportunities that are opening up for bloggers to make money from blogging.

I’ve long advised that bloggers seeking to make money from blogging spread their interests across multiple revenue streams so as not to put all their eggs in one basket.

The wonderful thing is that this is becoming easier and easier to do 2005 has seen many options opening up. I thought I’d take a look at some of the methods that bloggers are currently using to make money through blogs.

Income Streams for Bloggers – How to Make Money Blogging

Advertising Programs – Perhaps the most obvious changes in the past few months have been with the addition of a variety of viable advertising options for bloggers looking to make money from their blogs. The most common way bloggers seem to earn money online is via the contextual ad program from Google – Adsense. A more recent addition that many are using successfully are Chitika.

RSS Advertising – The past 12 months have seen some advances in RSS Advertising also. I’m yet to hear of any bloggers making big money blogging through it to this point – but as improvements are made to the ad programs exploring this I’m sure we’ll start to see examples of it being profitable.

Sponsorship – In addition to the array of advertising programs that are available to join there is a growing awareness in the business of the value and opportunity that exists for them to advertise directly on blogs. I’m hearing more and more examples of this and have been fortunately to have a couple of ad campaigns of my own in the past month – one with Adobe a couple of weeks ago and another just completed with Ricoh for a new digicam over at my Digital Camera Blog. These are not isolated cases – as I say I know of many blogs exploring sponsorship with advertisers at present and suspect we’ll see more of it in the year ahead. Sponsorship is also happening on a post by post basis with some bloggers being paid to write on certain topics by companies – either in one off or a regular fashion – and they are able to make big money from their blogs doing so.

Affiliate Programs – There are larger affiliate programs like Amazon, Linkshare, Clickbank and Commission Junction but also literally thousands of others from the large to the very small.

Digital Assets – Increasing numbers of bloggers have been developing other digital assets to support and add revenue streams to their blogs. By this I mean that I’m increasingly seeing e-books, courses and tele-seminars being run by bloggers. This type of activity will only increase in future – in fact this week I’ve seen numerous examples of bloggers running courses.

Blog Network Opportunities – with the rise in popularity of Blog Networks – bloggers are also being presented with more places to earn an income from their blogging – by writing for and with others. While it might be difficult to get a writing gig with one of the bigger networks – there are plenty who are always asking for new bloggers to join and who are willing to pay bloggers using a variety of payment models. While there are distinct advantages of blogging for yourself – blogging for an established network who will handle a lot of the set up/promotion/admin/SEO etc has it’s advantages also. More and more bloggers are combining writing for themselves on their own blogs with taking on blog network blogs as additional income streams.

Business Blog Writing Opportunities – as blogging has risen in it’s profile as a medium more and more businesses are starting blogs. Many of these companies have internal staff take on blogging duties – but an increasing number of them are hiring specialist bloggers to come on and run their blogs. I know of a number of bloggers who in the past month or two have been approached for such paid work. Check out the ProBlogger Job Board if you’re looking for this type of work.

Non Blogging Writing Opportunities – Also becoming more common are bloggers being hired to write in non blogging mediums. Manolo’s recent coup of a column in the Washington Post is just one example of this as bloggers are increasingly being approached to write for newspapers, magazines and other non blog websites. Along side this is the rise of bloggers as published book authors – this is to the extent that one blogger I spoke with this week complained to me that they were one of the few bloggers than they knew who didn’t have a book deal!

Donations – Tip Jars and donation buttons have been a part of blogging for years now but this last year saw a number of bloggers go full time after fund raising drives. Perhaps the most high profile of these was Jason Kottke of kottke.org who through the generosity of his readership was able to quit his job and become a full time blogger.

Flipping Blogs – Also more common in 2005 was the practice of ‘Blog Flipping’ – or selling of blogs. This has happened both on an individual blog level (I can think of about 20 blogs that sold this year) but also on a network level (the most obvious of these being the 8 figure sale of Weblogs Inc to AOL).

Merchandising – My recent attempt to sell ProBlogger.net T-shirts wasn’t a raging success, but it is an example of how an increasing number of bloggers are attempting to make a few extra dollars from their blogs by selling branded products through programs like Cafepress. While I didn’t have a lot of success with merchandising – quite a few larger blogs are seeing significant sales – especially blogs with a cult following. I’m not at liberty to discuss details – but I know of one largish blog which will see sales over $20,000 in merchandise for the calendar year of 2005.

Consulting and Speaking – While it has been popular for established consultants to add blogs to their businesses we’re also starting to see bloggers with no consulting background able to make money by charging readers for their time in consulting scenarios BECAUSE of the profile that their blogs have built them. Blogging has the ability to establish people as experts on niche topics and we all know the value of being perceived as an expert. I spoke to one blogger last month who charges himself out at over $200 an hour for speaking and consulting work – his area of expertise was something that he knew little about 18 months ago – but through his blog he’s become a leader in his field and a minor celebrity in his industry.

As time rolls on there are more and more ways that bloggers make money from their blogs opening up. Feel free to suggest your own ideas and experiences in comments below.

Update: Looking for more information on how to make money blogging? Here’s a post I wrote talking about my own experience – particularly looking at the top ways that I make money from blogs.

Also check out these resources on how to set up a profitable blog:

  • ProBlogger the Book – where I and Chris Garrett sum up all of the basic tips about starting up a blog in the one volume.
About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. I have a question about AdBrite.

    I was thinking to register for AdBrite. But I figured out that the registration page is a NON-SECURE page!

    And they ask you to provide with your Social Security Number and all the personal information on a NON-SECURE page. I talked to a customer rep. at AdBrite. He told me that “transmission is secure even though page is not secure”.

    I didn’t understand how transmission would be safe if the page is not safe. If the page is not safe, doesn’t it mean that someone else may see the information that I provide?

    Am I wrong about my concern regarding the security of AdBrite?

    http://www.speakupforgood.com/

  2. Great Post Darren,

    Really good content that you are providing and speaking from experience, it’s hard to really make good money through blogging as people’s mentality when visiting blogs are usually not geared to click on ads on the blog as compared to someone searching for relevant information on a content site filled with adsense and other advertising avenues…

    All in all, in my experience, contents sites make way much more money than blogs due to the users mentality….

    Cheers,
    Little Guy Can Succeed Online
    http://www.littleguyriches.com/system

  3. […] There are many other ways to monetize your blog. I suggest you read this section on how to monetize your blog for a ton of other ideas, tips and techniques. […]

  4. edward says: 07/01/2006 at 10:58 pm

    i want to know how to make money

  5. […] How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs I want to make money from my blog but I also think that blogging should still be fun. … This was an excellent posting on how to make money blogging. … […]

  6. Great post Darren, most people think only of Adsense when trying to make money with their blogs when in fact, there are hundreds of revenue sources.

  7. eShop 4 Pay has incorporated several money making ideas. We look forward to adding many of the recommedations on this site.

  8. How much can you make from your blog? i want to start up a blog too

  9. You are right, but it always depends on how many traffic you can generate from other sources. No traffic means NO $. My bottom line is TRAFFIC = MONEY

  10. i think i have to print this out and stick on the wall.

    thanks

  11. Thats an excellent post, I have been bloggin for more than a year, there are things that you have mentioned which I have been doing but I will try and do some of the other things which I have not thought before reading your post. I’ll surely try them. Thanks.

  12. ProBlogger let me know how to make money blogging. I have created a website To learn more. Best of about chinese TCM blogging and making money!

  13. […] Update: I was pointed to a similar post by Darren Rowse at Problogger.net that is also a recommended read on the subject of making money from your blog. He mentions many of the same things, and has a couple I didn’t mention as well. Related Posts: […]

  14. Thanks for the blog – ths certainly broadened my horizons both from a bloggers perspective and an advertisers. There is so much over focussing on AdSense/AdWords, which doesnt necessarily give the best result for either advertisers or blog owners.

    Contextual advertising can be rewarding for both parties, so as a blogger I a trying to write good, relevant content for contextual ads – makes sense and hopefuly some dollars.

  15. Outstanding Post ! Helped me to get a fast overview of the possibilities earning moey with blogging. Thanks!

  16. […] How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs Darren Rowse of Problogger give a tip on how to make money from your blog. … Dispatches From Blogistan » Blog Archive » make money from blogs Says: … […]

  17. maybe the best how to make money – lately published

  18. Wow Thanks, you’ve just given me some great ideas. It’s amazing that, with so much going on in the blogosphere that there are so many that still don’t know what a blog is.

  19. Thanks for the ideas. Some of them I’ve never thougt of. Thanks again.

  20. may be there are so many ways to make money online.But this is really good.we can make our own circle having same thoughts.

  21. I made this Myspace for people to find out how to make some money on Myspace:

    http://www.myspace.com/learntomakemoney

  22. […] How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs Your article has infused ideas in me that we can make money online from our … I found an easy way to make money online but now I want to use blogs as an … […]

  23. […] Blogs support passive income streams, including contextual advertising, sponsorships, affiliate programs and more. If your blog is popular, compelling, and relevant, you can even earn money while you sleep. […]

  24. AdSense is a horrible way to make money blogging. I actually wrote an article about this and alternatives to AdSense:

    http://bloggingmoneymaker.blogspot.com/2006/09/7-unique-methods-to-make-money.html

    Long story short: AdSense distracts your users from *real* opportunities to make money. You are essentially trading a 10 or 15 cent ad for a $20+ commission. Read the article for more details…

  25. Darren, have you flipped anymore blogs recently?

  26. No Robert – not for a long time actually.

  27. How Much the Bloggers Make Money from Your Blogs a year?

  28. Do you think making a blog about something is better than having a “regular” site with a blog attached to it?
    I have been thinking about adding a blog to my site http://www.travelbrazilnow.net. I didn’t make it a blog in the first place for the very nature of the site.
    And I believe SEO-wise it would be better too.
    What do you think?
    Do you have non-blog sites that are performing well?

  29. What an awesome read! I’m mostly blogging for fun right now but I have a little experiment going where I’m trying to see how many levels of multiple income streams I can come up with. Maybe blogging will be one of those for me someday :) Thanks for the great article!

  30. Blogs are the easiest thing to make money from, there so easy to get a high PR in a quick amount of time. The higher Google PageRank the more people will pay you to get an advert on your blog.

  31. Learn how to make money online . This service is absolutely risk free and there is now way to lose money just because you dont have to give any money.Learn how to make money from Internet surveys . Earn cah by sitting in your chair in front of your computer.Visit http://makenetmoneynow.blogspot.com

  32. […] Ways To Monetize Your Blog By Curly Tree This ProBlogger article neatly summarizes the different ways of monetizing your blog. I’ve been trying a few of the suggested avenues here for fun to see what would click. As expected, monetization has been slow for the Tree House, but is growing! Then again, going from 0 to 10 is still a 10-fold increase… […]

  33. […] How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs Your article has infused ideas in me that we can make money online from our … I found an easy way to make money online but now I want to use blogs as an … […]

  34. […] Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: If you have personal experience with Google Adsense, BlogAds, Federatedmarketing.net or some of the many other sources of ad revenue that are being offered to bloggers, how about letting me know how it is going? Leave a comment or email me! Also, there is an older (2005), but still relevant, article at Pro Blogger called How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs that is well worth checking out if you, too, are thinking of ways to make money from your blog while you are sleeping! […]

  35. This is quite an eye opener. I never knew blogging was such a big business. i love reading and writing which is why I am attracted to blogs.Where exactly can I find people who wanna buy my articles for their blogs. I have gat a couple related to beauty/health/fitness about 30 of them?
    Thanks.Hope to bookmark your site for future visits.

  36. In spanishi please.

  37. spanish ok. not spanishi. ja ja ja

  38. this has been a great find
    I been trying to make money on the internet now for 3 years withoput a lot of success

  39. Its great to know, for now, i try to use my article site to my some money now.
    do any of you use article site to make money?

  40. I started a blog on my site. But I am unable to get any visitors nor am I making anu money.

    I know I have to try! Nice article!

    Aditya
    http://www.adiwebs.com

  41. I wonder which software did you build this website ?. I doesnt look like wordpress ! This is one more control and power than wordpress I think

  42. Speed seems to have increased recently. Looks like the site may have been optimised

  43. I have to say, this is a great post. I run a new humor website, and was a little surprised how few people clicked my adsense ads (CTR of about 0.1%). Now I have so many more options, and will try them over the next few weeks.

    Thanks!

  44. A good article on explaining the alternatives for google adsense.i haven’t heard about these many ad networks.Let’s try out the other ad networks.

  45. […] One of his article, How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs really shows the potential of a this new form of communication. The only trick would be to really understand the insights of all the topics/mediums of earning money. […]

  46. […] Though that seems to be the definition given by Wikipedia, we all know that blogs have evolved into a much deeper context. It has become a profession, a career path and even an income generating industry which helps people and companies alike. […]

  47. I didnot know that they are too many affiliate programs. I will try some!
    I love your blog very much

  48. This site is working for me,I tried the third option and after about 2months i started getting checks.I am not going to hype up anything because i believe most things work if you try hard enough.Check it out,there is good info to be learned,that has been priceless for me.

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