Is it possible to make money from blogging in 2019?

Hasn’t YouTube replaced it as the new medium for making money?

Do people even read blogs anymore?

These questions circulate the web every so often while people are searching for ways to make money. Blogging is one of the oldest ways to make money online. When it started, it was a way for people to communicate. Remember one of Hilary Duff’s movie, “The Perfect Man,” when that movie was released blogging became incredibly popular among the teen angst crowd. It became a new thing before then it was mostly used by marketers and then blogging grew in popularity.

In the early 2010’s, that is when more and more people were hopping onto the fandom and making money from blogging. If you were to take a look at 

a lot of popular blogs many of them started in 2010 and 2011. Not all, but there are a lot who started then and there’s this perception that blogging is dead and you can’t make money from it or that you can’t do that as a beginner blogger.

Blogging isn’t dead, in fact, it is still one of the best ways to make money online. It easier to setup then a YouTube channel especially if you are camera shy and a lot of bloggers eventually start YouTube channels.

Just because you start with one medium doesn’t mean you can’t venture out and try new things. If you are on the fence about blogging, keep reading about the earning potential. I will list a few reasons why you should start a blog. So, here we go. Here’s an article about overcoming the fear of blogging. 

 Why start a blog in 2019

 When it comes to the online space, there are a lot of people who are dubious. The internet in the past couple of years has gotten a bad rep. There are far

too many scams that whenever someone reads something about making money online, an eye roll usually follows and they log off. If Instagram influencers are making money online then why would it be impossible for people to make money online? 

Another thing a lot of people believe is that blogging is too hard and you need to be a genius when it comes to writing. Any skill can be learned and mastered, even writing. I was an awful writer growing up and I would never have imagined years later, I would be a blogger. When you practice on a consistent basis you will master any skill.

Now, on to the interesting bit, why should you start a blog in 2019. I want to list down a few of the benefits of blogging, keep reading and I will get on to the best and easiest ways to make money from your blog. 

 1. Financial Freedom 

2. Passive income (make money while you sleep)

3. Time freedom (have more time to spare with your family)

4. Awesome opportunities (you can start a YouTube channel, become a motivational speaker, start a clothing line, etc)

5. Write a book

6. Create an impact

7. Change the world

8. Support a cause 

How to start a profitable blog in 2019

If you want to make money from blogging then there are a few things you need in order for you to do that. You can’t set up any ole site and think that it will make you a million dollars. Blogging is like any other business, it requires dedication and effort so I want to let you know the few things you need in order to make money from your blog. Don’t worry it isn’t a long list, but it is crucial for you to setup your blog the right way.

Needs to be self-hosted

A self-hosted blog is a blog that you setup using a hosting service. When it comes to blogging most of us are familiar with setting up blogging with WordPress. This is the free version and it won’t make you any money. It is also extremely hard to customize. So when you are setting up your blog, you need to set it up with a provider.

I recommend using Bluehost. 

The link to the how to start a blog is below, this is a step by step guide on how to set up your blog the right way.

Good Design

Another thing that you need is your website needs to have good design. When you are starting out, you can use a free theme, but I do recommend going

for something with a bit of a kick. I use Divi which is one of the best themes and the great thing is you can customize it the way you want, you reduce

a lot of the costs because it comes packed with a lot of features so you won’t need a developer.

If you choose to go with something else then get a theme that works well for you, that will help you with your brand. You need to know this if you plan on making money blogging in 2019. Don’t skip this step. You can check Divi theme.

Target audience

If you want to make money blogging you need to know your target audience well, it helps if you are part of the demographic or if you understand the target

audience well. When I started my blog, I knew my target audience would primarily be people from the ages of 25 to 38 because I wanted to focus on millennials and since I am a millennial it made the most sense.

I understood that most millennials want to do their own thing, but are scared of doing it. That they want financial freedom and to have enough money to travel the world. I listed all the things that millennials would be interested in, that way I could target them and help them achieve their goals.  So, when you are identifying a target audience, you create an avatar.

Why is this important? So, you know what topics you should write about and what products you should promote. 

Business plan

Many of us thought we would never have to do a business plan once we left school, the thing is a business plan is important. It can actually be a lot of fun.

It doesn’t have to be too long or technical. 

List down all the important things that you need to focus on, such as target audience, demographic, geographic location, marketing plan and etc. This way you have an idea of what to do next after you set-up your blog. I have come to realize when it comes to business that marketing and strategy is key. What is the main driving force you will use for traffic. 

An example is there are a lot of blogs out there that use guest posts as a way to drive traffic to their blogs, I use interviews. This is one of the ways I get traffic to my site. Another way is Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. That is part of my business plan and I wouldn’t have known what would work with my blog if I didn’t write a business plan. This will make it super easy for you to make money blogging in 2019.  

Make Money Blogging in 2019

We are finally here, this is the part where I show you all the ways you can make money blogging. If you want to get access to more ways, keep reading, I have 

included an awesome infographic for you to show you how to make money blogging. There are so many ways you can money blogging, it is unbelievable, but it does take time for you to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Even though you can make money blogging, it still requires patience and effort to get everything going. A car with a well-oiled machine runs better than one without, so it is important you build your blog the right way so that you can make money blogging.

Here are the top ten ways you can make money blogging, keep reading to get the extra twenty and those are definitely game-changers. Okay, so here we go.

1. Affiliate Marketing

 Affiliate marketing is by far one of the easiest ways to make money because it doesn’t require that you have a huge list or a lot of traffic. Most affiliate

programs just require that you have a blog with a great design and that’s literally it. Not much to it, you can start with a lot of awesome programs out there.

The great thing is affiliate marketing is free to start, I wanted to just put that out there. Remember when it comes to making money online you won’t have to pay for any program to make money. You sign up and if you get accepted, boom, you make money.

Why do I love affiliate marketing because you sell it once and make passive income from it? You promote something and then you make money even while snoozing on the couch and that’s why there are a lot of people who love affiliate marketing

If you do it the right way, you can make a lot of money from affiliate marketing. An unbelievable amount of money. Here’s a great article on how much money you can make.

What are some awesome affiliate programs?

When I was first starting out, I had no idea where to look for when it came to affiliate programs so I have taken out the work for you. Here are some ideas of 

affiliate programs. Look at your niche and use that as a guide to find what affiliate programs you should be a part of. It makes life a whole lot easier if you look through the list of affiliate programs. 

73+ HIGH PAYING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR BUSINESS BLOGGERS

100 BEST AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR FASHION AND BEAUTY BLOGGERS

LIST OF TRAVEL AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR TRAVEL BLOGGERS

59+ ART AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR CRAFTY AND CREATIVE BLOGGERS

67+ FOOD AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR BLOGGERS AND CONTENT CREATORS

Bonus: When choosing the right product, go with something that you use or that you have done research on. Don’t just promote a product you know nothing about, that can cause a lot of headache for you and your client down the road. 

2. Coaching

When I first started out this is the first thing I tried out because it is easier to start with. You don’t need to be great at marketing or have an awesome product. All you need is yourself and your expertise. You can make a lot of money from coaching. There are a lot of people who use coaching as a way to make a name for themselves so you are hitting two birds with one rock.

You can also be seen as a mentor or a guide, it is pretty much the same thing except for a few things. When it comes to mentorship it is usually more personal and informal, it is also long-term. You get a mentor if you want to make six-figures a year. Most people start with coaches and make their way up to mentors. Mentorship tends to be more costly than coaching that is done on a short-term basis.

So, here’s an article about how you can start a six-figure coaching business.

3. Freelancing

This one is awesome pretty easy to step up and that is what most people do when they are figuring out what they should sell or offer when it comes to making money with blogging.

This is one the best ways you can make money blogging in 2019 and there’s a lot of potential for growth. You start off small and as you grow, you can add many services or products to your list. 

Freelancing though is not for everyone, it requires a lot of work and you will be getting more active income than passive. Basically, if you don’t work then you don’t make money. In the beginning, you will be your own boss and you will have to do your own work. There are a lot of people who start this way and then they hire people as they grow, but who knows how long that can take.

If this interests you slightly, here’s an article on how to make money from freelancing.

4. Services

This is another easy way for you to make money blogging and you don’t require technical skills. When I first started out, I used this as a way to make money blogging, the great thing about this is you can scale it in time. 

All you do is offer a service, for example, I offer a Done-For-You Blog service where people purchase hosting through my link and I set up a blog for them for free. I incorporate affiliate marketing with this and that’s also how I make money. If you don’t want to do that, you can still charge your clients and maybe you give them a discounted price if they purchase through your link.

Blog done for you services is incredibly popular because not a lot of people to do it. If you are wondering what services you can offer to clients, I will list them down.

A lot of people offer services as a way of making money and the great thing is you can grow as much as you want. There are companies that are worth millions of dollars and when they started all they did was offer a service that people loved.

Designing logos like on 99 Designs or Dribble

Editing podcasts using your audio engineering skills

Offering social media marketing services

Offering to create FB Ads

Designing Book Covers

 Writing blog copy or content for brands

Building websites

Any skill you have can be used to offer it as a service

Where to find clients?

I listed below some of the places you could start with to find awesome clients so that you don’t have to scourge the internet to find it. 

60 Places You Can (Quickly) Get Great Remote Jobs

72 Best Freelance Jobs Websites to Get Great Clients (Fast)

5. Sponsored Posts

The last five are the most difficult because it requires you to have an email list or be a little experienced when it comes to blogging, but it is still a lot easier than the others you can pick up. If you want to make money blogging, you should consider this one as it does have a lot of earning potential as long as you have a couple of email subscribers and thousands of followers on your social media accounts.

If you are in the beauty and fashion niche, sponsored posts are a great way to create an income stream that works for you. This is one of the most popular ways to make money from blogging for beginners for beauty and fashion bloggers. Though, you can still make a considerable amount of money from this even if you aren’t in that niche. 

What is sponsored content?

This is content that has been paid for by a big brand think of Apple sponsoring a tech company to promote their latest product or Gucci sponsoring content to talk about their latest product line. You agree on the price and it can be anything from a couple of hundred to even a thousand. Depending on how much money you are already making and how much traffic comes to your site.

That is the problem, if you don’t have a lot of visitors it will be hard for any brand to take you seriously. My suggestion is to keep this in the back burner and plan this is as a way to make extra content further down the line.

6. Display Ads

I have a hate and love relationship with display ads. Far too many bloggers promote it, but what they never tell you is you need an influx of traffic so in the thousands and not hundreds. Another thing is if you aren’t careful it does make your website look like it came from the 2000s because of all the ads appearing on your website. 

Do people make money from it?

Of course, they do, but those are established bloggers who have been in the game for a while and who have a lot of people on their mailing list. So, I would be careful if you choose to go with display ads.

Another thing is you don’t have enough control of how much money you make or where you put the ads on your site. My recommendation is to go with Sponsored posts. The earning potential is more and you have more control. If you still want to know more about display ads, you can find it here.

7. Sell An EBook

I am a little biased, but this is one of the best ways to make money blogging. Once you build an email list, you can sell them your eBook. You decide though where you want it to be either on Amazon or on your website. Both do perfectly and each has its advantages and disadvantages. All you have to do is choose wisely.

The great thing about selling an eBook is it instantly makes you an authority on a subject and that makes you more credible than someone who doesn’t have a blog. I would put this down as something you can do later on. EBooks are also one of the best ways to earn passive income. It is a great way to make money blogging in 2019 and more people are using this as an income stream. 

There are a lot of ways an eBook can change your life and you can even use it to build your business. Here are a couple of ways you can use an eBook to grow and scale your business.

A publisher can approach you and decide they want to publish your book to a wider audience

It can be turned into an audiobook

You can use a book as a way to start a podcast

You can start a YouTube channel using your book

Become a public speaker

Become a consultant

It can be turned into a TV or reality show

As you can see there’s a lot of earning potential when it comes to selling an eBook, if you want to make money from your eBook then you need to be decent at marketing.

Bonus: If you want to make money blogging, selling an eBook is a great way to do that. However, you can earn more money from it if you have products in the back-end. This is how you do it, people who buy your book sign up to your mailing list and then you can sell products to them and make more money from it. 

8. Sell digitals products

Depending on your goals you can sell different types of digital products and use this as a way to make passive income. That’s what makes selling digital products awesome, you can make a lot of money through it.

There are a lot of websites who sell several types of digital products, so focus on the ones that you prefer to sell. Courses and eBooks usually fall under the bracket of digital products, but I decided to separate them because the earning potential is larger than most digital products. It is also a lot easier to set it up than an eBook or a course. They are also easier to create, so here is a list of all the digital products you can create. There are a few I didn’t include because those are going into my infographic.

Templates

Journal

Customizable graphics

PSD Files (this a file type Photoshop creates)

Swipe Files (used to recreate something specific such as email swipe files)

Media kit

 Audiobook

Music Clips

Photos that can be used commercially

Workbooks

Marketing material

Video stock

You can create numerous digital products and because they are usually cheap to produce and affordable, you can make a considerable amount of money from it. 

Bonus: Make sure that your digital products have the same branding as everything else you sell. Same colors, fonts and etc so that there’s consistency for everything.

This is how you stand out compared to everyone else, if your branding and messaging align. 

9. Sell online courses

This one will turn you into a millionaire. No kidding, making courses is incredibly profitable, but you need to have at least 1000 subscribers to make money from it.

Without that, it will be hard pitching your idea to people and one thing you don’t want to do is go to groups and start screaming about your products. That will get you banned and you will get a bad reputation.

Reputation is everything when it comes to business. It is the foundation you really need to be successful and here’s the thing most people don’t know how to do courses and that is why they struggle when it comes to selling them. There’s a lot of factors that come into creating a successful course. I want to emphasize that this is one of the best ways to make money blogging in 2019.

Once you have the systems in place then you can make a lot of money. It is also one of the top income generators when it comes to make money blogging. There are a lot of people who don’t like the idea of being teachers. Same. What I have come to understand is educating is not only rewarding, it helps you create an impact.

Education is in high-demand, look at the videos online. Social Triggers wrote an awesome article on how you can create a course. If you still aren’t convinced with how much money you can make from selling courses, here’s one article on how much money you can make.

10. Sell physical products

In the last few years, dropshipping has become incredibly popular. If you always wondered how people were shipping physical products from an online store

the answer is dropshipping. This basically is when a seller uses a middleman to produce and ship the product and all they are doing is facilitate the sale.

When it comes to dropshipping you need to have marketing expertise and understand Facebook Ads because it is more complicated than the others. This is however, a profitable way to make money blogging in 2019. And there are a lot of successful people who are also dropshippers. That golden pen that you once saw probably is dropshipped.

The reason why people do dropshipping instead of shipping the products themselves is it becomes too costly to do that. Fulfillment is incredibly expensive and it is time consuming and most successful people want to afford having to take care of all the stress that comes with it. Enter dropshipping, one of the easiest and most cost effective ways of selling physical products. 

If you want to learn more about dropshipping, this article will show you all the ins and outs of the dropshipping business.

What is your main takeaway from this and what make money blogging method are you interested in learning about? Comment below and I will reply as soon as

possible. 

                                                              Keep Pushing                                           

                                                             Vanessa