Profiting off your blog seems to be a highly controversial topic in the blogosphere. Some people view it as wrong and unfair to readers. Others see it as a smart way to receive compensation for the work you’ve put into your site.
When it comes down to it, I personally see nothing wrong with trying to make a little money off your blog. As long as you’re transparent with your readers about the content you’re being compensated for, it seems perfectly fine to me. We have all bills to pay. And if you’re able to make money doing something you love, I don’t see why not.
Whether you agree with bloggers earning money from their blogs or not, I think it’s an interesting topic to at least explore. That’s why today I am going to be sharing some of the simplest ways to make money from your blog.
Before I get into this, I’d like to throw out the fact that these methods will NOT get you rich overnight, or anything in that vein. There are no instant money makers. In fact, it will probably take a while for you to make a profit from them.
HOWEVER, the key thing to remember is that eventually you could make a profit. And given the choice to not make a profit or to make a profit over a long period of time, I have a feeling most of us wouldn’t hesitate to select the latter.
Now, I should mention that one of the absolute easiest ways to earn money from your blog is through WordAds.
If you’re a WordPress blogger on the premium plan or above, you can use WordAds to make money off your blog, which is simply a program that allows WordPress to show advertisements on your site. It’s honestly the easiest thing ever. Once you enable WordAds, that’s it. No work, no hassle.
Before we discuss the other sites and programs I’ve used for making money off my blog, let’s talk about AFFILIATE LINKS.
If you’re already familiar with affiliate links, you might as well skip these next couple paragraphs. For those of you who haven’t heard of them or need a little refresher, keep reading.
In essence, an affiliate link is a link used by a blogger or influencer that earns them money each time it is clicked.
It’s how many full-time bloggers are able to make enough of an income to support themselves. (FYI: I am not a full-time blogger myself; I just know this from research).
If you read a post containing affiliate links (see here), and you decide to click on one of said links, the blogger who wrote the post will make money off it. And if you decide to buy an item using an affiliate link, the blogger will make even more money off it.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
So, how do I get affiliate links?
There are bunches of affiliate programs out there, waiting for bloggers to join. Now, some of them require you to have a certain amount of followers, but there are ones that you can use without any regard to your numbers.
One of my favorites is Shop Style Collective.
Shop Style Collective is perfect for the fashion and lifestyle bloggers out there.
If you blog about one of those topics, chances are you’ve done an OOTD post. And if you’ve done an OOTD post, you might have included a link to what you’re wearing or something similar.
Shop Style Collective allows you to monetize those links. Using this program, you can find items similar to the ones you’ve got or even the exact matches. In my opinion, it’s a cool way to make money off something you’d probably already be including in your blog post.
One thing I should mention about Shop Style Collective though is to check prices before you link anything. Items on there can get fairly pricey, and if you’re a blogger who likes to emphasize budget fashion, it might not be the best to give your readers a link to a $500 pair of boots.
Another neat affiliate program for bloggers is Amazon’s affiliate program. This is an easy one to use because, as I am sure you know, Amazon sells just about anything and everything. Clothes. Food. Candles. Mugs. Dish soap. You name it.
The Amazon affiliate program works really similarly to the Shop Style Collective one. All you have to do is find the items you’re looking for and create the link. Once you’ve inserted it in your post and it has gone live, you can use the program to track the number of clicks. It’s kind of an interesting feature if you’ve ever been curious about how many of your readers are clicking the things you post.
Anyway, I think I am going to wrap it up for now. There are so many ways to make money off your blog, and this post merely scraps the surface. I hope you enjoyed reading, and that you learned something you may have not already known.
Do you use any programs to make money off your blog?
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Thank you for posting this. I’m still using a free plan while I finish school, but once I am working again, I would like to upgrade and make money off ads and whatnot. Your post helped a lot, since I don’t know much about how this all works.
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You’re welcome! I’m so glad it helped! 🙂
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This has been so helpful, I’m still a bit in the dark about affiliate programmes! I definitely agree, nothing wrong with getting paid for the work you put in as long as you’re honest and transparent! x
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I’m so glad you found it helpful! And I completely agree! There’s definitely nothing wrong with it!
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So helpful! Great post 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂
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I absolutely don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with bloggers making money, what other services do you get in life for free? Next to none. I make money through sponsored content but haven’t tried ShopStyle so I’ll look into it!
Sophie – https://sophiehearts.net x
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I totally agree! I’ve never understood it either! And I would definitely recommend it!
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I was just accepted into the Shop Style program and am excited to get started using it! Thanks for sharing these ideas xx
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That’s awesome! And you’re welcome! 🙂
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Hey Paige, new follower here ❤ So, I had no idea how Amazon Affiliate program worked, I'm going to sign up for it and I signed up for Shop Style Program. I hope I'm accepted. Thank you for the links, this was nice and simple. O I agree, I don't think there is anything wrong with making money from your blog as long as you're honest. Today, it's hard to get a job, why not create your own ya know. Nice post!
Natonya | http://www.justnatonya.wordpress.com
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Hey! Thanks so much for following! And I completely agree! As long as you’re transparent about it, there’s nothing wrong with it!
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Totally! Just signed up for Amazon links and a genuine fashion post with 3 links. 🙂
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I don’t think so that anyone would mind to make money while blogging..what’s wrong if you get a little for your time and efforts you do to make a post and provide some useful content.. anyways it is totally a personal preference..😊
Great ideas.. my favorite one is also shop style collective..❤️
http://www.geniusenough.com
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I completely agree! Running a blog takes a lot of effort, so I see nothing wrong with it! And shop style collective is great!
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Omg this is so so helpful!! So thank you girl x
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I’m so glad! And you’re welcome!
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Blogger Newbie here! This post was super helpful thank you! Been on the free plan for a while and considering to take it up a notch and make some extra side money.
Any other tips for beginners?
https://budgetedlifestyle.wordpress.com
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I’m glad you found it helpful! My biggest tips would be to stay consistent with your posting schedule and promote yourself on social media, especially twitter! It can be really helpful for getting viewers to your site!
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Thanks:) need to get back on Twitter!!
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Personally, I absolutely agree, it’s fine to make money from blogging, aside from the enjoyment, we’re in it for the money! Who else works for free? Plus, brands get evergreen exposure from our blog posts so again, where else could they get free advertising for their products. I don’t use ads as I’m only getting around 4,000 monthly visitors at the moment – so not enough clicks to make it worth while. My way of making money is mainly through sponsored content but that’s not a given! I also use Shopstyle widgets and links but again, it’s a slow burner! Great post as always.
Samantha x
Thebeautyspyglass.com
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Exactly! It doesn’t seem fair to me that bloggers should be expected to work for free, especially when blogging itself costs money. Shopstyle definitely is a slow burner. Thank you!
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I tried to sign up for some affiliate programs but they reject me (or ask for deposit like what); and also many people avoid to use the link for some reason so yeah 😀
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That’s so strange! I would definitely recommend trying shopstyle or the amazon affiliate program. I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe they don’t reject anyone!
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I think both advertising and affiliated links are fine as long as they are clearly labelled. The thing that I cannot stand is when a blogger doesn’t state the affiliated links clearly. That to me is a real problem.
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I totally agree! Transparency is the most important thing when it comes to affiliate links and advertising. If a blogger isn’t honest about it, that’s when it becomes an issue!
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I haven’t made any money through blogging yet, but it is one of my long term goals so this is very helpful! Thanks for sharing x
Alys
https://alysjournals.com/
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Very interesting, topics that I wasn’t aware of, although I don’t have many followers, but who knows ! Maybe someday this post might be very helpful. Thank you so much!
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I haven’t had any success with Word Ads so far! Thoughts, anyone?
http://friedgreenfinances.com
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Great blog! Like you mentioned you never make a lot of money in the beginning. But I do love blogging and want to make money with it so I can be full-time with something I love! Great Post and another way is through google Ad-sense they pay a good amount of money for ads! Keep up the good work!
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Really great post! I think you’re right about it being somewhat controversial for bloggers to make money from their work. But why not? If they post great work, they should be supported!
Best wishes,
J.
Theonlineincomeguide.com
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This wS very informative. How do I get you to rate my blog and share my blog?
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I have recently been researching this and yours is by far the most straightforward and accessible explanation of all this. Great work!
http://www.kamalkibaatein.com
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Thank you! I’m glad it could be useful!
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Thanks for the advice!!
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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I have a question! Can you do the affiliated link thing without a premium version of WordPress? I am still very young and don’t really have a large amount of money-making options.
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