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I bet you’re here because you’re wondering how to start a blog and make money online from home.
Just over a year ago when I discovered that blogs could make money (and I mean more than just a full-time income), my thoughts were like…
“What?? You serious? Blogs make money? How do bloggers make money? Can you REALLY make money blogging from home?”
I kept reading about it and eventually learned that there were people who quickly became millionaires because of their blogs. I was hooked and became a little obsessed.
Those stories were oh-so inspiring, but they were VERY overwhelming and WAY too far-fetched for me.
So, I took a gazillion steps back and thought…
Wait a minute, why am I reading into the crazy successful stories? I don’t need to make $1,000,000 a year in order to help improve my family’s living conditions! 😱
I just thought it would be nice to make an extra $100, $500, $1,000, or $5,000 per month from a fun side hustle like blogging. For me, blogging sounded like one of the best ways to earn extra money online from home because it is very cheap to start one.
Considering other business ideas that I looked at wanted me to invest one million dollars to start, starting a blog to earn extra income was a no-brainer! (Gosh, if I had one million dollars sitting in my bank account, I wouldn’t need to look into home business ideas!)
So, in 2018, I made it my New Year’s Resolution to make an extra $500 per month! I set this goal because I started to really dislike my daytime job and needed a hobby to keep me from going crazy.
With that goal in mind, I constantly searched for articles online that taught you how to make money blogging.
📌 If you have the Pinterest app, don’t forget to save this blog post here on Pinterest so you can refer back to this detailed article so you can learn how to make money blogging!
How I made money blogging (as a beginner blogger)
As a new blogger with NO EXPERIENCE, it took me many months to make my first $100 blogging.
After 6 months into my blogging journey, I wrote my first blog income report and provided details on how I made $703.57 in one month as a beginner.
Fast forward another 5 months, I QUIT MY JOB and became a full-time blogger because I exceeded my expectations and made $6,840.01 in December.
Four months into the new year, I couldn’t believe that this small blog earned over $10,000 in a month!
And now I am earning over $20,000 per month blogging from home!
Starting a blog as a side hustle was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life because I was able to try it out without spending a lot of money!
Are you excited to learn how to make money blogging?
Are you a beginner and don’t know where to start?Join my FREE 7-day coursewhere I will teach you how to start your blog the right way!
Today, I’m consistently earning over $10,000 now $20,000 per month with my small blog and I want to teach you how.
I like keeping things real — I have to admit that I’m NOT an expert (and I don’t claim to be one), but I can offer you valuable tips and share my experience so you can avoid making mistakes as a brand new blogger.
In my free e-mail course, I will guide you from starting your blog to growing your traffic and making your first income!
This is the course I wish I had when I first started my blog!
Can you really make money blogging?
You may be reading and thinking all of this is bogus and it’s a scam; that this whole blogging thing is impossible; and that you’ll never be able to earn any real income online.
I don’t blame you because I thought the same too!
It honestly NEVER crossed my mind that I could QUIT MY JOB last month to start blogging full-time.
I want you to know that I’m not special in any way.
I’m just like you, who decided to start a blog on a whim to see how it goes. If it works out, then GREAT! And if not, then oh well… at least I’ve tried it!
After struggling for many months and experimenting it out myself, I can tell you that making money with a blog is REAL!
So, YES, I’m super excited when I’m saying this to you… IT IS possible to make money blogging and anyone can get started for just $2.95 a month with NO experience!
Just so you know, blogging is NOT a get-rich-quick thing and it does require work!
But again, it’s absolutely possible to make money blogging as long as you take it seriously and stay motivated to make it work.
On top of that, you’re going to need to invest in a few affordable blogging resources as a beginner and actually implement those strategies onto your blog if you want to make money faster than most bloggers!
UPDATE: Because I get a ton of e-mails from readers asking how to start and build a profitable blog, I created The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days to help beginners like you build your blogs from scratch with NO experience and NO tech skills required. Many brand new bloggers have followed everything taught in this ebook and are seeing great results with their blogs!
You can also view all the blogging tools and resources you need as a beginner blogger at the bottom of this post. It’s personally what I used to get to where I am now. Plus, it’s at a VERY low cost to get started!
I’ll be honest to let you know that it will take time and a lot of learning to actually see results! But it is SO worth it in the end!
And nope, you DON’T need to be the best writer or an expert at what you blog about to get started! You’ll know what I mean when you join my FREE 7-day e-mail course here.
Read also: How To Start a Money Making Blog on WordPress (Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial)
Types of blogs that make money
Today, we hear of many different types of blogs that make money.
That list includes but is not limited to:
- Arts & Crafts
- Beauty & Fashion
- Debt-free Journey
- Food and Recipes
- Entrepreneurship & Business
- Frugal Living
- Health & Fitness
- Home & Gardening
- Home Decor and DIY
- Home Renovations
- Jobs and Careers
- Lifestyle
- Mommy blogs
- Money and Personal Finance
- Parenting tips
- Personal Development
- Technology trends (e.g. gadgets, apps, etc.)
- Travel & Eats
Here’s the thing.
Almost anything can make money as long as it offers a solution to a problem.
If you can hit your readers’ pain points and help them solve a problem, you will be rewarded!
After blogging for over a year, I realized that your content doesn’t have to be something groundbreaking, and there’s really no need to reinvent the wheel.
For example, in my niche, money, and personal finance, I could write something like…
- Drop App Review: How I Get Free Gift Cards By Using This Free App
- 6 Ways To Make Extra Money With Swagbucks
Here are some more examples.
If your blog is about beauty and makeup, you could write about:
- “How To Look Beautiful With No Makeup”
- “How To Apply Eyeliner For Small Eyes”
- “The Best Make Up Organizers From Amazon”
Another example is if you want to write about DIY and home renovation projects, you could write a blog post or come up with a tutorial on:
- “5 Things You Need To Renovate a Small Bathroom on a Budget”
- “How To Install a Toilet Flange”
- “How To Tile Your Kitchen Backsplash Like a Pro”
Here is one more example.
If you want to blog about home living and organizational hacks, you could write about:
- “15 Organizational Hacks That Will Instantly Make Your Stress Go Away”
- “12 Best Organization Hacks That Neat Freaks Will Love”
- “15 Dollar Store Organization Hacks That Will Save Your Life From Clutter”
As long as there are people searching for answers, there will always be demand for your content! I generally use the Keywords Everywhere tool to give me some clues. And don’t think that no one wants to read your blog just because there are similar ones that already exist.
The way you write, the stories you tell, and how you deliver your message is what sets you apart from everyone else.
No ONE person is going to have the exact same struggles or experiences as you!
Think about it this way…
There are 24 hours within a day and a gazillion people in this world. People can never consume too much or have enough. As long as there’s good content (for your target audience), readers are always going to be hungry for more!
Top money making blogs
So, who are the top money making bloggers and how much do they earn?
There’s actually a lot to list and that would be too long to name them here!
But to give you several examples, here are the blogs that bring in an amazing monthly income!
Note that the numbers fluctuate and blogging income will always be volatile.
- Huffington Post: $900,000
- Mashable: $480,000
- TechCrunch: $450,000
- Money Saving Expert: $110,000
- Lifehacker: $130,000
- Show Me The Yummy: $32,000
How much money do bloggers make?
I know, I know…
The list I just provided is extremely overwhelming to look at and very unrealistic for new bloggers who haven’t started yet.
But like I said at the beginning of this post, you don’t need to aim for $10,000, $20,000, $500,000 or $1,000,000+ per month!
So, you may be asking realisticallyhow much money can you make blogging?
What if you could make $100 to $1,000 in extra income each month just from blogging? Imagine what that money can do for you. It could help you cover some of your living expenses like your utility bills, cable, insurance, groceries, and much more!
Or maybe you want to take it to the next level!
Perhaps you’re looking to start a blog and make $3,000+ so you could quit your job.
That’s doable too!
I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s easy, but IT IS very POSSIBLE as long as you are serious about it!
I personally started my blog as a fun side hustle and made some extra income on top of my full-time job. Just like everyone else, I started with $0!
In fact, I barely made any real money for many months in my blogging journey!
But I persisted and kept learning AT MY OWN PACE no matter how discouraged I felt.
AND GUESS WHAT?
I eventually made a few dollars to my first $100, $1,000, and over $10,000 per month within my second year of blogging! All because I kept an open mind and did NOT give up!
Even if it takes me over 1 year, I would still keep going.
No seriously, I gave myself the goal of making my first $1,000 per month within 2 years!
It’s much easier and less overwhelming when you set small and realistic goals at first.
Do not go for a free blogging platform!
Some of you might be thinking of starting a blog for free on WordPress.com or Blogger. DO NOT go that route!
It would be near impossible to make money when you sign up for a free blog because no one will take you seriously.
On top of that, applying to ad networks and affiliate programs will be extremely tough.
If your intention is to make money blogging, you will want to start your blog the correct way by following my easy step-by-step tutorial here. You will thank yourself for doing this!
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
This leads to my next point.
I get many e-mails from readers who say“I already have WordPress.com, but what’s this WordPress.org thatBluehostis asking me to install? I think I already have WordPress?”
Here are my answers to clarify any confusion…
WordPress.com
This is a free platform and you actually DON’T own your blog. That means they can remove any data or content you create on this platform because it is NOT self-hosted by you.
If you are blogging as a hobby or NOT planning to make any money from it, then using WordPress.com is all you need.
WordPress.org
On the other hand, with WordPress.org, you OWN your blog and you have full control when you go self-hosted with a web hosting company likeBluehost.
When you sign up for Bluehost, they will make it easy for you to install WordPress.orgwith their 1-click installation. And yes, WordPress.org is FREE when you go self-hosted with a hosting company like Bluehost.
Pros of going self-hosted with your blog
When you use WordPress.org through a self-hosted website like Bluehost, you have many benefits like:
- Choosing a variety of any free or paid plugin
- Customizing your blog design in whatever way you like (there are many FREE and paid themes to choose from)
- Installing Google Analytics where you can track your readers’ interests. This is a FREE and very powerful tool that can help you grow your blog!
- Flexibility (you OWN your blog so you can monetize it in whatever way you like — ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, set up your own shop, etc.)
Again, if your intention is to make money with your blog, you will want togo with a self-hosted web like Bluehostand install WordPress.org from there.
Read also: How To Start a Money Making Blog on WordPress with Bluehost (Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial)
How do bloggers make money?
After starting your blog and publishing your first 5 to 10 posts, you’re ready to learn how to make money blogging!
There are many ways bloggers make money with their blogs.
For now, as a newish blogger (who you can relate to), I am making money through display advertising and focusing most of my efforts using these winning affiliate marketing strategies.
Based on my personal experience, I can tell you that these two monetization methods are probably the easiest and fastest ways to make money for beginners!
Aside from those two methods, you can also make money blogging by creating your own products and writing sponsored posts.
How do bloggers get paid? Let’s go through each in detail.
1. Display advertising
I mentioned that this is probably one of the easiest ways to make money for beginners.
I say it’s easy because when you first start, you can immediately apply forGoogle AdsenseorMedia.netand start placing ads on your blog to make money from traffic.
BUT, it’s tough to monetize with ads when you’re new because beginners rarely start off with explosive traffic.
I personally started with Google Adsense and was excited to see my first $1.45 in my account, LOL!Woo-hoo, let’s celebrate our first milestone!
Hey, you know it’s that FIRST dollar that counts, right? It tells you that there’s potential to earn thousands of them!
It took me many months before I got my first paycheck from Google which was a couple of hundred dollars.
I was reading a lot about online jobs and how I could make extra money from home.
During that time, I learned that I couldearn money from Google by advertising with Google Adsense as a beginner.
Here’s a screenshot of my Google Adsense earnings for August 2018.
Once your blog traffic increases, you’ll be able to workwithad management companies like Mediavine, which I highly recommend because they are TRULY amazing! Words cannot express how AWESOME they are!
When I grew my blog traffic to ~30,000 page views (25,000 sessions) simply by using these Pinterest traffic tips, I was qualified to apply forMediavine. This allowed me to earn about 5X the amount compared to Google Adsense!
Mediavine’s customer service is beyond amazing because they promptly answer all of your questions and even help you with ad placement to optimize your earnings! 😀
With that said, I went from making ~$0 to a couple hundred, and nowat least$1,000 USD per month just with display advertising alone!
⭐️I have to say it’s mostly thanks to Pinterest, I am able to drive a HUGE amount of traffic to my blog just by using the platform! And we’re talking about over 100,000 monthly page views today!
Here’s a screenshot of my Mediavine earnings in USD for the month. This is just my display advertising earnings alone:
2. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to make money!
Why?
Because no matter how small your blog is (or how little traffic you’re getting at the beginning), anyone can start making money with affiliate marketing immediately!
You DON’T need 100,000 monthly page views to start monetizing!
You can get started with affiliate marketing as soon as you start your blogand write your first 5 to 10 posts!
For those who are new to blogging, you may be wondering what is affiliate marketing?
To answer your question…
You basically recommend or promote a product you love and/or believe would benefit your readers (by using your affiliate or referral link).
When the reader makes a purchase or signs up to something, you’ll get rewarded with a commission at NO extra cost to your reader.
An example of how I make money with affiliate marketing.
Since my blog focuses on personal finance, I like to blog about the best ways to save money and make money.
One of my favorite ways to help readers is by writing posts about the best money-saving tools I personally use to help me save money every day.
For example, I like to talk about free resources like Ebates and Drop.
If you haven’t heard about them, you should click on those links to check out my honest reviews. You could save a pretty good amount of money each year with those resources. The best part is they’re 100% FREE and doest not cost my reader anything!
In fact, when they (or you) sign up, I earn a referral bonus (usually between $1 to $25); and my readers will receive a $5 to $10 welcome bonus just for signing up!
You see, it’s a win-win for everyone!
Another way to make money with affiliate marketing is by joining the Amazon Associates Program. It is free to join!
There are many bloggers who are able to make thousands of dollars each month just by linking recommended products to Amazon.
For example, if I’m a blog that talks about home furniture and I recommend a nightstand product from Amazon tomy readers, I will earn a commission when the reader clicks on my special link and purchases a cart full of stuff on Amazon.
Yes, you can make money even when the reader (who clicks on that special link) doesn’t buy the exact product that the blogger recommends.
So, instead of buying that recommended nightstand, the reader may decide to purchase something else completely random like a pair of shorts or underwear.
In the end, you would still earn a small commission from Amazon on the pair of shorts and underwear that your reader buys.
After reading all of that, you may think affiliate marketing sounds simple.
I’ll tell you that it really isn’t!
If that were true, every blogger would become a millionaire overnight!
You can’t just place affiliate links all over your blog posts or social media and expect someone to buy from you.
Affiliate marketing is very effective when you are 100% honest about your product reviews.
As I mentioned, the great thing about affiliate marketing is that anyone can start using it despite how new their blog is.
I love using affiliate marketing as a monetization strategy on my blog because I can recommend almost any product that I think will be useful for my readers.
Plus, if I’m already enjoying the product, I may as well mention it to my readers because it could help or benefit them as well! Again, it’s a win-win for everyone! 😊
Here are a couple of screenshots of the money I made online as a beginner with affiliate marketing after implementing these strategies.
$9,043:
$504.32:
3. Selling your own products and services
This is a fantastic way to make money from your blog. Instead of selling other people’s products through affiliate marketing, you can create your own products or services and sell directly to your readers and followers.
Here are a few examples of products you can sell:
- Clothing
- Handmade crafts
- E-books
- Printables (e.g. wall art for home decor or printable binders such as budgeting, organization, meal planning, etc.)
- Online courses
On top of that, you can also offer your services online such as 1-on-1 coaching, social media services, Pinterest Virtual Assistant, freelance writing, web design and so much more!
4. Sponsored posts
I left this for last because I don’t personally have experience with this.
I’ve learned that companies don’t pay very much when you have a smaller audience (this is likely the case for beginners). Also, keep in mind that if it takes you a long time to write an article, the return on investment (ROI) may not be as high as implementing some affiliate marketing strategies on your blog.
With that said, I’m going to focus my efforts on affiliate marketing and hopefully create my own product down the road.
If you’re interested, you can still make money through sponsored posts!
Regardless of how little you get paid as a beginner, everyone has to start from somewhere.
Companies will pay you a flat fee for mentioning or writing a review about their product on your blog.
Like affiliate marketing, you should be 100% genuine and honest when you are writing a sponsored post. You can land a sponsored post opportunity when you directly reach out to the company and pitch them your ideas.
Use Pinterest traffic to make money blogging
Yes, you’re going to need some traffic if you want to make more money with your blog.
And do you wanna know the brand new blogger’s secret weapon to drive massive traffic?
📌 Pinterest.
I know some of you may be raising your eyebrow at me thinking,“Say whaaa? Pinterest? Isn’t that just a hub for cutesy crafts, pink unicorns, and pretty decor?” 🦄
Um, yeah… that’s what I thought too.
Yes, it’s true that the DIY, crafts, gift guides, home organization, parenting, home decor, etc. types of blogs do extremely well on Pinterest. But you’ll be surprised at the amount of traffic you can get onto your blog if you learn how to use the platform correctly.
These Pinterest pageview tips will help beginners learn how to get traffic to their blogs.
But seriously, who would’ve thought a blog about money and personal finance could get traffic views from Pinterest?
I also wrote a full blog post that explains how Pinterest can help new bloggers make money almost immediately within their first year.
Again, it’s not to say you’re going to get-rich-quick overnight (and there are no guarantees), but it is a lot easier to get Pinterest traffic compared to Google when you’re a brand new blogger with no authority!
Once you become familiar with Pinterest, it’s time to focus on your Google traffic, which I talk more about later.
🌟My traffic increased from 0 to 20,000 monthly page views within less than six months. Right after that, I was gettingover 40,000 page views per month in my first year of blogging all because I dived right into using Pinterest!
Thanks to Pinterest, I’m able to make over $1,500 USD per month from ads alone (all from traffic)!
At the time of writing, my monthly page views increased to over 100,000!
UPDATE: After receiving so many questions from my readers every single day about how to get traffic on Pinterest, I created this very extensive and comprehensive guide called The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic by Finsavvy Panda. It literally gives you the exact steps I took to skyrocket my monthly pageviews from 0 to over 100,000. These strategies work because I started a second blog in a different niche, which also receives 100,000 monthly pageviews.
Make money blogging without a huge following
There’s a myth that you need everyone on the planet to follow you and a million page views to make money blogging.
I know it’s hard to get over that thinking, but as I said, you need to keep an open mind and tell yourself it’s possible!
I, myself, used to think that you need a huge following; and that you need to be popular in order to make money online.
Well, I was wrong, and I’m SO glad I gave this “blogging thing” a chance.
After having this small blog for over a year, I can tell you for a fact that none of those myths are true.
I was able to make my first $100 blogging with under 300 followers on Pinterest. And I made my first $1,000 with under 800 followers.
And those probably weren’t even my real followers (more like spammers following you hoping you would follow back), haha… so you could think of me having close to 0 followers at that time!
👉 Spoiler alert: though nice to have, your number of followers (at least on Pinterest) don’t really matter all that much. This metric doesn’t determine how much money you’ll make.
Let me ask you a question: Are you here to be popular online, or to make money online? 💵💵💵
[If you’re reading this, I think the answer is obvious, haha]. 🤑
I also want to point out that I rarely (almost never) used Twitter. I don’t even pay attention to Instagram or Facebook! It was too much and I didn’t want to spread myself thin.
When I first started my blog, I heard SO many amazing things about Pinterest, and that’s why I focused most of my efforts on it to drive massive traffic to my blog.
BTW, it’s not to say that followers don’t matter at all.
You will need to build a good amount of followers, but not just any followers. The key is to build true and loyalfollowers over time as you create more content, gain trust, and establish some authority. As a new blogger, these are things I’m still working on. 🙂
💡 PRO TIP: Choose ONE platform and learn it well. Focusing your effort on one thing at a time will yield you higher returns than you trying to be mediocre at everything. I don’t want to sound biased, but Pinterest seems to be most bloggers’ favorite weapon! Trust me, LESS is really more!
After making all those statements, my whole point is to tell you that I’m a no-name blog with very little followers, but I’m still able to make a few to several thousand dollars every month! Overall, I want to let you know that making money with a small and personal blog is possible!
Work on your Google SEO strategies ASAP!
I know you’re here because you were searching the following questions on Google:
- How to make money blogging
- How to make money blogging for beginners
- How do beginner bloggers make money?
- How much money do bloggers make?
- Can you really make money blogging?
- How to make money blogging from home
Chances are you landed on this page because you found me on Pinterest, or because you’re one of my e-mail subscribers.
Not because you found me on Google — hah, I wish!
And to be honest, you’re probably not going to be able to find me on Google (at the time I write this) because I made the biggest mistake ever when I first started my blog…
Can you guess what that mistake is?
Not learning or implementing Google SEO strategies sooner.
If you’re new to this, you’re probably scratching your head wondering, “What is SEO”?
This stands for “search engine optimization”.
All that means is learning how to rank higher on Google(ultimately on page 1) so that you or your blog post could be found by readers; hence giving you organic traffic from Google searches.
I know I just gave you the whole speech about how it’s much easier to drive a ton of traffic and start making money with your blog by leveraging Pinterest. I also said focusing your efforts on one platform at a time is the key to seeing great results.
Those are all true…
BUT I really, and I mean REALLY, regret not learning how to rank better on Google when I first started my blog.
If I had to do this all over again, the only thing I would change is spending a bit more time learning how to optimize my blog posts for Google.
Why?
Because it takes time for Google to recognize and rank you. You’re not authoritative in Google’s eyes when you’re a new blogger and that’s why you need to slowly build a good relationship with Google right from the get-go by following Google’s best practicesfor the long term.
At the end of the day, it’s important to diversify your traffic sources (e.g. Pinterest, Google, e-mail subscribers, etc.) if you want to reduce your risks andcontinue making money with your blog.
For example, if you focus 100% on one traffic source like Twitter, your earnings could potentially vanish overnight if Twitter somehow goes away.
Again, I’m not here to scare you.
I’ve been alive so far making over $10,000 per month just by focusing my efforts on Pinterest (knock on wood 🤛). But now that I’m over two years into my blogging journey, I’m learning how to diversify my traffic to reduce those risks.
Blogging Tools, Resources, and Guides For Beginners
As I said at the beginning of this post, I didn’t really make any money (other than that first $1.45 from Google Adsense) when I was a brand new blogger.
I was still learning how to use WordPress and how to write and structure my blog posts. Gosh, I didn’t even know how to properly insert a featured image on my post!
At that time, I didn’t even know what “affiliate marketing” or “sponsored posts” meant. I thought bloggers made money just from having ads on their blogs. Even with that idea, I didn’t know how ads really worked!
All in all, I had no idea what I was doing!
Through so many hours, days, months, and years, I eventually learned how to navigate my way through. I invested in a few blogging resources at the beginning and one of them was a bundle for $99. The bundle was great and it helped me make my first $100 to $200 with Google Adsense, but I eventually realize the bundle had too many resources that were irrelevant to me Not just that, but it didn’t have a structure, so I was digging through a lot of useless information, which was a waste of time!
I eventually realized that LESS is actually more! Once I focused on guides, courses, and resources that were more specialized in one area of blogging (e.g. Pinterest traffic, affiliate marketing, etc.), I was able to earn over $5,000 per month.
The good thing is I didn’t have to spend a lot when I was a total beginner. I just regret not investing in more focused blogging resources sooner because I had no clue!
To save you time and hassle, you can learn which blogging tools and resources I recommend in the EXACT order when you are a complete beginner.
My very short list of blogging tools and resources that you need as a beginner blogger:
1. 🖥 Basic Bluehost Plan– For just $2.95 a month (again, this low price is only through my link), you can start your blog and monetize it through display advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, creating your own products, and more. Again, you will NEED to go self-hosted if you want to make money blogging.
2. 💎 The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days ($47) – After blogging for over 2 years, I had A LOT of readers who asked me to create an easy-to-follow ebook to help them and other beginners learn how to build and launch their blogs from scratch.
Not only does this ebook guide you with simple step-by-step tutorials, screenshots, and instructions of EXACTLY where to go and what to do after starting your blog, but it also guides you towards the RIGHT pathway of building a profitable blog.
On top of that, this ebook teaches you all the costly mistakes to avoid as a brand new blogger that rarely anyone talks about! There’s more to just starting a blog and diving straight into learning traffic and monetizing strategies. I know because I am guilty of making these costly mistakes and NO ONE warned me! In order to build a successful and profitable blog, you’re going to need a treasure map to help you implement a solid foundation – you can find this secret treasure map here.
3. 📌 📈 The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic ($129) – I spent THOUSANDS of hours learning about Pinterest and seeing what really works and what doesn’t. I could have created this Pinterest traffic guide during my first year of blogging when I received over 80,000 monthly traffic from the platform. Instead, I waited until my 5th year of blogging because I wanted to understand the platform really well and make sure that everything I teach is based on my solid experience. So, FINALLY, I have created this massive Pinterest traffic curriculum that will help you understand how to use Pinterest, so you can increase your pageviews and make money with your blog. This is an extremely valuable Pinterest traffic resource that will help you properly set up your Pinterest business account, and strategize your content and the way you promote on the platform, so you can skyrocket your pageviews! It’s the exact steps I use to help me reach over 100,00 monthly pageviews for each of my two blogs!
🧭 You can use this golden compass to significantly increase your traffic here.
4. 🗓Tailwind Scheduler for Pinterest ($120 per year) – Before using Tailwind, I was manually pinning to get 20,000 monthly page views.
AFTER using Tailwind and implementing Pinterest traffic strategies, my traffic increased to over 40,000 monthly page views, and eventually more than 100,000 monthly page views. As a result, I was qualified to work with Mediavine which allowed me to make $1,000+ USD per month with display advertising.
👉 You can get a FREE 30-Day Tailwind Trial, PLUS a FREE $15 credit when you use my link! 🙂
5. 🎨Canva ($120 per year) – This is my favorite tool to use for designing Pinterest pins. You don’t have to be a graphic designer or pro to make pretty pins like this! It’s super easy to use; plus, it’s free! 🙂
There are a few more blogging resources and tools I invested in, but I only purchased them after when my blog was making more money. I realized that it was time for me to invest back into the blog. If you’re interested, feel free to check out my recommendations page herewhich I will update.
For beginner bloggers, I recommend keeping things simple at the beginning (especially when you’re on a tight budget). I was actually still using a free blog theme for over 2 years and I honestly should’ve upgraded it sooner, but I never had time. So, if you are a beginner and earned your first $500, I highly recommend changing your theme to avoid inconvenience down the road when your blog generates more income.
6. Affiliate Marketing ($197) – Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to make money with a blog. I only recommend doing this after you’ve learned how to get traffic to your site because no traffic, or very little traffic, means no income. Beginners often come to me and ask why they aren’t making money with their blogs yet, and when I audit their sites, the answer is clear – they haven’t even learned how to get traffic to their sites. It’s not possible to monetize a blog when there’s barely any traffic.
Always test and experiment!
I say this all the time in my blog income reports, but I’m going to say it again!
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how you make money with a blog.
I also want to mention that every blogger’s journey is going to be different.
Each blogger isn’t going to have the exact same audience, so things are going to work differently for everyone.
That’s why it’s important to keep testing different things and strategies until something finally clicks!
I was extremely frustrated when I was a few to several months into my blogging journey because I was struggling to make my first $1,000. But by following the strategies taught in the blogging resources I listed above, along with having a lot of persistence, I saw results faster than I could have imagined!
FAQs about how to make money with a blog for beginners
1. How do bloggers get paid?
Bloggers can get paid through display ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and selling their own products or services. I personally make money with display ads, affiliate marketing, and selling my own digital products.
Depending on the monetization strategy you choose and who you work with (e.g., affiliates, sponsors, partnerships, etc.), you can choose the type of payment to receive money. This could include forms such as direct deposit, PayPal, a physical check mailed to you, or other ways of getting money.
2. Can you make $1000 a month blogging?
Yes, you can earn $1,000 a month from blogging. For me, it took several months of experimenting and making mistakes to earn my first $1,000. As I gained more knowledge and worked harder, this amount eventually grew into a full-time income.
You can check out my first income report in July where I made close to $1,000 a month in blogging. This amount grew to $2,797.64 in the next month when I published my second blog income report for August. After that, I was able to grow my blog where I could consistently earn over $10,000 per month.
3. Can you really make money blogging?
Yes, you can certainly earn money through blogging.
Bloggers, on average, make about $35 per hour, showing that blogging can be a real job. But remember, this number won’t be the same for everyone as it depends on various things. In my experience, bloggers who put in the time and some money into their blogs are more likely to earn a full-time income.
You don’t need to spend a lot to start a blog—you might only need between $50 to $300 as a total investment. But, as your blog starts to earn more income, you might want to spend more on it. This could help you grow your blog even more or keep it running well so it keeps making money regularly.
4. How long does it take to make $100 blogging?
Over the years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve encountered a variety of responses from different bloggers. Some say it took them between 1 to 3 months to earn their first $100 from blogging, while others may tell you it took them over 6 months.
Again, those who invest in themselves – both time and a small amount of money at the outset – are likely to see their blogs become profitable more quickly than those who choose not to invest and attempt to learn everything independently. It’s a deeply personal choice, and there is no single ‘correct’ approach.
But if you ask me for an honest opinion, I highly recommend investing money into your blog if you’re serious about generating income with it.
You can check out the full and juicy details of how I made my first $100 with my blog here.
On top of that, I also wrote a separate article on my other blog answering the question, “How long does it take to make money blogging for a beginner“.
5. What is a realistic income from blogging?
I believe that the realistic income from blogging truly varies from person to person. If you’re dedicated and consistently work on your blog, you can realistically earn between $500 and $1,000 per month, even if you treat it as a part-time hobby or a second job.
If you’re genuinely committed and want to turn blogging into a full-time job – dedicating as much time to it as you would to a traditional 9-to-5 role or even a business – you could potentially generate a full-time income of $50,000 to $120,000, or even more.
As your blog grows and you decide to invest in additional resources (e.g., hiring writers, editors, VAs, web designers, tech support, etc.), it could potentially transform into a lucrative passive income stream, earning you more than $50,000 per month. Not many people will decide to take this route because it requires a significant initial investment, both in terms of money and time. Managing a larger team and coordinating various aspects of your blog also come with their own set of challenges. However, for those who are set to earn $50K per month and are willing to take the risk and invest in their blog’s growth, the potential rewards can be substantial.
Based on these scenarios, it’s clear that your potential earnings depend on how much time you’re willing to invest and how much money you’re prepared to put into additional resources. This is something no one really told me about when I first started as a beginner several years ago (and it’s something that you most often won’t hear from other bloggers who are actually making a serious amount of money), so I’d like to share this information to provide a clearer path of what to expect, depending on the route you take.
For beginners, don’t think too far ahead. I encourage you to focus on earning your first $100 to $1,000 before you think about the next steps. Everything happens gradually over time and it always starts with that first small step. 🙂
FAQs about how to make money with a beauty blog
Even though I run a personal finance and lifestyle blog, many of my readers frequently inquire about other blog niches, especially beauty and fashion. Since I personally use beauty products and educate myself extensively on natural beauty remedies, particularly skincare and haircare, I’ve decided to add this section.
Here, I’ll address the most commonly asked questions about starting a beauty blog, driving traffic, and monetizing it.
1. What are some beauty blog post ideas that make money?
In the beauty niche, there’s a wide range of topics you can cover such as makeup, hairstyles, and skincare. You can also focus more narrowly on topics like eyelashes or permanent eyebrows.
From my experience, makeup looks tend to be highly searched for on platforms like Google and Pinterest. Content that pairs a celebrity’s name with a makeup look also tends to perform well.
With high demand for this type of content and the potential for many pageviews, you can earn a good income just from display ads, without needing affiliate links or selling your own products.
For more ideas, you can also check out my post for beauty blog post ideas that many people search for.
I also have a list of fashion blog post ideas, perfect for those who cover beauty, fashion, and lifestyle topics all in one.
2. Do beauty blogs need to be able to solve a problem or is just writing informational posts enough?
When you’re writing beauty content that’s purely informational, you’re essentially addressing a problem.
Whether you’re answering questions like “What is the makeup trend for Fall 20XX?”, “Is Retin-A better than retinol?” or “What does Jennifer Lopez do for her skin?”, such content like this inherently offers solutions.
You may or may not realize that the underlying motivation for these questions is the desire to look good, addressing the broader question: “How can I enhance my appearance?”,“How can I look prettier?”, or “How can I look younger?”
So, even if your beauty blogs feature articles that aren’t explicitly titled as solutions (e.g., you know the typical “how tos” like “how to look attractive” or “makeup techniques for hooded eyes”), they still aim to resolve certain concerns.
3. How to get traffic to a beauty blog and make money?
Statistics indicate that the global beauty industry is projected to reach a value of $579 billion by 2023. As you can see, beauty is undoubtedly a significant niche overall.
It’s undeniable that most women, and many men, are concerned about their physical appearance, making it a topic that’s frequently searched for on platforms like Google and Pinterest, and indeed on any social media platform.
Beauty consistently ranks as a popular and trending topic on Pinterest. Whether the focus is on makeup, hairstyles, nails, skincare, or any other facet of personal appearance, it’s a lucrative topic as people are readily willing to spend money to look their best.
So, if you publish content consistently and use keyword research combined with Pinterest SEO strategies, you’ll set your beauty blog on the path to monetization. As your traffic grows, you can begin to earn through display ads and affiliate marketing, giving your beauty blog a significant income boost.
I dive further into beauty topics in my Pinterest traffic course, The Golden Compass To Pinterest, specifically in Chapter 8: “Blog Posts That Go Viral on Pinterest”. This chapter includes a segment specifically about beauty. I also guide you on leveraging your Pinterest analytics to craft content that can skyrocket your pageviews!
Start your blog today!
After reading all of this, some of you may either be extremely excited or nervous about starting your blog.
For the nervous people, you may be asking, “What if it doesn’t work out?”
I know EXACTLY how that feels because I was in that same position!
In fact, most people are (even the one who are feeling extremely excited)!
To be very honest with you, I’m STILL somewhat nervous about my blog because no one can predict what will happen in the future!
Nothing in life is certain, and I was only willing to try it out because it’s so cheap to start a blog.
It only costs $2.95 per month to get started; plus, you get a FREE domain name. (This low price is only through my link. I don’t know when this deal ends, so you will have to act quick to get this special price along with the FREE domain name!)
I personally went with the most basic plan as a brand new blogger.
My initial thoughts were…
If it doesn’t work out, at least I know I tried it — it’s WAY better than wondering and not taking the leap. I’ve always told myself that life is too short to keep wondering!
You just gotta do it, or you never will!
Click here for my easy step-by-step tutorial on how to start your blog.
Over to you — I hope I answered your question, how to make money with a blog for beginners!Are you super pumped to start your blog today? 🙂
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