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Successful Blogging

A step-by-step blueprint for beginning bloggers

The Truth About Making Money With Your Blog

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Last week I had a coaching call with Sally, a new client with a 2-year-old fashion blog.

I asked how she was making money with her blog and she replied “ads”. So, just like Dr. Phil, I asked, “And how's that working for you?”

making money with your blogShe went on to say that in November, she had 83,132 visitors and made $194 from Google. You didn't read that wrong – about 83 THOUSAND visitors (NOT page views – actual people) were stopping by her blog monthly and from that, she was making about $200… A MONTH!

The Last Thing You Should Do

Here's the deal:

…putting advertising on your site to make money is the last thing you should do.

Ads make your site look uninviting and pay you practically nothing until you have close to half a million views a month…and how long is that going to take? They slow down your site and keep your visitors from signing up to your email list.

So:

…what's the bottom line?

Give It Up

Give up the ads and start selling your own product, service or course.Click To Tweet

Bloggers that create their own eBooks, teach their own courses or offer one-on-one coaching are making way more than they would make with ads.

Want to know the best part?

If that product, course or coaching solves one of their readers' main problems, then they make a lot more.

And if you need help to get started or more info, click the button below and get my free eCourse “5 Day Proven Blog Money Making Techniques That Work”

GET MY eCOURSE NOW

How To Have A Successful Blog

This is the formula I teach my clients…

  1. Great content plus
  2. Free traffic plus
  3. A strong offer equals a profitable blog.

make money with your blog

You've already been creating great content and you are building up your traffic every month.

Now you might be wondering:

Just how do you create a strong offer?

By listening to your audience – on blog comments, social media, and your own reader survey questions – and building what they already want and need.

Here are some examples of strong offers. (And notice how they solve a problem for their customers and clients).

Freelance Services

Corinne offers small businesses that are too busy to write. She offers freelance writing services for blog posts, articles, eBooks, and press releases.

Coaching

Tor sells one-on-one coaching so his entrepreneurial clients can set goals, save time and increase their results.

Consulting

Kyla is a business coach and digital strategist who offers business strategy consulting to passionate, dedicated entrepreneurs.

Services

Jane makes her clients' best-selling authors without them having to even write the book.

Brandon prevents WordPress headaches by providing WP support and maintenance for his blogger clients.

Courses

Dre offers solopreneurs visual branding via a DIY course plus she has a one-on-one branding mentorship, freelance design services, and an eBook.

Each of these bloggers has a profitable, successful blog with strong offers…

…offers that make them money month in and month out.

The Truth About Making Money

Ads are not going to be the answer to making money with your blog.

Instead, focus your efforts on selling your own products, courses, and services.

And if you need help to get started or more info, click the button below and get my free eCourse “5 Day Proven Blog Money Making Techniques That Work”

GET MY eCOURSE NOW

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Sue,

    a million thanks for mentioning me on your blog. I appreciate it big time, my friend.

    I totally agree that using Ads is NOT the best way to go.

    Traffic doesn`t really matter.

    I know what you are thinking: "Tor, say whaaat?"

    Yeah, you read correct.

    In order to have a profitable blog, there are one thing that matters.

    And the word is…

    CONVERSION.

    There are two types of conversions:

    – Conversion from traffic to subscriber (targeted subscribers)

    – Conversion from subscriber to customer (providing awesome product / services)

    Once you are able to attract the right leads (read: subscribers) and get them on your email list, and then nurture than list providing awesome value, and at the end offer them great product / services that solves THEIR biggest struggle…

    …the more likely you are to succeed and become profitable.

    However, if you are NOT able to attract the right clients, or your niche is too broad, you will fall flat on your face…

    and your blog will just add to the list of the other gazillion of unprofitable blogs.

    Yup, that was one of the hard lessons I learned after getting featured on 85 blogs and got over 3000 subscribers in my first year of blogging.

    But once I started to narrow down my niche to blogger outreach – EVERYTHING changed.

    Have an awesome day, Sue!

    Tor
    Tor Refsland recently posted…How To Get Featured On 85 Blogs In 12 Months – Blogger Outreach StrategyMy Profile

    Reply

  2. Hey Sue,

    This is a topic that is close to my heart. Who doesn't want to make money online? But the methods we use decide whether we make it the professional way or the unprofessional way.

    Selling your own products and services is one of the best ways to infuse personality into your business, build authority and great for branding.

    Thanks for bringing this up Sue. I'm sure your Course will be most wanted by bloggers who want to make money!

    Cheers,

    Jane.
    Jane recently posted…One magical thing that will solve the problem of stagnation in your businessMy Profile

    Reply

  4. Hi Sue,
    This just summarises the blueprint for every blogger who wants to eventually make money from their blog. It's not just about what everybody does that fetches them money, but what's specific about your blog that people will fall over themselves to invest in.
    I'm already on the list.
    Thanks for showing the way.

    Reply

  6. Hi Sue!

    Thanks for mentioning me in this post, I really appreciate it!

    As you know, one of my pet peeves is seeing tons of ads on blogs. It makes me sad, because I know those bloggers aren't making any money with their ads, AND they are driving traffic away!

    The key to making money from your blog without having a ton of traffic is knowing what your readers want to buy, and building trust with those readers.

    You have taught me so much, and I know that anyone who takes your course will come away with a clear sense of how to ACTUALLY make money from their blogs!

    Reply

  7. What a simple and yet SO true framework, Sue! I've learned so much about this trio from you, I can't thank you enough! Thanks a TON for the shout out love in this post. Here's to more free traffic, great content and strong offers this year…I can't wait to see our mastermind kicking ass and taking names..literally! 😉

    Reply

  8. In 2013 I launched my own eBook on Blogging and it was a very detailed and to the point guide, but since there were already a lot of more guides available in the market. Mine was not selling that much. I Sold more than 100 units, but then realized that the efforts are more than the profits.

    I must say that it does requires a lot of efforts and promotion to sell your own products. On the other hand, I found selling services a better option.
    Bilal Ahmad recently posted…10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media for SocietyMy Profile

    Reply

  9. Thank you so much for mentioning me in your post Sue Anne! I appreciate it so much.

    This is a great post for those just starting out (cause really, we ALL want to make some money with our blogs right?). I think there are still many people that go into blogging with high hopes of making tons of money, only to realize that ads are NOT profitable at all.

    I do like Tor's approach to making money and traffic. It's not the quantity of people you have visiting your blog, it's the quality.

    Reply

  10. Hi Sue Anne,

    It's so true….having your own products and/or services on your blog is the best way to go. There is nothing worse than going to a blog post to read something and there is an overload of advertisements on the side bar and popping up to buy irrelevant things that don't match up with the content. Phew…

    Having your own opt-ins and offers can be fee to paid. Give a strong call to action and remind readers that you have something for them.

    Thanks Sue Anne!

    -Donna

    Reply

  11. Love the insights in this post, Sue! Ads may seem like the easiest monetization strategy, but they're not worth it if you don't happen to own Huffington Post. And Tor's comment is just spot on!

    Reply

  13. Hi Sue,

    This is really an inspiring article. As a blogger I tried many ways for making money through my blog but my efforts were unsuccessful. I thought Google AdSense was the only way for making money. Thank you Sue for this informative article.

    Reply

  14. It varies from niche to niche. If you blog attracts the buyer kind of audience then promoting a product is definitely more worthful than displaying ads.

    I run a tech blog, where I publish how-to guides and with around 20,000 unique visitors daily I make about $1200 per month through Adsense + 1 more ad network. For such generic how-to tech blogs, it is difficult to come up with a product idea. The audience is mostly looking for "free advice" or "solutions" to their problem. Not at all looking to buy anything.

    This is one major area of blogging and there are lots of big names like Mashable, Lifehacker all of whom monetize through Adsense primarily.

    Further more trying to offer freelance services is also difficult ( I tried it on my tech blog ) simply because by the time you learn the hideous art of stealing traffic (and eventually ad clicks) you don't want to do anything other than writing more blog posts. It makes you feel more and more independent.

    Yes, its possible to get lots of subscribers. Even without any optin or anything I get 2-3 signups daily and have thousands of them. But nothing to sell ! Lol !
    Silver Moon recently posted…How to get allintitle and allinurl data for keywords using SeoStackMy Profile

    Reply

  17. Hello Sue,

    This was my very first visit to your place that was recommended to me by one of my blogging heroes, Ryan Biddulph.

    As an ancient (70 years plus) yet relatively new blogger I truly appreciated your content and the way you made the concept of achieving a profitable blog easy and simple to understand….although the rewards no doubt will be in the impelentation of your excellent advice.

    At this early stage of my blogging career I have managed to create just three products so far. Two I give away to build my subscriber base and one is a paid offer that is obviously "not strong" using your description as I've only managed 19 sales so far!

    After reading your post I now realize my offers are my weakness. Apart from the small number of sales my subscriber growth is also very slow – sure they are extremely responsive but I need a heck of a lot more of them!

    i've joined your training program and excited to learn from you Sue.

    Also shared this post widely as I truly believe there are many bloggers like me who are missing the mark as far as optimizing the profit potential of their blog.

    Thank you again for sharing your expertise – loved it!

    Best wishes from a remote Thai village blogger

    Peter
    Peter Beckenham recently posted…5 Affiliate Marketing Lessons I Learned From a Thai Village HeadmanMy Profile

    Reply

    • Any friend of Ryan's is a friend of mine, Peter!

      I'm proud of you that you have a paid product. And the number of sales is just a start. Make sure you presell it and launch it four times a year.

      Thanks for coming by and for leaving a comment on your first visit. You are now a member of The Successful Blogging Team!
      Sue

      Reply

  19. Hello Sue,

    This is my second comment on your blog. Thanks for replying to my first comment. That made me read more articles on your blog and share my 2 cents 🙂

    I have been blogging from 7 years now and tried various blog monetization methods. I must say ads are not good for user experience. I was also making few cents serving Google ads on my blog.

    Then I came to know about affiliate marketing and now it is the only source of my online income. It is one of the best blog monetization methods bloggers should use.

    I will share my experiences with you on your latest posts. See you soon 🙂

    Thanks,

    Ankit
    Ankit Singla recently posted…Why Google Hate Your Blog Images and How To Fix Them?My Profile

    Reply

  21. Sue Anne,

    Years ago I was taught to put as much advertising on my blog as I could and that was supposed to make me money. I never did understand how it would work and it did not work.

    I pretty quickly took all of the ads off of my blog and have never put them back.

    I really believe that it is through selling products or services that your targeted audience will be interested in is the only way to really make money on a blog.

    I have not done a lot with my blog for a year or so due to family issue but am determined this year is going to be different.

    I have a product that I have been sitting on for a while and I intend to release it later this year. I am going to change the face of my blog, implement a coaching service and create a new product to give away. These things combined with getting out there and becoming a part of a blogging community I think are the way to move forward with a blog.

    I loved the examples of what others are doing to make their blogs profitable. It gives me some more ideas of what I can do.

    Dee Ann Rice
    Dee Ann Rice recently posted…It’s All In A ConversationMy Profile

    Reply

  22. Hey Sue,

    Money is always the concern for people who enter in the field of online business. But are they doing it the right way? As you have mentioned that people should give up on the ads, they should start selling.

    Maybe some services which are needed in today's era of technology. Though it would require great efforts to create your own product, but still hard work pays off.

    Glad to read this post.

    Hope you are enjoying the day.

    ~Ravi
    Ravi Chahar recently posted…Are You Not Able To Login To Your WordPress Admin Panel?My Profile

    Reply

  24. This blog post of yours ignited me to blog about how I use my blog to sell my product, services, or in my case — myself! Coming from what you wrote above, "Don't sell your blog to make money. Use your blog to sell yourself!" ? I'll tweet you the link.

    Reply

  25. OMG is all over my mouth.

    Indeed this is a captioning secret to clean, clear blogging style.

    I feel nourished with all I have read.

    Been blogging for 3years now and been somewhat battling with questions which you just answered all in one article.

    Thanks.

    Bookmarking your blog right away.

    Reply

  26. Very interesting article. I was almost sure that ads are not the way to go for a small blog. I actually was thinking to also write a post about it, although I do not have solutions for making money. Your suggestion make sense and I have to consider them.

    Reply

  27. Hello Sue, i'm doing blogging since 2012. I'm actually a web developer and seo analyst. I started it doing for others designing my clients website then one day i decided to create it for my self.

    Reply

  28. I had also a vision for my blog. Getting good traffic and using affiliate ads for making money. But I was getting less traffic. So I started providing services and found it to be more profitable. With just 3000 visitors monthly I had 4 leads who had asked me to build their business website in wprdpress.

    I earned around 2000$ for four website which I build in 1 month deadline. So my profit with just daily visits of 100 gets me good business. So I'm focusing now on services only.
    Dumaji recently posted…Top 5 Free Latest Productivity Tools to Help Newbie EntrepreneursMy Profile

    Reply

  33. I am learning so much already that i wished i could have put into practice earlier. as I have been blogging for over a year. i thought about buying facebook ads, google adsense, and anything i could to get more eyes on my blog. My site is about dealing with menopause, and while there is plenty to write about and i love doing it, my readership often is less than 10 people, except for once it was 150, when i was following up on some free resources from Carol Tice.( Make a Living Writing). I will now retool the blog to solve more problems and wish you had a memberhsip site that could be joined on a monthly basis, as coaching is very expensive. Thanks again and looking forward to learning some new tips and tricks even at age 63.

    Reply

    • We are in a similar age group, Patricia! No matter how long you have been blogging, you can pivot and get more traffic. Have a great Lead Magnet to get people to sign up for your list and send them weekly emails on your guest posts, blog posts, podcast interviews, etc. that you will work on getting 🙂

      Thanks for your comment. I'll let you know if I ever do a membership.
      Sue

      Reply

  36. Nice blog Sue. I think blogs like these are very helpful for people who wanted to gain knowledge on how to monetize their blog.

    Most of the people who start their blog do it with their passion towards their niche. But do not make use of various ways to monetize it.

    Even if they monetize, most of them are aware only of Google adsense.

    Blogs like these can be of really a great help to them.

    Thanks

    Reply

  37. Wow! I am glad I read through this! I am currently using adsense and amazon affiliates, but I learned that I can be doing so much more! Thank you for all of your awesome advice!

    Reply

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