Most of us blog because we enjoy it, because we want to get our opinions circulated or our names known, because we’re passionate about a subject, or whatever. If we can actually monetize our blogging activity, all the better.
I personally am all in favor of the idea of earning money while doing something you love — there’s no reason the two need be opposed to each other. But I think most bloggers approach this question the wrong way. They slap a few ads on their blog and hope they get enough traffic that the ad clicks will yield them revenue.
And it will. About 58 cents, if they’re lucky.
The Right Way
The right way is more subtle and takes longer, but is a far better bet and is much more likely to generate sustainable income. This second way involves finding a niche in which you can position yourself as a knowledgeable person, produce quality content, and then make your own products (or affiliate products) available to the audience you attract.
Now this strategy repels some people, because they have no product and cannot imagine what product they could create. This obstacle can be overcome, though. I strongly recommend you read Blog Profits Blueprint, the free book by Yaro Starak. I read it last year, though he now has an updated edition for 2016. His strategy, which is exactly what he himself has used in his over ten years of blogging, is much more realistic and doable. Yaro, my guest on episode 572 of my show, is a smart entrepreneur, and I guarantee you’ll be glad you read him.
Definitely listen to our conversation, too. You’ll get plenty of insights from it.
Now on Yaro’s book page, he speaks about earning $10,000 per month while working on a blog just two hours a day. I can already hear the cynics. But he is not saying this will happen tomorrow, or that it’s guaranteed to happen at all. That it is eminently doable cannot be doubted; I know plenty of people who earn five-figure monthly incomes online. But you have to put in the work at the beginning, and you have to make sure you’re working smart, not just working hard. Hence Yaro’s book.
If I were starting out as a blogger, I would go into it with Yaro’s strategy at the forefront of my mind, and stay focused on it like a laser beam. If you read his book, you’ll be able to start blogging the right way, without any detours or dead ends.
(Disclosure: some links at TomWoods.com, like the Amazon widget above, are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you click through and buy something.)