*Collaborative post.

So, you’ve started a blog and would like to make a living from it. I mean… who wouldn’t? Talking about the things you love, sharing your ideas and meeting like-minded people plus, earning money from doing all of this? Sounds incredible.

If you haven’t started a blog yet, what’s keeping you from doing it? The BBC published an article on how to make your fortune writing about stuff you love, where they recommend starting a blog. They add that to write a blockbuster blog, you should consider writing about something you love, find your individual voice, post every day if possible, and use other social media platforms to promote your content.

Start an online store.

While you are blogging and writing about your travels or simply about a favourite recipe that you want to share with others, why not consider starting an online store? Ad Lab is a Magento eCommerce agency within London UK, and they recommend creating an online store to complement your blog for extra traffic and monetisation opportunities.

If you already have your blog on the WordPress platform, starting an online store is easy, peasy! WordPress has a plugin called WooCommerce that will allow you to set-up an online store in minutes with secure payments, customisable options, and more. If however, you plan to take it seriously, Ad Lab recommends the Magento platform which comes with a tone of innovative features to help sell more products online.

To gain wider recognition for your website, increase traffic, and ultimately sales, Ad Lab recommends putting your online store up for design awards. Here’s a link to Ad Lab’s portfolio on AWWWARDS which showcases some of their best Magento eCommerce sites.

Affiliate marketing.

In a recent blog post, Life with Baby Kicks commented that affiliate marketing is one of the most popular methods to make money from your blog. She gave the example of “if you are running a parenting blog, you can easily talk about useful products for your readers, such as baby toys and baby carriers, and when your readers click on the links for the products, you receive a commission from that interaction.”

That’s how easy affiliate marketing is! Plus, you don’t have to have a blog to make the most out of affiliate marketing – if you have a considerable following on another platform, share your affiliate links there.

Run relevant ads.

Google AdSense is a great way to generate passive income from your blog. It’s free, quick, and simple. It only requires you to add a little piece of code to your blog (sounds more difficult than it actually is!) and then relevant ads to your content will start to run! When speaking with my friends at Ad Lab, they mentioned that it’s worth doing the Google certifications to help you get the most out of Google Ads. Here’s what Ad Labs Google qualifications look like.

Sponsorships.

Boo Roo and Tiger Too state 5 tips to creating more money, such as if you are a small blogger, you can contact companies and pitch them your ideas for sponsored posts. For bloggers with a larger audience, she mentions that companies will most likely get in touch with you to create content about their brand and/or product. You can also join influencer marketing networks where sponsored jobs are available!

Sell your skills.

Devon Mamma recommends selling the skills you’ve acquired whilst blogging. Whether this is social media management, writing reviews, copywriting, photography, design, or any other skill you might have acquired, you can start selling it! You can also add a hire me page on your blog, so people know you offer those services and can easily reach you if they need your assistance.

Get paid for speaking.

I know, it sounds crazy, but if you become an authority within your niche, podcasts will pay you to be a guest on their website, and exposure on these podcasts will open up traffic and sales to your website/online store. Here’s an example from Ad Lab who appeared on James Sinclairs podcast about growing businesses online – great listen if you have a spare hour 😉