So you’ve started a blog. That’s fantastic! Whether you’re just starting out or already have thousands of followers, you may be wondering how you can make money using your blog. Well, it’s honestly quite simple.

I suggest starting sooner rather than later, even if you don’t have a single follower. I began making money within the first week my blog was published and at the time, I was only getting the occasional random reader.

Join Affiliate Programs

This way of making money with your blog is great because you’ll be making money even as you’re sleeping. You simply put links to affiliates in your blog posts and watch the dollars add up.

Amazon Affiliate Program

This affiliate program is probably the easiest to put into your blog posts. You can find almost any product on Amazon that can be associated with your blog topic. For example, this article is about making money blogging so I might tell readers to check out this book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2F18ZNZ(affiliate link). Go ahead and click on it! The link will route to a product on Amazon that the reader can either purchase or not. It’s seriously that easy!

Pros:

• Offers a variety of products that you can link to.
• Readers can purchase anything on Amazon within 24 hours of clicking on your link and you’ll make a commission.
• Easily share products and recommendations via Amazon affiliate links on your blog posts.
• Earn commissions for products purchased, free-trials, and other Amazon programs.
• Useful tools like Amazon SiteStripe and NativeAds that make it easier to get clicks and link products.

Cons:

• Some sites may experience low earnings per click so you may end up with hundreds of clicks per dollar earned.
• Minimum dollar amount needed to get paid is higher than some other affiliate programs.

ShareASale

This is one of my favorite affiliate programs because they have so many companies that I’m personally interested in promoting. ShareASale is a site that allows people to sign-up with a number of different companies to become affiliates. And of course, it’s free to sign-up. Some companies that I personally recommend:

There are so many other companies on ShareASale that it’s certainly worth your time to sign-up.

Pros:

• Payments are made to you once you’ve reached the relatively low minimum dollar amount.
• A variety of popular companies to choose from that can fit into any website.
• Receive cash for referring other affiliates.
• Each company has their own set of rules for posting links and are usually easier going than many other affiliates.

Cons:

• May be difficult to get approved to become an affiliate for certain companies based on your website and its content.

Note: Always research the terms, conditions, and policies of any affiliate company and individual affiliates before advertising. This will allow you to avoid not getting paid due to violation of program policies.

Write E-Books

If you’re a blogger, writing e-books will come as second nature. You can use some of the information you’ve already posted on your blog to make e-books. You may be wondering why people would ever buy something that they could get for free on your blog. Well, it all comes down to convenience. People don’t want to have to search through dozens to hundreds of articles to find the information they’re interested in reading.

E-books don’t have to be very long. I recommend at least writing 40 pages if you’re going to publish an e-book. It’s best to advertise your short works as “guides” and price them accordingly.

Amazon Publishing

Amazon now offers self publishing that makes it super easy to get your e-books on the market, and fast. The service will walk you through how to convert your e-book for publishing, how to create a book cover, and how to price it to make maximum commission. Take a look at my e-book for example: Whole And Happy Living: Simple Steps To Improve Mind, Body, and Relationships.

The awesome part about publishing on Amazon is that you can even earn royalties on your book if it is read for free. However, once you publish on Amazon, you are no longer allowed to sell your book through any other medium. You can feel free to un-publish your work at anytime though.

Give Away Your E-Book For Free

You can give away your book in return for e-mail followers. You can download a widget like MailChimp that will send your e-book to a follower as a reward for signing-up to receive e-mails from your site.

Get More Followers

The more traffic you get, the more likely it will be that you’ll make money. Focus on getting your site noticed by posting relevant information frequently and keeping it updated.

Utilize Social Media

Connect your site to as many social media outlets as possible including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Also consider linking your site to Google+ and LinkedIn, especially if you feel like your followers are mainly on those platforms.

Get Yourself Noticed

Be helpful on social media sites such as Quora and Yahoo Answers. These sites don’t allow affiliate links but you can certainly post blog articles from your site if they are relevant. Don’t overdo it though; you want to make sure that you are genuinely trying to help others so you can establish a good reputation.

Be careful posting your personal blog links on certain sites as you may get yourself banned. Always read the terms and conditions before posting so you don’t violate any policies. However, many sites will allow you to post your personal site in your user profile which can then get you the clicks that you’re looking for.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must for businesses that want to get more traffic. However, this may not be worth it for the beginner or a personal blogger as you want to establish yourself before investing in SEO. Many SEO services come at a fee so weigh out the pros and cons before putting money into this.

You can set up your site for free with Google Search Console to monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results. They also allow you to see your traffic and update your sitemap to help optimize your search results.

Schedule Social Media Posts

You want to ensure that your Social Media is constantly being updated to stay relevant but sometimes you simply don’t have time. That’s where companies like Tailwind come into play. You can set up automatic posts that keep your social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram, updated constantly. They also send you newsletters that include tips and tricks for getting more traffic to your site.

If you’re interested in starting your own blog, start with a site like WordPress, or get more information here: A Quick Guide To Starting A Successful Blog.

Disclaimer: This post is the opinion of the author. The information provided in this post is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to provide medical, legal, or other professional advice. Read and/or use any of the information from this post at your own risk. Some or all of the links displayed on this site may be affiliate links.