I was just in Wealthy Affiliate when I saw someone in Live Chat ask a question. “I just started. How much money can I make?” I decided I would answer some blogging questions I see all the time from new members, including…”Can you really make money blogging?” “How much money can you make from blogging?” and “How fast can you make money blogging?”
Can You Really Make Money Blogging?
Yes.
That was easy, wasn’t it? lol
OK, let’s discuss a little more. Yes, you can absolutely make money blogging. Here are 11 success stories to prove it.
The thing is, it takes things that a lot of people don’t have:
- Patience
- Persistence
- Perseverance
- Hard Work
- Diligence
- Continuous Learning
Most important, it takes a strong, clear image in your mind of exactly what you want to accomplish. (If you have that, you will be led down the path to success and it will be a much smoother path.)
The thing with blogging is that you have to put in a lot of work up front with no reward. It’ll likely be 6 months, maybe more (sometimes a lot more), before you see any income. A lot of people can’t get past that and so they give up too quickly.
Blogging is like planting a garden.
You put effort into the garden in the Spring. You prepare the soil and get it ready for planting. Then you add the seeds. You water the seeds. You pull out the weeds. You take good care of your garden.
And then eventually plants start to sprout. Little by little.
A little later you have full plants with ripe fruits and vegetables. Did it happen overnight? No. Do you have to be patient to reap your rewards? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes!
Blogging in the same thing. It’s a garden. You plant the seeds by writing blog posts. You tend to your garden and take good care of it by continuously and consistently adding more content.
Eventually you’ll get a little bit of traffic here and there. Maybe you’ll even make a little sale now and again. This is the sprouting phase.
Finally, your garden will grow big and lush. You’ll have consistent traffic and consistent income. Unlike a garden, it never dies out. It just keeps growing and growing. You can have a whole orchard if you want. (As long as you keep tending to it.)
But most people aren’t willing to wait that long. Even though it’s worth it.
How Much Money Can You Make from Blogging?
There isn’t really a set amount. You can make as much money blogging as you want. It just depends on your level of effort, how much time you have to put into it and if you can be patient enough to keep writing when you’re not making any money.
You also have to make sure you pick a niche that makes money and helps solve people’s problems.
(Don’t know what any of this means? You can check out my Free Guide – 4 Steps to Affiliate Success.)
If you looked at the Success Stories article I posted above, there are bloggers making different amounts of money. Again, it’s up to YOU.
Can you put in the time and effort to really succeed at blogging? It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. Better than sitting in some gray cubicle all day. (I freaking hate cubes.)
Check out these blog income reports for more inspiration.
How Fast Can You Make Money Blogging?
Again, you aren’t likely going to make money fast with blogging. I always tell people to give it a good, solid year. And that’s not a year when you write a post or two a month. I mean, give it a GOOD year when you’re writing posts on a consistent basis.
Need money now? Continue working your regular job, and do your blogging on the side. You HAVE to give it time and nurture it, just like that garden.
I hate to be a bummer and I can probably get you more excited if I told you can make TONS of money really fast. That’s what a lot of the make money online products do.
But I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want to attract people to my site who want the easy way out. There’s no point in that because those people are going to give up anyway.
I want to attract people to my site who are ready and willing to put that time in. (And who will enjoy the ride along the way.) Because they know it is worth it for the financial freedom they will have in the future.
Which type of person are you? Do you want the easy path where you’re going to give up anyway? Sorry, but blogging’s not for you.
Or do you want to put the work in NOW so that you can reap the rewards later? You’ll be SO much farther ahead of the “easy way out” guy.
How Do You Make Money Blogging?
The short answer is that you write content that people are searching for, help answer their questions and help solve their problems. Then, you can also promote products and services to them that they buy through your blog and you get a commission for it.
This is called affiliate marketing. It’s what I currently use here on this site. There are actually 4 main ways of making money blogging. You can read the article to get more information about each of these, but they are:
- Ads
- Sponsored Posts
- Sell Your Own Products or Services
- Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is my favorite and the article talks about why. If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, you can download my Free guide, 4 Steps to Affiliate Success.
How to Make Money Blogging for Free?
You can certainly start blogging with free tools and resources. In fact, my Resource Guide has some suggestions for you. Realistically, if you want to grow your blog big (and why wouldn’t you? That’s when you can REALLY make money), you will need to invest in some things.
Here are some things I have invested in so far:
- Training & Courses (SUPER important so you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, making money will take even longer. In fact, you’ll likely give up before you truly get started without the proper direction.)
- Email Autoresponder
- Paid Theme & Plugins
- Self-Devlopment and Business Books
- Scheduling Tool for Pinterest (See why here.)
I’m sure there will be more to come too! And that’s OK. That’s what it takes to grow. You don’t have to know about all of that when you’re first starting. Little by little it all comes together.
Any More Blogging Questions?
I hope I helped answer some of your blogging questions. These are the questions I see out there in the interwebs and in Wealthy Affiliate when people are just starting out. If you have any more questions, I’d be happy to try to help you answer them! Leave me comments below.
I’d also love to hear what you think about blogging? Have I dissuaded you at all? I sure hope not! i just like to give people realistic expectations. Blogging is a lot of fun and absolutely worth the time and effort! Grow your garden! 🙂
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I think everybody pretty much know money can be made from blogging but people are discouraged because of the notion that blogging is for writers. Your article was very encouraging especially for a newbie like me. Should I blog because I’m passionate about a subject or because I want to make money blogging?
I go back and forth on that one, Louis. I originally thought that you should follow your passion. But that’s not always going to make you money. Ideally, whatever you’re really passionate about should also be a topic that makes money! lol
I have also read someone who said you can get REAL passionate about a subject when it’s making you money. True! haha
The thing is, if you don’t enjoy what you’re writing about, then you might stop writing. It’s really up to you what path to take. Think about who you can help in whatever it is that you’re thinking of blogging about. Are they willing to spend money to solve their problems? That’s the main question to answer.
I actually remember one website that actually made a post like this and she said she wasn’t able to see a dime out of her blog in 5 years even though she was doing a lot of the right things! You really do need persistence and hard work to see results. However, that’s not all you need. You need some guidance (otherwise you can make costly mistakes) and be able to see your mistakes so you can work smart (not harder) so you can see results even faster.
It really is how much we put into it that matters.
That’s interesting that someone out there was blogging for five years and didn’t see a dime. Do you remember what her blog was about?
I should have mentioned that WHAT you blog about is important. Certain topics make more money than others. If you have a blog that’s just about your life or just things that you enjoy talking about, then you probably wouldn’t make money with it.
Gotta think about who you can help and serve.
Hello Christina,
The step by step instructions and quality that one need to prosper as a blogger were really easy to follow and understand. I’m going to follow all these strategies from this article and going to start now! Moreover, I just started affiliate marketing this year and I’m up and ready to make it big in this online business. Thank you for sharing this nice piece of information with us.
Good for you, you can do it! Just keep following your path.