10 Ways To Make Money As A Part-Time Blogger

So, you’re thinking of blogging as a side hustle… or do you already have a blog and want to start monetizing it?

You’ve come to the right place! No matter which group you belong to, I’ve prepared something that can help you earn at least a few hundred dollars more per month – even if you only have 10-20 hours to work on your blog per week. Below you’ll find a comprehensive overview of ten simple ways how you can make money as a part-time blogger. It’s not a walk in the park but it’s possible and you can do it. Allow me to show you how.

10 Ways To Make Money As A Part-Time Blogger:

1. Display Advertising

One of the most reliable ways to make money online is through advertising. One of the great advantages of this option is the minimal effort it requires on your part. All you need to do is sign up with an online ad platform, insert a piece of code on your blog, and wait for your readers to click. Google AdSense would be a great place to start as the requirements are minimal. I’m sure you’ve seen it on other blogs. It’s a free advertising service that allows web publishers to serve automatic text, video, image, and interactive media ads on your website. Once a visitor clicks on one of those ads (or even sees it), you get a few cents or dollars (depending on the niche you’re working in). Once you grow your traffic, you can sign up with premium advertisers who specialize in advertisement design, giving you higher rates. You can expect to earn something between $12 and $24 per 1000 views of these display ads. So, if you can write content that attracts many readers, this can become a pretty stable and profitable side hustle. I wouldn’t count on earning big bucks with this method only, but it can be a great start if you’re new to monetizing your blog or developing any side hustle. Once you earn your first few cents, your life will never be the same. It’s not about the money – it’s about the visceral knowledge that you can escape 9-5 – if you only try hard enough.

2. Affiliate Programs

Affiliate marketing can be a source of enormous profits, especially if you pitch great products to a niche audience or have high levels of daily traffic. You’ll get the gist of it because the rules are very simple. Affiliate programs depend on you promoting a product or service and getting paid for every time you contribute to a sale. In practice, this could come down to creating product reviews and then including affiliate links within them, or simply mentioning products you love within your regular blog posts. Be authentic, be creative, and your readers will gladly follow your recommendations. There are a lot of networks out there that have affiliate offers such as Click Bank. The percentages here are not too high and usually oscillate between 5-10% of the value of the product. But the great thing is that each link is being tracked by an affiliate platform so even if someone buys after one or two weeks, you still get paid. You can start by looking at products you already use that your readers could find helpful. Then try finding an affiliate program for these. Keep in mind, that you have to encourage readers to buy the products, so only choose items you can wholeheartedly recommend.

3. Create and Sell Your Digital Products

If you constantly create fresh content for your blog, consider creating a condensed version of your knowledge and expertise and put it in an eBook or a video course. It should be relatively easy to produce it and you can use existing content to come up with chapter ideas. The topic is up to you – it can include new information; beyond the stuff, you share on your blog or a collection FAQ with answers. Once you have the content, you can convert it to PDF, use a tool like Canva for the cover design, and start distributing the eBook. Remember that it can also be used to promote your brand. Just use your knowledge and engagingly create value for your readers. To create income from this type of side hustle, you would need to promote your digital product within your blog posts and use a simple plug-in like Easy Digital Downloads to sell it. Another great way to sell digital products is through email. That’s why it’s so crucial that you build your email list as soon as possible.

4. Attend Public Speaking Gigs

With the growing following, you can go beyond a simple side hustle to establish a reliable online presence and grow your brand. You can utilize this recognition and get offers for public speaking gigs as well as podcasts and interviews. Many bloggers get invited as speakers or moderators and make money through that channel. Additionally, speaking at conferences, whether you are paid or not, helps promote the blog and you as a brand. If you are proficient in making contacts and public speaking, you will be able to find many new prospects and business opportunities there.

5. Host Webinars And Promote Your Products

Hosting webinars is a great way to broaden your audience, share experiences, and build awareness of your brand among potential customers. But did you think of hosting a paid one to make it a source of income? They are similar to online courses, with the main difference being, that it’s a live broadcast that allows you to ask questions and explore the topic in detail. They can be used to make your ideas more concrete, establish your authority, and build a bond with your audience. According to the Content Marketing Institute, over 61% of marketers use webinars as a tactic for their content marketing strategy and a single webinar could get you over 1,000 leads! Hosting webinars is especially great if you have a devoted audience, based either on your email list or a Facebook group. It also gives you a great opportunity to pitch some of your digital products while you share valuable knowledge.

6. Start a Consulting or a Coaching business

Think about your blog in terms of a private platform with you as an authority figure. Your regular readers come back because they are genuinely interested in what you have to convey. For this reason, it is worth considering offering educational material in the form of one-on-one consulting or coaching sessions. That way you can focus more on strategy and advice to help your clients become more effective. Regardless of your field of expertise, there is always more than one way to turn your information or talent into useful content for others. Think about it like creating a bridge for your clients, from point A to point B. Depending on your wants and needs you can use private calls, group calls, or email coaching to help your clients. You can start by offering services on your existing blog, just create a page where they can request more information.

7. Write Sponsored Blog Posts

If you’re not interested in using ads on your blog but still want to monetize it, you could venture into sponsorships. Unlike ad networks where you can lose control over what gets displayed on your site; with sponsorship, you can choose which product to represent, talk about, and promote to your readers. In a sponsored post, you typically review a product or show how a blog owner is using a specific product for professional or private purposes. Sponsored articles are a great way to earn reliable income through your blog since you know exactly how much you will earn by publishing a certain post. Once you establish your online presence, you’ll have a higher chance of getting approached by brands and companies that will want to use your platform for promotional purposes. You can also actively reach out to brands and pitch your sponsored post ideas. The price per post you can expect varies dramatically based on the amount of traffic you’re getting each month, but it’s typically something between $50 and $300. To ensure a steady source of income over time, try to negotiate on a series of posts over time, rather than doing just one. Also, don’t hide the fact that some of your posts are sponsored. Be honest with your audience and choose brands you feel comfortable working with! Need more info about making money online? Check out 48 Ways To Earn Money As A Writer and if you’re into earning passive income with your blog, check out this article.

8. Sell Physical Products Related to The Topic of Your Blog

We live in a time where bloggers can become real celebrities and create brands based on their interests. Depending on what you write, you can create a product line inspired by your content. It can be merch or accessories, the sky is the limit. If your blog attracts a large audience, you can sell branded products not only to promote your blog but also to enhance your online presence. And what if you don’t know what to sell? Look into opening your online store. Just remember, it takes a lot of work to create or buy the products and ship them out. It’s rewarding, but you need to get your “distribution plan” in line before anything happens.

9. Create Members-Only Content

Membership-restricted areas are also a good option if you’re not keen on running ads or writing sponsored posts. A membership site is an area of your online business restricted by a barrier of entry, which could be paid or based on a subscription. Once granted access, members can get exclusive content and privileges. You can also offer various levels of membership with different content. This option gives you leverage over your time and content. You can fully automate the membership site and reuse the content as much as you want. Another advantage is value creation. Nowadays, due to the increase in the number of content, people are less likely to believe in free resources and will pay more for access to premium, ad-free information. They associate it with credibility and trust, which free content lacks.

10. Accept Donations

Another way to earn money on your blog is simply asking for it. Controversial I know. It’s a fairly new model, but it does gain popularity. Given you create real value with your blog, there is a possibility your readers will support you! The effectiveness of this approach is limited and dependent on many other factors, so if you want to give it a go, we would recommend doing it last. Many people assume that full-time blogging is the only way to generate substantial income, but the reality is quite different. Part-time bloggers have a multitude of monetization avenues at their disposal. Whether you’re tapping into affiliate marketing, offering sponsored content, or even leveraging digital products and courses, there’s a plethora of methods to transform your passion into profit. If you’re ambitious and looking to substantially boost your income, this guide on how to make $500 a day might give you a couple more money-making ideas you can try from home.