Monetize Your Blog as a Brand New Blogger
Before we get started, I just want to say that I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on blogging. I am still a total NEWB and I am only sharing what worked for ME. It was my intention to make money blogging from the beginning. Going in with this mindset, I made $1,648.07 in my first two months of blogging, while fulfilling my duties as a momma, wife, and working full-time. This income is from various sources such as multiple affiliate programs and ads. I will get more into that below.
This post contains affiliate links where a small commission is received for the sale of products linked at no additional cost to you. I only partner or promote brands and products that I believe in or have tried myself.
I get a lot of questions on how I was able to make money blogging so quickly, so I wanted to share what as worked for me so far.
So, let’s get started!
This will be my first time completing an income report. I find it to be both educational and inspiring to see how new bloggers make their first $1000. Before I started my blog this spring, I read tons of peoples post about their journey and seeing that it was achievable gave me the confidence to get started.
SO HOW DID I MONETIZE MY BLOG?
Currently, my primary sources of income from my blog are affiliate marketing and ads. I have begun working on sponsored posts and product sales, but that income is not included in the totals above. Additionally, I do some interior decorating and crafting on the side which helps supplement my income. Again, those amounts are not included in the totals above.
I launched my blog on April 24, 2019. As of now I have 20 blog posts published, 120 subscribers, and just recently hit 10,000 page views! I am excited to share with you how I was able to monetize my blog and what tools and resources have worked for me!
1. AFFILIATE MARKETING
In my opinion, affiliate marketing is the easiest way to make money blogging. I’m part of several different affiliate programs because it does not cost you anything to sign up. While some make up about 75% of my income, I haven’t made a penny from others. Affiliate programs only work if you are “selling” products that make sense for your niche. I don’t sign up for affiliate links selling toys because this is probably the first time I’ve even said toys in this blog. See what I’m getting at here?
I haven’t finished it yet, but I am in the works of creating a Resources Page to promote all my affiliate links. I think this will make it easier for my subscribers to quickly access products I am recommending without having to read through several different posts.
Affiliate Programs
The majority of my affiliate income has been from Amazon. Since I already have an established Instagram following, I was able to sign up for the Amazon Influencer Program which allows me to have a storefront to recommend products from. You can view my storefront HERE. I am constantly updating it with great new finds and have a category dedicated to products in my house for easy access.
Even without a huge following, you can sign up to be an amazon associate. The commission structure is the same, you just do not have a storefront.
Other affiliate programs that I have made money from include Viglink and Shop Your Likes. Shop Your Likes is a great way to make affiliate income. Shop Your Likes pays on a per click basis, so no sale is needed to generate income. With that being said, the more sales you generate from your clicks the higher your cost per click will increase! Shop Your Likes partners with merchants such as Kohls and Walmart so there is so much potential for earnings. Click HERE for more info on Shop Your Likes! The Platform is invitation only so be sure to use my referral link to expedite your application!
Viglink is also a great affiliate program to join! Viglink offers a wide variety of merchants to chose from. They are partners with great merchants such as Hobby Lobby and Walmart where you can earn commission! Each commission structure varies upon Merchant but the commission ads up quickly! Click HERE to join Viglink!
Total Affiliate Income – $1,573.76
2. Ads
Ads are a tricky subject! Initially when searching how to make money blogging Adsense is the first option that shows up. I applied for Google Adsense and got accepted on my first try! YAY—well at least I thought. After first I was only making a few cents a day. After a few weeks I started earning around $30.00 per day for two days in a row from my ads then suddenly, they just DISAPPEARED. I have not had Adsense ads for about a month now and have yet to get a resolution as to why.
The most upsetting part is that they do not payout until the $100.00 threshold is met. I have only made about $70.00 so that money is basically just sitting there until either A. my ads reappear and I meet the $100.00 threshold or B. I just close my account and never see the $70.00. Based on what I have read this happens frequently so take that for what you will.
Once my ads disappeared, I started researching other Ad companies. I signed up for Infolinks and Media.net. I have been using these companies for about 3 weeks now and have made $4.52. Definitely not enough to live on.
Future Ad Goals
The good news from all of this is I recently reached 10K pageviews, so I was able to apply for Monumetrics. I am currently in the application process with them and hope to have them set up soon! I have heard wonderful things about Monumetrics and I can not wait to work with them. My goal is to eventually reach 25k pageviews and be able to apply for Mediavine, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was this blog so I am just thankful for what I have accomplished this far.
Total Ad Income – $74.31
BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
As I mentioned above I already an an established Instagram account before starting this blog. However, since I started my blog at the end of April, my Instagram account has more than doubled and I now have over 14,000 followers! Check out my Instagram HERE.
I already had a business Facebook page as well, but it was basically a ghost page. Now that I am blogging, I use my Facebook to share posts and bring traffic to my blog. I have also started posting all my Instagram photos on Facebook as I post them. Using the toggle feature on Instagram makes it so easy to share on both platforms without duplicating the work. This has helped not only drive traffic to my blog but also to Instagram. Check out my Facebook HERE.
I never knew the power of Pinterest before starting this blog. I just thought of it as a Pinterest has so many features and I highly suggest you educate yourself on them if you are thinking about starting a blog. Check out my Pinterest HERE. Using Tailwind for my Pinterest has been a total game changer! If you have not heard of Tailwind you are missing out! Tailwind is a Pinterest (and Instagram if you choose) scheduler! Since using tailwind for the last month, I grew my Pinterest views from 30,000 to 182,000 using the tribes and smart loop features. Click HERE to learn how Tailwind can help you grow your Pinterest!
TAKEAWAYS
Like I said before, I am no expert. I feel so lucky to be able to make money blogging so quickly. And I know this is not always the case, but what I can tell you is that blogging has opened a whole new opportunity for me and my family and I can not wait to see where this takes me. The goal is for it to take me to Mexico this fall. HAHA I have always been a very driven and focused person – and a bit of a control freak. My favorite part about blogging is that it allows me to be in control of my own success. Have you considered starting a blog? What’s holding you back? Remember, you can do anything – but you can’t do everything!
Check out my first ever blog post HERE!
Wow, great work! This is very inspiring. Also, your house is beautiful.
Thank you so very much Micaela!
Thank you so much for this! I am going back and forth with if I should start a blog. I am still unsure but this was so very helpful.
Awesome girl! I love hearing that! Go for it! You don’t know unless you try!