Thinking of how you can add to your monetization strategy to boost your blogging profits?
Look no further, because we’ve compiled a list of 17 top income streams for bloggers in 2019 that will provide answers to all your questions and more.
There are so many potential income streams for bloggers that it was almost difficult to choose the top 17.
However, we’re confident we have something everyone can relate to – bloggers, developers, writers, photographers, and many more.
Dig in and enjoy.
If you don’t have a blog, you can learn the basics of starting one here. It’s easy!
Advertising & Sponsored Content
1. Google AdSense
Google AdSense is a free service by Google that enables publishers to earn money with their web content.
It is one of the most popular forms of income streams for bloggers and individuals who want to make money online.
Once you have a blog that has a reasonably large amount of traffic, you can get started with Google AdSense. YouTube channel owners can also make money with the service.
The process of signing up for Google AdSense is straightforward, but it could take up to 8 weeks for your request to be approved.
Create ads embed your AdSense code on your blog using available plugins and the ads will begin displaying automatically.
You can make money on either per-click or per-impression basis – depending on which works better for your blog.
If you employ illegal means to generate more clicks, Google can terminate your AdSense account in an instant.
Pro Tip: Make sure your blog is mobile responsive, and ensure you use responsive ads as this would allow Google send appropriate ad sizes to mobile devices viewing your site.
Click here for a detailed guide on how to monetize with Ads!
2. Sponsored Content
A favorite income stream for bloggers is to create content for companies promoting their products or services.
Sponsored posts are an alternative way to open up healthy online income streams while still maintaining control over your website.
Sponsored posts are articles that a blogger is paid to publish on their sites by companies, brands, and organizations related to that site’s niche.
Sponsored posts may be in the form of reviews, roundups, comparisons, product announcements, infographics, and so on.
When writing sponsored posts, it is imperative that you let your audience know beforehand with a short disclaimer at the beginning of your article.
This is a requirement of the Federal Trade Commission, and it ensures that people don’t get manipulated into making purchases.
Pro Tip: Time the publication of your sponsored posts carefully. Flooding your blog with multiple sponsored posts consecutively will most likely turn off your audience.
Don’t have a blog yet? Click here to learn how to start one!
3. Banner Advertising
Banner Advertising or display advertising is possibly the most common of the different blogging income streams. Banner advertising has many purposes: create brand awareness, generate leads, re-target an audience, and promote a brand.
Banner ads are image-based ads which when clicked can take visitors from the host website to the advertiser’s site or landing page.
The way to make money with banner advertising is by allowing companies or advertising agencies put small blocks of ads on your site.
You get paid for every click, and you also earn a commission if someone buys a product from clicking on an advertisement on your site.
Now before you can make lots of money through this method, there are some things you need to consider.
- Based on my experience, to make good money with banner advertising, you should have at least 500 unique visitors every day.
- According to Google AdSense, the most effective and successful banner sizes are 728×90 (Leaderboard), 300×600 (Half Page), 300×250 (Medium Rectangle).
- The location of your banner ads matters but there’s no one size fits all strategy. You’ll have to test it out on your blog and find the best performing location.
- Use file sizes less than 150kb for your banner ads. According to Google Adwords, this helps your ads to load faster on a page before viewers scroll past it.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of our favorite and most profitable online income streams.
It’s big business and also one of the dominant methods you can use to generate multiple passive income streams online.
In simple terms, affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by recommending a product or service on your blog.
All you need is to choose your niche (a distinct segment of an industry), sign up for an affiliate program, promote your products to your audience through web content like product reviews and roundups, and you’re on your way to start making money.
Some of the top affiliate marketing websites and programs of 2019 include SurveyJunkie, ShareASale, MaxBounty, and Ibotta.
Similar to Sponsored posts, you have to disclose in your blog post if you’re using affiliate marketing to remain compliant with Federal Trade Commission standards.
Pro Tip: Maximize your affiliate earnings by providing additional value with high-quality content and engaging your audience more.
Also, when promoting an affiliate product, throw in something of yours as a bonus – could be an ebook or some premium content.
Check out this comprehensive guide on how to make money with an affiliate program.
4. Membership Site
Membership Site is a website which offers exclusive content, training, and sometimes a platform for members to interact with one another.
The content here can be in the form of ebooks, infographics, statistics, webinars, online courses, and podcasts instead of physical goods that require shipping.
Your members can either pay a one-time or recurring monthly fee to have access to your premium content.
You’ve probably come across some of these websites that have membership sites.
Membership sites are a great source of income streams for bloggers particularly those who are experts in a particular niche and wish to get paid for their knowledge.
Pro Tip: Some of the top plugins that can help you add a membership portal to your blog include Membership 2 Pro, s2Member, and Ultimate Membership Pro WordPress Plugin.
5. Online Courses
Even though most people don’t realize this, selling courses can be a profitable way of augmenting your blogging income.
The process that goes into creating an online course doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are five steps that can help you get started.
- Analyze your needs, goals, and target audience
- Design your learning objectives, sequence, and instructional strategy.
- Develop your content
- Choose the most engaging delivery method for each lesson
- Evaluate your online course outcomes
Pro Tip: Before coming up with an online course idea, find out what problems people are having and eliminate the problem with your content.
Need to learn how to create a blog to start selling online courses? Check this out!
6. Sell eBooks
A good source of income streams for writers is by writing, publishing, and selling an eBook.
You can quickly generate passive income streams online for years to come if you market it well and take advantage of affiliate programs.
However, writing an eBook and any book for that matter is not an easy task, and it’s easy to get discouraged if things don’t work out as planned.
Here are a few tips that can guide you along your path as you prepare to write your first eBook.
- Choose a topic you are very knowledgeable about (for obvious reasons)
- Do your research – not just on the subject you intend to write on, but also the popular keywords that can help people find your content easily.
- Outline your ideas
- Start writing – don’t feel overwhelmed, just write as you’d typically do in your blog. Keep it interesting and engaging.
- Don’t forget to edit your work
Once you’ve completed your eBook, the next hurdle begins – Marketing.
Since you’re new to this, try and keep your prices low. When you become more established, you can always increase your rates.
Take advantage of your social media, emails, webinars, guest blogging, and interviews to get your eBook in the face of people who would need it.
You can even offer a few chapters for free to people who subscribe to your blog, and if they like your appetizer, the orders will start pouring in.
Pro Tip: Do not neglect the importance of a great cover design. The cover page is the first thing that attracts your audience to your eBook, and as such, it should be something that stands out.
Here is a photo-editing tool you can use to create great designs.
7. Create an App, Plugin, or Theme
Another excellent example of online income streams for developers.
Apps, plugins, and themes are a lucrative source of income for developers who desire to use their experience and technical know-how to earn some money.
Once you have your product, try and spread the word leveraging the benefit of SEO. You can do some giveaways or promote your apps and themes through YouTube and other social sites.
You can earn thousands of dollars every month by creating a quality theme or an app that addresses people’s needs.
8. YouTube videos/ tutorials
Advertising your products like printables, ebooks, and video tutorials on your YouTube channel can help you make more money than the bloke that depends on selling advertising space as his source of income.
You can create a successful blog that can easily earn you extra income by creating and linking high-quality, informative, and engaging content to your YouTube channel and videos.
By advertising your blog on your YouTube channel and cross-referencing these platforms, you can ensure that your content becomes more visible to search engines, and ultimately your target audience.
Increased traffic is every blogger’s dream because more traffic eventually leads to more revenue.
Selling Physical Products
9. Start an Etsy Shop
Etsy is an eCommerce website you can use to market your handmade (jewelry, clip art, paintings) and vintage items (anything older than 20 years – scarves, toys, crochet patterns, art, wigs) as well as supplies (packaging and mailing supplies, labels, buttons, frames).
Etsy is becoming the rave nowadays, and if you’re a creative person who loves crafting, there’s a market for you – no matter how niche you think your products are.
Pro Tip: Make your store easily accessible with SEO as this would increase the chances of your products showing at the top of search engine results and eventually lead people to your store.
Don’t understand the workings of SEO? Check out this comprehensive guide!
10.Start A Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping is one of the most effective passive income streams for bloggers to earn huge profits now and beyond 2019.
Dropshipping is a sales model where seller accepts orders via websites, blogs, and other sales channels without having to do inventories or personally ship products to buyers.
Instead, dropship sellers use suppliers that ship products directly to customers on their behalf which allows you – the store owner – to avoid incurring inventory, storage, or warehouse staffing costs.
The quickest way to start a dropshipping business is by relying on an e-commerce platform that connects to dropship suppliers.
This effectively simplifies all the steps you’ll take, from adding products to automating shipping, so all you’ll be left to focus on is how to grow your audience and sales.
If you need an e-commerce platform that caters for dropshipping startups, Shopify and WooCommerce are two great alternatives.
Pro Tip: Use search engine keyword research to discover profitable product ideas as well as possible competitors – which can, in turn, help you fine-tune your concept and come up with your unique selling point.
Services
11.Blog Consulting
Do you know you can earn extra money as a blogging consultant?
Think about it. You already have a working blog, so you have a strong understanding of how to create and launch a blog.
You can earn with this knowledge by not just assisting your friends and family in setting up their blogs (that’s if they even pay you).
You can take it a notch higher and be a blogging consultant for organizations and businesses who need your services to increase their visibility.
As a consultant, your job description might include providing an appraisal of existing blog posts and coming up with solutions to problems arising from poor keyword content or lack of relevant content.
12.Proofreading and Editing
One of the most popular forms of income streams for writers comes in the form of proofreading and editing for other people or blogs.
Top bloggers and website owners regularly require the services of proofreaders and editors to join their team.
If you have a blog and it is evident you possess excellent communication, writing, and editing skills, then you have what it takes to earn extra blogging income as an editor or proofreader.
13.Freelance Writing
Although freelance writing doesn’t make you extra money directly from your blog, owning a blog is a vital criterion if you want to become a wealthy freelance writer.
Apart from being a portfolio of sorts, having a blog is a way to improve on your writing skills, give you confidence as a writer, and help build your credibility in your chosen niche.
Having a blog also shows your potential clients that you have the discipline required in creating high-quality content as well as a good grasp on SEO, coding, and social media optimization.
Pro Tip: High-paying writing gigs require writers who have experience in one specific niche topic. So start creating samples of topics peculiar to your niche – You’ll need the experience.
Kickstart your freelance writing career. Click here to learn how to create your own blog!
14. Photo Editing or Photography
Photography is an art, and you can make money by selling photographs you’ve captured yourself.
If you have a photography blog, you can earn extra income online through affiliate marketing or by writing reviews of different cameras, and other equipment.
Similar to freelance writing, your blog highlights your best work which your audience and potential clients can see.
Your clients can purchase your photographs, or you can make money form editing or designing photos for them.
You can also submit your photographs to stock photo sites and earn a commission every time someone makes a purchase.
Pro Tip: Never upload your originals to your blog. The best format for viewing pictures on the web is JPEG.
15. Public Speaking
Established bloggers who are reckoned with as experts in their field earn more money by being invited to speak at keynotes, conference presentations, and personal platforms.
Speakers can generate multiple online income streams by creating different forms of content based on their knowledge and expertise. And while getting paid to speak, they can also advertise their blogs and as such reach a wider audience.
16.Virtual Assisting
Successfully managing your blog means you have what it takes to work remotely on many tasks. You can earn money by using these skills to help individuals, companies, and other blog owners.
Examples of virtual assistant services include email and chat support, correspondence management, travel and hotel reservations, and calendar management.
Click to here to start making money as a virtual assistant!
17.Social Media and Marketing Consulting
Social media consultants are more like the voice of businesses on social networks.
Your job will include running social media campaigns, improving engagement and loyalty with social media posts, and using social media platforms to boost sales.
There are multiple niches within social media consulting – they include:
- Generalist: has basic knowledge of content creation, community, and ad management.
- Data Analyst: can use data and insights from previous campaigns to provide suggestions to improve future campaigns
- Community Manager: the face of the brand. Engages with customers and drives conversations on social media platforms in a bid to increase brand awareness.
- Marketer: in charge of paid promotions on all social networks to increase customer growth, profitability, and loyalty.
Other roles include social media marketing specialist, web designer, content marketer, and lead generator.
Wrapping Up
Don’t get discouraged if some online income streams don’t work out. Take a step back and evaluate what you’re doing wrong before trudging ahead again.
The importance of high-quality content cannot be overstated – it’s what drives traffic to your blog.
Which income stream do you consider your best performer? What income streams are you planning to try out? Did we miss out any important one from this list?
We’d love to interact with you in the comments section.
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