There are lots of guides about how to make money blogging, but here’s what makes this one different:
I’ve taken three different blogs to over $1 million per year. In fact, the blog you’re reading right now has made a total of $6.7 million.
And in this post, I’m going to give you a step-by-step case study showing you exactly how I did it, starting from nothing, along with my step-by-step guide for beginners trying to get started.
Let’s jump in.
7 Ways to Make Money Blogging (with Examples!)
- Online Courses and Workshops
- Books and Ebooks
- Affiliate Marketing
- Advertising
- Speaking Gigs
- Consulting/Coaching
- Selling Freelance Services
In a moment, I’m going to show you a general framework you can follow to start a profitable blog from scratch.
But first, let’s jump into the specifics of how to make real money blogging, including real-world examples you can study and learn from.
Here are the top 7 awesome ways to make a good blogging income:
1. Online Courses and Workshops
Here at Smart Blogger, we make most of our income from online courses and workshops — over $1 million per year — but we are far from the only successful blog doing this. Most of the people making a lot of money from their blogs are doing it through online courses.
Ramit Sethi reportedly crossed $10 million dollars in annual revenue with his suite of premium courses:
And it’s not only business or wealth-focused topics that are doing well. You can find successful blogs on just about any topic or niche monetizing with online courses. For instance, the popular interior designer Maria Killam has quite a few courses and workshops in her catalog:
Online courses and workshops can bring in one-time payments or, depending on your model, recurring income via subscriptions.
2. Books and Ebooks
Quite a few writers have parlayed their blogging success into a major publishing deal. Mark Manson, for instance, published a blog post called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck in 2015. Millions of readers later, he got a book deal with Harper Collins and went on to sell over 3,000,000 copies in the US alone.
Self-published books have also been successful. The most notable success story among bloggers is probably James Altucher’s Choose Yourself, which is now sold over 500,000 copies:
3. Affiliate Marketing
If you’d like to create some passive income streams from your blog, one of the best choices is affiliate marketing — recommending the services, digital products, and physical products of other companies in exchange for a commission.
Here at Smart Blogger, we make more than $100,000 per year promoting affiliate products, most of that coming from casually recommending products we love like SiteGround (affiliate link), Elementor (affiliate link), and Hostinger (affiliate link).
But there are lots of other examples too. For instance, John Lee Dumas of EOFire made $710,835 in affiliate income last year. Digital Photography School has reportedly made over $500,000 in commissions as an Amazon Associate from promoting photography equipment:
With so many companies offering referral programs to help spread the word about their digital product or service, the number of different affiliate marketing opportunities is enormous.
Joining an affiliate network such as CJ Affiliate, ClickBank, eBay Partner Network, or ShareASale is one way to begin tapping into this revenue stream and to start earning extra income from your hard-earned organic traffic.
4. Advertising
Normally, we’re not big fans of selling ads on your site as a monetization strategy. You need roughly a million visitors per year for the large ad networks to take you seriously, and affiliate marketing is almost always more profitable and just as passive.
That being said, some niches like recipes, fashion, and news are hard to monetize through many of the other methods mentioned here, and they get LOTS of page views. In that case, putting a few banner ads on your site can make sense as a supplementary income source.
For example, here’s a screenshot of a 2016 income report from Share the Yummy:
Normally, you make money by joining an ad network. Nearly anyone can join Google AdSense and add a Google Ad or two, for example, and you can later grow into more selective networks like Mediavine and AdThrive.
5. Speaking Gigs
If your blog takes off, and you start being recognized as an authority in your space, you might be surprised by how many invitations you get to speak at conferences. And it’s amazingly profitable. I typically make a minimum of $10,000 per speech and it can go as high as $100,000 when you count product sales resulting from the speech.
Not bad for a 60-90 minute talk. 🙂
6. Consulting/Coaching
While this certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, doing a bit of coaching or consulting is an online job that can earn you a surprisingly nice living, even when your audience is small. I rarely do consulting anymore, but the last time I did regularly, I charged $1,000 an hour with a six-month waiting list.
But I’m not the only one. Going back to Maria, again, she’s been quite innovative in coming up with ways to do design consultations by photo and email, currently charging $1,275 per room:
You can make this work in almost any niche. You just need to know what you’re doing and be confident in the value you are providing to clients.
7. Selling Freelance Services
The next step up from consulting is to actually do it for them.
Typically, you’ll make more money freelancing than with anything else, but it’s also the most draining and time-intensive. That being said, I’ve seen bloggers make six-figure incomes with no more than a few thousand readers on their blog, essentially using their blog as a lead mechanism to get clients.
It’s so profitable, even if successful bloggers continue to do it. For example, Elna Cain continues to sell her freelance writing services:
If you’re a freelance writer, designer, photographer, programmer, or other service provider where your skills can be sold digitally instead of you having to be there in person, you might want to consider this income stream from day one. All you really need to get started is a contact form for clients to reach out to you.
Okay, now for the fun part. Let me show you the framework I used to become an honest-to-goodness millionaire…
How to Make Money Blogging (Step-By-Step Framework for Beginners)
If you’re a new blogger starting from scratch with no traffic or influential friends, it’s easy to wonder…
Is it reasonable for you to believe you can make money blogging?
For that matter, how do blogs even make money? Ads? Sponsored content (i.e. writing a sponsored post)? Sell products? Good luck? Or something else?
Well, let’s take a look at exactly how I did it at Smart Blogger. Here’s my complete step-by-step process for how to make money blogging:
1. Choose the Right Blogging Niche (a Profitable One)
Let’s start with a little brutal truth, shall we?
- Passion does not equal profit.
- Neither does expertise.
- Hard work doesn’t guarantee anything either.
For example:
You can be the world’s foremost expert on square-shaped tomatoes, wake up every morning with a burning passion to educate the public on their vast superiority to normal-shaped tomatoes, and work until your fingers bleed and your eyes fall out of your head, following all the right tactics for turning your new blog into a popular one, and…
You’ll never have a chance in hell at making any amount of money.
Here’s why:
- Nobody but you gives a damn about square tomatoes
- Even if they did care, they wouldn’t spend any money
In other words, you need a large audience who buys things. Without that, nothing else matters. It’s a prerequisite for everything else.
In the case of Smart Blogger, I noticed early on that bloggers buy lots of different things:
In fact, there are companies with $10 million+ per year of revenue in most of those categories. It’s also a growing space with millions of people:
The only problem?
Loads of competition. Whether it be my previous employers Brian Clark or Neil Patel, my good friends over at Problogger, or the gazillion other “blogging about blogging” peeps infesting the social media space, everyone was intent on snagging a piece of the pie. They also had a several-year head start on me.
So, how did I compete? The honest answer:
2. Improve Your Content Skills
Embed This Infographic On Your Site
You’ve probably heard that “Content is king,” and it’s true… to an extent. A more accurate statement would be…
The Best Content Is King
If that’s hard to understand, think about it this way:
Lots of bloggers sit down and think, “What will I write today?” They jot down some thoughts, doing their best to be helpful, original, and entertaining. If they’re disciplined, they might even stick with it for a few months.
But it almost never works. Here are a few reasons why:
- What you want to say isn’t what other people want to read
- You weren’t using a proven content framework
- It’s not the best post ever published on the topic
Granted, it’s not your fault. Until today, chances are no one ever told you about any of those requirements. You thought, to become a successful blogger, you just had to write interesting stuff and publish it.
No, grasshopper. No.
The truth is, having good ideas and powerful words isn’t enough. You have to create the best content ever published on blog topics lots of people are interested in learning more about. And that brings us to the three levels of content creation:
- You know what blog content is popular in your niche, and you write exclusively about those topics
- You’ve mastered frameworks proven to make your content more popular (list post, how to post, etc.)
- Your content delivers more value to the reader than any other post published on that topic
You’re probably thinking, “Geez. That sounds hard.” And you’re right, it is.
I personally spent about three years honing my skills by writing for other sites before I started my own blog. It doesn’t have to take that long — I’m just a perfectionist, so I wanted to learn from the best people in my space.
It worked, though. Nowadays, my posts get millions and millions of visitors, not because I know some special “secret,” but because I’m really good at what I do.
Blogging is really no different than anything else. The more of a badass you are, the easier it is for you to make money online.
So you want to know how to make money blogging?
Become an awesome writer.
Then the next step is to…
3. Choose a Traffic Source (Google Search or Facebook)
When you’re a newbie, getting traffic is confusing.
Should you focus on optimizing your keywords? Growing your Facebook page? Leaving comments on blogs? Answering questions on Quora? Being active in Facebook groups? Creating videos for your YouTube channel? Starting a popular podcast?
And so on.
There are a gazillion traffic tactics out there. Everybody says theirs is the best.
But here’s the data:
Pretty much all the traffic for written content comes from either Google or Facebook. The rest of traffic sources combined don’t even come close to competing with those two Goliaths.
So, how do you get them to send you a bunch of traffic?
One option is you can pay for it. They like that.
But chances are, you’re reading about how to make money blogging because you don’t want to pay for traffic. You want it for free, right?
Well, imagine this:
There’s an arena where all the bloggers in your space go to compete for traffic. The number of other challengers you defeat determines the amount of traffic you receive.
In other words, getting traffic is a sport.
- There are winners, and there are losers
- To be good, you have to train
- You need to study your opponents
There are actually two sports, and I’d bet you’ve heard of both of them: search engine optimization (SEO) and going viral on Facebook. Both take years (yes, I said years) of study to master, but you can start getting pretty decent traffic after just a few months of study and practice.
Which one should you focus on?
Well, here are two questions to guide you:
- Is your topic something your friends and family regularly talk about on Facebook? Examples: pets, parenting, self-improvement, and health. If so, focus on playing the viral traffic sport.
- Is your topic something people actively search for information about on Google? Examples: product reviews, specific questions they would ask an expert, how-to information. If so, focus on SEO.
For most topics, you can do both, but one or the other will be dominant. In that case, focus on whichever one is dominant.
In the blogging space, for example, stuff about writing and grammar occasionally goes viral on Facebook, because we love criticizing our relatives about their terrible English. On the other hand, you rarely talk with your family about blogging platforms, WordPress plugins, affiliate marketing, digital marketing, keyword research, or any other blogging topics.
You will, however, search for them on Google. Just as you would guess then, the blogging niche is heavily dominated by search. Here’s a breakdown of Smart Blogger’s traffic by source:
The truth is, we pretty much ignore Facebook. The volume of traffic available there comes nowhere close to the volume of traffic available from search engines. So, we focus on Google.
I also spend WAY more time keeping up to date on SEO stuff than I do on social stuff. I’m a geek about it. Throw me in a room full of Google engineers, and I’d probably know more than half of them.
Not to imply I’m the best, though. I’m also competing against people like Darren Rowse, Amy Lynn Andrews, and Neil Patel. They’re pretty freaking good too.
In time, I think I can be better, but who knows? That’s why sports are fun. You never know who is going to win.
If you’re good though, you’ll always be in the “playoffs,” for your space, and you’ll get lots of traffic. Maybe not the most, but still plenty.
And then you can focus on how to…
4. Grow Your Email List with Pop Ups
Chances are, you see pop ups as an annoyance.
They get in the way when you’re trying to read. They ask you to hand over sensitive information like your name, email address, and phone number. Sometimes you have to deal with multiple pop ups on the same site, and it makes you feel hassled and uncared for.
And all that sucks. In my opinion, you have every right to be annoyed.
But here’s the thing…
That’s where the money comes from. The best predictor of the revenue for a money making blog is the size of their email list. Here’s a breakdown of our revenue at Smart Blogger comparing revenue dollars from email to other sources.
The rule of thumb is you can expect to make $1 per subscriber per month. So, if you have 10,000 email subscribers, you should be able to make about $10,000 per month.
So obviously, growing your email list is a top priority. You might, however, feel conflicted about using pop ups. What are you supposed to do?
Here’s a different way of looking at it:
If a visitor comes to your site and doesn’t give you their email address, the chances of them returning are nearly zero. You’ll never have another opportunity to help them.
If you believe your content is the best, and you believe you can help them over time, I believe you owe it to them to be as pushy as possible about staying in contact. In other words, not using a pop up is unethical. A little annoyance is a small price to pay for change.
And remember, that doesn’t mean you have to be extremely pushy or spammy. You can absolutely use pop ups in authentic ways.
But you absolutely must use them. Assuming you want to make money, anyway.
5. Begin Monetizing with Affiliate Programs
So, you’re operating in a profitable niche, and you have traffic and an email list. What next?
Lots of new bloggers jump into creating an online course or book or community of some sort, but that’s a mistake, in my opinion. Before you start selling things, you need concrete evidence those things are what people want to buy. Otherwise, you’re risking wasting months or even years of your life trying to push a product no one wants.
The simplest way to obtain that evidence:
Affiliate programs.
By seeing what your audience buys from other people, you can get a much better sense of what they might want to buy from you. If you promote an affiliate product and it converts well, you should think about creating a similar product. If it doesn’t convert well, you should probably move on.
In other words, affiliate program offers are a form of market research. As a bonus, you just so happen to get paid commissions on the products your customers buy in the process. So not only are you learning what your target audience wants to buy, but you’re making money from your blog at the same time. Pretty sweet deal.
At Smart Blogger, I’ve tried lots of different offers. WordPress blog hosting, landing page tools, email marketing software, Amazon affiliate content links, WordPress themes, and half a dozen different types of high-quality courses. Since we sell courses, I pay the most attention to the results from those programs, and here are a couple of lessons:
- End to end solutions sell best. Courses promising to take someone from knowing nothing to making money far outperformed the others. For instance, here’s a screenshot showing us as the #1 affiliate for Danny Iny’s Course Builder’s Laboratory:
- Tools with a clear connection to money making also sell better than the others. For instance, landing page builders. As proof, here’s a screenshot of our earnings from promoting LeadPages:
By themselves, neither of those promotions really moved the needle on our revenue, but they did teach us useful lessons that went into creating Freedom Machine, which brings us to…
6. Develop a Unique Mechanism
Before you think about launching your own products or services, there’s one essential point about human nature you need to understand:
Whenever anyone purchases anything, they expect to transition from where they are now (Point A) to where they want to be (Point B). For example…
- When you buy pizza, you want to transition from being hungry and craving pizza (Point A) to tasting delicious pizza and feeling full (Point B).
- When you hire a plumber, you want to transition from having a clogged, overflowing toilet (Point A) to having a normally functioning toilet (Point B).
- When you buy a course on SEO, you want to transition from feeling bewildered and getting ignored by Google (Point A) to ranking for competitive terms and getting great blog traffic.
The success of a product ultimately depends on helping customers make those transitions. If the customer doesn’t get to Point B, they typically view the experience as a failure.
So, here’s the magic question:
What makes you better equipped to deliver that transition than your competitors?
The answer to that question is what content marketing expert Todd Brown calls your “unique mechanism.” It’s a little different from a “unique selling proposition,” because it’s not just something about you that’s different. It’s something about you or your method that makes you better able to help customers than anyone else.
For Freedom Machine, we have multiple unique mechanisms:
- Get published on Medium — a platform with more than 60 million active readers looking for great content
- Content frameworks developed behind the scenes at Smart Blogger to produce popular, valuable content
- A monetization methodology proven by our success with Smart Blogger
Combined, those unique mechanisms are EXTREMELY convincing at setting us up as the superior solution. Therefore, the product sells like hotcakes.
To be clear… it’s not necessary to have 3 different unique mechanisms. Sometimes just one is all you need (i.e. fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or less). The core idea though is to make sure you are obviously far more capable than your competitors at delivering results.
Then all you have to do is…
7. Launch the Minimum Viable Funnel
Look around at successful entrepreneurs of any type, and you’ll find a surprising trend:
They tend to sell their products before the product is created.
To most people, this sounds like insanity at best or a disturbing lack of ethics at worst. How could you possibly ask people to buy something that doesn’t exist?
The answer:
It’s the same principle as Kickstarter.
You create a fancy minimal sales funnel of some sort (in this case, just a simple sales page), tell people the product is coming soon, and then wait to see if enough people sign up to justify making the product. If they don’t, you refund everyone’s money and start over.
In other words, it’s the final step in validating you have a viable product. The steps go like this:
- Identify demand by promoting affiliate products
- Find a unique mechanism that makes you clearly superior
- Test the demand for that unique mechanism with a quick and dirty launch before you create the product
In my case, the minimum viable funnel was a 90-minute webinar. The first time I did it, there was no product, no follow-up sequence, nothing. It was just a bare-bones test.
And it resulted in $126,000 in sales live on the webinar.
Seeing that $30,000 sales was my minimum for success, we went ahead and created the first version of the product live with students. About a year later, it’s now approaching $1 million in sales.
That’s also just one product. We have others, and we have still more in the research pipeline.
And guess what I would do if I had to start over again?
The exact same thing. It’s not easy, it’s not fast, it’s not even that sexy, but it works.
Let’s close with some questions and answers, shall we?
FAQ about How to Make Money Blogging
So, we’ve covered the basic process. Now let’s step back for a moment and answer some of the questions I hear the most often:
Do bloggers make money?
I certainly do, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking. I think you’re asking…
“Is it reasonable for me to learn how to make money blogging?”
The no BS answer:
It depends on how patient and persistent you are.
Starting a blog from scratch is just as difficult as starting a small business. For example, it requires the same time and effort as starting your own restaurant, software company, or accounting service. Yes, those businesses are wildly different, but the first few years are usually the same story: low income, lots of stress, big learning curve.
If you want a more concrete answer than that, we’ve found it takes even our smartest, most dedicated students 3-6 years to make enough money from blogging to quit their jobs. And that sounds like a long time, but so what? 3-6 years to be able to work from anywhere in the world, take a vacation whenever you want, and probably have passive income until the day you die?
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
How much money can you make from blogging?
The fact is, most bloggers make as much money as any other type of entrepreneur:
Nothing.
And it’s not because there’s no money in it. This blog makes more than $1 million per year, for God sakes, and it’s nowhere close to the most profitable blog out there. Blogs like The Penny Hoarder, Moz, and Lifehacker power businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
So why aren’t more bloggers rich?
The truth is, most people quit. They start a blog, write a post or two, realize it’s hard work, and walk away.
But if you’re patient and persistent?
You can make millions. I have. So have lots of other smart, dedicated entrepreneurs.
You just have to do the work. Consistently. For years.
Can you do that?
Then yeah, I think you can make six figures at least. Maybe more.
How do you make money blogging? (Or, How do bloggers make money?)
As I mentioned earlier, there 7 popular ways to make money blogging:
- Offering online courses and workshops
- Writing books and eBooks
- Affiliate marketing (recommending products and services in exchange for a commission)
- Blog ads
- Speaking at conferences
- Offering your expertise as a consultant or coach
- Selling freelance services such as writing, designing, and programming
Which is best for you will depend on your blog, your expertise, and your situation.
How do you start your own blog for free?
Lots of people say you can’t. They tell you to buy a domain name, a web hosting account (Bluehost is one you see pushed a lot by influencers), and a premium WordPress theme.
But I think that’s nonsense.
You can get started for free within five minutes on Medium. They also have over 60 million monthly readers, so you can get a lot of exposure there if you get featured.
This great article walks you through that strategy, step-by-step.
Alternatively, you can write on WordPress.com, Linkedin, or any of the other platforms out there. It doesn’t really matter. The point is, start writing and learning as soon as possible.
Once people start sharing your great, informative posts, and you begin to understand how everything works, then you can go through the trouble of setting up your own site, installing WordPress, and all that jazz. Until then though, it’s just a headache you don’t need.
What are the most popular blogging platforms?
WordPress is by far the most popular. No one else is even close.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the best for everyone. There are several blogging platforms you can try — and most of them are free.
As I mentioned earlier, I think Medium is a good place to start. You can also create your own blog with tools like Blogger, Squarespace, Wix, Joomla, and countless others.
What are the top blogs about how to make money blogging?
I’d like to think Smart Blogger is the best (and most comprehensive) site on the topic, but it’s by no means the only one. Not all of these talk about how to make money blogging, but together, they give you a solid foundation:
- Backlinko — Brian Dean doesn’t talk much about how to make money blogging, but he’s one of the top experts and educators in the world on SEO. What I love about his highly valuable content is how easy to understand it is, despite covering some incredibly complex topics. If you’re a beginner blogger looking for DIY insights, prepare for a treat.
- Digital Marketer — In my opinion, my friends over at Digital Marketer are the best in the world at monetizing traffic. If you’d like to learn about marketing, list building, customer research, automation, or funnels, there’s no better source.
- Smart Passive Income — If you’re interested in using your blog to build passive income, Pat Flynn is a master at showing you how to build a tiny little business that can support you and the lifestyle you want. Both his blog and podcast are excellent.
The Bottom Line about How to Make Money Blogging
Is it possible?
Absolutely, but only if you treat it like a blogging business.
Yes, you can start your blog as a side project. Yes, you can slowly grow it in the background. Yes, you can turn your blog into a source of passive, full-time income that eventually lets you quit your job, travel, spend a lot of time with your family, whatever you want to do.
But like anything worthwhile, it’s hard work getting there.
You have to study. Practice. Master your craft. Put in a lot of work. Hustle.
If you love writing, I can’t imagine a better business, though. Not only is blogging a great way to get your writing noticed, but it’s a great way to connect with people around the world who need you, teach them what you know, and get paid pretty damn well in exchange.
There’s never a day I regret dedicating myself to blogging. Never.
It’s not just because of the money, either. It’s because I also get to do what I love and help people at the same time.
What could be better than that?
WOW Jon! great post, Only read it quickly so I will go over it again later! Lesson 9 is the eye opener! I find it really difficult to give away great content that I have just spent hours writing, but as you say, it’s got to be done!!
Wow Jon! Remarkable post.
These are great lessons and I agree with all 20 points…
This is very timely for me being that I’m just starting out.
Thanks for sharing!
We can do this! Just gotta put the right work in at the right time.
Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content 🙂
Great post Jon. I totally agreed with everything you wrote here and it’s so nice to hear these things from you. I think you hit the nail on the head!
Thanks for all that you do!
Hi Jon,
Awesome indeed 🙂
I loved the way you shared everything so well with us – the way you have gone about doing things – it’s surely an eye-opener for me and for many others too.
Honestly speaking, I haven’t really started thinking of earning money from my blog as that wasn’t the aim when I started it, but your post surely motivated me to think in that direction for a change. I guess you need to make a start somewhere, and if you want to do that, you need to lessen down or cut-off a lot of other things you do too.
Thanks for sharing yet another inspirational post with us. Have a nice week 🙂
Jon, you should turn this post into an ebook! So packed with goodies.
The thing I keep saying to my team is, “I know…I’m the bottleneck!”
I’m outsourcing fast as I can, but it never seems to be fast enough. Still working on it….
An e-book? Nah, but maybe a $5,000 per month coaching program. 🙂
Jon, thanks for this awesome post. My question is, what do you think of blogs who ask for donations or claim to sustain themselves by them? (Also books and products). But what do you think about the donation itself and if you´re pro-donation, when is a good time to start asking for it in a blog? Thanks a lot for your time. Hope some day I can meet you Im from and live in Mexico
Oh my God, this post is orgasmic.
Ha, so true Esther !!
I just had to write and say I LOVED your comment. So funny !
Lynne
Go Jon! Go Jon! LOL!
😉
Esther while I can’t say the post had the same effect on me, I can definitely agree with your sentiments.
Great stuff Jon. You hit it out of the park again.
I’m honoured to have you as a mentor.
Totally agree! Haven’t seen a blog post like this for such a long time. Most of the bloggers writer shallow content either quoting superficial studies or without no .base at all
This is solid, 14 karot gold, Jon. 100k per month from a single blog is absolutely bananas. You’re a living legend, a gentleman, and (based on your 100k monthly revenue) a baller.
Thanks man.
Jon, you always deliver! I’ve printed this out so I can have it handy to refer to as I build my audience/blog. I especially liked the survey info and the info on reverse the funnel. I really struggle with what to charge, but seeing your numbers helps. Tons of info here to digest. Thanks!
Great Post. Just the information I was looking for. I just started my blog and I will be following your advice. Thank you !
What a raft of amazingness! Thanks, Mr. Jon. You are giving me a shot in the arm—it’s called hope.
Thanks Jon for this post !!!! I have been in the process of prepping for webinars and learning the techie stuff for how to make an epic webinar happen.
I met Brian Clark last week at SMMW14 and was soooo inspired !
Cheers for all that you do. You are by far one of my faves in this big ‘ol internet world, and your webinars rock out loud!
Lynne Knowlton
Hear hear!
A gem again Jon!
The most interesting point for me was about doing more guest posts and then writing on your own blog. That does make lot of sense.
First, congrats Jon!
Impressive milestone
5 years ago I would not be able to understand this post, as I do, now. It’s pure value, but most (98%) won’t decrypt it.
In case of doubt, do follow these advices.
I did. And I am on my way to 1$/subs/month. Thanks again Jon!
Wow, this is a great post with tons of data-driven insights that would take me years to figure out on my own. You can earn a good income from blogging, but I’m not sure I want to do it this way myself. I’m more interested in becoming a ghostblogger for businesses.
But much of the advice still applies. It’s tough to figure out a system that doesn’t demand most of your time though, so that’s what I’m working on.
Hi, Jon:
I love your straightforward style. To all those that doubt that blogging is a viable business, “This Blog Makes $100,000 per Month.” Hah! Take that, doubters!
I have recently learned the value of outsourcing work to specialists. I used to endure sleepless nights trying to keep up with all the work necessary for building a blog. The right specialists are dramatically cheaper at tasks than I could ever hope to be as measured by the cost of my time and the amount of distractions that I created for myself.
I am becoming much “smarter” as I find time to act based on resolving a challenge as opposed to merely reacting to the same challenge.
I had never considered the value of giving webinars. I had attended plenty of webinars and purchased some products based on same. It hadn’t occurred to me the economic value of giving webinars prior to reading your post.
“I was blind but now I see!”
I will share my #gratitude to His Royal Awesomeness (you) by sharing this post on social media. Thanks for sharing this incredible content. I appreciate your guidance.
Hi, just wanted to comment that I agree with the straight-forward approach. It’s the best way to learn information quickly, without digging through ingratiated, sugar-coated words to get to the point. I can’t yet afford any of the training, so I find many blogs and pieces of information like this every day. I have to read fast and get through it, otherwise I’ll sit there all day reading through feel-good mush.
I LOVE this post and have shared it as far and wide as I can. I must admit, having recently started writing for the HuffPost, I’ve felt guilty for hardly posting anything on my own blog (just don’t have the time to do both) so your post has made me feel much better for prioritising the guest posting.
Congratulations on getting a gig with the Huff Soozi. That’s an awesome accomplishment.
Your Royal Awesomeness, you’ve just blown me away with this post.
It has given me lots to think about. Love your point about ignoring SEO for the first year.
I would, however, love to see a post specifically on your webinars and hw you go about them with your clients.
Carol’s right, turn this into an eBook!
Thanks for such high value practical info absolutely free.
As always, a fantastic post Jon. Have just shared on G+ with the comment that you are simply the best at what you do. I love your style, and the practical advice is invaluable. I was particularly interested in your downplay of using twitter, FB etc to hope to grow your blog, but what you said makes total sense. As someone who is building an author’s platform prior to publication, I’d been hesitant to sell products, but no more. Thanks so much for your inspiration.
Damn John your method beats the conventional and I just have to sit back analyze what it is I can start doing to serve others.
This is the first step am still struggling with.
Thank you Jon, I mean Your Royal Awesomeness. I’m printing this out for me and sharing the blog love far and wide.
You sir, are a genius.
Peggy
This is a crazily useful post. I’ve retweeted it. Thanks a lot, Jon.
I’ve been in business over 12 years and I am always the bottleneck!
Great analogy to manufacturing – flashbacks to my previous life on the day I’m finally getting my first post published on my blog. 🙂
Nice post, Jon. Always something new and useful. Thank you.
I love this Jon. YOU ALWAYS INSPIRE!
What you say at the beginning is the biggest value for me — ‘I learned from the best …and I keep learning.’
It’s been true in my own life, training, education and with you…Learning from the best.
I knew nothing about Blogging until I met you. Things are happening for my coaching business because of what I learned from you. Headlines — subtitles – formatting — passion and a big mission. My writing has completely improved.
Thanks for your knowledge. This post is another one of your gifts.
My very best – Michael
Great Post Jon! I laughed out loud at Lesson#17. I launched a product from my blog that resulted in 0 sales. I will definitely use the tips that you mentioned here going forward in my blogging and business efforts.
Jon,
Awesome post. Where was this a year ago? SMH.
Lesson #10 rings the loudest for me. LinkedIn and similar platforms are the best for gaining reputation and building a network.
Love #19 and #20 – I know that’s what keeps me going is the thought of serving clients and teaching what comes naturally to me.
Thanks for an awesome post!
Kill the Bottleneck!
I’ve been a consultant for manufacturing execution systems and you are 100% correct. Awesome point.
While I still own stock in the software company that helps factories remove bottlenecks, I’m now helping people remove bottle necks from their lives.
Oh dear blog master, thanks for giving me the goods.
Now what was number 8?
oh, and “audience per hour” now that is true genius.
Only thing I could possibly add is go read: The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
Oh, never mind. I’m going to just write more guest posts and headline hacks. Now, where did I leave that list of “cool kids” and guest post targets?
Ergh, I hate being the slow kid slowing up the works.
Hey Joseph,
Someone else was telling me about the book by Eliyahu Goldratt. I’m heading over to amazon as we speak.
Um … On second thoughts … Maybe not. I have about 5000 posts to finish reading in the next 2 weeks.
My mentor’s a slave driver!!!
As usual, Jon, you make me feel like an idiot.
But in a good way.
Thank you for clarifying all of these lessons. Super, super helpful.
Jon,
This post is surely destined for the list post Hall of Fame. Some awesome tips to help stir up the pot of BS excuses most people hide behind and light a fire to finally get people off their asses and into gear. So here’s an unpaid endorsement.
Some time a few years ago I was fed up writing for no one online. I wanted my words to be read and ultimately wanted to be paid to write. So I decided to educate myself on the subject. Here’s what I did:
1. After paying for a few bogus online courses that didn’t do too much for me, I discovered your Guestblogging course.
2. You promised to get your students a guest post on a major blog of their choice. I chose Copyblogger. You made good on your promise. The post did very well.
3. After guest posting for all of 5 posts, my list grew from 4 to 500. Lesson #9? Check.
4. Last year your team contacted me and asked if I was intrerested in ghostwriting for one of your clients. I accepted and got my first paid client. In the first month, that assignment paid for your guestblogging course. Wish to be a paid writer? Check.
Now two other clients have followed.
I just wanted go say thanks in public, Jon. For giving advice that doesn’t suck and actually works!
You rock!
Thanks Mark. You’re awesome too. 🙂
Mark I remember reading your post about Jimi Hendrix on copyblogger. And I loved it!
This post was so good that I had to sit in my car and keep reading after I left work, here in the garage. Ha! What caught my attention is the funnel analogy and the webinars. Starting with the expensive first, then offering the less expensive. Brilliant. Also, I want to do webinar but am not sure how to get started. But dammit if I’m not going to think of how to move in that direction! Thanks for the kick in the butt, Jon! 🙂
Serena @ Thrift Diving
These are some great lessons to be learned. Just wish I had the funds to take your course. But may be someday soon.
Jon,
I love all your posts, all points are solid. Number 9 and 14 are my two big takeaways for our blog.
Awesome info, Jon, tons of great stuff here.
So, I’m pretty new to blogging, here’s what I’ve done to get started.
1. I joined your guest blogging course last month
2. Have been working on a freebie for my opt-in page for guest posts
3. Pretty much spend most of my time focusing on those two things – not much time on my blog itself
It absolutely makes sense to start off with selling a service, but how do you go about creating one?
You suggest not posting on your blog until you have a decent amount of subscribers, you also mention how surveys are dangerous for finding what your audience needs – My question is: How do you decide what your audience needs a service for if you’ve yet to build an audience?
In other words, how do you find your reader’s biggest frustration before you have any readers, so that you can start selling your service ASAP?
Who knows, maybe I just sparked an idea for your next post…Or you’ll tell me I’m just a dumb blogger and should already know…Or both
A great post Jon. I enjoyed reading it and learn a lot. I was particularly impressed by your take the one metric that matters. I was also surprised to find that spending time on social media isn’t a great use of a blogger’s time.
Jon,
This is insanely valuable. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to put this together! My only qualm is I wish I had seen this stuff earlier.
Congratulations on your massive success so far, and I wish you even more going forward. You deserve it!
Corey
Thanks so much Jon. I have been struggling to ‘get off the ground’ and am devouring your insight and knowledge. You offer such invaluable and proven information and are totally inspiring. I know I CAN DO THIS and will continue to soak up your posts as they come through. I won’t wast too much time now on Facebook and Twitter which I’ve been trying to get my head around. You see I am very new to everything!
Jude
Hey Jon
You know how you talk about blog posts that “stop traffic” well this is it. I couldn’t stop reading as every sentence was something important and it dragged me in.
Not only is this one of the most eye opening posts I have ever read its also a textbook example of what you teach – congratulations.
Paul Back
Jon Morrow is the gold standard in this arena, and this post encapsulates that. He consulted with me at the launch of my blog, and these 20 principles feel like evolutions of that great advice. My numbers are nowhere near his (frankly, my subscriber list seems fixed lately), but my experience validates the core of what’s here: it’s all about consulting, leading to products (in my case, a bit of the other way around, via a book that arose from my website/blog). If you can afford Jon (I can’t), go for it… provided you truly are an “expert” in a given field, one that other people will pay to listen to. If you can’t, or aren’t (at least yet), just read everything he’s written, here and elsewhere.
Thanks for this, Larry. I’m actually working on something that might help your subscribers/revenue. I’ll email you about it.
Hi Jon –
Good post, well described ideas.
I wish I had enjoyed a positive experience working with you to accomplish these things, but sadly, I just don’t think you get what it takes to make people feel like they’re spending their money with someone who’s interested in them.
I think the most important question you should ask is – before doing anything else – who are these people signing up for my mailing list? What have they’ve accomplished so far and where they’re looking to go? If they’re giving you money by signing up for one of your courses, that goes double.
Glad to hear you’re earning so much money though.
-Daniel
Jon, it’s so disheartening to read this list. Not for my sake, but for the sake of all the hobby bloggers I know who keep asking me why their blogs aren’t getting the traffic, attention, or sales they were hoping for, and how in the world can I be building my email list before I even start blogging? Am I STUPID or something?!
Time and time again, I have to repeat many (if not all!) these points to them; some learn, some don’t. But the ones who learn will definitely see better results and probably become one of those bloggers who gets paid to do what they love!
I’ll be sharing this post, Your Royal Awesomeness. Spreading the Blogging Gospel, and all that.
Wow this is the best blog post I have read in ages!
But where can I read more about your products mentioned in lesson #3?
I have just started my business and think you could be a big part of my success 🙂
Start with guestblogging.com. 🙂
Great thanks. 🙂 I’l do that.
I have only writte one blogpost on my site so far, so now I’ll go make a coming soon page instead 🙂 Ang. visit guestblogging.com 🙂
Hey Mette
Just wanted to say that I’ve done the guestblogging.com course and found it to be awesome. I can recommend it highly. It’s excellent to improve your writing skills and your networking skills – the latter invaluable to me as a beginning blogger.
All the best to you in your endeavours.
Hey Jon,
this post is really inspirational, truth been told in your post, good read.
This is a great article jon, it has greatly improve my thinking and i can’t wait to start workin on my site now. keep the great work going jon.
Hi Jon,
These tips are awesome. Your guide for 0 to $100k is great and contains lots of great deals. All these points are pretty important for bloggers to start his journey as a professional blogger. And you are right most of the world thinks bloggers are fools? But we are fools for changing the world.
Thank you for this awesome guide. 🙂
Dear Jon, There aren’t many men who’ve left me breathless – you are one. Thank you!
Thanks for a great post. I have printed it out as I always like to read my inspirational stuff again and again. I am thinking of teaching a creative writing course to senior school kids, because in my country(South Africa) job opportunities are scarce and education expensive. I want to teach young people that you can create your own opportunities through writing and growing to be an expert in a chosen field. This way they will also improve their confidence in approaching opportunities when it do arise and with the right attitude. I am a real estate professional and writes a blog on aspects which I have noticed my clients are ignorant about. My readership has risen through the year and all my sales last year came from readers of my blog. Thanks again for the information you present so well and with a sense of humour. I still cannot afford one of your courses but I read every one and apply all that I learn. Praise be to Your Royal Awesomeness!
This is awesome, Jon. Thanks so much! And I will definitely share this. 🙂
Hi Jon,
As usual a top knotch post full of excellent advice, very easy to understand and follow. Just studying your posts is an object lesson in how these things are done. I, like many aspiring bloggers, am very familiar with the glazed look that passes over people’s faces when I attempt to explain what my plans are! I think the primary problem is that we have been brought up to do business in a particular way. You make something therefore you get paid for it. Most business people feel there is something inherently wrong about a system where you provide huge amounts of valuable content free of charge and without obligation. The peception is that the model cannot be susstainable.
The historical sleeze associated with the worst excesses “internet marketing” and “get rich quick schemes” hasn’t helped either!
The key insights here, in my humble opinion are that:
A. No one is being paid to do nothing, everything you teach depends on the blogger adding value to their customer’s lives in some way. This takes a lot of hard work – just the right sort of work!
B. The value in the guest blogging arrangement works both ways – top quality content/exposure win/win
C. The process works as a filter rather than a funnel. You expose your work to thousands, you hope to add value to those thousands for no cost to yourself but of those thousands there will be a few hundred who need your service and they pay for those things in proportion to the cost to you in terms of time or resources.
The reason this works is because the incremental cost of publishing acceptible digital content is practically zero so the blogger has far more leverage than any writers prior to the digital age.
Having said that, I have possibly also demonstrated another reason why people start glazing over when I start talking about this stuff 🙂
Anyway Jon, keep it coming, this blog is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how our new digital world works!
This is all great information from someone who has had connections and still has connections for year. If you never worked at copyblogger you’d have a real job. In other words…you got lucky and the other 1988098804880979 million bloggers out there won’t have your right place right time luck and therefore won’t have your connections and therefore won’t make this kind of money. Your bragging is embarrassing and shameful!
To all the bloggers out there…STOP sucking up to the very small, elite and narcissistic group of self-proclaimed influencers out there. If you all stop treating them like they’re special, they will not longer by special and therefore some of us who aren’t in there secret society will be seen as knowing what we’re talking about too! This isn’t High School, grow up and read someone else’s blog already!
This comment is makes me sad, Bill. What happened to you?
Something must have to be so jaded.
Bill: I couldn’t disagree more.
I don’t think getting a gig at copyblogger is as simple as “being in the right place at the right time”.
In fact I KNOW it isn’t. Brian Clark isn’t easily impressed and rightly so.
I think it takes years of working your ass off (with little or no reward) to produce jaw dropping, spectacular content that CANNOT go unnoticed.
And anyone willing to perform at such a high level, for so long, will inevitably find opportunities being thrown at them – by copyblogger or problogger, the huffington post etc.
This principle applies to just about anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Abe Lincoln, Einstein, Edison, and just about any other successful person I can think of worked their ass off for a large part of their lives before they saw any success.
They weren’t in the right place at the right time. They created the right place and the right time for themselves as a direct result of their grit and sincere effort.
Click the “Resources” tab up at the top.
Dear Bitter Bill,
I’m sure your above critique was motivated by altruistic reasons but may I ask you to reconsider some of your views?
I think you may well be right if you are saying that few of us will have the skills required to attract and service a lucrative and large enough market to earn the sort of sums quoted. Nevertheless, may I just say that Jon has freely given us, not only a system but the commercial logic and reasonings behind that system.
Now, once you and I have taken advantage of that info. (and I am still in the process of launching) then we will be in a better position to either thank Jon or criticise him. Of course, timing is almost everything but with the amount of free flowing, easy to read, writing that Jon provides, which is the hallmark of all good communications, plus incorporating such useful content, then I like to think that if we could follow that example then eventually we (yes, you and I, Bill) would be rewarded with fans and finance.
So, I do hope, Bill, that you are in the midst of preparing an inspiring blog full of up-liftment that we can all enjoy. In the meantime, please accept my kind regards and my wishes for your success in the future. Onwards and upwards!
Zara x.
People who start to blog always thing of making money which tends them toward failure. In my opinion bloggers should choose the topic which interests them. They don’t think about making money. It’s about knowledge, try to learn more and don’t think about money stuff. There are many top blog topics to make money online but you can get success only with the topic you like to write on. Try to choose your topic for the blog. Making money is very easy, don’t think about it much.
Bill hit upon an interesting point (although I disagree with how he expressed it…) Jon, you’re a phenomenal writer, but would you say it’s phenomenal writing alone that got you to where you are today, or your connections with well-known blogs, or both?
Spot-on post though, I’m just genuinely curious…in your experience, have you found it more difficult for people to break into guest blogging since it’s so pervasive among the IM crowd? Is it more-so a matter of who you know versus what you know?
Keep up the good work 🙂
Sherice
Success in every facet of life is based on who you know and not what you know 🙂 The secret is to start connecting with more people, if you build your network wide enough you’ll meet someone who can help you, no matter what it is that you are trying to achieve. Some meet these influential people more quickly by complete luck of the draw, others need to keep plugging along longer. The system works either way, and whether or not it works better for others is irrelevant, all systems in life work better for some than others.
Connections definitely matter, but I don’t think meeting the right people is a matter of luck. When I was a beginner, I made a list of all the people I wanted to know, and I mapped out a strategy for building a relationship with each of them. It’s no coincidence that, years later, all of them are friends. I made sure of it.
I know you don’t go into *anything* without a plan 🙂
I think I’ll try that approach myself, many thanks!
This goes against the grain of 90% of what I’ve learned from the”experts” in the last 9 months of blogging. But man it feels right. I’m so worried about short term gains that I’m not building a long term foundation. I’m thinking so small! These lessons are profound, Jon. Thanks!
Your blog is great and every single post is packed with truly useful and up to date information and tips, but one thing I am finding, not just with BBT, but most “how to be a successful blogger” sites is that the focus is almost entirely geared towards people who want to be a “blogger” and not on how a company can use a blog to drive sales.
I was wondering if you knew of any specific resources that focused less on how to be a successful blogger per se, and more so on how to run a blog that helps make your business successful?
One example is this: since our blog is a sub-domain for my wife and I’s boutique beach resort, nobody seems to want to touch me as a guest blogger. I get the same response every time “you’re commercial and so you’ve got to pay for a sponsored post”…and while yes, we are commercial and not a private blog per se, we’re a tiny family run business and 95% of private blogs are striving to be commercial, whether they’re associated with a company name or not.
I can’t imagine that it’s worth the payoff to actually pay $25-100 per guest post. I mean, sure, if Conde Nast would let us write for them for a hundred bucks that would be one thing, but I don’t think it’s worth it to pay to guest post on a middling travel blog.
So yeah, my comment is getting a bit long-winded here, but how can blogs that are meant to funnel traffic to a business site best gain traction without paying for the right to write guest posts?
Cheers.
Mike you will need to target sites like Forbes and huffington post.
Challenging but ll be worth it. Another site I can think of is business insider.
Just take a look at their viral post and pitch them a topic.
It will be best if you contact the editors of the site. Its quite easier that way.
Warm up with them through twitter. And you could hit that big deal
Thank you for the input Peter.
Our blog actually covers travel tips and insights into expat life along the Oaxacan coast of Mexico, so I am not sure that those sites would be the target audience for our blog’s content even if they were more accessible, which clearly they aren’t.
I mean, of course I’d come up with suitable content for Forbes should they wish to publish me, haha, but honestly we’d be happy with guest posting on even mildly popular travel blogs. The problem up to now, as I mentioned above, is that nobody wants to let us guest post, they want us to pay to do a sponsored post since our blog is attached to our business. If my blog was MexicoMike.com instead of http://blog.geckorockresort.com/ then it wouldn’t be an issue, but as soon as anyone sees the name of our business they incorrectly assume we’re loaded 🙂
Whereas the truth is that we’re trying to build our blog in lieu of paying for advertising.
Somehow it’s OK to let an aspiring blogger write a guest post, but not a boutique hotel owner who writes a blog to funnel traffic to the main hotel site.
Hi Jon,
I really liked your premium tips. Your guide for 0 to $100k is just awesome. All bloggers should follow the rules of blogging if they are on starting point.
Keep it up
~Gagan Masoun
To be honest, this is the first time I am here in your blog. Someone in my FB friend list shared this article and this is really a great and well-documented article for a newbie blogger like me. Thank you.
Hey Jon,
I really like point #4. There’s not such thing as a “cheap” market.
I agree with your statement “Often times, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.” and your following example about selling a $10,000 mentoring program for aspiring writers.
In fact, I’d go one step further to say it’s necessary for a blogger to really understand his/her audience and to know what keeps them up at night BEFORE coming up with a product idea that delivers more value than it costs.
Point #6 about deliberately delaying the sale happens to have this added benefit of giving the blogger more insight into the audience through the way they interact with the blog. i.e. The posts they read, the comments they leave etc.
Once you’ve really understood the audience, it’s a case of demonstrating the potential value the product (in excess of the cost) will bring to the audience in the form of a solved problem. If it’s clear that your product will deliver more value to the customer than they pay for it, then it’s a no brainer for the customer.
I’m guessing you spent a LOT of time understanding your audience and analysing their needs before deciding to launch the mentoring program (product).
I am so very glad I found your website and read this post. I am so inexperienced in all this, but I do see that you take a totally different approach to the many others I have read. It is so refreshing. I will go back reread, study and apply.
Thank you,
Thank Jon for this awesome post. I usually scan the contents on the web but your writing keep me reading every single word you wrote.
I am struggling in generate more income from my online business. I can’t increase my Adsense revenue, even I tried so hard.
Your approach is showing me a new way. I actually have my first Kindle book which I sold only two copies until now.
I think I am going to focus on my first information product or online course and start selling.
I don’t expect to get much as you, but I think I can improve my family by the end of this year.
Thank a lot for sharing this real experiences. I really appreciate it.
We can do this! Just gotta put the right work in at the right time.
Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content 🙂
Now, I had a question. I am just 14 years old and I am entering the blog-o-sphere as an intermediate. Now, you may check my blog “theartofvk(dot)com.” I write how to articles mostly and also try to do videos as I am not a native English speaker it get’s difficult for me. When I read post on BBT I find it really interesting but How To articles… umm.. are they nice enough? How To article probably don’t keep people engaging do they? I am recently also trying guest post and on my 5 attempt my article was accepted at Hongkiat.
So in the end I come up with… did I choose the wrong niche? Am I a looser then? Please answer as I will be waiting.
Thanks
Awesome post Jon! It’s in my Evernote.
Question for you. What’s your opinion on turning off blog comments? I like engaging with readers and bloggers and having a dialogue with them. But I know some bloggers are turning off their comments. I don’t know about this. Some readers may feel you’re turning your back on them. Others may not care at all.
Also, I think allowing comments on your blog makes you approachable and builds a community. Plus, if you solely build your community on social media networks, what happens when they disappear? You never know, it could happen.
Thanks again for this wonderful blog post. Have a great weekend!
Like most things, there are pros and cons. Not sure there is a correct answer. Just a personal decision.
This is excellent advice, Jon. There’s so much that I agree with here, some of which has appeared elsewhere, but this post puts it all together with one neat bow on top.
I will quibble on one point though, your comment about BBT getting 13,000 subscribers before launching even though you “had nothing but a coming soon page and an invitation to join our email list.” As I recall, you also had a freakin’ awesome video on that page as well that just made people yearn to give you their email address, even without knowing a thing about BBT. So that didn’t hurt, either. ; )
True. I also had Headline Hacks.
Funny thing is, the video didn’t work that well, but HH sure did.
Really? Wow, I’m shocked the video didn’t work that well. I thought it was great.
I’m not surprised about Headline Hacks converting though. I just had someone email it to me last week, and I’ve been using it for years. I have a copy printed up which I keep under my pillow at night (OK, maybe not… but I might as well.)
Best post ever on BBT Jon. It open my eyes and showed me which direction to go with my blog.. This one I’ll print, put a frame around it and hang it on my wall :).
It’s a great post, Jon. I always loved your style, you make everything sound so attention-grabbing. Anyway, I think it’s a very helpful post, meaning that some of those points actually (well, who am I fooling here, most of them) were something new for me. Especially about SEO.
Jon, amazing article! I would just add to your #15 regarding e-mail subscribers. The number you described is real if you have a legit database of subscribers behind it (don’t know if you take this here for granted).
Yes, you’re right, I was talking about a legit email database. More specifically, people who like you and trust you.
If there’s one guy’s email I never throw away before reading and dissecting, it’s Jon Morrow. First I was impressed by your back story and then I was impressed with the quality of your work and recommendations.
Though most of my income is generated by helping others 1) get found online and then 2) engage through video, I do use my blog to attract people to me so they can see the services and products I offer.
Doesn’t fit with exactly the type blog being presented here, but Jon’s thoughts are always helpful.
As always, Jon: thanks for the great info.
Charlie Seymour Jr
Thanks for the kind words, Charlie.
Hi John,
Great article. Just one question about guestblogging. Didn’t google put in on a list of things not to do recently regarding SEO?
Thanks for your great posts.
Maurice Smit
Nope. They warned people against spammy guest blogging, which is a completely different activity. It confused a lot of people.
Always blown away by your posts and funnel, but I can’t help but think that there is an easier way. Basically, take everything you reccomend, then only do what is absolutely nessicary for that tactic to work.
I would really love to see my blogs earning as much as $100,000 a month. I wish I can achieve that. Still long way to go.
I am learning so much from ‘His Royal Awesomeness’ Jon Morrow and BBT.
You are such of a man who blows away all of my assumptions with each and every post. And yes I’m the bottleneck and I’ve realized it now.
No other blogger can compare to ‘His Royal Awesomeness’ Jon Morrow.
Have a great day Jon. I am a true worshiper of you and BBT. I really Thank God that I’ve found this site very much early in my blogging career.
Hi! Great posts and tips. Question: All these points are great considering that the language of the blog it’s english. What about local blogs, like non-english website?
It’s much, much harder. Guest blogging doesn’t work nearly as well.
If you’re blogging in another language, I would recommend just focus on posting amazing content and then asking influencers to share it for you. You have much less competition, so it should be fairly effective.
Jon, the 30 minutes staring into silence is the best thing you can do; I’ve traveled the world for 3 years straight and count meditation as my number 1 strategy for prospering 😉
Epic article! Took some time to go through the whole post. But the time spent was well spent! I must admit that fact!
This article not only shared much valuable knowledge, but also reignited my flair for enhancing my affiliate sales and has inspired me!
Great work Jon, I appreciate the long hours and work you put towards creating this article! 🙂
And thanks to Kingged, where I actually found the link to this post. I’ll be Kingging this useful post over there too!
Arun
Okay, well I guess I have to be Mr. Contrarian today. Or, at the very least, ask a few questions and play some Devil’s Advocate.
I want to start off by saying I really do like this blog. But I have a problem (or at the very least, a couple questions) pertaining to your blog post, Jon.
1) The first thing is in regards to your statements about creating your own products, promoting affiliate products, and doing unique things like creating courses and webinars.
So…is everyone who reads this blog in the business (or currently trying to get into the business) of helping teach other people to make money on the Internet?
In other words, Jon is an incredible writer, communicator, and hard worker–no question. But you’re in the business of helping other people make money. You’re not, by contrast, a travel blogger. You’re not, by contrast, helping to teach people how to buy their first pet. You’re not, by contrast, an entertainment blogger writing about Rihanna and “True Detective.”
And so, I guess my question here would simply be–would a person who follows your blog about TV shows be interested in paying for a TV-related webinar you created? Would a person who follows your blog about vinyl record collecting want to buy an online course from you? Would a person who follows a travel blog you created want to call you up for coaching lessons?
In other words–isn’t most of your advice squarely aimed at a very, very small segment of bloggers who, more than likely, are trying to teach other people how to make money online?
2) And second, you mentioned that you would recommend people do guest blogging, and not even post their first blog entry until they have 10,000 subscribers. You then said you would completely dismiss social media for now (which goes against what someone like Gary Vaynerchuk thinks, but that’s fine–nothing wrong with differing opinions).
So based on this advice, I would approach someone’s blog and see if I can write a guest post for them.
But because I’m not launching my blog or writing any blog posts until I hit 10,000 subscribers, I can’t point them to a blog I own that contains some of my writing samples, so that whoever I’m contacting can read and get an idea of my writing style.
So….why would someone accept me as a guest blogger? I have no blog where I’ve written similar content on my own platform, and because we’re not focusing on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, I have no social proof of any kind.
Why would someone accept me as a guest blogger, when there’s other people who are contacting them about the same opportunity, but they also have their own platform and potentially followers?
To me, that’s akin to walking into a business on a Monday morning and demanding to see the manager. I tell him I’d like a job opportunity at his company, and when he asks for my resume, I can’t provide him with one (my blog). And when he asks for my references (social media), I can’t provide that either. Why is he going to listen to me?
I suppose I just don’t see why being DEVOID of a blog and social media will make you an attractive guest blogging candidate. I get that you’ll maybe be more focused on finding guest blogs rather than building up your Twitter following, but couldn’t you just ask easily say that we should focus on doing nothing but building followers on Twitter, because you can then build relationships and find guest posting opportunities through the people you meet in social media?
–Leonard
Leonard, from reading through your comment, it sounds like your main question is this:
Doesn’t this stuff only work in the “make money online” niche?
It’s a valid question. And to answer your question, these techniques DON’T work for everyone.
For example, the entertainment blogger you mentioned. That’s a completely different style of blogging, and it operates by entirely different rules. Usually, the only way to monetize those blogs is advertising, and as a consequence, those bloggers almost never make much money.
But those blogs are really more the exception than the rule.
I have a client who makes a ton of money in the interior decorating space. Most of her readers are moms looking for interior decorating tips. Check her out: http://www.mariakillam.com/
And that’s just one example. I could list hundreds that have nothing to do with making money.
And as for guest blogging…
Popular bloggers accept guest post for the same reasons popular bands have opening acts. It’s a way to extend the “show” without doing all the work yourself.
When an up-and-coming band auditions to be an opening act, do you think the more famous band cares where they have played? Not really. All they care about is the strength of the audition. If the up-and-coming band is good, they get the gig. If they suck, it doesn’t matter where they played or how good everyone else says they are, they get a polite no.
Same thing with guest blogging. If your post is good, you’re in. The editor won’t even look at your blog, most likely. Or if they do, it’ll be a cursory glance just to make sure you don’t have anything offensive on your site.
Hey Leonard,
1) Your niche selection is extremely important. You probably won’t be able to make money helping people watch better quality TV. But you could help them lose weight or be more productive and make a bunch of money in the process. Making money is not limited to helping other people make money.
2) You should have an active blog, but you should put a lot more effort into guest blogging in the beginning and when you hit 10.000 subscribers shift the focus to your own blog. Because then the effect of social media, SEO, etc on your site outweighs the traffic you’ll get from guest blogging.
I think that is what Jon meant.
Thanks for sharing this post, Abhistek.
This is such an awesome content from Jon Morrow. It inspires me a lot and I hope other bloggers will be inspired too after reading these valuable and effective lessons on how to build a profitable blog. The lessons given are practical and are delivered wisely.
I believe that Jon Morrow is a successful person and that his blogs truly touch someone’s life.
Two thumbs up for their great job! 🙂
Best,
Ann
By the way, I found this post shared on kingged.com
Hello Jon, Wow now this article is right on cue, All 20 lesson’s Rock! I got so much out of this one, oh yeh 2 pages of notes HEHE Yes I do take notes, I can ‘t remember all of these goodies after I leave. I think it is a great idea, why not they just may come in handy right.
I also teach others to do the same. Yes tip #20 “” We give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams!
I absolutely loved this post. Lesson #13: Promote The Crap Out of Your Content Now this is one thing that I know gets results. Sites like Kingged for instance getter done.. I did land here today Via this site where I also commented and kingged this post..
Thanks for sharing.. Chery :))
This article has gotten my mind churning and working in so many new and exciting ways. Thank you for sharing your insights! You deserve all the success you’ve been having on your blog. I can’t wait to start putting these tips into REAL practice (not the “wow-I-feel-so-inspired-for-20-minutes-and-do-nothing kind of practice I so often fall victim to).
Thank you again!
Krystal K.
BLOG & COMPANY
Sort and sweet: how do I know if I can monetize what I know? I’m a widower…married again with five kids…and the death of my first wife taught me more than I ever wanted to know. Can this turn into money? (I fear your answer…or lack of one.). Peace off.
Anything can be monetized. Sounds to me like you might have a good foundation for a parenting blog. Or maybe self-improvement.
It’s taken me this long to reply…but I figure saying THANK YOU late is better than not saying it all. I’m going to look at parenting…though I am far from a perfect parent. (Self-improvement? That’s why I’m HERE.) Anyhow…thank you for the direction. (And I joined SBO. More than I bargained for that’s for sure!) Peace.
I found the link to this blog in a post on unbounce.com and I can say with all certainty that coming on to this blog is the best thing I did today 🙂 wonderful blog and really useful post. Kudos Jon.
Thanks Jon! A ridiculously useful post! So much here I wish I knew before – but better to learn now than never!
Hello Jon, the lessons are detailed and comprehensive. Frankly speaking, I have never read a blog post that carefully like today and I really benefit a lot from it. However, I still have a question regarding to this post, that is, if I am not an expert in any field, what kind of blog (topic for blog) should I start with and how to get enough traffic to my blog? I agree with you that we should not sell ads but should sell our own products or affiliate products via our blog. However, if I cannot teach others something and my blog doesn’t have enough traffic, how can I sell my products or the affiliate products to my readers? Anyhow, I will still focus on your blog and hope I will learn more valuable knowledge through your blog.
Amazing comments section! I always judge a blog post by the number of comments it receives from readers, and this post here has a lot and lots of people interested in not just reading, but also in discussing about what you wrote. It’s really an example to be followed. I’ll try to apply tour tips, and I hope my blog also gets to a place where it provides this level of value to my readers. Thanks for sharing those guidelines whith us.
What a brilliant blog, am book marking it so I can read over it again, and yes will share it!
Wow, that’s a great post. I was wondering how all that applies to someone like me that is a creative. My ideal readers are not fellow artists that I could teach something, but people that love their interior and want to brighten it with some colourful and inspiring art. Thank you so much for you response and I will definitely come back and read your blog more often.
Just thinking aloud here – but maybe you could put a guide together to help people choose the best art for their homes? Maybe in time offer a consultancy service – I bet there are some people who would pay someone to choose the art for them? I’ve seen that you are a self-taught artist – able to offer courses/consultancy on helping others learn art?
Great suggestions8 I will have to ponder uppon them. I was thinking to beggin with a free e-calendar. Do you believe that could encourage people to subscribe? Thanks again!
Very useful, applicable and dare I say inspiring post, Jon! I feel I’m ready to systematically implement all of your solutions (and similar ones offered by others) but I often wonder if I would have more success starting a new blog from scratch, than trying to up the ante with my existing blog. It would be nice to have time for both! Great post though, I will be bookmarking (and sharing, cuz you asked) this one.
WOW!!! Thanks a lot for your many advice 😉
Hi Jon,
Thanks for this wonderful post, infact it make my day. Am a blogger, but this articles makes me realise a lot of things.
To be sincere i learn alot and no one will read this article and will not feel inspired to do more in his/her blogging career.
You hit the hammer on the nail directly, all the point you mentioned are great and the explanation are wonderful.
I will surely put all I learn in this articles post to action.
Thanks and have a nice day
I found the link to this post on Kingged and i have also kingged it on kingged.com
Hi Jon,
Thanks for all this valuable information.
So many insights. Here are two:
“Start selling from day one”. That goes against everything I learned, but it makes sense. Even when you have a small 100 subscriber list.
“Build a reverse funnel”. Also not what I was taught. I was led to believe that you should start, with free, then have somewhat cheap product, before you have your premium product.
Will start thinking about my premium product right now. 🙂
Great content. Just what I have been looking for. I realized that I have been spending lots of hours creating content for my blog but doing nothing when it comes to outreaching and promiting my content.
I guess it is time to write some awesome guest posts.
Thanks.
Great blog post. It get s easier as you learn and get comfortable with your chosen subject matter and style.
Thank you very much for this article! This is what I need right now. 🙂
Wonderful post. there were so many ideas that I got from you and now I can’t wait to update my comment blog posts. Very well done and thank you so much for sharing such n important post. I also appreciated all the comments you generated from some very experienced bloggers.
I am not fully agree with your Lesson #4, as you said, there are only maximum 2% buyers who can spend $1k or more. So to sell product with this pricing you need to be a experienced online marketer, otherwise its hell difficult job to find these 2% clients.
Yes I’ve tried surveys and failed in fact I’ve still yet to find someone who had make money taking survey, but I agree with creating a product or service even if you are not experience marketer you can make something
Wow Jon. Simply epic post. Thanks for much!
i am kinda new in blogging. By reading your post, i feel i can really proceed further with the product that i have. Thanx jon
Awesome post – I am really inspired and happy to build up my blog step by step the way you have!
Nice information. Blogging can really lead us to success. With deeper understanding about success in blogging we can afford to have a wealthy life in the future.
thanx for tips you are awesome.
What an awesome post! It goes against everything everyone else is teaching but it actually makes sense! Great stuff.
OMG! This is such an incredible post.. Thanks so much!
Totally, irrevocably sold on long content! It’s taking a long time to learn everything, I still don’t know what product to offer as I’m bad at getting specific – but my traffic and subscribers are growing. One more step to take along the road.
This is great advice. I am an artist and I just recently started blogging on my site.
I am keen on applying these tips to my blogs.
I think the domain name also matters as what I think is that shorter the domain name more the traffic is on the website and also the topic of your blog is important and google also preffers topics like blogging, tv shows etc.
Wow Jon.
Thank you for putting something like this together. i have been trying to make money blogging, and this is exactly what I needed to be guided on the right path.
I wish I had found your blog much earlier . . . thanks so much!
That is right, blogging in the right way will really make money. Thanks for the encouragement.
You’ve answered a lot of my questions about blogging. I just got started a month or so ago and found your blog through a Google search. I will put these tips into action. Thank you,
Donna Devane
Hi Jon!
Thank you for your advice. I’m definitely interested in applying these techniques to my make money online blog. I currently have Google Adsense on my blog and I offer advertising banner spots on my website through micro job sites. But $100k a month is awesome! I’ll even be happy with $100k a year. If I can get my blog on that level, I could quit my job and work from home. I’m re-reading these techniques tonight and applying them to my blog. Thank you so much!
Excellent post, Jon! Thank you for being open and honest and sharing what to do and what not to do. Really appreciate the insights.
Thanks Mark. You’re awesome too. 🙂
These are some of the best I have read in a while Jon. Well, am a blogger in a relatively different online environment – Africa to be precise. Some things just don’t work out over here – ebooks no one buys them, mailing lists, no one joins them and very few people are willing to pay you to teach them anything. Hopefully, over time I will find the right formula to bissect this difficult market.
I love the metrics that you provide Jon, such as how much income one should be able to expect per subscriber per month.
This post provides great advice; lesson #10 is priceless.
Thanks!
That is right, blogging in the right way will really make money. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hi,
This article is like the Holy Grail for bloggers. Thank you for this!
I also wanted to ask you how is this applicable to a blog that has as a mission educating people about science. Any ideas?
This article is really informative. I was wasting my time on social media ads. Thanks for the suggestions
I really enjoyed this post. Since I came online and started my own blog I never really had an identity for my blog. Even now I’m in the middle of restructuring things “again”.
One of the most frustrating things for me since I began blogging was getting more engagement on my blog posts. When I first started I went from nothing to around 200,000 on Alexa in about 3 to 6 months. After that, I had a long hiatus of no content and flew back up past 10,000,000.
Anybody who’s been online for a while has heard the term “VALUE” at least a million times. Yet, only a few of us know “WHAT” value IS. I’ve generated a substantial amount of subscribers over the years, but my relationship with them was lacking, because I didn’t fully grasp the concept of giving value.
I think now that I have finally started to have a better understanding of how to provide value. My new challenge is learning how to differentiate when I’m giving “too much” value, in the case where I should have just packaged up the content and created a product.
What’s your take on deciphering when you have given enough value for free and when it should be sold?
Well the focus on SEO for new bloggers is crazy, some believe that is all they need to succeed, Guest blogging is a great idea I think I will tow that line
Valuable post indeed.
Writing a post contains 2000 – 3000 words may be a bit difficult to me. But i must realize that nothing can be achieved without hard working. If we write a long valuable content like this, there is a great chance for bookmarking the page. So it is a great innovative strategy.
Excellent article and very true points! I love spending some time on blog and making sure it is organized, as this will make it easier for visitors to follow. Mine is about creative stories and thoughts of mine and includes a store and chat people can spend some time on as well.
Awesome post dude I have found some cool ideas from your post that might help me to increase comments on my blog.
Starting now… actually about 10 minutes ago, I changed my approach.
I’m asking the question, focusing on OTHERS and forgetting about FB for a while.
Thanks for all the goodies to work with!
Keep on Rockin it Jon you’re Awesome. You keep it totally real no hype and provide 100% solid network marketing business value, advice and teaching! Anyone needing to learn more about how to build a network marketing business can find great information on your blog! Very glad to now you my friend. Have Great day and keep on moving forward.
Hi
Great post, liked the content some great ideas. It definitely got me thinking. I hadn’t though of some of these tips, so thanks.
After reading through this post, I’m punching the air. Makes sense! But the thing is I write short stories, reviews, articles and the like on my blog. I’ve a little more than 500 subscribers and I’ve read every available material on getting traffic and making money. I only wonder how it applies to me since subscription to my blog is trickling in at a very slow rate 🙁 Anyhow, this is another great post from you, keep it up!
This post is amazing. I am a newbie and had no idea about how to proceed. This was an eye opener. I was investing too much in SEO, though I neither had good content nor links with the influences.I am really grateful that you brought out this topic.
WOW! Shock at dawn! Turned all of my perceptions upside down! Thak you, your Awesomeness (*bows respectfully*)
Loved this post. Will definitely be coming back here to follow your tips. Thanks for sharing this info!
Jon, you just rock! I agree that you should be called “his Royal Awesomeness” :). This is the greatest post I ever read about blogging and monetizing a blog. I know some bloggers who are able to make a living 20-30k per year with their blogs but it took them years to build a following and thousands of posts too…
Your inverse funnel idea is incredible. Focusing on the 2% is just wow! I mean I’ll have to read that post again and again because I did everything wrong with my blog. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Jon, “his royal awesomeness”.
I read your 4000 words post almost without blinking. Thank god, breathing is automatic or I would have forgot to take it 🙂
Extraordinary post. Not only I got new insights but it totally change my paradigm.
Hats off Jon 🙂
Thanks a lot Jon.
This is one of the best posts about the subject I have ever come across.
Thanks for your insight and for spending your time writing this superb piece of advice.
Hello Jon,
I’m impressed about the depth of insight you seem to command in this area. It is true there are lots of sites that means opposite of what they say or write but yours is different. Keep on doing a good job out there.
wow great post and tips, I will surely put all I learn in this articles post to action. thank you! 🙂
Jon Morrow, thank you so much for this post! I needed to hear this stuff. I am looking forward to learning from you in the future. I have been inspired but your writing so far.
I hope you are having an awesome day!
Clay Steadman
Dear Jon,
You are man of kind. I do blogging since 7 years ago. I didn’t earn much like others. The reason behind i didn’t gave readers value. I pushed them to click my advertising. That’s silly. But, now, i understand that readers need something useful for their life. I called it human to human approach. Not human to machine, like the way i did. E Since months ago, i read your blog everyday. Just like a breakfast at Tiffany.
Mr.Morrow;
I’ve been a perspective Blogger/writer for some time now, my wife Carly suggested I take up the career as I have allot to inform people of.
I am a very successful entrepreneur and wish to blog about how to build success thru proper moral business ethics; things like Honesty, integrity and moral vigor are things that are quickly becoming the “past”.
I will combine your kind advice with my style & be coming for $100k month sales.
J.R.
This is what I call a pillar article. Amazing post on blogging and actually making money doing it. This will be extremely helpful for newbies.
Legend of Awesomeness! Thanks a bunch
So this is really based on when you’re planning to blog about ‘making money online’ I guess… because lesson #10 “Don’t Waste Time on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.” is so not true when you’re blogging about travel, recipes, photography, viral topics, news….. and a whole lot more.:P
This is a really interesting post Jon. What you’ve listed here are the “tools of the trade” so to speak. Every type of business has a list of things specific to that business that must happen in order for their to be income produced. If that list isn’t followed, then you have a hobby, not a business.
Many begin blogging for fun and then realize their might be money to be made. Others use their blog as the means to an end, a hub of activity to attract customers and traffic to their main event.
Regardless of the reason for the blog’s existence, once you decide it is for business and not just a hobby, you must learn to treat it as a business and learn every step to do it effectively.
Great post Jon, keep up the good work i also started blogging awhile back and never intend to stop just too much fun 🙂 keep up the good work within the blogging world.
To Your Success
Adam Rance,
Thank you so much for this post! I am one of those people who decided to blog full time for a living and am loving every thing about it regardless of the lack of time, social life or sleep. I truly believe that we have an opportunity to do what we love for a living. I will definitely start guest posting more often (I’ve only done a few).
I agree about foregoing ads and instead selling your own products in those ad spaces. This might however not be applicable to bloggers who are still new and running the ropes, and to blogs that are still in their growth phase.
After having some time to build a community and learn what your readers like to learn, you can then create your products and link to them from banners on your sidebar.
Thanks for this amazing tips
I didn’t even finish reading the article and I felt obliged to subscribe to your mailing list. You opened my eyes with your lessons. They are pure gold!
I like when said no SEO for one year, It is rare when someone gives statement like this. I also admit it that creating relationship is what matters the most.
Rest tips and tricks are just being impatience 🙂
Thanks for sharing such a nice post 🙂
Hi Jon
Your every point is the voice of my heart. The only difference is that you heard it before me and that is why you are earning 100k dollars and I am still a struggling blogger.
But the positive aspect is I haven’t fail as yet and will never fail till I am struggling. 🙂 Isn’t it?
I think there are two types of people in this world. One type is of those who think they know and other type is of like you who really know and can tell others what they know.
Selling services first and then creating a product is an amazing idea which I never read before. I can enumerate several others from your post but don’t want to repeat all the points you mentioned. It will be just like the reproduction of whole post.
And thanks a lot for sharing this post and once again thank you for helping me conceive an idea for my next blog post.
To be very frank every week I get a new idea of my post after reading your post here.
Holy smokes, this was awesome. I think it even merits the title of H.R.A., personally.
As a new(ish) blogger, it’s a little intimidating to see such a great post, yet realize it kinda goes against SO much you’ve learned thus far. At this point, I seriously feel like a deer in the headlights. But I have a question…
If you’re a total newb to the blog world yourself, what service could you possibly offer someone else? I’m sure I could be a pro hand holder, but the idea of trying to tell someone else how to be successful when *I* don’t even feel like I’m there seems far fetched.
So what’s a beginner to do?
really great article, thanks Jon. I particularly like #1 – it’s the mindset shift that we all need to step up and “play” at the level to generate substantial revenue. Reversing the sales funnel is also very smart and makes a lot of sense. It’s easier to make one $3,000 sale than making 300 $10 sale – although putting a $10 product out there is less scary than selling a $3000 service – again, it’s all about the mindset.
Plain and simply brilliant. So many bloggers including myself have made leaps toward creating more and more content in the beginning, when in fact many top bloggers spend most of their time diving through other sources to generate that traffic, that moves to leads, and eventually profits. Great post.
Jon, as always a wonderful post.
Loved your thought on blogger: “You’re an expert, a teacher, a mentor, maybe even an entrepreneur”
I remember a lot of Internet entrepreneur, were bloggers few years back and had started their career as blogger.
What would you suggest to someone who has a blog that is in a very small, niche field? How does one gain a bigger audience and what types of products do you suggest selling?
Thanks for the informative post though. I definitely picked up a few important pearls!
Thanks Jon
This is one of the greatest and most inspiring articles i have ever read online.
I however seem to have one challenge to over come.
This is has to do with what specific niche to settle for because, i am only about starting out and blogging is going to be my major occupation and source of livelihood.
The niches i have in mind and passionate about is making money online and self improvement.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. I was blown away that you don’t have ads on your site. I have ads on my site and I’m reading along thinking your advice is to forget the ads and sell products. As a food blogger, my mind goes to e-cookbooks, actual hold-in-your-hand cookbooks, books on how to start a food blog and how to do food photography. But according to this post, those I should sell later…the cheaper products. I can’t think of what “services” I could offer, other than offering to come over and cook for them (not happening) and I’m not quite an expert at offering services of personally coaching someone’s food blog. Maybe I’m just too green for that 🙂 Am I missing the point?
Dee, I’m in the same boat. Tried Adsense and it didn’t work out. Still wondering how to maximize my potential…
Loved this article. I do get caught up with wasting time sharing to Twitter and Facebook and not seeing the traffic. I had my 1st Blogiversary in Nov 2014 and am getting a lot of positive feedback but not seeing the traffic. How do you get on some guest blog spots? We have an 1820 Farmhouse and do most of the work restoring the house and also I have a passion for cooking so I do a lot of food presentation and recipes. Love to hear what you think at BeFedAgain.com
Thanks Again for this article.
This is fascinating. I´ve been working in illustration for a couple decades now but i always lacked promotion skills over the web i guess. I thought that blogs were dead and gone and facebook and twitter was all that mattered nowadays but now i can see i was wrong to ditch my own personal blog for which i haven´t posted a single thing for five years or so…but even without posting i noticed today that i have around 25.000 visitors and people keep coming back… i definetely need to start paying atention to my blogs…
I have another about oriental movies that has reached about 300.000 visitors and i havent posted anything in it for a year or so…
Ive been so busy working in illustration through my site that most of the time there´s no room to work on anything else but after reading your text i think i need to find some extra time asp to go back to blogging….thanks.
You brought up some really good points in your posting. I’ve been a blogger for @ 12 hours now and I’m thankful to get glimpse of the full scope of the blogging world. Your posts informed me on the importance of “guest posting”. I have not even heard of that. Thank you and I’ll be out on other blogs posting.
Great post,I’m going to follow your advices!I think I need to start making money just to have you as my mentor:)
Thanks 🙂
Great content Jon,
Came here after listening to you on Content Champion, great interview and great article!
That calculator must be broken i’m not seeing those blog returns yet! 😛
Daniel
WOW Jon! great post, Only read it quickly so I will go over it again later! Lesson 9 is the eye opener! I find it really difficult to give away great content that I have just spent hours writing, but as you say, it’s got to be done!!
Thanks for sharing all this useful and relevant information Jon. The most interesting and surprising lesson was the one where you mentioned that spending a lot of time on social media outlets doesn’t really help. I also specifically liked how you set the tone about the fact that you’re not just a blogger and that you’re an expert…etc. This is some confidence needed to be successful in anything.
This is awesome post. More energy for new bloggers and monetization methods. The ultimate way to earn from blogging is to have something your own to sell. starting from cheaper and at discounted price is also good to penetrate in this market.
Blogging pays well if done correctly.
Brilliant! Love your writing and love this website. It’s really a gold mine on the internet. Thanks for sharing!
Mind blowing stats Jon. I couldn’t believe you made such a huge profits from one blog.
I personally like all your posts (writing tone especially), and I’m also part of some of your premium courses. You ARE a true leader Jon. You share what you follow.
Hi! This was hands down one of the most helpful posts I’ve ever read about how to make blogging a realistic career path. I love how honest and open you were in both suggesting the good but reminding me of the bad choices out there, some of which I know I would/have made. I found your blog after hanging my head from another post on yet another site saying to forget about blogging as your source of income. Completely ignoring that advice and seeking out some that matched my determination, I found yours and so glad I did! Thank you again for this awesome post – it’s officially made it into my favorites bar to come back to.
Congratulations on your blog and so glad I found it!
These tips are worth WAY more than gold… Way too awesome man. I’m printing this and keeping it as a part of my study notes for blogging. I can’t seem to find a post that I don’t want to read again and again. I admit though, I’m one of those bloggers who started off writing an ebook that didn’t make a dime. I’ve got a lot to learn!
Thanks Jon! Keep being awesome 😀
I think you have made very important point. However, there is a need to distinct between 1) a blog which will be a business, and 2) a business which has a blog.
Your case seems to fall under 2. You do not want to blog, you make money from the blog, it is just a way of marketing.
My blog is a blog for blogging. To express my thoughts, and maybe make money as a side effect. There is a huge difference between those situations, and the differences lead the use of ads, guest posts and so on.
I will be happy for your reply.
It is superb post.
Nice guide to make money from blog.
Bloggers need both patience and strategy to be successful .
This was amazing! These tips are going to help me out so much. 🙂
Thank you!
Peyton
Really, really helpful awesome Jon ?
Thank you!
Great post. Learned a lot from it. Glad to be your student!
Wow!!!
This is one of the best articles I have ever read in my entire lifetime, Jon. I can’t put into word how amazing this post is!
While there have been a lot of articles talking about making money blogging, your is the BEST one I have seen so far!
This is giving me motivation and a huge push to continue working on my blog. You can really make a lot of money blogging, but you HAVE to put the work in (you get what you put in).
I love using affiliate marketing, Pat Flynn is also one of the best in the game.
One thing that really struck me in this post is the reverse sales funnel. I’ve always thought to start off cheaper then gradually charge more money. To be honest, this reverse funnel sounds scary, but since you said you had great results, I should probably give it a try.
My gosh, the information in this post is so good that you can charge for it. Very valuable information!
Thank you soo much Jon for this outstanding post.
Best wishes,
Benjamin 🙂
Start selling from day one…I’ve always thought you had to build a sizable audience and then drop that knowledge that they’ll pay for. But doing it for the motivation to make money FORCES you to create a damn good product(s). Makes complete sense, Jon. Thanks!!!
Excellent breakdown of the real deal man. Thanks for dispelling many of the get-rich-quick crap circulating about how to use blogging as a revenue stream. At MFJLabs we use blogging to augment our SEO efforts for client sites. Works nicely.
Hi Jon,
Thanks for updating the post to more relevant data. It does provide hope and renews my spirit to keep working.
My hurdle that you make seem so easy comes for this one line: “Write content that gets lots of traffic”. I know that I write good content, but content that gets lots of traffic … well. In that one line you have made the most difficult part of getting started seem like a “no brainer”.
I still have work to do and I really appreciate the value you offer for free. You are an inspiration to me.
Thanks.
John,
you’re the best!
I’m going to start a blog soon! real soon!
your posts have motivated me like nothing else!
when I succeed as a blogger!
you’re gonna be my guru!
Great post Jon. Always amazing details to be found on this site.
Reading this for the first time….I feel like going through it again and again. I love the concluding part so much. You are wonderful.
Just be aware that affiliate marketing with the wrong company can damage your brand. For instance, I started my blog w/ Blue Host because of Pat Flynn’s recommendation – which I am sure he was paid for. I am now on day 5 of my site, and e-mail being down, with NO estimate from Blue Host as to when it will be back up. As a consequence, I wouldn’t buy a thing he suggested or endorsed, because of my experience with someone he put his seal of approval on. Blue Host has a HORRIBLE reputation among the community, and I even wonder if anyone would “recommend” them unless they were being paid.
That’s true, Scott. If I have one beef with Pat, it’s that he recommends Blue Host.
OK, I’m going to show my age…a couple of decades ago, the public relations profession was in trouble and thoroughly misunderstood. As a profession, it lacked luster. So, the pros (me among them, though I was a cub then:) worked on a national public relations campaign for public relations. It worked. Public relations became recognized as a true profession, though there were and still are nitwits that don’t get it.
It seems we are at the same juncture for professional blogging. It strikes me as a positioning opportunity for professional blogging. You have generously done as much or more than anyone I know to move the profession forward. I want to be part of that process. Perhaps, destiny calls.
As usual, Jon Morrow, you are the Master of Bloggers. I’m planning my first blog-site and this article, as other ones in SmartBlogger.com, has opened my eyes and expanded my view of what I want to achieve. Thank you so much for sharing you wisdom and knowledge.
Jon, this is a great article. Thank you. As usual, you are full of useful information. I am new to blogging (just launched in March) and I initially started with the small e-mail list from my business website, which does not have a blog. I started a completely new website after realizing I was on the wrong platform altogether to grow an audience. I learned this thanks to the information you and other professional bloggers provide. You recommend affiliate marketing to monetize a small new blog, which are my exact thoughts for my blog. Do you have an affiliate program? If so I would love to promote your info on my site. Thanks again!
How do I get an advert that matches what my site does?
I blog on religion, all ads I subscribed for gave me contrary outputs.
Oh, wow! Just…wow! I knew the changes on this site would be phenomenal, but good grief, Jon! I’m nowhere close to where I should be, but this post will be my bookmarked ‘go-to’ when I need to remind myself of the most actionable process I should take as an ‘old newbie’. I know I need help, but this particular post is helping me to wrap my head around what I didn’t understand before. Thanks!
I have closed my first blog (frankly I’m failed in blogging) and started new blog two years back, its going fine now but my income depends on ads, I just want to skip from this and planning to implement affiliate and building my own product. This post gives a clear idea about I’m travelling on right path.
Really awesome post… thanks for your suggestions and advice’s.
Man 100k per month from just a single blog is absolutely Awesome. You are really an All-In-One Internet guider. I am starting out with my new blog, we are at setup stage, we are preparing free courses for email optins.
Though thanks for all of your valuable resources Jon.
Keep up the great work at smartblogger!
Why am I just reading this? Amazing post! A real eye opener. The enite article brings a lot of value. I can’t wait to share it with everyone.
Thank you, Jon.
Great article! This actually inspired me to get back to work on a blog that I’ve kinda fell back on the past few months..Thanks for the motivation and transparency in the numbers!
John..Love your writing and your story about you and your mom’s insatiable perseverance. I have been reading your site a lot lately (you probably already know that) and love the wisdom you are passing on. I am constantly seeking new ideas and insights and glad I found the site. Keep up the good work and your entertaining writing style!
wonderful post.your tricks and methods are awesome.
i am a newbie,your post helps me a lot.
i started to learn money earning steps from this blog.
thanks a lot.
Thanks for this informative blog post! Love it! I am about to start blogging on my business website and this is some great advice. Got to know you through Marie Forleo’s B-School, who recommended you.
Thanks for the tips. I think affiliate marketing is really a good way to earn more especially when u have a blog read by a good amount of people.
This may seem odd, and I totally respect you and cheer for your every success, but what if a person does not really want to make 100K per month?
I don’t want a team of people milling around me, either. Just not my goal.
Rather, I’d like to life a simple but comfortable life, say, of 5 figures per year. Having extra to give away on occasion would be fine. But my main goal is to teach, and by teaching to help people who have enough desire to be helped that they would actually make an effort to learn.
I have read about being careful to charge enough to cover my expenses, also not to undercut others who must cover expenses, and really, I think that an admirable goal. I don’t want to run someone else’s life, to guarantee their life-long success if I’m the one in control. I just want to publish, successfully, and thereby help as many as possible.
Fame? Okay, if it’s necessary, and I can see how that concept works, but always being gone? Always demanding top dollar? Not so much…
Can a person live like that through a blog?
Yes. It’s actually much easier to accomplish that. 🙂
$100K+ per month is rare.
so, Jon – which one of these two is actually true (because they can’t both be) ?
quote: from you by the way..
It took me about five years to earn my first dollar.
During that time, I started four different blogs, working on them at night and on the weekends. The first three failed. Despite investing hundreds of hours into each one, I made too many mistakes, and I eventually had to shut the blogs down. I didn’t earn a penny from them.
quote: from you (again) by the way…
Within a month, I had On Moneymaking off the ground, and within two months, it was getting 2,000 visitors a day and Performancing nominated it for the best business/money blog of the year. A couple of months after that, Brian Clark asked me to become the Associate Editor of Copyblogger, and so I sold On Moneymaking for five figures and went to work at one of the most popular blogs at the world.
And amazingly, that’s just the beginning of the story.
quote; from me by the way…
odd how people sometimes lose credibility in the blink of an eye
Both of those quotes are true. On Moneymaking was my fourth blog.
What’s unclear?
No, silly boy. What’s odd is that you feel the need to defame Jon on his own blog. 🙁 I would’ve written him privately.
Silly boy,
Unless you have something to offer like the HeadLine Hacks that Jon generously gave for us all and I personally used it to build my trial blog to 33K views in 9 months, its best you shut up.
Thanks Jon for being a true inspiration for all of us.
You are insanely amazing.
Jon – no one educates like you do. I have printed this priceless information and placed it on my desk so I can read it every day until it sinks in. Thank you so much!!
Thanks for the update, Jon. I’ve been blogging for over 11 years. In that time I’ve seen a LOT of changes. In fact, the number one change is change itself. What used to work (Google Adwords, keyword optimization) is actually a way to lose traffic now. I’ve seen eBooks come and go, as well as video marketing, podcasting, and social media marketing. The secret is they all work, for the right message, and the right person. The hard part is, to find the right message for your brand/personality takes a lot of hard work, a lot of experimentation, and months/years of time. Thanks for laying it on the line. Blogging can be a viable occupation, just don’t quit your day job until you’ve found what works for you.
Alrighty. Just started a new blog this week and this post is SO valuable. My first goal is growing my list to 1,000, but you’ve got me thinking about viable products and a webinar. Thanks for sharing your expertise and experience!
A very informative article , it helped me in clearing my doubts about online money making . Bloggers like you help hundreds of new and budding bloggers like me to understand things and move ahead . Thank you very much .
I have also shared your story of life with my blog’s readers , you are an inspiration for others . May god bless you with lot more success and love .
You always share valuable messages with your readers, Jon. Sharing your wisdom and what you’ve learned from your experiences is appreciated. I still recall one of your suggestions in your original April 2014 version of this post to begin by offering services. I followed your advice and learned loads of insight from conversations with clients and referral sources. It’s interesting that you mentioned your success with guest webinars in the original post and with hosting webinars on your own site in this post. Hmm… It may be worthwhile to think about growing blogging businesses by speaking more often with your current or potential audience. ~Keri
this is the most comprehensive yet straight forward descriptive on blogging as a business I’ve ever read – and I’ve read a LOT of shit.
Thank you for posting this.
Amazing FREE CONTENT 😉
awesome.
Kerry.
Amazing article. I’d like to stress so much on funnel building. You can collect all the emails in the world, however if you do not have a tested system, all those emails will go to waste. Value is so much more important than just selling. If your audience feels they are getting something in return, be sure they will take that next step to buy a product or service from you because they know you and trust your advice…
Wow, are you kidding me? 100k a month? That is insane! I knew if you had a really popular blog you could make good money, but 100k a month?! That is a year’s salary for doctors. I am a blogger myself and make no where close to that. I make enough for a living in hope of some day catching up to you. You instilled a little bit of fire in me, knowing that there is someone achieving the impossible.
I’ve been through quite a lot with my days a blogger. I was making money, but it just wasn’t enough. You literally make pennies and dollars. That is not enough to support yourself. It wasn’t until I met Noah King. A mentor of mine who taught me how to make REAL MONEY online writing about what I love. I am now making $6000/month after a year of hard work and can do it all from the convenience of my home. Never give up or sell yourself short! Noah has his own website where he talks about how to achieve the same success he has. You can check him out here if you’re interested – http://www.deservingwriter.com/
you changed your domain name and you are doing well but i did the same but things are bad (no traffic, back links, mass email not working). I have just read your advice on domain change in one of your posts but now what should i do.
Munyambabazi,
Did you do your 301 redirects so that googs knows it’s really the same domain, just with a different name? I also changed domains—twice. yuck. Nobody was reading me back then, but it’s not fun while you’re going through just the same.
Hey Smart Blogger. ,
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. I am a regular reader of your blog and looking forward to read these types of informative articles. For sure, I will refer this write-up to my friends.
Have a Nice Day >!! Happy Blogging 🙂
Great Post… i am a newbie,your post helps me a lot.
i started to learn money earning steps from this blog.
thanks a lot. 🙂
What a great article sir, the information is well organized and very comprehensive. I can imagine the effort you put into this and especially appreciate you sharing it. Anyone starting a blog should make this their go to place to start.
Thanks for sharing about blogging. I appreciate your time. I took notes to improve my real estate empire….lol.
Thank you SO MUCH for this helpful post. We are just starting out on our first travel blog. I truly believe in it as a business, and I appreciate your words of wisdom and encouragement! I think they are especially helpful in the early years. Thanks again!
Sarah
Hi, Jon..
I’m blogger from Indonesia, it’s really helpful to find a blogger like you who dedicated for the “art of traffic”, not many bloggers here (Indonesia) explain it deeply like your blog, though some advice not applicable here.
I have read around 20 posts of your blog, and it really help a lot… Thank you very much 🙂
The Real money is in affiliate marketing, every blogger should start with it.
It sounds that simple but it is not,you should have a lot of experience and good knowledge of that.
Great post-Jon,
I like the fact that you endorse affiliate marketing, and by extension high ticket marketing.
I started 10 years ago as a big ticket affiliate marketer. I made money quickly and quit the rat race 55 days later. It made sense to me to avoid creating a product (a tortuous path for a newbie) and let a third party take care of product creation and delivery, not to mention customer service.
I also like the fact you made it very clear that bloggers are growing a business, and that it is hard, not easy. Although I have a couple of blogs now, I see blogging as just one of the elements in an overarching strategy.
Fabulous post
Thanks, your Article is very helpful and now I’m going to print it out. It is really inspirational content and I love reading it.
Hey Jon, and all other potential bloggers out there !
This is absolutely fantastic stuff and a real eye opener for business like mine, where we want technology to be our main driver given today’s day and age. I really appreciate the honest insights that you’ve put forward, and we will look forward to always learning more about the business through your posts and will definitely spread the good news.
Cheers,
Sean
Good tips you gave out here! I am really looking forward to start my first blog about coding with Wordpress. I really hope that I will be making (a lot) of money from blogging. I will remember your tips and give my best to become the next big blog!
Thank you!
c’est géniale merci
Hi Jon,
Maybe you’ve heard already because good news travels fast. ;] I just passed 100k, no not in one month, but in just over 8 months, since September 26, 2015!
For anyone reading this.
I’m not a geek.
I’m not a writer.
I’m an interior designer
And a student of Jon’s.
Admittedly, I’m a horrible student. Really bad ADD.
But… I did everything he told me to do.
And then I joined an accountability group with a few of Jon’s students.
That last piece was critical.
I doubted my every move.
I lived in fear that someone would dump on me.
Occasionally they do.
Big whoop. That’s their problem. :]
The vast majority are overwhelmingly kind and generous.
I built my email list with a carefully crafted optin. I now, have over 13,500 subscribers. (in September 2014, I had 78) :]
I built credibility through my blog with humor, beautiful images and rock solid information.
I created two products that my readers were dying to have. (I knew this because I did a survey. Highly recommended!)
I worked insanely hard to create the best products that NO ONE else had ever done, still doubting; still not believing it was possible.
It IS possible.
Listen to Jon.
(BTW, I am in no way affiliated with him other than an admiring student)
Do what he says.
Believe him when he says that it’s an INSANE amount of work!
INSANE! I did not have much of an outside life (for a time) because that is how much effort and time it takes.
But, it’s also fun, and immensely rewarding.
Especially when the orders come pouring in and if you do everything Jon says and you’re committed…
Well, it worked for me.
And it all came about because this Angel (who doesn’t realize that she is…) told me about Headline Hacks.
I am beside myself with gratitude. There aren’t enough thank yous in the Universe to express that.
xoxo,
Laurel
Laurel, that’s AWESOME! I’m so proud of you! Sharing this with the rest of the team. 🙂
Wow, what an amazing story! I felt like that for a long time until I decided to do something about it recently. I am really small right now and so far I have zero subscribers. Yet that only means there is work to do! I am definitely checking your blog or website, too. Thanks!
Laurel, I am so thrilled for you. That’s awesome news. You deserve it though, you’ve put in the hard yards to truly understand your audience. Your blog is beautiful, entertaining, and ‘on the money’ – literally! Well done. Inspiring stuff.
My dream is to earn just a quarter of what you earn ahahahahah. wow! exciting
All along I have always wondered how bloggers earn a living but now I know thanks to this post. well got a lot of time and internet so i bet i should also start blogging
This is the most useful blog post I have read in a long time! So much rubbish flying out the internet about how to make money and this hits the nail on the head! Subscribed to your email newsletter
Thoroughly inspiring! One of the hardest thing to figure out as a blogger is the best way to monetize you, and I think you should have this figured out before even starting the blog.
Affiliate marketing is the smartest strategy?
Hmm. Oke i will try it..
Maybe, I success with it.
This post truly made my day. I am glad that you just shared this helpful information about how to create successful for beginners.
That’s just amazing. I never thought there can be a number of options to earn from blogs. I always thought serving ads is the only way. Thanks a lot for changing my mind set. Keep sharing informative articles.
I was glad to have spent quality time reading 4,000+ of your words, Jon! Pretty encouraging to say the least. I am definitely going to become part of your list and I hope I can find information on how to write to attract more readers! Many thanks.
Hey
Guys!
Great post ! Thank you so much.this article is very useful for me.
Interesting, why did you choose to promote Siteground Hosting not other. Is it because you user their service and you love it? Or maybe there is some other reason.
P.S. this is a nice guide for blogging beginners.
Thoroughly inspiring! One of the hardest thing to figure out as a blogger is the best way to monetize you, and I think you should have this figured out before even starting the blog.
This is the most useful blog post I have read in a long time! So much rubbish flying out the internet about how to make money and this hits the nail on the head! Subscribed to your email newsletter
My dream is to earn just a quarter of what you earn ahahahahah. wow! exciting
Trust continues to be a major issue on the World Wide Web between bloggers and readers. Readers want to see bloggers posting lots and lots of meaningful content to their sites on a daily basis and giving them something to think about. It’s relatively easy for a person to post once a week and expect readers to be converted into repeat buyers when that’s certainly not the case toward being a successful and profitable blogger. Creating quality content and putting people first puts a full-time or part-time blogger in the front seat to earning honest and passive incomes from affiliate marketing.
Congratulations for being in a positive position to earn over $100,000 monthly from blogging and online marketing. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Just one word: WHOA! This post was so good that I bookmarked it!! 2 things amazed: your story about how it took about 8 years to bring it to that point (proves that there’s no overnight miracle that can happen in a snap of a finger) and the fact that you use tools and strategies for your every single moves while blogging!
I may not personally know you (yet lol) but let me give you the 2 thumbs up for your achievement and thanks for showing others that their goals are also achievable ($100k a month is a goal for a lot of us Internet marketers)!
Keep inspiring others and posting real no fluff content! 😉
This is a great post!. I really like the step-by-step instructions you listed here. Anyone who wants to start a blog must keep these steps in mind to have a successful blog . Thanks for sharing! 🙂
excellent tips my friend, I agree with the email list is the most important thing that you have to do for success in internet marketing.
Your story is quite influential and its easy to understand the ways to make money blogging. I also use various methods to make good money blogging such as
1) direct ads
2) Reviews
3) Guest Posts
4) Affiliate marketing
Thank you so much for taking the time to share a bundle of knowledge. I am very new to blogging. I’ve been compiling my content in Wordpress but have not gone live as of yet. Reading your article has helped me tremendously and greatly inspired me as well.
So much valuable information in one blog post. Wow! Thank you for sharing. I have years of experience in the internet marketing field but I learnt new things again today.
Jon, great post. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into it. A very good read and you are right – I have been afraid to call myself a blogger up to now because most people don’t take you seriously. From today I will shout from the rooftops ‘Yes I’m a blogger’ 🙂
Jon, love the part when you said, it is your responsibility to pay back to the industry. I genuinely feel that although you get paid for all this, you still tell us the “real information” which not many people do. You are generous in sharing. Keep it up the good work and thanks. Cheers
I read it @2016, I deleted every ad from my blog. Thank you sir for awesome insights.
this is really nice post …love the story ..nice valuable information..thanks jon
Great post! An eye opener indeed. I have 2 blogs one for sales (small business) and one as a hobby posting lists of anything. I learned a lot from this single post. Thank you, Jon, for sharing your knowledge to us little guys. 🙂
Jon, great post. You are spending lot of time and effort into writing this post. its like a ebook. I am also professional blogger like you.
Wow, your article is very long, but…is great! I`m blogger too and i really envy your knowledge! I like it when someone clearly and specifically explain his success
as a new blogger, it just made me feel better.
Great post and very valuable reference to get back to.
Do you plan on offering year-long coaching anytime soon?
You are damn smart! Really it’s amazing article. But as I own one technology blog also. I think advertisement is necessary for me. What do you think?
Interesting post. Just a thing: where should I receive money in this story? How does that part work? PayPal in some ways?
Thanks for the info!
My blog is just few days old with only 5 posts. I really wish I can start making $1000 before the year runs out.
I am ready to work!
Interesting stuff to read. Keep sharing your love with us. It really makes us motivated 🙂
Very excellent article with a lot of details for blogger! Thank you Jon !
Absolutely Great tips for any blogger , Thanks Jon !
An elaborate article, very useful indeed, adds hope for the bloggers, if I earn with the help of these tips I will definitely convey my gratitude.
So much great info to digest with this one. So much knowledge and experience within this article, it is invaluable. I appreciate you sharing this information and the tactics.
It is true that most beginners gravitate towards ads, that is the most common response it seems. The reverse funnel is genius as well. Again, thank you.
Wow, thsi is very useful post, i have learn different other ways to monetize my blog and not just selling ad space like adsense. Thanks for this
I’m also struggling for my blogging but I have earned a pitiful of $6 in Adsense for 1.5 years. And I need an inspiration like this one you wrote. Thanks for this!
Jon, how do I know that Self Development blogs perform well on Facebook? Did you search “top self help blogs”, then use similar web to see that FB traffic is a high srouce?
You need to advertise on FB Will, and create targeted ads, they are not that expensive and will, if your content is appealing, drive traffic to your website, or FB page, or both… the targeted advertising on FB is absolutely fantastic, it might be a small number of people, but at least you know they are interested in what you have to offer. Forget about the free promotion on FB. It only works a little and it takes way too much time! Unless you have a FB page with 10.000 active followers or so… and even then, because FB is not showing your followers everything especially promotional links… they want you to pay… which I can understand. After all FB is free to use and the advertisers are the ones that help FB make a huge profit… Good luck! Anja
Awesome post so far, Jon. I’ll have to read the full post in the morning since it’s nigh time at where I live. I just have one question. Is it profitable for a freestyle blogger to affiliate marketing? If I’m correct, affiliate marketing is more suitable for niche-based sites, right? Are freestyle blogs even profitable? I’m just starting out, so can you recommend me something?
Hi, of course a freestyle blog can be profitable, you have to research the market that your audience is interested in. So what topic(s) (read: niches) do you write about. Do some research in Google and see if any ads pop up. If none, that topic is probably not a very good one. The key is to write great posts, provide great content, build an email list and research what your list is interested in (hint: use polls to check that out, let’s say if you are considering to become an affiliate for amazon and you want to promote cooking books, just an example, you could ask your subscribers to go to a poll you created about what books they love to read, and add cooking books as one of the options, plus several others, to make it more attractive, promise that they can win a reward or so, a free product or free service or even $25 will take them to your 1 minute poll). Also: learn about doing keyword research in Google keywords tool. And learn a bit about SEO done the proper way. Now don’t think you learn this in a week. It can take many years to master this art, but at least a year, if you study like crazy. Make sure your content is great, over deliver in great content, so people LOVE to subscribe to your list, offer a freebie that they will LOVE, and to find out what they would Love you can do a poll in your blog post(s) to research various interests your readers have. Then see if there are affiliate programs for that. Before my reply becomes longer then Jon’s article, I think I leave now, but you get the point…. go do your homework kid 😉 Good luck with your booming business! Believe you can do it, because you can, but you need to work hard, and learn the art of building trust and offering what your readers and subscribers Love…. Woohoo, go do your research now!
Best of luck to you, Anja
Hey Jon! Thanks for all of your help!
I have an affiliate question (hopefully you aren’t annoyed at them by now): I want to start a couponing website for a specific niche, that will provide coupons and deals to users at certain stores. What do I do if the store that I really want to promote does not have an affiliate program? Thanks again!
WOW! One of the best blog posts I have ever read in my life and I’m not even kidding.
I love that you’ve actually had the experience of 8 years and are honest in what you say. Not like the majority of most bloggers who give advice on making a profitable blog.
So counter-intuitive, I thought that I was going to monetize my blog with ads as well. Literally changed the direction of my blog for the better. Thank you so much for saving me the time. Going to read this again and again in the future and will share it now.
Cheers!
Probably the best blog post on blogging I have ever read!
I think this one will motivate me into action!!
I love reading comprehensive posts, especially those that distill what the blogger has learned themselves over the years. Helps know what works and what does not, so I don’t waste time and hopes on something that’s less likely to help meet my blogging goals. Thank you for this.
Thanks for the post. Its a learning curve for bloggers.
wow…amazing..stunning post. so useful and motivational. I am struggling with my blog and after reading this I am highly motivated to work even more. Thanks a Lot.
I definitely needed this! Thank you for all these great useful information!
An amazing post! Thank you so much! Many valuable tips, especially the one with the reversed pricing, which I would have never thought of myself. Also a great way of writing that is easy to understand for everyone.
Hey Jon,
That was such an inspiration to read. I can’t believe it took you five years to make your first dollar. Very few people would have that kind of perseverance and stick it through. You deserve all the success.
I just started my own blog and I can’t thank you enough after reading this post. Thanks again for keeping it real. I’m going to re-read this post again. Too many nuggets of wisdom.
Amazing! My dream is to earn just a quarter of what you earn. wow! exciting article
Hi Jon,
Wow!
I was simply Googling on ‘How to Make Money Using Blogspot’ then I stumbled upon your blog. This is loads of information.
I’ll read this Blog several times to grasp the concepts
Thank you
Great Post. Just the information I was looking for. I just started my blog and I will be following your advice. Thank you !
Really enjoyed the Article – Well written and full of information! It is great to see and quite motivating. The focus on determining what your site/blog is worth based on subscribers makes complete sense!
Hi Jon,
Awesome post to make money via blogging in 2016. As today many bloggers are struggling to make money and choosing the right path to make money. So I say monetization is not the right way to make money instead use alternative methods you have already described above. So thank you.
Thanks Jon for posting this awesome blog about making money online! via blogging this would be helpful for those who are still looking for the ways to make money blogging on the Internet. blogging plus affiliate marketing is helpful!
Wow, Jon, This is the wonderful source of making money from blogging I just really grateful to read your blog post, this content is extremely informative for those who are earning money online as a blogger. Thanks, Jon for sharing your valuable information I just wait for more information regarding blogging.
Hi Jon,
You got me to 60K a year the year I mentored under you. Thanks so much!
Sue
P.S. I just added your infographic to my blog.
Hi Jon,
I understand many things from this article. It’s a very detailed case study and opening minds on the importance of collecting emails and doing mistake by creating a course. Yeah, affiliate marketing is a best monetizing method. Thanks for the detailed article.
“If a visitor comes to your site and doesn’t give you their email address, the chances of them returning are nearly zero.”
I’ve seen this on a few blogs about blogging and it always perplexes me. Unless your site isn’t useful to anyone, how can you not have returning visitors? Sure, the “average” visitor might not return, but if your content is useful or entertaining, many will.
I have a site that’s over 20 years old and not only do I have a number of people who check back regularly for new content, some have been a loyal visitor for over 10 years!
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have an email list or that all pop-ups are bad. But to say that you must annoy your visitors to get them to come back isn’t true.
This is awesome! Simple to understand and full of gems for us in the marketing world.
Thank you for being unselfish with your know-how. God bless you more and may your success continue to inspire many people as it has inspired me.
.
Hi,
thank you for the suggestions you provide, I am a new blogger and these tips are great for just starting out.
I hope to learn more from you! will be following your guidelines
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Awesome post.
Keep writing.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Hey
Jon
Awesome! I have read many other articles on the same topic, your article convinced me! I hope you continue to have high-quality articles like this to share with everyone!
So good to read another inspiring post from you, Jon. I’m sharing it with clients and others as we speak. Thanks.
It’s always great to learn from the best (=Jon)! The idea of the Minimum Viable Funnel was a real eye-opener, I have a product idea and will definitely test with the MVF if it flies. Actually, I did it with my other blog in the past (wasn’t even aware of the concept, it just happened…). It saved me from a huge disappointment and effort. Only one person bought the product so there certainly was no market for that! And refunding the money to that one person didn’t break the bank!
If you have the talent in blogging or wants to learn to blog, just do it, you’ll never know if you will succeed on this career…
An amazing post! Thank you so much! Many valuable tips, especially the one with the reversed pricing, which I would have never thought of myself. Also a great way of writing that is easy to understand for everyone.
Good post however,
22 images without ALT tags. Shame on you! 😉
Wow! Your Royal Awesomeness, you’ve done it again! My head is swarming with lots of ideas I want to implement and my notepad is full of quality information that will help me rock my blog. I’m so glad I have access to this blog. Thanks for sharing such awesome free advice!
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Hi,
I am very much grateful for your efforts put on this article,
This article is very informative, updated and transparent. Can I expect you will post this type
of another article in near future?.
Really a very awesome post! It is a very good guide for all levels of bloggers. I really was blown away by the Minimum Viable Funnel concept.
Keep writing more such blogs.
Regards,
Atul
wow!!nice information and very useful to earn money..I love it…need more details..
Dammit! this is so so good that it really got me to change my mindset. I am just starting out on a blog though and i got to say this will really help me along the way. thanks so much for this helpful content.
Wow great piece of information over there, the way you have used graphs and charts made it so easy to understand the content more clearly.
Keep up the good work 🙂
My problem is not creating blog, but creative blog to make money. I created lot of blogs this year already, but still struggling to make them work for me. This article is really useful and timely. Thanks
Nice post thanks for the sharing with us its very informative for me..
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing your views. It was very help for readers and Much appreciated folks this will enable me to concentrate more.
Thank you!
Hi,
Absolutely amazing.
I would love to read your income report.
Thanks
Great post Jon. I particularly like your tips re guest blogging and email marketing.
Hi,
thanks for this great article.
I loved the way you shared everything so well with us – the way you have gone about doing things – it’s surely an eye-opener for me and for many others too.
Very informative post, thanks for sharing these honest insights.
Its the reality of blogging, that most of the people quit in the midway feeling disheartened from not being able to see any results, however you must be very passionate about your blog to thrive to those moments. Thanks.
Yes ! The Content is the king .I’m agree with you,because if anybody make his page interaction with the awesome graphics but his content value is poor then the visitor will not stay on that page much more and that cannot be bring returning visitor for him.
But if you give some content tips : like bucket brigade,skyscraper content that will be very much helpful for the audience.
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing your views. It was very help for readers and Much appreciated folks this will enable me to concentrate more.
Thank you!
Thanks for this wonderful idea of money making by blogs!
Learnt so much from your article!
You started your blog because you want people to read it.
You want your blog to connect with people. You want your content to reach a wide audience. You want to build a base of fans that gobble up your every word.
And yes, at some point, you also want to make money from your blog.
Because let’s face it … as much as you love to write, you didn’t start your blog as a journaling project. (If you did, this article isn’t for you.)
But here’s the thing … if you want your writing to connect with people, you need to connect with them first.
And the best way to connect with anyone is to talk to them — as in, one-on-one.
That’s why every blogger should offer coaching.
Wow! Great information. Thanks a ton for sharing step by step guide with us.
Amazing information!
No doubt that blogging can make you a rich person but only unique and powerful content can make your dreams come true. I think the quality of the content has an important role in making your blog viral.
Hi Jon, Your blog has lots of information and is detailed also. Got to know many things from your post. It was very helpful. Thank You.
I think this is one of the best posts I’ve ever seen and I almost read this post thrice. I am also a blogger and want to know how to make money with it. your article teach me very well.
I think the quality of the content has an important role in making your blog viral.
Nice Post. I read your blog very such a wonderful information. Thanks for sharing it. Great Post. Really Thanks.
Extremely good information. I am somewhat of an experienced blogger but I gained a wealth of knowledge from this post. I will putting all of this info into action. Thanks for such a great post. Peace and Love!
Make money with blogging is a passive income . like when you sleeping but your income is going on . And that’s the magic of create a blog. Thanks to give tips on it.
great way to start the smart blogging .
Thanks for sharing
Great Information. I read your blog very useful information to me. Thanks for sharing it.
I took the plunge (well, actually my boss did for me) and enrolled in Freedom Machine. Hands down, it’s the best training I’ve ever gone through. Every step is crystal clear, unlike 99% of online courses. If you want to start blogging, jump on this program as fast as you can.
Such an informative article. I had this question in my mind once and now it is pretty clear. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice post! thanks its help me a lot…
I had a blog. I did not make $1000 per month. I read this article and learn some different. I want to start blogging again. Thanks for the information.
Blogging is a long-term way for MMO-ing. I am trying with a blog about programming tutorials.
I believe that traffic = money. And good content = traffic
Money, money, money.. many of new bloggers nowadays start to blogging for the money, not a content. After 1-2 months blogging, get nothing, they quits. Blogging is not a shortcut to make money, it needs time..
P.s. : Except you can make great articles like smartblogger.com, then you can make it 😀
Thank you for sharing another great articles for your reader smartblogger!
I loved this article, very useful and effective.
Thank you very much
A great post, Jon!
Thank you for this Amazing post! keep up the awesome work
Thanks for the helpful information which you provided for us and this will really help us to start our new blog website
Hi,
One of the best posts I have read. I loved it. thanks for sharing with us.
hi
thank you for sharing a great post. your post answered me most of the questions those were in my mind about blogging. i am planning to start blogging but before start i want to learn about it. It helped me a lot thanks.
Nice Article I Always Thought Adsense Is Only Way To Monetize Blog But Now I Know There Are Many Other Ways Too
hi
thank you for sharing a great post. your post answered me most of the questions those were in my mind about blogging. i am planning to start blogging but before start i want to learn about it. It helped me a lot thanks.
Well, the focus on SEO for new bloggers is crazy, some believe that is all they need to succeed, Guest blogging is a great idea I think I will tow that line.
and thanks to you for sharing your knowledge.
Blogging is not easy, it can be fun but easy especially when you feel it is time to start treating it like a business. I have read read tons of ways to monetize a blog but it is easier said than done really. I am grateful for this article.
What a great article! Blogging is a saturated market that needs commitment and effort. It’s a business and you should treat your blog like that. Your skills, knowledge, and expertise are assets that you can always use for your blog, to make it valuable. That is a great way to contribute something to the blogosphere.
Grateful to read this valuable post.
Vanessa
Hi Jon,
Fantastic information shared by you. I will love to start blogging from now on and earn money and promote my business (The VAPCO) with the help of Blogging. I really appreciate your work.
Great! very informative thank you
I am a beginner in the business of blogging and your article helps me alot to understand blogging and making money from my blog..great information!
Thanks. I doing blogging online with some make money advice. Plus I do have 10+ years marketing experience online and marketing offline as well.
Thanks for your ideas here!
Hey Jon Morrow,
I love blogging and reading your article is an addition to my knowledge about making money blogging.
Thank you very much for expressing an article in front of us.
Best article on ‘make money’. Thanks for your such amazing and helpful information. I loved it so much.
So much gold! I love it how generous you are with the information you provide. Thank you so much, Jon!
What an awesome article! I learned so much and now I have multiple tabs open. I guess I’m going to spend my Saturday reading and learning the trade.
I am new to blogging but not to writing. I have been a poet all my life. I love to write! And I love to read!
Thank you for sending me your lessons! I enjoy expanding my mind to new things and the best is yet to come. I just know it.
I look forward to reading and learning more from you!
You indeed are an inspiration! God bless and thank you!
Donna Rayne
Awesome content!! I am big fan of your blogs i`m a serial entrepreneur your information about blogging is much helpful & relevant to my new Start-up. Thanks a lot
Hi,
This is nice post for make money blogging and having right article to see you here. Thanks a lot for sharing with us .
Wonderful guide on how to make money blogging. I have started a new blog. I’m currently creating contents for it. I’ll soon implements all the strategies you shared here. Hopefully it will work for me.
Thanks a ton, buddy. I’m also a blogger and have been doing blogging since 2017. I have been always searching for more tips to improve myself and I really appreciate you for this article.
Simply loved it.
Awesome insight. Nicely done!
Awesome post. This is timely and as a matter of fact, what you have done is like an encyclopedia of how to make money blogging.
The advises are great and compelling for anyone who truly is interested in making money over the internet.
Keep it up.
Every time I read your articles everything becomes easier to handle. It’s just Great!
Thanks a lot, Jon Morrow
I am looking to get started with some online business or freelancing. I work as a locksmith during the day, but would like to experiment with online stuff as part-time, mostly as a fun challenge. Hope your insightful articles help me get started.
I think making money with AdSense is the easiest way but yes affiliate marketing is also good. I have been promoting VPN for years on my website but have not got any sale yet.
Hello Jon,
Wow! What a great article. I did not know about this blog before. I found it just last day when I searched the term “How to Make Money Blogging” on Google.
Your blog came among the top positions and I just clicked on the link to see if I could get a tip or two from your blog.
Now I’m glad I clicked that link because I found more information reading this article than with most paid courses I purchased in the past.
Thanks for sharing this article.
This is an impressive writeup and one that makes me a bit self-conscious.
I was adamant about not setting up popups, but in nearly a year of operation, nearly all of my visitors have never returned. Big. Mistake. Merely 1% return regularly, and all of them from a few discords I have forged a community with.
I didn’t want to get a PO box or use my home address, so an email campaign seemed out of reach.
I’ll be getting one set up ASAP and start building that email subscription list.
Great post. My wish is to one day be able to cut back a lot on the day job and let my blogs run themselves mostly. I know it’s a long hard process to get to that point, but I gotta start somewhere!
informative post, i use to making money with digital marketing from my blog but latter on moved into amazon as it’s working for me and great way to make passive income, yet it’s still had to do so, i had to do seo for my blog to make this work
This is very effective post for me. bcoz, I am looking to get started with freelancing. I work as a accounts executive during the day, but would like to experiment with online stuff as part-time, mostly as a fun challenge.
Thanks for your great post!!
Every time I read your articles everything becomes easier to handle. It’s just Great!
Thanks a lot,
Rohit
Hi Jon,
Very informative post. This is a nice guide for every blogger whether he is a newbie or a Pro.
Great Job
Hi Jon,
I have read the article you wrote on this blog, I thank you for the explanation that is so detailed to me who is still a newbie.
I will share this article with my friends in Indonesia.
Regards,
Jarhie
This is an awesome article. You have explained everything. thank you for this detailed information.
Really give me some directions on ways to make money online.
Thank you so much for this post. Good day.
Hi Jon,
I really poured over this post and all the little gems you’ve thrown in. I’ve copied over big chunks of it into my ever growing – thanks to Smart Blogger – notes on Google Docs.
For me the two biggest slap-you-in-face-hadn’t-thought-about-THAT-before takeaways were that Facebook would be my biggest traffic referral source (70% versus 20% from Google), and secondly, to really think beyond my personal views on pop ups and instead to consider their conversion value.
Also just a small heads up: at the end of point 5 and in 6 you mention the Freedom Machine, but there isn’t a link to it. I wanted to know more about it, so tried to find it via the top menu bar when I was on the post. No luck there. So I went to your homepage where I found Courses in the top menu bar. The menu options on the homepage and post differ, and, if I’m not mistaken, there’s no menu option to view your courses when readers are on a post. I thought I’d mention this as it could create a barrier to entry for potential, curious customers of the Freedom Machine as well as other courses. Conversions conversions! 🙂
Thanks for all the great tips – and the many, many Smart Blogger open tabs I still have to read!
Awesome piece of content. Really impressive the way you explained all things in a simple manner.
For new ones, it is like jin.
For pros its like edition in knowledge.
Thanks for sharing…
This Is really superb!
I totally love the way you explained “content is the king”
You’ve always been great. Nice write-up!
Good content here. I’ve been blogging since 2010, and the landscape certainly has changed a lot. Affiliate marketing has changed dramatically too.
Hi Jon,
When most of the newbie bloggers fall for contextual ads, I strongly believe in reviews and affiliate marketing to monetize blog content. Thanks!
Wow thank you. I am not completely new to blogging or internet marketing so some of these ideas I knew about. But, I really appreciate the info on writing for Medium. I read their site all the time but, had no idea how you would go about writing for them. I appreciate all the tips. It was very very helpful!!
Great indeptth article, “Your Royal Awesomeness”
Your success is an inspiration to bloggers of every niche.
Thank you for all the free informitive articles you have on your blog to teach us the art of blogging.
R.G. Ramsey
Comprehensive money making guide for beginner bloggers. Affiliate marketing and monetization are two of the most effective and result-driven ways to earn $$$$ with a blog. Thanks for your time to create such an informative guide.
I know I came late but it’s alright.
One of the Top bloggers that made me a good blogger in my little capacity is sir Jon.
I may not get the chance yet but I believe I shall publish a ground breaking post on SmartBlogger, but until then, thank you for the ground breaking points made in this article.
While I’ve learnt the art of blogging from you sir, based on my core competencies, I go with affiliate marketing any day and every time because a new blogger doesn’t need a large visit like what SmartBlogger gets to make money.
In fact, I’ve been privileged to build a blog of Less that 400/mo which made its first affiliate sales in 3 months after.
Overall, affiliate marketing is all about delivering value to your audiences because, the point is, we are only recommending value to our audiences if we want to be a force to reckon with.
I can go on and on, but I will have to stop here.
Thank you sir, Jon for this great piece.
I’m hanging on to be among the top 5 commenters from Now till December 2020.
Very inspiring! This is what I’ve been looking for — actionable steps to monetizing a blog. I’m a freelance writer. Just like you, I want to write for others first while I learn the ropes. It could get overwhelming, but I’m excited to learn especially with the guide you’ve given.
Thanks, Jon,
Really great post.
It’s been almost one year I have started blogging and it seems that every day is a learning process.
I have just started the affiliate marketing process and will start promoting my blog which I have not done before.
I have already started taking my blog as a business.
Thanks again for this post
Dipanjan Biswas
Thank you for another interesting article. I appreciate the honesty throughout. Now I understand why acquiring an e-mail list is necessary. I know all about starting a physical business and steadily working toward increasing the number of customers. Advertising via flyers, brochures, newspapers, radio, etc. though, it is slightly different the web way. Mr. Morrow, again, thank you. You just flung the door open for me. I was getting, literally, all hung up over “this way, that way, here, there.” You are amazing, inspiring, and…yep, a true bada$$!
I’m recently starting a new project help other launching their own platform and research for more methods to monetize. This is the exact thing I need, thank you so much!
Yes, getting sucess in blogging require lots of hardwork, consistency and patience. All the points you mentioned above are very important and following them properly we can easily achieve success. I hope others will find this post useful just like I did. Thanks for posting, Jon.
Thanks for the nice blog.
Please some instructions for blogging in 2022.