Are you looking to make money from your blog in the new year? If so, you’ve selected the right time. WordPress promises exciting changes in 2020, and doing your homework now can lead to increased profits down the road.
All the traditional income streams will be available to you of course, but that’s hardly the limit for WordPress monetization. In this post we explore 9 new monetization options which can get started with as easily as adding a tiny bit of code.
But first let’s review the reasons that blogging is such a great way to create income (no thanks, just show me the monetization methods)…
Why blogging is a great way to generate additional income
Blogging offers you a host of benefits. It enables you to explore subjects that interest you in-depth. Once you master WordPress, you’ll find it’s similar to Excel in one aspect — it’s easy to master the basics, but there’s always something new to learn. Blogging allows you to add a new skill to your resume and earn residual income, too.
- Low startup costs: It doesn’t cost a lot to get started with blogging. You can find a hosting service for a modest monthly fee, and you can buy a domain name even more inexpensively. All in all, your total won’t top much more than $150 per year for one website.
- Low overhead: Imagine you wanted to open a restaurant. You’d not only have to buy the equipment and the building, but you would also have to pay cooks and wait staff. You’d have to keep the lights on and the water running. Conversely, you can run even a sizeable website by yourself.
- Easy to maintain once established: It does take some work to develop your website at first. However, once you do get it set up, maintaining it is as simple as adding new content regularly. Even if you decide to redesign your entire look, WordPress themes make it easy to change the appearance of the whole site in seconds.
- Residual income stream: This perk is the best part of running a blog. You might sell products or information, and if your content is superb, you might survive on advertising revenue alone. Regardless, once the monthly checks start rolling in, they keep coming as long as your site remains active.
- Explore your passion: Blogging gives you an outlet for your passion. Maybe you love to cook, and you want to create an online recipe legacy. Perhaps you’re a talented woodworker who wants to share your craft with the world. Blogging allows you to do so.
If you’re new to the blogging world, be patient. The industry doesn’t often pay off in the short run. However, if your goal is to build long-term residual income, you’ve chosen the ideal side hustle.
How to Monetize Your Blog
“Great,” you’re thinking. “I’ve got my domain name picked out, and I’m ready to start blogging. Show me the money!” Here are nine ways to earn an income from your investment.
1. Accept Recurring Payments
Did you ever click on a website only to have a pop-up inform you the content you wanted to access was only for paid subscribers? WordPress is making it easier to accept recurring payments with the introduction of Jetpack. This development is a boon for website owners who want to solicit donations for new podcasts or a subscriber list for content.
Jetpack replicates some of the earlier plugin functionality. For example, it duplicates the PayPal plugin currently available. Additionally, the tool is only available to paid WordPress users, so you may need to upgrade if you now use a free version.
2. Make Money From Your Data
Presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently made headlines when he stated that big companies like Amazon and Google should send you a check each month for your data. Regardless of your politics, he’s right about one thing: Data is big business. Why should only the most enormous corporate players earn additional bread and butter?
If you use a data management program, you can capture your information and integrate it with third-party sources to build audience patterns. Advertisers want this information to engage their followers more effectively. Just be sure you clearly tell blog visitors what data you collect and how you intend to use it.
Better yet, you can use the data you collect to better engage your followers, too. By analyzing trends, you can see which content drives the most traffic and sell advertising space to companies specializing in that area. For example, if most people come to your blog looking for information on yoga, you could sell ad space along the side of such posts to mat companies.
3. Sign up for Google Adsense
When it comes to generating money from advertising, Google Adsense is an ideal place to start. All you’ll need to sign up is a blog with content. Once you do, the prompts will direct you to navigate through setting up your ad choices. You can choose where on your site you want ads — everywhere, or in a few select locations. Keep the user experience in mind — you may feel tempted to run the gamut. However, specific types of advertising irritate customers, so exercise moderation.
4. Investigate the Alternatives
Even though Google Adsense is the most well-known advertising stream for your blog, it isn’t the only one.
For example, Media.net, a creation of the Yahoo! Bing Network, tailors advertising to your site content — so you won’t find ads for carpentry saws on your page dedicated to kitty cats. Several additional alternatives exist, too, such as Adsterra and Popads. Since most require only a bit of code to implement, play around and see what works best.
5. Sell Digital or Physical Products
Of course, you can use your website to sell physical or virtual products. Have you written an e-book on how to launch a successful consulting firm? You can sell that on your site. Maybe you’re more of the arts-inspired type who makes crafts.
You can find a host of retailers to connect with to peddle your wares. You can link your blog to their selling pages so customers can complete their purchases. Even though this route is tried-and-true, it’s stood the test of time enough to deserve a place on any WordPress monetization 2020 list.
6. Request Donations or Tips
Did you ever click on an alternative news site to see a solicitation for donations? You can do the same thing, whether or not you comment on current events in your blog. You can raise donations to support your work or even for a charitable cause.
7. Publish Sponsored Content
Do you have a favorite small-business product you’d love to promote on your site? Why not reach out to the decision-makers at that company? You can offer to write a sponsored blog post that paints their product in glowing tones. Once your blog attracts sufficient readership, companies may pay you to place prewritten content on your site as well. This model requires little work on your part but can result in significant income.
8. Launch an Online Course
What’s your expertise? Maybe you can catch a grammatical error from a country mile. Perhaps you know how to restore old furniture — upcycling is all the rage. Whatever your talent, you can design an online course to teach it. The best part is that you don’t have to show up to class at the appointed time — if you can record a video, you can earn residual income.
9. Offer Consulting Services
If you made your blog grow so successful that you want to teach others to make a living doing the same, why not offer your services as a consultant? People will pay a significant amount for things like text coaching and encouragement.
You get to decide the depth of what you provide. Will you work one-on-one with your trainee to reach their goals, or merely offer them the roadmap? You exercise complete control over your business structure with this model. Of course, you need to keep your blog content fresh to maintain your established place as an expert.
Make Money With Your Blog in 2020
There are so many ways to make money with your blog — why are you waiting to get going with WordPress monetization 2020? Try these tips, and you’ll be writing a more impressive figure on the income line of your 2021 tax return.
