All of the previous monetisation tactics rely on the promotion of other businesses. While this type of income collection offers a lot of benefits, as you do not need to have any investment or be involved in the production process, it comes with some drawbacks as well.
Firstly, you depend on other businesses. Once they stop selling, you stop earning. The income you can make is also pretty limited. You will need thousands and thousands of visitors to see any income from AdSense for example. This can become a real obstacle for blogs that are starting out.
An alternative is to try to turn your blog into a business. This can be implemented from the first day your blog is live, but it can also be something that you will eventually introduce, once you gain reputation and determine that blogging is a career that you want to focus on.
#1 Creating a product/software
The first idea is to create a product (or software) on your own. Even though it is not a strategy doable for every blog, it is something that can offer the potential to earn a decent income through blogging.
The product you decide to create should be relevant to your target group. The main obstacle could be the investment needed for creating the product.
The possibility to fully control the production process and sales strategy, without profit sharing is a motivation for many blog owners to consider this strategy.
#2 Offering a service
If you cannot create a product and you are in a niche where that would not be profitable, you can think about a type of service you can provide. It is usually something related to consulting, offering professional assistance, such as legal or medical advice, etc.
Again, having complete control over the service is something that ensures that the blogger maintains independence while having an opportunity to earn from his or her online influence. Unlike creating a product, offering a paid service on your blog does not require a monetary investment.
What it does require is detailed planning about the service you will offer, the terms for the users, and the schedule of your availability (or an employee who would do the tasks for you).
#3 Produce merchandise
The third alternative would be creating merchandise. This is a strategy commonly used by influencers who have a significant following. It is also rather popular among young online users.
A good thing about this strategy is that you offer creative input on the merchandise design, but you do not have to be responsible for the actual production. Instead, you hire a company that will manufacture the actual products for you with your logo or brand name displayed.
Of course, in this case, it would be necessary to share the profit with the manufacturer.
#4 Write an ebook
Having in mind that you are a blogger, it is safe to say that you are a writer as well. You write on your blog, which means writing an ebook (or an actual book) can be an option you can pursue to earn money from your blog. Publishing an ebook is much easier because you do not need to seek official publishers.
Also, an ebook is offered as a digital download, which means that the location is not a barrier. Publishing a book involves a more complicated process, starting with having a publisher.
Still, both options are great ways for bloggers to turn their skills and love for writing into a product that they can sell through the blog.
#5 Open a store
Your blog can gradually evolve into an online store. Here you can sell your products, merchandise, or even products from other manufacturers. It is a strategy that offers a lot of options for many different types of bloggers to earn by selling products.
However, running and managing an online store involves a lot of work, requires extensive knowledge about e-commerce, and requires constant online promotion, which are all the tasks which can distract you from your primary focus, i.e., blogging.
#6 Create an online course
If you are a blogger or an expert in a certain field, creating an online course is another strategy to monetise your expertise and online influence.
The topic of the course needs to be something that your audience will find relevant and can benefit from.
It is a form of passive income because you will invest time into creating a course and then you can profit from it in the years to come.
However, some topics might require the course to be updated from time to time. You will also need to work on promoting the course, most commonly using other online marketing strategies, such as search engine marketing or social media promotion.
Action Point
PS: I know you might agree with some of the points raised in this article or disagree with some of the issues raised.
Please share your thoughts on the topic discussed. We would appreciate it if you could drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.
