How I Made $20,000 From My First Blog
Tips and strategies to help you do the same
When I started my first blog back in 2016, it was my first attempt at blogging. I had just sold my ecommerce store and I was ready for a change.
Blogging appealed to me because it was far less work than ecommerce. I got my ecom store to $30,000 per month and was working 60-hour weeks from home. I loved it but boy was it tiring.
But blogging is so different. It’s very “go at your own pace” and because I had gone from such a work-heavy job, I was able to put about 25 hours a week of work into my blog.
It paid off.
I started making money in month 2, hitting four figures around month 3 and later, sold my blog for $12,000! Including the income from the sale, the value of the blog was around $20,000.
Here’s how it started and how you can start your own blog too.
Launching My Blog
I wanted to share what I knew well, with an audience. And, that was working from home, making money online and entrepreneurship. So this was my niche.
I monetized with Google Adsense, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and my own products. Before I launched, I did research on blogging for about 3 weeks.
Here’s what I learned:
If you don’t monetize your blog, you won’t make money.
You are aiming for reaching 25,000 monthly sessions so you can apply to Mediavine ad network which will double or triple your ad income (now that requirement is 50,000 monthly sessions).
You want to cultivate a following.
You want to be on social media, specifically Pinterest.
I was mesmerized by income reports on Pinterest of creators making $60,000 per month blogging. I never fathomed making this much monthly, even from ecommerce.
From that point forward, I knew if they could do it, so could I.
Monetizing The Blog
Google Adsense
This part was super simple. I had already had an Adsense account from years prior when I dabbled in ads and affiliate marketing and other make money online things.
So, I made some ads, put them on my blog and that was that.
Affiliate Marketing
I used this course to skyrocket my affiliate income, which is what contributed to me earning over $1,000 in month 3 on my brand new blog.
I actually went from $80 the previous month to $800 (just from affiliate marketing) and over $1,000 that month.
Affiliate marketing is where you refer products to readers and if they buy, you earn a commission at no extra cost to them. You can refer Amazon products, digital products, software, online courses and ebooks, clothes from department stores, designer goods, and more.
There is big money in affiliate marketing though there can be a steep learning curve. The concept is easy enough but it can take time to get good at it and the big players in affiliate marketing usually have a moderate budget to pour into ads.
Like, paying $1,000/month and getting $3,000/month in affiliate revenue (a $2,000 profit).
I have never been able to do this but I made a significant amount of affiliate income from my blog every month.
My affiliates?
- Sharesale: this is an affiliate network. Join for free and gain access to hundreds (maybe thousands) of affiliate programs. Sift and sort through them to pick the offers you want to promote. When you make a successful referral, Shareasale pays you.
- Flexoffers: an affiliate network like Sharesale. Works the same way.
- Amazon Associates: the affiliate network for Amazon.
- Various ebooks and courses created by bloggers: Sharing and referring ebooks and courses from blogger-created programs. These tend to be very high paying, earning you as much as 60% of the sale, while networks usually pay less.
This is the course that taught me affiliate marketing:
Sponsorships
You work with sponsors and they pay you.
It’s like getting paid to blog.
Sponsorship income can be super lucrative. I know bloggers making $10,000+ per sponsorship.
When you work with brands, you collaborate to create an amazing campaign. The goal is to get your audience to view and buy products from your sponsor.
You will work out the details, like:
- The timeline
- Compensation
- Social media, blog post, and newsletter dates
- And, more!
You can find sponsors on sponsor networks. You can wait for sponsors to contact you and you can contact sponsors.
Examples of sponsor networks include:
Make sure your blog email address is displayed everywhere so brands can contact you. This includes on your contact page, on social media, and other places where you have a presence.
Cold pitching means you will contact brands to pitch them a sponsorship.
Make a list of brands you want to work with. Find the right person to contact (usually the PR or Marketing person for that company), then send an email and follow up.
You can find out about what rate you should set with Social Bluebook.
Products
As I became more experienced, I offered services too on other blogs but not my first blog.
I created many ebooks and I also launched courses.
These digital products sought to solve pain points my audience was having.
They were struggling to make money online, create a business, create a blog and pursue their passion for entrepreneurship, so I helped them with this through the products I created.
Digital products are an incredible form of passive income.
They can make you a millionaire.
If you have a skill set or you’re an expert in a field, consider teaching it online through a course.
I used Teachable to host my course but there are other platforms available like Thinkific and others.
How Much I Made From My Blog
Including the sale, I made close to $20,000 in less than a year.
Not bad for a first time blogger, if you ask me.
Here are my takeaways:
- Be consistent
- Blog about your passion
- Your network can be a big deal, make friends in the blogging community, which you can find in blogging Facebook groups, Reddit and other places
- Track your work (track income, traffic, etc.)
- Go hard or go home (keep at it and it will pay off)
Are you a blogger? Or, do you hope to blog one day? Tell me about it, below in comments. I would love to connect with you.
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