"This post may contain affiliate links and I'll earn a small commission if you shop through them. This is how we help to make money so we can continue to bring you amazing content"
If you’re new here, you’ll want to check out Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 of How to Start a Blog first.
Blogging for Profit
My blog is mainly a hobby for me. I am not a hard-core blogger and I do not make $300,000 a year from blogging; however, I follow some bloggers who do. It is very possible to make blogging your full time job, but that’s not my interest. While I don’t blog full time, I do earn compensation that helps keep my blog up and running. This part of the How to Start a Blog series will cover blogging for profit.
There are several ways to earn money from blogging and we’ll discuss those here.
Set up a disclosure and privacy policies page:
It’s important to have these pages because the rules have changed with the FTC and now bloggers have to disclose that they may receive compensation from ads and links. Not only in a page, but it has to be on the posts as well. If you go to my page here, you can copy my disclosure and privacy policies and just edit the words out that you need to.
You will also need to disclose this information at the top of each page. I do this with a plugin called Post Adverts. Once you go to your Plugins and install this plugin to your site, you can customize it. (we’ll also be using this plugin later to create ads). I have a advert labeled “Top – Disclosure” and this is what it reads: “This post may contain affiliate links and I’ll earn a small commission if you shop through them. This is how we help to make money so we can continue to bring you amazing content”. There is a drop down menu below the text that allows you to choose if you want this advert before content, after paragraph number, or after content. I chose before content. Now this text will read at the top of each of your posts.
To comply with EU and California laws, you also should set up a plugin called “Cookie Notice for GDPR & CCPA”. This informs users that your site may use cookies. To set this up go to Settings, Cookie Notice, and enter your preferred settings. This plugin will bring a little pop up at the bottom of your website that notifies users that your post may contain cookies.
Google Adsense:
One way to earn income is through ads. I use Google Adsense. You can sign up for an account and get started! Ads pay you per “impressions” of their ads through your site. The per view impression is someone seeing the ad. The per click impression is a viewer clicking on your ad. Your own personal clicks and views on your own blog does not add any more compensation, as your views do not count in the total.
First you need to decide where you want ads. For my homepage I decided I wanted to have 2 Google Ads on my sidebar, and one on my footer. I do this through the plugin we installed earlier, Post adverts.
I get my add through Google Adsense by going to Ads, By Ad Unit. I created Display Ads because that’s what Google recommended. Go through the step by step instructions and you’ll receive a code. Copy this code into your Post Advert & it’ll display on your page. You can also use Widgets to create ads by using custom HTML widgets on your sidebars and footers. You can go to Appearance, Widgets, Right Sidebar (or left sidebar if yours is on the left), drag the Custom HTML widget in the order you want it to appear, and create the text.
Affiliates:
Another way you can earn compensation is through affiliates. I am set up with a few different affiliates.
I reached out to God’s Glory Box, because i really do love their subscription boxes, and I asked them for a special code for my readers to receive a discount. I receive a specific amount for every 10 subscriptions that use my referral code & I get paid per year. Last year I referred over 100 people!!! So exciting!
I also am set up through Amazon Associates. So when I post about quilting, canning, or another topic that requires products, I give Amazon links on what I use. I earn a small compensation when viewers purchase those products. To set up an associate account just google Amazon Associates and go through the step by step instructions. You can also use links from Amazon on your Facebook page to promote products.
Another affiliate is Shareasale. I have a link below, which is an affiliate link. Here you can find a broad range of merchants who you can team up with to earn compensation from purchases made to their websites through your link. I’m set up with merchants like Jane, Tailwind, Shutterfly, Groopdealz, etc.
Find a sponsor for your web site. Get paid for your great content. shareasale.com.
That’s pretty much how I earn income from my blog to help keep it running. Through affiliates and ads I earn a small compensation. It’s very important that you abide by the FTC rules and regulations as well to let your readers know you earn compensation from ads and affiliates and also about cookies.
I hope you have enjoyed this How to Start a Blog series! If you have any questions on how to start a blog, please either comment below, or use send me an email.
