How Much Money Can You Make Blogging? Here’s What You Need to Know

Many new bloggers will be registering a domain and setting up their WordPress blogs in hopes of earning some money in 2018. Chances are you’ll go to Google and type in, “how much money can you make blogging?”

After all, it’s human nature to want to read other people’s income reports. There’s just something reassuring about other people’s success online that gives us the inspiration we need.

Maybe if we read someone else’s income reports, we feel better about spending the money on a self-hosted blog.

The truth is that it doesn’t matter how much so and so makes online with their blog. Their results are not going to dictate your results.

I wanted to write this blog post to help you understand what it actually takes to make money with your blog.

How Much Money Can You Make Blogging: What You Need to Know

Before you start seeing the passive income that your blog can potentially make, there are a few things you need to know. If you follow these tips, I have no doubt you will start to see some money from your blog over time.

Don’t Chase the Money

One of the worst pieces of advice I got when I was a brand new blogger was to find a profitable niche and go for it.

While it’s true that your niche should be profitable, I am a huge believer in success that stems from both profit and passion combined.

If you’re just chasing the money, your readers will know. They will quickly see it in the quality of the content you write.

I totally understand that you want to earn money from your blog. After all, blogging is hard work and you should rightfully profit from such effort.

That said, it’s much easier to make money if you’re focusing on helping readers. If you can find ways to solve your readers’ problems, it will be a lot easier to find success online.

Build Trust With Your Readers

As you start growing and building your readership, it’s important to start building trust along the way.

People will only do business with those they trust. Think about your buying experiences…

When buying something online, you probably don’t purchase from a shady website you have never heard of. Instead, you go to a trusted source that you have done business with or has great reviews.

I know whenever I buy anything from eBay or Amazon, one of the first things I always do is look at the reviews. If the person looks trusting, then they get my business. If not, then I will not do business with them. It’s that simple.

So whatever you do, focus on building trust with your readers.

How do You Build Trust?

Simply put, be yourself and let people know who you are. Do’t try to be someone other than yourself.

If you have failed online in the past, don’t be afraid to share your failures and concerns. When I started my blog, I hesitated to share my past experiences for a while.

I thought that if I told people about my past failures, nobody would want to listen to me…

You know what I discovered?

Some of my readers have faced some of the same issues I have. One of the biggest failures I experienced was getting penalized by the Google Panda update.

I literally lost my blog income and rankings overnight. Instead of trying to salvage my blog, I decided to let it go and start from scratch.

After all, the blog in question was set up purely because I was chasing the money.

Let people know who you are and why you started a blog. Your unique stories are what will build that bond of trust with readers.

Be Persistent

Growing a blog takes a lot of hard work and time. Don’t believe for an instant that you will set up a brand new WordPress blog and make it profitable in a couple of months.

You need to be in this for the long haul. This is why it’s so important that you choose a niche you’re passionate about.

You’re going to write a lot of content, including guest posts and your own products if you decide to create any. This means you have to get comfortable with writing a lot.

Tip: Ryan Biddulph has written a great article that shows you how he writes 10,000 words per day. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Problem with Many New Bloggers

Many aspiring bloggers start a blog and remain consistent for a few months. Starting a new blog is exciting and the thoughts of easy money is extremely motivating, after all…

Once they realize the blog isn’t growing as quickly as they’d hoped, they are off to find the next shiny object.

Here’s the reality: There is no fast way to make money with a blog. It’s going to take a lot of time.

That is not always a bad thing, though, as you can work on improving various aspects of blogging during this time. This ranges from polishing your storytelling skills to your overall SEO efforts.

Heck, you can even take some courses or read some eBooks on how to boost your traffic.

Don’t Try to Do Everything at Once

The tasks of a blogger are never-ending. I’ve found it a lot easier to keep a consistent daily schedule to help me grow my blog.

This means that I know what time I will start and always make it a point to walk away and spend the evening with my family (of course, sometimes I change up my schedule, as that’s the beauty of working from home).

The main thing to remember is that you cannot do everything that needs to be done everyday. Choose your important “A tasks” and focus on them to the best of your ability. These A tasks are nothing more than the tasks that help you grow so you can eventually start earning money.

Once completed, you can work on other blogging tasks in between. As long as the important tasks get completed, I consider it a productive day.

Final Take Away

So, how much money can you make blogging? Unfortunately that answer will vary from blogger to blogger.

Everyone has different ways of monetizing their blog. As long as you stay consistent and keep chasing those dreams, I have no doubt that one day you will look back and be happy with the online empire you created.

Don’t worry too much about what other people are making and focus on your own blog. Remember, just because they are making an income with their blog does not mean you will make the same income with yours.

Do you read other people’s income reports? Do they motivate and inspire you to keep working toward your goals?

Let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts.