My blog attracts 20k users/month (and growing). Thoughts on monetization?

[monnffffiiiiiii]

I have been writing this blog since April 2021.

The only thing I have been focused on so far was writing and SEO.

Tbh I didn't think I'd ever reach this point, but there it is.

Now I am looking for ways to monetize it without driving people off.

Blog monetization isn't rocket science.

The ways to do so are:

- Affiliate marketing: write reviews and how-to-use articles and put your affiliate link at the end.
- Sell digital products, courses, merch, or your own physical products
- Ads
- Sell services (coaching, consulting, etc) directly on the website.
- Repurpose content into video format to post on Youtube, tiktok, etc and earn from the partner programs
- Establish a paid community
- Put the content behind a paywall
- Beg (Patreon, Buymeacoffee, etc)

The problem is that none of these seems particularly...attractive or suited for my case given the fact I don't really have any expertise in anything, and that the blog doesn't have any niche - I am just writing about things I am interested in.

I know a bit about everything and can link unexpected domains with each other, but that's about it.

My main issue is that I can't seem to find relevant ways to create value. And the value I have created so far has been left unmonetized.

It's weird, I don't really know what to do.

Thoughts?

 

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[Simon Angel]

I remember you. The dude with the squirrel from Ice Age profile pic.

You say your blog doesn't have a niche but that you write about lots of different stuff. Can't you create some soft CTAs in your blog posts for products/services related to the topic at hand i.e. affiliate advertising that doesn't take away from the value?

What are things that interest you?

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

I have been writing this blog since April 2021.

The only thing I have been focused on so far was writing and SEO.

Tbh I didn't think I'd ever reach this point, but there it is.

Now I am looking for ways to monetize it without driving people off.

Blog monetization isn't rocket science.

The ways to do so are:

- Affiliate marketing: write reviews and how-to-use articles and put your affiliate link at the end.
- Sell digital products, courses, merch, or your own physical products
- Ads
- Sell services (coaching, consulting, etc) directly on the website.
- Repurpose content into video format to post on Youtube, tiktok, etc and earn from the partner programs
- Establish a paid community
- Put the content behind a paywall
- Beg (Patreon, Buymeacoffee, etc)

The problem is that none of these seems particularly...attractive or suited for my case given the fact I don't really have any expertise in anything, and that the blog doesn't have any niche - I am just writing about things I am interested in.

I know a bit about everything and can link unexpected domains with each other, but that's about it.

My main issue is that I can't seem to find relevant ways to create value. And the value I have created so far has been left unmonetized.

It's weird, I don't really know what to do.

Thoughts?

You could try doing the covert affiliate thing - where you mix the product recommendation into the post, similar to SEO, where it’s so seamless that the reader doesn’t even realize they’re being sold or advertised to.

I’ve noticed a lot of sites do this.

(Also I remember when you had a Dino pic)

 

[BizyDad]

I would say Ads is the way to go. Maybe a sprinkling of affiliate stuff. But I think at 50k you can apply to mediavine and see some decent numbers.

I'll also say welcome back. Don't quit this time. I was sad to see you go last time.

 

[AFMKelvin]

You could try doing the covert affiliate thing - where you mix the product recommendation into the post, similar to SEO, where it’s so seamless that the reader doesn’t even realize they’re being sold or advertised to.

I’ve noticed a lot of sites do this.

(Also I remember when you had a Dino pic)

Please don't do this. Overtime your readers will see right through it. Once they figure it out they'll loose trust in you and stop reading your blog.

I had a lot of favorite blogs and they went downhill the moment they began to soft push random products. Been sneaky does not work.

Stick to Patreon and selling merchandise. That will allow you to make money and keep your integrity.

 

[Practic]

I have been writing this blog since April 2021.

The only thing I have been focused on so far was writing and SEO.

Tbh I didn't think I'd ever reach this point, but there it is.

Now I am looking for ways to monetize it without driving people off.

Blog monetization isn't rocket science.

The ways to do so are:

- Affiliate marketing: write reviews and how-to-use articles and put your affiliate link at the end.
- Sell digital products, courses, merch, or your own physical products
- Ads
- Sell services (coaching, consulting, etc) directly on the website.
- Repurpose content into video format to post on Youtube, tiktok, etc and earn from the partner programs
- Establish a paid community
- Put the content behind a paywall
- Beg (Patreon, Buymeacoffee, etc)

The problem is that none of these seems particularly...attractive or suited for my case given the fact I don't really have any expertise in anything, and that the blog doesn't have any niche - I am just writing about things I am interested in.

I know a bit about everything and can link unexpected domains with each other, but that's about it.

My main issue is that I can't seem to find relevant ways to create value. And the value I have created so far has been left unmonetized.

It's weird, I don't really know what to do.

Thoughts?

"It's weird, I don't really know what to do."

Ask your audience what painful problems they have (and willing pay for solutions to the problems). Then find a solution provider and make a deal to monetize your web traffic.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[monnffffiiiiiii]

I remember you. The dude with the squirrel from Ice Age profile pic.

You say your blog doesn't have a niche but that you write about lots of different stuff. Can't you create some soft CTAs in your blog posts for products/services related to the topic at hand i.e. affiliate advertising that doesn't take away from the value?

What are things that interest you?

Actually, it was a dino pic, but well done, good memory

I have CTAs at the end already for my newsletter.

You could try doing the covert affiliate thing - where you mix the product recommendation into the post, similar to SEO, where it’s so seamless that the reader doesn’t even realize they’re being sold or advertised to.

I’ve noticed a lot of sites do this.

(Also I remember when you had a Dino pic)

Indeed, lots of sites do this, but it breaks trust, and I dont really want to do that either.

And I remember you when you still had the Luke Skywalker pic

I would say Ads is the way to go. Maybe a sprinkling of affiliate stuff. But I think at 50k you can apply to mediavine and see some decent numbers.

I'll also say welcome back. Don't quit this time. I was sad to see you go last time.

Thx!
I didn't quit my projects, I left the forum because I had become addicted to the notifications and was spending too much time on it. I have actually done quite a lot since then. Even met some forum members IRL!!

Please don't do this. Overtime your readers will see right through it. Once they figure it out they'll loose trust in you and stop reading your blog.

I had a lot of favorite blogs and they went downhill the moment they began to soft push random products. Been sneaky does not work.

Stick to Patreon and selling merchandise. That will allow you to make money and keep your integrity.

Exactly! So many projects started well and went downhill as soon as they monetized...I absolutely want to avoid this.

 

[Charnell]

Is it a blog blog where you're writing about stuff you're interested in, and people are coming because they like you, or is it a site where people are finding your posts, reading them, and leaving?

Either way, including affiliate links aren't going to "break trust" with the audience. Position them to be genuinely helpful. "This is what I use because it helped me do X" or "This is what I use because it helped me do X, if you want to help support the blog, this is an affiliate link to the product. It costs you nothing extra to purchase through this link, and I earn a small commission if you purchase through it."

Display ads could work, but depending on the network and the topic(s) of discussion, 20k users OR perhaps 30k pageviews may net you a few hundred clams a month.

Digital products are fantastic if you have an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you. A bit less lucrative with cold traffic from search. But an email list would help you out greatly.

Selling services could be good but you said yourself you're not an expert and the site has no real direction besides the stuff you're interested in.

Don't repurpose content in hopes of earning from other places. Repurpose content to drive people back to your site and ultimately, on your email list.

Paywall & paid community for what exactly? More stuff you're interested in?

Don't beg.

Have you thought about building an email list? All those people from search signing up, then you stay in contact. You hit publish, you get people back to your site.

Build an email list.

 

[Joker_P5R]

Can you share the link to the blog?
I'd like to read it

 

[WillHurtDontCare]

the blog doesn't have any niche - I am just writing about things I am interested in.

Do you have web analytics to tell you which of your blog posts get the most traffic? If you're looking to niche down, you could see which types of posts tend to generate the most interest, then double down on that.

 

[MitchC]

Just a counter intuitive thought

Can’t you just make the ads super obvious and blatant and up front

People would appreciate that more than trying to be sneaky

YouTubers do this well

What was the original plan when you started this?

Maybe you need to zoom out and ask the question what do I want this to be or look like in 5 years, not how can I make money from it right now

 

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[monnffffiiiiiii]

Just a counter intuitive thought

Can’t you just make the ads super obvious and blatant and up front

People would appreciate that more than trying to be sneaky

YouTubers do this well

What was the original plan when you started this?

Maybe you need to zoom out and ask the question what do I want this to be or look like in 5 years, not how can I make money from it right now

I was reading lots of books and began to take notes of them to remember what I was reading. Then I published them on the blog and realized I loved writing online.

Then I moved on to Medium where I made $1k/month writing up to now.

I have also made one product on the blog which made me $100 or so so far, and sold for a few dozens of $ of books through amazon affiliate.

Just...it's nothing that's gonna make millions, or even sustain a "normal life".

In a way someone who monetized his blog very well is Neil Patel with his various SaaS (from ubbersuggest to crazyegg).

THAT is a smart thing. The Internet is overcrowded with sh!t $200 courses which get pirated immediately anyway.

Right now the best way I could monetize this is ironically by getting a job as an SEO content writer, or building SEO-based sales funnels.

FML.

 

[Merlox]

Well I have a blog that used to get 100 views a day. Some days got a few thousands, others less than 100. The most money I made was through the exposure it gave me. I got a few auditing projects that made me good money in a short timeframe, I was hired for a few companies as a blockchain developer.

Besides that, I sold my own book and made around $1000 from the audience. Now medium is paying me like 50 bucks a months from me doing nothing just from the old content I had.

So yeah, the blog is a tool to promote myself and get clients for whatever service I'm selling and to connect with other business minded people so we could maybe collaborate and build something cool together.

If I were to do this for real, I'd build a product and document the journey from the first day and every bit of progress along the way. Then people would join in and try the product as it gets better. Until eventually is good enough to be sold and lots of people recommend it because it's that good.

 

[Thiago Machado]

Unrelated - but you said you make $1,000 a month on Medium?

Would it make sense to also to double down on what's already working for you?

Why not scale Medium from $1,000 to $5,000?

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

Unrelated - but you said you make $1,000 a month on Medium?

Would it make sense to also to double down on what's already working for you?

Why not scale Medium from $1,000 to $5,000?

Medium's like a job. If you want to earn more, you have to write more.

It's not scalable, unfortunately.

 

[Parks]

Medium's like a job. If you want to earn more, you have to write more.

It's not scalable, unfortunately.

Unless your paying people to write for you and build off of that? Checkout that ChatGTP thread too haha.

 

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[stampy77]

I have been writing this blog since April 2021.

The only thing I have been focused on so far was writing and SEO.

Tbh I didn't think I'd ever reach this point, but there it is.

Now I am looking for ways to monetize it without driving people off.

Blog monetization isn't rocket science.

The ways to do so are:

- Affiliate marketing: write reviews and how-to-use articles and put your affiliate link at the end.
- Sell digital products, courses, merch, or your own physical products
- Ads
- Sell services (coaching, consulting, etc) directly on the website.
- Repurpose content into video format to post on Youtube, tiktok, etc and earn from the partner programs
- Establish a paid community
- Put the content behind a paywall
- Beg (Patreon, Buymeacoffee, etc)

The problem is that none of these seems particularly...attractive or suited for my case given the fact I don't really have any expertise in anything, and that the blog doesn't have any niche - I am just writing about things I am interested in.

I know a bit about everything and can link unexpected domains with each other, but that's about it.

My main issue is that I can't seem to find relevant ways to create value. And the value I have created so far has been left unmonetized.

It's weird, I don't really know what to do.

Thoughts?

Hi congratulations on starting the blog, I will just say this straight out. You need to flip your mindset from how to make money from a blog to how can I be as helpful as possible with each post. What problems can your blog posts solve?

If you focus your blog on one area or start a new one you have more knowledge in then the traffic will follow.
Once you have the traffic you can worry about the monetisation, mediavine is great (I have been with them) however it's still only one source of revenue which relies on google loving your site.

Maybe take a look at project 24 from income school, I have completed that course and with what you have already learned it could help pull everything together for you.

It's not about building a blog it's about building a brand (think bigger, then bigger again)
Read your post back and see how many times you mention monetisation vs actually creating helpful content.

Having a blog with little traffic and direction is like having a really monetisable billboard in the middle of the desert.

Instead of writing whatever you want focus on writing posts people actually search for in large volume where there isn't a good answer on google. (Learn search analysis)

I wish you well and yes it's tough but you have made a start, I wish you the best of luck.

Stampy

 

[TommyAmery]

You can use the affiliate way. Write posts about "the best" whatever fits your niche/categories. If for example, you have a category about online gaming, you can make a review affiliate article about Minecraft servers.

You can also sell guest posts / niche edits. These are basically articles written for you (free content) and in return, they want a do-follow link to their website(niche edit is a do-follow link in an already written article). Depending on the "strength" of your domain you can charge pretty hefty for this(I paid up to $300+ for a guest post placement, and I have seen much higher prices).

 

[Sebzmaniac]

Me too

Can you share the link to the blog?
I'd like to read it

 

[Sebzmaniac]

Medium's like a job. If you want to earn more, you have to write more.



It's not scalable, unfortunately.

I think you have a point about it being a job, but come to think about it, and so what?



It $5,000 a month. Most people will want the offer. Just work on it, maybe after a while it will become passive





Remember in the Unscripted , your "biases"



In one of the business execution disciplines, you have to shelve your biases.



Remember, in the book MJ said, "business is already hard enough, don't let your limited world view corrupt the real world"





I've read the Unscripted only once, and I've I'm wrong, maybe I need to read it again



What do you think?

 

[Sebzmaniac]

When I first started a blog in January last year, I didn't focus on writing content and SEO like you. Mine was the other way around

Immediately I started, I focused on ads. I couldn't get approved by AdSense. I struggled to write content. I hate writing. I only started blogging because I wanted money.

I didn't understand SEO because it was complicated, I struggled to drive traffic from social media. In SEO, I only ranked on the 200th page and I don't know how.

My actions weren't consistent. They were just action faking.

So, I quit, and I'll never return. The process was too difficult for me.

Maybe if I was patient and focused on providing value than making money, maybe I could've succeeded.

 

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[monnffffiiiiiii]

When I first started a blog in January last year, I didn't focus on writing content and SEO like you. Mine was the other way around

Immediately I started, I focused on ads. I couldn't get approved by AdSense. I struggled to write content. I hate writing. I only started blogging because I wanted money.

I didn't understand SEO because it was complicated, I struggled to drive traffic from social media. In SEO, I only ranked on the 200th page and I don't know how.

My actions weren't consistent. They were just action faking.

So, I quit, and I'll never return. The process was too difficult for me.

Maybe if I was patient and focused on providing value than making money, maybe I could've succeeded.

If you hate writing, don't start a blog lmao

 

[Sebzmaniac]

How long did it take you to learn SEO? where did you learn it from? And how long did it take for you to start seeing results, i.e. ranking on the search engine

 

[heavy_industry]

How long did it take you to learn SEO? where did you learn it from? And how long did it take for you to start seeing results, i.e. ranking on the search engine

Create quality content and over time it will rank higher.

You cannot trick google by spamming keywords and backlinks. It's not 2005 anymore.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

How long did it take you to learn SEO? where did you learn it from? And how long did it take for you to start seeing results, i.e. ranking on the search engine

I have no idea.

I read everything I could find about it on Twitter, blogs, YT, Reddit, etc.

But by far what helped me the most was Google itself. I always looked at the type of websites and articles that ranked first when typing a query, and tried to do better than these websites.

Tbh you can learn SEO in a week. But as with everything, there's a difference between practice and theory.

 

[Sebzmaniac]

I have no idea.

I read everything I could find about it on Twitter, blogs, YT, Reddit, etc.

But by far what helped me the most was Google itself. I always looked at the type of websites and articles that ranked first when typing a query, and tried to do better than these websites.

Tbh you can learn SEO in a week. But as with everything, there's a difference between practice and theory.

@BizyDad what seems funny?

 

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[BizyDad]

@BizyDad what seems funny?

I have no idea.

I read everything I could find about it on Twitter, blogs, YT, Reddit, etc.

I don't remember how I learned it either! I mean, I remember key moments where I made a breakthrough and saw results. But I can't tell you what blog or article or video or person gave me the tips that got me to where I got.

I agree it is easy to teach. I teach my entire SEO process to new people in my agency in less than a day.

But it takes people about 6 months to start really "get it".

 

[Sebzmaniac]

As for ads, it voilates the commandment of control. Remember the commandment of control in the millioniare fastlane?

If you use an ads network, you don't have control over how much you earn. The ad network will dictate for you how much you will earn based on many factors.

I've heard many stories of people's ad accounts getting blocked, especially Google AdSense

If your account gets terminated, your income will be affected, and you're depending on someone for your earnings.

Apart from your account getting terminated, these ad networks can institute a law or policy that can affect your earnings also

Remember, MJ said it's either you're in control of your financial plan or you're not. It's either you're in the driver seat or you aren't, there no in between.


In the Unscripted , MJ said diversification of risk is a tenet under the commandment of control, so instead of using only one ad network on your blog, how about using 2, 3 or 4, so that in case one ads get terminated, others will be there.

Don't use only one ad network because if it gets terminated, so will your earnings.

Speaking of ad networks, they are difficult to get approved with and have certain requirements, e.g are AdSense, mgid, Taboola, etc.

Adsterra is very easy to get approved. Just submit your blog url and you'll get approved.

But Adsterra might no be the best. Don't use it only, remember MJ said the easier the opportunity, the worse it is. So since it's the easiest to get approved, don't soley rely on it. The ones that are hard to get approved are better.

Just use it as a start to receive income. Later you can go for others.

Tell me what you think. Good luck