I’ve been blogging for years now and I’ve started making money from blogging quite early in my journey. It was probably a year or so after my blog debut when a company got in touch and asked if I would be open to writing a sponsored blog post.
I’ve started The Nerdy Me in 2014 as a lifestyle blog with no actual niche or even direction of where I wanted my blog to go. So when I got my first sponsored blog post offer, I was delighted. Mind you, at that point, I wasn’t even thinking about making money from my blog. I didn’t even know that I could.
It was probably the email that sparked the curiosity in me which then ended up with me researching and reading hundreds of blog posts on how other bloggers made money (much like this one that you’re reading right now).
So I started learning about blogging, SEO, affiliate marketing and all that jazz and my mind was blown by the amount of the information. There is so much out there that it’s easy to get lost.
Somehow I managed to start making money from blogging by occasional sponsorships and ads without doing much work. However, it was a very unreliable income as I could earn a lot one month and then go without earning anything for months.
Over the years as I started travelling more, I’ve realized that my heart laid in travel writing, specifically budget and sustainable travel. So sometime around 2017 I changed my blog design and rebranded TNM as a travel blog.
This was the breaking point for my blog. I started taking my blog more seriously (more like a business than a hobby), I spent a lot of time working on SEO and social media. I started getting offers from more brands, press trip invites and my ads income increased along with my blog traffic.
I added consulting and coaching services to my income streams, I started working with companies outside of the realm of The Nerdy Me and managed to build up my monthly income to a number that lets me live comfortably and afford travelling as much as I want (currently not happening much due to pandemic).
I’ve always been a noisy person who enjoys reading other bloggers’ income reports and how they make money. However, sometimes I felt like the ones sharing their tips were the ones making incredibly large amounts of money which I have never seen in my account. So it was hard to relate and apply to my own situation.
It would have been more helpful and reassuring to see reports and posts from bloggers who earn money blogging but not necessarily the biggest amounts (just enough to live comfortably). So I decided to write this blog post highlighting my journey and all the ways I currently (as of September 2021) make money from blogging as a smaller blogger.
If you are just as noisy as I am or just curious how I managed to earn money blogging, keep on reading!
Table of Contents
How hard it is to make money blogging?
This is probably the part where a large number of bloggers write something along the lines of ‘it’s so easy to start making money blogging!’ or ‘everyone can make money blogging’. While I don’t necessarily disagree with the main idea of those statements, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s the easiest income source ever.
If making money was THAT easy when it comes to blogging, everyone would be doing that. However, the reality is that we see more bloggers fail than succeed at monetizing their blogs, especially when it comes to the travel niche.
Why is that? It’s a mix of different factors that come to play but the main one is that the market is very saturated at the moment and in order to succeed you have to put in a lot of hours of work and have an actionable strategy that you can follow.
This is something I often address with my coaching clients. I highly that I could never promise them fortune or that one session with me will make them full-time bloggers because that’s just not something in my (or anyone’s really) ability to do but their own.
In the end, you either push yourself through those first steps and first failures or you give up. That’s just how it works with making money from blogging.
So while making money from blogging is surely a process and takes a lot of work and figuring out, it is very much possible and achievable for anyone WHO is willing to do what it takes (which is lots of work, frustration trying to understand and constant learning).
Once you understand and have the foundations of blogging, define a clear plan of action and stick to it – it can be a strong passive source of income on which you can rely on month and months on end.
So is it hard to make money blogging? It’s a hard road to your first paycheck but after that, it’s an easier road of endless possibilities.
Thinking of starting a blog but feeling overwhelmed with all this new information? Already have a blog but struggling to figure out how to move forward? Check out my coaching services and let me guide you to clarity.
How to start a blog
If you’re thinking of starting a blog or debating whether you should go for it, this is your sign. Go for it!
Starting a blog was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made and, as cheesy as it sounds, it changed my life for the better.
You don’t need a lot of tech knowledge or a huge investment to start a blog, trust me on that. You can do it super cheaply and upgrade as you start growing and earning from it (if that’s your goal). But just to assure you even more, here is a short and quick tutorial on how to start your blog in less than a day.
STEP 1: Get Hosting
The first step to starting your blog is getting hosting for your WordPress site.
There are tons of providers to choose from but the ones I would recommend are these:
Personally, I have been using Siteground for around 4 years now and never once have I had any problems with them. Their customer service is incredible and my website never once was down (unless it was my own mistake) or compromised in any way. The main downside of Siteground is that the renewal price is always increasing and it is quite expensive once you start getting bigger traffic.
However, I recently migrated to Lyrical Host to minimize expenses for this blog and I think it is an amazing hosting provider if you want quality for a great price. It is a UK company, so if you are also from the UK or have your business set up here – this is the one you should go for. And you can get 10% off your first payment with my code TNM10 as well!
If you are more on a budget and can invest, I would recommend going with Hostinger which offer incredible deals if you choose a plan for up to 4 years. You can get hosting for as low as $1.99 monthly. I am using Hostinger for another website and so far I have had no issues with them.
STEP 2: Buy Domain
If your hosting provider doesn’t include a free domain, you can buy one from another provider.
Among the most popular domain providers are GoDaddy and NameCheap.
STEP 3: Set up theme
Now it’s the fun part – choosing and setting up a theme. It’s so easy to get carried away when designing your blog, trust me.
Here are a few theme providers that I personally used and would recommend:
- Koba Themes
- Theme Forest
- Blossom Themes.
Currently, I am using the Travel Pro theme by Blossom Themes for this blog and it’s definitely one of the best ones out there in terms of customization, SEO-friendliness and website speed. The customer service is always super helpful and quick to respond.
Plus, if you don’t feel comfortable installing the theme yourself, they offer 24-hour installation services as well for an additional fee.
Don’t underestimate the power of a well-made theme. In the past, I had incredibly gorgeous themes that were just way too bulky for my website and made it super slow which negatively impacted user experience and my domain authority.
STEP 4: Create content
Now that you have a blog set and ready, the next step is to start creating content.
First, create an about page giving your audience a bit of overview of what they can expect from your blog and who is the person behind the screen. Don’t forget a contact page, so that brands and anyone who want to reach out to you would know how to do it.
Then you can start focusing on drafting and publishing blog posts. You can write whenever the inspiration strikes or you can optimize the process and use a content planning system that will help you stay consistent (that’s what Google and people like!).
I am using One Year of Blog Content in One Month Challenge by The She Approach to streamline the blog post writing process and create one year’s worth of content in 30 days.
I find that batch working and dedicating one whole month for blog posts allows me to have more time for other blogging tasks such as reaching out to brands, focusing on social media and working on other creative projects.
So if you want to learn how to brainstorm, do keyword research and draft one year’s worth of blog posts in one month, I would recommend getting the One Year of Blog Content in One Month tool. It seriously is a game changer!
How I make money blogging
Over the years I have accumulated a few different streams of income that bring money to my bank account each month. The amount I earn from each stream varies a lot each month, so having a bit of variety helps to secure a passive income on which I rely.
There are A LOT of ways you can monetize a travel blog or any blog really but, currently, I have 5 streams of income:
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsorships
- Ads
- Coaching services
- Writing for other publications
At the moment, I am working on expanding my income streams and adding a few more such as digital products as well as growing the ones that I currently have.
Now let’s look at each income stream in more detail.
Affiliate marketing
Average monthly income: up to 30%, around 20 – 200 EUR
Each and every blogger swears by affiliate marketing and I am no different. If done well, it can be one of the easiest passive income streams because it doesn’t require your active management.
If you aren’t familiar with what affiliate marketing is, it’s basically a form of marketing when you get paid a small commission when someone buys something using your links. So essentially, you (affiliate) make money by recommending products that have their own referral/affiliate programs or are part of affiliate networks.
Some of the affiliate programs I use:
- AWIN
- ShareASale
- Travelpayouts
- Amazon Affiliates
- IntelInfluence
- GPSmyCity
- Newsbreak
- Hostelworld
- Booking.com
- Siteground
- Hostinger
- Lyrical Host
- Ultimate Bundles
I make the most money out of ShareASale, Booking.com and GPSmyCity. ShareASale is one of the biggest affiliate networks that has so many brands and companies for which you can become an affiliate. I use it mainly for lifestyle brands and business/marketing companies.
AWIN is a similar one that I use for some brands that don’t have their own affiliate program. It is mainly geared towards the US audience and has a big number of programs with exclusive brands. You need to pay $5 to be accepted in the AWIN program but they give it back to you with your first paycheck.
I use Amazon Affiliates as well but I still am working on mastering the art of this program that so many bloggers swear by. It is a bit hard to market travel products since we have a pandemic, but I’m hoping to see an increase of income once we bounce back to a more regular travelling routine.
I am also an affiliate for some of the products and services I use myself which have their own affiliate program. These can be my go-to accommodation booking platforms such as Booking.com, Hostelworld, my hosting providers Siteground, Hostinger and Lyrical Host as well as incredible resource bundles from Ultimate Bundles.
Each program pays differently for leads. Some are around 3-7% of the order cost and some are way higher like hosting providers or high-value products like travel insurance.
My travel related affiliate income has declined in recent months (pandemic, after all) but blogging resources or evergreen products seem to be working well. So I can expect my affiliate income to be in the range of 10-30% of all revenue.
Affiliate marketing is a real game-changer for bloggers of all kinds but you need to put a bit of work into trying to understanding and learn the best strategies for the best results. I read lots of ebooks and courses over the years and these two are the best that I know of:
- Affiliate marketing for bloggers by Jodie from Location Anywhere Academy
- Journey To The Center of Amazon by The Flooring Girl
Jodie’s course is perfect for beginners who want to understand how affiliate marketing works and how to learn to make it a passive stream. The value is just incredible for the price you pay, I would literally pay triple because it’s that good.
Journey To The Center of Amazon is also amazing but it’s focused solely on Amazon Affiliates program which I liked a lot because there are things that differ quite a bit from original affiliate marketing strategies when it comes to Amazon.
So if you want to really get serious with affiliate marketing, these are the best resources that I bought and tried myself. Plus, they are incredibly affordable compared to other resources.
Sponsorships and working with brands
Average monthly income: 10-40%, around 200 – 500 EUR
The amount of money I earn from brand sponsorships and working with companies vary a lot each month. Sometimes I have a few campaigns going on at the same time and sometimes I have months without any sponsorships.
Over the years I have become very selective when it comes to brand deals and I only agree to work with those whose values and content align with mine and my audience’s.
In some cases brands and companies reach out to me directly, sometimes I pitch myself to them and in other cases, I come across brand opportunities in one of the bloggers’ networks. Those networks basically connect brands with bloggers and content creators which sometimes makes the whole process a bit easier and quicker.
Here are some of the platforms I use to find brand deals:
- Cooperatize
- Bloggers Required
- Get Blogged
- Activate
- Izea
There are also Facebook groups that you can use to find brand deals or even press trip opportunities. This is how I found and scored my first press trip offer.
Usually, sponsorship for me means writing a sponsored blog post and a few social media posts but deliverables do tend to vary according to the campaign. One of the latest campaigns I did was with the Czech Republic tourism board and another in collaboration with the Montenegro tourism board.
Ads
Average monthly income: <1% (I know!), around 6-7 EUR
I am currently running display ads on my blog with the help of Google Adsense. I’ve implemented ads quite early in the blogging journey, as soon as I switched to being self-hosted and learned about ways of making money from blogging.
This is the least amount of money bringing income stream out of all. Simply because Google Adsense is paying cents to content creators when it comes to website ads.
There are better-paying ad providers out there such as Mediavine but they have requirements that you need to pass in order to apply for their programs (which I currently do not). Mediavine has a requirement of 50,000 sessions in the previous 30 days.
Another alternative is Ezoic which used to require 10,000 sessions but now they have decided to accept everyone, so I am currently on the way to transition from Google Adsense to Ezoic.
I was planning on applying to Ezoic after I cashed out my first Google Adsense paycheck (you need to reach a certain threshold for that) but the pandemic happened and my travel blog saw a huge decline in traffic. However, the numbers are looking better each day and my number 1 goal this year is to apply for Ezoic.
It took me literally years to reach that threshold. I am a few euros away from it and I couldn’t be happier because I thought that I would never reach it.
When I say that Adsense is paying cents, I mean it. Now that my traffic is looking better, I manage to earn 6-7 EUR per month from ads. But there were months when I wouldn’t even reach 1 EUR. So safe to say that I look forward to ditching Adsense and going to a better paying platform also which won’t clutter my blog.
Coaching services
Average monthly income: 10-20%, about 300 – 400 EUR
A good chunk of my income comes from the coaching and consulting services that I offer. I have a few long-term clients and occasional one-offs. I work with beginner bloggers and those who feel a bit lost in their blogging journey.
I am quite satisfied with the number of clients I currently have because of how much time I can dedicate out of my week for 1:1 calls. I feel like this way I am able to help and guide my clients without rushing or having other things on my mind during our calls.
You can check out my coaching services and even book a call if you need a bit of guidance in any area of being a blogger.
Freelance writing
Average monthly income: 50%, around 1200 -2500 EUR
Currently, my biggest income stream is freelance writing. Since travel content, in general, took a dip in the recent year, I had to look for other additional income sources and freelance writing seemed like the best option for me.
I have worked for one of the Google Accelerator’s programs in the past to produce content about Hungary which was a fun project to participate in.
Currently, I am writing content for News Break which is a new platform for the local US news and entertainment. I have been writing for them for a few months now and the pay is quite good considering the time resources on my part.
They are also looking for new creators who want to either write articles or make videos. They pay you a flat price ($25-60) for each article/video based on its quality, plus you get paid for views on each article as well, so in the end, it really adds up.
They don’t have high requirements for you to join but they do value more local content, meaning that you have more chances if you are producing content about the US.
If you want to learn more about becoming a part of the News Break creator program or even apply, you can do so here using my link. If you do apply, let me know, so I can give you the best tips and add you to a dedicated Facebook group for writers!
Final thoughts
It took quite a bit of time and effort for me to figure out how I can make money blogging but now I couldn’t be happier with my decision to make this a full-time job.
Currently, I earn around the size of an average salary in Lithuania and some months higher which is more than enough for me in terms of my lifestyle and current living situation. I wouldn’t be able to earn as much as I do now working in a ‘normal’ 9 to 5 job here with copywriting or marketing position (you need a lot of years of experience working in a company or agency for a higher salary).
I know that it might be not as much if you are living in a country where living expenses are way higher. But let my example be that anything is possible if you are willing to work for it.
If you have any questions about making money from blogging or want me to cover specific topics, do let me know in the comments below.
