How To Start Blogging and Make Money in 11 Steps (2024) – Shopify Malaysia

Blogging is a small business idea with the potential to make thousands of dollars per month, whether by driving product sales for your brand, earning commission from affiliate partners, or creating a space for digital ad sales.

This guide shares how you can make money blogging with 11 revenue streams used by professional bloggers, who share tips on how to earn a full-time income through a content-based website.

How much money can bloggers earn?

Blog posts are a monetizable form of online content. There are many examples of long-running blogs attracting millions of readers and generating enough income to employ teams of writers and editors.

Well-established bloggers like Ryan Robinson (who runs a blog about blogging) can make upward of $30,000 per month. Adam Enfroy, who also started blogging about the business of blogging as a side hustle, generated $1.5 million from his blog just two years later.

It’s not just monthly revenue that bloggers can earn. Marketplaces like Flippa list blog-based websites for sale, many of which come with hefty price tags.

Not every blogger can make millions through their website, however. Typically, the potential income of a blog depends on two factors:

• Niche profitability. Are the people who read a blog motivated customers? Will they regularly spend money on products or premium content? The software industry, for example, can be lucrative, since many companies pay recurring commission for referring customers.
• Blogging income streams. The more monetization methods a blog has, the more opportunities to increase revenue.

11 ways to make money blogging

1. Choose a profitable niche
2. Build an email list
3. Write sponsored product reviews
4. Sell advertising placements
5. Join an affiliate marketing program
6. Offer services
7. Sell digital products
8. Sell physical products
9. Create a membership community
10. Monetize YouTube videos
11. Produce a podcast and get a sponsor

1. Choose a profitable niche

When you start a blog, invest as much time as possible in selecting the right niche.

A niche is a self-contained topic within a broader topic category, such as vegan recipes within the wider subject of recipes. When you focus your blog on a niche, readers can build stronger associations between the topic and your site. A reader will know exactly where to head to find a vegan dish for their dinner party, for instance, if you position your blog as the authority on veganism among all the general food blogs on the internet.

In this way, catering to a popular niche improves your chances of being a reader’s first port of call when looking for advice.

“Before monetization, it’s all about quality and expertise if you want to stand out,” says Mushfiq Sarker, founder of blog and newsletter The Website Flip. “First, figure out your niche and why you should be writing about that topic, then make a persona for yourself. Once that happens, you’ll build a following over time. Monetization follows later.”

You’ll find bloggers making money in a wide variety of niches, from business software to pet accessories, though not all niches are candidates for monetization. A profitable blog niche typically meets three criteria:

It’s something you’re skilled at or interested in

Blogs need a lot of consistently high-quality content to build an audience and become monetized. Not only will it be enjoyable to blog about something you have a genuine interest in, but you’ll increase the likelihood of generating money.

There’s low, but not zero, competition

The presence of competing blogs, brands, and forums in your niche indicates there’s money to be made. At the same time, it will be harder to drive organic traffic to your site if big-name brands are dominating search results.

There’s clear monetization potential

Look at monetization opportunities for each niche on your shortlist. Do companies in that niche pay to advertise their products on other blogs? Are there any affiliate programs that sell products in that industry?

2. Build an email list 

After landing on your blog idea, the next step is to find loyal readers who’ll consume your content.

One of the best ways to secure regular readers is by building an email list for your blog. When someone opts in to hear from your blog, you’re given permission to reach them in a valuable online space: their inbox.

“Email marketing is by far the most lucrative sales channel for me. I don’t even really try to sell directly from other channels anymore, instead directing people from social media to my email list,” says Brittany Berger, founder of digital media company Work Brighter.

Encourage your blog visitors to sign up to your mailing list by using a pop-up box. The goal is to make anyone visiting for the first time opt in, perhaps with the help of an incentive such as:

• Free downloadable content
• Lists of resources or recommended products 
• VIP access to extra posts

Once they’ve signed up, continue nurturing reader relationships by offering perks or incentives. Over time, you’ll build an audience that’s primed to consider any products you launch or recommend.

Take it from Lily Ugbaja, who started her blog, FindingBalance.Mom, to make money while staying at home with her son. It took her just two weeks to make money from her blog after harnessing email marketing. 

“I used emails to promote my products and relevant affiliate products with tripwires and Facebook groups,” she says. “You add lead magnets to your site so people sign up after reading your article. Instead of a success page, you share a one-time offer—a low-end product at a super discounted rate, $7 in my case.”

Despite the blog seeing less than 1,000 monthly page views, Lily says she ended her first month earning over $100, which soon became thousands.

You can also charge your email list for access to exclusive content. Many bloggers monetize through monthly subscription fees, which grant subscribers access to extra content. Use a platform like Substack to publish directly to your audience and get paid through subscriptions.

3. Write sponsored product reviews

All businesses want social proof—content that shows customers other people are buying and enjoying a product. One way for them to collect this is by paying bloggers to publish reviews.

By pitching or accepting review requests, you can directly use your blog post writing skills to make money. It’s a strategy that works especially well if you can review products or services from brands that are relevant to your readers.

If you already use a product in daily life, you’ll likely have knowledge and opinions you can use. With sponsorships, you’ll be compensated for sharing those opinions with your audience.

Reach out to your favorite brands and ask if they’d be interested in sponsoring a review on your blog. 

If you create review content, remember to follow best practices for disclosing the relationship between you and the product you’re reviewing. Avoid landing your blog in hot water by:

• Disclosing whether you’re incentivized to write the review. If you’re being paid to publish a review, include a disclaimer in the introduction of your article, such as, “I’ve been paid to write this review and may make a commission if you purchase this product.”
• Being honest. Share the good and the bad to help readers make an informed decision about whether they should purchase the item you’re reviewing.

4. Sell advertising placements

Many businesses are willing to pay for face time with your readers. You can monetize your blog by selling advertising space around the main content of your posts.

There are two routes to building an income stream with blog advertising:

• Negotiate with companies individually. Find companies you think your readers might be interested in and ask if they’d like to advertise on your website. By talking directly to businesses, you may be able to negotiate larger bespoke fees.
• Use an advertising network. Platforms like Google AdSense, Mediavine, and Raptive match your web pages with advertisers. Simply embed the provided code on your site to start displaying ads.

For Emily Brookes, a blogger at Emily May Designs, display ads quickly became her most lucrative sales channel. 

“Some 60% of my blog’s revenue comes from display ads,” she says. “Ads make me money consistently each month, even when I haven’t published any new content.”

Joining an ad network or reaching out to advertisers is a popular way to make money blogging. But to make advertising a substantial revenue stream for your blog, driving website traffic should be a priority. Ad networks like Google often pay publishers just a few cents per 1,000 impressions (RPM), meaning your ads need to be seen by lots of people to generate significant earnings.

There are also some reports that blog visitors are becoming less likely to click on advertisements, especially if they’re placed by ad networks and aren’t closely relevant to a reader.

Afoma Umesi runs her book blog, Reading Middle Grade, on the side. 

“I had no experience and started blogging as a hobby before seriously deciding to monetize the site,” she says.

“I needed something passive, so I chose ads and affiliate links. I don’t want to make or sell digital products or services right now, and I’m not a huge fan of sponsored posts, so ads were the perfect fit. All I need is traffic.”

Reading Middle Grade earns around three-quarters of its income from this type of advertising. 

“Don’t be afraid or ashamed to use ads,” says Afoma. “They’re inconvenient for some users, but if you provide value and use them reasonably, most users barely notice the ads.”

5. Join an affiliate marketing program 

Affiliate marketing is the act of recommending products to your blog’s audience. You’ll receive a commission when one of your readers clicks on an affiliate link and performs a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

This form of marketing is a popular revenue opportunity for bloggers, since the content you share can help influence readers’ behavior. Make your blog a hub for helpful educational content, and you’ll earn the trust needed to persuade a reader to visit your affiliate partner’s site.

With affiliate marketing, you don’t need to create products. Simply plug into an existing ecommerce business and become a virtual promoter for them. Find relevant affiliate partners by browsing affiliate networks like ShareASale or ClickBank. Browse available programs in your industry, apply to join them, build custom links, and track affiliate revenue through the dashboard.

You can also search for high-ticket affiliate programs from merchants selling expensive products, such as electronics, jewelry, or software. Bloggers can earn sizable amounts when recommending high-ticket items to readers. Shopify Affiliates, for example, earn 100% commission on the first two payments of any subscription plan.

If you use affiliate marketing to monetize your blog, remember the golden rule: Don’t promote a product that you don’t believe will benefit your readers. Sacrificing reader trust for an affiliate partner’s high commission rate may be tempting, but will likely result in a loss of traffic over the long term.

6. Offer services

A natural byproduct of building your audience means more people associate your name with the topics you write about. That’s a great way to build authority—something people look for when hiring people to complete a service.

“If you’re in the B2B space, consulting is a big revenue generator,” says Mushfiq Sarker, founder of The Website Flip. “If you have some expertise and people are genuinely reading your content, consider what kind of consulting you could do for them. It’s a high revenue, low commitment way to make money blogging.”

While running a service-based business is time-consuming, it can be a quick way to make money online. Demand a higher hourly rate, and find high-paying clients by using your blog content to demonstrate your expertise. 

Examples of services you might sell alongside your blog include:

• Consulting services
• Graphic design
• Freelance writing
• Virtual assistance 
• Classes or workshops 

Save time scheduling appointments and taking payments by integrating booking apps into your website.

7. Sell digital products

Digital products are a scalable way to make money by selling useful items alongside your blog. Unlike service-based businesses, you don’t exchange time for money. And unlike selling physical products, there’s no shipping or ongoing manufacturing costs.

You can create digital products once and sell an infinite number of them via your blog.

“I decided to add printables—and soon other digital products—to diversify my income and put more control in my own hands,” says Dylan Houlihan, founder of the blog-based website Swift Salary. “So far, I let readers decide how much they’d like to pay for my printables, which is why revenue numbers haven’t been crazy. However, I have clocked over 800 downloads, so I’m quite proud of that.”

Figure out which digital products your audience would like to buy, using a reader survey and questions like, “What problem do you need help with that this blog isn’t already solving?” Answers can unveil ideas you can package and sell. Popular digital product formats include:

Ebooks

Think of ebooks as deep dives into the topics your blog readers have shown the most interest in. If you’re blogging about mountain biking, for example, why not bundle up your trail reviews and tips into a handy guide? Adding extra detail and depth allows you to reasonably sell your ebook rather than share it for free.

Printables

Printables are a versatile type of digital product. You might create organizational tools like planners and checklists tailored for use in your niche. If you run a professional blog, you could offer templates and designs that your readers can use as part of their work. Downloadable printables are often low-cost items, making them an easy and accessible way to embed practical value into your posts.

Workbooks

Workbooks engage your audience by allowing them to apply the knowledge they’ve gained from your blog. Readers can fill out exercises, track their progress, and follow along with any educational content you produce.

Online courses

Similarly, online courses let you package your knowledge into something bigger and more structured than a blog post. Benjamin Houy has been running the blog French Together for a decade. Part of his blog’s monetization strategy includes an online French course, which reportedly drives 90% of the blog’s revenue.

“Ads and affiliate links can be great monetization strategies depending on the niche, but creating a product is both easier and more profitable than most bloggers think,” Benjamin says. “Your product doesn’t have to be the absolute best product ever when you launch it, it just has to be something your audience will find genuinely useful and will be happy to pay for.”

8. Sell physical products

Is your blog’s subject matter related to a range of products? Leverage what you know about your audience to sell them items likely to be of interest.

Nat Elson, founder of tea-based blog and store Cup & Leaf, recommends starting by sourcing a couple of items from affiliates or dropshipping suppliers, before expanding your catalog or producing your own products. 

“To start off, you could just link out to other people’s products,” says Nat. “Once your blog is getting enough traffic that it seems like it’s actually generating a meaningful number of sales for other people’s businesses, you could start swapping out links with links to your own products.”

Another way to sell products through your blog is to create merch promoting your brand. Your loyal readers might appreciate the chance to own thoughtfully curated items that allow them to express their love of your writing. Make your merch irresistible with limited edition runs, premium products, and collaborations with respected brands.

To get your merch store up and running on a budget, use the print-on-demand model, where you only pay manufacturing costs when a reader purchases a product. There’s no excess inventory, storage fees, or high upfront costs when bulk manufacturing products.

Use a print-on-demand service to create custom merch shirts, mugs, stickers, or more unique items that tie in with your content.

If your readers show interest in buying products from you, consider creating an online store, either as part of your blog website, or on a separate domain. That way, you can treat your blog audience as your initial customer base.

Many popular blogging platforms make it simple for bloggers to add ecommerce features to their websites, such as checkouts and product pages.

9. Create a membership community

Give your most engaged readers a VIP experience—one they have to pay a small fee to access. This type of community is an important part of social connection. Not only have communities shown to improve mental health, but 52% of shoppers will spend more on brands (or blogs) with shared values.

Take it from Michael Keenan, who runs a membership community alongside the Peak Freelance blog.

“If you want a consistent revenue stream for your blogging efforts, create a membership program,” says Michael. “You can offer exclusive content like handbooks and courses, special offers, even a Discord channel.”

Michael recommends setting up membership fees on a monthly or yearly basis. 

“Provide a small discount for those who pay yearly. This gives you a nice cash injection you can use to develop new content and products for members.”

10. Monetize YouTube videos

Written content is the preference for many web users. But if your blog doesn’t produce video, you’re likely missing the large portion of your audience whose go-to format is visual.

Posting engaging videos can help you make money on YouTube as an expansion of your blog content. A reported 82% of people have been convinced to buy something after watching a branded video. Make a video tutorial, review, or haul, and you’ll get rewarded when a viewer purchases off the back of your recommendation. 

Increase the ROI of your blog posts by treating each piece of content as the foundation of a video script. The bloggers behind A Beautiful Mess, for example, published a YouTube video that demonstrates how to create built-in shelves. The video description directs people to the blog write-up, which contains affiliate links to the products used in the tutorial. 

This strategy is worth considering for several reasons. First, not everyone enjoys reading online content. Some people prefer to watch videos. You’re potentially missing thousands of potential fans by only producing written text.

Secondly, Google and YouTube are the two most popular search engines in the world. Sharing content to both platforms increases the likelihood of your target reader finding it—and therefore, purchasing products through your blog.

For some queries, Google’s algorithm pulls YouTube videos in the search engine results page (SERP). The first thing you’ll see on the SERP for “how to groom your dog at home,” for example, is a YouTube video on the topic.

The best part? An active YouTube channel expands your revenue opportunities. The platform comes with its own set of monetization features, including the YouTube Shopify affiliate program, which helps you to find products to promote through your content—or creators to promote your products.

11. Produce a podcast and get a sponsor

Podcasts are more popular than ever, with more than 110 million regular listeners expected in the US by 2029. 

But episodes don’t just fill time on morning commutes. A 2022 study shows 70% of listeners will visit a brand’s website after hearing about its products via a podcast sponsorship. Another 67% will spark a conversation with a friend about the item in question. Both points make them attractive propositions for brands looking to expand their reach.

Capitalize on your audience’s attention by starting your own podcast. Record yourself talking about a topic in your niche and syndicate each episode to a streaming platform like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Reach out to brands in your niche with sponsorship opportunities. Sell ad space and give companies a shortcut to reach their target audience in exchange for a sponsorship fee.

The downside to the podcast approach is that it can be costly—both in terms of time and money. It takes time to build a relationship with a new audience. You’ll also need audio equipment or rented studio time to produce the podcast.

How long does it take to make money blogging?

While a popular blog can make money right away, it often takes time to build an audience that’s big enough to monetize.

Embracing monetization strategies can help reduce the time it takes to earn money. For example, Brittany Berger, founder of Work Brighter, started earning almost instantly by creating a simple $20 digital download that she promoted in her weekly newsletter. 

“By starting early in the blog’s lifetime, I was able to convert a huge portion of the audience,” she says.

“I think waiting to launch something until you have a bigger audience can end up creating more pressure for yourself, so I’m glad I experimented with a small product when my audience was small.” 

Mushfiq Sarkar also started blogging part time back in 2008, though he had no prior marketing experience.

“I left my job in April 2021 to focus on The Website Flip because it was growing significantly and I was more passionate about growing this website and blogging,” he says.

His latest blog makes significant revenue despite only being a few years old.

“A lot of people knew me by name, but not that I was an active blogger or someone who covered the industry. I started earning money fairly quickly—within a month or two.”

Blogging is typically a side hustle people take up with the hopes that, one day, they’ll be able to quit their day jobs. Yet the length of time it takes to generate substantial income varies from blogger to blogger.

Can I earn a living by monetizing a blog?

As the many successful bloggers in this post prove, it’s definitely possible to make money blogging. In fact, you can run large businesses with multiple employees based on blogs as the core product.

That said, you’ll need to follow some best practices to give your blog the best chance of providing a full-time income.

Invest your time

Building a successful blog isn’t an overnight achievement. It often takes years of consistent effort. For many bloggers, real income emerges months or years after they’ve built and maintained an engaged audience.

In this sense, profitable blogging isn’t just about posting as many articles as possible. Instead, it’s about enhancing every aspect of your blog to increase engagement—from your social media presence to your email marketing strategies.

Cover all distribution channels

Sure, blog posts are great. But have you explored making video versions of your content for TikTok or starting a podcast? Posting across content channels will help you learn how your audience prefers to consume content, and where the majority of your audience spends time online. 

A multichannel content strategy also helps you avoid strong competition. If your blog posts are struggling to rank against high-profile websites, perhaps you’ll enjoy better reach with Instagram Stories?

Building visibility across channels may also improve your standing with search algorithms. The more your content appears across different media, the more likely any individual platform will recognize your importance and rank your content higher.

Aim to be omnipresent in your niche, making your blog too significant for Google to ignore.

Rethink the business model

If you’re serious about turning your blog into a business, try to think like an entrepreneur rather than an author or enthusiast. Beyond looking to produce the highest-quality content, consider how to maximize your page views in the most profitable niches.

It might mean running multiple blogs across a variety of topic areas. Owning three, five, or 10 semi-successful blog websites may be more profitable, and achievable, than running one super-successful blog. Spreading your efforts across websites also gives you more opportunities to find success, and chances to avoid roadblocks with competitors, sponsors, products, etc.

Just as spreading your time over multiple blogs can pay off, try not to rely on a single income stream. Explore some or all of the monetization strategies in this post to protect your earnings against shortfalls in any one method.

Turn your blog into a moneymaker

Building a blogging business isn’t a linear process. The best way to make money depends on your niche, your relationship with your audience, and the content formats you’re producing. Focus first on building great content and a loyal readership, and then experiment with these monetization tactics.