How can you make money from a blog? This question has been on my mind since I started blogging in 2020. 

I began by writing on Medium, slowly building an audience there. Over time, I grew it to more than 21,000 followers and earned over $25,000 from my writing on the platform.

Along the way, I also launched my website as a side hustle. It didn’t do much at first, but by early 2025, it finally started to take off. Now, it gets around 15,000 monthly visits and has made over $11,000 in just five months, mainly through affiliate links and sponsorships. 

Of course, it wasn’t always like this. For the first few years, my blog earned $0. I tried various blog monetization strategies to make it work. Some ideas failed, others showed promise, and a few worked well.

In this post, I’ll walk you through everything I’ve learned about how to make money blogging. I’ll share what worked for me, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently if I had to start all over today.

Why Trust Me?

I’m an SEO specialist and writer turned into a content creator and solopreneur. I’ve tried different ways to grow and monetize a blog—writing on Medium, building my website, growing an email list, and even creating and selling my digital products.

When I first started writing online, I had big dreams of making money while I slept. 

I thought blog monetization was about publishing a few posts, putting up some ads, and watching the cash roll in. But reality hit differently. 

Below, I’ll share what I thought blog monetization would be like compared to what it’s actually been, with mistakes and lessons.

Around 6 million blog posts go live daily. It's a crazy amount of content! Someone has to read it before it can make money. 

At first, I thought the key to success was getting as many views as possible. So, I published a blog post daily, hoping to replicate the success of other bloggers. 

But even after writing over 100 posts on Medium, I wasn’t earning anything. It was frustrating. It wasn’t until I wrote another 100 posts that things started to click. 

Here’s why my first blogging attempts failed: 

Speaking of passive income...

After blogging for over 5 years, I’ve realized the following: passive income isn’t really passive. 

I thought making money from a blog while you sleep through affiliate commissions or selling a digital product was the dream. And sure, it sounds fantastic. But no one talks about the behind-the-scenes work it takes to get there. The blog posts, SEO, email list building, and constant updates… It’s all part of it. You don’t just set it and forget it.

Every “passive” dollar I’ve earned came from countless active hours. It’s definitely not easy or instant. 

After months of trial and error, I finally found my rhythm with blogging. 

At first, I was trying to write about anything, speak to everyone, and hope for the best. But that approach didn’t get me far. 

What worked was much simpler and felt way more natural:

Everything shifted when I realized I was actually writing to my younger self. I was sharing my struggles and the learnings I wished someone had told me earlier. Surprisingly, it started to resonate with people around the world.

Little by little, I built relationships with my audience by helping them with what they cared about. Over time, that built trust. And once people trust you, they’re more open to buying from you.

In 2025, I finally started treating my website like a real business instead of just a side project. After years of figuring things out through trial and error, I’ve learned what kind of content brings traffic and makes money.

My website brought in over $11,000 in the first five months of the year. My goal is to reach $20,000 by the end of 2025, and it appears I’m on the right track.

People often tell me I’m lucky to be making a four-figure income monthly from my website, especially with all the chaos Google updates bring.

But what they don’t see is that, for nearly four years, my site has made zero dollars.

Everything changed when a few pages on my website started making a couple of hundred bucks a month. That’s when I realized I needed to create content that not only ranks but also makes money.

Nowadays, I plan my content quarterly. Every article I write has a clear goal, whether it’s to:

Here’s a peek at my Q2 2025 content plan. As of today, I’m on track with my May and June goals.

Choosing the right monetization strategy for my audience came down to one core thing: what feels right to me. 

Nowadays, I use three monetization methods on my website: 

Since my website gets consistent traffic from organic search, I focus on the most “passive” income streams possible, the ones that don’t require me to sell actively. 

I hate pushing things on people, even though I know it’s technically part of marketing. However, for my blog, I only go with strategies that feel ethical and don’t require my constant involvement. 

For example, I don’t chase brand sponsorships. Instead, I get 2–3 emails daily from companies reaching out to collaborate. I decline most of them, but I occasionally accept deals that align with my values and bring in solid income. 

If you wonder how to make money from a blog, pick something that feels natural to you. Start there, stay consistent, and adjust as you go.

Predictable blog income is possible, but it’s not magic. It’s about picking the right topics, staying consistent, and thinking long-term.

I didn’t go viral or make thousands overnight, but I began seeing steady traffic and a few affiliate sales here and there. Over time, I focused on writing helpful content that people were searching for. I also created a content plan and treated my blog more like a business than a side hustle. Eventually, some of my articles started ranking on the front page of Google, generating organic traffic and income monthly. 

You’ll find plenty of blog monetization methods on the web. However, it doesn’t mean they are worth your time and can bring decent revenue. 

Below, I’ll share a few proven-to-work methods that help me make four figures monthly from my blog. 

I regularly track what already generates sales and affiliate commissions, and then I create more content on those topics.

Over time, I noticed that the blog posts that performed best were the ones targeting transactional keywords—search terms people use when they’re about to make a purchase. I help readers make a decision, whether it’s choosing a tool, signing up for a course, or trying out a new service. 

For example, just by mentioning one of the SEO tools I use daily, I made almost $6,000 in affiliate commissions in the first five months of 2025.

It didn’t happen overnight, but by staying consistent and focusing on what works, I’ve built a more stable and reliable blog income.

On top of affiliate marketing, I’ve also had the chance to monetize my website through brand sponsorships. 

To be honest, this came as a surprise. I’ve never pitched myself to companies or asked for deals. Brands just started reaching out on their own. They’d send over guest post requests, ask about listing their products, or suggest backlink swaps.

I turn down about 99% of the requests and only say yes to brands I trust. ​​As my website continues growing, the number of sponsorship inquiries keeps increasing.

I don’t count on this for regular income, as it can take weeks to finalize a deal. It’s not quick or predictable. But it’s a nice extra, and I get to work with brands I genuinely like, which makes it feel more meaningful.

Since SEO is unpredictable, I’ve also started leaning into channels where I own the audience, like email marketing. 

With my email list, I don’t have to worry about algorithm updates or traffic drops. I can reach my audience directly in their inboxes anytime I want. I’ve been using beehiiv to grow and monetize my newsletter, and it’s been working well for me. 

I pivoted my newsletter twice while figuring out my niche. But I kept showing up and growing it. 

As of May 2025, I have over 1,200 subscribers. It's not a huge number, but with beehiiv, you don’t need a massive list to start monetizing your newsletter. 

I regularly sell my SEO ebook through newsletters. Plus, I’ve earned $1,157.50 passively through Boosts and the Ad Network over the past 12 months. 

Recently, I launched a paid subscription where I share real-time SEO experiments, wins, failures, and even my monthly affiliate income. 

It was just a test, and I didn’t expect much. But to my surprise, people sign up and pay to learn from me. This would’ve never happened without beehiiv. It’s the one platform that made turning email subscribers into customers easy.

When I started blogging, I wasted months chasing views and writing random posts to get traffic. I thought good open rates and clicks meant more money, but I was wrong. 

My biggest mistake was ignoring niche focus and writing for everyone instead of someone. It took me too long to realize that real blog income comes from trust, not pageviews.

I also used to think I needed a huge audience before I could start making money. That’s totally wrong. You can make your first sales with as few as 100 engaged subscribers and a solid newsletter strategy. 

So, don't hold back if you have something valuable to share, even if it’s a paid product or service. Talk about it naturally in your content. That’s how I started selling my ebook through my blog posts. So far, I’ve made over $10,000 on Gumroad from more than 350 sales.

I also spent too much time perfecting my blog design and newsletter landing pages instead of creating helpful content. If you’re just starting out, focus on solving real problems for your audience. That’s what keeps readers coming back and turns them into paying customers.

If I were starting to make money online today, I’d definitely do a few things differently.

When I started, I spent way too much time trying to do everything at once— writing, posting on social media, and creating a website, without focusing on what generated income. If I had a fresh start, I’d pick one monetization strategy, like offering a service or selling a digital product, and double down on it.

I also wouldn’t wait so long to start building an email list. It’s one of the best ways to grow a loyal audience and earn a steady income, especially if you use a tool like beehiiv. I wish I’d done that sooner.

I would stop comparing myself to others. Everyone’s journey is unique, and trying to follow someone else’s path will only hold you back.

Looking back, making money online really comes down to staying focused, being patient, and learning as you go. If you’re starting now, keep it simple and stick with it.

Here are the tools I rely on to track my website performance in search results: 

If you're into affiliate marketing, the following affiliate marketing marketplaces are great for finding products and services to promote. They can help you manage your links, keep track of clicks, and see how much you earn:

When it comes to email marketing and audience monetization, here is my favorite email newsletter service: 

With beehiiv, it’s simple to add sponsorships and affiliate links, plus track how engaged your readers are. You can turn your email list into a steady income without a hassle. 

It also offers a free 30-day trial, so why not give it a try? Join beehiiv and see how it helps you achieve your goals.

Yes, you can make money with a blog! 

If you are curious how other bloggers make money, here’s a great example of Milk Road, a crypto newsletter that grew to over 33,000 subscribers and was acquired in less than 10 months after launching on beehiiv. That’s a dream outcome and proof that blogging can really pay off fast.

But not everyone sees that kind of success so quickly. In my experience, building a solid blog with an engaged audience takes time. You’ll need to write consistently, offer value, and build trust with your readers before monetization becomes realistic.

The answer is that it depends. 

In my experience, traffic alone doesn’t mean much unless you know how to monetize it and attract the right audience—people who are looking to buy something. 

If you’re just starting, you might be curious about platforms that pay directly for views. For example, Medium does that. I publish on Medium regularly, and I usually earn between $10 and $30 for every 1,000 views. It’s not life-changing money, but it’s a nice way to get paid while you build your audience and test your content. 

It depends on your niche and the marketing channel you choose to pursue.

In my experience, making $1,000 per month from blogging can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. 

It’s not a quick process because many bloggers, including myself, figure things out on the go. The key is to treat it like a business, not just a hobby. 

There are many ways to turn your blog into a source of income, including affiliate marketing, selling your products or services, and brand sponsorships. 

Platforms like beehiiv make growing and monetizing your blog easy, even if you’re just starting out. beehiiv provides you with tools to make money right away, like a built-in Ad Network, paid newsletters, and Boosts that help you reach more readers.

Want to see how it works? You can try beehiiv free for 30 days and explore all the ways to make money from your blog!