A high number of bloggers begin their blogging career with the intention to make some extra money. However, we all have a love-hate relationship with advertisements, and many bloggers don’t want to use them! So, how can you monetize your blog without advertisements?
Fortunately, there are numerous ways to monetize your blog without using any kind of traditional advertisements. By this I mean advertisements like popups, in-content ads, side-bar ads, etc. Those can get annoying pretty quickly!
However, advertisements are (at least in my opinion) one of the easiest ways of creating a revenue stream on a blog. You can make hundreds or even thousands per month, just with ads! However, I’m not hear to try to convince you to use them- I get it!
Maybe you are here because you already have ads, and you want some new ideas of how to make money with your blog! Adding some more ways of monetization will only do you good!
To start making some good money with your blog, you will want multiple revenue streams. Many things can happen unexpectedly online, so it will be beneficial to have some back up ways of getting some income!
Start by adding one or two of these monetization strategies, and you will be on your way to financial freedom!
Many of these strategies will involve sales, so consider the WordPress plugin WooCommerce. You can find information on this and other best WordPress plugins bloggers should install here!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Affiliate marketing
One of the most popular ways to monetize your blog without advertisements is using affiliate marketing. You more than likely have already heard this term, because it is something most bloggers use!
If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is essentially like getting commission for a sale. You join an affiliate program for a product, service, company, etc., and use your individual affiliate link to promote it. If a reader clicks on your link and makes a purchase within a set amount of time, you will get a percentage of the sale!
Most bloggers will promote or suggest certain products or services anyway, so at least you can make some money off of it! The best part is, pretty much everything has an affiliate program! If you are unsure, simple google “company name” + affiliate, and it should come up!
Here is a list of some of my favorite affiliates for new bloggers. The best part about affiliate marketing is there is no limit to how many you can join and use! However, make sure you are only promoting products/services that are relevant and helpful to your audience.
When using affiliate marketing, you must use a disclaimer. It must be easily visible on any blog post that includes an affiliate link. Additionally, it must be shown before any affiliate link. I always place my disclaimer under the introduction of each blog post.
Here is my disclaimer. Feel free to use it or edit it to make it your own:
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Once you have that, you’re good to go! Simply add your individual affiliate link provided by the company in your post, and cross your fingers for some sales!
Sell Digital or Physical Products
Another way to monetize your blog without advertisements is to create and sell digital and/or physical products. This is where the WooCommerce plugin will become very useful!
You can learn more about WooCommerce on this list of WordPress plugins bloggers should install.
WooCommerce makes it very simple to set up a shop on your blog. It also handles payments, shipping, and taxes, making it incredibly simple and straightforward!
When creating digital or physical products to sell, think about your blog’s niche. What topics do you frequently cover, and what products might people find useful? What are you able to create that others would find valuable?
Digital products are a simple way to make some extra money, with little work. Once your product is created and up for sale, you don’t really have to do much! WooCommerce lets you sell digital products by adding a file that the user can download after purchase.
Examples of digital products might be printables, workbooks, templates, planners, etc. Anything the user can use online or print out and use in person is fair game!
As far as physical products go, you will have more work on your hands in terms of preparing the product and sending it out for shipping. However, you can usually sell these items for more.
Examples of physical products might be t-shirts, tote bags, art, books, items, etc. You might want to consider a third party supplier, or you can make your products yourself!
write an ebook
Writing an ebook is another way you can monetize your blog without advertisements. This is another example of a digital product you can sell.
Now, you don’t need to be an author or even a great writer to sell an ebook. Anyone can create and write an ebook!
Maybe there is a topic on your blog that is pretty large and cannot be covered in just a single blog post. This might be something you would want to write an ebook about, especially if readers have many questions about this topic.
An ebook does not need to be long like a typical novel, either. You can even sell mini ebooks with only 20 pages! However long you need to cover the topic thoroughly is enough.
Ebooks are simple to create. You can make them for FREE on Canva, which provides tons of templates you can use! You can also use Google docs, and use their templates. The best part about ebooks is they don’t have to be super fancy. You can create them for absolutely free, and anyone can sell them.
As far as selling your ebook goes, you can sell them on your blog in your shop, or even on Amazon! Amazon has a complete guide for how to set up your ebook on their website. You can set your own price, and anyone can join!
Create a course or training
Bloggers can also create a course or training to monetize their blog. As a blogger, you probably know a bit more than the average person about a particular topic. So, why not teach other people about it?
Think about what topics readers ask you a lot of questions about, and what you would consider yourself an “expert” in. Even if you don’t know everything about a topic, others will still appreciate learning from you!
There are many websites you can create courses and training modules on such as Udemy and Teachable. You can create powerpoints, training videos, modules, etc. to help teach your audience a topic.
You can sell your courses and trainings on those platforms too, which helps take care of all the backend work of selling. Even set up your own affiliate links, so others can help promote your work!
offer personalized training or coaching
For some blog niches, you could offer personalized training or coaching for your readers as a way to monetize your blog without advertisements.
For example, if you have a fitness blog, you could offer paid coaching for clients. Offering personal fitness and meal plans could be a great way to make some extra cash while helping others!
Additionally, if you have a travel blog, you could act as an online travel agent. For a fee, you could help plan and book travel accommodations for clients!
Maybe you have a blog about parenting. You could offer paid trainings to address specific behaviors or concerns with children.
The possibilities are endless. If you feel you have knowledge others would find valuable, take advantage of that! You don’t need to be an expert to teach others.
You can sell these services right through your blog on WooCommerce. However, if you do this, make sure you aren’t overloading yourself with clients. Set limits for yourself, and have a maximum number of clients you are willing to accept.
write sponsored posts
Writing sponsored posts is another way to monetize your blog without advertisements. A sponsored post is essentially when a company pays you to write a post about them or their product(s).
The amount you get paid per post depends on a number of factors. Sometimes you will write an entire post dedicated to a particular company or product. Or, you might just include a segment in a post about their company or product.
You will also need to set rates that you are willing to write sponsored posts for. It is difficult to give you a specific number that is reasonable, because it depends on so many factors: your traffic, how long the post is, if you are taking your own pictures, etc.
However, I wouldn’t recommend going any lower than $100. Consider $50 per hour for your efforts. Many companies will try and offer you way less than this because they simply don’t know the amount of time and energy that is involved in creating posts.
Companies might also offer you the product in exchange for a post. This is entirely up to you. I would say it depends how much the product is worth, and how badly you want it!
Consider making a media kit (there are templates on Canva). This is a document that provides all your rates and information for sponsorships.
So, how do you get paid sponsorships? The best way is to send out emails to companies you are interested in. A short email is all you need to send. Here are some ideas.
Most of your emails will not get a reply. Don’t get discouraged! Set aside some time each day to send 2-3 emails out, and cross your fingers!
Create paid memberships
You may also want to consider creating paid memberships to monetize your blog. You’ve seen websites that offer free accounts and paid accounts, right? Why not try out the same thing!
Offer a free account that gives users access to general information and resources. Give them enough to feel satisfied, but wanting more! That’s where the paid membership comes in.
Make the paid membership full of exciting resources and exclusive information. Maybe there is a secret group board with only that premium members. Perhaps premium members get access to exclusive discounts and deals. Make it worth their while!
This is an easy way to monetize because all you need to do is withhold all of your information. Instead of posting all your blog posts or selling digital products, make them available only to those who have the paid membership.
It will be fun too, to have a select group of people who are truly invested in you and your blog! You can have them pay monthly, yearly, or just a one time fee!
host a paid webinar
Another way to monetize your blog without advertisements is to host a paid webinar. This is similar to creating training modules or courses, except it will be live!
Even if you have a course or training for sale, some people like the opportunity to discuss their questions live, in real time. This will also help you to understand where your users have questions or need further explanation.
You can host one live webinar a month, or even every week if your audience is large enough! Your users will receive a password upon purchase to enter the webinar.
During the webinar, you can simply go through the paid version of your training, or create a new one. Offer time for questions, discussions, or even activities!
Your audience will love being able to engage with you personally, as well as others that have similar interests as them and are willing to learn!
Contact me!
As always, if you have any questions about anything in this post, or about blogging in general, feel free to contact me! You can find my contact information in the menu above, or leave a comment below!
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Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!|