Bloggers are faced with a constant struggle: they want to commit to their site full time, but they fear that they won’t have the funds to support themselves and their families by doing so.
The fact of the matter is that bloggers have influence. Studies show that 61% of US consumers have made a purchase thanks to the influence of a blog post.
If bloggers are the difference between the consumer purchasing a product and not purchasing it, why shouldn’t they get a cut for their services?
Some bloggers are actually getting even more than just a cut.
That’s called affiliate marketing, and it’s a money-making technique that you will see from most bloggers across the board. As a matter of fact, it’s so popular that we even put together a list of the top performing affiliate programs that 50 $100k bloggers are using every single day.
If you keep this strategy in mind for yourself, it is entirely possible to not only make enough money to support yourself by blogging full time, but you can make upwards of $100k a year with it!
All it takes is some patience and a great strategy to turn this passion into a successful business venture.
We are going to take a look at three different $100k bloggers and discuss not only what they are doing, but HOW they are doing it. Before long, you’ll be able to follow their strategies and do it, too.
Abby Makes Over $40k Per Month by Helping People Start a Blog on BlueHost.
Abby’s home DIY website, JustAGirlAndHerBlog, has all the makings for success. She earns six figures, she has a large and loyal following, and she knows what she’s talking about within her niche. If we are to look at anyone, we should start with her.
Although a large portion of her money comes from selling her own e-books, Abby also makes a great deal of money from her affiliation with the blog hosting company BlueHost.
BlueHost is one of the best affiliate programs out there. Not only is it easy, but you receive $65 for every person who signs up under your recommendation.
This makes it especially popular among bloggers, as most have a sizeable following and won’t have trouble getting people to sign up for themselves.
How You Can Make Money from Becoming a BlueHost Affiliate:
Assuming that you already have your own blog with a dedicated niche, you should head over to BlueHost’s affiliate page and sign up to become a partner with them.
Once you are a BlueHost affiliate, you need to make a post that tells your readers to sign up for BlueHost themselves. Abby did a “How To Start A Blog” post that has been viewed thousands of times by unique visitors and continues to earn her extra passive income.
Once you’ve written a “How To” article of your own, you should go back and do a few things with it. First, make sure that the article fits with the theme of your blog. Next, you should do what you can to make sure that it ranks high in Google. Lastly, promote the heck out of it!
Remember, you only get paid if you convince people to sign up to BlueHost. THAT should be your #1 priority.
John Makes Over $100k Per Month by Promoting Products Made by His Peers.
John’s business podcast website, EOFire, is extremely successful. You don’t have to look much further than the ‘Start’ tab at the top of his site to figure out how he monetizes from his blog.
With a MONTHLY income of over $100,000, John is no joke. The wide array of self-made products he sells on his site make up the bulk of his income, but a large portion still comes from affiliate marketing.
Like Abby, John also has a successful deal with BlueHost. He also, however, has managed to become successful by promoting helpful tools made by other business bloggers.
He receives a portion of the cut every single time that someone signs up for a webinar, downloads an e-book, or attends an online class that he is affiliated with.
How You Can Make Money from Becoming a Peer Affiliate:
The #1 rule of affiliation is that you should NEVER tie yourself to something that you don’t believe in. Not only is it bad business practice, but it makes you appear unreliable and money hungry if you’re promoting absolute junk to your readers.
Find a product that you are passionate about. If you trust the person behind the e-book, you are far more likely to buy into what they’re selling. Literally. Most successful bloggers will have some kind of affiliate program for their own products, so you have your pick of who and what you want to promote.
John, for example, promotes Scott Voelker’s workshop, Ramit Sethi’s e-book, and David Siteman Garland’s online course.
He then has these people on his podcast program so they can promote their products, much like Abby promoted BlueHost by writing a how-to post on her blog, repeatedly to generate interest and promote the product.
If people leave the podcast interested in the product, they will sign up for it. One they do, John receives a portion of the earnings simply for promoting it. It’s easy as can be.
Pat Makes Over $150k Per Month by Promoting LeadPages to His Listeners.
Pat’s site, SmartPassiveIncome, is arguably one of the most successful blogs out there right now. With a monthly income of over $150,000, it bypasses most blogs and allows Pat into the elite “top 10%” of bloggers who make somewhere around $1 million per year.
His business savvy deserves praise, but it also deserves a second look so we can learn from him. Much like the other bloggers mentioned in this post, Pat takes advantage of affiliate programs.
In the month of March 2016 alone, he earned $100,000 just in affiliate earnings. Over $50,000 of that was from BlueHost, but his second most profitable affiliate earning came from LeadPages. The self-proclaimed #1 landing page builder is a familiar, important tool for all bloggers, so it makes sense that he would promote it to his business-minded followers.
How You Can Make Money by Becoming a LeadPages Affiliate:
First, you’re going to need to sign up for the affiliate program. You will earn 30% of every sale that is earned from someone signing up under your direction, so it isn’t a bad deal.
Then, just like the rest of the affiliate programs, you need to promote! Write a post about how to use LeadPages to increase your sales, or do what Pat and John did to promote their products and include the product promotion into your podcasts.
Promote your content, and watch your profits increase!