How To Make Money Blogging For Beginners: 17 Bloggers’ 1st $100 Month

how to make money with your blog

Forget all the hype you’ve read it’s pretty hard, near impossible even, to make money blogging without help. That’s why with this post, I’m sharing how to make money blogging for beginners especially.

beginner = unguided and/or overwhelmed.

most of the time.

It takes the right type of guidance and a ton of hardwork to start making any real money off your blog. There’s even a bestseller titled along the lines of “How to make money blogging without selling your soul” -forgot the actual name- so go figure!

That said you also don’t have to wait 3 years before you start making money from your blog.

In fact, this post is all about how to make money blogging fast.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon or other publishers I trust (at no extra cost to you). See disclosure for details.

And in addition to all the beginner friendly blogging tips I’ll be sharing with you, I got 17 other bloggers who made $100+ in their first few months to share their experience and tips too!

Basically you are about to learn how to make money blogging for free from people who have already paid the price!

If you are looking for how to make money blogging without ads for example, Alyssa made over $100 through affiliate marketing alone in her first two months. And that was with very little traffic. Read her dedicated interview + 2 other ways to make money with a new blog or keep reading this post for just the summary of it.

It makes me cry to think just how much time this post could have saved me when I was a new blogger trying to make some money with my first blog.

But enough with the emotionalities, let’s just call this masterpiece post “How to make money blogging for dummies” and move on now.

BLOGGING 101 – HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL BLOGGER

While no one can claim to have an all in one make money blogging formula, one thing is sure, how to make money blogging today is not the same as how our forerunners made money blogging years ago.

The old blogging advice would be

  • Find your passion
  • Set up your blog (insert webhosting pitch)
  • Start publishing content as often as you can
  • Share where ever you can
  • Wait for them to come

Follow that advice today and you are only guaranteed one thing.

you can't make money blogging without blog traffic

Today, things are much more sophisticated and with this new sophistication comes an even higher money making potential. So that’s really a good thing.

To start a successful blog that makes money while you sleep (the dream aye?), here are the not so quick steps you need to follow.

  • Decide your lifestyle goals – Many people leave this out but I think it’s very important. The last thing you want is to build a type of blog that leaves you feeling depleted and unfulfilled even when you are making tons of money from it.
  • Choose a profitable blogging niche that can be maintained on the kind of lifestyle you crave in the long term. A fashion blog may be great fit today but do you still want to share pictures of your daily outfit in 3 years time? Would you be able to sell your blog if no? There’s so much more to this than appears at first glance.
  • Setup an SEO optimized speedy blog.
  • Publish LOTS of great content <= ideas + tips.
  • Get pinterest traffic while you wait on the google Gods.
  • Kiss ass aka network (lol).
  • Convert what traffic you get into buyers, subscribers or/and followers.
  • Rinse and repeat the last 4 steps until you don’t need other bloggers or Pinterest and its mood swings anymore. 🙂

Ok so the truth is this is way deeper than I can cover in this post without making it too lengthy so I’ve written a detailed start a blog guide you’ll want to check out.

TYPES OF BLOGS THAT MAKE MONEY – THE BREAK IT OR MAKE IT FACTOR

Take it or leave it, there are blog ideas that make money and there are blog ideas that DO NOT make money.

This is one of the most common reasons why most blogs fail.

Top money making blogs like Mommy On Purpose, Simplifying DIY Design, and The Flooring Girl  are not just random blogs in random niches.

These blogs are useful, thorough and needed/WANTED by lots of/ENOUGH people who can AFFORD and are WILLING to pay for information or whatever else they sell. 

That last point there is the single defining factor for assessing blog niches that make money.

If you can answer yes to the question “Is my blog being actively searched for by people who can afford and are willing to pay for what I’m selling?” you are already half way there.

For inspiration, some high demand blog topics that make the most money include:
 
  • Make money.
  • Save money.
  • Pinterest.
  • Tech, Computers and Phones.
  • Backpacking.
  • Motherhood and kids.
Need some more examples of blogs that make money, I have a small but detailed blog niche list post to help you. I’ve also tried to include some unique blog ideas like design in that post and I’m pretty sure you’ll find at least one blog niche that makes money that’s right for you.
 

HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING – WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO HEAR!

There are numerous ways to make money blogging which I cover in depth in my post “How 3 Smart Bloggers Make Money With A New Blog” but the summary of it all is this:
 
  • Selling ad space.
  • Marketing affiliate products. Most people use Amazon.
  • Selling your own products or services.
  • Selling your content (sponsored posts). As you’ll see later, Stacey made $500 in her 2nd month from a sponsored post!

Again to avoid going overboard with length, we are busy moms afterall, I’ll be covering only 3 things.

  1. How to make money blogging with amazon (ebook here). Because they are the most common to start with.
  1. How to make money blogging with ads. Because not everyone likes to sell.
  2. How to make money blogging fast. The Round Up. Because everyone wants that!

How to make money blogging with amazon

The perk with using Amazon for affiliate marketing is that when someone clicks through your link and buys anything at all within 24hrs, you get commission on the sale!

So if someone clicks on your affiliate link for a $20 ebook for example and ends up buying the $1,000 laptop she’d been wanting to buy for weeks, you get commission of up to 10% on the sale!

I’ll wait for you to do the maths.

Laura Iancu covers amazon affiliate marketing thoroughly in this cheap ebook but here are some simple tips you can start implementing right now.

  • Only add the most useful links that will really help your audience, not the highest priced ones.
  • Use links without sounding too salesy. The goal is to make things convenient for them not appear like a desperate insurance salesman.
  • Add a link wherever there’s a chance. If you mention a wooden spoon in your recipe post, link to it! People are curious, they probably want to see what you use and because amazon converts so well, they may buy it or something else entirely. Either way, you get commissions.
  • Create detailed guides. I look to momlovesbest.com for inspiration on this one.
  • Update top traffic posts to include affiliate links.
  • Capitalize on holiday spendings. While evergreen posts are great, theme specific posts do best with affiliate marketing so write some great Christmas, Halloween… posts and gift guides. Then promote them like crazy.

I always say that the fastest way to make money blogging is by leveraging other people’s experiences. Laura makes $100 off 3,000 pageviews through affiliate marketing and she spilled all her secrets in that ebook I talked about before and guess who else is raving about it. Twinsmommy, The She Approach, Maya Mayeceka… Go see for yourself -> Laura’s ebook.

How to make money blogging without selling anything

Well it’s not exactly not selling anything because while you won’t be actively selling, you’ll be renting your blog space.

This one is ideal if the thought of selling creeps you out and you would rather just create content, slap up some ads and go to sleep.

But I must warn you, it depends on your ability to drive some high quality and high quantity traffic.

First you would have to sign up with ad networks like Google Adsense, Media.net, Mediavine or Adthrive depending on where you are with your traffic.

Next you would focus on driving traffic which is where pinterest and SEO come in. You’ll likely see faster results from pinterest and that’s much needed encouragement for those first few months.

Some great resources to help you drive traffic:

HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING FAST: 17 BLOGGERS ON HOW THEY DID IT!

Most bloggers (except those in the how to make money blogging niche) don’t share how much they earn let alone how they do it so I feel pretty proud to share with you these rare stories and tips.

Here’s what I asked

How much blog traffic did it take to get to your first $100 month?

How many blog posts, how long?

Any helpful tips for newbies.

And here’s what they answered.

1. Carly had 25,000 pageviews before she made $100.

Carly who makes money blogging

I don’t know the answer as far as traffic for certain, but if I had to guess, I’d say I had a solid 25-50k pageviews (maybe more!) before I made 100$. I had no idea what I was doing, and no idea how to make sure that my blog was ready to earn when traffic started coming in. I spent a lot of time playing catch up! – Carly | Mommy on Purpose

2. Debbie made $100 the first month she tried.

debbie shares how to make money blogging for beginners

My situation was different. I already had an established blog for my business (not monetized) and it had over 100,000 pageviews per month. The first month I dabbled and added some Amazon links and earned $100 for the 1st month. I didn’t do much after that. Then a year later, I took things more seriously and added ads and started to learn how to monetize and made $1,100 mostly driven by ads. Now, I make much more. But every blog and niche are different. For me, traffic is main driver and email isn’t important (due to the nature of what I blog about); for others, it’s the opposite. I have found SEO most important and profitable followed by pinterest. – Debbie | The Flooring Girl

Here’s how Debbie gets all that blog traffic.

3. Jason leveraged a bigger blogger’s list and made $800 quickly.
Focus on subscribers. People buy from people / brands they like and trust. All major publications focus on subscribers. But for some reason us bloggers seem to forget this in favor of traffic… which is unpredictable.
I went against the norm. Instead of putting my focus on traffic, I created an eBook and then got an affiliate to promote to his list. To gain attention, I paid a 70% commission. He emailed his list and I was able to net roughly $800 on the launch. Here is more info – Jason | JasonBrubaker.com

alyssa who made money with her new blog

4. Alyssa made $100 with 7k pageviews.
I made my first $100 with pretty low traffic, around 7,000 page views. It was my second month blogging. I had about 36 blog posts because I launched with 20 completed. My best advice is to find a product you truly love and would recommend to your close friends. That comes through in your writing. Alyssa | Pen Lights To Pacifiers.

Alyssa contacted a brand she loved and promoted her post using a facebook ad trial, you can find out more in this interview with her.

5. Ana reached that milestone through affiliate marketing without a lot of traffic.

I actually have a blog post about it because it was a huge milestone for me! I made it all through affiliate marketing, with not a lot of traffic. Pinterest was a huge help with that, even as a new blogger. – Ana | The She Approach

When Ana speaks pinterest, you need to listen.

6. Amanda got in to mediavine in her 4th month!

Amanda who makes money blogging

I made my first 100 dollars when I got mediavine, 4 months into blogging. So I needed 25k people in 30 consecutive days for that. I did have google adsense on for about a month before but it was kind of pointless since i never saw that money because you need to reach 100 dollars to get a cheque. But I don’t regret it, I didn’t lose anything really by having adsense on. My focus has been on pinterest and content. A lot of people say pumping out a lot of content isn’t key, but I believe it is because I know it has helped me. I was able to apply to mediavine 3 months in because i had reached 25k visitors by that time and I blog three times a week. I have been working on SEO too, but have yet to see too much from that, but it was definitely pinterest (Carly’s book got me there) and pumping out content. – Amanda | Simple Life of a Frugal Wife 

7. Christine made $100 with just 20 posts.

christine makes money blogging about disney

We had 20 posts, and the first few went viral. This helped us earn a few $ with Google Adsense, but most importantly, it qualified us for Media Vine. Earning our first $100 from them took about 2 weeks.
Viral posts also meant that my Amazon affiliate links were being shown to a large number of people, this helped kick start our Amazon earnings. With 3 viral posts, they alone are earning $100 per week on average through Custom ads that I’ve placed on the articles. These ads are also based on readers purchases so I know that I am showing them exactly what they are looking for and likely to buy. Christine | Mouse Travel Matters

8. Afra was booked for sponsored posts with only 4k pageviews.

how to make money blogging

I got booked for sponsored posts around 13 months after I started my blog and I was probably around 4 k page views. I only got paid much later though because the posts were due a few months from that. So really the money for my first sponsored blog posts came in after 16 months. I did make a very tiny bit through Instagram. I don’t have any tips because mine really wasn’t the ideal way but I would like to say when you start your blog focus on the most important things like Seo, Pinterest and what products/services you can offer. Have a specific NICHE that you are working with so it’s easier to create quality targeted content. Also start with a good number of posts. I made the mistake of gradually writing AFTER I launched my blog and I’m only at 48 posts now after almost 20 months! Big mistake there too. Now I’m having to go back and fix all my Seo/pinterest/etc issues. – Afra | Through Mama’s Eyes

And she said she didn’t have tips!

9. Toni’s content bank paid off in less than 5 months.

I am just now around $100 a month. I have around 50 posts and my blog is four and a half months old. I’m in the pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding niche and I’m getting a little over 20,000 page views per month currently.  – Toni | Three Bird Nest

Toni hopes to qualify for Mediavine (a premium ad network where you can make 5x more than with adsense) soon and at this pace she will in less than a month.

10. Niki’s earned $230 in her 1st month.

If we’re talking net income, my first month with over $100 was my 5th month. My first month I earned $230 but my net income was only $80. Then the next few months I made investments and I was in the red mostly. Blogging definitely isn’t a get rich quick scheme. You have to invest before it pays off. It took me almost two years before I could quit my job. My first few months were solely affiliate income. After that, it was mostly sponsored content. Now it’s mostly ad revenue. I’m hoping to move onto the next level which is my own products. – Niki | Toots Mom Is Tired

11. Stacey’s story of $500 in less than 3 months.

I earned $500 for a sponsored post when the blog was less than 3 months old & not a ton of traffic. Stacey | A Girl Rocks Life 

12. “3 months old with 20 posts and no more than 5k views a month” – a coupon did the magic!
The first $100 bucks resulted from a combo of an affiliate sale + ad income. Back then, I neither had a ton of traffic, nor a lot of posts. My blog was just 3 months old with 20 posts and no more than 5k views a month. The affiliate sale was purely organic as I didn’t bother about promotion back then (I included a 60% off coupon which did the magic!). If you want to make affiliate sales, cater to the needs of your readers. No matter what you do, you start making sales only when your reader is convinced with your content and finds exactly what they want. I would say, never ever rely upon just one source of traffic. Always diversify!! Swati | Hear Me Folks

13. Sylvia killed it from her first month!

how to make money blogging for begginners

I was fortunate to make $100 in my first month blogging, but it was inconsistent for the first few months. I wanted more reliable incline so I focused on getting loads more traffic. I went hard core on Pinterest and got my traffic up to over 100,000 in a month. I started with adsense and earned my first $100 in ad money I think in December or January and now that I’m on mediavine, I make about $2000 a month-old plus some other affiliate income. Here’s my income report for my first six months – Sylvia | Mommy Over Work

14. Sherri made $100 with only 10 posts.

sherri makes money blogging

You may have enough on here already! I’m always late to the party! LOL I made my first $100 pretty early on and only had about 10 posts. I basically promoted my butt off with what posts I did have and wrote about what I loved! ? – Sherri | Italian Polish Momma 

15. Amy made $100 with under 100 PV’s a month (that’s got to be a typo!)

I started my blog, almost 9 months ago, with only a few posts and no clue what I was doing, but I did one thing right. I joined shareasale and IZEA right away, along with a couple of other networks, so i started making over $100 a month from my 2nd month. However, I am only just now up to 25k sessions a month, so none of that has been advertising revenue. I was making over $100 a month with under 100 PV’s a month. – Amy | Orison Orchards

16. Virginia made $100 in her 3rd month then 8x it the next 2 months!

virginia of earn smart online

I made my first $100 in the third month of blogging. Actually, the commission was $115 from a high ticket product (ecourse) and my page views were around 10k per month. Then I made $26 the 4th month and $800 the 5th month. But honestly, I didn’t really know what I was doing. Just hit and miss kind of situation. It wasn’t until in my 6th month that I started making $100+ consistently when I joined iGain, FlexOffers and Media.net networks. Two things that helped me the most were understanding Pinterest and getting Michelle’s course: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. This is the time that things really took off for me. One thing I can say here is that blogging is not a walk in the park. You need focus, you need a strategy that works, you need to network in the right places, and you really need to understand what your readers want and give them just that. – Virginia | Earn Smart Online Class 

17. Heather made $100 from Amazon in month 4.

I made my first $100 blogging in my 4th month blogging. It was 100% affiliate marketing with Amazon. At that time I had roughly 25,000 page views a month, 20 published posts, and 200 email subscribers. It has only grown since then! My tips would be to find something you are really passionate about. Passion resonates with readers. When you really love and believe in what you’re writing about, it will come naturally to you and your readers will feel like they can trust your advice. – Heather | A Life In Labor

Do you see a trend yet? Save time learning how to do affiliate marketing with Laura’s amazon affiliate marketing ebook.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end.

And if you aren’t blown away and bursting with confidence that if these women did this so quickly with kids on their laps you can too then maybe you’ll want to take the blogging assessment quiz to see if blogging is really right for you. Hint: It takes a lot of self-motivation to succeed.

Here are some great resources to help you drive traffic and start making money in case you missed it:

You’ve got this, and I’ll be here cheering you on.

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22 thoughts on “How To Make Money Blogging For Beginners: 17 Bloggers’ 1st $100 Month”

  1. Hi Lily,

    These are all great money making tips! All bloggers dream of leaving the laptop lifestyle and it’s totally worth the hard work.

    I made my first $100 in my first year blogging on Shopstyle collective. I promoted a lot of their products on Pinterest and after 4 months, I received the money in my Paypal.

    It was thrilling at first but later, I found out I couldn’t withdraw my earnings from Paypal into my bank account. Most days, I still wonder how I’ll get my money when I start earning a significant money online.

    For now, I blog because I enjoy it and I want to help people.

    1. I totally get the struggle Jennifer.

      I experienced a lot of challenges starting up because I’m from Nigeria.

      For Paypal, you can check out Online Naira, their rates are killer but at least you get your money out. 🙂

      Great blog by the way.

  2. Hey Lily,
    Thanks for sharing with solid examples.
    I made my first $500 back in 2009 – 2010 selling a PLR product on Clickbank. I had a $33.3 commission before actually going in for that PLR product and that was exciting.

    A lot has changed today though, with many more money making opportunities. At the same time, things have become a bit more difficult. But following examples from successful folks is key.

    Thanks for the helpful post

    1. It just keeps getting better!

      So glad to see you here Enstine, thank you sooo much for stopping by and for leaving a comment. You are sooo right making money blogging has become harder but the potential has reason considerably.

      That first $500, impressive. Must have felt like you won the lottery at that time 🙂

      So glad the blogging industry has people like you in it.

    1. Okay can I just do a crazy dance for a minute here! How on earth did you stumble onto this post Ryan? Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment, I can’t believe this!

    1. Yes indeed Penny, it’s amazing how different the paths are but impressive to see they all lead to one end. Which path one chooses depends entirely on what she’s comfortable with when it comes to making money from your blog. Thanks for stopping by!

  3. Really motivational post for new bloggers.
    This post has given a chance to think that blogging behaves differently for everyone, so no need to compare your’s situation with others.

    Thanks for sharing these.

    1. Exactly Faizan! Making money blogging is not a one size fit all situation. A lot of variables come in to consideration.

      Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, as the first commenter on this post from me to you, YOU ROCK!!!

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