There are millions of bloggers out there that simply love blogging or start one up because they want to try something new. They blog for different reasons and reach different audiences. some bloggers blog about fashion, some blog about sports, and many even blog about their daily routines. As the blogs go by and they start wondering if they can actually earn actual money through their blogs, they want to monetize their blogs. It isn’t a hard thing to do, but it is truly easier said than done. It takes time to actually monetize a blog, and it also takes a loyal and strong viewership. Here are 5 ways for you to monetize your blog. ***Disclaimer: It won’t happen overnight. You have to be persistent and wait it out, only then will you start seeing the cash roll in.***

1. Showcase Your Blog for $$$

You can easily use your blog as a sort of portfolio for freelance work. There are many sites where employers use wanted ads to look for freelancers such as Craigslist and FreelanceWritingGigs.com. Almost all of the wanted ads ask for samples of your work. You can easily link your blog to the employer and they can look through the content to see if your writing style is what they are looking for. It’s that simple!

2. Affiliate Programs

There are many online shops & services that offer affiliate programs to website owners especially bloggers. How do you make money by doing this? By using an affiliate program you find on a blog, you are not only giving profit to the affiliate program but you are also helping give a percentage of that profit to the blogger or website owner. Let’s say you find a blog with an affiliate program to Eastbay (a sporting goods company) and your purchase a pair of shoes from Eastbay. Eastbay will pay the blogger a commission for helping direct traffic to their website. If this method of monetizing your blog appeals to you, get right on it. You should try a few affiliate programs to see which ones work best for your blog.

3. Use Social Media On Your Blogs and Learn How to Monetize the Icons

Every article, video, picture, song, kimchi recipe, you name it has a share icon for social media. Social media has basically taken over the world! You can set these icons to other peoples or companies website or social media sites. You can set it to where the person clicking the icon can follow or see an account which in turn brings in traffic and viewers. It’s not an easy process to do this, but it also isn’t rocket science. There are plugins that help do this and you can talk with the person or company of how often or how much they would compensate you (usually based on a per click basis).

4. Keep It Simple With Banner Advertising

A simple and common used way of monetizing your blog is through banner advertising. The science of banner advertising is used by even the most inept blogger. Banner advertising pays the blogger by a pay per click basis similar to the third way mentioned above. Some of the common advertisement placement services used by bloggers are Adsense by Google, Kontera, and IDG. It’s pretty easy to get started. All you have to do is sign up and follow the steps they provide.

5. One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

Have a blog that you’ve been using for years and have built a strong following and readership? What about a blog that you don’t use at all anymore but has great potential if put in the right hands (no offense)? A way to get money from doing this is by simply selling your blog. There are people that do actually buy dead blogs or blogs that are not being used to their full potential. They buy the blog and flip them just like a person would flip a house or car. If this pertains to you then you should definitely start advertising your blog off to potential buyers through social media or even Craigslist.

If you are one of the many people trying to get some hard cold cash from your blogs, I truly wish you the best. Remember that it takes time and perseverance til you start reeling in the moola. The 5 above mentioned ways are one of many ways to earn money. You don’t have to stick to these 5 ways. Think outside the box if these ways happen to not work for you. Be creative, be passionate, and love what you’re doing. As the saying goes, “If you do what you love, you‘ll never work a day in your life.”