Make Money Blogging: 6 Ways to Monetize Your Brand New Blog

Whenever you are looking to make money online, one of the first ways you probably consider is creating a blog and monetizing it. Please keep in mind that most monetization methods are based on two main things – traffic and trust. Once you build these up, the money will follow. But even a trickle can be satisfying in the beginning. Here are some ways you can monetize a brand new blog.

Starting from Scratch

First, I’m going to look at a few ways you can monetize a new blog if you are new to the blogging world, ie. you are not well known or have a strong brand to back you up.

1. Google Adsense

This is by far one of the easiest methods of monetization for a new website, as it is pretty much a setup and go process. Once you have signed up for a Google Adsense account, you can create ads for your new blog. The popular graphic below illustrates the best positions for getting the most clicks to your Adsense.

Be sure to remember, though, if you are looking for readers to stick around on your blog that you will not want to go crazy with your Adsense placement (or any other method coming up). Content should come first, after all, if you want to build up your trust.

2. Banner Ads

To get banner ads on your blog, you already have to have a significant amount of traffic and authority to be able to contact other people to advertise on your site, right? Not necessarily. There are lots of affiliate programs out there, from premium themes and templates to ebooks and courses.

One way to gather what will work best for your blog is to look for popular blogs in your niche. Chances are (unless they’re Mashable) they haven’t sold all of their advertising spaces to private advertisers yet, and are simply using affiliate products with banner ads to fill their “sponsored” spaces. This is a good way to set your theme in the beginning, and once you have the right amount of traffic, then you can start leveraging these spaces with specific advertisers for monthly rates as opposed to just affiliate commissions.

3. Affiliate Products

Affiliate product marketing doesn’t have to just happen in areas where there are banner spaces. You can place affiliate links throughout your site. For example, if you are using a premium WordPress theme, you can sign up for their affiliate program and use that link whenever you mention your theme. So if your blog caters to a design, blogging, or coding audience, you can write a post about how you have customized your theme.

Already in the Game

If you have a good reputation and trust build off other websites, such as you have another popular blog or company, or you have been a regular contributor to other industry expert sites, and you have the pull to bring in an immediate source of traffic and trust using your name, then you can go with the following for new blog monetization.

4. Affiliate Product Reviews

If your blog is new, but you have a good reputation and branding from other websites, you can leverage your reputation and do review posts that relate to your new blog’s audience, including affiliate links. Since you will be bringing an audience that trusts you to your new site, you will probably see more success in this approach than if you were completely new to the online world. Be sure to remember that you must have a disclaimer (in the US) somewhere on your website if you are promoting affiliate products.

5. Advertisers

Building on a strong reputation means that your new blog will probably have a lot of traffic headed its way from word of mouth marketing to your current network. Use that reputation and anticipated traffic flow to entice advertisers into buying space on your new blog. You can give a discounted rate to advertisers on your other popular site, or offer a discounted rate to new advertisers based on the traffic and popularity of your other online assets.

6. Launch Your Own Product

Creating a new website and blog for a new product seems commonplace now, as you will want to optimize your product’s site differently from your current websites. Create your new blog and a good amount of content around your new product, then direct your current network to your new site. Your product should see success based on your current reputation and size of your contacts.

Your Monetization Strategy

As a new or experienced blogger, how have you monetized your new blogging websites to make money online?  What are some underground blogging secrets that you have to share?