Blogging is the new black.

Okay, maybe not, but it’s certainly the big boom of the moment. The world and his wife seem to have a blog and I think that’s a great thing.

Blogging is a fantastic way to unleash your creative side. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people, hone skills, and learn more about topics you’re interested in.

Not everyone creates a blog because they want to make ALL the money, but it can also be a decent little passive income earner if you’re willing to put in the graft.

Blogging is easy – I mean, you have total control over what you write – but when it comes to monetisation, things get a little murky.

I’ve witnessed so many slanging matches in the travel blogging world alone about the “right ways” to make money blogging. The truth is, as long as it works for you and you aren’t harming or fooling anyone in the process then please, go right ahead!

Because that’s the other thing about blogging. It’s a hugely personal endeavour. Everyone has a different story, a different goal, a different outlook on life. And I think this is what makes the blogging community so exciting. It’s so diverse and full of creative individuals.

I digress.

A few weeks ago I published a post about how you can make money whilst you travel, and I had a handful of responses asking for a post dedicated to blog monetisation.

Confession time: I don’t really try hard enough to monetise my two blogs. In fact, I only make about £100 a month from this site. I don’t run AdSense, I have very few affiliate links, and I’m pretty stingy with my branded content (a.k.a. sponsored content. A.k.a. The Devil, according to a lot of bloggers).

Regardless of my lacklustre monetisation methods, I had a blast researching bloggers who have used some awesome, creative ways to monetise their sites (not to mention I have a whole host of new ideas up my sleeve for this site alone).

Little sidenote: I’m not even going to bother mentioning AdSense, affiliate links, and sponsored content because, whilst they do provide a heck of a lot of bloggers with monthly income, they’ve been written about to death.

I want this creative selection of monetisation methods to be a breath of fresh air, to spark new connections in your mind, and to hopefully propel you into finding out what’s right for your site. Because, at the end of the day, only you know what’s going to work and what you’re going to feel comfortable doing.

Want to be as free as this seal whilst your blog makes money for you?

Let’s make some money, shall we?

1. Creative Shops

You might have noticed the “Bookshop” tab pop up on Wanderful World recently. There, you’ll find a few awesome books that I think you should drop everything for and read immediately. Whilst they are Amazon affiliate links, I haven’t made a single penny on this endeavour yet. Instead, my aim is to share some of my favourite reads with you guys – and maybe, just maybe, make a little pocket money in the process.

Other bloggers have done a much, much better job than me. Take a look at Jodi of Legal Nomads, for example. She’s recently launched the Legal Nomads Shop where she sells t-shirts with bespoke designs on and hand-drawn typographic maps. She’s really gone out on a limb to create products that resonate with her readers and which reflect the values and essence of Legal Nomads.

The Legal Nomads Shop

Then there’s Ashlea of A Globe Well Travelled. By trade, Ashlea is a graphic designer, and she has her own Etsy store selling all manner of handmade maps and posters. She also creates beautiful printables for her readers which is just a lovely touch.

How can you do it?

Do you have a keen eye for design? Are you a great photographer? Utilise those skills! Make cool posters, make pop-up books, and sell your photographs – monetise that skill! If you have WordPress, there’s a Plugin that allows you to set up a shop on your site or, alternatively, you can hop over to Etsy and make an account.

Even if you don’t have an artistic bone in your body you can still implement a shop. Set up a ‘store’ page where you link to travel gear or books or anything related to your blog via Amazon affiliate links and you’ll make a slice of cash on everything you sell.

2. Exercise Your Writing With an E-Book

If blogging is the new black, then e-books are the new… sliced bread. Seriously, it’s impossible to walk down the street without tripping over someone who’s published an e-book. Do you know why? Because it’s easy!

Imagine this but online…

Sure, that means there’s a lot of crap out there, but if you have expertise in a certain subject then get it down on paper. Write a really useful guide that will really help readers and you’re onto a money-maker right there.

In fact, I’m in the process of putting together an e-book about quitting your job to travel. It’s an expansion of the ‘Quit Your Job to Travel’ series but it goes into much, much more detail. That’s what you want an e-book to have – detail. You really don’t want to be short-changing your readers with vague nonsense that they could have found with a Google search.

How can you do it?

Take a moment to sit down and think about the things you’re good at. Do you think you know enough about them to write 50,000 words? Sure you do! Once you get going the ideas will keep flowing and you’ll have an excellent resource in no time.

Carve a little time out each day to work on it and really make it shine. Remember, you want it to be amazing because it’s a reflection of your brand.

If writing 50,000 words seems a little daunting to you and you’re like “nuhuh, no way in hell”, then consider writing a series of short e-books that link together, like street food guides to Irish cities or something equally as niche.

Don’t overthink it, either. I’m betting you’ve got a series on your blog right now that you could expand into an e-book.

3. Host a Competition

Okay, now I know what I’m talking about! I’ve hosted a few competitions here on Wanderful World and this is one of the main ways I make money from this here blog. It’s not a lot, and I try to leave lots of space in between each competition, but I think it’s a great win-win situation for both the blogger and their readers.

A recent competition on Wanderful World

Think about it. You get paid and your readers get the chance to win a great prize.

Just be sure to only promote competitions and prizes that you believe in; prizes that give you butterflies in your stomach; competitions that YOU’D enter if you happened to come across them.

Monica at The Travel Hack always has great competitions on her blog. They are such a good fit for her audience and reiterate the values and essence of the site.

How can you do it?

In all honesty, all of the companies who’ve advertised competitions on here have approached me. That’s not to say you can’t approach them, but it just might take a little more time to establish relationships.

Sometimes it’s good to set up a group with other relevant bloggers who are at a similar stage traffic-wise to you and trade contacts.

For the most part, though, it’s worth researching brands you really love and reaching out to them. Initially just say “Hi” so they know you exist, and then build upwards from there.

4. Be a Brand Ambassador

“Brand Ambassador” is a bit of a buzz-word being flung around the blog-o-sphere at the moment and its meaning hasn’t really been ironed out yet.

To cut to the nitty-gritty, it’s basically promoting a brand over a series of time. You’re the face of their brand, you encourage your readers to buy their products, and you name-drop at every opportunity (okay, maybe not that last point).

What might a brand ambassadorship look like? It might be two blog posts a month, three tweets a week, and a talking slot at one of their yearly events. Or, it might involve a press trip, product reviews, social media campaigns, and more. It really can be anything.

How can you do it?

If you’re going to be the face of a brand, you want it to be a brand you really believe in. This is so, so important when you’re a brand ambassador. Otherwise, you’re just a bit of a phoney, and nobody likes those.

Again, research brands that really resonate with the theme of your blog and your audience and reach out to them slowly. Don’t bombard them with tweets.

How’s that saying go… Softly, softly, catchy monkey. Yeah, take that approach when you’re on the hunt for brands to be an ambassador for.

5. Produce Magnificent Content Behind a Membership Fee

I’m on the fence about membership fees. I don’t think any site should sit solely behind a paywall, but I think that done well, charging a membership fee for premium content is a great way to monetise.

Take the New York Times, for example. I know, I know, it’s a huge, global news site, but bear with me. They let you view ten articles for free before you have to sign up to become a member and, ergo, pay. The fee is minimal, but with the amount of readers they have, I bet they make a ton of money from it.

Save your best content for your premium members

How can you do it?

Your content is going to need to be mind-blowingly, thigh-slappingly good if you’re going to implement a membership fee.

I’d suggest keeping your site open to the public and then perhaps offering deeper, more frequent articles to readers who are willing to pay.

So, for example, you might send out two lip-smackingly good posts every week to your premium members on top of the three blog posts you publish a week on your site.

Or, alternatively, say you’ve just written a post on the museums in Amsterdam, you might then add a guide to prices, opening times, and important information at the end that readers can download for a fee.

6. Turn Your Travels into Short Stories

If you write a blog, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you love writing. Or, at least, you don’t hate it. That’s a good start! If you love writing you might consider turning your travel stories (or even your general life stories) into short fictional or memoir stories. Feel free to change things around and make them more dramatic – they don’t have to be realistic.

Then, sell them on Amazon, or through your blog, or via your mailing list.

Frankie of As the Bird Flies’ short stories

Frankie at As the Bird Flies does this beautifully. Her short stories aren’t based on her own travels per se, but she draws inspiration from the places she’s visited and the people she’s met to create un-put-down-able short stories.

How can you do it?

Start by brainstorming a few stories from your travels. Or, alternatively, make up completely fictionalised stories. Then, aim to write a little every day until you have a good, gripping story or two. You can either publish them in an anthology or publish them individually as you go.

7. Consider Different Mediums

You have a blog so, chances are, you consider yourself a bit of a writer. Or a photographer. Or a bit of both. But have you thought about trying other mediums? YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and has its own set of monetisation strategies (which are often better paid than standard blog monetisation).

Then there are podcasts. These are huge at the moment and, again, open up a whole new world of monetisation. You can have sponsored conversations, invite brands on to talk for a fee, or just have each episode sponsored by a different, relevant company. There’s loads of different options but you have to be in it to win it!

How can you do it?

Well, to make videos you’re going to need a camera, a computer to edit on, and a YouTube account. Simple as. And for podcasts you’ll need a similar set up.

Start by looking back through your blog archives to see if there are any posts you can mix up into a new medium. You’ll be surprised at how many different ways you can re-box content to make the most of monetisation.

Consider a weekly series on YouTube or a monthly podcast off the back of a blog post. Get creative!

8. Run Webinars or Email Courses

I signed up for Mike from Fevered Mutterings mailing list about a year ago and, as a result, I was automatically sent daily emails with storytelling tips and tricks in. Mike didn’t charge for this course but I’m pretty sure he could have done with the amount of detail and practical advice in them! If you want to go down this route, you could charge readers to sign up for a kick-in-the-butt-good series of emails.

Webinars and video courses offer a similar monetisation strategy to this, by encouraging readers to either pay for a specialised webinar, online workshop, or video course.

You’ll need to offer something of great value to entice readers to pay (and you always want to put your best stuff out there!) but this can be a great way to earn a decent passive income. All you have to do is set up the course and then Bam! You’re good to go.

How can you do it?

Really wrack your brains for a skill you can share with readers. Whether it’s travel planning, money saving, or language learning. Then create a lengthy and informational series of videos or emails (or, for webinars, a series of one off talks or online workshops).

It’s important to really make it valuable so add lots of examples, as well as practical and actionable tips. Go above and beyond to deliver an awesome product and you’re readers will soon be recommending it to friends.

End thoughts…

Monetisation really is a huge world and it can be overwhelming to begin with. I’m not suggesting you go right ahead and start whacking out all of the above strategies, but perhaps pick one or two to begin with and go from there.

Making money from your blog doesn’t happen overnight and you’ll likely need to do a little bit of trial and error testing along the way. The important thing is finding a method that works for you and that’s sustainable in the long run. The key here is longevity. You really don’t want to have to rely on the rise and fall of Google algorithms (you’ll just be on tenterhooks every time an update comes round).

Earning a steady amount of passive income whilst you travel is nothing to be laughed at. It is possible and, contrary to popular belief, it can be hugely creative!

Your turn! I’d love to hear if you’ve tried or are thinking about trying any of the monetisation strategies above. Let me know your experiences in the comments below!