Can you make money from blogging in 2024? I am determined to find out. I got into blogging close to two decades ago. From personal blogging to blogging for business, I’ve tried many ways to monetize my blogs. Some things worked and some things didn’t but I did make some money. Just never hit the 4-figure mark.
My Original Plan
For years I’ve been telling myself – “I want passive income streams” and it wasn’t until 2020 that I decided to go for it. My original plan was to do this through podcasting but I realize that it’s not 100% passive. Plus it takes a while for the money to start rolling in.
So I adjusted the plan to add blogging into the mix. Thought that it would be super easy since I already had an approved Google Adsense account but it wasn’t.
Google AdSense is a program that allows content creators to earn money from the content they published online. Currently, you can earn in two different ways. The first way is with a blog or website displaying ads. Or become a part of the YouTube Partner Program and have ads displayed during your YouTube videos.
The rules have changed since I last had a blog. I applied several times and got denied every time. That changed toward the end of 2022. In October (2022), I received an email about my account from Google. It would be closed due to five months or more of no activity. After figuring out that it was legit, I decided to try once again to get my blog approved. Even re-open this blog and submitted a request for it as well.
Crossed fingers, toes, and all of the things…
Deadline came and went and I didn’t receive an answer. Thus my account was deactivated.
Worried that I would lose the money already earned, I made a post on the community board for help. Again, no answer. So I decided to request a payout. The first step was to officially close the account. To my surprise, I was immediately able to reactivate my account. However, instead of requesting my money, I decided to apply again.
This is all after I took steps to ensure I would get approved. This meant having important pages like contact and a privacy policy. Also, I made sure to have at least 20 live (published) blog posts with 800-1000 words or more. To my surprise, a couple of days later I received an email saying that my other blog (which I have since closed) was now ready to display ads.
I can start making money from blogging (again).
Or so I thought.
Since I had previously started the process, the ads popped up on my blog once the approval went through. At that time, I’ve earned about 79 dollars and some pennies from my past blogging endeavors. Once I knew that my ads were working, I renewed my goal of going after that covenant first Google paycheck.
But, oh how things have changed. And quickly.
Toward the end of 2023, I decided to shut down my podcast and the blog associated with it. That meant no way to earn money blogging. Especially since this blog was inactive nor had it been re-approved for monetization. Well, I received that same email once again about closing my account due to inactivity. So guess what? I’m back to blogging.
My strategy for making money blogging
Monetization – I will be using two methods. I still have active affiliate marketing accounts. I will be going through the programs I sign up for and removing any that I no longer want to promote. The second of course is Google AdSense. I promise that I will not go crazy with the ads. Personally, I hate sites that have more ads than content.
Drive Traffic – Word around the Internet, Pinterest is the tool to use. I tried several times before but wasn’t successful. I think it was due to the lack of content. The goal will be to reach 20 posts on this blog. And then it should be a little easier to create a posting schedule. Before I do that I need to clean up my account. As well as some do SEO homework for both Pinterest and Blogging.
Post Frequency – I plan on posting at least one post every other week. This works out to 2-3 posts per month. Since I’m also working on my SEO (search engine optimization), I want to focus on putting out quality posts over quantity. Also, this will be easier for me since another goal is to write at least 800 words per post.
Tools I plan on using:
- WordPress – is my preferred platform and has been so for over two decades now.
- Canva – this how I create graphics you’ll see throughout the blog
- Pinterest – to help drive traffic to the blog
- Tailwind – to schedule posts to Pinterest
- Planners – haven’t decided whether to use a digital tool or pen and paper yet
Full Disclosure:
To get a check or deposit from Google you have to consistently reach the threshold of $100. At the time this post was originally published – I have banked $80.01 from Google Adsense. Secondly, I’ve already banked $65 through ShareASale for affiliate marketing. I believe my payout threshold is either $70 or $100 for them. So let’s see how long it will take for me to reach those payment thresholds.
I hope you will come along on this journey. I’m turning this into my first side hustle case study. Everything can be found on the Make Money From Blogging (Case Study) page. Stay tuned.
