A blog type isn’t about the subject, niche or problem your writing contains. A blog type is a focus structure that readers can expect when they do read, subject you get to decide. The 4 types of blogs that make the most money are:
Affiliate Marketing/Product Review Blogs
If you have never heard about Affiliate Marketing, you just haven’t heard of the term. Affiliate marketing means you’re promoting and/or helping sell another product or services to receive a commission when a user buys.
If you have ever done a search on a product or services, you most likely have read a product review site. Review sites attempt to provide information and an independent opinion. Sometimes those opinions are good and sometimes they are bad.
Almost always there is a link to that product on the review page. The link can have an affiliate tag. When you purchase the product or service, the blog owner receives a commission. These links could go to Amazon, Target, or any company.
We like review sites as an option for blog writers.
Pros:
- Easy to start
- Easy to promote (even if you advertise)
- Easy to have focus
- Easy find long-tail keywords to market
- No e-commerce setup
- Affiliate controls the sales funnel
- You can easily add advertising to your blog
Cons:
- Some reviews have heavy competition
- Some bloggers are dishonest
- Some affiliates only pay a small percentage of the sales
- Affiliates differ on how long they track the customer you sent
Content with Product Sales
Blogs that specifically target a product or services that company’s offer is great to make money. First, you have a product to sell. There are plenty of bloggers that develop their own products, such as books, videos, tutorials, independent product, or something else. The blog type can focus specifically on the problem the product or service attempts to solve.
We like these sites because of their specificity. When done right, readers and traffic aren’t confused when arriving on the site. It’s very specific to the problem they have to solve. For example, if a blog is selling a tutorial on surfing big waves, the website visitor has a clear indication of why they arrived. If there isn’t interest they leave, otherwise the blogger can specifically target their need to learn big wave surfing.
Pros:
- Can be specific to a visitors problem/need
- Can be specific on “buy now”, no confusion
- Higher sales numbers, potentially more money to you
- Can create upsell/cross-sell opportunities
- Gets to control selling more to the customer
- You can easily add advertising
Cons:
- You must have a product/service to sell
- Has to setup/configure an e-commerce
Expert for Consulting Blogs
Maybe you’re an expert at a specific skill like website design, landscape artist, green building permitting, management training, real-estate sales, environmental management, helping people become millionaires online, or something else.
Blogs types that target a problem then establish themselves, either personally or their company, as an expert are fantastic toward generating income for the owner.
These blog types must write a little more detail to prove they understand the problem domain to provide confidence in the reader that they are experts.
Read: Why would anyone read my blog (common mistakes)
These blogs can generate quite a bit of income for the company/person writing the blog when done right. Of course, there are different monetization strategies like receiving money for consulting and speaking fees. But establishing yourself as an expert because you wrote quality, informative blog post are wonderful ways of making money
Pros:
- You get to promote your knowledge
- There is a target problem you can establish yourself as an expert
- You’ll need to network more and connect with people
- The more of an expert, the more money you can charge for your services
Cons:
- You make money only through consulting, direct use of your time
- Some markets will be highly competitive
- It’s difficult to add advertising because you don’t want to get your competitor to show up through AdSense.
Corporate Sponsorship Blogs
A final blog type that is missed almost always is corporate sponsored blogs. These are blogs where a corporation will pay you specifically to advertise on their sites. For example, if you’re blogging about clean energy sources or making money online. And you’re getting good traffic, you can reach out to companies to tell them about your website. With good traffic, that company can specifically pay you hundreds to thousands a month just to get your specific traffic.
Here is a simple example. You write a website that targets automotive reviews in your state, or even your city. Once you start receiving traffic in the hundreds per day, you can reach out to car dealerships, asking if they want to advertise on your website. These companies generally have someone to speak with, even the GM of the dealership. If your site is strong, maybe you ask for $1,000 per month to have their banner on their site with a link to their website.
This type of blog can make some large dollars when done right.
Pros:
- Can get money without having to sell on your website
- The compounding effect of advertising can generate large dollar amounts
- Once the banner is up, there is nothing you need to do except to collect a check
Cons:
- You need to make sales inquiries to prospective companies
- You need to have a website with good traffic
- You need a good website to attract big dollars
Conclusion
Writing a good blog is essential. Understanding the types of blogs that make the most money enables you to be thoughtful in your process toward becoming a millionaire online.
To recap the four types of blogs that make the most money are:
- Affiliate Marketing/Product Review Blogs
- Content with Product Sales
- Expert for Consulting Blogs
- Corporate Sponsorship Blogs
If you haven’t, a couple of additional good blog reads:
Read: How to Write a Blog and Make Money
Read: How to Become a Millionaire at Home
Thank you so much for this. This is good information. Working as an affiliate is not a ‘get rich quick’. Oh you can definitely get rich. Quicker than you would on your job; but one would definitely have to work on their craft first.
Also, I like pros and cons lists. This really helps me to make a good choice. Thanks you.
Lane, you’ve got it. There is plenty of money to be made, but it takes time.
Thanks for the post.
Was not aware of corporate sponsorship blogs route to earning money. Very creative but realistic option to earn extra money.
Will consider this in the future once my website has grown as a potential revenue source.
Jody, it’s a great way to earn significant income. But you need traffic before you can approach corporations. When you get close, reach out to us. We’ll talk you through it.
Thanks so much for sharing the types of blogs that make the most money. I want to start blogging not just because I will enjoy it but because I want to make money that is enough to give me Financial freedom. I have been pondering on the Niche to start with. I will be starting with affiliate marketing/product review blogs…
Thanks Barry.
The thing about these types of businesses is that they’re growing so much. I plan to be apart of that to take my share because why wouldn’t I.
Affiliate marketing is probably the easiest to start up I think, after I pass some of the goals I have, I’ll likely start doing something with product sales. It seems really easy and fun compared to the others, but that’s my opinion of course.
I would agree, first learn the skills of promotion and sales through affiliate marketing then build your product. Thanks for the comments.