This write-up is not for blogs that get over 10,000 unique visitors a month, as it’s easy to monetize them anyway.

But what about the blogs that get less than 1,000 visitors? That’s a challenge.

The bulk of the blogs fall into this category only. The traffic a blog generates is the bottom line. You need to understand that a blog has a lifecycle of its own, and older ones can’t be compared to the spring chickens.

Let’s not beat around the bush. It’s not a cakewalk to earn money from a newborn blog. It’s not meant to be. It’s not an overnight thing.

That said, this write-up is about monetizing your blog. So, of course, there must be ways. Although nothing can be concretized in this regard, still we would say that there are good enough ways to monetize your blog. Only if you are patient and persistent.

First of all, you need to identify the stage you’re in and take it from there. There are no shortcuts to life and getting traffic. So get that out of your head.

So without further ado, here are a few ways to monetize a blog that generates less than 1,000 visitors per day:

1. It’s about creating a high-converting funnel

It’s great that people have joined your mailing list. Now, what next?

The bottom line is, “You can’t ignore your email subscriber”. But due to some XYZ reason, people do exactly the same.

Relationship building is a fine art. According to Marketing Donut, “Around 45% of salespeople don’t continue further after the first follow-up, and on an average, salespeople make at the most 2 attempts to reach their prospects”.

Follow-ups matter. They really do. Persistence is a virtue and it has helped many aspiring entrepreneurs to connect with so many CEOs, be it of Amazon, Twitter, Pandora, etc. Here’s a guide on carrying out sales follow-ups like a pro.

You can apply the same principle on blog readers. In order to sell your products, you need to first build a relationship with them. And for that, you have to be persistent in your follow-ups. It does sound simple, but not many are treading this path.

The Marketing Funnel

There are steps to the relationship-building process, and creating awareness about your primary business is the first one.

The next step is to guide your prospects through a funnel, in which you are required to provide value through your content.

As long as you are creating a value of any kind, don’t be embarrassed in selling to your readers. That said, focus more on the relationship part. Rest, water will find its own level. That’s where the funnel comes in.

The job of the funnel is to pull visitors, convert them into leads and then into customers, and once the deal is closed, build a long-lasting relationship with them.

As we are talking about blogs, you can engage your readers through write-ups, videos, infographics, ebooks, and so on. If you want to create an engaging marketing video, you can refer to this guidebook.

You can have Q & A sessions, asking your readers about the kind of content they would like to read and their reasons behind that. This is how you can create high-value content.

Apart from blogging, you can also recommend affiliate programs and products or your own ebooks. Once you establish trust, share with them the products and services that helped you or the ones you feel can bring value into their lives.

Just take the example of Gael Breton & Mark Webster, who started their blogs to share their experiences of building profitable niche sites, but ended up creating a relationship funnel to make money. They gathered around 300 emails, converted them into leads and made around $2500 in a month.

2. Connecting with Influencers, to monetize your blog

There is a reason why so many product launches fail. And it comes down to basics.

Startups spend a fortune on designing and manufacturing but fails to rise up to the occasion or rise quite late when it comes to marketing the product.

It’s not just about driving traffic to your blog and generating email leads. According to a study, around 80% of leads fail to convert. But why? Maybe because they are not relevant or qualified leads at first place.

As per MarketingSherpa, “Out of all the leads that B2B marketers send directly to the sales team, only 27% are qualified”.

As a beginner in the blogging world, it’s never easy to find the right leads, and we will cut you some slack. But you can always tap the audiences of influencers. So, it’s not just about harboring relationships with your readers but with influencers as well.

Who are influencers? In laymen terms, they are the big daddies of the blogging niche. Your association with them can bring you credibility, reach, and engagement.

Let’s understand this hypothetically. Suppose there is an author who before launching his ebook titled ‘ABC’, established connections with influencers and growth hackers. There is a fair chance of him hitting the bullseye, as he might sell 10,000 copies in 6 months flat.

So in case you are about to launch a product, say a software, plugin or an ebook, you should communicate with prospects and try to presell it. Don’t forget to build a landing page beforehand to gather important emails.

3. Virtual Summits do wonders to monetize your blog

Irrespective of the kind of expertise you have as a blogger, Virtual Summits will work for you in monetizing your blog.

As mentioned above, you need to get in touch with influencers, and a Virtual Summit or Conference can help you in a big way. Yet it’s still a very underrated marketing tactic.

Many of the bloggers or digital marketers are making a six-figure income using virtual mediums.

For instance, Aj Amyx earned $16,000 and mustered 2,300+ subscribers through virtual summits.

You must have heard about podcasting. Virtual Summits are not the same though. They are primarily video interviews of field experts, and viewers can opt-in to watch them. Initially, subscribers can watch the interviews for free, for a specific number of hours. Later they are required to pay for the unlimited viewing.

All in all, it’s a creative way to generate free content, building connections, and making money at the same time.

Conclusion

The bottom line is: You can’t make a living, merely by writing blogs. You need to use them as a tool to promote a product or service.

Which Industry you are creating content for also matters. For example, writing for Food And Nutrition sector has a great potential to earn you money.

Similarly, there are other niches like Photography or wildlife. Darren Rowse, for instance, made a living out of his Digital Photography blog School. There are so many success stories like these.

It’s important not to be stubborn. In case you can’t compete with other players in your industry, switch to other industry and understand its ecosystem. There may not be as many influencers already and you can establish yourself as one, get organic traffic, and eventually monetize your blog.

To put it simply, you need to be consistent and tenacious.

We would like to hear from you, in case you want to tell us other ways to monetize a product. You may also check out this write-up on app monetization. Do share your views and queries in the comment section.