When Should You Monetize Your Blog??

“Anna, when should I monetize my blog?”

I get this question asked by many beginner bloggers who are eager to get started blogging the right way.

My short answer – ASAP.

In the blogging world, there are hundreds of strategies for success, various techniques and opinions. In this article, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from running two blogs full-time.

After all, I did quit my job thanks to blogging, so I might know a thing or two. But so do most other bloggers who have completely opposite opinions on the subject.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

When Should You Monetize Your Blog??

You should monetize your blog from the get-go. It depends on the type of monetization you chose, but since I’m all about diversification, let’s assume you are going with ads, affiliate marketing and selling your own products.

Traffic Matters

Hey, so I know traffic is kind of a big painful thing. At first, you get excited by 10 visitors/day, then okay-ish with 100/day, and then stuck with 1,000/day.

Here is a big truth – it will never be enough.

About 2 seconds after you reach a set goal, you’ll automatically set a higher one. 2 seconds. So don’t forget to give yourself a high-five to celebrate while you still have the chance, because you deserve it!

• By the way, if you don’t know how to check your real traffic, learn to set up Google Analytics, it’s so easy!

Back to the point, getting 10 viewers to your blog/day will most probably not make you any money. With 100 viewers, you might get a few bucks here and there. But when you get to 1,000 pageviews – that’s when the fun begins!

So does it mean you should hold off and wait before monetizing? It could take half a year to get there!

Honestly, I think you should monetize right away because…

1. Why wait?

Seriously, why? Do shop owners wait to sell before getting clients?

Do restaurants give away free meals before they get enough “traffic”?

I didn’t think so…

And we are building a blogging biz here, so you deserve a reward for all of your hard work.

2. Less Work Later

I’m all about working in bulk, you feel me?

But…

Re-monetizing all of the articles you created during the time will be so tedious.

Can you imagine going back to 20, 50 or 100 articles and trying to find places to insert affiliate links?

It’s easier with ads, as you can just add a few lines of code and be done with it. But affiliate links will take work. It’s like you are leaving the tasks that need to be done today for tomorrow. Why?

3. You might lose out on a few bucks

Sure, it will probably not be an important sum. But, don’t you think it will inspire you to work harder after making your first $1?

My first $1 was the most important one!

It taught me two things:

• I can do this
• Making money blogging is possible

Sometimes, that realization is worth more than anything else. And it could be just the push you need!

4. Your readers will not leave you

So imagine you are in love with two blogs. One is full of ads and links, and another is super clean. You love them both either way 🙂

But then, the clean one starts placing ads and links all over. You are not used to that, so your first response will be to flee.

Your readers will get used to not seeing ads/links and then they’ll get upset by the change. If you monetize your blog right away, you will set the correct expectations.

There Are Reasons to Wait Before Monetizing Too

Now that I’ve stated my somewhat valid reasons why I suggest monetizing your blog right away, let’s talk about why you should hold off.

It mostly has to do with the methods you choose for monetization. I’ll start from the easiest to the most advanced.

1. Ads: Can Be Monetized Right Away

Ads are the easiest way to monetize your blog, and so they don’t pay super well (unless you have a ton of traffic).

You can set up Google Ads quickly and almost painlessly. In the beginning, you won’t see any results, but as the traffic picks up you’ll be earning a few dollars each month.

Don’t overpower your content with them, but have enough for readers to get used to, and for you to start earning.

Then, once you get to 25k-30k pageviews/month apply to work with Mediavine. They will make you more money then Google Adsense, and you’ll start loving ads on your site!

When I switched over to them, in the first month I made double what I used to make with Google Adsense, and on the second month it was triple – all with the same traffic.

2. Affiliate Marketing: Can Be Implemented Almost Right Away

My second favorite way of making money (after selling your own products) are affiliate links. Mostly because they are so easy to set up, they are passive and you don’t have to deal with customers after referring them.

Now, if you can – include them right away on your blog!

But sometimes applying to affiliate programs can get a little tricky and they want to see a well-established blog before accepting you.

So, for some affiliate programs, you should hold off a little. After you are accepted, go back and include those links!

And an affiliate program like Amazon will accept you right away, but if you don’t make at least 1 referral sale within 180 days, your account will be closed (don’t quote me on this as changes happen, so make sure you check their rules).

You can then reapply again, so it’s no biggie. But if you are 100% sure you can’t get 1 reader to make a purchase from your link within that time – wait.

3. Selling Your Own Products: Wait Up

Selling your own products can quickly become the majority of your income if done properly.

If you already have a product you want to sell, then there is no reason to wait.

But if you don’t, holding off for a little while will benefit you in the long run. Here is why…

• You have better things to focus your time and energy on. Like writing awesome content, growing your Pinterest for traffic, improving SEO, growing your email list, and so on.
• Get the time to learn more about your readers, their interest and struggles, so you can make the most helpful and profitable products.
• More time to figure out what your favorite blogging tools are.
• Focusing on one way of monetization at a time will speed up the growth of that revenue stream. Then put it on autopilot and move on!

So that’s that.

Now you can move on and learn how to make your first $100 blogging 🙂

OK, so what do I mean by Start Monetizing ASAP Exactly?

If you are new to my blog and me, you might think that I’m suggesting for you to monetize your blog from Day 1. And while that’s true, my Day 1 usually means – after you launched your blog.

And in my opinion, launching a blog requires having about 10 posts. That’s something I teach in my course “Start a Blog The Right Way”.

So if you haven’t started your blog yet, or are very new to the whole thing, I also suggest you take my free email course:

You might learn just the thing you were missing 🙂

Thank you for reading and now go get to work!

Good luck, blogger.