How Much Do Bloggers Really Make? (Thousands of Bloggers Surveyed!)

This is Part 1 of 2 of the Show Me The Money series:

Part 1. How Much Do Bloggers Really Make? (Thousands of Bloggers Surveyed!)
Part 2.  50 Blog Income Reports: From $2,000 to $1,000,000 a Month (Cheatsheet Included!)

Do bloggers even make money?

How much do bloggers really make?

These are understandably important questions that you may have.

Today, I will be addressing these questions once and for all!

It would be really cool if you could help pin me! Thank you 🙂

Do bloggers really make any money?

Yes, they do.

Why is this even a question in the first place?

The truth is, to 90% of the world, blogging is at most a hobby.

This means that your Aunt Sally or Uncle Jim is not going to understand how a website online can possibly bring in 5 or 6 figures of income.

In fact, even if you’re plugged into the “online” world, it may still be hard to wrap your head around such an idea.

I can totally understand – when I was just starting out years ago, I knew cognitively that it was possible to make money blogging, but deep in my heart, I had a tiny doubt that perhaps it’s not possible to make money online. 

That it’s all a scam that sounds too good to be true.

Well, I am here to tell you that it is 100% possible, but really, you have to make your own first sale (even if it is just 5 cents) to see and believe it.

So how much do bloggers really make?

All that being said, it is dangerous to take a view of blind optimism and think that you will make that coveted 6-figures once you decide to start your blog.

Not everyone is going to make it big, for sure.

So what’s the reality?

Photo credits: Problogger

In a survey of 1,500 Problogger readers who were trying to make money blogging, 10% of aspiring bloggers make nothing, and 63% of them make $0.01 – $99 per month.

The good news is that the 37% make more than $100 a month.

The best part? 13% of surveyed blog readers make at least 5-figures annually, and 4% of them turn their blogs into 6-figure businesses.

So yes – while not everyone is going to make anything, you do have a chance of making money if you put your heart into it.

Of course, this is only one survey, but it does give you a ballpark.

In another survey by blogging.org, 1000 bloggers were surveyed and asked how much money they were making:

• 81% never make $100 from blogging
• 9% enough to sustain their personal lifestyle blogging 4-6 hours a day
• 8% make enough money to support a family
• 2% make $150K+ blogging 1-2 hours a day

Do note that these bloggers are not necessarily trying to make money blogging – so its a slightly different profile of bloggers from the Problogger survey. This second survey includes hobby bloggers.

I hope this helps you to have a perspective!

The right way to make money blogging

One of the key reasons why bloggers don’t make anything?

They monetize their site in the wrong way. Please do not try to monetize your site by ads or sponsorships – you need an insane amount of traffic to even make anything half decent.

If all those bloggers who made $0 – $99 a month started monetizing their blog in smarter ways, I am sure they would be making so much more.

I recommend providing services, creating courses and affiliate marketing as I have found that these allow you to make more income out of the traffic and audience that you have.

For inspiration: Successful bloggers who are not in the online marketing niche

Some people have the wrong misconception that you have to blog about blogging to make money blogging.

The reason why you see so many income reports of people in this niche is due to your interest is in blogging. You will, of course, visit successful blogs who blog about this topic and inevitably stumble upon a few income reports.

Also, people that are not blogging about making money have little incentive to publish their income reports.

Only people in the “blogging about blogging” niche are incentivized to publish income reports because they will be able to inspire their readers and be seen as a credible expert, which will help their business.

So obviously, if someone is a smoothie blogger, they don’t have to publish income reports because there is no need to. That doesn’t mean they don’t make any money.

Here are some examples of successful bloggers from various niches:

• Survival Life (Survival) – $1,000,000 per month
• Easy Baby Life (Parenting) – $4000 – $7000 per month
• Making Sense of Cents (Frugal Living) – $100,000 per month
• Digital Photography School (Photography) – According to Copyblogger, a multi-million dollar online business
• Nerd Fitness (Fitness) – Over $100,000 per month
• Pinch Of Yum (Food) – Over $60,000 per month
• Zen Habits (Minimalism) – 2 million readers

That took quite a lot of digging – because typically, blogs in other niches have no need to talk about their income.

There are still a ton of other websites that are making a full-time income but not talking about it online.

So as you can see, it is entirely possible to build a successful blog online.

I hope that this article has given you confidence as well as an accurate view of just how much bloggers really make!

***If you’re just starting out (like, you’re a REALLY new blogger and have not started your blog yet), check out this 4-part blogging for beginners guide where you will learn how to start your blog in 20 minutes. It’s been shared over 50,000 times and has helped thousands of new bloggers like you start successful blogs. It’s not that hard. You can do it! I’ll guide you.

I also have a step-by-step video workshop if you prefer to watch rather than read:

Continue on to part 2 of 2 of the Show Me The Money series: 50 Blog Income Reports: From $2,000 to $1,000,000 a Month (Cheatsheet Included!)

xx Raelyn