Make Money Blogging with Affiliate Programs

One of the best ways to make money with your blog is to sign up with a few advertisers or affiliate programs. These are two different things: Advertisers run ads on your blog, generally either paying you for the ad space for the month OR per click that the ad gets. Affiliate programs, on the other hand, are where you post listings of a retailer's items on your site, and whenever someone buys something via your site, you earn a commission.

These programs are generally pretty easy to implement, but they'll be more useful if they have something to do with the subject of your blog. For instance, I have a 1920s wedding blog where I post Amazon affiliate ads for books on 1920s fashion. Likewise, if you had, say, a blog about your experiences with sleep apnea, you could post affiliate ads for CPAP supplies such as CPAP machines and masks.

These affiliate programs are more likely to earn your money because your readers are also more likely to be interested in purchasing these items. A similar concept is true for advertising — if you are dealing with the advertisers directly, be sure you choose companies and products or services that would appeal to your readers.