Blogging

How to Monetize a Blog from 12 Mama Bosses

Many new bloggers are drawn to the idea of monetizing their blog, right?

I mean, who wouldn’t want to make money from their own personal blog?

mama-bosses-pin

It totally rocks and since it’s something you probably love doing – blogging and connecting with other bloggers – why not turn your passion into profit?

There are many to learn how to monetize a blog.

I mean there are ways to make money with sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, creating products and more.

This post gives you the most popular ways to generate an income from your blog from actual people doing it.

But, wait? If you’re reading this and don’t have a blog yet, but want to start one, I have an easy step-by-step tutorial on how to start a blog using SiteGround!

So, wondering how I earn money from blogging?

It’s been a journey but I love blogging!

How I Monetize My Blog

Right now, for my Twins Mommy blog, I use affiliate marketing on how to monetize a blog. I also have a course to help you grow your traffic for your new blog (it’s at the bottom of this post!).

I’ve also created printables and offer Pin graphic templates for Canva!

To help you decide which income earning method will work for your new blog, let’s take a look at how 12 of the best mama bosses and lady bosses around monetize their blog.

1. Angie Nelson – The Work At Home Wife


My primary means of income is affiliate marketing. It’s also my favorite way to monetize a blog.

Posts I wrote years ago are still earning money. And that’s what we’re all after at the end of the day, isn’t it?

I keep the pool of affiliate offers that I promote small, tight, and on-target. As I primarily promote digital products like eBooks, online courses and the like, I’ve found promoting too many similar products can have the opposite effect.

Instead of leading someone into a purchase, you may actually be sending them elsewhere to do further research and read more reviews in order to determine which product is perfect for them.

I also rarely promote products that I haven’t personally purchased or are not from a creator within my network.

It’s your reputation at stake if you send a reader to someone with a poor product or poor customer service for no other reason than you wanted to make a few bucks.

As far as how I promote, anyway I can if it’s something I love and can stand behind – in a blog post, in a newsletter, in a webinar, in an opt-in freebie. The more you mention something, the more your readers will trust your recommendation.

2. Chantal Steele – Busy Blogging Mom

I’m currently making money mostly through sponsored opportunities, but I find this highly ineffective, so I’m in the process of developing an affiliate strategy and writing my own ebooks –  the two best ways to maximize profit.

As far as selling my own products, I am creating things that are specifically tailored to the needs and interests of my readers based on questions that I get a lot and the things that would be most helpful to them.

I do this to develop better, more interactive relationships with my readers instead of sending them away to other sites like with many other types of monetization.

As far as affiliate marketing goes, I am very selective about which programs I choose.

I only promote companies and products that I have used before (or am currently using) and think that my readers will love.

After joining an affiliate program, I test each one out by paying attention to how well my readers respond to them.

I want to make sure that the products I am featuring spark my readers’ interests or meet a certain need that they have.

I don’t want my readers to find my affiliate links annoying, so I alternate between including affiliate links in my blog posts as well as featuring them as carefully selected ads on my sidebar.

If my readers don’t click or purchase on my links and ads after some time, I don’t hesitate to remove them or ditch a program entirely.

3. Allison Lindstrom – Allison Lindstrom


I currently learn how to monetize my blog from ad networks.

It certainly took a lot of coffee and late nights but I was able to increase my pageviews and work with a fabulous ad network.
I used to offer services on my site such as writing posts and working as a virtual assistant.

But I was trading time for dollars and eventually burnt out. The ad network income has been a game changer for the blog side of my business because it is 100% passive income. Can I get an “amen!”

If you’re interested in making income this way, here’s what I’d recommend:

  1. If you’re just starting a blog, sign up with a smaller ad network (I used Sovrn and LOVED them!) and then begin creating blog posts that help others solve a problem in some way. They can be a step-by-step tutorial on how to budget their personal finances, a detailed meal plan with links or graphics, or almost anything else.
  2. Promote those posts through social media (Pinterest shows incredible results for me personally) to build up your traffic and dedicated fans as much as possible.
  3. Eventually move onto a larger ad network once you’ve increased your monthly pageviews. I used Sovrn until I qualified for AdThrive and then moved onto their network. They are the cream of the crop in my eyes, so I recommend applying as soon as you hit their pageview threshold.
  4. Sit back and enjoy the passive income every month!

4. Suzi Whitford– Start a Mom Blog


My primary way of earning money with my blog is through affiliate sales. My first week of blogging brought me in over $150, and I was instantly hooked!

  1. I sign up for affiliate programs through products I use and like.
  2. I also enjoy becoming an affiliate for products from other mom bloggers, such as Chelsea’s Blogging ebook.
  3. My long term goal is to feature my own products focused on making mommies more productive.

I have no desire at the moment to take on sponsored posts or add advertisements to my blog. I am thoroughly enjoying building my business and I am currently working on a new ebook.

It will greatly help new mom bloggers get their blog up and running in less time and with less effort.

I promote my affiliate links throughout my blog. I incorporate them seamlessly into my posts. I also have a complete list of all the products I recommend on my resources page.

Blogging is extremely exciting and a fantastic money making hobby for stay at home mommies. I highly recommend to give it a try and find a blogging tribe as support.

5. Joanna Chee – Mums Kids Jesus


I recently started monetizing my blog Mums Kids Jesus.

When my first $ came in, I got so excited I charged round the house telling my whole family!

Currently, I use only affiliate marketing.

I prefer to share affiliate links naturally within posts and email updates, rather than as ads.

In fact, I recently made the decision to remove all affiliate ads from my sidebar – I wasn’t making anything from them, and I want the sidebar space for my own opt-in resources, leading to the day when I sell my own eBooks and courses.

I link to affiliate products that I personally use and can whole-heartedly recommend to my niche of mums (and moms).

Products I really enjoy and that bring in the most revenue on my site include Crystal Paine’s excellent Make Over Your Morning Course (perfect for busy mums – it helped me get my mornings organized to make time for blogging), and The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle (an incredible resource of 90+ ebooks/courses for mums at a tiny price). I love these affiliate programs as they offer great value for the buyer, and a high commission for me!

I am also an Amazon associate. I’ve made the most money by sharing my post 110 Great Books for Boys on book link-up parties.

I use EasyAzon WordPress plugin to make it super easy to add Amazon affiliate links from right within my visual editor (no need to hop to and from Amazon). EasyAzon also adds link localization so that I make money from every country’s Amazon, not Amazon.com.

There are some blogging-related products I share only in guest posts on other sites as they’re not suited to my own niche, such as Brittany Ann’s fantastic eBook: Strategies Worth Sharing: How I Grew My Facebook Page from 2,000 to 100,000 in Five Months, which I shared in a guest post, Want to Build Your Email List? on Brilliant Business Moms.

This has done really well for me, reaching an audience that I couldn’t reach on my own site.

I’ve just bought Tasha Agruso’s eBook: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers.

It’s filled with amazing and actionable advice. I’m learning so much, and am getting even more excited about affiliate marketing. My family will have to get used to me jumping around as the money comes in! (Hopefully, it will soon be $1000’s and not just $’s!)

Well, all the best to you in your money-making endeavors. You can do it!

6. Alexa Mason – Single Moms Income


I monetize a blog in three areas – ad networks, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. I’ve tried to get one monetization strategy perfected before moving on the next. Because my blog is currently getting a relatively high amount of traffic ad networks are my biggest revenue stream.

I use three different ad networks on my blog which are a combination of pay per click and pay per impression ads.

The pay per click ads tend to earn really well from search visitors while the paper per impression ads do well with social media traffic.

I’ve also been working on growing my affiliate income over the past few months which has proven to be successful. I expect my affiliate income to consistently outpace ad network income by the end of the year.

My strategy for growing affiliate income has been to only promote programs I believe to be high quality and only when relevant.

One strategy that has really worked in increasing my blog income is to evaluate my top posts every few months and add affiliate links or an extra pay per click advertisement into them (whichever options seems more relevant for the particular blog post.)

My last revenue source is sponsored posts however I am very choosey when it comes to doing these so I don’t foresee this revenue growing much in the future.

7. Mary Elle – Mary Teaches


My blog is dedicated to helping women bring out their inner bombshells. I write about all sorts of topics that would help someone feel better about themselves. Beauty, skincare, style, fitness, I cover it all!

I am currently monetizing the website via affiliate marketing.

I review and recommend products that I know would help women feel more confident about themselves. It could be a fitness product, or an undergarment to wear underneath that sexy dress. Whatever it is, the goal is to help women bring their best face forward.

I am getting traffic to my blog by using strategic SEO. I try to use longtail terms that people would be using to look for in the search engines. Google Keyword Planner is your friend here! Don’t over complicate it. Sprinkle those longtail terms into your post where it sounds natural.

Organic traffic makes up 70+% of my overall traffic each month, so this is huge for me.

I am currently working on building an audience, and my social media. I am trying to gain more returning readers. I would like to eventually be able to offer my own services or products once I build that “tribe.”

8. Kelly Cannon – The Take Action WAHM


My main method of monetizing my blog is by offering affiliate products.

One of the first things I learned when I started blogging as a business was that you needed to figure out what problems your readers have and then show them the solution – and I LOVE being a problem solver!

There are two criteria for any product I promote: it has to be as well done as something I would have created myself, and it must truly serve a need for my readers.

When my children were small, affiliate products gave me the opportunity to offer lots of different high quality products to readers while saving me the time it would have taken to create the products myself.

Now that my boys are bigger and I have more time, I do have products of my own in the works – but I still get super excited when I find a great affiliate product that I know will solve problems for my readers!

Because I try to keep open communication with many of my readers, I often have certain people in mind when deciding whether or not a product is a good fit for my niche.

My methods of promotion are simple – I do some promotion on the blog and social media, but most of my promotion happens on via my email list.

9. Alissia Haggard – Alissa Haggard


The primary way I have earned income so far with my blog is through sponsored posts with BlogHer.

Even though my blog is primarily blog/social media oriented by accepting social media sponsored posts I can work with companies who would be of interest to other moms. I have worked about 5 assignments so far- the pay can vary but for time actually spent working the assignment, it’s been well worth it for me.

I currently am an affiliate for several companies that I use on my blog and have received some referrals.

I’m definitely looking at making it a larger part of my monetization strategy. When deciding whether or not to work with a company, my main decision is if I have personally received great results with the product.

10. Cori Ramos – Remote Working Mom Life


The first thing I learned about blogging was never put all your eggs in one basket.

Since there are a lot of ways on how to monetize a blog, I made sure to keep my options open and try different methods until I found the right combination that made money every month.

There are several ways I monetize my blog. One of the ways I’m making money is via Google Adsense. I only started posting ads on my site last November. My intention at first was to try it out to see if I could make money and in just four months I was already meeting their threshold to receive payment.

I’m also making money through affiliate marketing promoting products I personally use or products I believe would benefit my visitors. They’re mentioned in blog posts or a banner ad is placed on my blog as well as on my newsletter.

But most of the money I earn has been through sponsored posts. Either I write a blog post on behalf of a brand I’m working with through an influencer marketplace or an individual marketer looking to post content – provided it’s within my niche and relevant to my visitors – on behalf of his or her client.

11. Monica Froese – Redefining Mom


My primary way for earning money on Redefining Mom is through affiliate marketing. I began researching effective ways to launch and market products a few months ago and it was suggested that one of the easiest ways to test out marketing methods is through affiliate marketing.

I’ve used affiliate links (such as Amazon) for a long time, but until recently I had earned very little money from affiliate links.

Making money from affiliates is heavily linked to your audience size.

When I decided to actively pursue affiliate marketing in February 2016, I also decided I had to start actively growing my email list.

The landing page for this is created using LeadPages and I also have several opt-in forms throughout my site linked to LeadBoxes.

The second step in growing my affiliate earnings is narrowing my social media focus down to Pinterest primarily for growing pageviews.

I wrote a few review posts for my favorite affiliate products and created a pretty “pinnable” image to go along with it and began sharing it on Pinterest.

Along with doing a few key review posts, I also created a resource landing page which is heavily monetized with affiliate links for products that I recommend.

Finally, I took part in two large product launches that I am an affiliate for Elite Blog Academy and the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2016.

These products launch for a specific period of time, usually about 5 days.

The launches are heavily marketed and the limited amount of time they are available drives demand. My goal for both of these launches was to gain insights about affiliate marketing through the awesome resources that both products provide to their affiliates and also to test my own methods.

My advice for affiliate marketing is to pick a product and get started.

Focus on providing your audience with actionable steps that you learned from purchasing the product yourself and why your audience will benefit from purchasing the product too.

Finally, make sure that the product you choose to promote fits with your audience.

12. Laura Williams – The Badass Business Mum


I currently make my money from the sales of my self study workbook, the Practical Step-by-Step e-guide to Planning your new Blog.

I chose a workbook as my first type of info-product for a number of reasons. I launched this specific one first as a low investment, low risk starting point for converting readers to buyers.

Because it is written for people at the very start of their blogging journey, the aim is they will love it enough that they will want to invest in future self study courses I create!

Other benefits of this type of info-product for my particular brand are:

  • As a work-at-home mum to young twins I can’t suddenly start working 18 hour days during a launch period so I wanted to create and sell something that isn’t dependent on a timeline when it comes to selling it. Promotion is a consistent thing that I can do little and often, fitting into my usual schedule.
  • It attracts self motivated DIY-ers that my blog is aimed at. The content on my blog is written for people that like to learn at their own pace, in their own time with no outside pressure. A self-study workbook is ideal.
  • It is simple to produce and sell, using software I’ve always used. I use Word to write my workbooks and Photoshop to design the graphics before converting them to PDF documents and merging into one document.
  • I sell it through my Squarespace site, which has e-commerce capabilities included. I simply upload it and the customer is sent the link after purchase.

I use several different methods to promote the workbook, mainly using blog posts and my email list and so far most buyers have also been subscribers.

  • I am currently writing a blog series on How to Start a Blog and I’m including images and a link to the Blog Planning Guide in all of these posts. It is an ‘evergreen’ topic, the series will still be helpful and relevant in the future and will introduce the next group of new bloggers to my workbook.
  • I also wrote an entire blog post introducing the subject of blog planning and the benefits to readers that don’t realize how pre-planning your blog can save you a ton of time and stress.
  • I am giving away a free sample section of the guide. I haven’t asked for an email address in exchange for the sample because I want to make it as easy as possible for interested people to get their hands on it. The table of contents is included in the sample and at the end I have included information on how to buy the full copy.
  • I use Facebook Groups a lot to promote my blog and some of them allow promotion of products, so I’ve been sharing the details of the guide and the free sample in these groups.
  • Subscribers to my email list, The Badass BusinessMum’s Club get a discount code to get 50% off the workbook. Club members have been sent a couple of emails about the guide and I advertise the discount as an incentive for readers to join. The discount code is included at the bottom of my welcome email when people sign up, as a little introduction to my products for anyone who isn’t aware of them.
  • I have sent samples to a couple of interested bloggers for review, so I am hoping they will post positive write-ups!
  • And finally I use social media to introduce followers to the guide. I have occasional shares of images and quotes from the workbook scheduled to my Twitter and Facebook accounts and have created a pin that links to the sales page.

The main points to remember if you are considering creating a workbook is if it is the type of learning your audience will respond well to, your audience will be willing to invest money in learning and to create a plan for consistent and long term promotion.

There Ya Go!

You can see that many of these mama bloggers are mompreneurs in the making. They start with something easy like affiliate marketing, which leads them down the road to creating their own products.

On how to monetize a blog use these tactics from these mom bloggers!

If you’re a new blogger, check out my course on getting traffic to your new blog, because you need traffic to earn income!

Leave a Reply

50 Comments

I’ve been blogging for years! and still found some very interesting income avenues here. Awesome post! Better get my lady into this Mommy blogging – there one in the oven as they say!.Reply to Derek
Hi Derek! That’s awesome! Hope your wife gets into blogging! It’s fun for sure!Reply to Elna
When creating a post like this, do you contact each blogger to ask permission to write about them, use their photo? I love this idea!Reply to Sara
Hey Sara, When doing a collaboration post I usually ask the contributor a pic of them to use in the blog post!Reply to Elna
This post was so incredibly helpful! I am in the process of starting my blog and I love hearing inspiring stories of women who have done it before! Thanks for sharing!Reply to Nancy
Hi Nancy, Thanks so much! I also love hearing inspirational stories from other bloggers! It’s so neat to see how they become successful!!Reply to Elna
This is a fantastic post! I learned more ways to monetize and avenues I hadn’t even thought of… Thank you!Reply to Vicky
Thanks Vicky! These mamas are really killing it for sure!Reply to Elna
Wow, what a great roundup Elna. I can’t wait to go check out each of these blogs. Thanks for sharing this 🙂Reply to Jenn
Hey Jenn! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Have fun reading about these mamas!Reply to Elna
Love this great list of ladies. Thanks for the roundup! Keep up the great work here and live unstoppable!Reply to Rhonda
Hey Rhonda, Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! Glad you found some other mama bosses to read about 🙂Reply to Elna
Hi Elna, I’m so late coming by to read this. It was great to read what the other awesome ladies had to share – and thank you so much for including me! You know I’m sharing this one hun. 🙂 Happy hump day! CoriReply to Corina
Hey Corina! Thanks so much for contributing to this post. I love learning how other mommy bloggers monetize their blog. Thanks so much!Reply to Elna
thanks so much for this, its great learning how other women are able to monetize their blogs and to learn from them.Reply to lola
Hey Lola! Thanks for coming over here 🙂 Yes, I love learning about how other moms and women monetize their blog. You hear about how sponsor blogs or affiliate marketing isn’t that profitable but as you can see, most of these ladies are killing it!Reply to Elna
Great post, so interesting to read about different methods of monetizing. I wondered how long most bloggers took to start seeing income?Reply to Emma
Hey Emma! Thanks so much for stopping by (again) 🙂 Seeing any profit can be tricky due to the pay out time line. A lot of affiliate programs run on a NET-30, which means if you make an income this month you won’t see any money until the next month or longer. It’s definitely something to consider when starting affiliate marketing. I suggest not to put all your eggs in that basket and think you’ll be rich in three months. I see it as another opportunity to diversify your income so that you’re not solely relying on one stream of income.Reply to Elna
Love this! Thanks again!Reply to Chantal
Hi Chantal! Thanks for contributing to my roundup. I love your blog and I know you’ll succeed with whatever you do!Reply to Elna
Hi Elna! This was a super interesting post! I don’t know why, but it surprised me that so many of us focus on affiliate marketing. It’s such an awesome way to monetize, i shouldn’t have been surprised!Reply to Kelly
Hi Kelly! Thanks. Yeah I was a bit surprised too, but happy to see some differences like product development and sponsored posts. What’s nice is to see how successful everyone is!Reply to Elna
This is so incredibly helpful! It’s always nice to hear ideas and thoughts from several women in the business. Thanks for this!Reply to Cara
Hi Cara! You’re welcome. I totally agree with you. I LOVE learning from how others succeed. Even if it’s just a bit, that’s okay because it makes me realize I CAN do it too! While affiliate marketing isn’t the end all to your blog monetization, it is a nice way to make some money on a passive way! My Contena affiliate program brings around $200-$275 every month. That’s not bad and I don’t even really market it.Reply to Elna
Wow this is a fantastic resource for bloggers! It’s always nice to hear other people’s thought processes and success stories. I’m really wary of starting ads or affiliate links as I don’t want to appear spammy, but it seems to work for a lot of people! I have recently sold my first article to scarymommy and I was just asked to start writing for a nursing app so that’s pretty exciting for me. Thanks for sharing everyone’s insights. ToriReply to Tori
Hey Tori, Thanks and that’s great you’re open to doing some affiliate marketing. If you package it as a resource or instructional guide that benefits the reader, you shouldn’t come off as spammy! That’s fantastic that you got paid to blog! LOVING IT 🙂Reply to Elna
I bookmarked this to read. Looks very informative.Reply to Kristen
Hey Kristen, Thanks so much. There are some really great ideas but I like how you incorporate your monetization strategies in your blog posts too 🙂Reply to Elna
This is encouraging – I am working so hard to monetize my blog, but so far no luck. I know it can be done, and will work until it happens 🙂Reply to Samara
Hi Samara, I know how you feel. You pump out quality content, but no one is reading it! Grr…it happens to all of us. I think what helped me with this blog is promoting it all over Facebook and Pinterest. That seems to help me generate traffic. If you’re having a hard time with affiliate marketing or ads, you can always offer a service like coaching or freelance writing (that’s what I do!).Reply to Elna
Wow, I’m super surprised to see so many lovely ladies using affiliate marketing as one of their main monetization strategies! I started out with affiliate marketing, but moved onto creating ecourses because I thought, “why would I send traffic away from my site when I could offer a similar product?!” – but I do agree that it’s a great strategy if you’re just getting started 🙂Reply to Lise
Hi Lise, I totally agree. As a beginner blogger I feel affiliate marketing is your best bet in terms of generating some income. Other ways aren’t as profitable. But, as a new blogger your goal should be to create your own product. Ecourses, eBooks,or other digital products is what turns moms into mompreneurs!Reply to Elna
Great information. Love how each persons answer added to giving a wide range of opportunities. Some will fit for one person more than the other. So it’s so awesome all these ideas are in one spot! I can totally see this post getting HIGH amounts of repins! Starting with me! : )Reply to Carmen
Hi Carmen, Thanks so much! Yes, even though many of us are using affiliate marketing as our main monetization strategy, it’s not the end all or be all for us. For me, course selling and freelance writing make up my bulk income, and for others its Ad Sense or sponsored posts. It’s great that there are so many ideas and tips to help you get started. Good luck and thanks for pinning this!Reply to Elna
Thanks so much for sharing! Love the variety!Reply to Yami
Hi Yami! You’re welcome. Glad you liked this round up post.Reply to Elna
Great resource, Elna! I see affiliate marketing is still all the rage…interesting!Reply to Whitney
Hey Whitney, Thanks so much. Yes, affiliate marketing is great thing to diversity your income for sure!Reply to Elna
Elna, Thank you for featuring me in your post! I truly appreciate it! And this is a great compilation of blogs – I look forward to checking out all the other blogs featured. Good luck with those twins! I’m keeping busy too with my two under two. 🙂 Way to go momma!Reply to suzi
Hey Suzi! Thanks so much for contributing for my post! I love your blog and your Pinterest group 🙂 Yes, my twins are a handful for sure! I just signed them up for gymnastics this summer and looking forward to that! I’ll count you in the twins club girl! Two under two! Heavy..Reply to Elna
Love this!!! Thanks so much for putting this together. Now, to check out the other mompreneurs 😉Reply to Mary
Hey Mary! Thanks so much for contributing to this post!Reply to Elna
I feel like a “lame duck” when it comes to this. I’m scared to death that it wouldn’t work. I’m a divorced mom who wishes she could spend more time with her kids. How do I get past the initial fear, and can this really work for someone who wants this to be their ONLY income?Reply to Anita
Hey Anita, I’m sorry to hear about your fear. Are you fearful of blogging or monetizing your blog? I think the best thing you can do is make blogging a hobby at first. Become familiar with how to blog and get to know other bloggers in your niche. Once you are familiar with blogging and social media (you’ll have to promote it on social media if you want comments and traffic), then you can start considering a monetization strategy. As I mentioned, I’m not monetizing Twins Mommy yet. I still want to grow it. Good luck!Reply to Elna
thanks for sharing this! I love hearing about other bloggers’ experiences and methodsReply to Tianna
Hey Tianna, Thanks a bunch. Yes, I love hearing about how other bloggers make money!!!Reply to Elna
Brilliant post as always Elna! These are great tips from all the Moms involved and given me some great ideas for expanding my own earnings. I am honoured to be included with these awesome Mom Bosses! Laura xoReply to Laura
Hey Laura, Thanks so much! Girl, you need a Gravatar like yesterday 😉 Love that you’re monetizing your blog with your own eproduct! Super excited for you.Reply to Elna
Thank you, thank you Elna for a great post….yet again! And for including me! Some great tips here from other mama bosses. Looking forward to checking out their sites.Reply to Joanna
Joanna! Thanks for contributing! I really liked your guest post on Brilliant Business Moms! Congrats on monetizing your site!Reply to Elna