The laptop lifestyle sounds pretty idyllic doesn't it?  Especially in comparison with your crappy 9-5.  The unforgiving schedule, your manager who just doesn't get you and the endless office drama... If you could JUST find a way to make some money online, you could spend more time with your family, you could TRAVEL! Perhaps you could even really make an impact instead of just plugging away forever in the thankless corporate grind.

So you start a blog.  You've heard tons have people have struck it rich that way.  Here comes that 7-figure salary!

... only it doesn't...

You get your site set up, you start throwing up a few posts - you even get your Facebook page in order!  

... but still nothing. 

Ok, what IS it that these rich bloggers have been doing? What's the missing element?

Actually, there are a ton of ways you can make money blogging - but what the majority of the '7-figure salary crowd don't tell you, is that they all take WORK.

Blogging can absolutely be your main income - your ONLY income.  It can even make you a lot of money.  But it ISN'T a get rich quick scheme.  So if that's what you're after - you've jumped down the wrong rabbit  hole, my friend.

IF however, you're up for some work and you're ready to hustle, as the cool kids say, then this post is going to lay it out for you.  Read on, and I'll take you through the 3 simplest ways that you can start to make money blogging AND I'll tell you what to do - and what NOT to do, to succeed. Oh - and don't go without your free gift at the end! 

Ready? 

In a nutshell, this is when you promote and sell other people's products on your blog.  For each sale, you'll receive a commission, usually equating to a percentage of the sale price.

Are Affiliate Sales for You?

If the idea of 'selling' makes you feel a bit queasy, then you'll probably love affiliate sales.  Done right, it doesn't feel salesy at all!  Your affiliate links can fit naturally into your posts and will feel much more like adding value than being pushy or sleazy.

What Are They?

Once you start building a following, businesses may be interested in paying you to write about their products or services.  The most common form of sponsored post is a review.

Are Sponsored Posts For You?

If you have just started your blog then you'll need to work on increasing your brand visibility before approaching businesses about any sponsored post opportunities.  They want to make use of your audience to sell their products, so if you don't have one at the moment, then they won't be interested in working with you just yet.  

Things to Consider

What Are They?

Ok, well this is pretty self-explanatory, but in this instance, you can use your blog as a platform to sell physical or digital products or services. 

Is This Right For You?

Well firstly, do you have anything that you could sell?  The options are huge, so chances are that you do!  Here are a few examples to give you some inspiration...

Things to Consider

One of the go-to money making schemes for bloggers is to sign up for Google Adsense and give up some of their valuable blog real estate to paid advertising.

Here's why I recommend that you DON'T do that...