How to Make Money as a Christian Blogger

One of the first questions I get from Christian Bloggers is “How do I make money as a Christian Blogger?” Can your blog generate revenue and supplement…or possibly replace…your income source? It can…here are 4 ways you can make money as a Christian Blogger. 

Monetizing Your Christian Blog 

“How can I make money as a Christian Blogger?” is the wrong question.  “How can I better serve my audience?” is the best question. 

You can only make money as a Christian Blogger by serving your audience. Meaning, anything you recommend or sell should serve your readers. 

There are several ways to make money as a Christian Blogger by serving your readers. These include, e-books, affiliate marketing, digital courses, ad space, etc. But which one is right for you? How long should you wait till you monetize your blog? What should you be doing now, while you’re growing your blog? 

First, I’ll address these 4 different ways of making money as a Christian Blogger. Then, I’ll address which ones you should look at doing first and what you can start doing today as you grow your blog. 

Growing and monetizing your Christian Blog is a process…not a sprint. Just trust the process and put in the work. Remember…take your time and give yourself grace.

Write an E-Book

If you enjoy writing and have a good niche…consider writing an e-book. I believe e-books are one of the best ways for Christian Bloggers to monetize their blog. 

An e-book is a digital book that someone can buy and then immediately download from your site. The best part is you don’t have to go through a publisher…and a good e-book could only be around 20,000 words. 

Maybe take some of your old blog posts, rewrite, re-edit, and repurpose them into an e-book that you can sell on your site. 

People will pay for an e-book…even if some of the content in that e-book is found on the same website for free.

The reason people will pay is because the e-book has all the information gathered together in one convenient place…instead forcing the customer to search through old blog archives trying to find all the relevant posts. 

Writing an e-book is similar to writing a good blog post…make sure your book is solving a problem. What is the main problem your ideal reader faces? If you have the solution, that solution could be delivered in the form of an e-book. 

Affiliate Marketing

Another great way to make money as a Christian Blogger is through affiliate marketing. Are you recommending services, tools, books, etc? If so, then you could potentially earn some extra income for referrals. 

A great example is my kit. Check it out Here. In helping Christian Bloggers, it’s natural for me to recommend services I use and trust. These are services that will help you start, grow, and monetize your blog. If I’d be recommending these services anyway…why not earn a little extra income for doing so. 

With affiliate marketing, only recommend services you use and trust. Basically, If I wouldn’t recommend the service to a friend regardless of the affiliate relationship, then I’m not going to become an affiliate of the service or company. 

The great thing about affiliate marketing is the price remains the same…or could even be lower…for your customers…meaning it doesn’t costs them extra to use your link. They’d be paying the same price if they went out and bought the product themselves. 

Amazon’s Affiliate Program

With Christian Bloggers, a great affiliate program to join is Amazon’s affiliate program. You can review and recommend Christian books and then earn a commission if your readers buy the book. 

One thing I love about Amazon’s affiliate program is I get credit for any sale made if they click on one of my links. For example, lets say you click on this link to check out Love Does by Bob Goff…one of my favorite Christian books.

If you click my link and…instead of buying Love Does…you purchase that new 86-inch television you’ve always wanted…I’d get a commission for the sale of the 86-inch television. 

With Amazon having pretty much everything you’d ever want to buy, you could easily find the books and products that will serve your readers. Just make sure you’ve read the book or used the product and would honestly recommend it to a friend. 

Check out Amazon’s Affiliate program here.

Create a Digital Course

Another option for monetizing your blog is to create a digital course. Digital courses are much more difficult to create and deliver than e-books, but are a higher ticket item…meaning you can charge a lot more for them. 

Digital courses range anywhere from around a hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. I’ve bought digital courses on both ends of the spectrum.

If you’re creating great content to a niche audience, have built up a loyal following a readers, and have a topic where you can teach actionable steps for a measurable result…then a digital course might be right for you. 

When creating digital courses, you’ll likely need an LMS (Learning Management System) for facilitating your digital course. 

Digital courses take more time to create, are more difficult to implement and sell, but are a higher ticketed item. If you’re new to the blogging world, creating a digital course could be a later pursuit after you build your audience. 

Sell Ad Space

Selling ad space on your blog is another way to monetize your blog. The downsize is you need to have a large audience to sell space. 

If you’ve already grown your blog and have a large audience visiting each day, you can sell space on your blog to companies. This is similar to companies buy advertising space on billboards. 

Companies buy billboards that receive a lot of views. Thats why billboards are typically found on interstates and in cities and not found on dirt roads or in forest. 

You can sell space throughout your blog posts themselves, the sidebar, the headers, the footers, etc. These are prime real estate for advertising. Notice how I have banners for the services I recommend on the side bar. 

Selling these positions can be done either though a company Google Adsense or by selling the space yourself. 

I don’t personally sell any space on ChrisBaldwin.com. I use those spaces to highlight the services I recommend and to grow my email list…which I’ll address next. 

Grow Your Email List

Growing your email list is the most important thing you can do if you ever want to monetize your blog…and is something you should be working on from the beginning. There are three main benefits of growing your email list from the beginning. 

First, you will be able to notify your subscribers of new content each week. This will keep people coming back to your blog and increases your traffic. Second, you will be cultivating relationships with your readers. You get to ask questions to ensure you’re creating the content your ideal reader needs. 

Finally, your email list is your warm audience. When you decide to write your e-book, your email subscribers are more likely to buy that e-book then your facebook page followers…or anybody else for that matter. 

Building your email list takes time…that’s why I recommend starting now. 

What Should You Be Doing Now?

I mentioned at the beginning that I’ll address which methods you should look at doing first and what you can start doing today as you grow your blog. Take your time going through steps 1 through 3. There’s no rush and you’ll be growing your blog, income, and expertise as you progress. 

Step 1: Affiliate Marketing

If you want to start monetizing your blog, I’d start with affiliate marketing. Its easy to get set up with Amazon’s Affiliate service and you’re likely already recommending products and services that could be making you a little affiliate income.

One simple way to do this is make a list of Christian Books that you’ve read, enjoyed, and would recommend to your audience. Then, make a list of those books and place that list on your blog. For an example, see my kit…just click Here.

You could also do a book review of one of those books and publish it as a blog post. At the end of the review, use your affiliate link as an easy way for your readers to purchase the book if they’re interested.

You’ll be serving you audience by giving valuable information…a list of books you love and recommend that could potentially help your readers…and an easy way to purchase those books.

If you write a review, you’d be giving valuable information by reviewing the book for your readers. This way they can see if they’d want to read the book before they purchase it…and if they chose to purchase the book…you’re providing an easy way for them to do so.

Step 2: E-Book

After you’ve started with affiliate marketing, then I’d move to writing an e-book. Having an e-book will help establish you as an expert in your industry. Plus, you’ve already been creating content that you can repurpose. 

First, write down the problem you’re e-book will solve. Next, outline the solution. How will you solve the problem? Then start writing. Set your goal for at least 20,000 words. 

Finally, when you’ve finished the book, spend time editing and formatting the book. Now you have an e-book you can sell. 

Install a payment processor on your site, like Strip or WooCommerce. Link your e-book, set your price, and email your list. 

Step 3: Digital Course

Once you’ve grown your audience, have published your e-book, and have established yourself as an expert in your niche…why not create a digital course? 

Create a digital course that goes deep teaching your topic. If you blog about marriage, maybe you could create a 7-week digital course helping newlywed couples navigate their first year of marriage.

Is your blog about youth ministry? Why not create a digital course helping new youth pastors learn how to create a lesson plan, give a sermon, and relate with teenagers? 

Digital courses are a great way to bring in income…if you’ve done the work by serving your audience, establishing your expertise, and growing your email list. 

There are several ways to create a digital course. You could make it an audio course, where the customer receives the entire course through MP3 downloads. I’d recommend you design the course to be a video course, where the customer receives access to the course online and the course content is delivered via video. 

Even if you’re not comfortable on camera, you could create Keynote or Powerpoint presentations, record those presentations on your computer, and do a voice over teaching the materials on those slides. If possible, direct to camera is usually the best option though as it helps build more rapport with your students. 

If you want to make money as a Christian Blogger…always be doing this…starting now.

But, if you wanted to know the one thing I’d recommend you start doing today as you grow your blog…that would be start and begin growing your email list.

Your list can grow as your blog grows. Then when you decide to launch your e-book, you could have thousands of people that not only follow you, but have shown an interest in the topic of your book. 

Additionally, you won’t have to worry about algorithms dictating who in your audience sees your email…unlike when you post to your Facebook or Instagram feed. 

If you want to learn more about why you need to start growing your email list…check out my article, Why an Email List is the Christian Blogger’s Biggest Asset.

ConvertKit

When you decide you start and grow your email list, you’ll need an email service provider…that’s not gmail. I recommend you use a company that allows you to tag your audience, segment your list, and create sequences.

The only email service I recommend is ConvertKit. 

You need someone you can trust and knows list building. ConvertKit is email marketing made by creators…for creators. I use and love ConvertKit. Click Here to sign-up for their free trial and start growing your email list today.

Conclusion 

You can only make money as a Christian Blogger by serving your audience. Meaning, anything you recommend or sell should serve your readers.

You can make money as a Christian Blogger through (1) e-books, (2) affiliate marketing, (3) digital courses, and (4) selling ad space. 

I recommend you start with affiliate marketing followed by writing and e-book. Finally, you can venture in to the world of digital courses.

If you want to monetize your blog successfully, you’ll need an email list…and this is something you can start today. Click Here to sign-up for ConvertKit’s free trial and start growing your email list.

7 Simple Things You Can Do to Grow Your Christian Blog

If you want to get serious about growing your Christian Blog then grab my free guide. It details 7 simple things you can do to prime your blog for growth.

These 7 simple things will help you: Discover, Serve, & Build Trust with Your Ideal Audience…transforming them into loyal ideal readers. In addition to receiving the guide, you’ll also receive a daily email for the next 7 days with additional tips and resources.

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Question: How do you plan to make money with your Christian Blog?