Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
You should never put all of your eggs in one basket. It’s a common enough saying, and it works for a plethora of situations, including making money from blogging. Today, I’m talking about ways to diversify your blog by finding additional avenues that generate income.
I’m assuming you already have a website up and running. And, these methods work regardless of how long you’ve been blogging.
Essentially, it all comes down to increasing your reach and growing an audience. The more eyes that see what you create, the more potential there is to make more money.
Why Diversify Your Blog Across Other Platforms?
As a blogger, you shouldn’t rely solely on ad revenue from AdSense. In reality, AdSense has a very low rate of pay compared to other methods.
In reality, you would need a website that generates hundreds of thousands of visits per month if you want to bring in a serious amount of money. And to replace a full-time income, you’ll be waiting a while.
What about affiliate programs? While affiliate programs often pay far more than something like AdSense, you’ll still need a vast amount of people visiting your site. This is because not everyone is going to click those links.
Or buy those products.
You could be waiting a fairly long time before anyone actually buys anything from your affiliates.
Anyway, the idea to diversify your blog means that you look at other means to use your brand to generate revenue. Instead of crossing your fingers for ad and affiliate clicks, other platforms can contribute to your overall monthly income.
A great example of diversifying income is Microsoft. The company has its hands in a lot of different projects that bring in money.
If something fails, say like a streaming service, Microsoft doesn’t need to sweat it because there is more than enough coming in from other platforms.
What I’m proposing is similar to Microsoft’s basic business model. Get money coming in from different aspects of the Internet.
How Do You Diversify What Your Blog Offers?
What I’m talking about isn’t starting new brands or businesses across the board. You can use all of these methods with your blog being the main hub.
What this means is that the website is your base of operations. Everything else simply accentuates the amount of money you make.
1. Expand into YouTube
When I started making YouTube videos, I had no intention of growing a channel. I just wanted a way for people visiting my blog to either read the text or watch the video version.
However, it grew into something far beyond what I originally planned. And, I’ve literally doubled my audience.
Now, I’m still a couple of months away from joining the YouTube Partnership Program and making money from ads. But, I’ve received tips and donations by using Buy Me a Coffee in the video descriptions.
There’s more than one way to make money from video content.
My point is that any blog can easily expand into YouTube and boost audience numbers. And many of those viewers will come and read the blog content as well.
In fact, YouTube brings in more visitors to my blog than Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram combined.
2. Start a Podcast
A podcast can open all kinds of doors to an audience who may not even know your blog or YouTube channel exists. The best part is that you can easily integrate a podcast with WordPress.
In fact, I am spending some time in the near future adding the After Hours podcast to this website.
Just like blogging, starting a podcast will take some time to attract an audience. But, they are quite easy to make depending on your topics…and if you can stay on point.
Here’s the kicker. We do WriterSanctuary’s podcasts live on YouTube, then edit them down for Anchor. This means the show gets added to about 7 platforms from a single recording and upload.
In fact, YouTubers often use the video platform for podcasts in general.
To be honest, the podcast for WriterSanctuary (every Friday night, by the way) gets more active viewers than any other stream or video on my YouTube channel.
3. Create a Course or eBook
Creating a course or selling an eBook can be one of the easiest ways to diversify your blog content. That’s because in most instances nowadays, it’s all digital. And if you are particularly good at what you do, people will toss money your way.
The downside to this method is that it will take you a bit of time to come up with a course or eBook that people will want to buy. But if it’s well-written or properly developed, you could make quite a bit.
Another awesome aspect of courses and eBooks is that you can sell that on other platforms in addition to your blog. For instance, you can add an eBook to Amazon while selling it off your own website.
Some course platforms will let you offer it to students as well as promoting it on your blog.
Currently, I’m pretty close to publishing my first eBook. And although I doubt it will make me rich, it will open the doors to another avenue for making money online.
4. Set Up Some Merch
Selling goods is always a good way to diversify income, even for those with a blog. Of course, you’ll sell a lot more if you expand into various social platforms and build up a following.
Something you could do is set up an account at print-on-demand services. Sites like Teespring, Printful, or Printify can help you get logos, sayings, or fun graphics you might have onto things like shirts and coffee mugs.
There is actually quite a bit you can do with print-on-demand services. There is just one downside…your markup isn’t really all that great.
Still, it’s more money you’ll have coming in. That is unless you buy your own printing presses and equipment. Then, the profit margin is much greater. However, those systems do cost quite a bit of money.
It’s something to look into if you want to generate additional income from your blog.
5. Explore What Twitch Can Offer
For the most part, people associate Twitch with gaming. But in reality, there are quite a few channels dedicated to a wide variety of topics.
News, writing, painting, various sports, cooking, fitness, and the list goes on. For instance, there is a CookingForNoobs channel showing how to cook risotto and baked salmon.
My point is that you’re not limited on Twitch by your blog’s niche. And between tips, subscriptions, and ad revenue, it may be something to pad your income a bit.
Personally, live streaming on any platform is one of my favorite pastimes. You meet all kinds of interesting people. And when you make them part of your show, you start to build a strong follower base.
Not to mention that it doesn’t take much to integrate your live streams into WordPress. My gaming blog shows our live feeds every time we’re on.
6. Live Stream to Social Media
Speaking of live streaming, Twitch and YouTube aren’t the only outlets you can use. I know several people who also stream to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Live video content helps you engage an audience, who then becomes more likely to visit your blog and other content outlets.
This is aside from what money you could make in ads or sponsorships…once you reach a certain level of popularity.
When trying to attract visitors and make money on your blog, you need to diversify what social platforms you use. It’s all about building a brand and meeting people on their preferred platform.
7. Invest Some of Your Income
Most of the successful bloggers and YouTubers I know invest some of their income in long-term stocks, bonds, and other things. When looking at long-term investments, stocks usually outperform even the best savings account from your bank.
Now, there is a level of risk to investing your money. But depending on what you choose to invest in, you can easily minify the risks.
The point of investing is to generate a revenue stream thanks to dividends and growth. Take your time and find good platforms for investing. It could be pivotal to your retirement later on.
I personally have money scattered all over different investing systems. Most of the time I forget about them and just let the investments grow.
I hope I can find it all someday.
8. Open the Blog to Sponsored Posts
One thing that helped me make quite a bit of money last year was allowing sponsored posts on the website. This is when a person or company pays you to put their content up on your blog.
Usually, these come with backlinks to their own products or services.
I currently charge $120, and it takes less than 10 minutes of my own time. That’s because I verify the content and scrutinize the links thoroughly before anything gets published.
The more popular your blog, the more you can make. It’s best to have a contact form on your blog for this purpose, though. And yes, it’s free and easy to add a contact form.
9. Add Content to Other Blogging Platforms
Your blog isn’t the only place where you can publish content and get paid. Sites like Vocal Media, Medium, and Hubpages let you write and publish posts that have the potential to bring in a few extra bucks.
Some will even let you place your own Amazon links within the articles.
The downside is that I’ve found my blogs usually generate more money than these platforms, which is the only reason why I don’t use them very often.
I’d rather spend the time writing the content for myself.
However, it’s a very quick and easy way to diversify your income without interfering with your blog. That’s because you can write in different categories that are unrelated to your site’s niche.
In other words, you don’t have to worry about competing with yourself to publish content.
The Greater Your Presence, the Greater the Rewards
The point of all this is to grow different channels of income aside from your blog’s ad revenue or affiliate links. Having your own slice of the Internet is only the first step. There is so much more available online.
And the more you get yourself in front of an audience, the more money you’ll make down the road.
Does this mean that diversifying blog content on different platforms will make you rich overnight? Absolutely not! In fact, it will take a bit of time before you start to see any meaningful returns.
But once you get that momentum going, however, you could find yourself in a far superior financial standing.
As long as you put in the effort and cultivate your audience, they will take you quite far. You just gotta be willing to put in the work.
Get More Out of Your Blog and Diversify Your Content
Use your blog as a base of operations for your digital empire. Most things can easily integrate into your site’s content, so it only works to vastly expand what you provide.
And the more methods you have generating income, the less you’ll stress when one goes belly up.
Take a cue from Mircosoft. Whether you like the company or hate it, you can’t argue with the success it has made by diversifying its holdings.
Never put all of your eggs in one basket.
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