Monetize Your Blog at the Start with a Support Box
TL;DR
- You can earn money from blogging.
- Let readers determine the value of your work.
- Set expectations when you start, not later.
New bloggers want to know if they can monetize blogs. Yes, you can. Add a support box to collect donations from generous people. This is something you can do when starting your blog to make some money.
It is an uncomfortable thing to ask for money. Especially when you haven’t proved yourself yet. Don’t let that stop you. It is what you need to do to support yourself.
Think of blogging as your job. It is a little harder to monetize your writing but it isn’t impossible. It is something that is going to develop over time. As you gain a larger audience there will be more opportunities for earning money.
You Aren’t Always the Best Judge of Value
Some would argue that you shouldn’t ask for money when starting a blog. Because you haven’t established yourself yet. Or show that your articles are of high caliber. But to that, I say, you may not be the best judge of the value you provide.
It doesn’t matter if this is your casual hobby. If you are putting in effort to write then you are doing work. Give yourself the chance to earn a little by adding ways for readers to support you.
Let your audience decide what value the work has for them. Not everyone will want to donate. Some people don’t like it. But some people will be eager to help because you’ve provided them a service. Those are the people you need to reach. Make it easy for them to do so.
This has worked for me several times now. I get frequent donations for my article about G.H Hardy. Which has a positive message about accepting people as they are and not projecting onto them. I’ve also received donations for my work explaining Astro. And my database of math communication resources.
Setting People’s Expectations
I don’t think it is wrong to set expectations for your blog early on. This is something that sometimes goes unspoken. Leading to miscommunications and misunderstandings. Adding ads could cause a backlash if people aren’t expecting it. Having an advertising policy upfront will help with that. it shouldn’t be an afterthought.
This is why it is okay to have a support box when starting your blog. You are signaling that you want to earn income from your writing. You aren’t springing it on people. The important thing is to make it subtle. Have it there for the people who want it. Make it easy to ignore for those who don’t.
This is the support box that I have on Beauty of Mathematics.
It has a gray background that makes it stand out from the other elements on the page. The color is light enough that it isn’t glaring. I place it at the end of articles. In this way, people only see it if they scroll all the way down. These are the people who are most invested in what I’ve written. I give a clear call to action that tells people how their support matters. There are options for monthly support or a one-time donation.
You can create your own box using some HTML and CSS.
Conclusion
Monetizing a blog is possible even when you are starting out. You owe it to yourself to earn some income from your writing. Some readers will want to support your work. One way to do this is by adding a donation box to the end of your articles.
What are you using to earn money from your blog? You can tell us in the comments.