Written By Pavan Punja

Are you lying down on your couch wondering – is blogging truly dead in 2021?

It’s a valid question! After all, blogging has been in the spotlight for quite a while. It only makes sense to believe that blogging has finally hit its tipping point, right?

Nope. Not even close!

Blogging is at the tip of the iceberg. The entire glacier is for yours to conquer.

Don’t believe us? We don’t expect you to.

That’s why we came armed with facts, proofs, and income reports posted by some of the highest paid bloggers on the planet.

Let them share their story, earnings, reports, niches, and monthly visitors to give you a glimpse of their success.

The Top Highest Paid Bloggers in 2021

For this list, we have broken down the content into easy-to-visualize metrics. The metric breakdowns are –

• Website – A direct link to the blogger’s website.
• Income Report – A link that leads to their detailed income report.
• Started in – To give you a brief idea on how long their blog’s active.
• Income Methods – Every income method of the blogger from the highest paying at the top and the lowest at the bottom.
• Monthly Traffic – We have used SimilarWeb to provide you with each blog’s monthly visits on average.
• Backstory – A breakthrough of the blogger’s life on why they started and how they achieved success.
• Key Takeaway – To replicate their success and follow the rules laid down by successful bloggers.

All of these stats were carefully considered to give you a full picture of what it takes to achieve their level of success.

We also have an in-depth blog guide to help you launch your successful blog.

Finally, we leave you with this quote before we unveil the list.

Don’t leave it to chance, find success and replicate it. – Mensah Oteh

1. Tim Sykes ($100,000/month)

Website: Timothy Sykes

Started in: 2007

Blog Niche: Finance and Investment

Monthly Traffic: 496K

Income Methods:

• Sells courses related to penny stock trading
• Referral earnings via 1.5 million followers on Instagram

Backstory:

Timothy Sykes had a vision as a penny stock trader. Unlike, many bloggers on this list, his success came directly from his investments as a stock trader. However, his blog helped him increase his earnings exponentially.

Tim knew he had a talent for investments and this led him to create his finance blog and enter the blogosphere as a high-income blogger.

Most of his blog earnings come from various investment courses related to penny stock trading and beginner investment guides.

Key Takeaway:

Tim Sykes is an excellent example of how to convert a passion into a blogging income. You don’t require years of experience as a blogger to succeed.

Instead, focus on generating maximum value through your skillset. Once you’ve got the experience, launch your blog and share the experience with a world of recruits aching to gain knowledge.

2. Ryan Robbinson ($35,000/Month)

Website: Ryrob

Started in: 2014

Blog Niche: Blogging and Side hustles

Monthly Traffic: 212K

Income Methods:

• Affiliate revenue
• Blogging and moneymaking courses designed for beginners

Backstory:

Ryan’s first tryst with business was when he created a product called ‘iStash’. It was a failure and put him back by $6,500 in losses.

But he credits his first business to teaching him an important lesson in Product Pricing.

Wiser than before, Ryan created his blog where he narrates the mistakes that he committed and helps new entrepreneurs avoid treading in the same errors as he once did.

Due to the valuable content, his audience began to grow at a notorious rate and the rest is history.

Key Takeaway:

The most obvious lesson we learn from Ryan’s story is – Overcoming Failure. Instead of viewing failure as a roadblock, think of it as a staircase to success.

Eventually, your failures pile up and lead you to the doorway of success. It’s critical to never give up on our dreams and have patience.

3. Adam Enfroy ($83,000/Month)

Website: Adam Enfroy

Started in: 2019

Blog Niche: Blogging and Marketing

Monthly Traffic: 325K

Income Methods:

• Affiliate marketing programs
• Advertising via Mediavine
• Digital product sales
• SEO consulting

Backstory:

Before his widely acclaimed success, Adam brainstormed many business ideas only to give up right before fruition. And when he finally launched his business, his self-doubt began to take over his senses.

In his words, Adam mentions that he preferred to stay in a predictable and safe bubble rather than to move away from his comfort zone.

He claims, this psychology of safe thinking caused his downfall. It wasn’t until he finally broke from the safe zone that he became the successful blogger he is known for today.

Key Takeaway:

Self-doubt is one of the biggest lies that we teach ourselves. We assume that to achieve success, one has to win the approval of friends and family.

In short, everything must align perfectly before we move to the execution phase.

But that’s where Adam’s story proves us wrong. It’s not the perfect product that sells but rather converting an imperfect product into its perfect form with patience and innovation.

4. Darren Rowse ($40,000/month)

Website: Problogger

Started in: 2004

Blog Niche: Blogging and Advertising

Monthly Traffic: 297K

Income Methods:

• Hosting conferences and talk shows
• Selling blogging and moneymaking courses
• Ads and Affiliate income

Backstory:

Darren was one of the early entrants into the world of professional blogging, back when blogging was in its infancy. He spent most of his time blogging as a hobby. He noticed a lack of information connected to the blogging world.

Darren made up his mind to fill the breach and take up blogging as an actual career. ProBlogger was the result born out of Darren’s vision to provide authoritative data to new bloggers. It continues to do so even today.

Key Takeaway:

Where there is a problem, there is money to be made by providing a solution. Darren proves that the age-old remedy to an existing issue is to provide an answer and become the expert in that field.

Find a niche that isn’t populated with advice and offer valuable insights to establish yourself as a master in that field. That’s the Darren Rowse way of capitalizing on an open market.

5. Steve Kamb ($100,000/month)

Website: Nerd Fitness

Started in: 2009

Blog Niche: Fitness/Weight Loss

Monthly Traffic: 981K

Income Methods:

• Virtual fitness and training sessions
• Coaching programs
• Product endorsement

Backstory:

Before his fitness success story, Steve worked as a construction equipment sales professional.

Everything changed on a fateful day when Steve’s boss called him to remind him, he was 3 minutes late. Steve Kamb took a daring call to quit his job and fill a void in the fitness world.

He started Nerd Fitness to ensure people got the real fitness tips instead of being fooled by constant fake advertisements.

Once his clients noticed that Steve was the real deal by bringing them results, Steve grew his audience overnight.

Key Takeaway:

The biggest attribute to Steve’s success is his daringness. How many of us hate our day jobs but continue to work as it keeps the paychecks coming in?

The dream to establish our entrepreneurial escapades requires courage and determination. More importantly, we need a game plan to act on.

6. Cheryl Malik ($18,000/month)

Website: 40 Aprons

Started in: 2012

Blog Niche: Food and Lifestyle

Monthly Traffic: 1.05 million

Income Methods:

• Display Ads
• Freelance Photographer
• Product Sales
• Sponsored Posts
• Affiliate Income

Backstory:

Cheryl gave up her law school pursuits and in her words “worked through strange career paths” before stumbling across her true calling – Publishing.

When she first launched 40 Aprons, Cheryl felt her creative and writing skills weren’t fully developed.

It took her years of hard work for her blog to reach its full potential.

Cheryl faced one of her biggest challenges – to focus on her blog. Even today she reminds herself to keep 40 Aprons as her primary focus.

Key Takeaway:

Cheryl’s story is filled with patience and pursuit. These 2 qualities coexist and it’s important to always have patience but have a course of action in place.

Another aspect of Cheryl’s success is maintaining concentration on the things that matter.

The modern age is an era of distraction. It’s highly productive to stay organized and know exactly where your time is used.

Many of our earlier career choices aren’t the best. Like Cheryl, choosing to find your true passion is critical if you wish to enjoy success like her.

7. Abby Lawson ($41,000/month)

Website: Just a Girl and Her Blog

Started in: 2013

Blog Niche: Lifestyle and DIY

Monthly Traffic: 167k

Income Methods:

• Product Sales
• Affiliate Sales
• Pinterest Marketing
• Sponsored Ads

Backstory:

Before the success of her blog, Abby dabbled in the blogging world with her husband, Donnie. They tried to include their family in a handmade jewelry business, but it didn’t work out.

Armed with a degree in English, Abby a stay-home mum with 2 kids decided to give blogging another go. This time, her titular blog was born – Just A Girl and Her Blog.

It wasn’t until her husband texted her that they made $500 through affiliate marketing, that Abby saw a business in blogging.

This ‘Aha’ moment was the start of Abby’s success. Abby and Donnie gave it their full focus and made blogging, a full-time career move. This gave them more time with their kids and make the most out of their family lives.

Key Takeaway:

Success can happen to anyone, even a determined stay home mom like Abby. It’s important to make the first move – ‘To Start Your Blog’.

If Abby can do it while tackling her mommy duties and handling a family in the comfort of your home. What are you waiting for?

When given your complete attention, blogging is a game-changer. Don’t give up because your first business didn’t do good. Instead – Optimize, Reinvent, and Hustle.

8. Heather B. Armstrong ($50,000/month)

Website: Dooce

Started in: 2001

Blog Niche: Mommy, Self-care, and Lifestyle

Monthly Traffic: 200K

Income Methods:

• Book sales
• Public speaking events
• Ads
• Brand Partnerships

Backstory:

Heather’s story is no different than the rise and fall of many Hollywood stalwarts. She made it to the halls of The Oprah Winfrey Show and was nicknamed ‘The Queen of the Mommy Bloggers’ by The New York Times.

Despite the sudden fame of Dooce that catapulted her to instant stardom, Heather had a hidden fight that she secretly endured – Depression.

With love coming from every corner of the internet, Heather also had to face the hate waves after her eventual split with her husband, Jon.

She checked herself into the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute for complete mental health recovery.

After recovering, today she advises her young readers to keep their public life private. To ensure, they avoid a freefall into depression.

Despite, going through a rollercoaster of a life, Heather says it’s a life that’s well-lived as she experienced unlimited joy and extreme sadness, together.

Key Takeaway:

Heather Armstrong’s life is the life of a 1940’s Tinseltown starlet who made it big overnight and was reduced to hopelessness the next.

The biggest takeaway from this is – to maintain a private life while also revealing a public side of you.

If you’re not comfortable sharing a private moment and wish to keep it a secret from your loyal fans, it’s alright to do so.

Letting the limelight consume your life is the classic example of why Heather lost her way after a dream start.

Here’s to all you lovely people out there, that are just starting your success journey.

9. Steve and Jennifer Chou ($115,000/month)

Website: My Wife Quit Her Job

Started in: 2008

Blog Niche: Ecommerce and Blogging

Monthly Traffic: 204K

Income Methods:

• Selling Physical & Digital Products
• Sponsored ads and Google Adsense
• Affiliate Income

Backstory:

Steve and Jennifer’s life was normal. Each day, they’d wake up and head off to their respective workplaces, come back and talk about it.

Due to the rising finances, they had to pay off, they were forced to keep working and piling up their miseries.

One day, it all changed.

Jennifer got pregnant and some serious thoughts went in the Chou’s household. After all, they wanted to spend quality time with their kids.

Their business idea came to light when the couple ordered more handkerchiefs than they required from China.

They decided to sell the remaining ones on eBay.

Once they saw their handkerchiefs disappear quicker than a Black Friday sale, they knew they had stepped on a gold mine.

Ultimately, this moment led to the creation of ‘My Wife Quit Her Job’.

Key Takeaway:

Immediately, we find the biggest reason for their success – they took the opportunity they were presented with.

They saw an opening in creating a business and they reached out and grabbed it.

Many of us, wait too long. Some of us, forever. Waiting for an opportunity to offer itself is like watching the night sky and hoping for a shooting star.

It’s improbable.

It took many nights of cold calling for Steve to get his first collaborators.

The question is – how many of us are ready to do the dirty work to get to success?

10. Zoe Sugg ($52,000/month)

Website: Zoella

Started in: 2009

Blog Niche: Fashion and Lifestyle

Monthly Traffic: 150K

Income Methods:

• Advertising deals
• Personal range of beauty products
• Book sales
• Affiliate income
• Instagram endorsement

Backstory:

Zoella was among the pioneers of influencers when the whole thing was brand new.

What started as a bedroom hobby, soon became a million-dollar empire.

In the early days, Zoe began blogging and creating videos on fashion and lifestyle as an interior design intern.

Over a matter of months, her videos and vlogs gained a huge viewership.

From there, Zoe knew she had a million-dollar business in view. She established ‘Zoella Beauty’ – her line of cosmetics.

Gained over 16-million subscribers on YouTube and had become an internet sensation.

Zoe also became a fastest-selling author with her ‘Girl Online’ fantasy novel.

Since then, she has taken part in many charity events and global workshops and made her name well known.

Key Takeaway:

If you have many talents and consider yourself a jack of all trades, take Zoe’s story as a blueprint.

Zoe’s success enabled her to build several businesses. However, the first success is still a key priority to create a launchpad for the rest.

It’s important to focus on one business, instead of several small ones.

Like Zoe, it takes hard work to multi-task between various brands at a time.

But if you have an insatiable hunger for fame and success, then Zoe’s story should lead the way.

11. Chiara Ferragni ($143,000/month)

Website: The Blonde Salad

Started in: 2009

Blog Niche: Fashion and Lifestyle

Monthly Traffic: 76K

Income Methods:

• Owns a Fashion Brand
• Sponsored Ads
• Affiliate Income

Backstory:

Chiara Ferragni was an average girl next door – ambitious and bright.

Her success story began when her boyfriend, Ricardo, suggested she create a fashion blog.

Chiara was big on photography and the suggestion came as a welcome change. ‘The Blonde Salad’ was born and it took a few hundred in investment money to set it up.

What started as a simple side project is today a million-dollar business.

Chiara with the help of her editorial team runs her blog which acts as a fashion portal to millions.

Her preferred demographic is between the age group of 20-35.

Chiara even has a documentary film to her name called ‘Unposted’.

Among her other achievements, she has been invited to the Paris Fashion Week, broadcasted her $36 million-dollar wedding to the world, and has a Barbie dedicated to her.

If you think these feats are unachievable for the average blogger starting today. Think again.

Key Takeaway:

Chiara’s story comes off as a realistic version of a Disney princess. A one-in-a-million story.

Yet, she started in the same place where most of us are at today.

The only line separating her success and yours – is the work you put into your future.

The lesson we learn from Chiara is consistency and excellent marketing tactics.

Having a blog is one half of the work, marketing it to the world is the other.

While most of us write great content, we hardly market it enough to reach a wide audience.

A combination of developing great content and adopting excellent advertising policies is the secret to replicate Chiara’s success.

12. Trevor and Jennifer Debth ($46,000/month)

Website: Show Me the Yummy

Started in: 2015

Blog Niche: Cooking and Recipes

Monthly Traffic: 565K

Income Methods:

• Digital Video Workshop
• Freelancing and Sponsored Content
• Affiliate Income

Backstory:

Trevor and Jennifer’s story is one of calculated risk. They weren’t inherently wealthy and all they had before starting their blog was a vision to be successful.

A vision that many of us share today.

Their first real move was shifting their location from Seattle to the Midwest. They took an impromptu decision that changed their lives.

Once they were in a new land filled with new adventures. Trevor quit his job and gave his full-time to their blog.

Their single passion for food unified their business journey into making their dreams a possibility.

Today their food blog generates a 5-figure income to allow them to spend more time doing the things they love.

Key Takeaway:

Execution is what we learn from Trevor and Jennifer’s story.

Taking a call on your life in a single day is impossible for many. But sometimes it’s the only way to make the biggest difference.

Even if it seems unlikely to make a career decision immediately, set a deadline.

A deadline lets you wrap things up and gives you time to sort out your life issues.

But remember, ensure the deadlines are sacred and are never extended.

13. Ling Tran ($22,000/month)

Website: Finsavvy Panda

Started in: 2017

Blog Niche: Beauty and Cosmetics

Monthly Traffic: 93K

Income Methods:

• Mediavine display advertising
• Affiliate programs
• Pinterest Advertising
• Adsense

Backstory:

Ling like many of us tried a host of different business ideas and they all ended up failing.

From a Japanese dollar store to renting out properties.

Ling came across the term ‘Blogging’ and began to spend hours on research.

She almost dismissed the idea that bloggers could make any money.

Her fiancé pushed her to start a blog as a side hustle and ‘Finsavvy Panda’ came to be.

After all, the cost of starting a blog was low and the reward – millions. There was no real risk attached to it.

Today, Ling makes a 5-figure power salary with her blog. Her biggest revenue contribution comes from Mediavine.

She aims to reach 6 figures.

Blogging has changed her outlook on life and she has found inspiration to blog every day with her financial security.

Key Takeaway:

Ling shows a valuable lesson on weighing risk and reward.

First, know the investment it takes to start a new venture, then the time required, and ultimately – the reward you receive.

If a blog takes less than $100 to launch and has the potential of scaling into the millions.

Then the only difference is how much time are you willing to commit?

Ling is also a Pinterest addict. In that, she markets her content by creating pins to launch her advertising strategy.

14. Pat Flynn ($167,000/month)

Website: Smart Passive Income

Started in: 2008

Blog Niche: Passive Income and Entrepreneurship

Monthly Traffic: 277K

Income Methods:

• Affiliate Income
• Course Sales
• Podcast Sponsorship
• Book Sales
• Ads

Backstory:

Pat Flynn was fired from his prestigious architectural role in 2008.

There was no intent of entrepreneurship in Pat’s life during this time.

Pat dabbled in the food truck market, created a website for passing an architecture exam, and even worked as a security guard.

Yet, 6 years later, Pat went on to make $3 million.

His first digital product was an eBook that was priced at $19.00.

The book served as a study guide for aspiring entrepreneurs. He made $7,008.55 the first month of launching his book.

Like a hungry tiger, Pat smelt the profits and made a lunge by launching ‘SmartPassiveIncome’.

He began connecting with other experts in his niche and began hosting speaking events.

The profits soon pooled into millions, and fast forward to the present day – Pat continues to aspire to other bloggers and entrepreneurs.

Key Takeaway:

Pat was an average person working a 9-5 cubicle job . He was laid off and that led to the start of something new.

Sometimes, it takes a failure to realize our inner success.

All it takes is the right push to develop a digital product or launch a blog.

Once we take that first step, it’s easier to maintain the path and reach the end goal.

Don’t push your goals to a later date, it never happens. Instead, try asking yourself – Why?

Why do you make excuses to put in the work?

Make a note of everything that is putting you away from doing the work.

Self-evaluation is a critical step to unleashing your true potential.

15. Ewdison Then ($80,000/month)

Website: Slash Gear

Started in: 2005

Blog Niche: Technology and Software

Monthly Traffic: 2.37M

Income Methods:

• Pay-per-click Advertising
• Facebook Promotions
• Sponsored Posts and Ads
• Affiliate Revenue

Backstory:

With a whopping 2 million monthly visitors, Slashgear is among the top blogs on the internet to pull the most traffic.

Yet Ewdison has only 13 staff working at a time to keep his financials in check.

The infrastructure that goes into Slashgear is quite fascinating – a zero downtime blog and over 10 terabytes of data consumed every minute.

Unlike other bloggers on this list, Ewdison makes most of his income via PPC advertising.

Not many blogs survive purely on PPC revenue but due to its sheer margin of visitors, Slashgear has a unique revenue model.

He has strict standards for his blog such as low latency data transfer and quick updates on technology.

After all, to be ahead in the tech world, one has to be quick-footed and data-intensive.

Key Takeaway:

Ewdison proves that experimentation is a great strategy.

Not following the crowd and coming up with your income strategy has its perks.

Slashgear is run by just 13 staff members.

The effects of cost-cutting to get one of the fastest tech blogs running with minimal personnel.

With such a clean business model, Ewdison Then cuts his overhead and operating costs to maintain a high-profit ratio.

16. Jon Morrow ($178,000/month)

Website: Smart Blogger

Started in: 2011

Blog Niche: Blogging and Affiliate Marketing

Monthly Traffic: 447K

Income Methods:

• Selling Blogging Courses
• Affiliate Marketing

Backstory:

Jon Morrow’s story stretches beyond the realms of possibility. His beginning is nothing short of a miracle.

Morrow is a self-made millionaire blogger but with one catch – He’s disabled. From his neck down to his feet, he suffers paralysis.

The doctors told him he had ‘Spinal Muscular Atrophy. But those words didn’t stop him from creating his successful blog.

Using specialized software to dictate his content, he produces quality blog posts on ‘Smart Blogger’.

Key Takeaway:

There are very few people in this world, that despite all the odds thrown at them, come out of it unscathed.

Jon Morrow is one among those.

The very fact that he achieved a million-dollar business with the use of only his facial muscles should verify his courageousness and authenticity.

Jon Morrow teaches us that life is unpredictable and wild. The ebb and flow of fortune is something that is out of your control.

If you ever thought something was impossible to achieve, remind yourself of Jon Morrow’s humble beginnings.

And then think again.

17. Esther Julee and Jacob Fu ($21,000/month)

Website: Local Adventurer

Started in: 2014

Blog Niche: Travel and Tourism

Monthly Traffic: 244K

Income Methods:

• Brand Sponsored Posts
• Display Advertising
• Affiliate Income

Backstory:

Growing up in a family that immigrated to the United States, Esther states “Security and Stability were always the main goals”.

Travel blogging was never considered a stable nor secure territory for Esther. At least in the beginning.

Esther got her first job as a social media manager of a telecom company. With this, her experience in creating content for blogs increased.

This let her quit her job and take private clients for a living. Freelancing was a new way of life.

Travel had always been on the back of Esther’s mind.

But the fear of traveling and breaking the language barrier along with getting lost in an unfamiliar landscape caused anxiety.

Eventually, Esther made a strong decision to overcome her fears and write a blog about her travels. A move that worked.

Today Esther and Jacob make a full living from travel blogging.

One strong tip they provide to their readers is that – as travel bloggers, their life isn’t all Pina Coladas and sunny beaches.

Instead, it’s filled with marketing, content, and sleepless nights.

But it’s worth it, they state – as it allows them to do the thing they love the most – Travel!

Key Takeaway:

Facing your fears is the biggest lesson that Esther shares with her journey. We all fear making a mark on the world.

Fear of public acceptance when creating a video on YouTube. The fear of privacy. Fear of never being successful.

But these fears are simply a result of your mind overthinking the situation.

It puts the worst possible scenario in front of you. A scenario that may never happen.

It’s similar to fastening your seat belt in a plane. The fear of flying is undoubtedly increasing in your mind.

Yet, once you land, you shrug your fears off without a second thought.

Good things in life are achieved by facing your fears.

Is there something in your life that you always wanted to do but couldn’t due to a social fear? Do it now!

18. Rosemarie Groner ($100,000/month)

Website: Busy Budgeter

Started in: 2014

Blog Niche: Budgeting and Home Management

Monthly Traffic: 177K

Income Methods:

• Pinterest Marketing
• Products Sales through own Product Line
• Affiliate Marketing

Backstory:

With Rosemarie’s husband away at work, she was left with the chaos of having to care for her kids and run a home daycare.

All of this while paying off a debt of $30,000.

Rosemarie sacrificed the many luxuries of life.

She gave up eating out, bought clothes from a thrift store, and left out paper towels from their monthly grocery list.

All of this budgeting, left her thinking – what if I could teach people to do the same?

With that, ‘Busy Budgeter’ came into existence.

She does admit that she made as low as $18 per month during her launch. Although, it took her just 2 years and 3 months to make $86,000 a month.

But she swears on patience, investment, calculation, and outsourcing as her 4 key lessons to success.

Key Takeaway:

Let’s take the 4 key lessons that made Rosemarie, a household success.

Patience – Good things take time. It’s always a good idea to give yourself a deadline and reasonable goals to aim for.

Investment – Not just money, but in knowledge. Learning from the best saves you precious time to get from level 1 to level 100 without going through the nooks and crannies.

Calculation – Always figure out your ‘Return on Investment’ before coming to a decision. The ROI metric is a make-or-break situation for your business.

Outsource – Let’s face it, you’ll never be good at every single aspect of your business. That’s why it’s necessary to hire experts and outsource your workload.

Just these 4 steps exponentially improve your entrepreneurial success rate.

19. Lindsay and Bjork Ostrom ($75,000/month)

Websites: Pinch of Yum

Started in: 2010

Blog Niche: Cooking and Recipes

Monthly Traffic: 2.59M

Income Methods:

• AdThrive Ad Revenue
• Membership Program
• Sponsored Content and Workshops
• Affiliate Earnings

Backstory:

When a 4^th-grade teacher Lindsay decided to share lip-smacking recipes on her blog, little did she know the doors of profits were about to open.

Money was never her forethought when starting ‘Pinch of Yum’.

When she collaborated with her husband, their only goal was – to give people healthy recipes to go with their daily toil.

Today, the couple makes a 5-figure income thanks to a hobby.

Lindsay contributes much of her success to carving a niche. She set herself apart from millions of food blogs by mixing health and taste.

While most food blogs offer either one of the two, Pinch of Yum is unique.

The recipes don’t just list out boring foods that taste bland but focus on the taste factor.

Lindsay also believes in the ‘not putting all your eggs in one basket’ approach.

As in, letting your money come in from several different sources instead of one.

Key Takeaway:

We repeat it’s important to dig deep into the rabbit hole to find your niche and identify it.

Take Schoracle for example, we started this site with many niches in mind, we loved comics and games, tv shows, and just about all the fun things.

But in the end, we concluded that teaching people to make money was far more fun.

It let us experience and share happiness with others.

Ultimately, it’s important to know what you’re good at and narrow it down.

Fair caution, don’t dig too deep where your audience is limited and scarce.

20. Joe Gilder ($25,000/month)

Website: Home Studio Corner

Started in: 2009

Blog Niche: Music and Recording

Monthly Traffic: N/A

Income Methods:

• Product sales
• Membership Programs
• Email Marketing

Backstory:

It’s fascinating to think two unlikely scenarios could match and be profitable.

But that’s exactly what Joe Gilder did by fusing music and blogs.

It’s not like you can write music and explain it to people. Maybe sheet music, but that’s plain boring. And music is an art for the ears.

Joe, a former sales executive, used his sales experience to grow his YouTube channel and his blog audience.

He claims his sales experience contributed to the way he set up his marketing strategy.

He firmly believes in the ‘Passive Income’ strategy. Which is to create content and make it work for you.

The idea of cloning yourself through content isn’t new in the blogging world. However, in the music world, it’s a different game.

Joe gave out free music and content to build trust and connect with his audience.

Once he built trust with his audience, the money made its way to him.

That’s a true art on how to build a 5-figure income.

Key Takeaway:

One core trait that stands out from Joe is building trust with his audience.

Many of us shy away from offering a freebie that we’ve spent hours working on. After all, it’s good content given away for – nothing?

Or is it?

Giving a freebie is an investment of trust. This investment builds loyalty among your audience and creates a fierce following.

Once your fans vouch for your product, word-of-mouth spreads like wildfire.

Essentially, your freebie just got you loyalty, free advertising, and plenty of sales.

Caring for your audience shows accountability.

And Joe Gilder was accountable for his audience and their preference. That’s a core trait to have to build a successful brand.

Conclusion

Phew! That was a long one. Now that we have solid proof of bloggers going from humble beginnings to successful enterprises.

The ultimate question is – will you be joining them?

Think you have everything it takes to be a successful blogger? – we welcome you to ‘Start Here’.

Our free blogging guide is the perfect quick-start guide to launch your blog with minimal investment.

Looking for useful blogging tools and resources ? This list of 12 starter blogging tools should cover you.

All we ask is your time and commitment to put your name up on this list.

Until next time, we wish you the best!