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- Jun 30, 2018
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Hello BHW,
Fun Fact: Did you know that the median salary for a CEO is about $250,000 + bonuses?
Yes, the median is around 15.7 million dollars for the top 100 but that’s because this is the group of insane outliers. The truer average is around $250,000 – $350,000.
What’s more insane is these people are making less than some people blogging on the internet…
I couldn’t believe it when I first learned about this.
But, I will admit I was hopeful. Maybe I didn’t have to become a CEO of some massive company, which I had no desire for, to make that kind of money.
I kind of figured why not give making money blogging a try? If other people are doing it, I could certainly try to figure it out…
Well, it was a certainly long three-year journey with many ups and downs, but our two blogs combined now make us over $100,000 per month! (More on that later on in this article…)
And it’s not just us.
I’m about to show you 21 of some of the highest paid bloggers raking in big money in all sorts of niches.
But before we get into the exact incomes these bloggers are making, let me give you a little insight into this list.
A blogger to me is someone like myself – diligently working from home on my business in my shorts.
Therefore, no media publishers are on this list.
Also, as good as I am at internet detective work, I know I will have missed some important people somewhere in my research. If you publish your income and feel like you should be on this list, let us know!
There is one more important question I want to address before we get to the main show.
How do bloggers make money?
There are some patterns you may notice with the earnings from our fellow bloggers on this list. There are really only six different ways they are making most of their money.
Here is a short list of the terms upfront so you’ll know what I’m talking about in the article below.
Okay, let’s look at these highest paid bloggers and their obnoxious blogging incomes!
Yaro Starak – $40,000+/month
Yaro Starak runs Entrepreneurs Journey, a blog designed to help fellow entrepreneurs succeed online.
His main source of income comes from selling his own digital products while other income includes affiliate marketing and some advertising.
Yaro set up his first website about a card game called Magic the Gathering and started earning over $1,000/m with it. He then started blogging about that success.
You’ll also notice the blog is very Yaro focused, in a good way. He’s on every thumbnail and every post includes an original photo from him.
Biggest Takeaway:
Put yourself on your blog and don’t hide behind your content!
Darren Rowse – $40,000+/month
Darren Rowse runs the popular blogging authority site, Pro Blogger, where he teaches people how to blog like the pros.
Advertising is the main source of income, but he also sells a course on how to build a better blog in 31 days and runs a small conference called Success Incubator.
Pro blogger has the style of a polished authority blog. On the home page, Darren is wearing a suit jacket and everything is presented in a clean and professional manner. This sort of approach along with the domain name naturally inclines people to trust the messages he delivers.
Biggest Takeaway:
The look and feel of your website have the ability to build immediate trust with your reader.
Abby Lawson – $41,000+/month
https://justagirlandherblog.com/
Abby and Donnie Lawson run the blog, Just a Girl and Her Blog, which is a popular lifestyle, organization, and productivity blog.
65% of their income is from affiliate marketing and promoting products like ConvertKit (email marketing). 35% is from their own products and services (some digital training and printables).
This blog is much more focused on lifestyle than a lot of other successful bloggers. You see, a lot of “lifestyle” bloggers don’t end up making money because they are providing more entertainment content than educational.
What’s impressive about Abby is that she has managed to make her lifestyle blog produce income by educating as well as entertaining.
Biggest Takeaway:
A lifestyle blog can make money too, as long as you produce the right content.
Trevor and Jennifer Debth – $46,000+/month
Trevor and Jennifer own the blog, Show Me The Yummy, which is a popular recipe blog.
55% of their income is from advertising, sponsored posts , and freelancing. 40% is from their own video workouts (programs). The remaining 5% is from affiliate programs.
They have some amazing video content on their Facebook page which is worth a watch. I think it’s a combination of these and amazing photography that sets them apart.
Biggest Takeaway:
Video content is the future of marketing… just saying
Paul Scrivens – $75,000+/month
Paul Scrivens, of Obstable.co, is the owner of a few different blogs in various niches, including keto, making money online, making money blogging, DIY, and even a mom blog.
The majority of it comes from selling his own digital products – around 90% of his total income. The other 10% comes from advertising.
Fun fact: Scrivs and I didn’t get along at first. His writers copied one of my articles and we had a little spat on Gmail about it.
That being said, over time, I have paid attention to what he does and am impressed with this progress.
I think his approach is rather interesting. Instead of focusing on one blog and optimizing it, he is focusing on trying to run like 10 blogs at the same time and going for massive traffic. It’s a VERY different (and difficult) approach.
Biggest Takeaway:
Take a proven business model and hustle it like crazy is always a way to find success.
Steve and Jennifer Chou – $80,000+/month
Steve and Jennifer run the popular website, My Wife Quit Her Job, where they show readers how to make money online with an eCommerce store and other methods.
Most of it comes from selling their own digital product on starting a successful eCommerce store. They make the rest from advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
A powerful and relatable story.
The whole basis for starting their business was that they wanted to have kids and Jennifer wanted to quit her job to take care of them. Thus, they started the eCommerce store and blog.
Now, they are both able to work from home and raise their kids exactly how they want.
Biggest Takeaway:
The story is everything when it comes to sales. Your unique story is what makes people interested in you and is something nobody can take from you.
Rosemarie Groner – $86,000+/month
Rosemarie Groner is the busy mom at Busy Budgeter, where she posts about money, dinner ideas, budgets, and everything mom-related.
She makes around 40% through a mix of sponsored content, affiliates, and ads. The lion share comes at around 60% from her own products
I think Rosemarie has a VERY deep understanding of her audience. I noticed from visiting the website how little it speaks to me personally – which is a good thing because I am a late-twenty-something male and not in her target audience.
She also obviously understands the insane power of Pinterest for bloggers as she has acquired over 95,000 fans at the time of this posting.
Biggest Takeaway:
Know your lane and your audience.
Lindsay and Bjork – $90,000+/month
Lindsay and Bjork run two blogs, Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro, where they make recipes and show people how to create their own recipe blog.
They make 50% of their income from advertising, 20% from sponsored posts and affiliate marketing, and I would guess another 30%+ from Food Blogger Pro (they don’t report on its income).
I think they were some of the first food bloggers to reveal their income and this built up a loyal following. People who followed them for their recipes now also wanted to learn how to make a food blog themselves.
Biggest Takeaway:
They have some seriously beautiful photography at work. Make sure to check out the photos they take. It’s no wonder they attract over 3,000,000 visitors a month!
Jon Morrow – $100,000+/month
Jon Morrow is the founder of Smart Blogger, where he teaches other bloggers how to succeed.
The blog makes most of its money through affiliate marketing products that help bloggers succeed and through selling its own digital course/products.
Jon Morrow, the owner, is bound to a wheelchair and can only feel his face. Yet, despite this, he’s become a millionaire and traveled the world with his blogging career.
I also suggest checking out his other website, Unstoppable, well where he talks more about this stuff. Inspirational AF.
Biggest Takeaway:
And you think you have limitations?
Alborz Fallah – $125,000+/month
Alborz is the creator of Car Advice, where he turned his passion for cars into a successful car blog and money-making business.
Mainly through advertising and sponsorships with brands.
Alborz has leveraged his personal blog project into a massive branded website and one of the most trusted car advice websites in Austraila. They now have a team of over 30 people and publish content like crazy.
Biggest Takeaway:
Your blog can take your passions to cool places. Alborz gets to test drive amazing cars and gets all sorts of perks from his blog.
Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman – $125,000+/month
Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman are the creators of A Beautiful Mess, where they blog about everything from DIY to Instagram tips to Making Money Blogging.
While there are no clear indicators on where the majority of their income comes from, they have said it’s a mix of…
Biggest Takeaway:
Your blog can have a ton of different focuses and still succeed.
Jeff Rose – $138,000+/month
Jeff Rose’s blog, Good Financial Cents, is a financial blog teaching people how to obtain financial freedom from being smarter with your money.
33% of his income comes from a financial planning practice he manages. Another 33% comes from affiliate marketing products and services like Insurance Plans. 20% comes from selling online courses and digital products. The final 14% comes from sponsorships and advertising.
I think it’s the fact that Jeff actually runs his own financial planning practice that cements his blog as truly expert advice. I mean, if you were learning from a personal trainer online and they had a very successful practice or owned a gym, you’d probably trust them more as well.
Biggest Takeaway:
You can take an existing business you have and use it as leverage for your blog success.
Alex Nerney and Lauren McManus – $150,000+/month
Alex and Lauren have two successful blogs, Avocadu.com and Createandgo.co (the blog you’re on), and love talking about themselves in the third person!
Most of their income comes from selling digital products on both blogs. Another smaller chunk comes from affiliate marketing and a much smaller portion comes from advertising.
They didn’t just start out blogging about blogging.
They started a health and wellness website that they began earning over $10,000 per month with before teaching others how to do it. It’s this experience that gives them the ability to guide others while knowing exactly what they are up against.
Biggest Takeaway:
You don’t have to be anything special to do this – just hustle like crazy and have the right plan of action.
Heather and Pete Reese – $170,000+/month
The Reese family runs the blog, It’s A Lovely Life, which is really a large family lifestyle and travel blog.
60% comes from sponsored content and affiliate marketing. The other 40% comes from selling their own products and courses.
Another great example of the effectiveness of combining a lifestyle blog with educating your readers on various topics. This combination seems to be quite powerful for both endearing readers to you and making money online.
Biggest Takeaway:
Lifestyle + Education Content = Blog Profits
John Lee Dumas – $195,000+/month
John Lee Dumas and his wife run a podcast that has now done over 1,900 interviews with successful entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, and more. They also run the blog, Entrepreneur on Fire.
35% of their income comes from affiliate marketing – others courses and products like Clickfunnels (landing page software). 35% comes from selling sponsorships on this podcast. The last 30% comes from selling his own digital products and journals on Amazon.
They publish podcasts 7 days a week!
You heard that right. Every day, there’s a new podcast with someone else. (Hey, I should try to get on there…)
Obviously, there is a downside to this schedule, which would be grueling, but you can record podcasts in bulk to save time and have a normal life.
Biggest Takeaway:
Showing up consistently endears other people to you.
I actually have a buddy who does YouTube videos 7 days a week and it works VERY well for him. His audience feels really connected to him because they hear from him every single day. It’s a strategy that can be used in almost any business.
Pat Flynn – $200,000+/month
Pat Flynn is the crash test dummy of making passive income online over at Smart Passive Income. I actually met him a while back at a conference and he’s a solid dude.
40% of his income historically comes from affiliate marketing different products and services like ConvertKit, Bluehost, and other high prices courses. The other 50% comes from selling his own products and courses. 10% comes from various other places.
The first mover. The OG.
He’s been crushing the game since 2008, and I think every blogger remembers seeing his income reports as kind of a mind-blowing thing. Now, EVERYONE in the biz does them.
I think the other big factor is his authentic nature. When Pat talks, he just seems like a guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less try to sell you some crap you don’t need. I think that’s very helpful when talking about a subject riddled with scammers at every turn.
He’s the marketer you can trust.
Biggest Takeaway:
In a time when you don’t know who you can trust, authenticity is very valuable.
Chiara Ferragni – $200,000+/month (likely much more)
Basically, living every girl’s dream, Chiara started a personal blog back in 2009 and leveraged that blog into a massive fashion brand – The Blonde Salad.
I’m honestly not sure what sets her style apart from others, but I really love her story. Homegirl started a personal blog which drew in half a million monthly visitors per month. She then leveraged that into a brand generating over 15 million in yearly revenue.
There are all sorts of ladies calling themselves bossbabes these days, but Chiara is actually one. What. A. Badass.
Big takeaway:
Once you have readers and fans, your blog can continue to evolve into something even better.
Sarah Titus – $200,000+/month
Sarah Titus’s blog is focused on everything mom life and helping mothers to making money from home.
She makes most of her money selling printables on her online store, and also makes some money from affiliate marketing.
You will notice that she talks about God and her family struggles in almost every one of her posts. Her bio says, “He left me HOMELESS…” in the opening tagline.
My mom asked me the other day about starting a blog and I told her if she did, whatever she was blogging about, she should talk about Jesus a lot (she’s very into him). I was half-joking, half dead serious.
Call it whatever you like – it works.
Big Takeaway:
Share your story. Connect with people and they will trust you.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner – $200,000+/month
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents is the legendary finance blog helping people earn more and save more.
Most of her income comes from affiliate marketing others courses and services like Bluehost, but a good portion also comes from selling her own digital products. The remaining comes from sponsorships and advertisements placed on her blogs.
Michelle is not a marketer. Not at all. You’ll find most of the successful bloggers on this list are amazing marketers masking around as bloggers.
The truth is that Michelle is an outstanding blogger. Her audience loves her so much that she makes more money than most marketers without seeming like she’s trying. It’s very impressive!
Biggest Takeaway:
Be the best at what you do and the money will follow.
Melyssa Griffin – $280,000+/month
Melyssa Griffin is a teacher turned blogger / pro marketer who Lauren and I have always looked up to. We even call her “Melyssa” when talking about her in our home – haha.
Most of it comes from selling her own courses as well as other people’s high-priced courses, but she’s also now CRUSHING the podcast game with her new jam: Pursuit of Purpose
Melyssa is the queen-bee of hustle. She launches products to her email list very frequently. Girl is ON IT. Sign up for her email list and you will know what I am talking about. She’s not playing games.
Big takeaway:
Find your audience and hustle like looney toons to help them.
Tim Sykes – $1,000,000+ per month
Penny stock trader turned blogger and Instagramer, Tim Skyes takes our #1 spot.
He makes most of his money through selling dvd courses that teach people how to sell penny stocks and trade.
From my personal experience in internet marketing, I suspect the majority of his income is produced through his work on social media (his Instagram has over 1.2 million followers and he’s crazy active on there).
It’s estimated that his personal blog earns him around $15-20 million per year, so to be on the safe side, we estimated his income at 1 million per month.
Big takeaway:
Sell the lifestyle to sell the product.
If Tim posted photos of him crunching numbers all day selling penny stocks, it probably wouldn’t work. Instead, he sells an online lifestyle from using his plan (penny stocks) and he is KILLING it.
Fun Fact: Did you know that the median salary for a CEO is about $250,000 + bonuses?
Yes, the median is around 15.7 million dollars for the top 100 but that’s because this is the group of insane outliers. The truer average is around $250,000 – $350,000.
What’s more insane is these people are making less than some people blogging on the internet…
I couldn’t believe it when I first learned about this.
But, I will admit I was hopeful. Maybe I didn’t have to become a CEO of some massive company, which I had no desire for, to make that kind of money.
I kind of figured why not give making money blogging a try? If other people are doing it, I could certainly try to figure it out…
Well, it was a certainly long three-year journey with many ups and downs, but our two blogs combined now make us over $100,000 per month! (More on that later on in this article…)
And it’s not just us.
I’m about to show you 21 of some of the highest paid bloggers raking in big money in all sorts of niches.
But before we get into the exact incomes these bloggers are making, let me give you a little insight into this list.
- No media publishers were chosen.
A blogger to me is someone like myself – diligently working from home on my business in my shorts.
Therefore, no media publishers are on this list.
- I’m sure I missed some people somewhere along the way.
Also, as good as I am at internet detective work, I know I will have missed some important people somewhere in my research. If you publish your income and feel like you should be on this list, let us know!
There is one more important question I want to address before we get to the main show.
How do bloggers make money?
There are some patterns you may notice with the earnings from our fellow bloggers on this list. There are really only six different ways they are making most of their money.
Here is a short list of the terms upfront so you’ll know what I’m talking about in the article below.
- Affiliate Marketing – Where you send your readers to other people’s products and get a percentage of the sale. Affiliate commissions from software companies are the most popular amongst successful bloggers.
- Advertising – Ads placed on your blog
- Sponsored Posts – Where companies pay you to post something specific on your blog
- Selling Your Own Digital Products (Courses and eBooks) – Creating a unique course or eBook on a topic and selling that information to your readers
- Selling Your Own Physical Products – Only difference from above is that you’re selling something that they can physically hold. This can be anything from a health supplement to a T-shirt, etc.
- Selling Printables – These are technically still a digital product but you can also print them out and use them as a physical product (think journals and guides).
Okay, let’s look at these highest paid bloggers and their obnoxious blogging incomes!
Yaro Starak – $40,000+/month
Yaro Starak runs Entrepreneurs Journey, a blog designed to help fellow entrepreneurs succeed online.
His main source of income comes from selling his own digital products while other income includes affiliate marketing and some advertising.
Yaro set up his first website about a card game called Magic the Gathering and started earning over $1,000/m with it. He then started blogging about that success.
You’ll also notice the blog is very Yaro focused, in a good way. He’s on every thumbnail and every post includes an original photo from him.
Biggest Takeaway:
Put yourself on your blog and don’t hide behind your content!
Darren Rowse – $40,000+/month
Darren Rowse runs the popular blogging authority site, Pro Blogger, where he teaches people how to blog like the pros.
Advertising is the main source of income, but he also sells a course on how to build a better blog in 31 days and runs a small conference called Success Incubator.
Pro blogger has the style of a polished authority blog. On the home page, Darren is wearing a suit jacket and everything is presented in a clean and professional manner. This sort of approach along with the domain name naturally inclines people to trust the messages he delivers.
Biggest Takeaway:
The look and feel of your website have the ability to build immediate trust with your reader.
Abby Lawson – $41,000+/month
https://justagirlandherblog.com/
Abby and Donnie Lawson run the blog, Just a Girl and Her Blog, which is a popular lifestyle, organization, and productivity blog.
65% of their income is from affiliate marketing and promoting products like ConvertKit (email marketing). 35% is from their own products and services (some digital training and printables).
This blog is much more focused on lifestyle than a lot of other successful bloggers. You see, a lot of “lifestyle” bloggers don’t end up making money because they are providing more entertainment content than educational.
What’s impressive about Abby is that she has managed to make her lifestyle blog produce income by educating as well as entertaining.
Biggest Takeaway:
A lifestyle blog can make money too, as long as you produce the right content.
Trevor and Jennifer Debth – $46,000+/month
Trevor and Jennifer own the blog, Show Me The Yummy, which is a popular recipe blog.
55% of their income is from advertising, sponsored posts , and freelancing. 40% is from their own video workouts (programs). The remaining 5% is from affiliate programs.
They have some amazing video content on their Facebook page which is worth a watch. I think it’s a combination of these and amazing photography that sets them apart.
Biggest Takeaway:
Video content is the future of marketing… just saying
Paul Scrivens – $75,000+/month
Paul Scrivens, of Obstable.co, is the owner of a few different blogs in various niches, including keto, making money online, making money blogging, DIY, and even a mom blog.
The majority of it comes from selling his own digital products – around 90% of his total income. The other 10% comes from advertising.
Fun fact: Scrivs and I didn’t get along at first. His writers copied one of my articles and we had a little spat on Gmail about it.
That being said, over time, I have paid attention to what he does and am impressed with this progress.
I think his approach is rather interesting. Instead of focusing on one blog and optimizing it, he is focusing on trying to run like 10 blogs at the same time and going for massive traffic. It’s a VERY different (and difficult) approach.
Biggest Takeaway:
Take a proven business model and hustle it like crazy is always a way to find success.
Steve and Jennifer Chou – $80,000+/month
Steve and Jennifer run the popular website, My Wife Quit Her Job, where they show readers how to make money online with an eCommerce store and other methods.
Most of it comes from selling their own digital product on starting a successful eCommerce store. They make the rest from advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
A powerful and relatable story.
The whole basis for starting their business was that they wanted to have kids and Jennifer wanted to quit her job to take care of them. Thus, they started the eCommerce store and blog.
Now, they are both able to work from home and raise their kids exactly how they want.
Biggest Takeaway:
The story is everything when it comes to sales. Your unique story is what makes people interested in you and is something nobody can take from you.
Rosemarie Groner – $86,000+/month
Rosemarie Groner is the busy mom at Busy Budgeter, where she posts about money, dinner ideas, budgets, and everything mom-related.
She makes around 40% through a mix of sponsored content, affiliates, and ads. The lion share comes at around 60% from her own products
I think Rosemarie has a VERY deep understanding of her audience. I noticed from visiting the website how little it speaks to me personally – which is a good thing because I am a late-twenty-something male and not in her target audience.
She also obviously understands the insane power of Pinterest for bloggers as she has acquired over 95,000 fans at the time of this posting.
Biggest Takeaway:
Know your lane and your audience.
Lindsay and Bjork – $90,000+/month
Lindsay and Bjork run two blogs, Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro, where they make recipes and show people how to create their own recipe blog.
They make 50% of their income from advertising, 20% from sponsored posts and affiliate marketing, and I would guess another 30%+ from Food Blogger Pro (they don’t report on its income).
I think they were some of the first food bloggers to reveal their income and this built up a loyal following. People who followed them for their recipes now also wanted to learn how to make a food blog themselves.
Biggest Takeaway:
They have some seriously beautiful photography at work. Make sure to check out the photos they take. It’s no wonder they attract over 3,000,000 visitors a month!
Jon Morrow – $100,000+/month
Jon Morrow is the founder of Smart Blogger, where he teaches other bloggers how to succeed.
The blog makes most of its money through affiliate marketing products that help bloggers succeed and through selling its own digital course/products.
Jon Morrow, the owner, is bound to a wheelchair and can only feel his face. Yet, despite this, he’s become a millionaire and traveled the world with his blogging career.
I also suggest checking out his other website, Unstoppable, well where he talks more about this stuff. Inspirational AF.
Biggest Takeaway:
And you think you have limitations?
Alborz Fallah – $125,000+/month
Alborz is the creator of Car Advice, where he turned his passion for cars into a successful car blog and money-making business.
Mainly through advertising and sponsorships with brands.
Alborz has leveraged his personal blog project into a massive branded website and one of the most trusted car advice websites in Austraila. They now have a team of over 30 people and publish content like crazy.
Biggest Takeaway:
Your blog can take your passions to cool places. Alborz gets to test drive amazing cars and gets all sorts of perks from his blog.
Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman – $125,000+/month
Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman are the creators of A Beautiful Mess, where they blog about everything from DIY to Instagram tips to Making Money Blogging.
While there are no clear indicators on where the majority of their income comes from, they have said it’s a mix of…
- Advertising
- Sponsorships with brands
- Digital Courses and Training (Photoshop, Blogging, and Instagram Strategy)
- Physical Products (Books, Planners, Scrapbook Materials, Ect)
Biggest Takeaway:
Your blog can have a ton of different focuses and still succeed.
Jeff Rose – $138,000+/month
Jeff Rose’s blog, Good Financial Cents, is a financial blog teaching people how to obtain financial freedom from being smarter with your money.
33% of his income comes from a financial planning practice he manages. Another 33% comes from affiliate marketing products and services like Insurance Plans. 20% comes from selling online courses and digital products. The final 14% comes from sponsorships and advertising.
I think it’s the fact that Jeff actually runs his own financial planning practice that cements his blog as truly expert advice. I mean, if you were learning from a personal trainer online and they had a very successful practice or owned a gym, you’d probably trust them more as well.
Biggest Takeaway:
You can take an existing business you have and use it as leverage for your blog success.
Alex Nerney and Lauren McManus – $150,000+/month
Alex and Lauren have two successful blogs, Avocadu.com and Createandgo.co (the blog you’re on), and love talking about themselves in the third person!
Most of their income comes from selling digital products on both blogs. Another smaller chunk comes from affiliate marketing and a much smaller portion comes from advertising.
They didn’t just start out blogging about blogging.
They started a health and wellness website that they began earning over $10,000 per month with before teaching others how to do it. It’s this experience that gives them the ability to guide others while knowing exactly what they are up against.
Biggest Takeaway:
You don’t have to be anything special to do this – just hustle like crazy and have the right plan of action.
Heather and Pete Reese – $170,000+/month
The Reese family runs the blog, It’s A Lovely Life, which is really a large family lifestyle and travel blog.
60% comes from sponsored content and affiliate marketing. The other 40% comes from selling their own products and courses.
Another great example of the effectiveness of combining a lifestyle blog with educating your readers on various topics. This combination seems to be quite powerful for both endearing readers to you and making money online.
Biggest Takeaway:
Lifestyle + Education Content = Blog Profits
John Lee Dumas – $195,000+/month
John Lee Dumas and his wife run a podcast that has now done over 1,900 interviews with successful entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, and more. They also run the blog, Entrepreneur on Fire.
35% of their income comes from affiliate marketing – others courses and products like Clickfunnels (landing page software). 35% comes from selling sponsorships on this podcast. The last 30% comes from selling his own digital products and journals on Amazon.
They publish podcasts 7 days a week!
You heard that right. Every day, there’s a new podcast with someone else. (Hey, I should try to get on there…)
Obviously, there is a downside to this schedule, which would be grueling, but you can record podcasts in bulk to save time and have a normal life.
Biggest Takeaway:
Showing up consistently endears other people to you.
I actually have a buddy who does YouTube videos 7 days a week and it works VERY well for him. His audience feels really connected to him because they hear from him every single day. It’s a strategy that can be used in almost any business.
Pat Flynn – $200,000+/month
Pat Flynn is the crash test dummy of making passive income online over at Smart Passive Income. I actually met him a while back at a conference and he’s a solid dude.
40% of his income historically comes from affiliate marketing different products and services like ConvertKit, Bluehost, and other high prices courses. The other 50% comes from selling his own products and courses. 10% comes from various other places.
The first mover. The OG.
He’s been crushing the game since 2008, and I think every blogger remembers seeing his income reports as kind of a mind-blowing thing. Now, EVERYONE in the biz does them.
I think the other big factor is his authentic nature. When Pat talks, he just seems like a guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less try to sell you some crap you don’t need. I think that’s very helpful when talking about a subject riddled with scammers at every turn.
He’s the marketer you can trust.
Biggest Takeaway:
In a time when you don’t know who you can trust, authenticity is very valuable.
Chiara Ferragni – $200,000+/month (likely much more)
Basically, living every girl’s dream, Chiara started a personal blog back in 2009 and leveraged that blog into a massive fashion brand – The Blonde Salad.
I’m honestly not sure what sets her style apart from others, but I really love her story. Homegirl started a personal blog which drew in half a million monthly visitors per month. She then leveraged that into a brand generating over 15 million in yearly revenue.
There are all sorts of ladies calling themselves bossbabes these days, but Chiara is actually one. What. A. Badass.
Big takeaway:
Once you have readers and fans, your blog can continue to evolve into something even better.
Sarah Titus – $200,000+/month
Sarah Titus’s blog is focused on everything mom life and helping mothers to making money from home.
She makes most of her money selling printables on her online store, and also makes some money from affiliate marketing.
You will notice that she talks about God and her family struggles in almost every one of her posts. Her bio says, “He left me HOMELESS…” in the opening tagline.
My mom asked me the other day about starting a blog and I told her if she did, whatever she was blogging about, she should talk about Jesus a lot (she’s very into him). I was half-joking, half dead serious.
Call it whatever you like – it works.
Big Takeaway:
Share your story. Connect with people and they will trust you.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner – $200,000+/month
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents is the legendary finance blog helping people earn more and save more.
Most of her income comes from affiliate marketing others courses and services like Bluehost, but a good portion also comes from selling her own digital products. The remaining comes from sponsorships and advertisements placed on her blogs.
Michelle is not a marketer. Not at all. You’ll find most of the successful bloggers on this list are amazing marketers masking around as bloggers.
The truth is that Michelle is an outstanding blogger. Her audience loves her so much that she makes more money than most marketers without seeming like she’s trying. It’s very impressive!
Biggest Takeaway:
Be the best at what you do and the money will follow.
Melyssa Griffin – $280,000+/month
Melyssa Griffin is a teacher turned blogger / pro marketer who Lauren and I have always looked up to. We even call her “Melyssa” when talking about her in our home – haha.
Most of it comes from selling her own courses as well as other people’s high-priced courses, but she’s also now CRUSHING the podcast game with her new jam: Pursuit of Purpose
Melyssa is the queen-bee of hustle. She launches products to her email list very frequently. Girl is ON IT. Sign up for her email list and you will know what I am talking about. She’s not playing games.
Big takeaway:
Find your audience and hustle like looney toons to help them.
Tim Sykes – $1,000,000+ per month
Penny stock trader turned blogger and Instagramer, Tim Skyes takes our #1 spot.
He makes most of his money through selling dvd courses that teach people how to sell penny stocks and trade.
From my personal experience in internet marketing, I suspect the majority of his income is produced through his work on social media (his Instagram has over 1.2 million followers and he’s crazy active on there).
It’s estimated that his personal blog earns him around $15-20 million per year, so to be on the safe side, we estimated his income at 1 million per month.
Big takeaway:
Sell the lifestyle to sell the product.
If Tim posted photos of him crunching numbers all day selling penny stocks, it probably wouldn’t work. Instead, he sells an online lifestyle from using his plan (penny stocks) and he is KILLING it.
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