Have you ever wondered how to make money blogging in 2022?
You will get millions of results when you search Google on how to make money blogging. It’s at 2.1 billion results at the time of writing this guide.
If done correctly, blogging can replace your hectic, day-to-day nine-to-five job. The best way to study how to do this is to follow those who have done it and copy (then improve).
Blogging is a form of online business, and many people have made millions off this channel.
Did you know that there are over 500 million blogs on the internet today?
That shouldn’t come as a surprise, knowing blogging has been existing since 1994 when Justin Hall created the first blog on Links.net, which he referred to as his “personal homepage” at the time.
I’ve known about blogging for the past 15 years, and I’ve watched this channel grow and evolve into what it’s known for today.
For example, when I first got into blogging, social media channels and ad platforms like Instagram, Stories, Google Ads, PPC, etc., weren’t available yet, so the strategies used were a bit different from the ones working today.
Today, we now have dozens of tools, formats, and channels to help you run and streamline your digital campaigns easier.
We have tools that track, follow, measure, compare, A/B test, and select what works best.
These have affected blogging and how bloggers make their money today in 2022.
Two decades ago, Wix was barely an idea yet.
Platforms like Shopify, Weebly, and ThriveThemes weren’t available too.
Both Shopify and Weebly were created in 2006.
Today, Shopify has more than 2 million daily active users.
Bloggers were stuck with Godaddy, HTML codes, difficult & slow tools, slow servers, WordPress, etc. Today, we have powerful platforms that have made blogging easier and more organized.
We have better monetization platforms for bloggers to earn money.
With a tool like Shopify, you can easily embed or link your blog to your Shopify store.
Now in this guide, we’ll see the blogging income report of top bloggers and focus on how we can learn and copy some of the best blogging strategies to make money blogging in 2022.
I’ve heard the questions…
“Is it still possible to make money blogging in 2022?”
“Can blogging make you rich?”
“Do bloggers still earn in 2022?”
“What strategies do the top bloggers use to make money in 2022?”
“How much do bloggers earn in 2022?”
These questions have appeared a few times on Quora. So I have decided to create this guide and look into how we can learn from some of the influencers who earn good money from their blogs.
This guide will list seven (7) successful bloggers, and we’ll take a close look at how they make money from their blogs.
Want to make money blogging in 2022?
Let’s break down how the top bloggers have earned money within a couple of years. But before moving into bloggers’ income reports, let us understand the importance of blogging income reports.
Importance of Blog Income Reports to New Bloggers
Let me tell you my story…
I started blogging more than 12 years ago after hearing how a friend made 60 USD from ads on his blog.
Years later, I started and grew my first professional blog.
I never thought making money blogging was possible until I came across a blogging income report.
I never believed making much money online was possible.
Now come to look at it…
I not only saw someone make money online, but he made five (5) figures from his blog, and it blew my mind.
This made me realize that bloggers can have a full-time living online.
Secondly, income reports help us know what’s working and what’s outdated.
When it comes to digital marketing, strategies change, tools improve, and platforms change with time. And to win at all times, you must follow these trends and stay afloat.
Banner ads were killing and were better than most channels in 2005; that has changed today.
Here’s an example:
Years back, banner ads were the best way to earn money as a blogger. Platforms like Google Adsense were making a pretty solid wave at the time.
Today that has changed as advertisers have moved their focus away from banner ads toward social media and influential ad campaigns.
Thirdly, income reports help us select the niche we want to go into.
You see, most income reports are from specific bloggers in specific niches. These are bloggers in Accounting, Marketing, Advertising, Social Media, Beauty, Travel, and many more.
By looking at income reports in a niche, we can foretell how lucrative the niche is.
Lastly, income reports can be inspirational. There are times when you feel nothing seems to motivate you, but you get inspired when you see someone’s blog income report.
Now, can a blog make you rich?
Well, I love to look at it from this perspective…
It’s not about the blog that you (or your brand) create but the business you build around it.
Here’s what I mean…
If you run a content blog, your income will depend on your content writing or freelance writing business that your blog will fuel.
Top 7 Blog Income Reports
Here’s a breakdown of some of the highest-earning bloggers on the internet.
[Please note that this isn’t based on earnings in 2022 or 2021 alone. We looked through income reports from 5-6 years ago that we can still learn from and apply today]
- Adam Enfroy
- JL Dumas
- Pat Flynn
- Michelle Gardner
- Den Harsh
- Amira
- Melyssa Griffin
#1. Adam Enfroy (AdamEnfroy.com)
Adam Enfroy is a popular blogger who makes around 1 to 1.5 million yearly from his blog, Adamenfroy.com.
He is one of the most successful bloggers today who started his blog (AdamEnfroy.com) as a side project in 2019.
He has grown that side project to a 200,000 USD per month business.
Yes, that’s correct!
In June 2021, he made 281,776 USD from his blog.
What does Adam blog about?
Adam’s blog teaches people how to make money online. Think affiliate marketing, ads, digital courses, coaching, or ebooks.
Adam practically generates money through the means he teaches. He displays MediaWine ads, uses Affiliate links, and sells digital courses.
Now, here’s Adam’s income report for March 2021:
He generates money majorly through Affiliate links, Ad networks, and course sales.
In 2021, Adam made 1,544,769 USD from his blog. He took strategies that he learned from the start-up world and implemented them on his blog, AdamEnfroy.com.
According to Adam, these strategies worked, and in 2019, his blog made 200,000 USD; in 2020, it made $800,000, and over 1,500,000 USD in 2021. This was a pretty fast growth for a new blog.
How does Adam make money from his blog?
Here is Adam’s blog income channel breakdown;
- Affiliate revenue – 897,185.99 USD
- Course sales – 472,974.50 USD
- Consulting revenue – 66,047.60 USD
- Ad revenue – 118,678.38 USD
- CPC revenue – 43,856.57 USD
- Refunds – (-53,973.70) USD
Total – 1,544,769.34 USD
#2. J.L Dumas (eofire.com)
Did you know that John’s blog, Eofire.com, has made well over 22,000,000 USD since it was launched in 2012?
That’s a lot of money!
And today, it continues to make good money through sponsorships, affiliate links, and product sales (ebooks, e-courses).
Eofire.com made a total of 831,550 USD in 2022 alone.
Mind-blowing, right?
John Lee Dumas is also one of the most successful bloggers and podcasters in the world today. John Lee Dumas was able to start a blog and grow it to 200,000 USD monthly around a podcast community.
John’s unique approach to blogging and how he makes money off it is a little bit different from what most bloggers do today; not so many foci on podcasting as their major source of income.
Within one year of starting Eofire.com, John was able to grow his blog and community and made a total of 62,879 USD that year.
In 2012, he started his blog, Entrepreneurs On Fire, which was a business blog and a podcast. He made his blog a great resource filled with interviews and sessions with notable entrepreneurs.
This website, eofire.com, basically teaches entrepreneurs how to become wealthy. And it does this by bringing notable entrepreneurs to share their stories and insights and give their advice.
Now here’s John’s income report for April 2022:
How does John make his money blogging?
Here’s a breakdown of John’s income streams for April 2022;
- Podcast sponsorship – 148,205 USD
- Affiliate income – 9,691 USD
- Products and Services – 20,386 USD
Total – 178,282 USD
John Lee puts a ton of effort and time into his podcast community which has been working for his brand.
What’s John doing right?
He simply built a strong community around his brand, Fire Nation. This community simply focuses on giving the audience exactly what they want.
Eofire.com does a great job of capturing and retaining its audience and getting them to buy from him.
#3. Pat Flynn (Smartpassiveincome.com)
Pat Flynn was one of the bloggers who inspired me to take blogging seriously.
Right when I got into blogging, Pat Flynn was an influential figure who was already making good money from his blog, Smartpassiveincome.com, which is a blog that also teaches entrepreneurs how to make money online.
Pat Flynn is a blogger, entrepreneur, podcaster, and affiliate marketer and has since taken his blog from 0 to 1 million USD annually.
How does Pat Flynn make money from Smartpassiveincome?
He started Smartpassiveincome in 2008 to sell his content online and to help support his family. The website focuses on helping entrepreneurs start their side incomes and scale them to thousands of dollars online.
One of Pat Flynn’s flagship products is his 999 USD podcasting course, where he shows people the steps he took to start a successful podcast business around his blog that now brings well over 100,000 USD monthly.
Now here’s a breakdown of how Pat made 213,212 USD in December 2017:
- Course sales – 120,362 USD
- Affiliate income- 61,689 USD
- Podcasting – 11,789 USD
- Niche Sites – 4,010 USD
- Software and Apps – 12,370 USD
- Book sales – 2,991 USD
Total – 213,211 USD
One of the best key takeaways about Pat’s blogging strategy is the members-only ‘SPI Pro’ section of his community (or blog).
#4. Michelle Gardner (Makingsenseoutofcents.com)
Michelle Gardner is a famous affiliate marketer, blogger, and financial expert who has grown her blog to millions of dollars yearly. She is popularly known for her flagship affiliate marketing course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, and her blog, Making Sense Out Of Cents dot com.
Her affiliate marketing course is what sets her apart, as she makes hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly from this very course.
This course teaches exactly how she went from 0 to 50,000 USD monthly from affiliate marketing.
Don’t believe you can make money from affiliate marketing in your first year?
Follow Michelle’s course!
You see, Michelle has mastered the art of using affiliate links on her blogs and other resources (like ebooks, groups, etc.).
For example, in October 2018, Michelle’s blog, Makingsenseofcents.com made a total of 145,319 USD that month alone. 72,042.74 USD out of that came from affiliate links on her blog.
How does Michelle make money from her blog?
In 2017, Michelle’s blog brought in a total of 1,536,732 USD, and in 2017, she had made 979,321 USD.
How was she able to build this blog income?
Here’s a breakdown of Michelle’s income report for December 2017;
- Affiliate income – 64,828.51 USD
- Digital course (Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing) – 47,716.00 USD
- Sponsorships – 10,000.00 USD
- Display advertisements – 3,716.00 USD
Total – 126,260.51 USD
Looking at Michelle’s blog income breakdown, you’ll notice how powerful her affiliate marketing strategy is. Some of the products she promotes are; Bluehost, Ebates, Convertkit, and Survey Companies.
#5. Harsh Agrawal (Shoutmeloud.com)
Harsh is a popular technology and blogging expert whose blogs are known for teaching blogging and tech how-tos.
When I started blogging, Harsh’s huge blog, Shoutmeloud.com was one of my inspirations. It had many resources for new or aspiring bloggers.
On his blog, he often published guides on how to make a full-time income blogging. He also has several ebooks and e-courses to help new bloggers start a new blog and make money from it.
It shows how to take a blog from 0 to 1,000 USD per month.
Shoutmeloud.com is a one-stop site for top blogging and SEO tutorials, and Harsh leverages this to build a stable income of 50,000 USD monthly.
Most of his blog revenue comes from affiliate marketing.
In fact, in December of 2016, Shoutmeloud dot com got a total of 1,487,790.
What’s amazing about Harsh’s traffic?
78% of that traffic came from organic search channels.
As a result, he’s able to build a stable income from affiliate income.
How does Shoutmeloud make money?
Shoutmeloud is an old blog, and Harsh started his blog on the first of December 2008. At the time, he had no idea about building income online.
But with time, Harsh built a solid blog off advertisements (placements), affiliate links, and digital products (ebooks and online courses). He made his first dollar online by offering his tech skill to someone who paid him 10 USD to sort an issue he had with his Google Webmaster Tool.
After this, he realized it was possible to make money online and with a blog.
Over the years, Harsh has created one of the most successful blogs on the internet.
In one decade, Shoutmeloud had made over 50,000 USD from Google Adsense alone. This is from all his blog pages and a YouTube channel.
Here’s a breakdown of Harsh’s income report:
- Affiliate income – 79,330.3 USD
- Other monetization programs (Infolinks, Buysellads) – 15,106.24 USD
Total – 94,436 USD
#6. Melyssa Griffin (Melyssagriffin.com)
In December 2019, Melyssa Griffin of Melyssagriffin.com made a total of 256,680 USD from her blog.
Who’s Melyssa Griffin?
Melyssa Griffin is an inspirational blogger and entrepreneur who has mentored a lot of people in starting and growing a successful business online.
She’s an entrepreneur whose vision and mission are to see others break boundaries and start businesses that’ll change their lives. Her blog is all about how to make money online, especially as a blogger.
She has built a community around her podcast, Pursuit with Purpose, which is an educational podcast that teaches entrepreneurs how to break boundaries and build profitable blogs and digital businesses.
She covers a range of articles and videos on digital marketing and making money online. These content pieces help attract targeted traffic, which converts to leads and students who purchase or join her Pinterest course, Pinfinite Growth.
Melyssa was a school teacher who turned entrepreneur because she wanted to work for herself and become financially free.
Melyssa’s blog strategy is based on a solid funnel that converts visitors into leads and students. Today, Melyssa has well over 200,000 email subscribers of fans, customers, followers, and students.
It begins with a free course which builds trust with the students and gets them excited about the paid or premium courses or products. For example, Melyssa offers a free blogging course to her blog readers, which shows them how she was able to quit her day job and create a 200,000 USD per month blog in no time.
This course focuses on building trust and relationships with subscribers, and at the end of the free email training, Melyssa invites free students to sign up for her premium online course, which reveals how to grow your blog traffic using her powerful Pinterest strategy.
Now how does Melyssa make 200,000 USD per month from her blog?
Here are the last 5 blog income report Melyssa posted on her blog;
- December 2016 – 283,680 USD
- November 2016 – 140,779 USD
- October 2016 – 100,999 USD
- September 2016 – 173,865 USD
- August 2016 – 62,164 USD
Total – 761,487 USD
Here’s her blog income breakdown for December 2016;
- E-course sales – 258,108 USD
- Affiliate income – 25,572 USD
Total – 283,680 USD in December 2016.
The key takeaway from Melyssa’s blog strategy is she uses a powerful funnel that focuses on building trust and relationships with her target audience. She gives a free course that teaches what she knows and pitches her online program afterward.
She puts a great time into email marketing which has helped grow her blog to 200,000 USD monthly in income.
#7. Amira (aselfguru.com)
Amira is a lawyer and legal practitioner who quit her 9 to 5 legal job and went into blogging to build a 7-figure blogging business.
When she first started blogging, she had no idea that she could turn it into a full-time income and make millions of dollars from it.
In fact, in one month alone, Amira made exactly 78,000 USD from selling products and using affiliate links on her blog.
What especially captivated us to use Amira as a case study here in this guide?
How she made 11,000 USD in one day from her blog.
It’s crazy looking at the fact she only knew nothing about making money online and had never done it herself.
Her blog, aselfguru.com, teaches how to start and build a solid income online as a blogger. Her articles range from blogging how-tos to legal advice on how to run a safe business or blog online.
She offers and sells a wide variety of products on her blog.
She sells legal templates, runs sponsorships, uses affiliate links, accepts paid gigs (writing, interviews, speaking, etc.), and also offers her legal services through her blog.
One channel Amira doesn’t use is Ad placements which is because she wants her readers to buy from here rather than go to another website. She focuses her strategy on getting readers to subscribe to her email list and eventually buy her products, use an affiliate link, or hire her.
How does Amira make money from her blog?
In one month, Amira’s blog, aselfguru.com, made 78,000 USD, and here’s a breakdown of her major income streams;
- Selling products and services – 67,375 USD
- Affiliate income – 11,000 USD
Total – 78,375 USD
What’s Amira’s Key strategy?
What I love about Amira is how all her strategies go towards making a sale. She takes every blog post as a mini business on its own.
For every blog post, she has her target for affiliate links, and in every article, she makes it super easy for you to join her email list.
At the end of every blog article, she decently advertises her products and services without being pushy, and that’s a great skill.
Now another unique thing we love about Amira is that she also sells her legal services on her blog.
I mean, rather than just selling random digital products on her blog, she brought in her educational skills. She’s a legal practitioner and now showcases her expertise to thousands of her blog readers.
And I mean, since she’s legally accredited, a lot of people would trust her with legal advice or coaching.
Ultimate Key Takeaways from these Bloggers
Income reports are important; one reason is to help new or inspiring bloggers to learn the best ways to make money blogging in 2022 and beyond.
after going through these blogging income reports, we can point out.
Which strategies work best?
What income channels seem to yield more income?
What marketing sources do they use?
Here’s a quick analysis of the income report:
- Most bloggers put a good amount of time into promotion and marketing. Harsh Agrawal and Adam Enfroy focus on SEO traffic to their blogs. Traffic to a blog is super crucial because your blog will depend on it, so focusing your strengths on traffic strategies will be a great step to building a consistent income as a blogger.
- The three (3) most consistent income streams are; Affiliate sales, Advertisements, and product sales. Most of the bloggers we discussed today pay more attention to affiliate income, product (course, ebooks) sales, and blog advertisements (Google Adsense, Adthrive, etc.). What we can notice is that Affiliate and product sales tend to be the top income generating channels for these bloggers.
- All the bloggers mentioned here put good time into creating outstanding content. These bloggers don’t just create mediocre content. They create exceptional content that is; unique, enticing, and is part of a sales funnel. Like my blogging mentor always says, treat every blog post like a mini business on its own!
- All the bloggers here have a unique sales funnel that runs on autopilot. If you’re going to make money as a blogger, you must be able to create an effective sales funnel that runs even when you’re asleep. When I started blogging, it took me 2 years to understand the power of building and automating powerful sales funnels.
- All of these bloggers mentioned focus on personal branding. Personal branding is so powerful and is overly underrated by most entrepreneurs today. I’ll attribute my blog’s growth to personal branding on all social platforms. You see, building a close and personal relationship with your target audience is what personal branding is. You can even notice some of these bloggers giving their community names (Shouters of Shoutmeloud.com). When done right, personal branding can grow your business.
FAQs on Income Reports for Bloggers in 2022
Here are frequently asked questions about bloggers’ income reports in 2022.
- What are the major income sources for bloggers in 2022? Blogging is quite different from what it was 10 years ago, but the top channels revolve around Affiliate marketing, advertisements, digital product sales, and services. With these income sources, you could grow your blog to 1,000 USD per month quickly.
- Which bloggers share their income reports? Quite some successful bloggers share their income reports online. Some are bloggers like Harsh Agrawal of Shoutmeloud, Melyssa Griffin of Melyssagriffin.com, Amit Agarwal of Labnol.org, and Adam Enfroy of AdamEnfroy.com do share monthly income reports with their readers.
- How can I begin marketing my blog to earn money? One of the first steps to marketing your blog is to create consistent content on your blog. You can market your blog if you have good content that the audience wants to consume. Find your unique angle and create content for your target market.
- Can you make money from WordPress? Yes, depending on the type of business you want to run on your WordPress blog or website, you can make thousands of dollars monthly from your WordPress blog. You can offer services, sell digital products, or display advertisements.
- Must I show income reports as a blogger? Displaying income reports for your blog is optional, and it depends on what your blog is all about. If you notice, most of these top bloggers are in the entrepreneurship or online marketing industry. Income reports are a way to build more trust and relationships with your readers.
- How much does a beginner blogger earn from his new blog? To be honest, there isn’t a particular income beginner bloggers make because, if we’re being honest, millions of bloggers never make a dollar from their blogs. Many bloggers start and close their blogs that never make a dollar, but on average most beginner bloggers who apply the right strategies make anywhere around 500 USD to 1,000 USD per month from their blogs.