Blogging Can Still Make You $10k/Month – But Here's What To Do Differently

The formula is simple (and you can do it in less than 2 hours a day)

I discovered blogging in January 2012.

And got hooked on the fact that you could write articles in your briefs and make a full-time living on your own terms.

But the rules have changed. You cannot expect to make 5 to 10 grand a month with a blog by following outdated advice.

Let's see what works now.

A simple way to hypnotize your blog readers

Most beginner bloggers think value = teaching.

So they write these generic tutorials thinking it’ll impress people. But it doesn’t. It bores them. Facts don’t stick.

You’ve seen them: “5 Steps to Start a Blog.” “How to Grow on X.” “Best Tips for Productivity.”
Snooze.

If you want people to care, you have to make them feel something. And the best way to do that is to wrap your how-to in a story.

Here’s what that looks like:

Back in 2021, I had no audience. So I started writing about a past struggle of mine: Taking notes without doing anything significant with them.

I had 100s of ideas, but no streamlined process to turn these into content. It left me frustrated, overwhelmed, and stuck in a loop of consuming more because I didn’t know what else to do.

So I wrote about my way out.

These stories went "microviral" on Medium. They allowed me to build an email list of 3,000 subscribers in less than 4 months and then launch a 5-figure course at the back of it.

That story? Way more powerful than a list of tools or tactics. Because it shows the struggle. It mirrors what a lot of people feel but don’t say out loud.

Then—and only then—I explained the steps.

Tutorials tell. Stories sell.

The traditional blogging system is broken

Blogging has changed.

The old formula—pick a keyword, write a 3,000-word article, wait for Google to bless you with traffic—is slow, painful, and borderline delusional for most people starting out today.

Don't get me wrong, SEO is still working – and I'm getting somewhere between 8,000 to 10,000 visits to my blog every month.

But if you’re expecting quick results, good luck. SEO is like planting trees and hoping you don’t die of boredom before they grow. Especially, when you have a new website.

That’s where most bloggers get stuck.

They pour everything into Google, don't spend time learning SEO, thinking it’s their golden ticket.

Meanwhile, they’re ignoring platforms built for today:

• Medium.

• Substack.

• Even LinkedIn.

These are just blogging platforms with distribution engines baked in.

And here’s the kicker: you don’t need to pick one.

I write and republish across three places:

• My blog

• Medium

• Substack

That’s three different doors for people to walk through and find me.

Sometimes a post flops on Google but explodes on Medium. Sometimes it dies on Medium and pops on Substack. You never really know until you ship it.

It’s like fishing in three different ponds instead of one. You cast the same bait, but each pond has different fish.

The right way to monetize a blog

Ads, affiliate links, and $8/mo subscriptions are a trap.

Yeah, they sound easy. Slap some links on a page, throw in a few Google Ads, toggle on a button, and boom—passive income, right?

But unless you’re getting 100,000+ views a month, these tactics won’t even pay for your utility bills.

The problem is simple: low-margin monetization relies on volume. And most creators don’t have volume.

Heck, I don't have volume.

I have 7,000+ subs on this platform, 11,000+ on my email list but I'm not anything near the big content gurus.

You need a different strategy: Selling your own stuff.

• Digital products.

• Workshops.

• Coaching.

• Courses.

Things people will pay for because they want your spin on it, not just information.

Your audience isn’t looking for more Amazon reviews or random display ads. They’re looking for someone who gets them—and can show them how to solve a specific problem.

So write down three problems your audience always asks you about. That’s the seed of your first product.

For me, it's stuff like:

• How to build an audience?

• How to write daily content?

• How to sell my own digital products?

How to sell your 92%+ margin products

Stop believing that you'll get rich writing blog posts.

Blogging and writing articles is just the entry door.

It gets people to discover you.

But once they discover you, you need to follow up with them. Because money's in the follow-up. Not in the discovery.

The best way to follow up is by email.

Most people send one email a week and hope that's enough.

But trust is not a one-time event. It requires you to show up constantly. Do it 2-3 times a week.

And these emails don't need to be long, like most of my emails are between 300 and 500 words.

It's not about sending blog posts. But about having regular touchpoints with a relevant offer.

You do this by:

• showing empathy

• being interesting

• and then concluding with: "Hey, if you want to know more, click here.".

You don’t need a fancy funnel. You don’t need automation hell. You just need to write and send.

Stop playing "blogger"

Blogging alone won't make you money.

What will make you money is:

• publishing articles about a problem people care about

• building your email list

• sending newsletters to that list that promote your products

Not complicated. You won't have read about it in the past.

But most don't do it. Or do one part and skip the other.

Now you have two choices. Either you get stuck in more research, more rabbit holes, and more procrastination.

Or you actually start playing the game.