Just like with any business, creating a blog that makes money isn’t something that happens overnight.
Whatever your niche, there are ways to start gradually building an income by writing about what you know, whether that’s through ecommerce, affiliate marketing, sponsored articles, or display advertising.
In this article, I’ve identified eight bloggers writing about travel, lifestyle, tech, DIY, and food — all of whom have found ways to earn money from their content.
Table of Contents
List of 8 Bloggers Making Crazy Money
Some use all of the monetization methods at their disposal, while others focus their efforts on just one or two areas. Throughout this post, I’ve also used Upbeat’s blog monetization calculator to estimate how much each blog could be making from on-page advertising.
Read on for inspiration on how to go from blogging on a budget to earning crazy money by blogging about what you know and love.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Ben Schlappig, also known as Lucky, is the founder of travel blog One Mile At A Time. Lucky is a master of traveling the world using miles and points that he’s collected, often enjoying first class hospitality for a fraction of the usual price.
His blog offers tips and advice to other travelers keen to save money on their adventures, as well as some of his own personal stories.

Ben
Key takeaway: Give your users what they want to leverage your reputation.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Making Sense of Cents is an inspirational money management blog that covers personal finance, paying off student loans, and how to reach financial independence.
Its award-winning author, Michelle Schroeder, an online freelancer and solopreneur, paid off her $38,000 student loan in just seven months. She now travels around North America and lives out of an RV.

Michelle Schroeder
Key takeaway: Offer your target market easily-accessible materials that are genuinely useful to develop an emotional, loyal bond.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Lipstick, Lettuce & Lycra is a UK health and fitness blog. Founded by Gemma Geager, it combines her previously very successful vintage fashion blog, Retro Chick, with a new focus on helping women live their lives to the fullest.
The blog mostly focuses on topics like running, cosmetics, and self-confidence, and receives around 2,700 visitors per month.

Gemma Geager
Key takeaway: Remain fluid in a saturated environment and don’t be afraid to take risks to stay ahead of the curve.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Shiny Shiny is a tech blog founded in 2004 that explores how technology is enriching the lives of women.
With an influential readership made up of early female adopters, it’s thought to be one of the top global tech blogs aimed at women. Shiny Shiny’s content mostly covers industry news, product reviews, and video round-ups. Its audience averages 761 visitors per month.
Key takeaway: Partner up with reputable brands to maximize your exposure and authority in your niche.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Vintage Revivals is a blog dedicated to “fearless DIY.” Owned by designer Mandi Gubler, her mission is to smash readers’ perceptions of what’s possible when it comes to DIY design, encouraging thrift store purchases, upcycling, and creative makeovers.
The blog receives around 34.1K visitors per month.

Mandi Gubler
Key takeaway: Find your niche and be the best you can within it.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Owned by internationally recognized SEO expert Brian Dean, Backlinko is an SEO training and link building strategy blog aimed at digital marketers and entrepreneurs. His deal is offering actionable SEO tips, and insight gathered from five online business failures before he finally became successful in 2012.
Backlinko is now one of the world’s most popular marketing blogs.

Brian Dean
Key takeaway: Be honest with your audience and show them how you’ve grown into an expert — they’re more likely to believe you with evidence.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Smitten Kitchen is a “fearless cooking” blog from NYC writer, cook, and photographer Deb Perelman (that’s right, not just one fearless blogger in this article, but two!).
With a steady focus on unfussy comfort food that can be made even in the smallest kitchen (and a range of tutorials to boot) it’s easy to see why Smitten Kitchen has become so popular, drawing in around 437K visitors monthly.
Key takeaway: Talk like a human and embrace the power of quality #InstaFood.
- Makes Money
- Why Stands Out
Now we meet one of the leaders in responsible travel innovation, Where Sidewalks End (WSE).
Heavily focused on promoting responsible and sustainable practices in off-the-beaten-path destinations, WSE employs a huge team of scouts and contributors from all over the world. It’s great to see a travel blog that looks beyond the travel experience to the positive impact it can have on local communities.
This is certainly no ordinary travel guide.
Key takeaway: Use your talent to help the greater good where you can — people will respect that.
Wrapping Up
- So what can we learn from these eight bloggers who are making crazy money by writing about what they know?
First, that there’s no harm in using affiliate links, as long as you don’t hide it from your audience. Second, that adding ecommerce functionality is a relatively simple and viable way to generate more revenue from your website. And finally, to use display advertising wisely and sparingly, and only if it does not harm your brand.
Tell us about your own blogging experiences (or what you look for in blogs that you follow) in the comments below!
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I’ve never heard of these bloggers nor come across any of their articles though. Maybe I should check some of them out.