12 Great Examples Of The Most Profitable Blogs Around

The most profitable blogs online are making an absolute killing – I'm talking millions of dollars every year.

They have put in massive financial investment and untold hours of hard work, and it's paid off.

Yes, they're successful beyond words.

But who are these bloggers, and how did they make their fortunes?

This article will list twelve successful blog owners who profit at least $1 million a year. You'll discover how they started, what they did, and how they earn money blogging today.

By the time you have finished reading, you'll realize their strategy is not as complicated as you think, and you'll be able to use it as inspiration to make more money.

Can Blogs Make You Rich? 

It's not so much the blogs that make you rich, but rather the business you build around the blog that makes you the money.

Your blog is simply a collection of blog posts, and if you did nothing but write articles, you would make no money.

The making money online comes when you target a specific niche and create content to nurture the readers and solve their problems.

That's how you can join this list of the most profitable blogs.

You provide a solution for your reader and monetize it through the following methods:

• Advertisements
• Affiliate Marketing
• Product Creation
• Online Courses
• Memberships
• Sponsored Posts
• Coaching 
• Consulting
• Events

However, there's something you need to understand.

It's not as easy as it sounds, and success won't happen overnight. You also have to treat your blog like a business and work hard to stand any chance of success.

Only 5 percent of bloggers will make a full-time income from their blog, so that's 95% that don't.

That doesn't mean you can't be in the 5%, it just means you need to realize that it won't be a walk in the park.

You'll have to write quality content and provide helpful advice to your readers, as well as hone your content marketing skills.

And that's just the start.

Bloggers need to become marketers because blogging isn't just about blog writing; it's also about marketing your content — you need to find ways to get people to read your posts.

One final thing:

Never give up because the answer is YES; a personal blog can make you rich (it's one of the top jobs that can make you rich), and those on this list are proof of that.

What Niches Have the Most Profitable Blogs? 

There are only a select few niches that make up the top money making blogs.

Blogging about tomatoes, egg-painting, or any other niche hobbies can make you a few hundred dollars each month, which is excellent, but if you aim to build a profitable blog that can make you some serious cash, then stick to the big niche markets.

These niches are great for successful blogs

• Marketing
• Personal Finance niche (money making blog)
• Weight Loss & Fitness blogs
• Personal Development
• Health and wellness blog
• Lifestyle
• Parenting blog
• Travel
• Beauty & Fashion Blogs
• Technology
• Careers
• Education
• Food blog niche

The Most Profitable Blogs 

Let's take a look at some of the most successful blogs online.

These blogs make a lot of money online by targeting the topics mentioned above.

Let's start with the most profitable blog of them all.

1. Huff Post

Arianna Huffington and her co-founders, Andrew Breitbart, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, launched Huffington Post in May 2005.

The blog was launched as a news outlet to publish stories as they happened. 

Multiple posts were published by unpaid bloggers and journalists, with many of the guest post articles going viral. The content resulted in the blog becoming popular with thousands of daily readers.

It wasn't unheard of for the site to publish 100 posts per day.

As the site started to grow, more categories and stories were published, increasing their traffic and establishing them as one of the world's largest and most popular websites.

In 2011 the blog was purchased by AOL for $315 million. 

They rebranded in 2017 and changed the name from Huffington Post to HuffPost. 

The website today remains one of the most popular blogs online.

Alexa Rank: 1,346.

How Much Do They Make?

Reports suggested that the blog made  500 million dollars in 2020 and will make around half of that in 2021.

They're making money online from corporate investments and online advertising revenue. 

CrunchBase reports that their monthly traffic stats stand at around 126 million visitors per month — yes, that's not a typo, 126 million!

With numbers like this, it's easy to see how they are one of the world's top money making blogs.

Can You Copy Them?

HuffPost built up its popularity when the Google algorithm was different and easier to please. If they started today, things would have to be different because the search engines now focus more on the quality of your content for organic search.

That's not to say their content was lacking because it wasn't, but not all of their articles at the time would get the same traction if they were published today.

You simply couldn't publish 100 posts every day (today) and hope that they would go viral.

But at the time, they could, and they seized the opportunity, resulting in thousands of backlinks and a blog that became popular worldwide.

It would be difficult to start a news outlet to rival them today.

2. Timothy Sykes – Personal Finance Blog

Timothy Sykes is an online trader and blogger who made $1.65 million by day trading in college.

Known as the ‘Penny Trader,' he launched his blog in 2007 and taught people to make money by investing in stocks.

His success has rocketed over the years, and today it's estimated that he is making eye-watering amounts of money through his blog.

Clever marketing has played a significant part in his rise in popularity. He uses advanced lead nurturing techniques to build his email list and produces quality content related to trading.

He provides blog posts, videos, interviews and offers a free challenge for you to participate in by entering your email.

Alexa Rank: 41,208.

How Much Does He Make?

There are reports on Forbes of him making $15 million per year from his blog not so long ago, and an interview he did in 2016 with Nathan Latka, he says he was on course to make $20 million from information products marketed through his blog.

However, a realistic estimate for today, is probably slightly lower, but still likely to be a least $5 million per year.

His blog monetization consists of selling courses and coaching.

Can you Copy Him?

If you know how to turn ordinary people who have no idea about a topic into experts making them money from the topic you are teaching them, then yes, you could copy his approach and make your own course and your own digital products.

He uses advanced lead nurturing techniques like geo-targeting clients and offers free reports and case studies to get you to sign up for his flagship programs and coaching.

There's no reason why you can't do the same, although hard work and persistence will be needed, as will a blog topic that has lots of interest.

3. Smart Blogger Jon Morrow — Blogging Expert

Jon Morrow is the brains behind the popular blogging website called Smart Blogger.

Before launching his blog, Jon worked as a writer for Copy Blogger and produced several articles that touched the heart of the readers.

His content was so good and his story inspiring; it led to him becoming an instant hit. 

In 2012 his blog ‘Boost Blog Traffic‘ was launched, which later became known as Smart' Blogger,' and today it has over 4 million readers and is one of the biggest blogs dedicated to writing and blogging.

What makes him so unique is that he can't move from the neck down due to a form of muscular dystrophy. He writes his blog posts using speech recognition software and operates a mouse with his lips.

His story, but more than anything, his writing ability, is why so many people followed him and signed up to his blog email list when he first launched.

Alexa Rank: 17,356

How Much Does He Make?

Smart Blogger earns at least $1 million per year as mentioned by himself here with his income reports. He makes this through various online courses, membership sites, and affiliate marketing.

I'm guessing this is after his blogger taxes , so his annual revenue is likely to be higher than this figure.

Can You Copy Him?

Smart Blogger became almost an instant hit because the owner was guest blogging on high-traffic websites. In his bio, he had a link that took the readers to a squeeze page that said, “blog coming soon,' and they could enter their email to stay updated.

Because his writing was so powerful, he managed to get thousands of readers signed up before he launched, and when he did eventually launch in 2012, his blog already had very high traffic numbers.

He offers free reports, cheatsheets, and webinars and sells his courses on the back-end of these free resources.

There's no reason why you can't create these as well to target your audience.

You can also copy his guest blogging approach to build your email list, which in turn will mean more blog traffic.

4. Copy Blogger – Content Marketing Blog

Brian Clarke created Copy Blogger in 2006, where he produced content teaching people content marketing skills.

Starting as a one-person operation, he built his blog to be one of the most well-known marketing websites around – everyone knows Copy Blogger.

Brian had the mindset to study market research and identify his readers' pressing matters and pain points. It resulted in him creating content and products that his audience desired and began the process of his blog becoming a huge success.

Alexa Rank: 19,038

How Much Does Copyblogger Make?

Copyblogger blog rakes in around $35.1 million each year.

Can You Copy Their Success?

The blog sells courses and memberships and has developed a team of experts to provide information and advice to its readers.

He follows the typical marketing approach of offering a free incentive to get you on his email list — you are then targeted to purchase the courses.

You can copy this approach, but you need patience, good writing, and sharp marketing skills.

5. Moz – SEO Bloggers

Moz provides insights, guides, and research on all topics related to digital marketing, search engine optimization, and content marketing. The SEO blog is popular and has thousands of readers who learn from almost every article they publish.

Launched in 2004 by Rand Fishkin, the blog was known as SEOMoz. It quickly became successful, with business owners flocking to them for advice on how to increase their website traffic through SEO and intelligent marketing.

One of Moz's mottos is to earn the customer rather than buy them, which has helped them become a much-loved resource for many business owners.

Alexa Rank: 1,788

How Much Does Moz Make Each Year?

Moz earns around $45 million each year (after Tax). They achieve this through selling software via a subscription service which helps business owners to create more traffic through SEO.

The software is popular with almost anyone working in internet marketing especially bloggers and online business owners.

Can You Copy Moz's Blogging Success?

To copy Moz's approach would first require you to have the knowledge and funds to create a software series that solves several problems for business owners. 

You would then have to market the software by offering free trials and build up a reputation for the product you're selling.

One of the ways Moz builds trust is by offering free software in addition to paid software. The free software is excellent, which makes the user excited to purchase their premium products.

If their free software does this, I can't wait to use their paid products.

Stephen Hockman from SEO Chatter is one great example of someone with the goal to become a number one resource for SEO.

6. Mashable – Multi-Topic Blog

Mashable is multi-niche money-making blog that provides information, reviews, and advice on several topics such as technology, entertainment, science, culture, and many more blog topics. It's grown into a media company in the traditional sense. 

It's a global news source that has millions of readers and followers.

Peter Cashmore was just 19 years old when he launched Mashable in 2005. The consultant from Aberdeen in Scotland had the initial intention to provide advice on how specific technology worked.

Cashmore later sold Mashable in 2017 for a reported $50 million, but to this day, the blog remains a huge success and pulls in millions of readers each month.

Alexa Rank: 1,584

How Much Do They Make?

According to Blogging.com, Mashable earns around $24 million each year – truly one of the top money making blogs!

The income comes mainly from advertisements and amazon affiliate links and other affiliate programs from product reviews.

Can You Copy Mashable?

You can similarly approach your blog, but it would take some time to establish yourself, mainly because it targets multiple subjects.

It's not niche-specific, so your blog will need time, unique content, and a vast team of writers with the knowledge required for each topic.

7. Perez Hilton – Celebrity Lifestyle Blogging

Perez Hilton was launched in 2004 and was made famous by posting controversial gossip about celebrities.

He would find inside information and publish up-to-date entertainment news about the rich and famous pop stars, movie stars, and sports stars.

His audience loved it, and his traffic reached numbers that would make your eyes water. The media blogger stated that his website once received over 8 million views in 24 hours.

Today, his blog is an online gossip media hub, a bit like the ok magazine, but with a podcast and exclusive video content.

It's still a popular blog with millions of followers.

Alexa Rank: 6,741

How Much Does Perez Hilton Make?

The blog is earning around $7 million each year according to an article on Forbes.

The money comes from Google Adsense and various other advertising payments on his website, tv show, and radio station.

It is also widely reported that the blog earned around $45 million in the year 2005/6.

Could You Be The Next Perez Hilton Blogger?

If you could find the inside scoop on celebrities and post them to a blog regularly, then you could hit some good numbers (get inspired with some celebrity blogs here).

His monetization methods are straightforward, and he makes money because of the number of people reading his blog.

However, Perez Hilton was made famous by his outspoken persona, often being called out as cruel. I don't think people tolerate this kind of behavior as much, so this approach would be a bit tricky to copy in today's world.

8. Tech Crunch – Tech Blog

TechCrunch provides the latest news on business startups and offers technology tips and advice on their blog.

The blog was first published in 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Tears.

They feature information from top company giants like Apple and Uber. In addition, if something is released, updated, or about to happen, the blog will have news for you to read.

Their traffic numbers have exploded since they launched, with millions of people reading their blogs every month.

Alexa Rank: 552

How Much Do They Earn?

The latest talk suggests that the site is earning around $12 million a year from banner advertising alone.

The income is from online advertising and memberships.

Could You Copy Their Success?

You would need to be an expert on technology and build great relationships with technology companies.

You could do this by producing content that relates to the company and the products they are selling.

But keep in mind that this is a crowded niche and new products are constantly being released or updated requiring fresh content to rank.

It would take time, but with persistence, marketing, and expert knowledge, you could copy their approach and form a blog similar to TechCrunch.

9. Steve Pavlina – Self Improvement Blog

Steve Pavlina is a personal development blogger who has created a blog with millions of readers and subscribers.

The blog began in December 2010.

HIs blog has a traffic count of roughly 2.5 million visitors a month, who seek to read his content on personal development topics.

He blogs about health, wealth, lifestyle, abundance, and more. 

Steve has a unique style of writing that gets his message across to the reader in a way that makes you want to read more.

Many people believe it's his personality, intelligence, and wit that does the trick.

Alexa Rank: 100,365

How Much Does His Blog Make?

100k each month is the figure tossed around online.

The income comes from selling books, coaching, and courses.

How To Copy His Blogging Success

Again, it's a multi-niche blog, so you will have to work hard developing a personal brand long before seeing success.

You will need to create content, promote your blog, market like crazy, and build up a large audience. You can then sell courses and offer to coach your readers by targeting a specific problem.

10. Smart Passive Income – How To Make A Passive Income

Smart Passive Income is a blog created by Pat Flynn. It first came online back in 2008 when Pat started blogging about ways to make money online.

His friendly personality, trusting nature, and abundance of knowledge on the target subject made him a go-to figure for the millions of people looking for ways to earn a living online.

The successful blog provides you with a no-nonsense approach and tells you how it is and what you need to do. In addition, you get a feeling of trust from the way he writes his posts, which is possibly one of the reasons for his success.

Alexa Rank: 18,831

How Much Does Smart Passive Income Earn?

SPI earns around  $2.1 million a year. Roughly 40% of his income is from affiliate marketing and the rest from selling his courses and advertisements.

Pat became one of the first bloggers to post a monthly income report online. He did this not to brag but to prove that what he was teaching was genuine.

Can You Copy Pat Flynn?

You could copy his approach of being a trusting blogger and producing content that helps the reader. 

Pat offers free courses and runs a popular podcast that enables him to market his products and blog to the enormous audience he has built up over the tears.

To do the same, you will need to start a blog, stay niche-specific, and copy his methods to get people into his sales funnels. It will take time, but content marketing is a great way to build an audience.

11. Engadget – Tech Bloggers

Engadget is a top money making blog in the tech niche that Peter Rojas first created in 2004. His blog wrote articles and reviews on various consumer electronic devices and gadgets.

You can find content reviews and information on laptops, headphones, smartwatches, and many more electronic devices and gizmos.

The blogger became so popular that in 2011, AOL made a successful offer to purchase the blog. 

Alexa Rank: 1,086

How Much Do They Make?

High traffic numbers enable Engadget to earn around $48 million each year from affiliate revenue and various sponsored content.

How To Copy Them?

The original owner worked as an editor for another popular tech blog called Gizmodo before launching his website. So he already had the knowledge and experience of seeing how a technology blog operates. 

This helped him with everything from web design and web development to generating links and traffic from the start.

If you were to copy his approach, you would first need to be an expert on electronic devices, and secondly, you would have to know how to create outstanding product reviews.

12. Entrepreneurs On Fire (J L Dumas)

EO Fire, or Entrepreneurs On Fire, as it's more commonly known, started as a podcast that interviews successful entrepreneurs.

John Lee Dumas was working in retail when he started listening to podcasts while driving. It was during a commute when the idea to start a podcast himself first came into his head.

He loved to listen to stories from successful business owners, but he realized that no one was producing a podcast that interviewed them regularly.

With his brain working overtime, he came up with the idea of starting a podcast that would interview entrepreneurs every day.

Yes, he set himself a considerable challenge, but also one that would niche him down as being unique and different — he launched his podcast and blog in September 2012.

Fast-forward to today, and his blog is one of the top money making blogs for businesses and entrepreneurs that offers podcasts, show notes, and advice related to starting a successful business.

Alexa Rank: 70,334

How Much Does EO Fire Make?

The award-winning blogger earns an estimate of $3 million per year from his blog, as shown on his  monthly income reports.

JLD makes money from advertisements on his podcasts, affiliate marketing, selling courses, and his best-selling books.

Can You Copy His Blogging Success?

You could copy his approach in a different niche, but you need to be sure that there's a demand for it. If you're going to be different and publish a podcast every day, you will need determination and hard work in abundance.

Maybe you could mimic his approach, but instead of podcasting every day, you could write a blog post every day or create a video every day.

It's all about doing something different, something that no one else is prepared to do. If you can do this, then you stand a good chance of being a success.

Is It Possible To Copy The Most Successful Blogs?

Before we discuss if it's possible or ethical to copy the idea of another blog, take a look at this famous quote: 

“The things you are doing, no matter how seemingly unique, have been done before. So take advantage of, and perhaps expand upon, your predecessor's work.”

Nobody is recommending that you copy another successful blogs work or content. Instead, we are saying that you can take their idea, their niche blog topic, and put your spin on things.

Every single blog topic in this article has been used before and will be again in the future. What makes a new blog stand out is down to the following:

As for copying their marketing approach, then yes, copy it if it's successful. 

Marketing is not an idea but a process that every blogger uses to drive traffic. Yes, you can find new approaches, but typically, it all comes down to building your email list and selling to them through a sales funnel.

Marketing, social media, and SEO will get you traffic, but the critical thing to remember is that you can have a million hits a day, but if you're content or message doesn't relate to them, you fail — it's as simple as that.

Remember, it's not about copying but instead adapting.

These successful blogs didn't invent the topic, they just expanded on it.

Which Niche Markets Have The Most Successful Blogs?

You can make money blogging in any niche market. For example, if you created a niche blog about squirrels, you would attract a niche audience passionate about squirrels.

However, keep in mind one of the reasons many blogs fail is that they target too small of a niche so they only get conservative traffic numbers.

Of course, you will have passionate followers, and yes, you will make money, possibly with Adsense,  but in general, it wouldn't make you wealthy.

I have listed the best niche markets at the beginning of this article. If you're looking at hitting the big time, then choose one of them. But there are tons of other successful blogs out there, if you're after some spare money each month, then blog about anything you want.

What Blog Monetization Method Do Successful Blogs Use?

The best monetization method for blogs depends on the blog niche you're in. For example, if you have a food blog (recipe blog), fashion blog, or lifestyle blog, advertising and Google Adsense would make sense.

However, travel bloggers, or those with a marketing blog or a technology blog, will probably lean towards affiliate marketing and online course creation.

Finally, the lifestyle niche or the self-improvement niche tends to offer personal coaching as a way to monetize their blogs.

Most of the top money making blogs use a mixture of monetization methods, so you could do this too. For example, nothing stops you from selling courses, books, advertisements, and providing coaching and consulting services if it fits into your blog niche.

How You Can Join These Successful Blogs…

You have just read about these successful blogs that are killing it financially.

They all started with a simple idea to build a popular blog and never looked back.

Now it's your turn.

Take the blog idea you have in your head, get to work, and make it better than anything else out there. 

Get your blog started. Be different and unique with fresh ideas, and never give up.

These qualities are what separate a good blog from a great blog.

And who knows, in a few years, your own blog could be listed as one of the most successful blogs online and with it, the financial freedom you want.

To increase your chances of this happening, be sure to check out our complete and detailed guide to the blogging process.

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