How to Make Money Blogging as a Doctor

When I started my blogging journey, I had three goals in mind.  First and foremost, I needed an outlet for my thoughts.  I was bombarding my wife with thoughts on personal finance, debt elimination strategies, and side hustles.  She was excited about my passion, but I can overindulge sometimes.  This was the platform that I needed to funnel my ideas.  Secondly, I wanted to challenge myself to create something valuable that would be helpful to others.  Not strictly doctors and those in the healthcare professions, but anyone who cares about their finances and wants to take control of their life!  Lastly, I really did want to see if I could create something from nothing…and make it profitable!  I have been writing a series called My Physician Side Hustle.  Here I map out my journey using blogging as my side hustle, documenting my victories and my failures.  Now that I have over a year invested in the blogosphere, I can say that I have started to see success.  Can a busy physician really make money blogging?  Yes. Absolutely.  Here is how to make money blogging as a doctor!

Time efficiency

Before we dive into the particulars of creating a blog, let’s first address the complexities that come with blogging as a busy physician or doctor. 

Physicians and other healthcare professionals are plagued by busy schedules.  Depending on your location, specialty, and homelife, there can be little time left for anything else.  For individuals who feel their medical career and home life are busy enough, then I understand completely if this physician side gig is not the best fit for you.  However, for those wishing to create multiple streams of income then blogging is one of the best ways to create another steady revenue stream.  If you want to know more about the best physician side gigs then checkout our post. 

The reality of blogging as a doctor

I am a pulmonary and critical care physician.  I have a wife who is also in the healthcare field, and we have two children.  Our life is busy.  A normal day consists of me either working in the clinic a few half-days a week, or in the ICU from sunup to sundown.  Absolutely there are weeks where writing a 2,000-3,000 word post is challenging.  However, oftentimes I write early in the morning before my children are awake, or late in the evening when everyone is asleep.  Something about a warm cup of tea and much appreciated quiet can really make you crank out a great post quickly. 

I say all of this to share that I too lead a busy life.  If you want to know more about me, just check out my story!  I have young children whose lives I wish to play a pivotal role in.  I too have a demanding career.  However, blogging scratches two itches for me.  One, it allows me a therapeutic outlet to share my thoughts and ideas to the community.  Two, it allows me to create a virtual platform that offers value and the potential for monetization.  Here is exactly how to make money blogging as a doctor. 

Pick a niche

Before you purchase your domain name, first you need to think long and hard about what your niche will be.  Gone are the days where you can create a website and write endlessly about random topics and inevitably find success.  The barriers to entry for blogging are low and thus more and more individuals are taking to their computers.  You need to find the intersection where passion meets a monetizable niche. 

For me this came in the form of physician personal finance.  Now, to preface, I am working hard to expand beyond the finances of doctors and physicians exclusively.  Much of what I write about is applicable to anyone trying to get their finances in order. but you have to start somewhere. 

Some common niches include personal finance, traveling, food and cooking, electronics, digital marketing, etc.  For physicians, our fund of knowledge can be helpful when finding a niche.  Your education as a physician may offer expertise in monetizable subjects.  Depending on your specialty, you could blog about skin care, nutrition, health and fitness, and so on.  Dentists could blog about the best oral hygiene equipment.  Pharmacists could blog about novel pharmaceuticals.  The possibilities are endless.  Whatever your expertise, bring those to the table when thinking about topics you could blog about. 

Purchase a domain

Now that you have selected a niche.  The next step is to create a brand and find a domain name.  The lesson here is to not make it overly complicated.  Something like DoctorPersonalFinanceMoney.com is a terrible name.  It is too lengthy and difficult to remember.  Something like DPFM.com may be better…or just DocFi.com.  Short and sweet.

It is also important that your domain name ends in ‘.com.’  You will be offered website domains that end in ‘.ly’ or ‘.me.’  Do not select these.  They are more difficult for search engines to find and will harm your ability to grow traffic. 

There are plenty of locations to purchase a domain.  I recommend buying your domain with the same provider as your web hosting.  For example, if you choose to use Bluehost as a web provider, you can purchase your domain there too.  Easy.

It is not the end of the world if you make a mistake, however.  When I started blogging, I initially purchased my domain through Google Domains.  Later, when I purchased my web hosting through Bluehost, I learned that having your domain held by a separate provider than you web hosting made things more difficult.  I therefore had to pay a small fee to transfer my domain from Google to Bluehost.  This was not a big deal, but you can learn from my mistake and purchase your domain and webhosting from the same location. 

Purchase web hosting

As I alluded to above, the next step after purchasing your web domain name is to purchase web hosting.  The idea is that your website, though virtual, has to have a physical location (server) to host your site.  When others visit your domain, they are able to view your website because it is hosted on a server.  Companies like Hostgator, Bluehost, WPX, Hostinger, and many others offer shared server space for a nominal fee. 

It is important to understand pricing tiers.  I am oversimplifying, but the more traffic you have visiting your website, the more demanding this is on your host server.  As traffic volume increases, hosting services charge more.  Eventually, once you reach higher traffic (think 1,000-2,000 visitors a day) then it is recommended you purchase a dedicated server for your website.  This is a server that only hosts your website.  This allows for higher traffic volumes without suffering poor load times.  For individuals getting started, generally the lowest pricing tier is fine. 

Create a website with WordPress

Now you have a domain name and a server to host it.  Next, we need to actually give a face to your vision.  This comes in the form of WordPress and WordPress themes.  WordPress is by far the most utilized platform for website creation.  All hosting platforms mentioned above will come standard with WordPress.  If they don’t, then ask for your money back.

There are some great online sources that help you learn how to navigate WordPress.  There are many nuances, but if you select a great WordPress theme and stick to it, you will learn the language in no time.  I will add that in general, simpler is better.  No one wants to discover a website so overwhelmingly cluttered that they have difficulty navigating the content.  What’s nice is the information you save in WordPress (i.e., blog posts, signup forms, content pages, etc.) remain even if you change themes.  This makes it easy to change the aesthetic of your website at a later date.

Consistently create valuable content

At the end of the day, well written, comprehensive, and valuable content is what will make you money.  There are nuances that influence this (i.e., search engine optimization, backlinks, and monetization strategies).  Ultimately, however, search engines will not direct individuals to your website unless it appropriately answers a question or search term.  Consistent content creation is the foundation of a successful blog. 

As a physician, finding a regular cadence for your content will be a challenge.  For me, I find that posting once a week is a realistic goal.  There are many other blogs out there with staff who can publish multiple times a week, or individuals with more freedom in their clinical duties.  Personally, with a busy physician schedule, once a week seems an appropriate starting goal. 

Whatever niche you choose, make sure to take the time to research your writing topics.  If others have already written on the topic, make sure to go above and beyond their content.  This will afford you higher rankings on Google and allow your content to reach as many as possible.  Find a regular publishing schedule and stick with it.  The more you write, the better.  For those who want to know how to make money blogging as a doctor, this is how.

Become an expert

There are many intricacies to blogging.  The best advice is to strategically pick a niche you are passionate about that has the potential for monetization.  However, as you continue to accumulate traffic, there are strategies that you need to better understand. 

Search engine optimization (SEO)

The first factor is search engine optimization (SEO).  SEO is a strategy for writing your content that allows search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing to better discover your blog.  The higher your content ranks, the more readily others can discover it organically.  SEO is critical for building traffic when creating your blog.

Backlinks

Another important factor is backlinks.  This is where another website links to yours.  When search engines see that other authorities are linking to you, it tells the engines that your content is trustworthy, helpful, and valuable.  This is a big factor for ranking highly and boosting traffic.

There are many other influential factors to the success of your blog, but SEO and backlinking are critical to creating content that will be highly viewed.  Search engines help individuals answer a question.  If I ask ‘how to make money blogging as a busy doctor,’ then the search engine will look for keywords that fit this description.  These keywords include ‘money,’ ‘blogging,’ and ‘doctor or physician.’  All of these keywords will help the search engine present me a page with links directing me toward material that will most likely answer my question.  The more strategically your content is written, the more likely you are to convince search engines that your content should be the first website recommended for that question and similar questions).    

Rinse and repeat

Now that you have performed all the necessary tasks for starting a blog, all that is left is to maintain a high level of content creation…consistently. 

For busy physicians and doctors this is what separates those who really want success from those who want a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.  Blogging is not going to make you rich overnight.  It takes years of investment, but eventually you will generate revenue.  I have previously written a post on the 10 best physician side gigs.  If blogging is not for you then I encourage you to check out the rest of the side gigs on that list.  However, none of those on the list will make you wealthy overnight. 

Much like the educational investment to become a physician, creating an online business takes a large upfront investment so you can reap the benefits down the road.  For many digital products, that is the nature of content creation.  There is a monetary and time investment early on.  What is great about digital products is that once something valuable is created, it is infinitely scalable while generating passive income for years.

Monetization

The final step to making money blogging is the monetization of your website.  Before we dive in, there are a few things you need to understand about monetizing your website.

First, monetization is entirely optional.  Despite this article being created to help you create supplemental income as a physician, it is not a requirement.  If you love writing content and have no need for the extra income, then by all means…write away!

However, for the majority of individuals who pursue blogging as a side gig, it is for the potential profit.  Monetization comes in a number of shapes and sizes, and there is no perfect strategy to make money through your blogging content.  What I have outlined below are methods bloggers utilize to create income through their website.

Targeted advertisements

The most familiar avenue for website monetization is through advertisements from large digital marketing companies.  Think Google Adsense, Ezoic, and Mediavine.  Often, there are pageview cutoffs to be affiliated with these digital advertising companies, but the strategy remains the same.  Based on your traffic, certain companies will pay to advertise on your website. 

These advertisements take the form of embedded code placed all over your website.  Generally, you can control how ads are located on your content, but for the most part they need to be abundant to generate the clicks needed to make money.  These digital marketing companies use cookies to direct potential buyers to advertisements based on their search and purchase history. 

Reimbursement is based on how many individuals visit your website and have an advertisement displayed on screen.  This is quantified by costs per click (CPC) and impressions.  As such, reimbursement is variable based on traffic and the product advertised.  In general, you need traffic well above 10,000-30,000 pageviews a month to receive impactful reimbursement from this form of monetization. For those wanting to know how to make money blogging as a doctor, this is likely the easiest, but lowest paying.

Private advertisements

The next form of monetization is akin to the targeted advertisements mentioned previously.  Private advertisements come from companies specifically looking to have access to your audience.  My website, for example, caters to high income earners in the healthcare professions, so hypothetically investment companies, insurance agencies, and financial advisors would be incentivized to advertise on my website.  This is because I cater to a population that could benefit from their services. 

Private advertisements often pay more than targeted ads.  You can also negotiate your price.  Again, prices will depend on the traffic your website is receiving as well as the virtual locations on your website you are willing to allow advertisements.  For instance, an advertisement located directly on your homepage is worth more than a location buried deep within an old post.  Depending on your niche, audience, and traffic, private advertisements can range from $50-$2000 or more a month!

Affiliate partnerships

Arguably the most productive form of monetization is affiliate partnerships.  To simplify what affiliate marketing and partnerships are…you are the middle man.  You connect a potential customer to a company selling a product. 

With affiliate marketing, your blog offers avenues for potential buyers to navigate to websites.  There are millions of websites built on income from affiliate marketing revenue.  The best example of this would be the Wirecutter.  The Wirecutter is a product review website.  If you are in the market for a gaming laptop, you might start by Googling ‘best gaming laptops.’  You will then be directed to a list of websites comparing the best gaming laptops.  If you were to navigate to the Wirecutter, they may compare the top 10 best gaming laptops then recommend the best one.  If you took their advice and used a link on their page to navigate to Apple and subsequently purchased an Apple product, then the Wirecutter would get a percentage of that sale.

As long as the Wirecutter continues to rank #1 on Google for anyone searching for the best gaming laptops, then they will continuously receive revenue from purchases that occur as a result of their content.  This, my friends, is passive income.  This highlights the importance of well written posts that rank high and are optimized for search engines.  Multiple surveys of bloggers have demonstrated that affiliate marketing offers the highest revenue for websites.  This is how to make money blogging as a doctor.  Create high ranking content, offer affiliate links, and let the income roll in while you sleep.

If you want to know how to make money blogging as a doctor, focus on affiliate partnerships.

Sponsorships

Another form of monetization that I personally use on my website is sponsorships.  The idea behind sponsorships is that a company looking to reach your audience can provide an amount of money in exchange for advertisement space on your site for a set duration of time.  This is different from private advertisements in that you offer certain incentives alongside their regular payments.  For me, sponsorships take the form of private advertisements on my site as well as the promise of keeping their advertisements on our top-rated posts for the duration of our business transaction. 

Sponsorships can be a great way to generate revenue before your site has reached a wider audience.  Given that large advertising firms ask for a certain volume of traffic before they allow you to use their platform, sponsorships can be a great alternative.  Much like targeted and private advertisements, sponsorships depend on your niche and website traffic.  If you want to know more about how I utilize sponsorships to support this website, then check out our sponsorship page!

Sponsored posts

As your blog accumulates traffic, so too will your notoriety grow.  As you create a name for yourself in your niche, potential individuals, parties, or companies will come to you seeking sponsored posts.  The idea is that individuals will pay you for the opportunity to feature a post on your website.  In general, valuable content is produced for your website and subsequently the post provides a backlink to their website or contact.  This is in the hopes that your viewership is directed to their product or service.  Sponsored posts can vary based on your niche, but I have seen blogs charge $100-$1,000 per post!  For websites with a large enough following, a sponsored post could be featured multiple times a week.  That is serious cash flow! 

Selling digital products

Another very potent avenue for income creation through blogging is by selling digital products.  Yes, you can also sell real tangible products, but then scaling can be more difficult.  As I mentioned above, the creation of a digital product (like an online course, a masterclass, or an electronic book) is a great way to create revenue from your blog.

Websites and blogs use these digital products as an incentive to get you to subscribe to their website.  I do the same thing!  I have created a very comprehensive FREE budgeting tool that I offer to anyone who subscribes to our newsletter.  Offering a digital product drives subscribership to my newsletter, which is another platform for advertisements and to provide valuable content to my viewership.

What I have seen bigger blogs do is create digital products, like an online course.  They offer a condensed version of the course for free as an incentive to subscribe.  Those who utilize the free course are then offered a more comprehensive masterclass that they charge for.  For individuals like Adam Enfroy, he makes a 6-figure income monthly from his masterclass alone.  This is because he has put in the work to create a free digital product that subsequently incentivizes individuals to purchase the comprehensive course. 

So, digital product creation is both scalable and lucrative if it offers value.  I encourage all bloggers looking to monetize their site to create some form of a digital product. 

Consulting

The final avenue for monetization is consulting.  As you accumulate a following in your selected niche, your opinion and expertise will become valuable.  As such, others will pay for your opinion because it is trustworthy.  If you have created a successful blog or digital product, others want to know how to recreate that success…and they will pay for it! 

Consulting is often charged by the hour or per interaction.  Depending on the niche, consulting can be very lucrative too.  I have seen websites charge hundreds of dollars per interaction.  If you are able to help a client even just a few times a week, that can bring in thousands of dollars in revenue monthly. 

How much can doctors make blogging?

So, how much can doctors make from blogging?  Obviously, this is highly variable based on your traffic volume, niche, products offered, and monetization strategy.  There are some great articles online that the variability in blog revenue.  Affilimate has interviewed over 150 blogs that discuss their monthly income.  Sam Dogen, the creator behind Financial Samurai (also one of my top personal finance blogs) also has great articles discussing the earning potential from blogging.  He advertises how many blogs (probably his included) make millions of dollars annually by diversifying their monetization strategy. 

For doctors, blogging can take time.  Given busy clinical demands, it may only be realistic to publish once a week…that is doable!  If you are persistent, create valuable content, and build a working monetization strategy, there is no reason you cannot make between $500-5,000 a month (or more)! This is how to make money blogging as a doctor.

Take home points

As a hard-working physician, you too can still cultivate multiple streams of revenue.  By starting now, you can easily purchase a domain, buy site hosting, and create your website on WordPress.  After that, focus on content creation, SEO, creating backlinks, and a monetization strategy.  This may take years, but if you put in the work now, you will be able to reap the rewards soon.  If you can apply the same dedication, research, and passion to blogging that you do for medicine, there is a real chance you can supplement your income in impactful ways.  This is how to make money blogging as a doctor. If you are considering starting a blog, make sure to check out our article How to Start a Blog! As always…

Stay motivated!

The Motivated M.D.

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