Do Bloggers Really Make $20,000 a Month? The Truth Behind the Hype

Last Updated: August 23, 2025 — final draft with FAQ & schema.

$20,000 a Month Blogging? Here’s the Part Most People Don’t Say Out Loud

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy through my links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I’d use myself.

Quick Answer: Most bloggers do not make $20,000 a month from writing posts. The few who do usually earn it by selling courses, promoting high-paying finance/software affiliates, or running media-size sites with serious traffic. If you’re in a normal niche, a realistic, hard-won target is $200 → $500 → $1,000/month over time.

Let’s be blunt: those “I make $20,000/month blogging” posts get clicks because big numbers sell dreams. Some are partly true. Many are marketing. The pattern behind the big payouts usually isn’t a hobby blog—it’s a small business with a sales engine attached.

Where $20k/Month Actually Comes From

• High-RPM niches (finance, insurance, software, medical). Ads can pay $30–$100 per thousand views here. That’s not cycling or recipes; it’s credit cards, loans, B2B software, etc.
• High-value affiliates. One SaaS signup can pay $50–$200+. Rank for those keywords or build a funnel, and it scales—slowly and expensively.
• Digital products & courses. This is the big one. Many “income report” sites don’t make their money from their niche—they make it selling how to blog/SEO/Pinterest to other bloggers.
• Media-style sites. Multi-author, 50–200 posts/month, sponsorships, the works. That’s a company, not a diary.

Why Most Solo Blogs Won’t Hit It (and That’s Okay)

• Traffic reality. At hobby-niche ad rates ($2–$10 RPM), you’d need millions of monthly pageviews to sniff $20k from ads alone.
• Competition is brutal on the keywords that actually pay (think finance/software). You’re up against teams.
• Time and leverage. Without email funnels, products, or high-ticket affiliates, you’re capped.

The Sensible Target for Normal Niches

Build a base you can actually control:

• First milestone: $200–$500/month via a mix of ads + relevant low-drama affiliates.
• Next: $500–$1,000/month by tightening SEO, adding internal links, and offering a small, useful digital product to your own audience.
• Optional ceiling: $2k–$5k/month if you niche down, rank for buyer intent, and treat the blog like a business (email list, products, repeatable promos).

A Simple, Solid Place to Start

• Read this first: Blogging All-in-One For Dummies — a beginner-friendly, comprehensive guide that covers writing posts, SEO, promotion, and running a practical blog without the hype.
• Upgrade later: Hosting, keyword tools, and email services once you’re ready and accepted into their affiliate programs.

Replace the link with your Amazon affiliate URL before publishing.

How to Spot the Hype

• Vague revenue sources. “I made $27,413.52!” Okay—from what? Ads? Which affiliates? Course launches?
• All the money comes from teaching blogging. That’s a different business model, not proof your gardening blog will do the same.
• No traffic or RPM context. If they won’t share pageviews or niche RPMs, you can’t sanity-check the math.
• Cherry-picked months. Show a rolling 6–12-month average, not one launch spike.

Bottom Line

If you’re expecting a personal blog to print $20k every month, you’re setting yourself up to quit. If you aim for steady $200 → $1,000/month and stack small wins for a year, you’re building something real. That’s the difference between hype and a business.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Are $20,000/month blogging income reports real?

Sometimes. But most big numbers come from selling courses, promoting high-ticket affiliates (finance/software), or running large, multi-author sites. It’s rarely “I wrote posts and pinned them.”

What niches can realistically hit $20k/month?

Finance, insurance, B2B software, medical—niches with high advertiser competition and high-value affiliates. Hobby niches can make money, but ad RPMs are lower and traffic needs are huge.

How long does it take to make $500–$1,000/month?

Typically 6–18 months if you publish consistently, choose search-led topics, and use basic internal linking. Faster with strong domain authority; slower if you publish randomly.

What’s the simplest monetization stack for a normal niche?

Basic display ads, a couple of relevant affiliate offers, and one small digital product to your email list. Keep it boring and repeatable.

What red flags should I watch for?

• No breakdown of where revenue came from.
• All earnings tied to “how to blog” offers.
• One-month screenshots without multi-month context.