S
M
Making Sense of Cents
Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 39 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
How Making Sense of Cents Makes Money
Personal finance blog sharing money-saving and side-income tips
How did Making Sense of Cents monetize?
Summary of the sourced claims below
Making Sense of Cents earns money from affiliate marketing, course sales, sponsored partnerships, and display advertising on its blog. Affiliate marketing makes up about 50% of revenue, earned when readers click links or buy products through referral links. Two courses, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts, account for around 20% of income. Sponsored partnerships provide around 20% of income, and display advertising provides 5% of income through Adthrive commissions.
Revenue sources
4 sources · grouped by how Making Sense of Cents makes money
-
Affiliate / referral commissions
· 8 mentions · 7 sources“most of our revenue came from affiliate marketing ... We get paid when we direct traffic or sales to partner brands through links on our blog and social-media posts. ... Affiliate-marketing commissions make up about 50% of my revenue”
highShow 7 more quotes
“Earn commissions from selling other people’s products through affiliate marketing, such as Amazon’s Affiliate Program.”
medium“Making Sense of Cents earns money blogging in many ways such as: Affiliate marketing - this is when I earn a commission for products that I promote when a reader either clicks on a link or purchases a product through my referral link.”
medium“Affiliate marketing - this is when I earn a commission for products that I promote when a reader either clicks on a link or purchases a product through my referral link.”
high“This is mainly through affiliate marketing, which makes up about 50% of my revenue.”
high“Michelle Schroeder-Gardner started a blog, “Making Sense of Cents,” and turned it into a $100,000/month online business through affiliate marketing and course sales.”
high“This approach has allowed her to consistently earn over $100,000 per month, primarily from affiliate income.”
high“Starting her blog in 2011 to document paying off student debt, she grew it into a business earning over $100,000 per month, with a significant portion coming from affiliate income.”
high -
Course / training sales
· 6 mentions · 5 sources“I created my first course in 2016 ... I launched a course called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. It cost $197. ... my income streams of course sales, affiliate links, sponsored posts, and display advertising on my blog increased ... 20% comes from course sales.”
highShow 5 more quotes
“Sell a physical product or infoproduct (such as an online course).”
medium“I also have two courses, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts, which are targeted to bloggers.”
medium“I also have two courses, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing (https://makingsenseofaffiliatemarketing.com/) and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts (https://makingsenseofsponsoredposts.com/), which are targeted to bloggers.”
high“Around 20% of my income comes from my two courses, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and Making Sense of Sponsored Posts.”
high“Michelle Schroeder-Gardner started a blog, “Making Sense of Cents,” and turned it into a $100,000/month online business through affiliate marketing and course sales.”
high -
Sponsorships & partnerships
· 5 mentions · 4 sources“I earn around 20% from sponsored partnerships, including paid reviews within blog posts, paid Instagram posts, etc.”
highShow 4 more quotes
“Sell sponsored posts for advertisers to get in front of your audience.”
medium“Making Sense of Cents earns money blogging in many ways such as: Sponsored partnerships - This is when I partner with brands and sort of becoming a brand ambassador for them.”
medium“Sponsored partnerships - This is when I partner with brands and sort of becoming a brand ambassador for them.”
high“I made $100 to write a sponsored post reviewing a financial company ... 25% from sponsored posts.”
high -
Advertising revenue
· 5 mentions · 4 sources“Display advertising - This is usually what you see when there are image ads within a blog post. I make sure not to have too many of these in a blog post as to not distract readers from the content that they are reading.”
highShow 4 more quotes
“For example, you can: Display ads from Google AdSense or an ad partner like Ezoic.”
medium“Making Sense of Cents earns money blogging in many ways such as: Display advertising - This is usually what you see when there are image ads within a blog post.”
medium“I also make a small amount of income from display advertising as well.”
high“display advertising on my blog ... I make 5% of my income passively through display-advertising commissions on the blog through Adthrive”
high
How 2,875 businesses make money
Of businesses with mapped revenue sources, the share using each —
Making Sense of Cents’s highlighted.
-
Recurring subscriptions65%
-
One-time / lifetime deals31%
-
Services & consulting25%
-
Physical products21%
-
Affiliate / referral commissions14% ◀
-
Course / training sales11% ◀
-
Usage-based fees10%
-
Advertising revenue10% ◀
-
Add-ons & upsells10%
-
Sponsorships & partnerships9% ◀
-
Marketplace commissions4%
-
Licensing2%
-
Donations & tips2%
-
Setup / onboarding fees2%