How to Monetize a Blog Under 10K Sessions (5 Uncommon Methods That Actually Work)

Alright, let’s just say it — under 10K sessions a month feels like a blogging wasteland.
You write, you publish, you maybe get 50 views on a good day, and you keep wondering:

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“Can I even make money at this level?”

Short answer? Yes.
Long answer? Stop copying the generic crap everyone else is doing.

Forget ads and Amazon affiliate pennies for now.
In this post, I’m breaking down 5 lesser-known (but real) ways I’ve either used or seen others use to make actual income — even with a small blog.

Let’s go 👇

1. Sell a Notion Template (or Any Digital File) 📁💸

You don’t need 100 blog posts to sell something.

You need:

1 problem
1 solution
Packaged as a digital product

If you’ve written anything like “How I Plan My Content Calendar” or “How I Organize My Freelance Clients,” guess what?

That system sitting in your Notion, Google Sheet, or PDF… someone out there wants it.

Real Example:

I turned my boring content tracking sheet into a $7 Notion template. Shared it inside a blog post → 3 sales in a week. From maybe 300 pageviews.

Platforms: Gumroad, Payhip, Lemon Squeezy
Don’t overbuild. Just ship it.

2. Offer a $10 Micro-Service on Your Niche Skill 🔧

If your blog is about productivity, design, writing, even AI — you have a skill someone needs.

Instead of pitching a $500 coaching package (that nobody clicks), offer something small:

1:1 feedback on a blog post for $10
Quick homepage audit for $15
AI prompt generation bundle for $9

Add a mini CTA at the end of a related blog post like:

“Want help implementing this? I’ll review your post for $10 — drop me a DM or grab it here.”

Low friction, easy yes, fast cash.
Don’t sleep on micro-services. They convert way better at low traffic levels.

3. Build a “Results First” Case Study + Pitch It 📊💥

Instead of hoping your SEO tools post will magically rank and convert… flip the script.

Pick a tool you actually use.
Write a post showing how it helped you get real results.
Screenshots, stats, flaws and all. Make it ugly if you must, just make it honest.

Now email the brand.

Subject: Small blog, big results — possible collab?

Show them the post, what it did for you, and ask if they’d like to sponsor a follow-up, or share it with their audience.

I’ve seen people with under 1K sessions get tool companies to pay $100–$200 for a feature or exclusive post because it’s better than the usual polished BS.

They don’t care about your traffic. They care about your results.

4. Create a Low-Key Paywall Post (No Login Needed) 🚪

This one’s spicy.

Let’s say you wrote a killer 2,000-word blog post. It’s good. Like… you actually impressed yourself.

Try this:

Leave the first 70% of the post open
Gate the last 30% (like a checklist, template, final step, bonus tips)
Ask for $3 to unlock it

You can do this with:

Gumroad paywall pages
Buy Me A Coffee extras
Or even a Stripe link + auto-email

You don’t need a membership site. You don’t need a full product.

You just need one helpful piece of content worth $3 to the right person.

Even 10 buyers? You’ve made $30 from one blog post on a site with barely any traffic.

5. Run a 5-Day Challenge or Workshop (Live or Pre-Recorded) 🎯

This is criminally underused.

Here’s the idea:

Pick a tiny transformation (like “Plan Your Next Month of Content”)
Offer a 5-day email challenge or mini workshop
Charge $5–$15
Deliver it via email, Google Drive, or Loom videos

It doesn’t need to be perfect.
Just clear, honest, and helpful.

Use your blog to promote it:

“Struggling to plan blog content? I’ll walk you through it in 5 days — no fluff, no overwhelm. Starts Monday.”

You don’t need a huge email list — just a few engaged readers or Reddit/Pinterest traffic can fill your first mini-cohort.

Bonus: Stack 2-3 Methods Together 🧠💡

The real money? It comes from combining these.

Example game plan:

Blog Post: “My AI Blog Writing Workflow (Using Free Tools)”
CTA 1: Sell your actual blog writing checklist ($4 on Gumroad)
CTA 2: “Want me to review your first AI-generated blog post?” ($10 service)
Bonus: Offer a $7 3-day email workshop on blog content planning

Boom.

From one post, you’ve got:

Digital product
Micro-service
Low-ticket workshop

And you didn’t even hit 1,000 pageviews.

What Not to Do at Under 10K Sessions ❌

Quick warning:
Most beginners waste months doing this junk:

🚫 Applying for Adsense too early (you’ll earn $0.47/month)
🚫 Promoting Amazon products with 1.2% commission
🚫 Writing “ultimate guides” with zero backlinks or keyword strategy
🚫 Waiting until 50K sessions to start monetizing

Stop waiting. Start testing.

Low traffic is a blessing in disguise — because you can experiment wildly without worrying about messing up.

TL;DR — 5 Uncommon Ways to Monetize a Blog Under 10K Sessions

✅ Sell Notion templates, sheets, swipe files
✅ Offer $10 micro- inside your niche
✅ Turn your own case studies into brand collabs
✅ Soft paywall your best post (no login needed)
✅ Run a simple, low-ticket email challenge/workshop

You don’t need 10K sessions. You need strategy.

Start small. Start weird. Start with whatever you already have.

Because that first $100? That’s proof of concept.

After that, it gets fun. 😏

How to Monetize a Blog Under 10K Sessions