BLOGGING TIPS: How to make money blogging

I often get asked for advice on how I make money from my blog, so I thought I would put together a post with my top tips. I’m by no means an expert here but my blog has started to earn a fair amount (to me), which helps on the cost of running my blog, advertising and things like train tickets to blogger events, plus occasionally I get to treat myself with the money too! It all helps and blogging is such hard work, we should never feel ashamed of wanting to earn money from it. Blogging takes an amazing amount of time, effort and creativity so in my opinion, we all deserve a little treat from it, now and again! You might also consider joining some of the credible influencer marketing platforms in order to be more easily found by potential brands.

So firstly, here are some crucial points you’ll need before the money starts to roll in:

1. Amazing content – Companies look for blogs that are interesting, engaging and have a strong loyal readership, demonstrating they can produce great content that keeps their readers coming back for more. This is easier said than done but it’s important to find a writing style that your readers enjoy and stick with it! It’s also important to post consistently so companies know they can rely on you to deliver on time too.

2. Active on Social Media – Having a great presence on social media is so important, companies will want to see that you share your posts and will be spreading the word about your sponsored content. This doesn’t really mean you need thousands of followers, having a smaller group of followers that will reply, retweet or interact is better than thousands of people who lurk in the background!

3. Your own personal Brand – This will help your blog stand out from the crowd, as let’s face it – all bloggers want those rare sponsored posts, you sometimes you’ll really need to fight for them. It took me a while to develop my own blogging personality and style, but in the end you have to do what feels right and suits you and it should go from there.

Right, so onto the ways your can start earning some money!

Sponsored Posts – So far I’ve come across three different styles of sponsored post. Firstly you may be approached to include a link to a companies product/site – this I’ve found is the most common. This is great as you can incorporate the link into a post of your style and theme. Secondly, a company may already have content written – they will offer you a fee to post this on your blog. Personally I don’t accept this form of guest posting, as I feel this would interrupt my personal writing style (and the post would stick out like a sore thumb) but some bloggers like this as it’s an easier option to get a paid opportunity. Lastly, you might be asked to post an infographic that has already been created – this I will have done a few times, if I honestly feel the infographic is fitting to my blog and people will actually enjoy reading it (not if it’s 10 top insurance companies, etc!) – I don’t mind these posts as I like to write my own text to introduce the graphic and make it fit in, rather than just sticking up a random graphic out of the blue.

Affiliate Links – Including affiliate links in your post will mean if the link is clicked on and a product purchased, you’ll get a snippet of the profits. Usually only just a few pence, these can start to add up if you use the right links.

My current favourites:

– Amazon Affiliates – you can buy anything on Amazon so this is a fab one to try.
– Skimlinks – they work with thousands of merchants and with a simple piece of code will turn all of your relevant links into affiliate links, simple!

Advertising – You can also make money through advertising on your blog. I like all of my ads to be on the sidebar as I think it looks neater, but I’ve seen blogs that go to whole hog with backgrounds and ad pop-ups (which probably earn a lot more!), so you can decide which suits you.

Here are a couple of options to try:

– Google Adsense
– Blogger Spaces – selling spaces on your blog for other bloggers is a great idea, however to get things started it’s a good idea to offer free button swaps to build your reputation and show what you’ll be offering your paid customers, should they wish to sign up for a space in the future.
– Nuffnang

REMEMBER: If you do include sponsored or affiliate links, you must disclose them.

So, that was just a small selection of the ways to earn money through blogging,  I hope this has been helpful! There are literally hundreds of affiliate sites and advertising options which might work differently for some than others, so have a look around and give them a go!

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