#Ad – This is a collaborative post
Blogging is an amazing thing to do, it opens up so many doors for you in various shapes and forms such as reviews, sponsored work and events.
It’s not an overnight achievement though, so many people think you can start a blog and then your inbox is going to be flooded with offers. It takes time to start building your brand and the relationships that go with it from different campaigns. However, the rewards can outweigh the time in such a way that can be measured, we have experienced some things that we would never have been able to do without the blog, not to mention the friendships too.
However, if you’ve already got a blog and you want to start looking at ways to make money, it can be a little daunting on where to start. Here are a few suggestions on the best ways to make money from your blog:
- Sponsored content – This is by far my biggest source of income on my blog. I receive most of my paid blogging jobs via emails however the there are lots of places to look for sponsored content. Firstly look for blogging sites that have jobs listed for you to apply for such as Get Blogged, with these you can pitch for relevant jobs for your blog site. There are also things such as #bloggerswanted on twitter, you can find people searching for bloggers to work with on campaigns, be warned though, some bloggers use this hashtag for advertisement. You also have the option to reach out to brands you feel you can collaborate with.
- Affiliate earnings – I’ve not made a huge amount from my affiliate earnings, that is not to say you can’t, I’ve just not mastered it yet. It is one of the things I want to focus on this year. The way affiliate earnings work are pretty simple, you share a link which is specific to your account with a brand when someone makes a purchase you make a small commission on the sale. Each commission rate can be different for the brands out there and dependant on how the programme is set up but it can vary from a few pence per sale to £10-£20 a sign up depending on the sites. I think if you have a niche in certain areas, this can be a great source of income. Another great thing with this form of earnings, it can be done with very little input from you once it has been set up. For example, if you discuss matched betting and it is a popular post, you could sign up with a matched betting sites affiliate scheme and each person that signs up from your link on the site could be earning you a passive income.
- SEO guest posts & link additions – Unlike the sponsored content you will get emails for you to add links to existing posts or maybe just host a post that is pre-written with links in it. These posts are usually from SEO companies that are just looking to get their brands links onto your site. They usually don’t pay as well as sponsored campaigns but will be quick on your part.
Of course with sponsored content and SEO content you then step into Google’s territory. Most brands would like a follow link, after all, it tells Google that their site is more popular and pushes them up the ranking on the search engine. This is not something Google would like you to do though, as it alters their ranking system. Whether you offer the follow link or not is down to you, do your research and make the decision that suits you and your site.
If you are looking for ways to boost visitors to your site, this post on basic SEO tips is a great place to get started!
The way I see it is simple, Google doesn’t own the internet. They are happy for me to pay them to boost my site up the ranking, they just don’t like other ways around it that doesn’t line their own pockets. This is obviously not the opinion of everyone though, so like I said, make a decision for your site from your own research and opinions.
