Ever wondered how to monetise your blog? Well have I got the post for you.
Welcome to my new series!
I was thinking through my blog content and realised that now I’ve been at this almost 3 years and sort of know what I’m doing, I want to share that. However, I’m not a guru or super talented or anything, and I don’t want to spout complex wisdom that ultimately means nothing. Therefore, I came up with the idea for a new series: Five fast ways.
In this series, I will pick a topic and give you five simple, easy, habit-forming things you can do to push you in the right direction. They won’t change anything overnight and they won’t suddenly make you the best in the world, but they’ll set you on the right path, and will become things that you can integrate into your normal routines. I had a few topics in mind to kick off this series, so after a short poll on Twitter, I found the one to start with. Here’s our first ‘Five fast ways’ post: Five fast ways to monetise your blog.
Five fast ways to monetise your blog
Small disclaimer: The rest of these posts will actually be “fast ways”, but there isn’t really a fast way to monetise your blog. It takes hard work and effort and it can be very inconsistent. However, these are some simple steps to start with.
1) Make sure your blog/Instagram is "marketable"
I’m gonna be the last person in the world to tell you to “find a niche” because, honestly, I don’t think that you need to force one. However, if you really want to make money from your accounts, you need to make sure they’re somewhere a brand would want to advertise. Do you talk about products naturally? Is your work consistent and high quality? Are you posting frequently and to the best of your abilities? There’s no point trying to monetise your blog or Instagram if it’s not something a brand would want.
2) Find the right Apps/Websites/Facebook groups
Until you’ve started doing collaborations, it’s rare that brands will just pluck you out of thin air. Therefore, to avoid starting from scratch, downloading the right apps and locating the right websites and groups will help connect you with brands looking to work with people. Try Twitter accounts like Blogger Opps, apps like Tribe or Takumi, and search “*Your city* Blogger Opportunities” on Facebook, I can guarantee you there’s a group that exists.
3) Use affiliate links or codes
I’ve actually made quite a fair amount through affiliate links and codes, and they’re my second highest source of blog income. Essentially, they’re a link or a code that a reader/follower will click through or enter at checkout, and you’ll receive a portion of that sale. Though some collaborations offer affiliate codes in the form of discounts, there are some websites like Amazon Associates or AWIN (the latter of which I know nothing about, sorry) that you can sign up to and use on your own.
4) Put ads on your blog
Though this isn’t one that I use personally, I know that a lot of people love it as a source of income! Once self-hosted, there are ways to put ads on your blog and make money through click-throughs or simply having the ads displayed. There are multiple ways to do this, the main two being signing up through a program like WordAds if you’re a WordPress user, or simply selling banner space to brands. You can find a lot of options from the latter on the Twitter or Facebook groups I referenced earlier.
5) Pitch to people yourself
Though this is a far more daunting one, it’s not too bad once you get the hang of it. In fact, at this moment in time, it’s how I get a little bit of my paid work and about 70% of my gifted work. Find brands you love and want to work with, locate their PR emails (I wouldn’t recommend using their regular customer service emails) and pitch a collaboration to them – the more specific the better. If you’re worried about starting with this, I recommend pitching to brands that you already know work with influencers.
And that’s all I’ve got! Feel free to share your own help with how to monetise your blog in the comments, and let me know what else you’d like out of this series – I’ll try to help the best I can!
Lots of love,
Jas xx
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Loved this! I have worked with brands almost strictly from being reached out to but omg I didn’t know about the Tribe and Takumi app! I’m going to try those!
Thank you! Definitely try out some apps!
Jas xx
YAY – I was so excited when I saw your tweet about this series! One thing I know I need to work more on is my Instagram – as it’s more fitness/running related, I’m trying to take some more photos/videos with my tripod or sometimes balancing it on something post run as in no dimension would I be running with a tripod haha.
Just followed the twitter account Blogger Opps, haven’t heard of them before. Although there are a lot of blogging groups on Facebook, I’m personally trying to distance from the platform but I do see the benefit of having Facebook! I haven’t heard of Tribe or Takumi before, I’ll have to download those as well!
In terms of pitching, as I just recently got my domain, and I know a lot of brands ask for DA score, I may have to wait a bit, but I do have good engagement on my posts so I’m not sure if I should just go for it! 🙂
Sahara | https://www.saharasdreams.com
Sahara you always leave the nicest most detailed comments and I love it! I really hope some of these help you and it makes me so happy that you were looking forward to this series! xx
YAY – I was so excited when I saw your tweet about this series! One thing I know I need to work more on is my Instagram – as it’s more fitness/running related, I’m trying to take some more photos/videos with my tripod or sometimes balancing it on something post run as in no dimension would I be running with a tripod haha.
Just followed the twitter account Blogger Opps, haven’t heard of them before. Although there are a lot of blogging groups on Facebook, personally trying to distance from the platform but I do see the benefit of it! I haven’t heard of Tribe or Takumi before, I’ll have to download those as well!
In terms of pitching, as I just recently got my domain, and I know a lot of brands ask for DA score, I may just wait a bit but I do have good engagement on my posts so not sure if I should just go for it 🙂
Sahara | https://www.saharasdreams.com
Sahara this is so sweet thank you! Yeah I can imagine taking photos on your own while running is quite tricky. Hope you get some opportunities from Blogger Opps and the apps! Yeah, I’d wait until you’ve built your DA a little!
Jas xx
This is super useful! Hoping to montise my blog in 2020 so these tips are great xx
Oooo hope these help! xx
These are great tips! I never put ads on my blog. I would not know where to put them. Pitching can be intimidating but it helps a lot!
Yeah, I wouldn’t quite know where to put them on mine either! xx
I will be bookmarking this and reading this back over when I am home and comfortable because I really want to do this but I always push it back!
Jessica & James | http://www.foodandbaker.co.uk
Oooo really hope it helps you later! Xx
These tips are absolutely amazing! I’ve never thought about putting ads on my blog but it is so handy for anyone who wants to get a bit more money from their blog!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
So glad that these helped! xx
This post is helpful and interesting! Thank you for sharing these such useful tips! Xx
So glad you found it helpful! Thank you for reading xx
Great tips, I put ads on my blog once and stopped doing it after a couple of months because I thought it made my posts look ugly ?. I need to start pitching, it always seems so daunting though! x
Sophie
Hahaha I never tried putting ads on my blogs, but it was also because I thought it would make my posts look ugly ? honestly I was exactly the same, I’ve only just started pitching but it’s actually been pretty successful and I’m getting used to it! Xx
Thanks! I really needed this for my own blog!
No problem! Glad it could help xx
Great tips! Personally I only use ads and affiliate links at the moment. One day I’ll certainly have to work on pitching to brands! My instagram game is laughable so that’s not really an option lol I enjoy writing far more than I enjoy taking pictures and creating “instagrammable” posts!
Casey Anne | https://itscaseyanne.com
Thank you! It’s all about finding what areas work for you! xx
Some great tips! Affiliate links is something I need to learn about and do myself! I always pitch to brands because the worse that could happen is them not replying or saying no! I would love to start putting ads on my blog too x
Exactly, you really can’t lose anything by pitching to a brand! Good luck with it all! xx