What’s All This? Fourth Month Blogging Lessons
Wow!! Affiliate income is fun!! Otherwise known as “passive income,” affiliate income has been my favorite thing about my fourth month blogging. Thanks to my affiliate with Ebates, I’ve made more than $125 this month!
Before you read, don’t forget to check out the first, second, and third month blogging lessons that all still apply along with everything else I’ve learned this month!
First, a little bit about me:
A few months ago, I thought that it was a joke to be a “full-time blogger.” And now here I am trying my hand at it!
If you only remember one thing about me, it’s that I’m not special. Not even close. I’m so average. I’m not a millionaire (far from it!). I don’t have the time to spend 24 hours a day working on my blog. I don’t have an English or journalism degree. And I’m definitely not a grammar pro (thanks to a free app called Grammarly, I don’t have to worry about looking like an idiot when I post things!).
I do love to write and I love to help people. And I’m really good at cutting out spending and finding new ways to save money. Through my blog, I have a way to help people find answers to their questions about how to save money, live on a budget, and get in control of their finances.
By writing about what I love, I’m hoping to be able to provide my family with a second income, while getting to stay at home with my children.
*Update (6/28/16): If you’re thinking about starting your blog for profit, you need to read Abby Lawson’s book Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook. If I had this book when I was starting out, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to figure out what I was doing! She has 209 pages of seriously amazing content for you to know exactly how she went from a hobby blog to earning a six-figure income!
So what have I learned this month?
Connections: Get Them.
Find some of your favorite bloggers and get in touch with them to see if you can work together and swap posts or feature each other’s posts. Bigger audiences for both of you is a win-win!
Guest posts
Submit guest posts to your favorite big bloggers. It’s nerve-racking, but it’s well worth it! Early on as a blogger, it’s so important to get your name out there so that people know about you and about your blog.
Facebook: Use It!
Scheduled posts: do it!
I started every 6 hours and moved to every 4 hours. I have a schedule right now that I’m playing around with:
- 12am: Organizing post
- 4am: Pinterest post (something that sparked my interest on Pinterest)
- 8am: Funny / coffee image
- 12pm: Food post
- 4pm: Mom life post or image
- 8pm: Shared post from another blogger’s Facebook
Connect to Facebook groups
I can’t stress this one enough. I’ve made a LOT of connections from blog groups on Facebook. We share likes and comments and Instagrams.
Here are some of my favorite ones that I belong to:
- Blog Engagement and Promotion Group
- Insta-Fabulous (only for Instagram)
- Blogging Boost
*Update (6/28/16): This is the book that took my friend, Brittany Ann from Equipping Godly Women, from 1,000 to 100,000 Facebook likes! Start off on the right foot with Pinterest and with Facebook!
Pinterest: Link To Everything!
Link your Pinterest to your Facebook account so that people on your Facebook can see what you’ve been pinning!
Link it to your Twitter. If you’re not a huge Twitter user, if you link your Pinterest to your Twitter so that it tweets what you’ve pinned, it helps to boost your presence on both sites at the same time. Just make sure you check what the text is under the image BEFORE you pin! Some of the pins have fantastic images and great resources… but someone wrote something like “OMG, Samantha, this is for you!” as the text. Not a very descriptive tweet an probably won’t lead people to your
Just make sure you check what the text is under the image BEFORE you pin! Some of the pins have fantastic images and great resources… but someone wrote something like “OMG, Samantha, this is for you!” as the text. Not a very descriptive tweet an probably won’t lead people to your Pinterest page.
*Update (6/28/16): Pinterest has a lot of tips and tricks that I wish I’d known from the beginning! This is the Pinterest Strategy Guide that I wish I’d known about from the beginning. If you’re serious about your blog, check it out for sure!
What brought in money for me
Izea
Sponsored Tweets has gotten me quite a few sponsored posts this month! I’ve been really happy with this site this month. This little trickle of income is growing into something big!
Sverve
Even better than Izea, Sverve has gotten me everything from sponsored posts to sponsored tweets. The tweets were for smaller amounts, but you they all added up by the end of the month!
Share-A-Sale
Share-A-Sale is my favorite affiliate site. They have a ton of different companies from which to pick what fits your specific niche. A lot of the affiliates have bonuses for ad placement. I got almost 75% of my affiliate income from Share-A-Sale from bonuses for ad placement!
Related: Side Hustles That Pay for My Groceries (& More!)
Ebates
I truly believe in Ebates. How awesome is it to get cashback for things that you were already buying? I love helping people save money so this is right up my alley! I bought a bunch of vouchers off of LivingSocial for everything from restaurant gift certificates to essential oil certification credits and I got 15% cashback from each one.
You can read more about how much I love Ebates!
Zulily
Another compelling referral program from a company that I love. I chose to use the link directly from my Zulily rather than through an affiliate site. Why did I do that? Because each referral gets me a $20 Zulily credit. Much better than the 5% from the affiliate program. Plus you just can’t beat their prices for super cute stuff! If you haven’t checked out Zulily, you have to.
Amazon
I just love Amazon. I do almost all of my shopping on Amazon, and I’m betting that a lot of people do, too. That’s why I love their 30-day cookie with their crazy-huge selection to buy from.
Yes, the commission rate is lower than a lot of places, but it’s really a great resource! I try to put at least one link in each post to maximize earning potential. Once again, it’s so important to only promote products that you love or support.
Infolinks and Sovrn
I had been using only Adsense to bring in ad income, but then I opened up Infolinks and Sovrn, too. Basically, I make the same amount I was making on all 3 of the ad networks at the same time, so it’s literally tripled my ad income!
Get your free copy of all of my resources to get started blogging below:
Wow! Great info! Thank you for the helpful post. So much to learn!
Your advice is greatly appreciated! I felt the same way this Christmas, and I pretty much just stopped doing any affiliate linking until I felt comfortable doing so. It’s a challenge fr sure! Thanks for putting this out there.
Thanks, Amanda! Maybe next year, right?
It’s so helpful to read about what is and isn’t working for you, so thank you so much for sharing! I am so not a salesperson and started my blog from pure passion and wanting to help people so I’m having trouble focusing on monetizing so that I’ll actually be able to spend time working on my blog! I’ll definitely look into some of the sites and groups you mentioned 🙂
Thanks, Elizabeth! I’m so glad I’m not the only non-salesperson! I feel like so many bloggers are just rolling in the dough, and that’s just not me.
Thank you for all the information! you are so generous. This is my first week blogging! Your resources are so helpful!
Found you on Whimsy Wednesday link party!
You’re so welcome, Anika! Feel free to check out my other posts on what I’ve learned each month. I tried not to repeat, so all in all, there’s a lot of information there! Best of luck!
Great suggestions! I’m a new blogger too. Have requested to join the groups you posted. Thanks so much!
You’re so welcome, Cathy! I hope the groups are as helpful for you as they were for me!
This is helpful. I haven’t monetized my site yet- but it is in the plans.
Girl I hear you, I’m not a fan of sales pitches or even sales for that matter! Back in the day I sold Kirby vacuums door-to-door. Worst job ever. I sold one vacuum in the six months that I held that job.
Blogging Boost is an excellent group page with a good group of folks.
Thank you for linking up with Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Olivia- Co-host
Reinvented Collection
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who hates selling! I’m just not like that at all!
This is a great list. What are you using to schedule your posts? I am using Meet Edgar.
I’ve never heard of that one. I’ll have to check it out! But for Facebook, I just schedule right on my page. I watched Crystal Paine do a Scope on how Facebook really punishes you for not just scheduling right on their page. They make it hard enough on bloggers, so I just schedule right on there. Thankfully it’s not that tough!
Wow you are a quick learner. I’ve was blogging almost two years before I even looked into making any money at. Good for you!
Thanks so much, Liz!
Thanks for the tips, Caroline! It’s great to see what’s working for you!
I hate the sales-y feeling of sponsored posts, too. I try really hard not to be too scripted or pushy with anything, because I know how much I hate that myself!
Thanks for joining us on The Alder Collective!! Pinning, and we hope to see you again this week!
I know, Kayla! I just like sharing my ideas, and if someone says to themselves “that’s EXACTLY what I’ve ben looking for,” then great! But I’m just not a salesperson at all. Affiliates and such have always seemed really forced for me, so I’ll avoid them.
This is really helpful. I’ve been blogging since 2007 and still don’t make any money. I do write reviews for books, but that’s all I have done.