When I tell people I’m a blogger, they immediately think of me as an Instagrammer, they think of brand collaborations. That’s most people’s perceptions of how bloggers make money. They believe I get money through brands paying me to talk about their products. They are right, in part, but it’s not how I make the bulk of my money. In fact, most of my work goes on behind the scenes and the money comes in not when you decide to be a blogger or when you write your first post. Nor, when you first put ads on your site.
So, how can I make money as a blogger? I hear you cry. Well, it’s not easy I’m sorry to say. It gets easier, like most things, when you have put the initial effort in, so it’s only something you should start if you enjoy it. When I first started in 2015, it ignited a passion in me that has only grown, and I used to wake up in the night bursting with ideas and working on them at 2 am. There are different ways to make money as a blogger, I am going to tell you my favourite ways.
1. Ads on your site
A simple and semi-passive way to make money from blogging is to put ads on your site. I say semi-passive because although you don’t have to do anything with them once they’re on your site, you do have to have some form of web traffic coming in, even better if it’s niche web traffic so that the ads become targeted to a specific audience. That way, you’re more likely to get more ad income. This is because there are different ways to make money from ads. Firstly, you get money simply by the ads being seen. You can see my ads next to my post on the side if you’re viewing on a desktop PC or laptop and below the post if you’re on mobile. The more people that see the ads, the more money I get. If someone actually clicks on one of the ads, that brings in more income. This is known as pay-per-click advertising, or PPC for short. Businesses will usually go to a PPC agency to place their ads, as they are digital marketing experts.
I do like this income stream because it is low maintenance, but if I relied on it completely, I would hardly make anything. I probably make around £80-100 a year from it!
2. Sponsored blog posts
This is where I get paid to write about a particular topic, or product, run a giveaway, write an (honest) review, or simply include their website link in an upcoming post. I like this type the most because I get to be creative. I can either receive a very detailed brief from the company to include certain points or even exact phrases, or they give me creative freedom as long as I include the link they require. Sometimes as a writer I get stuck, so having a prompt and the reward of money at the end of it gives me great job satisfaction.
3. Instagram campaigns
I love these too because of the creativity involved. Instagram campaigns tend to be quite specific because you won’t be the only one doing it, and they want everything consistent. I have one coming up with a period pants company, and they have their own hashtags and message they want. Sometimes you get a mood board and examples of the type of content they like and want you to create. Because of this, I only get involved in paid and gifted campaigns that I already like or would like to try. I wouldn’t want to do a campaign for weight loss tea for example.
These are my 3 favourite ways to make money as a blogger. Do you blog? What are your favourite ways to make money?
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