There is no shortage of ways to decorate your home for Christmas and thanks to Pinterest there is no shortage of inspiration for new ways either! With a quick search, you can find everything from modern Christmas decor to classic Christmas decor ideas. One of my favorite ways to decorate for Christmas is the inexpensive way! I love finding a good deal or making a quick trip to the Dollar Tree to spruce up my Christmas home decor.
Of course, the even better way is to create something at home for free! I created these Christmas Decor Printables that are a perfect way to add some holiday cheer to your home this Christmas season! They fit into an 8×10 picture frame and can change the look of your room in just a few minutes!
When I made these I had you in mind. Not everyone knows how to create images like these so I made 6 different images to give you plenty of options on which ones fit in with your home decor. Plus, we all have different styles so this way there is something for everyone! You can grab all six of these Christmas decor printables for only $1!
How to Make Christmas Decor Printables
As I said not everyone knows how to create images like these so if you are looking to add some inexpensive Christmas decorations to your house but you want to make your own then I will show you how I made these!
First, you will need to use some sort of image editors like PicMonkey or Canva. I use and love PicMonkey so I will be using them in this tutorial but Canva has a free version that you can use as well. If you choose to use PicMonkey then they do offer a free trial and then it is only $7.99 a month after that.
At the end of this post, I will also show you how to sell the images you create so keep that in mind if you are on the fence of purchasing PicMonkey. If selling your digital creations sounds like something you would like to do then you may be willing to spend that $8 a month to have a better program to use.
Designing Your Printables
After you have signed up for your free trial your screen will look something similar to this. This is a screenshot of how mine looks so yours will be different since you won’t have any saved projects.
For this project since you are creating a printable you will need to choose a size that you know will fit into the size frame you are making the project for. I used the size of a piece of copy paper to create my printables. A piece of copy paper is 8.5×11 and normal frame size is 8×10. With that said you will just need to make sure you give a little space for that extra .5×1. Otherwise your beautiful printable will be cut off by the frame.
Once you select your canvas size your screen will then look like this one above. From here you can then start creating your beautiful printable! Let your artistic side come through and get creative. Use the menu on the left side to customize your printable!
There are so many options that PicMonkey offers and they continue to add more and more every time I log in! I use them for almost all of the images that I create for my blog. I use a few others but PicMonkey is by far my favorite!
Free Stock Images for Your Printable
In my printables that I have created, I use free stock images. You can find free stock images in several different places online you just need to varify you are allowed to use those images. PicMonkey has partnered with Unsplash which is one of the sites that I use for free stock images and now you can find those free stock images on the left side menu within PicMonkey.
Check out this post to find more sites with stock images. Again, you just need to read the licensing use of the pictures first. For your own home it is probably fine unless you decide to sell one of your designs. Then you wouldn’t be legally allowed to do that without first checking the licensing agreement on the photo.
After you choose the image that you want to use for your printable, add it to your canvas and adjust it to your liking. In the example above I added the first image on the left side menu, rotated it and expanded it. Next you can add text to your image. PicMoney has so many amazing fonts to choose from so test some of them out and see which one works for your creation. Change the color, add a shadow effect, tilt it, do whatever your heart desires!
That’s all it takes to create a festive image that will be perfect to add to a frame and bring some inexpensive Christmas decor to your home! Once you have your image just how you like it, click on the download option at the top of the screen. Download your image, print it, and add it to your frame!
How to Sell a Bundle of Christmas Printables
To be able to sell a bundle of Christmas printables there are a few more steps to take. After you have created several different printables, you need to combine them all into a PDF to sell as a bundle. I just simply added the new images I created to a Word document and saved it as a PDF.
Since these printables are designed to be printed on copy paper I wanted to make sure that they would print properly. Once added to the Word Doc, I left room for that extra .5×1 that copy paper has on the 8×10 frame and saved it as a PDF.
Where to sell your printables
Now that you have your PDF of printables ready to sell you need somewhere to sell them. A quick and easy site to use is SendOwl. They offer a free trial and then after that their lowest plan is $9 a month. It takes less than a minute to set up your account and upload your first product.
You can set up your SendOwl account with no credit card required so it is just a free 30-day test run. Once you have your PDF added as your first digital product, you now need to advertise your product.
No worries you can do that for free on Pinterest!
Advertise Your Printables on Pinterest for Free
Set up a free business Pinterest account or even convert your personal one and then create a pin image showcasing your new printables like this one below. Just use PicMonkey to create your pin images too!
That’s it! Now you have your first digital product for sale advertised on Pinterest! For more tips on how to create pin images on Pinterest check out my Free Pinterest Image Course!
Did you know that you could start making money on Pinterest today? I know that sounds too good to be true but it is! In this post, I am going to share just how you can start making money on Pinterest today! There isn’t much to it but the steps involved are important so read through and learn all of the tips you need to start earning right away.
Pinterest Business Account
Odds are that you already have a Pinterest account so you can either switch your personal account to a business account or you can make a separate business account. To be able to earn from your Pinterest account it does have to a business account though so make sure to set that up here.
Convert Personal Pinterest Account
If you are planning to convert your personal Pinterest account then just go to your account settings and scroll to the bottom where it says convert account. Then the next screen will have you confirm that you want to convert your account and that’s it!
Perfect! Now you are all set up to get started earning money on Pinterest!
Sign Up for Affiliate Programs
Next, you need to sign up for affiliate programs. Choose a company that you like and whose products you use. Apply to their affiliate program and after you are accepted they will give you an affiliate link.
How affiliate links work is the company whose product you are going to promote will give you a special link. That link is what you will add to your pin that you pin on Pinterest.
When a reader clicks on that pin, your link will take them to the product or service you are promoting. If they purchase this awesome product the company will give you an affiliate commission!
It is a win-win for both you and the company. And even the customer who bought a product that they were looking for.
Which Programs to Sign Up For
There are so many amazing companies out there that you couldn’t possibly sign up for them all. Plus, all those big companies have enough to handle so they outsource their affiliate programs anyways.
Those companies that take over their affiliate program are called Affiliate Networks and they host a lot of affiliate programs for different companies. You can sign up for those programs through these networks.
Affiliate Networks
A few of those main affiliate networks are ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, Awin, and Rakuten. Once you sign up for those networks then you can choose which programs you want to apply to from there.
It seems a little confusing at first, but just remember that you are setting up an account with an Affiliate Network that houses all the individual affiliate programs for all the different companies.
Once you have your account set up with the Affiliate Network you then have to apply for the individual affiliate programs you are wanting to promote.
Another way to find affiliate programs is to go to the website of the company you want to sign up for and scroll to the bottom of the home screen. Normally if they offer an affiliate program then there will be an option to sign up or learn more in the bottom menu.
Pin to Pinterest
Now that you have your business Pinterest account set up and you have signed up for the affiliate programs you want to promote you are ready to start pinning to Pinterest.
Just as I said above when you create a pin just make sure to use your affiliate link as the URL to your pin. This way when someone sees your awesome pin and clicks on it, it will take them to that product through your link.
This is important because that link is how the affiliate company knows who to pay for sending them that paying customer.
You do have to be careful and read through all of the terms of use for each affiliate program and Pinterest to make sure you are allowed to put it on Pinterest.
Some affiliate program rules may not allow you to advertise on social media and then Pinterest also may not allow certain products or services to be promoted.
Read more about affiliate marketing on Pinterest right here from Pinterest themselves. And make sure to check with each affiliate program, as they each have a different set of rules so make sure to read them carefully before pinning.
Disclosure
Also, make sure that you are open with pinners that your pin is an affiliate link. Add #affiliate, #affiliate link or something to that nature in the description of your pin.
Make an affiliate sale in 24 hours
I took a course that was called “How to make an affiliate sale in 24 hours” it has since been changed to “Paid by Pinterest”
This course is how I learn all about affiliate marketing for Pinterest. It is a whole different ball game than using affiliate marketing in your blog.
Paid by Pinterest covers how to make the perfect pin, how to make a pin go viral, how to automate your pins and schedule them out, and how to stay out of Pinterest jail.
Recently a bunch of Pinterest accounts were all suspended and it was a bit of a mess. So now everyone is doing their best to prevent that from happening to their accounts.
If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing for Pinterest then check out this course that covers everything you need to know!
Repeat
The main tip I want to share with you is that you have to keep repinning and adding more pins all the time. Think of it as handing out flyers on a busy street.
Some people will walk right by, some people will take the flyer and throw it away, and some people will take the flyer and buy!
The more flyers you hand out, the more money you will make!
In a Nut Shell
So one more time for those that skipped to the bottom.
Sign up for a business Pinterest Account
Sign up for Affiliate Programs
Create pins on Pinterest and use an affiliate link as URL to pins
Disclose each pin with #affiliatelink
Pin to Group Boards and Personal Boards
Repeat!
Then if you need to learn more like…
What makes a perfect pin
How to create the perfect pin
A viral pin strategy
How to automate your pins
How to prevent your Pinterest account from getting suspended
1000+ Group Boards of all different niches
…then check out Paid by Pinterest and learn how you can make an affiliate sale in 24 hours!
Thanks for reading!
Vanessa
Want more?
Are you looking to become a pro at affiliate marketing? Maybe you have heard of all the money bloggers are able to make with affiliate marketing and you want to learn more about it. You want to find out if this is a real deal and exactly how they are able to bring in full-time incomes from their blogs?
Well then check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing by Michelle. She is in her mid twenties and has dominated affiliate marketing. She makes $100k a month on her blog and $50k of that is from affiliate marketing!
I know I have to pick my jaw back up off the floor everytime I think of that too.
Her course is very in-depth and covers everything you need to know so it is for someone that is serious about learning more and diving into affiliate marketing.
It isn’t over whelming, it is just very detailed. It is also for those looking to use affiliate marketing with on their blogs. So if you don’t have a blog yet that may be your first step.
Added bonus, your affiliate marketing game on Pinterest will do better with a blog anyways so starting a blog could be your first step in killing it at affiliate marketing and earning a full-time income from home!
The most important thing for any blog to be successful is to have traffic. The more traffic your blog has the more people you can help and the more money you can make! When you are a new blogger it is hard to build up your traffic organically. Most new bloggers rely solely on Pinterest as it is the best way to get traffic to your new blog.
Others use Facebook groups and social media to grow their blog traffic. Then, of course, there is also SEO and hoping that Google sends you some blog traffic love.Another option is to guest post on other blogs or be featured on their blogs.
Guest Posting/Featuring
Here is a list of places that you can add your blog on to get more traffic!
Another great resource to learn much more about growing your blog traffic is this ebook Boost Blog Traffic. I got this ebook when I purchased the Genius Bloggers Toolkit and it is packed full of resources to help grow your blog traffic! Including 100 Ways to Promote Your Blog Post Checklist!
Next is this course by Suzi that teaches you how to create the perfect blog post and submit a guest post to her blog.
Suzi walks you through how to create the perfect blog post and then she gives you the opportunity to take what you have learned in her course and submit a guest post to her blog!
The course Post by Number is only $9 so not only is it worth it for everything that you learn in the course but on top of that, you really can’t beat the guest post opportunity to get in front of Suzi’s large following!
Pinterest
You can’t talk about driving traffic to your blog without talking about Pinterest. It is the fastest way to get traffic to your new blog.
Here are some resources to help you grow your blog traffic with Pinterest!
Pinterest has definitely been my main source of traffic. I try and post on my social media accounts often so I do get some traffic from those and I am starting to see organic traffic as well. It takes time regardless of where you start but as a new blogger, I would focus on Pinterest and looking to guest post and collaborate with other bloggers!
Collaborating with other bloggers is a great way to connect and grow your blog. Plus, it is really fun to work with other bloggers! That is why I started my feature program. I want to help connect other bloggers so we can all help each other grow together!
How to Provide Services on Your Blog to Make Money
Blogs are more than just for an online journal. Many people use them to make extra money or even a full-time income! They can be lifestyle blogs, coaching/training/teaching blogs, informative blogs, product blogs, entertainment blogs, or service blogs.
It is really only limited to your imagination as to what you want to use a blog for. The same goes for the service you want to provide on your blog if that is the option you choose to go.
There are so many different services you could offer to make money on your blog but let’s talk about a few of the main ones.
1. Virtual Assistant
This one covers a wide range of needs that a blogger or any business with an online presence has. A virtual assistant is sort of like an online personal assistant. If you are looking for someone to just help you keep up on your emails you can hire a V.A. If you are looking for someone to help you write articles, respond to customers, fill orders, create pins, work on projects on your blog, you name it, there is a V.A. for it.
Many V.A.s just don’t want the whole responsibility of having their own blog and they would prefer to use their skills to work their own hours and help bloggers and business owners.
Or some do have their own blogs, but they just like to have a little extra work on the side of their own blogs.
That person may be in school full time, work full time, stay at home with the kids full time, or even blog full time and they are just looking for a little extra income on the side.
Whatever the case may be there are many wonderful V.A.s out there that are highly equipped to help however it’s needed!
So, if you have one area of blogging that you just love more than anything else, maybe you could offer your services as a V.A. for that specific thing.
Or maybe you love the idea of becoming a V.A. for someone else but you would rather have your own blog, then you could just blog about being a V.A. and teach others!
I read a great book (that I’m not affiliated with) that was full of everything you need to know about becoming a blogger. It was called Bootstrap V.A. and I got it off of Amazon Kindle.
It is a great read if becoming a V.A. is something you would like to do.
2. Graphic Designer
A graphic designer is someone that usually has an artistic side that designs any type of image or product. For instance, my brother-in-law is a very good graphic designer.
He doesn’t do it for a living only on the side for the vinyl and promotion business that he and my sister have.
He has designed several logos for our family and is very good at it! I don’t think it is something he would want to do every day but as a hobby it is perfect. I, however, I am not an artist like that at all.
It takes a special skill to not only have a vision of the finished product but to understand all of the computer programs and different software out there to design it.
Because there are so many people like me, it is a great way to make extra money online and with a blog by someone who is good at it.
To make that change from more of an amateur look to a professional look would take the work of a graphic designer.
So, if you have that special touch and can create amazing images and designs then offering your services as a graphic designer would be a great way to make money with your blog.
3. Freelance Writer
A freelance writer is someone who gets paid to write. They can write blog posts, social media posts, books, ebooks, you name it. A popular name in the freelance blogging world is Elna Cain.
She is a freelance writer and has grown her business into multiple blogs. She talks all about freelance writing and how to use it to make money on a blog.
There are many companies you can sign up with to become a freelance writer and they will pay you to write! So, if that is more your strong suit and you would rather not worry about all the other details of blogging then that may be the way to go!
A Social Media Manager is someone who is in charge of the social media profiles of a business or client. They ensure that the account stays active and is responding to comments.
If you are someone who loves to be on social media, then this could be a great opportunity for you!
Businesses are seeing the importance of having an online presence and not just a website. They are seeing that being active on Social Media is great free (mostly free) exposure!
However, not all business owners have the time to be on social media all day or they don’t understand how to use it correctly for their business to grow.
This is where someone who does know all of that would step in!
It’s not as easy as just scrolling Facebook all day though. You would have to prove growth for that account and show you are worth getting paid to help.
Then you can move on to managing several accounts!
She has made a business of not only becoming one of the first social media managers but then she has turned teaching others how to do it into a business as well!
5. Coaching
This one is very broad and can be used for anything. You can coach, train, teach, or inform anyone on anything you want.
The service you would be providing is your time and knowledge.
You can provide an online coaching service for those that need help with their online business. You can provide an online teaching service where you teach a different language.
As you can imagine you can pretty much do anything in this category.
The difference between providing a service and selling an online product in this instance would be that you would provide more of a 1 on 1 with your readers.
You could have an option for them to purchase a 30-minute phone call with you each week or maybe a video chat.
As for an online course where you would sell the product you created teaching them how to do “your expertise”.
So the difference between them is one is more of a live 1 on 1 session and the other is a pre-written or pre-recorded course or ebook.
Pros and Cons of each
Coaching Pros
You get that 1 on 1 with your client to help see them through the process.
You have control of how many students you take on and when you are available.
Start getting paid right away.
You get to show your passion and emotion more through that more personable experience.
You can charge more.
Coaching Cons
The biggest con would be you are limiting your income to only the clients you can take on.
It seems a little more stressful to take on a bunch of clients and have the pressure of making those calls daily or weekly.
It would be less streamlined than just recording once and selling repeatedly.
You’re put directly on the spot on calls.
Product Pros
It is more of a one and done type of deal. Write the book once or record the course once and then just maintenance work after that.
You are able to make a lot more sales since this doesn’t require your time daily.
You can offer an affiliate program for your products and sell more products through the help of others.
It is easy to go into your course and make an adjustment, unlike a live coaching call.
Product Cons
You wouldn’t make any sales until the product is finished.
It is harder to show your personality through an ebook or even videos than it is in a live coaching call.
If creating products is something you would like to learn more about then I highly suggest using Teachable! That is who I go through for all of my products I have created.
What Other Services Are There?
There really is no limit to a service you could provide and promote on your blog.
If there is a need for it, there are people out there willing to pay for it. You just have to think outside the box and think about what people struggle with that you could help with.
Do people need to make extra money and you know how?
Do people need to find more time in the day and you know how?
What would save time for a busy mom that works full-time with 3 kids?
What would save time for a busy businessman who works 24/7?
Do they need more organization?
Do they need a cleaning service?
Do they need to meal prep?
What problem can you solve?
How to pay off debt quickly
How to eat more healthy
Think of all the problems people face on a daily basis and find out how you can solve it with your service.
Once you come up with a problem that you can solve, narrow it down even more. Let’s say you want to help busy moms find more time. Then you narrow it down to you want to help them also eat more healthy and save time.
So now you want to help moms meal plan healthy meals. Can you narrow it even further and maybe provide a service that does all of the meal planning and prepping for them?
Your service could be that you provide already prepped healthy meals for big busy families delivered right to their door!
Boom! That busy mom doesn’t have to come up with meals her kids will like, she doesn’t have to look up all the ingredients, she doesn’t have to go to the store, she doesn’t have to come home and prep it all, she doesn’t have to do any of that hard work!
Her week is already planned, prepared, and taken care of! All she has to do is serve it! That just saved her a bunch of time and stress.
Another Example
Here is an example of a way that I was able to come up with some extra money by providing a service.
I used to run a daycare, my mom ran one for 20 years, and I have worked in schools. So, I have plenty of experience with children. I had been working at the Church Preschool part way through the school year to help them out. They decided to close the 1-year old’s class which left me with the opportunity to either stay home or take a different position at the school.
After much discussion, my husband and I decided that I would stay home. But then that left us without my pay, so I had to find a way to make that up.
Right at that same time, our city school system announced they were changing the start time for the elementary schools to be later and the high schools to be earlier.
I believe this was a way to make sure that not everyone was on the road at the same time because our town has been booming and grounding very rapidly.
However, parents have to be at work by 8 or 8:30 and now the elementary schools didn’t start until 9.
This left a need for parents to find before care.
I had been trying to find a way to make extra money without taking on a full-time job and it hit me. What if I offered before and aftercare for just our neighborhood?
I looked up the child care laws and if I didn’t watch more than 2 at a time, I would be fine. Our neighborhood is all very close, so I threw the idea out there on our neighborhood Facebook Page and I had enough people respond that I was able to fill two spots in the morning and two in the evening.
I charged what the school before and aftercare charged, and I was able to not only help myself, but I helped all those parents struggling to find before and aftercare for their children.
This way all the kids get on and off the bus as if they normally would and the parents don’t have to go out of their way on their busy car ride to and from work to pick them up somewhere.
They just drop them off at my house on their way out of the neighborhood and then come straight to our neighborhood and pick them up on their way home!
So, I “work” 2 hours a day and make pretty much what I made working full time at the school.
I found a need and I solved a problem!
You just have to get creative and really think. Don’t think about the big problems either. Think about the little problems and niche down and become the middle man.
I realize that is not a virtual service that you could provide on your blog but I just wanted to help give you an example of how thinking outside of the box can help you find a solution to a problem!
What unique services do you provide or want to provide on your blog?
How to make money blogging? That’s the question everyone wants to know the answer to. Some people start blogging for fun or for adult interaction. Others, like myself, start blogging to make money.
I knew that there were people making really good money blogging and I wanted to know how! I have always dreamed about being a stay at home mom to my daughter, but that job doesn’t pay very well, and our family needs two incomes.
My husband has worked so hard to be able to provide for us on his own. He even started a small lawn care company on the side plus his full-time job. We were very thankful he did that too because I found out in the spring of 2017 that my place of employment was closing. This gave me the opportunity to stay home and help him run the lawn care company.
Also, now that I am home, I am working very hard to make money with my blog, so he doesn’t have to mow yards on the side anymore!
I did so much research on blogs before I ever had the guts to start one. I had gone down the blogging road years before, but it just didn’t work out. My desire never went away though. But this time it all just worked out perfectly for me to start when I did.
How To Make Money Blogging
During all of my research, I learned that there are several ways to make money blogging.
From what I read it really depends on the blog as to which way works best. Some blogs make the most money from placings ads on their blogs and some say affiliate marketing makes them the most money.
You have to decide what works best for you.
The 5 main ways to make money with your blog are:
Affiliate Marketing – This essentially is getting compensated for promoting another product or company.
Ads on your blog – You can place ads on to your blog.
Services – You can offer different services.
Create and sell products – This could be an ebook, a course, or even a physical product.
Sponsored posts – Get paid to write posts for other blogs or companies.
1. Affiliate Marketing
If you are new to blogging, I am sure this is the one way to make money that you have heard the most about. It is a very simple concept yet when I explain it to anyone outside of the blogging world, they look at me like I’m crazy.
Affiliate marketing is essentially getting paid to advertise or sell for others. I recently found out that companies will even pay you for leads you send to them not just purchases made.
Here is how you can use affiliate marketing on your blog to make money.
Let’s say that your blog is about puppy training. You love to write about how to care and train your puppy.
While writing a blog post about the best products to use for puppy training you will most likely be suggesting the products you use and trust. Now let’s say that your readers want to purchase that product because they trust your opinion.
If you were an affiliate for that product, your reader could click on a link that would take them to that product for them to purchase it.
This is a win-win for everyone involved.
Your reader was able to solve their problem and get the product that you recommended to help them train their puppy
If they used your affiliate link to click through and purchase that product it will tell the company, you sent that customer and the company (depending on their affiliate program) will compensate you for sending them a paying customer.
Then, of course, the company wins by receiving a new customer with little effort on their part.
How does it work?
When you sign up to be an affiliate for a company, they will give you a special link that attaches a cookie to the reader that clicks through the link. It depends on the affiliate program how long that cookie will last.
For example, I believe Amazon’s cookie only last 24 hours. However, I am apart of affiliate programs where the cookie lasts 365 days!
This cookie tells the company who sent that customer and it is a way to track where the customers are coming from and who to compensate for referring them.
Each program pays out differently, so you have to check those details when you sign up.
All of the affiliate programs I am a part of will pay me even if the customer that linked on my link purchases a different product.
For example, if I have an Amazon link on my blog to a book and a reader clicks through but doesn’t purchase that book but instead purchases something else in the correct time frame then I will receive compensation for that purchase.
Here is an example of what an Amazon affiliate link may look like.
There are three different options to add affiliate links to your blog from Amazon. The one above is the text and image option.
Or you can just have it be the image itself with no text like this one below.
Either way that ring light is awesome and I love mine!
Another example of how you can get paid even if the reader doesn’t purchase the product you first recommended is if a reader clicks on one of my links to one of the courses that I recommend such as Michelle course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and that cookie lasts 365 days so any other purchases they make during that time I get compensated for as well.
There are some stipulations such as they would have to be on the same device they used to click the original link but that is still pretty cool! If that reader that clicked through decided later to purchase another product from Michelle, I get compensated!
How do you sign up?
There are literally thousands if not millions of affiliate programs out there. The most popular one is probably Amazon.
It covers such a wide range of products that you can pretty much find any product you want on there to add to your blog.
Amazon doesn’t pay out a large amount per sale and as I said the cookie doesn’t last long either. They also have strict rules on disclosure and making sure you aren’t hiding or concealing anything from your readers.
Make sure to read through all of the terms and conditions before signing up.
Amazon, like other affiliate programs, only gives you a certain amount of time to make a sale before the kick you out of the program. Don’t worry though you are able to try again to rejoin and make a sale.
How do I find affiliate programs?
If there is a certain company that you know you want to work with then you can go to their website and scroll to the very bottom and look for a link that says Affiliate or Affiliate Program.
If they don’t have a link, then you can try to contact them and ask if they offer an affiliate program. Some of the bigger companies use affiliate networks.
These networks host affiliate programs for multiple companies. This just saves that company from having to deal with it themselves. They just have that affiliate network take care of it for them. Some of these networks include Commission Junction, ShareASale, and Rakuten(Link Share).
You can go to those websites and join the network and have access to join hundreds of name brand companies.
If you don’t know a company but you just are interested in a product, then you can google that product + affiliate and it will list all the companies that have that product and offer an affiliate program.
If affiliate marketing sounds like the way for you then the best course to take to learn all the in’s and out’s is Making Sense with Affiliate Marketing by Michelle Gardner. She makes over $50,000 a month with affiliate marketing!
I personally don’t use ads on my blog as a major source of income. I did add Google Adsense to my blog to test it out. However, to make money with ads on your blog you need to have a good amount of traffic coming to your blog each month.
It isn’t the fastest way to make money with your blog, but it can be done.
There are two main ways you can get paid for ad placement on your blog. The first is RPM/CPM and the second is CPC.
RPM/CPM stands for Revenue Per Mille/Cost Per Mille and what that means is basically per 1,000.
This is the rate that you are paid per 1,000 impressions. So for example, if you have 20,000 page views per month and your RPM is $5.00, then you would earn $100 a month from ads on your blog.
CPC stands for Cost Per Click and that means that you get paid per click not just by how many people see the ad.
There are pros and cons to using ads on your blog.
Pros
Residual income
Steadily grow
Extra money on the side
Not much effort
Easy to maintain
Cons
They can make your blog look spammy
Ads can turn readers away
They can distract readers
Ads can slow down your blog
They can take a while to see any money made with them
A great resource to learn more about ads is Victoria Pruett’s ebook Make Money Blogging at Any Level. She breaks down ads and how she uses them to help her earn over $8,000 a month blogging about Homestead life!
3. Services
There are so many different services you could offer to make money on your blog!
Virtual Assistant
Graphic Designer
Freelance writer
Social Media Manager
Coaching/Training
Those are just a few of the main ones but if there is a need then you can charge for it!
A great way to advertise your services is by having a blog.
This is where you can show your experience and knowledge in that particular area.
So many major companies have a blog to draw in new customers. Let’s say you provide a service of grooming dogs (I must have dogs on my brain today) then you can blog about dogs and grooming dogs to draw the attention of new customers.
Blogging itself is a great way to bring in an extra income on the side of providing that service as well. But if your main goal is to showcase your abilities of the service you provide then blogging about it shows your expertise on the subject.
By starting a blog about the service, you provide it is the perfect way to advertise yourself. If you are a Graphic Designer, then you can use your blog to show your potential customers why you are the right person for their need.
They can go to your blog and see your work, your work ethic, your commitment, and your experience. It is just a great way to sell your service!
You can make pennies with ads and you can make dollars with affiliate marketing but selling your own products puts you in charge of how much you make.
With affiliate marketing, you don’t have to create any products but the highest you will probably make per sale is 40%. Maybe 50% if you are lucky!
However, selling your own products you are able to make 100% of the profit! All you have to do is pay for the hosting of your products but that’s it! And there are probably ways to host it yourself for free with a WordPress plugin or something.
I have products I offer, and they are hosted on Teachable and I have to pay Teachable monthly and per sale, but it is a small amount. I get almost all of the profit per sale. But this way I know that my products are handled with a trusted company that is going to be secure for my readers and myself.
You can sell a physical product such as a t-shirt, an ornament, wall décor, etc. or a digital product such as an eBook, a course, a PDF, a file, a worksheet, a chart, a guide, a booklet, and so on! The possibilities are endless!
Then you get to set the amount you want to sell it for!
Maybe you feel your knowledge is worth $100 per sale on your course, then you can put that as your price! Maybe you think that it’s worth $10 and you hope more people buy it at the lower price. That’s your choice as well!
If you choose to sell a digital product and you go through Teachable, they have an option to offer a discount on your products.
This makes it easy for you to run sales for your products. You can offer a discount as a promotion, a prize, or a holiday special! Plus, you are able to offer your own affiliate program and have other bloggers sign up to promote your products!
Teachable also integrates with most email marketing providers so you can keep everything tracking altogether. This way not only can you make more money selling your own product you can make sales from your affiliates too!
5. Sponsored Posts
A sponsored post is when you get paid to write a post by a company or brand.
A company may ask you to write a review on a product they offer or write a post about their company in general or a service they provide. It really just depends. It also is up to you on how much you want to charge for you to write a sponsored post. Or how much you charge for the post they wrote to go on your blog.
You have to keep in mind a few things when it comes to sponsored posts.
The time and effort it is going to take you to write the post and promote it.
If you actually believe in this company and want to share it with your readers.
If they write it, make sure you proofread it first.
Make sure they understand it will be a nofollow link.
Set up standard rules to follow such as how long the post will be, how many links are allowed in the post, what quality pictures will be used, and so on.
The amount of traffic that will see this post. If you don’t have that much traffic coming in, then you can’t expect to charge them too much.
The best suggestion I have for you if you are serious about doing sponsored posts is to really do your research.
Reach out to other bloggers that have dealt with them before and get their expertise. I love going on to the blogging Facebook Groups and asking all those amazing bloggers for their advice.
They are more than willing to help you out and give you their opinion and steer you in the right direction!
You also want to do your research on the company that you are working with too. I have had many emails come through asking to work together and after a little research, I can tell it is not a good idea.
There are too many scams out there so please be careful!
On the other hand, there are actual legit companies and bloggers out there wanting to work together!
I love to feature mom bloggers on my blog and help them connect and grow! I offer this service for free, but I also offer paid feature spots that come with more benefits!
This gives bloggers the opportunity to get their blogs in front of other like-minded driven mom bloggers! This gets their blogs not only more exposure but it is a perfect way to showcase many mom blogs at once so you can find the perfect match to work with! Learn more here!
Conclusion
As you can see there are many options to make money with your blog. These are just the main ones but if you can dream it and there is a need for it you can make it happen!
I would say the first two I would start with as a new blogger is to add affiliate links to your blog posts and sign up for Google Adsense to get some ad revenue coming in. It won’t be much at first but over time it could really pay off!
Do you make money with your blog using a different method? I would love to here!
