Now more than ever people are looking for ways to make extra money from home. I am here to tell you that it is possible with Pinterest. You are probably thinking how can someone make extra money from home with Pinterest? Well, what if I told you there are actually several ways you can make money with Pinterest?
Yes, you read that correctly. There is more than one way to turn something you probably do all the time, pin on Pinterest, into a money-making machine.
Like I said there are actually multiple ways you can use Pinterest to make money but today I am going to share two of those ways. The two that I am going to share with you today are the ones that can start earning you extra money sooner than the other ways. Which again is more important right now in the midst of the country being quarantined at home. (March 2020)
Affiliate Marketing to Make Extra Money from Home with Pinterest
You may have heard all about affiliate marketing already but let me share, for those that haven’t, what affiliate marketing is. It is pretty much getting paid to advertise for other companies.
Amazon was the first big one to roll it out. Instead of paying to advertise online they offered to give a commission back to those that advertised for them on their own sites. For example, if someone went to a blog or website and clicked on the advertisement for an Amazon product and then purchased something from Amazon after clicking that link, Amazon would pay that blog or website owner a commission for the sale.
It has since grown into a huge deal where almost all companies have some sort of affiliate or “influencer” program. And it isn’t only for purchases either, some pay for leads and other things now too.
Pinterest allows you to pin affiliate links so that is one way you could start making some extra cash from home with Pinterest. Become an affiliate for a product you love and share it on Pinterest!
Now you can also share an affiliate link (where allowed) on your other social media accounts but they won’t get you nearly as far as Pinterest will. Unless you have millions of followers on your social media accounts.
There is more to it than just slapping some affiliate links on to Pinterest but overall that is just one option of making money from home with Pinterest. Maybe you are thinking this is a great opportunity to learn how to make money from home so you want to find everything you can out. I don’t blame you.
The Expert in Affiliate Marketing
If that is you then let me point you in the right direction to the expert in affiliate marketing – Michelle Gardner. She makes over $125k on her blog every month and over $50k of that is from affiliate marketing. She shares everything in her course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
Let me be upfront with you about affiliate marketing and using it to make money from home with Pinterest during all of this quarantine scare. You don’t get paid right away from sales. There is usually a waiting period of 30-60 days for payouts. Just keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that maybe there won’t be that many people buying things so you may not get a commission sale or as many as you would normally.
I personally think people still will be buying things and not completely hoarding their money. There are many people that are able to work from home and still keep their normal monthly income coming in. Those people won’t financially be effected so they will still be buying things online. Actually, they may be buying more online since they can’t go out in public.
It’s all really hard to predict but I just wanted to throw that out there.
Sell Your Own Product to Make Extra Money from Home with Pinterest
Just like how you can create pins to sell other company’s products, you can create pins to sell your own products. This doesn’t mean you have to sell a physical product either. If you already have a physical product that you sell and you are just looking to up your sales than Pinterest would be perfect for that.
However, if you don’t have a physical product a very quick and much easier method is to sell a digital product. A digital product can be anything from a printable, an eBook, coloring pages, cookbook, or even a course.
If there is something you are knowledgeable about and you can create a digital product to share it with others then you can create a pin on Pinterest and sell your digital product.
Don’t worry about it not being perfect or professionally made. You can create your product in a Word Doc and save it as a PDF and ta-da! You now have a digital product to sell on Pinterest. Keep in mind that your product should be more than just words on a paper. You will want to give it a cover page, an index, chapters, resources, and so on.
Make sure that you are solving a problem for your readers and make it worth buying. I just want to be clear I am not suggesting to just throw something together. Think about if it is something you would spend money on? Yes? Then you are fine! If not, then you need to fix it up a little before trying to sell it.
Resources to Make Extra Money from Home with Pinterest
Printables by Number – A course that teaches you how to create amazing printables
Send Owl – A great resource to use to be able to receive a payment for your products. You can list your products on there and copy the link to add to your pin on Pinterest!
PicMonkey – A photo editing program that I use to make a lot of my
Questions on How to Make Extra Money from Home with Pinterest
You probably have a bunch of questions right now like:
Do I need a special Pinterest account to do all this?
How do I find affiliate programs?
How do I sign up for affiliate programs?
What are the rules that go along with all this?
How do I get paid for selling my own products on Pinterest?
How long does it take to get paid?
Do I need a website or blog to do this?
And many more I am sure. It really isn’t as complicated as you think so stick with me and I will answer those questions for you.
Do I need a special Pinterest account to do all this?
Yes, you have to have a Business Pinterest Account.
How do I find affiliate programs?
You can go to affiliate networks that host a bunch of the big name company’s affiliate programs or a simple Google search works too. If all else fails it is usually listed on the company’s bottom menu on their website.
How do I sign up for affiliate programs?
Each program is different and if they host their own affiliate program you just follow the steps they provide. Or if you go through an affiliate network then you follow the steps provided on there.
What are the rules that go along with all this?
There are a few different rules to make sure you are compliant with the FTC and disclose that you are an affiliate of that company, not the actual company. Also, this openly lets people know you are receiving a commission for sales made. Make sure you read through the terms of each affiliate program to see if they allow you to pin on Pinterest. Then make sure you add in your Pinterest pin description #affiliatelink to disclose it is an affiliate link.
How do I get paid for selling my own products on Pinterest?
Depending on if you have physical or digital products is how you will get paid. You need to use some sort of platform to make the transactions through. Example: Etsy. You can use Etsy for either your physical or digital homemade product. If you are looking to just do digital and you don’t want to go through the hassle of setting up an Etsy store, you can also try SendOwl. They offer a free trial and a very low plan after that.
How long does it take to get paid?
Each affiliate program has its own payout schedule so that just depends. I would say the average is 30 days. However, if you sell your own products you could get paid the same day the sale is made.
Do I need a website or blog to do this?
Technically the answer to this is no. You don’t have to have a website or blog. Some affiliate programs may want you to but not all of them do. For selling your own products, you don’t have to have a site either besides somewhere that you can make the transaction through for your product. If you are wanting to start a blog and promote your affiliate links on there for more added income than you can learn more here.
This sounds perfect but I have more questions, help me!
Don’t worry! If you are thinking “Yes, pinning on Pinterest sounds like the perfect way to make extra money from home!” But you still have some unanswered questions then check out Paid by Pinterest by Elise McDowell.
I took this course and it walks you through exactly what you need to do to start earning money by pinning on Pinterest. Elise started earning money on Pinterest when she created a quick PDF and listed it for sale by pinning it on Pinterest. She also made her first affiliate sale in 24 hours. Then the rest is history! Now she shares all of her success and how you can achieve it too in her course!
How to Prevent Your Pinterest Account from Getting Suspended
1000+ Group Boards for All Different Niches
Free Canva Templates by Social Digital Designs
10k in 12 months eBook
I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be so I love how straight and to the point Elise is on getting you up and running to make extra money! Check out Paid by Pinterest and get started today!
Affiliate Program Checklist
Once you start applying to different affiliate programs it can get confusing to try and remember which ones you have applied to, which ones you’ve been accepted in, which ones allow pins on Pinterest, etc. So, I created this free affiliate program checklist to help you keep track of all of your applications. I hope it helps keep you organized!
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!
Did you know that there are 4 ways you can make money on Pinterest? 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! This is going to be a long post so hang with me as I cover all of these different ways to earn money with Pinterest plus some awesome resources to get you started!
Pinterest Business Account
First, you have to have a 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!
1. Affiliate pins
The first way to earn money with Pinterest that I am going to cover is by using affiliate pins. These are pins that are linked to your affiliate link so when a customer clicks on your pin it will take them directly to the affiliate product you are promoting.
Sign Up for Affiliate Programs
To be able to do this 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.
Tips for a Perfect Pin
There is an art that goes behind creating the perfect pin. I cover most of this in my free Pinterest Image Course but I am going to go over some of it here for you as well. This goes for all pins.
Verticle
Verticle pins are much more eye appealing and they take up a good amount of landscape on Pinterest. If you have a small horizontal pin people are going to scroll right past it.
Make sure your pin is easy to read
This very important. It is easy to get caught up in all the fun fonts but let’s be honest, those fun fonts are hard to read. Stick with a clear and easy to read font or fonts on your pin. Also, keep in mind your color choices as well. Don’t put light pink writing on a white background. No one can read that. The goal is to grab their attention but in a good way.
Watermark your pin
Make sure that you place your logo or your URL someone on your pin. You don’t need to make it huge or to take away from what your pin says but you need to have it on there. This is important so no one steals your pin image and so that when bloggers are repinning your pin they have your URL available to see if it doesn’t move over. Sometimes while using Tailwind it won’t pull the URL so it is nice to see it on the pin to know which URL to add to that pin.
Keywords
Like for any search engine, you need to make sure your pins are keyword filled so that when someone types in “best chocolate chip cookies” your pin pops up as one of the options. If you don’t add what your pin is about and fill your description with keywords then your pin won’t come up for the right searchers.
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!
2. Product Pins
This is similar to affiliate pins but this time you are going to link your pin to a product of yours. For example, if you sell your own products on Etsy then you can create pins that link straight to your product. You can learn more about this method at Shop the Look Pins or learn more about Etsy pins on Pinterest right here.
Remember to follow all the same tips on creating an eye-catching pin that viewers are going to click on or at least share!
3. Blog Post Pins
The third method of using Pinterest to make money is to use it as it was intended, to promote your website or blog. Pinterest was created to help organize, store and share blog posts and articles found online. When you create pins to promote your blog you are trying to drive traffic to your blog.
Once on your blog or website this traffic can then turn into customers of yours. Regardless of how you monetize your blog, you need traffic for it to be able to work. By creating pins and pinning them on Pinterest you will drive traffic to your blog then you can make money with ads, affiliate marketing, products, memberships, coaching, or services.
So if you don’t have a blog yet that should be your first step.
The final way to earn money with Pinterest is to do the above methods for someone else! Big bloggers and brands don’t have time to promote their businesses on Pinterest but they are willing to pay someone else to do it for them.
This is where you come in and become their Pinterest Virtual Assistant. I personally don’t know much about it besides how it is just like being a social media manager but only for Pinterest. I am a part of a Facebook Group called Pinterest Ninja’s where they talk more about this method. Megan at LoveFamilyHealth runs the Facebook Group so that is an option to get you started in the right direction!
There are so many options out there to learn more on this method, I just personally don’t have one that I have dealt with myself except that Facebook Group so I don’t want to point you toward anything I haven’t done myself.
However, a quick Google search can tell you all kinds of things! Or better yet, look on Pinterest!
Keep Pinning
An important tip I want to share with you is that you have to keep pinning and repinning your pins. You need to always be adding more pins all the time too. Regardless of what kind of pin it is. 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!
You may be thinking well there is not enough time in the day to be constantly pinning and repinning on Pinterest, and you are not alone. That is why Tailwind was created. It is a scheduling program designed to do all the hard work for you.
All you have to do is create the pin, pin description, and URL. The rest is taken care of by Tailwind. They will pin your pin when it is the most optimal time for it to get as many views as possible and they will also provide you with stats on all of your pins.
If you prefer to not use a scheduler then again are not alone! Carly created Pinteresting Strategies which is a very inciteful ebook turned course that covers everything regarding manual pinning on Pinterest.
I found this ebook to very informative and I really liked seeing her method of manual pinning since most bloggers use Tailwind. I learn so much and even though I always use Tailwind I do try and take all of her tips into consideration!
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 every time I think of that too.
So you have a blog but it is more of a hobby than a business right? Or maybe you have a business blog but you treat it like a hobby? (Raising hand) I know exactly what you are talking about. In the summer of 2017, I started a blog and my goal was to just have it ready to launch in the fall.
On September 1, 2017, I reached my goal and launched my blog. I was so excited! I finally reached one of my long-time goals to have a blog. Well then, the holidays came in like a whirlwind and the next thing I knew it was the end of December!
Between all the holidays and all of our family’s birthdays that fall in October, November, and December, it just flew by! So, here I was with my new blog that was now four months old and hadn’t changed much in those four months.
Over the summer I had poured my heart into it but I let it go over the fall. I jumped back in at the beginning of the year in January 2018. I added a new opt-in and implemented Tailwind and Pinterest. The traffic came ROLLING in! I couldn’t believe it! It almost felt too easy! I later learned I was right. It was too easy. I couldn’t replicate it again… because I wasn’t treating my blog like a business.
Set Backs
I was offered a job at the Church Preschool and they badly needed help so I decided to take it and I worked from February to May as a Lead Teacher. It was a wonderful time, but I bet you can guess what happened to my blog.
Yep, it was pushed off and the traffic went with it.
I told myself “Okay, I am going to work on it all summer and get it back up and going”. Well, being home with my daughter over the summer was great but trying to entertain an 8-year-old who doesn’t play pretend by herself anymore was a struggle.
It was either let her sit in front of a device all day or let friends come over and then it was loud and crazy. We would go to the pool, go out on the boat, do all kinds of summer fun things, but once more my blog got pushed back.
I felt like I had to focus on her and since I was home I tried hard to keep all the housework taken care of so my husband who works long hard hours didn’t have to worry about anything when he got home. At the end of the summer, my husband and I decided that I would stay home once she started school back up and I could work full time on my blog. (I know isn’t he the best!)
I do help out some of the neighborhood parents and get their kids on and off the bus to make a little extra money. I also watch one little girl twice a week. Plus, I have all my house chores. Which since my husband is being so sweet to let me chase my dreams, I do make those a priority, so he doesn’t have to stress about a messy house after a stressful day at work.
BUT I now have technically all the time I need to work on my blog! So how can I turn my clear hobby blog into a business? And how can you? With these 4 Super Simple Steps!
1. TIME
Make it more of a priority. Make time for your blog.
If you want to turn your hobby blog into a business, then you need to treat it like a business. Like it is your job (because it is).
You may not need to work on it 8 hours a day like a real job and thank goodness for that! But you do need to make progress on it daily!
This post walks you through how to not waste time on your blog but actually make progress on your blog (aka writing blog posts not just post on social media).
I love to learn so I could spend all day every day watching videos on how to blog but then when it comes down to actually putting those steps into action I seem to always struggle to finish.
I have shiny objective syndrome or bunny hole syndrome. Maybe it’s a fear of rejection. “What if someone doesn’t like it? I know! I just won’t put it out there and then no one can hate it!” But that’s obviously a bad idea.
So, whether you want to or not, whether you feel like it or not. Make it a priority that you work on it every day. If it is only 30 minutes a day then that’s fine! At least you are working on it!
The more you put into it the more you will get out!
Maybe you aren’t like me and you don’t struggle with that part. Maybe you have a successful blog, but it just doesn’t make any money yet.
So, you want to turn your successful hobby blog into a successful business blog. Well, I can still help!
See I am knowledgeable about this all (remember I love to learn and take courses on all this) so I can help walk you through what you need to do to monetize your blog.
I think that’s the frustrating part for me. I know all this stuff I just need to do it! (me kicking myself)
That is why I am drawing a line in the sand and I am saying no more. From now on I am going to treat it like a business!
I am going to work on writing blog posts and helping my readers reach their goals!
Get out of your comfort zone
I think that’s a major part of this too. We are still in our comfort zones and we like it that way.
But staying in our comfort zones isn’t going to get us very far though is it?
We need to push ourselves and get out of our comfort zones!
For me, I don’t like making videos.
It is easy for me to think all these things to say but the second I push record my mind goes blank!
I know videos are an important part of blogging, so it is something I have to push past!
I have seen other very successful bloggers do not so great videos and it just shows that they are human just like all of us but for some reason, it is a major hurdle for me.
What are your weaknesses?
Do you struggle with…
organization?
time management?
content creation?
procrastination?
Creating images?
Promoting your posts?
Creating videos?
Find your weakness and do that one first. Focus solely on your weakness and work on it. Or maybe you have the funds and are able to outsource your weakness.
If you struggle with balancing housework and your blog, then hire someone to help you clean your house.
I am not to that point yet, but I want to be!
2. SOLVE A PROBLEM
To turn your hobby blog into a business you need to be helpful for your readers. They are looking for an answer to their problem.
Help them find a solution to their problem.
Whether that be a course you created to solve it, an affiliate product that will solve it, or maybe you just provide the answer and that traffic to your blog brings in ad revenue.
Solving their problem will also create trust between you and your readers. They will come back for more. Knowing you helped them last time they will trust you can help them again.
Also, they are more likely to share your blog with their friends that have the same problem you solved.
3. MONETIZE
There are several ways you can monetize your blog. If your blog is a hobby blog and you aren’t monetizing your blog yet, but you have consistent traffic then all you have to do is add the following to capitalize off of your traffic:
Ads
Affiliate links
Sponsored Posts
Products
Ads
Ads or advertisements can be placed on your blog and the advertiser will pay you for it. You get paid based off of the amount of traffic that sees the ad and by how many people click on that ad.
She has successfully grown her blog about life on her homestead to making over $8,000 a month!
She has updated her income several times so I have noticed that it says a different number depending on where you look on her blog but the last email she sent me she told me $8,000 and that was months ago! So it is most likely more now.
A large portion of her income comes from ads! She goes into detail in her ebook.
Affiliate Links
Adding affiliate links are links that take your reader to a product by someone else and if they purchase that product you receive compensation for that sale.
So, for example, the eBook above that I mentioned is an affiliate link. I read that book and really found it helpful, so I signed up for Victoria’s affiliate program.
Now if anyone clicks on that link and purchases her eBook through my link, she will pay me for that sale.
I have heard of other affiliate programs that pay out differently and not only on purchases but that is definitely the main way to earn an affiliate commission.
Amazon
Amazon is a great affiliate example. They were able to grow so big off of affiliate sales. Bloggers put links on their blogs to products off of Amazon and when a reader clicks on that link and makes a purchase then that blogger gets a cut of that sale.
Here is a great resource to learn some awesome tips for making money with Amazon! I had the pleasure of being a test reader for Dale for this ebook and I am so glad I had that opportunity! It seriously is packed with awesome tips and tricks to making the most of Amazon’s affiliate program.
She has some amazing insight and it is definitely worth the small investment for all of the time you will save and shortcuts she gives you to get right into making money with affiliate marketing.
I thought I knew it all and I have even purchased and taken Michelle Gardner’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing which is also a great course but it does come with a price tag.
Although since Michelle makes over $100,000 PER MONTH on her blog she does know what she is talking about!
But even after reading everything I have read over the years and taking many courses (course junkie remember) Dale’s ebook Amazon Affiliate Affluence was packed with new and helpful information!
Sponsored Posts
A sponsored blog post is when you receive payment for posting a blog post on your blog. Either you or the sponsor can write the post that you will then put on your blog. I personally haven’t dabbled much in the sponsored posts area so I suggest checking out McKinzie’s post on How to Make Money Blogging with Sponsored Posts.
Products
Adding your own products to your blog is another way to earn money off of your blog.
If your blog is all about baking cakes, then you could create a course or write an eBook that combines all your knowledge into one convenient place. People will pay to get the quickest answer.
Just like the affiliate ebooks I previously mentioned. I would rather pay $20-$50 bucks and get the answers right now that I know will work than search through all of their blog posts trying to piece it together myself.
Your readers could read all of your blog posts and try and put the pieces of the puzzles together on their own but if you offered an easy and convenient course or eBook that will walk them directly through it, most people would just pay the $10-$100 to get the answer now.
It depends on how in-depth you make your course or eBook as to the price you want to sell it for.
I have seen courses go for hundreds of dollars. If it is your first one, then I would suggest to not make it too big and not have it cost too much.
Just to test out your audience and see how they respond. You could even ask them what they think about some different course ideas and also how much they would be willing to pay for it.
Get some feedback and maybe offer them a discount or a free copy for their feedback!
Once you have gotten your feet wet with adding one or all of those options then you can focus on using your email list to your advantage and selling to them.
You can make sales sequences for them to go through to warm them up before trying to sell to them.
You can also create a sales funnel for them to go to. Those are all things you can focus on later once you have gotten the first step done.
Focus on adding ads, affiliate links, sponsored posts and/or products to your blog and start treating it like a job and before you know it, it will be a business bringing in an income for you!
4. Consistency
Here is what will set your blog apart from Hobby Blog to Business Blog. Just like I have said before you have to make it a priority. Part of that is staying consistent.
It is important to not only stay consistent to show Google that you are a serious blogger but it is good for you to stay in a routine with your blog.
If you take a long break in between working on your blog you will come back to it and be completely lost where you left off. You will end up spending all of your time catching back up on where you left off.
Then if you go another long break again you are once more in the same boat of trying to remember what you were going to do next.
Stay consistent. Make a schedule and stick to it! This will improve your productivity and efficiency.
Summed up
Those are the 4 super simple ways to turn your hobby blog into a business blog!
The Number One Course for Success with Affiliate Marketing
One of the most popular ways to make money from blogging is with affiliate marketing. I remember when I first learned about affiliate marketing about ten years ago. The concept made sense but there was just so much to blogging that it all became very overwhelming and confusing.
Now, I have had to relearn about affiliate marketing and the newest ways to use it to make money with blogging. It is interesting to relearn it all. As I go through and read more about it I laugh thinking that I knew all of this so long ago but I just didn’t quite know how to get traffic to my blog or how to implement these strategies.
Fast forward to now and Pinterest is a blogger’s best friend and secret weapon. Only it is no secret at all but yet so many bloggers don’t realize it’s full potential. More on all that later. For now, I want to talk to you more about affiliate marketing and what I have recently learned and relearned!
I finally caved and took Michelle’s affiliate marketing course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. She is very successful with affiliate marketing and attributes $50,000 of her $100,000+ monthly blog income to affiliate marketing.
Yes, I will say that again, she makes $100,000+ on her blog PER MONTH and $50,000+ of that is from affiliate marketing.
I was nervous at first to take that step and make that commitment to buy her course. I was nervous that it would all be review and that I wouldn’t learn anything new or what I would learn wouldn’t be worth the price of the course.
I’ll go ahead and stop right there and let you know that I learned a bunch and the course is well worth the price tag!
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Let’s quickly answer this question before we get too much further so everyone knows exactly what affiliate marketing is.
My definition: Getting a commission for selling someone else’s product.
That is my quick definition, in a nutshell, to help you grasp what we are talking about. Here is Google’s definition: a marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays a commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referrals.
One of the things that I learned in Michelle’s course is that some companies will pay you for leads and not necessarily sales.
I did not know that. I thought it was only for sales! She said that some companies will pay you for signups/leads you send them. That’s pretty cool!
How to be successful with Affiliate Marketing.
There are two main things that you need to have to be successful with affiliate marketing and that is affiliate links and traffic.
The more links you have and the more exposure you can get to those links the better!
However, it isn’t quite that simple.
There are many factors that go into having success with affiliate marketing. So many in fact that I didn’t realize it until taking Michelle’s course.
You see I am a professional learner. I love to take courses, learn all the details and then wonder why it doesn’t work. It’s because I didn’t work.
I don’t mind working hard but I do mind getting uncomfortable and most of the time you have to get uncomfortable to be successful.
That is why I love blogging so much. You don’t have to stand in front of a bunch of people and give a speech. That is unless you want to. You can speak through the words you type and don’t have to make videos or do lives unless you want.
If you have big goals and dreams and want to be in front of the camera that is wonderful! That isn’t me though. I don’t like the spotlight on me or even shinning next to me.
So, being the professional learner that I am, I have researched and learned almost all there is to blog years ago and I tried my hand at it but I didn’t have any luck. I got discouraged and quit.
I will admit that I have done that with other things as well.
But my heart has always been drawn back to blogging. This time though I pushed through and now I am trucking right along!
I tell you all of this to let you know that I have researched, read, and watched so many trainings all about blogging and how to make money blogging it is crazy!
So again, I worry when I do purchase a course that I may have already learned all I can and it would all be an overview.
However, Michelle is a legend in the affiliate marketing world so I figured she would have the best of the best knowledge and I was right!
What is in the course?
This thing is jam-packed with amazing content and I can tell you I learned so much and barely anything was an overview for me.
I feel like after taking the course, the steps I felt like I needed to take next on my blog were justified and many more steps added.
I wasn’t sure how many affiliate links to add to a blog post, where to put the links, where to advertise the post and links, or where not to advertise the links.
I had my theory but to have an expert verify it made me feel much better in my decision.
Explanation of Affiliate Marketing and how it works
Workbooks and worksheets throughout the whole course
How to find and apply for affiliate programs
Advice from a special guest that shares how to ensure you are accepted into affiliate programs
How to properly and legally disclose your affiliate links on all platforms
How to get your readers to convert
Deep linking and click through rate
Strategies and ways to promote your affiliate links
How to keep your strategy going strong
Things NOT TO DO
Special guest that shares how to ensure you are accepted into affiliate programs
Special guest talks about Pinterest and how to drive traffic to your blog
Special guest talks about Facebook Ads
Special guest talks about editing.
How to become an affiliate for her course
That is a quick run through of everything in the course but it truly is packed full of amazing content and information that will leave you feeling like you have everything you need to be successful with affiliate marketing.
Why you should do affiliate marketing
You might be thinking “Well, that all sounds great but I don’t think affiliate marketing is for me.” Affiliate Marketing is more than just making up a silly blog post around a product and trying to sell it to your readers.
If you have a blog then you know that your true passion is sharing your word, your knowledge, your advice, and anything you can to help your readers.
That’s why we blog. We want to help share our experiences and knowledge with the world, with our readers, and with our friends!
Yes, it is a bonus if we make money.
Or that may be your only goal is to make money. If it is then it’s going to be harder for you. If your goal is to find what’s best for your readers and help them then you are much more likely to make money from your blog.
But if you are looking out for what is best for your readers, you are going to have some sort of product that has helped you that you want to share with your readers. It is just natural.
Like this post for example! Am I an affiliate for this course? Yes. But that is because I found extreme value in this course and I wanted to share it with you!
I left this course with an action plan and a plan of attack.
It showed me new ways (from an expert) that are proven to work. Some of these ways I had thought of but completely forgot about. Others were brand new ideas that I hadn’t ever heard or thought of!
So, just like when you go to the movies and you thoroughly enjoyed a movie, you are going to share that with your friends. You are going to tell others to go see it.
This way when you are sharing what you love with your readers on your blog you are also providing a way to make an income for yourself.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if that happened all the time in the real world when you told your friends and family about something you loved!
Is this course right for you?
If you are looking to implement affiliate marketing on your blog then yes, this course is definitely for you. If you already implement affiliate marketing but you are struggling to make any money then yes, this course is for you.
If you haven’t started a blog but you want to and you plan to do affiliate marketing on your blog then yes, I would still say this course is for you!
I truly feel that this is valuable information to learn from the beginning of your blogging career.
Starting a blog is simple but does require time and effort. It isn’t easy but again it isn’t hard either. There are plenty of guides out there to help you start a blog.
It doesn’t have to take 30-Days but it is broken down into daily tasks to make it not so overwhelming. If you are like me and you like to dive in then you can just keep pushing forward and get it going in less time!
Again, I think this course would be great knowledge from the very beginning so you can start implementing her tips on writing, editing, and linking your blog posts from the very beginning!
Then once you have your posts full of valuable content and affiliate links you can watch the video in the course from the owners of Create and Go (that have 3-4 million monthly views on Pinterest!) and she will teach you how to be successful on Pinterest to get traffic to those links!
I took the course with already plenty of knowledge of affiliate marketing and came out blown away at the value of the course.
It is packed full of amazing information that you have to have to succeed with affiliate marketing. Plus, I couldn’t believe all the bonuses and extra content provided by so many other experts!
I learned more about Pinterest and tips to help me gain more traffic, I learned amazing insights into Facebook Ads, the best tips to ensure I am accepted into any affiliate program, and then the best tips to make sure my blog posts are edited correctly!
Great course, great value, I highly recommend it!
Have you taken Michelle’s course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing?
