Something you may like to ponder over breakfast, and a question I have been asked by bloggers /non bloggers is:

How Do You Make Money Blogging?

In today’s lengthy tips post I am sharing 5 ways you can monetize your blog content. So for any of you who have ever wondered if you can make a living from blogging – or how to make a little extra cash from your blog. Grab a cuppa and read through, because this one is for you!

1. Display Advertising

Display advertising covers everything from banner, footer and sidebar ads and all spaces available on your blog where you will ‘display’ an advertisers visual or text ‘advert’. Adverts are visible to readers who are able to click on the said image to usually be taken to the advertiser’s website or product page.

Most people commonly use Google Adsense for this, whereby the cookies from your browser will bring up adverts for sites you have recently visited – for those of you who have ever wondered why that pair of shoes you never bought from Topshop haunts you around the internet, this is why!

Display adverts commonly run on a CPC – Cost Per Click – basis. Which means that every time some-one clicks on the adverts, you make a little money. Mostly around a couple of pence per click (depending on the advertiser).

Display networks that bloggers may pair with to monetize their blog include (but are not limited to):

Google Adsense / Mode Media / Skimlinks / Amazon Display Ads / Info Links

Display Advertising also falls under Affiliate Marketing, which I will cover in my next point.

2. Affiliate Networks

Affiliate Networks pair up with retailers who will ‘reward’ you for every customer or sale that you bring their way. For example: If I was styling a pair of Boots from New Look on my blog and I used an affiliate link for the product. If you clicked on ‘that’ link I will either make money from the click – or if you were to buy the boots I may make an average 5-15% commission on the sale (depending which affiliate network is used).

This works the same as display advertising, which also falls under a form of affiliate marketing. And, if you have ever seen the ‘Shop The Post’ widgets, as I also feature. These also work on a commission or cost per click basis.

The most common affiliate networks used by fashion bloggers to monetize their blogs are:

Rewardstyle / Affiliate Window / ShopStyle

3. Sell Your Own Advertising Space

As you would place ‘display ads’ in your header, sidebar and footer. Why not sell the space directly instead?

You may have noticed that some blogs list other blogs with ‘blog badges’ in their sidebar. Or that they post on ‘Advertisers of the month’. They will usually have a set price per month to sell ad space on their blog, with ‘above the fold ‘ – the top header of the blog – being the most expensive, then the sidebar followed by the footer.

If you were charging up to £50 per month for an advert and had a few, this could be a nice little extra bit of income for you. Of course, what you can charge will depend on your monthly traffic, just as it would in magazines.

4. Sponsored Posts / Content

A controversial topic for some, sponsored content is one of the most popular ways in which bloggers can make money. This involves collaborating with a company or brand who will pay you to feature or review their product. Sponsored posts usually require you to trial the product and write an honest review including photos and social media coverage and / or video coverage.

These posts will include a disclaimer where the blogger declares that the post is a collaboration and gifted products will usually be marked with a * or c/o symbol (depending on the said blogger’s disclaimer). So readers are aware which items have been gifted – which is also a linking courtesy to follow via Google Rules and now all paid for links should also be given a ‘nofollow’ tag, as they have not been acquired naturally.

*This is a sponsored post in collaboration with the lovely team at “insert name”. All thoughts and words are my own*

I will collaborate with brands on sponsored content that I am passionate about or have a keen interest to try. I also only ever review or style items I have kindly been able to choose to suit my style and disclose the post. I think sometimes people are too quick to judge that – “you just got that for free” – when in fact blogging is a lot of hard work and photography, writing, editing and publishing is no different to a normal job. Nothing in blogging is ever “for free” (mini rant over).

So, despite an air of negativity around ‘sponsored content’ by some. Sponsored collaborations are a great way to connect and work with brands that I love, which can offer amazing opportunities.

5. Photoshoots

Another way to make money from brand collaborations is via photoshoots, which you may be invited to by a said brand to work on or promote their latest campaign.

For example, if you were asked by a brand to go on a photoshoot for them, there is nothing wrong with charging a fee for this on your media pack or asking for your travel to be re-imbursed.

Do you think professional models work all day on a shoot for free?

Start Making Money From Blogging

Above I have shared 5 ways in which you can make money from blogging. If you have any additional ways, or want to ask any questions on the above, please do comment below and I will get back to you. As always, thanks for reading!
*Don’t forget that all of the above ways of making money from blogging will need to be declared to the tax man, as you would with any other profession / earnings. If you would like a separate tips post on blogging and tax, let me know in the comments below*

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