How do I turn my hobby into some much needed cash?
Amee and I have shared with you many ways to make money blogging. We’ve discussed contests, building relationships with other bloggers, and actively promoting your site with good content, readers & strategy. This week I’ll be talking about affiliate programs. If you want to make money; you must sign up for affiliate programs. You can find affiliate programs all over the web to promote companies and products to help boost your income. The key is finding programs suitable for your audience.
If you’re in an affiliate program and have postings about baby items & deals, but your website it all about cakes, you’re not going to see much revenue from the affiliate. Why? You’re not gearing these programs to suite your audience. You need to find affiliates that have cake making products for sale, books to teach decorating techniques and other relevant baking content.
You should also be conscious of the types of affiliates, the programs you are linking to & how these programs are being promoted on your site. Spamming or linking to affiliates for the sake of making a dollar can turn readers off. Finding a balance between keeping your readers needs in mind and generating income can be difficult & time consuming, but worth the effort.
I get hundreds of emails a week with deals or products to share with my readers. Most of these never make it onto my site. Yes, I could be making more money by posting these deals, so why don’t I post?
- I don’t feel the content is relevant for my site
- I can’t be sure of the authenticity of the deal or I’ve have problems with the company or product in the past
- I simply don’t have the time
Ad placement is also key to generating income from affiliates. Prime ad space is above the fold, within the first 1000 pixels of the page. Some advertisers may require placement in this area of your site as a requirement for joining their program.
A few of the types of affiliate programs are:
- Pay per Click – You earn commission every time someone clicks on the the ad
- Pay per Pageview ads – Commission is earned just from the traffic on your site, by the number of pages on your website viewed.
- Pay per Action – Commission earned through email sign up or purchase depending on advertisers requirements.
- Referral – Earning through a referral link is a great way to share programs with your readers and earn cash or credits for your website
Next week Amee and I will be sharing the list of affiliates that we actually belong to! All our favorite affiliates will be at your fingertips, so make sure to check back next Sunday!
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Thank you for sharing this information. I am in the process of building a blog and this information is definitely helpful. I still don’t know what I am doing in terms of creating a blog, but hope to get this information will help me sort out my thoughts.
Warmly,
Heather
I’m glad you’re finding this helpful! It takes a lot of time and mistakes, but you’ll get the hang of it. I’ll email you soon
This was a helpful review and post of affiliates, and as always, love your deals!
Thanks so much Courtney!
Thank you for your blog! I’m just getting started and while I’m just at the beginning trying to grow my readership, still making my website, etc. this is one of my big questions!! Can’t wait for next week’s blog! Getting advice from an expert really helps! Thanks!!
Stay tuned, we will have a hefty list for you to sort through. Hopefully you’ll find some of them useful. I’m not an expert, yet. I still learn something new everyday. Going to the Savvy Blogging Summit will be a great experience, then I’ll have more to share.
I’ll be checking back as I’ve had very crappy luck with affiliates 😀
Sorry you’ve have bag luck. I still learn a better way to use them though reading articles and talking with other bloggers
Thanks for reciprocating a comment on my UBP11 post. I am reciprocating again! 🙂
I have not had any success with affiliate programs. It is so disheartening. Not sure if I should be doing more single posts rather than relying on banners on the side bar or what.
When relevant I try to do a post, so the offer stands out