BLOGGING: HOW TO MAKE AN INCOME

As we have all come to see, [whether we want to admit or not] the blogging world is a big one. Every year companies and brands are increasing their ad spend to accommodate for more Influencer Marketing because the numbers don’t lie and bloggers are proving to be driving a notable percentage of retail sales.

Gone are the days of solely relying on mainstream, traditional advertising. Now, consumers prefer to get recommendations and guidance from other likeminded individuals, they freely choose to follow on the internet. I know I would MUCH rather take suggestions from a peer I trust than an ad from a big company — wouldn’t you?

For an industry that is literally changing the landscape of retail, shopping & the way brands are doing business there sure is still a lot of hush, hush mystery around how it all works — specifically about how bloggers get paid.

Bloggers, at the end of the day are just regular people who need to make a living like the rest of us. When I decided to quit my fancy agency job to blog full-time, you wouldn’t believe the looks, whispers and doubt that got thrown my way. People (including my family) just didn’t understand how I was planning on making a living, let alone thrive on a long-term scale.

Here’s the thing, there are lots of ways to get paid and make a V decent living as a blogger. IMO, it just depends on what kind of a blogger you are (yes, there are different kinds); how authentically you are communicating to your audience, how much value you bring to the table and how you are executing your vision. It’s by ZERO means easy but like any other profession, takes a lot of work, drive, persistence and determination to get it off the ground and get $$$.

You guys have made it crystal clear, you want to see more blogging tips and an inside scoop of what goes on in the blogging industry so in order to deliver, I need to dissect. Here are just a few ways:

Sponsorship Campaigns: sponsorship deals are a bloggers bread & butter. They allow bloggers to earn thousands of dollars per campaign to assist in developing digital assets to be used on a brands channels & marketing. Essentially the bloggers ‘job’ is to provide an extension (online) of existing campaigns that are being presented on traditional platforms like TV ads, radio spots & print.

There are two types of sponsorships; ongoing campaigns that are executed at specific times/seasons throughout the year, and one-off posts. These are typically the ‘ads’ you see on a lot of bloggers IG. Personally, I prefer to focus my energy on building long-term relationships with brands I love, use & admire rather than taking on lots of one-off ads with randoms. This topic alone could have it’s own blog post…. might continue more in depth later. Thoughts?

Licensing: deals can become a bit more complicated when there is licensing involved. Licensing just means that a brand is paying to own the rights to use that particular content for their advertising. Assets like pre-roll advertisements can be licensed (for several years) where the brand will payout to use it as they wish. This can increase the cost of the campaign depending on how long the brand is looking to use the content for.

Quick word of advice if you’re starting out; ALWAYS double/triple check your contracts with a fine tooth comb. There are sometimes hidden clauses within the contract that could greatly alter what you get paid. For instance, if the brand had not disclosed that they require ‘exclusivity’ (prohibiting who you are able to work with during your contract agreement), it was outlined in the contract but you snoozed and missed it — you could potentially be out thousands of dollars just by not paying attention. You are the boss, but that also means making sure you are diligent and protecting yourself from being taken advantage of because hey, it does happen.

Residual earnings: bloggers can create lots of [random] ways to get paid if they are willing to hustle for it. For instance, working on projects like capsule collections offer opportunities to get paid residually, from a percentage of each sale.

Affiliate Marketing: most bloggers who touch on topics like style or fashion, work with affiliate marketing companies like LikeToKnow.it and ShopStyle. Basically these platforms allow bloggers to link directly to clothing/products/what they’re wearing, making it effortless for their audience to shop their style with a simple click. Bloggers, then make a small percentage of each sale in return.

There are still so many new and exciting things unfolding in this business, I’m sure there are other ways to get paid I haven’t detailed here. Blogging sounds so simple, but when I sit down to write these posts I find it challenging not to drift off in a million different directions, there’s just so much to cover.

I think next week my blogging post will cover some info & tips on what I feel like brands WANT in a blogger and get deep on what I think makes an ‘impactful’ blogger — trying to get deep on topics and things I feel like you guys would actually want to know!

In case you missed my last two posts from the blogging series, I’ve linked them below:

Starting a Blog: Questions to Consider

Blogging: What they don’t tell you

More you want to know? I want to hear from you! Leave me your questions below so I can keep adding new topics to my list to develop.

Thanks for stopping by xoxo