Recently, I wrote an article on how I started blogging and what my career journey has been like. It’s always nice to share these things with my readers. After all, those of you who keep coming back are the reason I’m inspired to keep pursuing my passion and write constantly. Although blogging isn’t my main source of income, it has definitely provided passive earnings that help pay the bills and grow even more opportunities for me.
If you’d like to learn more about how to earn money from blogging, here are the different ways that I’m able to!Ways on How to Earn Money from Blogging
These are specifically how I’m able to monetize my blog and social media platforms. Take note that none of these opportunities happened overnight. Apart from consistently writing and posting relevant content that I’m passionate about, it took years to build credibility and an audience. But with research, skills, and determination, you can do it as well!
1. Banner Ads via Sponsors and Google Adsense
If you visit and scroll through any of my blog posts, you’ll most likely find several banner and in-article ads. These are run by Google AdSense. It’s an advertising program that allows me to run ads on my blog and get paid when visitors click on them. I have access to a dashboard where I can choose the type of ads shown and where they’re shown on my blog. I’m also able to exclude certain pages from showing ads such as Greta’s Junk Shop and all its product pages!
Through the Google AdSense dashboard, I can see how much money my blog has earned. Whenever it reaches the threshold, the money is automatically wire transferred to my bank account.
Aside from Google AdSense, some brands have approached me directly to place an ad on my blog’s sidebar. Of course, I charge them separately for this!
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an online sales tactic where an affiliate like me earns a commission for marketing another company’s products. Currently, I’m an affiliate of Lazada. Like Google AdSense, I have access to their dashboard. I can choose what products I want to promote and share links on my blog. When someone clicks on the link and buys the product, I earn anywhere between 5 to 40%. Of course, I’m honest with my readers about this. So whenever I share affiliate links, I let them know. I always write a disclaimer that I may earn commission from the links they click to help me maintain my blog. Similar to my setup with Google AdSense, I can select what products I want to promote as well. Often, I go for products that I’ve tried and tested or really vouch for.
3. Sponsored Posts from Brands
The third way I earn money from blogging and posting on social media is through sponsored or paid content. You might notice that some of my posts on Instagram and Facebook include a disclaimer that it’s a paid partnership. With this setup, PR agencies or brands directly approach me to work out a deal. To maintain integrity, I curate the brands that I work with. I make sure I really like or use their product or service so that it’s easy for me to promote and talk about.
4. Paid Articles via Intellifluence
The most recent way I started earning money from blogging is through Intellifluence. It’s an influencer marketing platform that enables brands and influencers to connect, collaborate, and reach their goals. So far, I’ve already accepted four projects and have earned as much as $400. Payments are made via PayPal. Most of the projects include writing articles with link insertions and posting them on my blog. I can also choose the topics so that they’re still relevant to me. You can sign up using my referral link! For transparency, I may earn a referral fee whenever someone signs up using this link.
5. Quality Link Insertions
Finally, for trusted websites that want to improve their link building, I do accept link insertions. These are inserted within existing blog posts that are relevant to them. I get paid anywhere between $25 to $60 per link via PayPal.
How to Earn Money from Blogging: Tips on How You Can Start
1. Grow Your Website Traffic
This is easier said than done. But there many different ways you can grow your website traffic. The best strategy is through search engine optimization or SEO. SEO is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on your website’s presence in search results or search engines like Google. By optimizing the articles you write, you’re able to increase your visibility and traffic. If you want to learn about SEO, there are a lot of courses available online. You can book me to do a workshop with you as well!
Another strategy to grow your website traffic is by posting your articles on a public Facebook page. Of course, the reach can be limited depending on the number of followers you have. If you’re willing to spend, you can invest to boost your article through Facebook’s Ad Manager especially if you feel like it’s a topic that a lot of people will be interested in. If this is out of your budget, you can join Facebook groups that discuss similar topics as your posts and allow sharing. For example, there’s a group called Bloggers Association of the Philippines where bloggers share links to their latest posts!
2. Build Your Audience and Credibility
This is somewhat related to the first tip. Of course, building your audience and credibility can take some time. One way I was able to build an audience was by doing monthly giveaways with my readers. Aside from sharing the love and good vibes, it was an effort that I hoped would make them remember me! Every year, I would hold an event to celebrate the blog’s anniversary, too. These events allow me to get to know my readers better and for them to make new friends! The last time I had a celebration in person (before the pandemic), we bonded over bubblies and beauty. Hopefully, I can resume doing this when the world is much safer.
To build credibility, try joining seminars or workshops related to the topics you write about. In my case, since I love talking about beauty, I enrolled in Makeup Artistry at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines back in 2015 to learn more about it. Being immersed in the beauty industry since 2014 helped a lot, too.
Since I sometimes talk about content marketing on the blog, I made sure to get certified in the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage in 2020. Plus, I take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam every year. Google Analytics is a tool I use to study my blog’s performance. The insights I gather always help me improve the content I produce.
Being invited by companies to give talks in seminars allowed me to build my credibility as a writer and content creator. I’m always thankful for these opportunities!
3. Introduce Yourself to PR Agencies
If you’re just starting out, you can search the top PR agencies in the Philippines to introduce yourself and request to maybe add your blog or platform to their database. Back in 2013 when I had just launched Greta’s Junkyard, I sent cold emails and gave a quick introduction of myself and the topics I liked writing about. A few of them replied and agreed to add me to their database!
4. Sign Up to Blog Directories
Online directories like GetCraft and Blogarama can increase your visibility to brands and readers alike. Plus—it’s free!
5. Maintain Your Integrity Before Trying to Earn Money from Blogging
I wanted to share this tip because it’s so easy to get lost or become blinded when money is involved. There’s no need to accept all the offers thrown at you. Learn to decide if the partnership will benefit you both and if it’s in line with your values. I’ve turned down a lot of offers in the past despite how tempting it was to accept because of the money. Usually, it’s because I don’t use or believe in the product—therefore it would be difficult for me to even talk about it. There are also companies or brands that tend to take advantage of collaborations. They would offer to pay a low amount or give low-cost value products. And in exchange, they would demand tons of content that would require a lot of time and effort on my part. It’s become even more prevalent now with the rise of micro-blogging and more Instagram influencers.
So, know your worth. Being true to yourself can attract more opportunities that are in line with what you believe in.
6. Have Fun While Trying to Earn Money from Blogging
Last but not least—don’t pressure yourself if things aren’t happening for you just yet. Have fun and enjoy the process! For me, I always remind myself of the whole reason why I started Greta’s Junkyard in the first place. It was because I wanted a platform where I could write about anything I was passionate about without restrictions. I get to live my dream job every day of being an Editor-in-Chief of my own publication. If I find something I really like, even if it’s not sponsored, I would still write about it because I want to share my thoughts with or educate my readers. At the end of the day, this blog will always be a creative outlet that keeps me happy and sane.
I hope you learned a lot from how I’m able to monetize my content! If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to stay updated with all things beauty, home, pets, and lifestyle.