"What do you do?" It's a question that gets asked at every social gathering, any time you meet some one. For most of us, we say "blogger" and earn some crazy looks. Blogging isn't necessarily a career path understood by your average person. It doesn't earn the same respect that engineer, architect or brain surgeon might. Okay, maybe it shouldn't earn the same respect as brain surgeon, but you know what I mean. Even if I try to ...
How to effectively use affiliate links
Affiliate marketing is a huge opportunity for bloggers to earn money. I earn a big percentage from using affiliate links in my posts (and I kick myself for not starting it from day 1). Even today's post has affiliate links in it (as almost all of my posts do!) Here are some ways that you can earn money with affiliate links. 1- Add them to social media! Every single day I am sure to share my affiliate links on Facebook and Pinterest. ...
Should I delete mean comments from my page?
It doesn't usually take too long blogging, before mean comments start rolling in. It's amazing how the internet allows people to showcase their true selves, which for many people is not a very good thing. People speak in comments online in ways that they would (hopefully) never communicate in person. As a blogger, you learn to have thick skin, and hopefully let it roll right off you, but sometimes it's hard to know if you should delete a ...
When to start posting holiday content
Even though we're MONTHS out from Christmas and other big holidays, for bloggers, we all know holidays start EARLY. In fact, yesterday and today I have a Christmas-theme post going viral on Pinterest. I'm not the one who pinned it. Some one else did and it's more than doubled my normal daily traffic from Pinterest. Holidays start on Pinterest EARLY. You don't want to miss out. But also, let's be real. It's August. People are looking to ...
How Much Time Does It Take To Make Money Blogging
One of the biggest obstacles that all bloggers face, is finding time to do it. Kids, outside jobs, everyday life and even other hobbies can all get in the way of a blogging career. As you consider starting a blog or turning the blog you have into a source of income, it's important to know the time commitment you are facing as you become a blogger that blogs for profit! I've been blogging for over 11 years, and each year my time ...
5 ESSENTIAL Reasons To Compare Your Blog To Some One Else’s
Usually, people talk about comparison as a bad thing. We're encouraged not to get caught up in comparing our homes, cars, parenting styles, bodies or even our blogs to those of another person. On one level I agree. Comparing yourself and your accomplishment to those of another person can be unhealthy. Comparison can breed discontentment as well as all kinds of insecurities and jealousy. But I also do not believe that comparison by itself, ...
What to do with OLD sponsored posts
If you're like us, you probably have quite a bit of old sponsored content lying around on the 'ol blog. I like digging back 2 or 3 years and sometimes I see old sponsored posts from before I really learned how to do sponsored posts well and I just cringe! Images are sub-par, or it's just one big commercial. And don't get me started on the posts riddled with sponsored links that don't go anywhere because the brand took the site down after the ...
How to increase your ad earnings on a smaller blog
Ads can be a huge source of income for bloggers, but sometimes it can feel like you have to be in the hundreds of thousands of pageviews to make any sort of decent income with them. Thankfully, this doesn't have to be true! While it is easier when your pageviews are higher, because you can have ad networks manage your ad stacks for you, you can also make your own miniature ad stacks (or waterfall ads) to get the most out of your ad spaces. If ...
Let’s Get Intense…About Images!
Have you ever heard the saying, images can make or break a blog post? I hate that this is true, but it is! You can have a brilliantly written post but it will still fall short of it's true potential without a great image. It's time to get intense about it. What does that mean? That means we're scheduling our next live blog intensive and this month, we're covering IMAGES. For the most part this will not be a photography course. It would be ...
Effective Affiliate Strategy for Bloggers
We've talked in the past about using amazon affiliate links effectively in your posts, but what about affiliate links through other sources? There are lots of affiliate programs that offer higher payout than amazon AND longer cookie length. Amazon offers a 24 hour cookie, meaning if someone clicks your link but takes 25 hours to make the purchase you don't get any credit for sending that person to amazon to buy the product you recommended. ...