When we left off in my last post, I was 45 days into my experiment. I was hopeful that a conversation would turn into a sale and asked you to keep your fingers crossed. Cliffhanger! It’s been pretty much two months to the day since my last blog update. Even then, I knew I’d follow up and share my progress with you all, success or failure, whatever that looked like.
There was a mid-point update on the socials about a month ago because I had to say something. Thanks to getting super busy, I just dropped off the planet as far as the blog was concerned. So, thanks for being patient. Here’s the down-low on what’s been happening in my last two months on Fiverr and how I became a Level One Seller.
Month Three on Fiverr as a Seller
That conversation turned into something alright! It had a snowball effect that led to nine orders (five of those were custom offers) and completed Gigs by the end of the month. And I loved it, seriously loved it. You know how much I love to make stuff and how I’d felt a little off about something for a while. While, this new challenge, with something different to do every time I pulled out my camera, was just what I needed. I am energised in my work both on and off Fiverr and loving it.
During the completion of the Gigs, I was grateful to receive nothing but Five Star reviews from those I worked with. It turns out many people are discovering Fiverr for the first time, too, so it helped to remind them to leave a review and that I was trying to build my profile on the App. I’ve since learned that when I select a portfolio image, it has to be approved by the Buyer to show up on my Gig. So I now directly ask them to support that, too; nothing too complicated, just a simple direction.
I mentioned in the previous post that I was planning to open up some Gigs that would be a little easier to work with International Buyers; photo editing and simple social media graphic design work. But to date, I haven’t needed to do that. Instead, I closed two of the additional Gigs I opened, and I’m now focusing my efforts on the three offerings, all in product photos.
Now, you’ll want to know about the money, right?
That was the original challenge, could I make money as a product photographer on Fiverr. I opened my first Gig on the 8th of July and now, in my third month as a Fiverr Seller, I earned $903.70 (USD). Then at the end of September, I cashed out $558 (AUD) to my bank account. These funds cleared after the 14 day wait period and after the currency conversion from USD, and Fiverr took its 20%. An additional amount is uncleared and will form part of next month’s payout. Not too shabby for a new seller offering bargain-basement prices.
Month four was this month, October, and on the 15th, I officially became a Level One Seller. I had met the requirements about ten days before that. As soon as I created a Seller profile on Fiverr, I installed the App to respond to messages or requests from Buyers quickly. The tracking there gives you a clear idea of how you’re travelling and how far you have left to go to your next level up. And I must admit, as a competitive person, I might be enjoying watching that status bar a little too much.
Other than competitiveness, why care about the seller level you’re on? For me, there are a few key reasons. Firstly, as you move through the ranks, it’s assumed that you’ll raise your prices. Win. Initially, I thought your percentage paid to Fiverr dropped, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. And secondly, as your level increases, you’re acknowledged as more reliable to potential Buyers and Fiverr itself. Those are some decent hoops to jump through. But I understand what a risk it can be for a Buyer, especially associated with product photos, so I’m happy to do it. Like all things on Fiverr, getting to appear in front of thousands of potential customers with no upfront costs, I’ll keep jumping.
To get out of newbie jail (the new seller category, haha), you must do the following;
Be an active seller for at least 60 days
Complete at least 10 orders (all time)
Earn $400 or more
Maintain a 4.7-star rating over 60 days
Deliver a 90% response rate score over 60 days
Score a 90% order completion rate over 60 day
Achieve a 90% on-time delivery score over 60 days
Receive no warnings over 30 days
If you’re interested, you can read more about it on their website.
Though, for a minute there, it looked a little shaky. Thanks to current postal hold-ups leading to a cancelled Gig. You have to maintain a 90% or better completion rate to meet the levelling criteria, and with the bare minimum of jobs completed (10), I didn’t have room to spare for cancellations. But, we scraped through and made it. Phew! Being that close and almost losing it gave me a bit of an insight into how important it is always to be booking new work. You’re only as good as your last 30 days as far as Fiverr is concerned. Not sure how I feel about that, to be honest.
Month Four on Fiverr as a Seller
There was a time when I was doing a lot of message answering for no result. Was my Fiverr career over after a single successful month? Impressions were starting to drop on my Gigs, and I began to feel a little concerned. Especially after one custom offer that I’d negotiated fell through, it was a monthly Gig for 20 images that would’ve been a great one to have in the bag. So far, that hasn’t worked out, but we’ll see how it goes. Frustrating, for sure, but soon the tide turned again.
This month has seen an increase in larger and bundle jobs which are still coming through the first Gig I ever set up. This Gig still leads the others in impressions, clicks and orders though most of the ordered are in some way customised. Which is a nice option to have, that’s for sure. October saw a couple of small Gigs complete early before a total of 7 Gigs got backlogged waiting on the post. One was pushed back to the end of November, waiting on the international post, but the rest had delivery dates from the 21st to the 27th of October.
Now, about that Fiverr money!
I’m happy to report that as of today (the 23rd of October), I’ve worked my way through the backlog and delivered them all. That home stretch effort will put me ahead of September for both money earned and Gigs completed. At the time of writing this post, I’ve booked $1,205 (USD) of work with one cancellation ($120). At this stage, I haven’t cashed out for October, but given the majority of work was done in the last week and won’t clear for another 14 days, I’m expecting to cash out is $480 AUD. Again, this is after currency conversion and Fiverr’s 20% fee. That will leave the bulk of the funds earned in October in my Fiverr account clearing.
Interested in working together? Find me on Fiverr here!
The videos pop up on YouTube all the time, twenty-somethings making tens of thousands of dollars a month online. When you dive a little further, you’ll find a few main ways they do this. But the one that grabbed my attention (first) was Fiverr. I knew of the site, of course, but hadn’t been on there for years. Are people still making money on Fiverr? Can I make money as a photographer on Fiverr? Always interested to explore a way to make money online, I decided it was time to investigate.
Getting started on Fiverr
I didn’t have to set up an account as I had one, with Fiverr credits still sitting in it waiting to be spent. But what I did need to do was get my profile set up for selling on Fiverr. A simple enough process as I went through the motions of filling out page after page of profile information and settings.
Next up, there were the Gigs. This is what Fiverr calls the work you do on their site; you’ll get used to it. With so many categories of work and me no being sure of what I wanted to offer, I did some research. I looked into the categories and different offerings of work. I found a few I was interested in and dived deeper into how Gigs were written and set up.
Having narrowed it down to a few categories, I knew I wanted to offer either copy or blog writing, photography or photo editing. All of which are skills I have and could reasonably offer someone else. I’m also pretty proficient in each when needed, so that a quick turnaround would be possible.
Choosing a service category to offer
In the end, though, I decided to create two offerings based on Product Photography. I felt a little meh with my writing mojo, so I figured it was best not to inflict that on others. And the photo editing, I thought I could always add later. Product photography was probably a little niche for a first Gig, given you have to arrange to get and return the products. But it was interesting to me and not widely offered in Australia, so I went for it.
Setting up the Gigs was a little time consuming, to say the least. But, with a window open in Canva (to create collaged image files) and another with samples of comparable work on Fiverr, I got to it. All in all, with edits in the following days, it looks like about three hours to set both Gigs up. Not too shabby if I’m about to make thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, right? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Can I make money as a photographer on Fiverr?
As a low-level seller with no reviews, the pricing to be competitive is a disgrace, to say the least. But, from what I’ve learned from my YouTube friends, the low prices are really just a jumping-off point for customers to add extras and build your portfolio to where you can charge more. (So, I’m a bargain photography-wise. If you need anything right now, hit me up on Fiverr, haha).
To date, after 45 days and a couple of shares on Twitter, I have responded to about five messages and could maybe be booking my first Gig. Literally, as I write this, it’s looking like I’ll be booked for some website images via a custom order for AU$250 (the site is in USD, so converting it is a whole thing, especially when booking an Australian client.
The reality is though, it’s been 45 days with no real action on my Gigs. I plan to create some short videos to add to the Gigs to show off my studio and give them a real face/voice once I get set back up in there (the floors are still curing). From everything I have seen, making a Gig video could help push my listings further to the top. That said, my research tells me what I really need are completed Gigs with completed transactions and reviews.
But, how do you increase your rank to get Gigs to increase your reviews to then increase your rank?
That’s the real question, right? How do you get work when you appear so low in search because you have no reviews. That’s what I’m trying to figure out now. Some of the folks online suggest getting family and friends to review, but from what I can see, a transaction needs to occur for a review to happen. Perhaps they mean to get them to book a Gig and complete it to review you, but that feels a little iffy to me.
My plan? Just keep plugging along, making tweaks and changes to my Gigs. I’ll probably add some more with different style focuses to increase my odds. And I was thinking, if I had an enquiry for extra photo work right now, I would send them through Fiverr even though I could totally charge more if I billed them directly.
For now, I have to be comfortable with the fact that this is not a get rich quick scheme and it will take time to build up reviews and work. Which is an excellent reminder to all of us not to get too sucked into the make money online side of YouTube. I’ve had this blog, and my business, in some capacity for over a decade now and it’s only in the past few years it has fully supported me. The ways I make money online are diverse, and to date, there is no one way that stands alone as the sole provider.
Where to from here on Fiverr?
From here I’m going to keep my fingers crossed I get this first Gig. Then I’m going to hope for a glowing review and even future work from this potential new client. While that’s all happening, I’m going to open up Gigs for photo editing and some more based around product photography that doesn’t focus on light, bright studio shots. Things along the lines of a dark and moody style and a more lifestyle based style. If that even makes sense. Haha. But, whatever happens, I’ll continue to keep you updated on my quest to make money as a photographer on Fiverr. Watch this space.
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need some product photography work done? find me on Fiverr
If you’re reading this you either want to know more about Wirestock or you have photography you’re interested in selling to stock photo sites. Right? Well, when I came across Wirestock, it was neither, actually. I was happy uploading some of my images to Unsplash. And on a few occasions, I’d looked at submission guidelines for stock image sites like Adobe Stock and Shutterstock but found them complicated. Selling my photography would have to wait. It became something I would do later. Let’s face it, one of those I’ll do it later tasks that I never really get to do.
Then came Wirestock!
With Wirestock, I found an easy way to submit my images to multiple stock image sites. Then I started making money from them within a few months. Something that, given my basic research into the topic, doesn’t happen quickly on larger marketplaces. Within an hour of my account being approved, I had linked my Unsplash and was on my way.
With that in mind, and knowing what a talented bunch you lot are, I thought I’d share. Especially if you’ve already started making a contribution to Unsplash. They link, so you can be submitting your images to other paid sites, immediately. This was simple enough and gave me a good start on a portfolio of images I already knew did well.
After that initial push, I focused on getting more images that the larger stock providers would accept (see the image above). These agencies are looking for exclusive photos that don’t appear online for free. This was easy enough for me. I have photos stored from 2013 onwards. So, one of the first things I did was go through my hard drives for possible images to add to my account. After blogging for all these years, I found a lot of food and drink images (a popular download for me). Some just had to be exported in larger sizes. While others I re-edited so they were less stylised.
After that search through the archives, I had something like 75 photos to upload. Which, if I had to shop them around to all the agencies individually, complete the information on each photo, would’ve been a nightmare. The best part about Wirestock is that you can add as much or as little information as you like. The biggest time sucks for me, I took the easy route, was selecting between Commercial and Editorial images*. Within a couple of weeks, I had over one hundred images available to purchase on different sites across the internet.
If you’re interested – a quick tip
It would be worth looking into the Wirestock Submission Guidelines. I think it will help you get it right the first time. So that you’re not uploading a lot of images that will be declined. It took me a while to get a handle on the Commercial/Editorial thing (I kept forgetting specific art like tattoos), but now it’s easy to separate the two. I’ve added an excerpt of the submission guidelines distinguishing between the two, below.
What I earned in my first few months
As you can see from my dashboard, I was able to secure over $30 in image sales in May increasing from $11 in April. Which had substantially increased from 30c in my first month (March). Sure, that’s not anything that you’re going to quit your day job on anytime soon. But with this kind of thing, it’s a start. Especially considering that none of these photos is from specific content shoots for stock image. All of these images were sourced from my hard drives. They haven’t cost me a cent to make!
I hope to continue to grow my portfolio with seasonal and special occasion type images. On Unsplash, I’ve always said my aim was to create more Australian based content, and that continues to be true. Stock Image sites can be so Americanised, that it’s almost impossible for us to find what we need. I want to do more of that too. You know, if you blog too, the sort of content it can be hard to find; I wish to make more of that. More plus-size people. More real-life.
Do you want to sign up for Wirestock?
Now, if you’re interested in signing up to sell your images through Wirestock, please click through my referral link here. For everyone that signs up, I will get a percentage of your sales (taken from the Wirestock end, from what I can tell) for up to two years. Which is, if you ask me, another pretty awesome way to generate a passive income for just sharing a product (app?) that I love.
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Extract from the Submission Guidelines:
COMMERCIAL VS EDITORIAL LICENSE TYPES
Before submitting your photos, it is important to understand the difference between editorial and commercial license types, so you choose the correct one.
Commercial content can be used to commercialise, monetise, sell, promote, and advertise a product, business or service. It could be used on a billboard, a website, a blog, a brochure, a Facebook Ad, or even a television commercial. Generally speaking, commercial content requires:
Permission from every recognisable person in the image in the form of a signed and valid model release and minor release which allows the photographer (filmmaker or illustrator) to license the content commercially
Signed and valid property releases, if applicable, for recognisable private property, artwork, graffiti, and tattoos granting permission from the property owner to commercially license the content (read more about property releases for the specifics on when they are needed and what information is required)
No visible trademarks, company names or logos be present in the content.
That the image is free of any intellectual property infringements
That the location, object, or event is not restricted
Editorial is the opposite of commercial in that editorial content cannot be used to sell, promote, or monetise a business, product or service. It can contain logos, business names and recognisable people without model releases. Editorial content CANNOT be used to monetise a business but can be used for news or educational purposes. This type of editorial is referred to as documentary editorial. News organisations, such as the BBC or The New York Times, will often use stock imagery in their news feeds to illustrate a story, event, or news development.
Wondering if you should or how to start a blog in 2020? Then, you’ve come to the right place. I don’t even know if I can write this post in the detail I want. But I can feel it bubbling out of me. This is a good sign; that’s what it is to blog. A blog is to have something to say and the space to say it that is entirely your own. So, I’m writing this post for you, and I know it will be of enormous service if you have found yourself with something to say.
Earlier this year, I wrote about what I saw as the signs for a return to blogging. Then in March, it made more sense as we were all confined to our homes thanks to COVID-19. Why wouldn’t you want a space, just for yourself, to share your views and ideas and journal what was happening around you? I know I liked that. If you do, too and don’t know where to start, I hope this helps.
Now, this is the info you need to start a blog.
To niche or not to place, that is the question.
If you know you want a blog, you probably know what you want to blog about. I’ll not say much about the pick your niche thing here because I’ve never followed that advice myself. Blog about what you’re interested in and passionate about. The rest, like people to read it, will fall into place. There are plenty of courses and suggestions on narrowing your focus on your blog, creating a niche resource, and building a business around the blog and personal brand. This isn’t one of those; I’m all for doing what interests that. When my blog earned some decent money, I followed my advice to do that. Passion, excitement and enjoyment are undeniable when they are missing. Start now, and you can always narrow your focus later.
A rose by any other name
One of the first things when you start a blog that I’d do, is to think about a name; second, only decide on a topic. What do you want to call it? I suggest just going with your name if it’s a personal blog. It’s the easiest, and no matter where your blog goes, it’ll always be relevant. Search on Google and your favourite platforms for others using the same name. If you can get something unique, it will make your life easier. I wouldn’t recommend competing with someone using the same name and doing the same thing. It isn’t good for either of you. And if it’s trademarked or something, you may also find it an expensive exercise.
If you want to start a blog for your business or brand, I’d suggest just incorporating it on your existing website (for SEO and ease of having it all in one place). You can give it a catchy name, but it’s not essential. Add a blog landing page, and go for it. Not so confident to do that? Your developer (or even my business) can do that for you- easy as pie. But ultimately, if there’s one thing I know, you can get stuck on what you name something and never get started. So, leap. Done is better than perfect.
Blogging platforms to start a blog on
FREE (with upgrades)
Blogger – If you have a Gmail account, and want something simple and accessible, maybe Blogger is for you. This blog started on Blogger, and I was happy there for about three years. It’s straightforward to use (I’ve compared it to using Publisher or Word) and will get you blogging if you care about getting something up and running. Layouts are easy, and there are plenty of options to customise. But be warned, I had my blog taken down once for a Terms of Use Violation without warning. It was gone for a day before someone who knew someone gave me a contact address to reach out to and plead my case. That doesn’t sound that bad, but trust me, seeing years of your work ripped from the internet sucked. So, if you want to use Blogger to start a blog, make sure you play by the rules (which you should be, anyway).
WordPress (Managed Hosting) – This is a free platform from the people at WordPress, more like the Blogger option below; they handle most of the backend stuff. However, they do this by limiting what you can do, the plugins available, and things like that. This has always been a frustrating offering for me, but with a free account (upgrades available), it might just be the best place to start. Want to know more about how to distinguish between the two? Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth on the WordPress blog.
PAID (various pricing)
WordPress (Self-Hosted)– My blog, and plenty like it, are built on self-hosted WordPress sites. It’s a bit of a go-to as you can do pretty much anything with a WordPress site. Want a shop? Add a plugin. Feel like your post needs a gallery or a contact form? There’s a plugin for that. Just want to keep it simple, start a blog, and get going? WordPress works for that too. The best part is that most hosting providers will allow you to purchase a domain and hosting in one place, and some will even have a WordPress package where the initial installation is taken care of. I use and recommend VentraIP if you want a place to start; they’ve been great to me for years and years now.
If you want some options for WordPress Themes, I’ve put together a post with a heap of options here. And then, for plugins to customise your blog and get you up and running, I have this post here. With these two posts, you’ll have everything you need to streamline setting up your WordPress blog. Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.
Squarespace – You’d have to be deaf and blind to be on the internet (specifically YouTube) and not know who/what SquareSpace is. They use content creators and influencers to shout their benefits from the rooftops. But you know what? It works. By all accounts, this platform is not only good for businesses, but it’s perfect for portfolios and blogs. An ideal home base for your internet creations. But those designer templates and award-winning customer service make them the least affordable. But if looking good straight of the gate is essential to you, along with ease of use, it might be worth a look.
There are several options out there for hosting a blog. If there isn’t one here that works for you, there will be one out there. Just do some homework, ask those around you, and you’ll find something that works for you. I did!
Write your heart out.
You’ve got your topic, your name, and somewhere to put all this bloggy goodness. Now, all there is to do is write your heart out. If that’s your thing. If there’s one thing I have learned about blogging over the years, you need to know more informal writing styles, even if you’re blogging in a professional setting. And even if what you are saying is essential. It doesn’t matter. People want to get to know the person behind the screen on a blog. They don’t wish to be generic; they can get that on any old news site. So, keep your spelling and Grammar in check (difficult for me, I use Grammarly, which I recommend) and write how you would talk.
Free Images for your blog
Now that you’ve got a platform and maybe have something to say, you want cool images to spruce up your content. Trust me, even if you don’t think you want that, you do. Firstly, I’d do my best to take photos you love. Personal always performs better on social than generic (no matter how beautiful it is). that doesn’t mean you can’t use stock at all.
Combining the two is an effective way to maximise your time and the resources available—the intro image in this post I took myself. The Pins below are from a stock image website. Here are some great free (not just royalty-free, free-free) stock images to get you started on your blog.
Unsplash – I have an account on Unsplash if you’d like to download, for free, some of my images to use on your blog, social media or website. It’s mostly food and beverages, but what else do you need? Haha.
Now you’ve set up your blog, created a post with carefully crafted words and beautiful images, and it’s life! Well done. The worst of it is over. Publishing a blog post is hard. You are saying something and having a position and an opinion on the internet takes guts sometimes. But now what?
Well, you’ll want to let people know it’s there. Whether by promoting it on your personal Facebook or pinning those post images on Pinterest. Or shout it out on Instagram or create a marketing strategy around your blog. This isn’t a case of if you build it, they will come. Some may, and as your blog grows and garners interest from search engines, that may well be the case. But for a new blog, it’s about getting bums on seats and selling yourself to anyone who will listen.
Don’t just sit on the info that you have something to share. Tell people. Use your platforms or build new ones (or both!). For a long time after I started my blog, it was a loosely kept secret. It’s not that I was embarrassed to blog, but I was embarrassed about what people would think. For some of you, that will be the hardest part. But do you know what? In the end, those who are going to support you will. Some will come around to it later rather than sooner. And some won’t get it. They’ll refer to it as silly or a waste of time—fluff in otherwise serious life.
But who cares?
You started this blog for yourself, right? To share what there was for you to say to the world. Take photos, write your story, and share tips and tricks. Make sure, if you’re going to all that effort, that you let someone know it exists – when you’re ready. Start with someone who has proven themselves to be a cheerleader in the past. Go to them, and get that blog traffic rolling. If you didn’t want people to read it, that’s fine. But why, then, didn’t you start a diary? Haha.
Are you someone who wants to start a blog this year? Tell us about it. Already a blogger? Share your link below so we can check you out.
When I asked for video ideas the other week, Vanessa asked for suggestions for getting new (or first) clients. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to record anything, but I wrote this post in the process of making some notes about how. Bonus! Maybe after this month of daily blogging, I’m a blogger again. So, these are my tips and suggestions for finding your first client or your next client when you’re starting from scratch.
Ask for a referral
If you’re on a mission to find your next client, make sure you ask past and existing clients for a referral to friends or family. Offer an incentive like gift cards or other gifts that will make an effort worth their while. But this section is called ASK for a referral because you need to have that conversation.
‘Hey such and such, I’ve got some space coming up that I’m looking to fill. Do you know anyone looking for a [insert product/service here]??
Starting out and don’t have anyone to act as a referee? Then, ask family and friends to do it. Take some time to talk to your family and friends about your work. Show them and make sure they know what you do exactly, then send them on their way. My family are my biggest referrers of work for my business; friends are a close second.
Facebook Groups
We have all been members of those groups where week after week, the same question is asked about how to do something, someone looking for a particular service, etc. As frustrating as this can be as a Facebook user scrolling the interwebs.
And no, I don’t mean jumping in and shouting ME, I CAN DO THAT, in every conversation. It’s about being helpful, useful and valuable in those communities so that people remember you when they want someone that does the work you do. A word of caution though, before you dive right into any new Facebook group, make sure you’ve read the rules set by the group Admins. It will undo all your hard work if you put your foot in it over something that had been clearly outlined.
Do what you do best
If you’re a writer, write a blog. If you’re a photographer, start a killer Instagram account. Do what you do best and use it as a platform to let people know that you are for hire. The entire website portion of my business came from people who knew I built and decorated my blog. A strong portfolio of your chosen work is essential in proving to people that you are capable of doing the task. So do what you do best and start creating things while you wait.
Targeted Ads
You know I have a thing for Facebook and Instagram Ads, and when you find the sweet spot, you can drive a lot of inquiries your way. I can hear the chorus now, Facebook Ads don’t work for me, we tried it once, and it just cost us money with no return.
Awesome. Here’s the thing. Once (heck, ten times) isn’t enough.
Start by getting clear on what your product or service REALLY offers the client. Not just what it does but the outcome they can expect. From there, you craft ads that are targeted and appeal to that customer in that way. Which is, of course, easier said than done.
I find many people give up on this work or don’t spend the time they need to get something to work. When working with ads, you must keep tweaking and reviewing each piece of copy and each piece of content (image or video) until you find the one that WORKS. Get some money behind that, and start looking for the next one. Because nothing works forever, and sooner or later, you’ll need the next best performing thing.
Job Boards, Fiver etc
It might not be glamorous, but sometimes what works is setting up accounts on job boards, gumtree, Facebook Marketplace or Fiver and seeing what business you can drum up. Sure working on Fiver can be a tough slog for not a lot of money, but if you’re building a portfolio of work, you have to start somewhere. Set fair rates, promote yourself when the chance arises, and practice pitching your services and negotiating getting paid.
And bonus for those of us in social media or content creation.
Be a practitioner of the work. Operate on all the social media channels, try things and test them out. Get amongst it, so when the time comes for someone to hire you, you’re ready and raring to go. Just because you’ve hit a dry spell (or are just starting) doesn’t mean that you should let your skills get stale. In fact, that will be the death of you.
When it comes to blogging there is only ever three questions I get asked. The one that this post centres around is how do you make money on your blog? Especially since at various stages throughout my career it’s been my full-time job. I don’t blame anyone for asking that. I love to talk about money and business, so let’s do that.
In this video, I take you piece by piece through anything that I’ve used now, or in the past to generate money. Even if it wasn’t much! I did this to not only answer that question but so that you can start to create a business plan for your blog. As far as I’m concerned, the more transparent I can be, the shorter the learning curve will be for you.
How to make money on your blog!
Let’s break that video down a little, shall we?
My income streams include the following;
Paid Content
There are two main ways I generate income with paid content; on my blog and off of my blog. There are the opportunities to do editorial style content in the form of blog posts, photographs or crafting shares for other social media platforms. Then there are the times when brands are looking for me to create content for their blog or social media. Whatever the end location of the post, I always stand for being compensated for my time.
Ad Revenue
Ad revenue is one of those things that used to make up a larger portion of my income but has basically been replaced. From using Ad Networks such as AdSense to delivering my own banner ads using third parties or Paypal. Ad revenue isn’t something to be sneezed at, but no longer makes up a part of my income strategy. I’m just not that into it.
Affiliate
For me, this is the fastest-growing income stream on my blog. Long neglected I have been working with Skimlinks (so easy!) to increase my revenue by over 500% (from not much to more than a little, haha). For a fashion and lifestyle blog, there isn’t a more effective, but less intrusive, way to generate income from the activities you were doing anyway. By taking a percentage of sales referred from your blog, everyone wins.
eBooks and Courses
Creating my own eBooks {and courses, one day} is one of those long-term strategies for the blog. Over the years I’ve built up a bit of a library of books and workbooks that I’m proud of. As I move forward I hope to continue to add to that range and increase the offering. If you’ve never checked them out, pop over and take a look. Let’s just say, I didn’t really pick one subject and stick to it. Haha.
Something I forgot to mention in the video was that you can also be an affiliate for other bloggers eBooks and courses. If you’re interested in a certain subject or already do a lot of talking about a product, you should reach out and ask for an affiliate program or link. I did this early on with Sarah Wilson ‘I Quit Sugar’ books and they were excellent because I was already talking about it.
Workshops and Consulting
Last, but not least, absolutely not least, is the work I do behind the scenes. As a builder of websites, social media consultant and workshop-type person. Which, is a pretty long description but it’s got a lot of stuff to cover. I love doing workshops and consulting because blogging and social media is something I could talk about for days. There’s really no better way that I know of to make a living than doing something you love. I’m a lucky girl indeed.
And that, my friend, is how I make money on my blog. I’ve covered off on everything that I’ve given a shot over the years and tried to detail why I still use them or not. I hope you find it helpful, or at least interesting. Let me know if you have any questions {I tried to cover off on the ones you asked on Facebook or Instagram within the video}.
