money Archives - The Blogging Brew

4 Ways To Make Extra Money From Your Blog

July 16, 2015 | 11 Comments

It’s the question everyone has after they’ve settled into blogging: how do I make money from this thing? A lot of bloggers don’t start with the intention of earning anything, but once you see other bloggers post income reports totaling thousands of dollars, it’s hard to resist the urge to monetize. Of course, making money takes time and effort, and as a college blogger, I know I don’t have much of either to spare! I can’t really relate to posts about making blogging my full-time job, or even making it a big portion of my income. So, this post is to the bloggers who could use some extra money, don’t want a big time commitment, and just love blogging for the fun of it.

1. Join An Ad Network/Influencer Community

Ad networks work with bloggers and companies to connect them and create campaigns/sponsored opportunities. These campaigns usually require the blogger to write a post (like this one!) involving the company’s product and promote it through social media. In return, they’ll give the blogger money, free products, or if you’re lucky, both! These networks take care of the hard work of contacting companies yourself, scheduling everything out, and ensuring payment, so all you have to do is blog. To become a member, you usually need a certain amount of pageviews or social media followers, although some networks are open to new bloggers! I’ve listed some popular ones below, and have had a great experience as a member of the first two!

There are also influencer communities built around connecting similar bloggers to each other, which attracts brands looking for a particular style of blogger to write about their product. I’m a member of the Her Campus Blogger Network, a community for college girls that has helped me find tons of bloggers like me, grow my social media following, and connect with some great brands! These communities are usually pretty big, so it can be hard to stand out, but they can be extremely helpful if you make good use of them!

Of all the methods I’ll be listing, ad networks have made me the most money by far. This year, I’ve made around $1500 through ad networks alone, which was more than I’d ever expected. The only issue I’ve come across is that there aren’t always campaigns that fit my style/niche, and I prefer not to blog about something I don’t believe in or care about! It can also be hard to find campaigns you’re eligible to participate in (I can’t tell you how many I’ve missed out on because I’m not 20 yet!), so joining a network geared towards your age/blogging style will help out a ton!

2. Sell Ad Spots

This is usually the first strategy bloggers go for when trying to make money. Generally, a blogger will display a picture in their sidebar that links to another blogger’s page, as well as promote that blogger’s posts, and in return receive a set amount of money. This can range anywhere from $1-$150 depending on your blog’s pageviews/following, but it seems like the average cost for an ad spot is $10. Ad spots are usually sold on a monthly basis, so if you sell 3 ad spots a month at that rate, you’ll have made $360 by the end of the year!

I don’t offer spots on my blog anymore (I’m thinking about starting up again, would you be interested??), but for a few months I ran my sponsorship program through Passionfruit Ads and had a great experience! I only ever had one issue come up, and they fixed it within minutes of emailing them. Basically, you set up the type of ads you want to offer through their website, and they create a convenient shop for you to place within your blog. They handle all of the transactions, and once you install their code on your blog, they even update the ad spots for you when a new blogger buys a spot!

3. ShopStyle Links

I’m pretty new to ShopStyle, and only recently found out about their affiliate program! ShopStyle is an online shopping search engine that compiles great products and brands in one convenient website. Once you make an account, you can start favoriting products you love, and they’ll be collected in lists based on categories you create. Here’s where the money comes in: from those lists, you can create widgets and get affiliate links for your favorite items through the ShopStyle Collective, and whenever someone clicks on them, you’ll get paid! This is a great way for fashion bloggers to earn extra money, although lifestyle bloggers can earn from this as well! For example, I absolutely love online shopping, so I occasionally post my own wishlists, along with a ShopStyle widget like the one below:

They’re beautifully designed, convenient, and easy to set up. I even added a link in my navigation bar to widgets of my favorite things! So far, I’ve only made 80 cents from this program, but considering I’ve only recently switched to lifestyle blogging, I still have high hopes for this site!

4. Monetize Your Social Media

If your blog doesn’t have a ton of pageviews yet, don’t worry; you can earn money through social media too! Companies want their products seen, so if you have a decent social media following and can craft a great post, they might be willing to pay you to devote some of your feed to their brand. Instagram is probably the most popular platform for this type of sponsorship, which is why I recently created a separate account for my blog. If monetizing your social media is something you’re interested, I would start putting a big focus on taking professional photos, connecting with followers, and growing your own following. You don’t need huge numbers to get sponsored opportunities (I only had 650 when I got my first one!), but more is always better!

Do you make extra money from your blog? What’s your favorite monetization strategy? Let me know in the comments!

What I’ve Learned From Blogging So Far

June 19, 2014 | No Comments

If you came up to me two months ago and told me that I’d eventually be spending 5-6 hours a day working on my blog and everything connected to it, I would’ve laughed. Why would I ever spend so much time on some website? It’s just a little hobby, right?

I majorly underestimated that.

That “little hobby” has become an integral part of my daily routine, to the point that I wake up excited to work on it again, and continue its growth. I never realized how intriguing I would find activities like graphic design, coding, and promoting. I’m not exactly a professional in any of those categories, but I’ve found that a major part of blogging is the continuous process of learning, and furthering the skills I already have. For example, I started this blog with hardly any knowledge of using HTML, and now basic coding is a breeze! It’s amazing what a little Google searching can teach you.

Most of my inspiration to keep this hobby up came from other blogs (some of my favorites being Life Could Be A Dream, Oh Simple Thoughts, and Happily Ever After), because seeing all of their success reminds me that if I put the time and effort into my blog now, I could eventually be on their level. That amount of time and effort is beyond what I ever imagined though. This blogging is practically a part-time job now, without pay. I guess that’s the downside of having such a new blog; it takes so long to build up a following and gain more traffic before making money is even an option. One thing I learned recently though, from a post called How To Make Money Blogging, is that a blog has more potential for use as a platform, rather than a primary source of income. Once I have enough traffic coming through my blog, it’ll be much easier to promote other sources, like my Etsy store. But for now, growth is my main priority!

As for future plans with this blog, I hope to reach out to other bloggers in the coming weeks to work on collaborations over products and posts. Creating connections and forming relationships with others in the blogging community is crucial if you want to get your name out there, so that’s exactly what I plan to do! I’m currently searching for Etsy shop owners that are interested in having their products reviewed, so I should have a giveaway or two within the next month. If you’re a shop owner yourself, let me know if you’re interested!

For those of you that have helped me out along my journey with this blog, I want to say thank you! Whether you linked my blog to your friends, shared my posts, or promoted me on your own blog, every little bit helps at this stage!

This was my first “blog update” post, and I’m going to try to make this a routine thing to do every few months. I’ll probably make my next one at my blog’s 6 month mark, which will be sometime in September! To show the progress I’ve made, I’m also going to post my blog’s statistics to compare against future updates. Don’t laugh at the current numbers; I know they’re tiny! Hopefully someday I’ll look back at this and have trouble remembering what it was like to get excited over 5 followers!

Monthly Pageviews:

March 2014: 677

April 2014: 506

May 2014: 402

June 2014 (so far): 486

Facebook Followers: 1 (Help a girl out!)

Twitter Followers: 32

Instagram Followers: 16

Bloglovin Followers: 6

Pinterest Followers: 119

How To Save Money In College

June 17, 2014 | No Comments

Between buying textbooks, paying for food, and putting money towards tuition, it’s easy to see the importance of saving money in college. Getting a job isn’t always the most convenient option, especially because it means taking time away from your studies. If you have a huge course load and limited free time, finding ways to save money rather than earn more is your best bet. It’s a lot easier than you would think, and there are tons of ways to incorporate saving into your daily routine! Here are some tips on saving money in college, and ways to budget the money you’re no longer spending.

1. Buy used textbooks, and sell them back.

There are some great websites and stores out there that sell used textbooks at a fraction of the cost of new ones. When your course ends, you can sell them back, or find a friend that needs the same book for the upcoming semester. I’ve been using Chegg.com for my textbook needs; it’s super convenient, and you can rent books as well!

2. Sell things you don’t need anymore.

If you’re like me and have a closet stuffed with old bags, games, and random things you bought 5 years ago and never used, take some time to go through that pile of stuff, and sell it. Even if you only make a few bucks off it, you have more cash in your pocket, and less stuff in your closet.

3. Get rid of old clothes.

Whether it’s taking them to a store like Plato’s Closet, or selling them online at websites like Threadflip, there are tons of ways to make money off the clothes you don’t wear anymore.

4. Cut down on shopping, and spend less.

With the long list of payments you need to make for college-related fees, shopping shouldn’t be on the top of your priority list. That said, when you do go shopping, here are some tips on spending as little as possible:

Always shop with a purpose. If you set out on a shopping trip with a specific item in mind, you’re more likely to leave with just that item, rather than a bag full of things you didn’t really need.
Shop at discounted stores, like Marshall’s and Ross, or other thrift stores. You can find the designer brands you love to wear at a much lower cost, leaving you with more money to put towards tuition and other fees.
Buy used. While this can go for clothing, it can also go for more costly items, like electronics and appliances. Craigslist.com is my favorite place to shop for used items, because people are constantly putting up new listings, and they make it easy to find people in your area with the things you need!

5. Ask for student discounts.

I was amazed when I discovered how many of the stores I shop at give out student discounts. Most are between 15 and 20 percent, which really adds up if you limit your shopping to those places. I’ll make a post soon about the shops I’ve found that offer student discounts, but a few notable ones are J. Crew, Banana Republic, and Ann Taylor.

6. Make a list of things you want and their prices.

There’s a huge differences between wants and needs. On a budget, it’s harder to buy those “wants”, which is why creating a list of them may help you decide which things you can do without. I like putting an estimated price next to these items, because it’s easier to see how reasonable it is for me to buy them.

7. Make your own stuff.

I’ve found that making my own things, like face wash, cards, and jewelry, saves me a ton of money. Whenever a friend’s birthday comes around, I usually make a few things for them rather than going for the typical Starbucks gift card route. It costs less, and they always love getting something unique!

8. Reuse things you already own in your dorm.

There’s no need to go spend $300 on new dorm accessories when your room at home is stocked with things you’ve already bought. Room supplies can be costly, especially bedding, so shop at home first before you hit the stores!

9. Take advantage of living on campus.

Keep an eye out for events being held around campus, because most of them are free, and that’s always a good reason to attend! Some have free food, t-shirts, and other things you’d otherwise pay for. I mean, who doesn’t like free stuff?

10. Make your own coffee.

Any Starbucks lover like myself knows how expensive buying coffee can get. When you’re spending up to $7 every morning on a drink, you might as well take half the money you earn and put it on a Starbucks card. Investing in a coffee maker and making your own coffee is a much better option, and while coffee makers can be expensive, you’ll be saving money in the long run.

11. Avoid eating out.

Just like buying coffee, the cost of eating out can add up quickly, even if it’s only a few times a week. Eat on campus or in your room as often as possible; the food isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. When you do eat out, try to limit it to the weekends, and go to places that offer student discounts.

12. Keep applying for scholarships.

There are always scholarships waiting to be applied for, and most only take a few minutes to fill out. Scholarships are the easiest way to gain the most money, so take the time every once in a while to apply for them. Websites like fastweb.com and zinch.com gather hundreds of scholarships together to make it easy for you to find ones that match your qualifications and apply for them. You’ll be happy you did it!

Overall, keeping up with your budget and staying on top of your spending are the best ways to save money in college. Only spend what you’re able to make up, and if you go over that, make it your priority to stop spending for a while. As long as you keep track of where your money is, you’ll find that keeping money in your pocket is easier than you thought.