1. Google AdSense
AdSense is pretty much the easiest thing to set up and basic enough to use, making it most people's first port of call when it comes to making money through their blog. But if you just lob a load of ads onto your blog/site before it has a good amount of traffic the chances are you will make pennies each month and never make the £60 payment threshold. So it's important to implement Google Ads when you have a nice amount of daily traffic and also to be savvy in where you place them... as sadly people don't click on them out of kindness! Google Adsense will suggest what type and size of ads are best for your layout but personally I find image/rich image ads to make the most revenue and positioning them under where people often click on your blog is a good idea. Also if AdSense isn't making you money, switch the ads around, try something new! If that fails... ditch them altogether until you have enough traffic. Earning Potential - £-£££
2. Affiliate Programs
Affiliate links are my favourite source of passive income! Plus they aren't really visible as they look like standard links, meaning you won't annoy anyone reading your blog/site (I'd always turn off the automatic links - with Skimlinks it's 'Skimwords'). I would explain further about Affiliate links but as I have a whole post on it you can read more about it over there. When it comes to commision especially with low-priced beauty products like I focus on it's low, but it definitely adds up and all the links in old posts have potential to still earn you money. My personal favourite affiliate program is Skim Links, I've tried many in the past but SL contains an umbrella of popular brands and pays out at only £7 unlike a lot of others. As for how to make money with affiliate links it's all about honesty and showing good deals, I personally always try to link to products they are free P&P, competitively priced and what I'd wholeheartedly recommend. Also not gonna lie a good amount of people reading your posts increases the likelihood of how many will visit the links you include and buy from them. Earning Potential - £-£££
Affiliate links are my favourite source of passive income! Plus they aren't really visible as they look like standard links, meaning you won't annoy anyone reading your blog/site (I'd always turn off the automatic links - with Skimlinks it's 'Skimwords'). I would explain further about Affiliate links but as I have a whole post on it you can read more about it over there. When it comes to commision especially with low-priced beauty products like I focus on it's low, but it definitely adds up and all the links in old posts have potential to still earn you money. My personal favourite affiliate program is Skim Links, I've tried many in the past but SL contains an umbrella of popular brands and pays out at only £7 unlike a lot of others. As for how to make money with affiliate links it's all about honesty and showing good deals, I personally always try to link to products they are free P&P, competitively priced and what I'd wholeheartedly recommend. Also not gonna lie a good amount of people reading your posts increases the likelihood of how many will visit the links you include and buy from them. Earning Potential - £-£££
3. Sponsored Posts
Once you've been blogging for awhile (especially in the beauty/fashion) you will get emails asking if you can feature or write a sponsored post. Actually I tell a lie, you will get emails asking if you will do it for free! I personally like to find out what the brand/company want me to write about, what links they want included and then state my fee and that I will be only giving 'no-follow' links - VERY important. I also always set my fee slightly higher as all brands will want to bargain with you, I also never accept pre-wrote articles as they are basically shit and one big advertisement for the brand and clearly not in your own writing style. I'd say sponsored posts are offered less frequently now as a result of Google's stricter guidelines but if you do get approached then PLEASE PLEASE make sure all the links are No-follow (in blogger click 'Link' then tick 'Add rel=nofollow') and you are charging enough, and by enough I mean £100+ however new you are to blogging! Earning Potential - £££
4. Ad Agencies
Once you have a good amount page views per day (out of the 100's I'd say) you can start to think about joining an ad agency or even a few! Like Google Adsense they will provide you with image or video ads but generally at a higher standard and rate. There are beauty/fashion specific agencies like Mode Media (I'm with them!) but there are a tons of others that are more general. Generally ads won't be served with every page view so if you want to be pro-active you can find another agency to join (or even 2-3) to fill in the gaps, or just use Google Adsense as a default, though remember you can only have 3 standard Google ads per page. This is called an 'Ad Waterfall' or 'Backfill Waterfall' if you want to find out more! The benefit of joining an agency are that the ads are priced per 1,000 page views (per CPM) and not per-click so if you have the traffic you are good to go! Plus there are lots of ad sizes and options that offer quite good rates.
Earning Potential - £££-££££
Once you have a good amount page views per day (out of the 100's I'd say) you can start to think about joining an ad agency or even a few! Like Google Adsense they will provide you with image or video ads but generally at a higher standard and rate. There are beauty/fashion specific agencies like Mode Media (I'm with them!) but there are a tons of others that are more general. Generally ads won't be served with every page view so if you want to be pro-active you can find another agency to join (or even 2-3) to fill in the gaps, or just use Google Adsense as a default, though remember you can only have 3 standard Google ads per page. This is called an 'Ad Waterfall' or 'Backfill Waterfall' if you want to find out more! The benefit of joining an agency are that the ads are priced per 1,000 page views (per CPM) and not per-click so if you have the traffic you are good to go! Plus there are lots of ad sizes and options that offer quite good rates.
Earning Potential - £££-££££
5. Create an eBook/course
Now this is a potential money maker but only if you have something amazing to offer. An e-book on beauty/skincare is most likely going to be a flop unless you're Caroline Hirons. But if you have something to share when it comes to earning big bucks via a business or blogging or can share a skill such as photography or photoshop, then you stand a chance. Both writing and producing an eBook or E-course takes a lot of time and effort so unless you have the platform/readers I would give this a miss.
Earning Potential - Varies so much depending of how successful it is! If it's a flop - £ If it's a hit - ££££+
Now this is a potential money maker but only if you have something amazing to offer. An e-book on beauty/skincare is most likely going to be a flop unless you're Caroline Hirons. But if you have something to share when it comes to earning big bucks via a business or blogging or can share a skill such as photography or photoshop, then you stand a chance. Both writing and producing an eBook or E-course takes a lot of time and effort so unless you have the platform/readers I would give this a miss.
Earning Potential - Varies so much depending of how successful it is! If it's a flop - £ If it's a hit - ££££+
6. Selling physical products
Now this a sideline to blogging and something I've considered doing myself but as having a blog helps greatly when it comes to promotion of products I thought I'd include it! This literally can be anything, but I'd total recommend selling on a platform such as Etsy or setting up a separate website. Also if you are a blogger you will potentially have a better understanding of how PR works and could send free samples to fellow bloggers to get more exposure to your products! If you are creative or have a skill then this is a potential great income stream and fun!
Earning Potential - Again it varies so much depending on what you are selling and how successful it is.
Now this a sideline to blogging and something I've considered doing myself but as having a blog helps greatly when it comes to promotion of products I thought I'd include it! This literally can be anything, but I'd total recommend selling on a platform such as Etsy or setting up a separate website. Also if you are a blogger you will potentially have a better understanding of how PR works and could send free samples to fellow bloggers to get more exposure to your products! If you are creative or have a skill then this is a potential great income stream and fun!
Earning Potential - Again it varies so much depending on what you are selling and how successful it is.
7. Paid Giveaways
Paid Giveaways are a funny one because a lot of fellow bloggers seem to dislike the idea (I always find it's bloggers and not general readers!). But from past experience quite a bit of time goes into organising a giveaway and if you are going beyond just writing a blog post, plus promoting the brand, why not be paid for your time? I wouldn't set my fee high here but enough to make it worth hosting the giveaway and any potential hassle it incurs. Again, like sponsored posts these are less frequent now but still if you get offered to hold a giveaway don't be shy to state a fee for what you will be doing!
Earning Potential - ££
Paid Giveaways are a funny one because a lot of fellow bloggers seem to dislike the idea (I always find it's bloggers and not general readers!). But from past experience quite a bit of time goes into organising a giveaway and if you are going beyond just writing a blog post, plus promoting the brand, why not be paid for your time? I wouldn't set my fee high here but enough to make it worth hosting the giveaway and any potential hassle it incurs. Again, like sponsored posts these are less frequent now but still if you get offered to hold a giveaway don't be shy to state a fee for what you will be doing!
Earning Potential - ££
8. Freelance Blogging
Once you become a more established blogger you may get brands asking you to produce content for their own blog/website. This may be a one-off or a frequent thing but either way DO NOT do it for free thinking it will be good exposure! Side note - I've generally found a mention for a fellow blogger to be worth a lot more than a mention from a brand on their website. Charge like you would for a sponsored post, if not a bit more and make sure they link back to your blog. Freelance blogging can be a great thing if you get the chance but you can also keep your eyes peeled on the Pro Blogger job board here or even search 'blogger' on job sites in your local area - you never know!
Earning Potential (per article) - £££
Once you become a more established blogger you may get brands asking you to produce content for their own blog/website. This may be a one-off or a frequent thing but either way DO NOT do it for free thinking it will be good exposure! Side note - I've generally found a mention for a fellow blogger to be worth a lot more than a mention from a brand on their website. Charge like you would for a sponsored post, if not a bit more and make sure they link back to your blog. Freelance blogging can be a great thing if you get the chance but you can also keep your eyes peeled on the Pro Blogger job board here or even search 'blogger' on job sites in your local area - you never know!
Earning Potential (per article) - £££
9. Private Ad Sales
Offering ad space at a low cost to fellow bloggers and small Etsy-type businesses can be a good way to dip your toes into placing ads on your site. Simply decide on the size of ads (and price) you wish to show in your sidebar (I'd keep them small-ish), what as you will offer along side it - a blog write up, twitter shout-outs etc, create a page and then promote it! This can be a monthly thing that can create a little extra money and also help out fellow bloggers.
Earning Potential - ££-£££
Offering ad space at a low cost to fellow bloggers and small Etsy-type businesses can be a good way to dip your toes into placing ads on your site. Simply decide on the size of ads (and price) you wish to show in your sidebar (I'd keep them small-ish), what as you will offer along side it - a blog write up, twitter shout-outs etc, create a page and then promote it! This can be a monthly thing that can create a little extra money and also help out fellow bloggers.
Earning Potential - ££-£££
10. Offering a service
Once you've been blogging for several years you may find that companies want to pick your brains. This may be on a new line of products, a new brand, how best to use social media or even on random things such as internet bullying! It can be pretty vast. But other than giving interviews or quotes to use, this is really something that you should be charging the most for - whether it be communication over the internet, Skype, as part of a focus group, one-to-one or on a panel. Generally brands will approach you and suggest a fee (make sure it's worth it per hour for you) but if you feel like you have something to offer you can of course outline your services in the 'About Me' or 'Contact' pages of your blog.
Earning Potential - £££-££££
*Earning Potential based on an average fashion/beauty blogger that have been blogging for over a year*
Once you've been blogging for several years you may find that companies want to pick your brains. This may be on a new line of products, a new brand, how best to use social media or even on random things such as internet bullying! It can be pretty vast. But other than giving interviews or quotes to use, this is really something that you should be charging the most for - whether it be communication over the internet, Skype, as part of a focus group, one-to-one or on a panel. Generally brands will approach you and suggest a fee (make sure it's worth it per hour for you) but if you feel like you have something to offer you can of course outline your services in the 'About Me' or 'Contact' pages of your blog.
Earning Potential - £££-££££
*Earning Potential based on an average fashion/beauty blogger that have been blogging for over a year*
Hopefully you have found some of this insightful!
If you have any questions feel free to ask me them in the comment section below.
Fee xo.
