Top | Skirt | Shoes | Earrings
Alright…I know these photos have absolutely nothing to do with today’s topic – other than it’s about blogging and these are blog photos haha but I’ve been meaning to write this post for some time now & these photos turned out fun so here we are 🙂
Something I get asked ALL THE TIME is how to make money blogging! And I’ve also been approached by so many people who don’t even know that blogging, being an influencer, whatever you do with your creative space, even generates income! Which is totally fine and I don’t blame you. Although this industry has been around for some years now…it’s also SO NEW. And it’s really being invented and changed as time goes. So many things about this business have changed since I started blogging myself, and I know that I will have to keep learning and adapting each year as it expands.
Now with this post, I am only going to be sharing my personal experiences and things I’ve learned along the way. I am no expert, but I know how hard it was to start off in the beginning and have zero clue what you are doing so I am more than happy to share what has worked for me!
Another thing to keep in mind, if you are blogging solely for the money aspect or to be ‘popular on Instagram’, I would really think again on starting the journey. There are SO many more fulfillments in this and those things don’t come along for everyone, although they are possible. Also, people are smart! They can read right through your intentions, so if they aren’t pure, at some point they will catch on. It also takes tons, I mean tons, of hard work and dedication before any amount of money starts to come in. It definitely does not happen over night and again, not every one gets to that point! I’ve seen tons of girls who do it solely because it’s what they LOVE, but it isn’t their job. And they are happy! When I first started, my plan was to become a hairstylist and to just blog for fun on the side and that was my goal! It evolved into so much more for me and I’m so grateful, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yet, even if it never grew, I would have kept blogging either way. I did get very blessed – along with working really hard, networking like crazy, and never giving up.
ANYWAYS, now on to how it all works!! Hopefully this helps those of you struggling or interested get some clarity and inspiration to keep doing what you are doing and chase after your dreams ❤
Ways to generate income:
Affiliate Networks –
This is what came first for me! There are tons of ways to become an affiliate nowadays and what this basically means is you generate income with commissions.
When I first started, I joined ShopStyle Collective which is amazing! At the time, they paid per click which means you get a small amount of money each time someone clicks on your link. Like a couple cents. But they do add up over time, and the more clicks / sales, the more your click rate increases! They also just rolled out a new feature where you can apply to work on commissions instead meaning you get a percent of each sale made, nothing from clicks! Either way works great, and really depends on your audience! Do they tend to just click around but don’t generally purchase? Or do they shop til they drop? ShopStyle Collective is amazing and such a great way to start since you don’t have to apply to join, you just sign up!
After blogging for awhile, I decided that I wanted to apply for rewardStyle, which is a similar concept! You may recognize the brand “LikeToKnow.It” which is run by rewardStyle! They pay commission based only – so each brand sets their percentage with rS and each time you make a sale, you get that percent! With this network, you do have to apply, and in some cases I’ve heard it can take a few times until you get accepted! They also have some requirements like blogging for at least 6 months and things like that. But I’ve loved being a part of rS and LTKit!
Apart from these networks, there’s also a bunch of companies / brands that have their own networks like Amazon and Lulus! I personally couldn’t not juggle a bunch of different networks, but I know a ton of girls that do! Maybe someday haha. Any website you’d like to be an affiliate for, you can usually scroll to the bottom of their site and search for something that says ‘affiliates’ and it will tell you how to join!
Ads –
I personally haven’t implemented this into my site because I just simply don’t know enough about it. I would want to run ads very organically and not have a bunch of random stuff on my site haha. But, you can add ads to your website and this is also a way to generate small income off of clicks! The way I know how is through Google Adsense!
Campaigns + Sponsored Content + Brand Relationship –
This is my number one favorite way personally! (And also where 90% of my income comes!) Building relationships with brands and creating content for them is so fun in my opinion. I love to be a part of specific campaigns. For example, last month I was a part of a Bobbi Brown campaign highlighting your girl crush so I got to take a fun photo with my mom and highlight her! Those types of projects bring me so much joy! It also lets you be as creative as you want and it’s been fun challenging myself to try new things or to try to be more unique with my photos! Opportunities like this generally come through email – whether the brand reaches out to you, or you reach out to the brand. Occasionally I have built relationships over Instagram DMs with brands as well! Sponsored content can be Instagram stories, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, blog posts, really anything! And you have different rates for each depending on your reach, following, engagement, community, page views, etc!
Brand & Influencer Marketing Platforms –
There are tons of platforms / networks, (whatever you want to call it), that connect brands with influencers. These are quick ways to apply for campaigns and connect with new brands! This is also a way I have built brand relationship discussed above!
Some of my favorites are:
But there really are TONS out there! These ones just seem to be the ones that I have connected with my favorite brands on and that seem to agree to my rates! Not all sites will pay, so there are some other sites for beginning bloggers that have fun product for post partnerships like Octoly!
Hopefully these things help provide you guys with some clarity when it comes to social media influencing or blogging! If there is ANY other questions you have, comment below and lets keep this conversation going! I’ll be sure to reply to any additional questions you have! I love to be an open book with you and I don’t hold anything back – I just want to be your friend! So ask away 😊
Other blogging related posts I’ve done:
Blogging Tips: How to start, how to grow, social media talk
What Got Me Into Blogging + My Tips For Beginners
How Blogging Has Changed My Life
Time For Emotional Spring Cleaning
Talk About The Comparison Game
Remember to comment any additional questions below! All my love to you guys!
Shop the post:
Photos x Karli Goetz
Xx,
Karlie –
Thank you for this post! I am a few months into blogging and LOVE it! growing a following and working on collabs is definitely challenging but it has been so much fun to meet other bloggers and to really grow my creative vision for it all. I always love your content, and am thankful for your tips – can’t wait to keep following along!
xx! @dowlingfaith
Hi love!! Thank you so much for the kind words and I am so happy you are loving it so much!! It really is such a fun career or even hobby and I get so excited for people who are taking the journey too!! Nothing worth having comes easy and that is something I always remind myself 🙂
Thanks for popping in babe!!
Thank you for the blogging info! I’m at the beginning stages of creating my blog and my head is spinning! I’m trying to figure out if I should have one or two Instagram pages. My blog is going to be The Diary of Kimberly a blog by Kimberly Grill discussing travel, lifestyle and fashion style for 40/50 and over (I’m 49) I was thinking for the ltkit app that they may only want to see clothing in my posts. Is that correct? What are your thoughts?
Hi Kimberly!!
I would 100% stick to one Instagram account. The beauty of it is that it’s YOUR account so you can post whatever you want! And it’s up to you to brand yourself and your account so you just gotta include all those things early on so they become a part of your brand and what you are known for!! I love that you are going to include everything and for that age group because I do believe there is a HUGE demand for it!
As far as the LTKit app, share anything! You can only link from sites that are affiliated with rS so lots of home sites, clothing, amazon, etc. But you can just post anything that can be linked! I am going to be sharing a lot more home and lifestyle content on the LTKit app as that’s one of my personal goals! There are really no rules 🙂
Hope this helps!! let me know if you have anymore questions I’m happy to answer to the best of my ability!!
Hi there!
I’ve been contacted by several companies wanting me to be an ambassador in exchange for major discounts on clothing and commissions based on my sales. Is this how you start out, or should I be working towards gaining more followers and wait for items to be sent for free? I’m not trying to get free product (trust me I have no problems spending money on a new wardrobe lol) I am just genuinely curious and want to make sure I’m making the right decisions early on. Thanks for reading!
Hey girl!
To be honest…I kind of look at companies offering a ‘discount’ as them getting absolutely free advertisement and you actually paying THEM to advertise them. In my experience, with commission with just a certain boutique or brand that’s smaller…you are gonna have to promote the heck out of them in order to make like $15…so it ends up being so much of your time. Time is the most important thing so you just have to always ask yourself if it’s worth your time! Collabs should be mutually beneficial and the only way I personally see a discount being helpful is if you were going to already buy it yourself. For example! Our new home furniture, I’m gonna buy it all myself and I know the exact pieces I want so if I can get a discount – great! But I’m not gonna go purchase a random thing from a site I’ve never heard of simply because they will give me a little percentage off you know? So it really does just depend one the situation in my opinion! I think building brand relationship is also super important so that’s always something to consider too 🙂 Hope this helps!!
Hey Karlie! Thanks so much for sharing this.
Since my father unexpectedly passed away a few months ago, I’ve been building a little community called Strength to Bloom to share my journey with others and hopefully provide some light or guidance to others who may be going through a rough time in their life as well.
I’ve never thought of it as an income stream but I am so passionate about connecting with and helping others that it makes sense to build a career out of just that. Your tips are incredibly helpful for that! I admire your transparency 😊💛
Girl, my heart goes out to you! You are so inspiring bringing something like that in your life to be an inspiration and safe place for others. With it being something you are so passionate about, I would definitely chase after it and expand on it!! Keep me up with that project of yours!! I already love it so much!!
Hi Karlie! Just Curious- did you wait until you had a good amount of followers before you applied to ShopStyle Collective?
Hi! So sorry for the delayed reply I am just seeing this!
No you actually don’t need to ‘apply’ to join them – you just sign up! I did it pretty quickly and think you can do it right at the beginning, you don’t need a certain number of followers!! ❤️
Thanks for sharing! I am just starting to blog and needed some guidance. 😊
Aw of course girl! Always here if you have any questions! xx
Hi Karlie!
Thanks so much for sharing tips for beginner bloggers they are really helpful! I am thinking of starting a blog but I am unsure if I will be able to keep up with the amount of time it takes to run a blog. I am going to start small and more as just a hobby but I work a full time job and feel like I barely have time for anything. I was just wondering how much time you spend daily managing your blog and how long it took you to get to a place where you could start making a livable income with your blog. I would love to blog as a career but I am not sure I will be able to put as much time is needed to be able to grow a blog into a career while im still working full time. Any insights or tips you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Hi Caroline!!
I blogged for about 3 years before it started generating a full time income! But I know TONS of girls who started and went full-time a year later! I started young – at 19, so I was just kinda doing it randomly and didn’t really have any goals for it! Once I was about 2 years in, I decided I wanted to put more energy in and would spend a couple hours a day working on it and a year later was when it generated full time income! At that time it really is a full-time job and I honestly think a lot of bloggers work more hours than a typical job. You really spend almost all your free time working but you love it so much it’s worth it! I think when you are first starting – you should focus more on your purpose and passion behind it and not on the money! If you have that true passion and purpose, people will be drawn to you and the money will come naturally. It’s a career you choose because you love it – not just for the financial reasons! Just remember it takes time and don’t get discouraged! It took me 3 years! Sending all my love and well wishes your way!! Hope this helped a little! xoxo