How Would I Use the Extra Income?

Do you have a friend who has recently started a money-making blog? Sure you do! Me!

Actually, I am blogging because I LOVE to write and I have a lifetime (several lifetimes) of stories to write. I hope to write it all into a book someday. I love my family and am very proud of how my kids have been and are growing and thriving. The journeys in foster care and adoption are very hard. But my children all show signs of amazing resilience, strength, and connections. They are beautiful in their lives of school, work, play, and dedication in spite of (or maybe because of) their hard times.

When I decided to start writing, I had a thought that as long as I am sharing the beauty of our life as a family, maybe I can earn extra money.

I am a single parent with 7 children here in my home right now (and 4 daughters out of the home). I made some clear choices within this journey more than 20 years ago that I would put the children’s needs first, foster and adoptive, ahead of my own career or “financial success.” That means we live somewhat low income… needing to say no to some of the extras we would love in our lives. We do not hunger, nor do we lack housing or heat or water. But it is hard when I cannot take the kids on vacations they would love or get them the cool shoes they want. My main goal with the money part is to try to live with a bit of extra fun.

Learning to blog and to incorporate elements that may lead to financial compensation has been an eye-opening experience and a STEEP learning curve for me. I have had to learn an entirely new business and vocabulary and technology! But I am truly enjoying it. Given the response from my family and friends, they like my writing and know well the journeys we as a family have had.

But, like myself, I suspect most of the people in my own circle have not known what it takes to ‘monetize’ a blog. I want to share some of what I have learned so that you, any of you, can think of ways to help a new blogger (or any blogger you enjoy and support) that doesn’t necessarily mean spending money.

Interact!

The most important way to help a blogger is to interact with a writer’s blog and social media as much as you can (or are willing to do so). The agencies and businesses that want to give a blogger compensation to sponsor their products as part of their own marketing strategies want to see that a blogger has a large following. That means, if a blogger produces sponsored material for, say Great Wolf Lodge (just an example), they want to know that their promotion with that writer is reaching a fair number of people.

That’s the basics! Spread any/ALL of a blogger’s posts on any platform, and encourage YOUR friends and family to do so, too. Like, Love, Share, Retweet, Pin, Comment, Subscribe, Follow, etc.

Every piece of social media has formulas for what and how much they (administrators of each) show on their platform. In the business mode of the entities, the more interaction any post has, especially sharing or retweeting or repinning, the more people they will show the entry to AND the more people are organically drawn to a blogger’s writing. A friend of yours might see what you shared and they will want to share it, then a friend of theirs, etc may do so, too.

Ads and promotions

***** I am an affiliate with several advertising groups . This allows me to earn a commission if you make any kind of purchase through the links I provide. There is no extra cost to you. *****

The other main piece for a friend of a blogger to be aware of is that when you see an advertisement of any kind on a blog website, that writer is trying to earn money. It’s not just the company placing the ad that earns when you buy, but if you buy through the blog clicks, that writer earns compensation, too.

1. They may have signed up with an ad service and they are getting paid to have an ongoing ad of some kind in a space on their blog pages. A blogger may get compensation every time someone views the blog, clicks on the ad, and/or orders from the ad. *I do not currently, at the time of this writing, have any ads on my blog. I don’t plan on doing that, either at this time*
2. The blogger may have signed up to be an affiliate with a particular company and have ads for that particular company. In this case, they make money if you click on the ad and order through that link. *I have two current affiliates. One is with the couple from whom I took the online course to learn all of this. The link to their information is on the sidebar to the right. It’s a Lovely Life is their company and they have been SO genuine and helpful. The other is with Amazon. In my case, if you see an Amazon ad, every time you order from Amazon through clicking on the ad, I will get a compensation. That is ANY order through the click, not just whatever that particular item is. I currently, at the time of this writing, have applications in for 3 other affiliates. The same click/purchase opportunity will apply.”
3. The next way that a blogger can earn money is to have a sponsored post. A business may compensate someone with money or a freebie of some kind to write a story around a product. To use the Great Wolf Lodge example from above, a blogger may get a free trip to GWL for the family, then get paid to write a blog post, make 3 twitter posts and 2 Instagram posts… again, just an example. There will ALWAYS be a note about the post being an ad or a promotion if a blogger is getting compensation of some kind to endorse a product. *At the time of this writing, I do not have any sponsored posts. I am new to this and again, per the above information about followers, I need to grow my “influence” in all the arenas for sponsors to want to spend money. I am looking at local companies right now who may want to test things out with me via free products or minimal monetary compensation. If my writing is quality, sponsors should come calling (I hope!!).*

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Whether or not you choose to spend your money through someone’s blog, again, the best way to help someone grow their business is to share all posts as much as you are comfortable. You can even share (and re-share) old writings and seasonal writings (ie. re-sharing the Easter posts next year). Share any of it on multiple platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter).

There is SO much more involved in the work a blogger does. I am still working on the ins and outs of running a website and I have spent hours reading and watching videos and asking questions to understand it all. Any compensation I earn will be hard-won. 🙂

My favorite part of it, though, is still the writing. Honest feedback (and love) is the best kind of support of all.

Show and Tell…. I put up an Amazon strip here with ideas for summer activities (Amazon chose the items, not me). If you click on any of these, you will be taken to your Amazon page. Anything you add to your cart and then purchase through this link (and it doesn’t have to include the item you clicked on) will result in a small percentage of compensation for me at no additional cost to you. Cool, yes?