When I first started this blog back in February I developed a plan as to how it would work and how I would make money. My family did not understand nor believe that I could write and advertisers would come to me eventually. Well, luckily it does work like and not a day goes by that I am not solicited to review a product, publish a guest post or be an affiliate for a company and help them sell their products. I am grateful for these opportunities but the problem is I only allow myself to review products or publish posts that you, my readers would be interested in. Did you know people offer to give me money to publish something they have written. So great, but doesn’t usually work for me because of my distinctive voice.
So, sadly this month I had to turn away paying customers because I knew my readers wouldn’t care to read about these particular products. I think I have a pretty good feel for who reads my blog and I try to keep my advertising to a minimum and not include stupid stuff I don’t believe in. In October I joined several affiliate programs such as Best Buy, Tiny Prints, Card Store, and Amazon.com. I figured adding these advertisements to my blog could only help my profits but I was seriously mistaken. After 2 months in a row of increasing readers and declining profits I realized I had spread myself too thin and my readers had become confused as to how to help me make money.
A large majority of my readers know that clicking the Google ads puts money directly in my pockets but when I added all the affiliate programs that wasn’t the case because I confused everyone. Either way, after researching my trends I have once again revamped my blog strategy and this is what I have come up with.
1. I will now only have Google ads on my blog, so if you click any advertisement, (not sponsors) I will make money.
2. I really love buying stuff from Amazon.com and think they have a good affiliate program so I made my own little mini Amazon store. If you want to buy a book, cookbook or product I have mentioned before in my blog you can click on this link and it will take you to my store. If you choose to buy anything I will make a commission even though the price remains the same as always. I will be adding products throughout the year. Also, you can suggest products for me to add and if you are a reader and sell something on Amazon, let me know and I will include it in my store. Always like to help my readers!
3. The third arm of my plan is to focus on getting more quality sponsors like Prasad, Tina Scoville Color Boutique, life in a break down, and Artistic Impressions by Mara on my sidebar. In the past 30 days my blog has received 12,052 page views which means anyone listed on my sidebar is getting viewed that often. As an incentive to give it a try I am offering 20% off all available spots from now until December 31, 2012. Use the code: love. Click the link below and check it out and see if you would be interested in becoming a sponsor. Please ignore how hideous this logo is below. I was trying to fix it and Trinity told me to “get off the computer”, so I listened but I hate it. Hopefully it will look different soon.
You may be wondering why the heck I just took you through my plan step by step? The reason is because I run into people all the time who read my blog and they have questions about how I make money and how they can help me. Hence the explanation. Thanks for caring!
Have a wonderful weekend and if you haven’t started your holiday decorating, you better start this weekend so you can enjoy it all month!
xoxo tiffani
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My Monthly Sponsor, Prasad Photography
