Learn how to make money crochet blogging!
Now that you followed my guide to starting a blog from scratch and setting up your blog, lets learn how to make money with your blog!
Here are the top ways to make money from your blog:
- Ads
- Affiliates
- Sponsored Posts
- Products
- YouTube
I suggest implementing as many strategies as you can. The more you diversify the more income streams you will have rather than just relying on one.
Now, let’s talk ads!
To get ads on your site and make money from them you need to work with an Ad network. An Ad network works directly with advertises then works with publishers (bloggers like me and you) and we make a percentage of profit based on page views. RPM or revenue per Mille, is the rate you’re paid per 1,000 page views. That means if your RPM is $10 and you have 1000 page views then you will make $10. The rate changes from day to day, each day is a little different.
What Network should you start with?
When you’re first starting out, apply for Google Adsense. This is a trusted network that does not have as many limitations as others. Other networks require more sessions (people that visit your blog) and page views before you can become a publisher. When you have a new blog, Adsense is what you should apply for (in my opinion). You have to place the ads on your site yourself but there are plugins (like an app for your blog) and Youtube posts that make this really easy to do!
There are other Ad companies out there that will pay you next to nothing. They are really invasive and put all kinds of ads and popups on your blog that make for a really poor user experience. Look around and you will see what I’m talking about. Although the point of Ads is to make money, you don’t want them popping up everywhere making the user annoyed and never want to return to your site again.
As a side note, make sure you know the rules about Ad companies working together if you are considering more than one. Some will allow you to do this and some will only let you work with their Ad company and theirs alone.
As you grow your blog you will be able to move on to larger Ad companies (they will place all your ads for you) that will pay you a higher RPM. These are a few in my opinion that are pretty great:
1. AdThrive: requires 100,000 monthly views to apply
2. Mediavine: requires 25,000 sessions per month (people that visit your bog)- this is where I am now and I love it! They are the real deal and awesome to work with, plus really nice RPMs!
3. Monumetric: requires 10,000-80,000 page views minimum: This is where I went after Adsense. There is a $99 start up fee but it was totally worth it to me to have much higher RPMs than I was getting with Adsense.
Keep building up your blog and increasing your sessions and page views then apply to an Ad Network.
Affiliates:
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when you recommend a product from a company that you are an affiliate with then get paid a commission when someone purchases that product. For example, if I recommend this Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
and you sign up, I will make a small commission (or bounty they call it). You recommend these products or services through links on your website. These programs are usually free. You apply to programs that pertain to your blog and follow their rules and guidelines.
Some great affiliate programs include:
- Amazon Associates- this is a common one that a lot of bloggers use. You get approved easily and can recommend any products on Amazon! I use this one a lot to recommend yarn and supplies.
- Shareasale is also great and has a ton of participating companies. I make recommendations from Lion Brand Yarn and Make Handsome Profits with Darn Good Yarn Affiliate Program here. Become an affiliate with shareasale!
- Ultimate bundles– you can earn 40% commission every time someone purchases a “bundle” of ebooks/printables/courses/workbooks that pertain to a certain interest. These products are made by many different bloggers/authors and they accept the best of the best to make these offers unique and full of valuable information. Sign up to become an affiliate with Ultimate bundles.
- Rakuten.com (formally known as eBates) gives you $25 per referral for someone who signs up through your link and makes a purchase. They are an awesome company that basically pays you to shop. When you shop through their links (most stores you shop at are listed) they will give you a percentage back (basically cash back) that you will receive as a PayPal or check payout. This doesn’t really come up much in my blog but this is something I use every time I shop online. I usually pay with my credit card and get points on that then I click through their link before I complete my purchases and that’s it! Double cash back 😉 Sign up for Rakuten and get a $10 sign up bonus!
- Your hosting site. I use SiteGround and they are awesome! You can read more about SiteGround and why I choose them in my setting up your blog post. They offer a referral program when someone signs up with their services through your link.
- PicMonkey– You get a $20 gift card for each person that signs up through your link!
- Tailwind– You can earn 15% commissions when you become a Tailwind affiliate.
These are all the programs that I use and trust. There are more out there, just think of the services and products you use and see if there is an affiliate program for them!
Next, we have sponsored posts
What are sponsored posts?
Sponsored posts are when you work with a brand and bring more awareness to their product through your post. You in turn get compensated. The sponsored post may pay you or offer you a free product. Each company compensates differently.
Here’s a list of companies that offer sponsored post opportunities:
Check them out and see of there is a fit for you!
Next, let’s talk about products.
Products such as memberships, ecourses and ebooks are all great ways to monetize your blog. If you are an expert in a specific area this may be a great avenue for you.
For my crochet blog I make a PDF ad free version of each pattern I create and sell the file on Etsy. I sell them from $3-5. Even though I post the patterns for free on my blog a lot of people enjoy having a nice print out of the pattern without the ads. I highly recommend doing this if you have a blog of this sort.
Is there a product you can create for your reader? Think about what service you can provide them with. Is there a product that you can make that would make their life easier? Something that provides value to your reader?
Lastly, make money with YouTube.
YouTube
If you have a site where you are making something like crafts, crochet, knitting, cooking, etc. then creating a YouTube channel is a great way to monetize! A YouTube channel is a great way to show your expertise, increase traffic to your blog and earn money once you hit 1000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of logged watch time (in a 12 month period).
I’ve noticed that I get subscribers a lot quicker on YouTube than I do on my blog. I just started my channel 7 months ago and have a handful of videos up and have well over the 1,000 subscribers that I needed to monetize. I’m working on getting the needed hours but am already halfway there! I think for crochet there are a lot of people that are visual learners or may not be able to read a pattern. Also it’s very quick and easy to just click a button to subscribe rather than enter your e-mail. If you have a blog where you are teaching information to someone, definitely start your channel!
My YouTube channel is TraverseBayCrochet if you want to take a look!
Now that you have your site monetized, let’s boost your traffic!
Haven’t started your blog yet? Follow my step by step guide to starting a blog from scratch and setting up your blog.
Want the complete guide to set up, monetize and boost traffic with your blog?
Buy my eBook!
My How to Start a Blog 37 page eBook also includes:
12 steps to getting your blog started today + checklist
My personal Pinterest strategy:
- Make great pins
- Boost your page views
- How to find Group boards and get on them
6 essential plugins you need to:
- Increase the speed of your site
- Optimize for SEO
- Get more social shares
- Increase Pinterest traffic
How to write great content:
- How to write in depth posts
- Tips for top ranking Google posts
How to make money with your blog:
- 5 best strategies to make money
How to boost traffic to your blog:
- 5 best strategies to get people to your site
Plus bonuses!
- Top 10 resources for FREE stock photos
- 56 catchy headlines for your posts
- Blogging blueprint
Who is this eBook for?
Anyone interested in starting a blog in any niche! This is a quick guide eBook that covers all the essentials of setting up, monetizing and driving traffic to your blog.
Hey Laura! We’re so glad that you’re happy with Mediavine! We know we’re pretty darn happy to have you as one of our publishers, and thank you for mentioning us in a great monetization post!
In case this info helps your readers: Mediavine is known for helping online publishers monetize their existing content through digital advertising that doesn’t slow down sites or destroy audience experience. We totally agree that ads can be annoying, but everything we do here is technology we run on our own sites, so we’d never want to slow down our site or do anything that would affect our SEO.
But ads are just the beginning. Our mission is to create sustainable businesses for digital content creators. We are committed to providing education to publishers on a wide variety of topics from social media to SEO, creating awesome tools like our WordPress plugins, and helping them diversify their income streams with our influencer marketing department and other resources (like you mention in your post!)
As you mentioned, our threshold to work with a site is 25k sessions in the last 30 days per Google Analytics, and we’re here to answer any questions from you or your readers at publishers@mediavine.com.
Thanks again!
— Susannah at Mediavine