How We Are Making Money from Blogging

How do I make money blogging is the question I am asked most frequently.  When I explain that it is through marketing it makes sense to people.  Their next question is usually but who reads your blog or blogs in general?

When I started blogging back in 2009 I never expected my whim, my hobby to become my main income but it has.  The biggest way to make money from blogging is to diversify.  Blogging has opened doors to social media management, being the chief editor over at Flea Ents (which incorporates four sites with Tots100 being the most well known), blogger outreach, freelance writing and even writing my own first person account in Daily Mail.

It has been a brilliant few years!

Today I am sharing some advice from our book Blogging Your Way To Riches which I co wrote with the fabulous Mrs Mummy Penny and we are launching an exciting competition.

Lynn and I often get asked to help other bloggers formulate their rates.  We both believe that it is good to have a few people that you can talk money with.  Blogging can be isolating and solitary and therefore when working out your pricing strategy it can be challenging. In most other industries there is a ball park figure, an accepted rate but blogging has nothing set in stone and people will often tell you what the highest they have earnt is.  Yet that is simply not reflective of the daily grass roots payments.  We all have rate cards set with numbers in mind and it is often a negotiation from that point in.

When working with a new client I will always ask for budget – just incase their pocket is deeper than I expected.  I like the other party to mention a number first and take it from there.  Just this week I was offered £40 for a post.  I declined and explained why.  I was then offered £125 for the same piece of work!

This excerpt is taken from Blogging Your Way To Riches and explains the steps we take when negotiating:

• Research the brand. Are they a big brand with deep pockets for their marketing budget? Is it a big new proposition or product launch? If yes, go higher
• Are you dealing direct with a brand or via a PR agency? Go higher if dealing direct with a brand.
• Is the product you are promoting high value? If the client makes a £200 profit from each new customer you send, they can afford to pay you a higher fee
• Have they sent you an individual/unique email specific to you and your blog. I.e. composed rather than copied and pasted? If so they are interested in you and your blog so go higher
• How did they find you, was it a recommendation? If it was a recommendation by another blogger find out what the other blogger was paid.
• Send them a media pack including all key statistics

These steps have secured us work at competitive rates and we also feel confident because we have really thought about why we are charging xx amount.