Although I have no way of calculating percentages, I know my readership is comprised of both bloggers and non-bloggers. One of the most-common questions I'm asked by those who know me outside of the blogging worlds is "Do you make any money blogging?"
Bloggers, stop laughing.
Though it won't buy Mama new shoes, my favorite paychecks arrive in my inbox; I received FOUR this week:
"… I wanted to let you know I have really enjoyed the [parenting posts] I've read……….You have really been on target I think!!! And with 5 kids from first grade to college, I can relate to most everything you have been writing about!!! Thanks for the encouragement!!" ~ my sister's sister-in-law
"This is unbelievable……. My assistant overheard me telling one of my women's groups about the movie The Help and how it was a picture of how women can tear each other down or build each other up. She proceeds to send me an article she had read on someone's blog that spoke to that. Today, I am working from home trying to get caught up and decide to read the article, scroll down to the end and see that it is written by Robin Dance!!!!!!!!! I about have a heart attack! So I have spent the last hour looking at and reading your WONDERFUL blog. I am so proud and impressed…. Sorry that it has taken this amazing God-thing to happen today so that I can celebrate your gift!" ~ my lifetime best friend and college roommate
"Thanks Robin for all your encouragement! I am loving your advice for these teens and tweens-when I get more organized I will be sharing with friends…and your pound cake recipe- Caroline’s 13th birthday request!…and your grad gift ideas- loved the hammock and “my” ( : new jewelry organization…to mention a few! Thanks so much for sharing your heart. It is a real blessing. I do get the feeds and look forward to them!" ~ one of my bridesmaids & college lovie
"I am soooo enjoying your series. Mostly because I know you. Some of the things you write grieve me, because we have not been around to be in community with and for each other. There is great insight in what you are writing…." ~ another lovie from our hometown
Now I do NOT share these to tell you how great I think I am (mercy, PLEASE give me the benefit of THAT doubt!!); rather, to let you know how much it means to a writer/blogger ~ obvious lovers of words ~ to receive encouragement that our writing is meaningful on some level.
Writing demands time and occupies space; it exercises our intellect and imagination. Writing is work.
So it's nice to get paid for it.
Though most bloggers don't earn a full-time income, there are ways to earn money from blogging:
- Affiliate links (i.e., Amazon, DaySpring, Therapon, etc. buttons in my sidebar; if you click through any of those and purchase anything on their site, I'll earn pennies on the dollar.)
- Advertising (via a sidebar button, banner ad with a post, text links, blog network, etc. Currently I have no advertising on PENSIEVE.)
- Compensated writing for other sites. I'm paid as an author/contributor to write for (in)courage, The Skinny and Simple Mom; and as an editor for Story Bleed. I LOVE each of these sites, thrilled to be associated with them!!
- Sponsored posts. This is an example of a sponsored post :). It's where a blogger partners with a brand and writes content for the brand; but it's up to the blogger what to write with little direction from the brand other than to disclose the relationship and any requirements.
Some will say bloggers are "selling out" for doing any of the above. But my unapologetic position is we write so much without compensation, BRAVO for when opportunity presents itself…if it makes sense and fits well.
A few weeks ago Vicks VapoRub approached me with a six-month deal to write for their brand.
My first reaction?
Huh?
My second reaction?
A host of warm and fuzzy memories, and three of the six posts already mentally written.
Vicks VapoRub is present in some of my earliest memories (I can't wait to tell that story).
It's a reputable brand I'm proud to be associated with, and I'm grateful they've ask me to join their Blogger campaign for the Fall/Winter. Once a month during cold and flu season I'll spotlight Vicks VapoRub; in between, I'll share information of value to you on Facebook in Twitter.
On Tuesday, Vicks will make history as it announces the first ever dad to be featured in a Vicks VapoRub commercial in over 100 years!
They've been teasing it on their Facebook page for the past few weeks with clues about who it is; won't you please LIKE their page now so you can be among the FIRST to know?
I hope you're already a PENSIEVE email or reader subscriber; that way, you'll receive notice when I host Vicks VapoRub giveaways just in time for the cold & flu season.
I had a few links to put in my sidebar and got money for that. This year nothing, everybody sits on his wallet !
Well, I hope you already know that I’m a huge fan of yours. 😉 And yes, those paychecks mean more than words can say.
While I don’t foresee myself as monetizing my blog per se (with the exception of considering sponsored posts such as this or affiliate links to brands which are relevant to my blog), it certainly doesn’t bother me to see a blogger sister doing so – WHEN she does so with class, such as in your case. What I dislike is how some bloggers who, once they have “made it big”, suddenly stop posting unless the post is to blatantly plug another company, or when every single post ends with a plug. It’s their prerogative obviously, just not something that I personally enjoy reading.
But then again, I was reading blogs long before I started blogging – this blogging gig is relatively new to me. Ask me again in a year, and my answers might be very different.
I don’t mind a few affiliate links, sidebar ads, or a sponsored post here and there. I do get annoyed when every link is an affiliate link, and every other post is sponsored, and I’m told to go click on all the ads.
For me? I do participate in book review programs. I love to read, so getting free books in exchange for a short review is a wonderful deal! I’m also an amazon affiliate. In the almost two years that I’ve been an affiliate, I’ve made a grand total of $0. Not a cent. And I really don’t care. I don’t write to push product; I write to share what’s on my heart. If a product gets pushed in the process of that, so be it. But it rarely happens that way.