Do you own a home, garden or DIY blog? If the answers is yes then you too can make money from it with the help of ad partners and affiliate programs. What’s best is that it’s passive income, meaning, the money just keeps rolling in without very much effort from you. Yes, you’ll need to get your blog up and running with decent content and a reasonable amount of visitors, but once you have this it’s easy money. Now we could all do with a bit more of that.
I’ve been running the blog on my website since I started out in 2017. In that time I’ve been writing about all the things I love doing. I write about things that I do in both my spare time and in my various jobs as a joiner, carpenter and local handyman. It’s quite simple really, write about what you know. Keep the content fresh and regular and in time your blog will increase in popularity.
Writing a home and garden blog is very satisfying, especially when you know likeminded people out there are enjoying your work and content. If like me you also have a home and garden blog then you too can make a bit of money off what you do. After all it can be very time consuming writing a blog.
Whether you started your blog purely to document and share your personal projects or the original aim was to make money from your blog the following should help you generate some additional income.
Firstly though, you need visitors to your site, you need traffic!
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Why is traffic good?
The more people visiting your website, the more opportunity you will have of someone seeing an ad or clicking on an affiliate link within your content. Higher traffic equals higher clicks. Simple really.
Most websites will receive increase traffic over time, but only when they have regular content added to them. Write informative, detailed posts and you’re more likely to get organic traffic to your site from search engines.
Now lets talk about the difference between an affiliate link and an ad.
What is an affiliate link?
Affiliate links can be inserted into existing text and images within your post or website pages. These can direct visitors from your site to another site, specifically to products or services from which you can take a commission.
The links contain tracking information for retailers and service providers on where the visitor has come from. In this example, your website.
It essentially a referral from which you take a commission of a sale. I use these affiliate links to gain commission on products I am recommending or have used on my projects.
I can make anywhere between 1 – 7% per transaction. Typically I get about 2-3%. So if someone decides to buy a product after using one of my links I will take a small percentage of that sale value.
Each advertiser (retailer / service provider) will have different terms for their affiliate program. They will pay different commission rates and links will track for different lengths of time. All this information is made available through their terms page.
Where can I find and sign up to affiliate programs?
You can find affiliate programs on advertisers websites. When I say advertiser I mean retailer or service provider. But by far the easiest way to join multiple advertisers is to sign up for a platform like Awin.
Awin provide an easy to use platform in which you can view and join all your favourite advertisers in one location. You can apply to become an affiliate easily with one click and see all the terms and conditions for each one at a glance. All your stats are easily viewed with their advanced reporting tool which can help you view information on number of clicks, sales and your overall commission earnings.
Awin also has a Google Chrome plugin that makes generating tracking links super easy. All I do is simply find a product or service on the advertisers website, then click on the browser extension to generate a link. I can then copy and paste that link into a post on my website.
Here is a snippet of my affiliate income from Awin (in £)
Another option for an affiliate program is CJ, it operates in much the same way as Awin but I find it less user friendly with less suitable affiliate programs. I use Awin for 99% of my affiliate programs.
Amazon for example have an affiliate program where you can generate links on your site. It’s a great way to promote the products you love and make some money along the way. To help further with this you can use a platform called AmaLinks Pro which helps you create Amazon links easily through a plugin on a WordPress website. It’s a great tool to speed up the links creation process which in turn increases your revenue.
How do I make money from ads?
Ads are another way to generate income from your site. Yes you will need to place ads on your site which can change the aesthetic a fair bit but you will generate a reasonable income from this depending on traffic volumes and which partner you decide to go for.
I joined up with Ezoic because they tend to have a great conversion rate or (earning per 1000 views), their support staff are really helpful and the platform is easy to use.
This is again an easy way to make passive income from you blog without a great deal of effort. I’m currently in the testing phase of Ezoic and already I’m generating on average $15 (£12.50) per 1000 visits to my site.
The initial setup was a little complicated but my Ezoic account manager was very helpful. She talked me through the technical difficulties and helped get everything setup to start earning.
Here is a screenshot of my last weeks earnings
Ezoic allows you to have full control over the ad locations on your website and only shows content that is relevant. They help tweek ad placement to ensure you are getting the best return. This is all controlled by a complex AI algorithm on the Ezoic platform to generate the best revenue from ads which isn’t currently match by simple ad networks.
Cashback sites can also generate you income
One other way I like using to generate income is the use of cashback referrals. Sites like Topcashback and Quidco both help you and you referrers generate income.
I’ve been using Topcashback now for over 3 years for all my everyday purchases. It’s helped me generate over £1000 in cashback on items I would have purchased anyway. The added bonus here is that I promote it on my website using a referral link. For everyone that signs up and uses the site generates me between £7.50 and £30.
Here a snapshot of my cashback earning from Topcashback to date
Whilst things can start off slow, over time this all adds up. The more sign ups, the more you generate.
Sponsored blog posts
This is a tried and tested way to make money from your blog. Companies can pay good money to have backlinks from your website to theirs. You will need to have a decent DA (Domain Authority) but once you have this you can start charging anything between £20 – £300 per post. If you have a really good DA then posts can be charged at up to £600, but this is for the really well established websites and blogs out there.
Writing content
Content is key for your website. The more content you have the more likely you are to get found, the more traffic you get. Carefully selected content that is relevant and factual will help give your site credit and boost your ratings. Keep writing weekly or even daily to keep your site fresh.
Finding the work
Finding the work can be a little tricky but get on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to find companies or marketing agencies that are willing to pay you for sponsored content on your site. Make sure you have a contact page on your site so that marketing agencies can see that you accept sponsored work.
You can also find paid work on sites like Get Blogged and Bloggers required. These sites will list available opportunities that you can apply for.
Check out this huge and helpful list of websites where you can source paid work for your own blog.
Insurance
Don’t forget to insure yourself as a self employed blogger. Mistakes can be made in this business and they can cost you thousands to rectify. You should cover yourself with professional indemnity insurance which will protect you from claims against negligence, Defamation, libel & slander, copyright breach, claims expenses and breach of confidentiality.
I’ve signed up with Dingy to cover me in my freelance work. I pay only £0.33 per day (£120 annually) for this cover which gives me peace of mind. I also got a £25 Amazon voucher when signing up using this referral code: https://deck.getdinghy.com/members/bs-7924
The best thing is, they will also chase any unpaid invoices (over £200) on your behalf.
Conclusion
With all of these money making tips for your home, garden or DIY blog you can start generating income on the side or as a full time job.
It can take a while to get things up and running, so don’t expect to make a full time income within the first few years. But stick with it and in time you will be able to make money and generate that all important passive income.
The most important thing to remember is that you have to start somewhere and keep adding regular, fresh content to your site. You may be working some late nights and weekends to start with but it will all be worth it in the end.
I’ve only started adding affiliate links and ads to my site within the last year or so and am now making between £400 – £800 per month. Whilst this isn’t a game changer, with a little more time and effort I hope double or even triple this. This way I can then spend more time doing the things I love and spend time with my family.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this post and any experiences you have with blogging income so please leave a comment or get in touch.
Thanks for reading
Ben
Take a look at some of my favourite projects:
- How to build a garden office from scratch – on a budget
- How to build your own shed from scratch
- How to build your own veranda for under £500
- How to lay a porcelain tile patio outside
- How to build your own under stair drawers for under £100
