I have been getting TONS of emails from all of ya’ll lately! I am really excited and honored that you think that I am awesome enough to help you out! If you have emailed me and havent heard back please don’t give up on me! I am trying my hardest!!!
So today I have decided to update a really popular post that I wrote about how I personally make money blogging. I hope that it can answer some of your questions because I personally believe that everyone who puts energy into a blog can be compensated financially. All of these networks do not care if you have 6000 followers or if its just you and your mom that read.
There are a lot of things I wish I knew when I started blogging. Making money was not something that I worried about. But once I understood that I could make some extra money and not feel like I was compromising my blog integrity it made my life lots easier! (Cause lets face it, room makeovers take some mulah!)
Wouldn’t it be the perfect situation if you could promote products that you love, have the companies appreciate your work, have your readers not feel like they are reading a commercial and make some spending money?
That’s my perfect situation. It’s a win win and everyone comes out on top.
The route that I have chosen to take is with ad networks.
Have you ever heard of an ad network? There are lots of different ones out there. They pay different ways and do things differently. I am part of 3 so here is the low down on them. Also when you are a part of more than one you get more opportunities coming your way! So sign up for all of them! The common thread with all of these companies is that they want you to share YOUR opinion 100%.
Social Spark is an ad network where you write blog posts about a certain company or subject.
I Love Social Spark because you set your price and then they send you offers from all different types of companies. You can either accept or decline the offer. You have no obligation to post something that isn’t in line with your content. They tell you in advance how much each campaign is worth. They range anywhere from $5.00 to hundreds. They work with a lot of large reputable brands and have AMAZING customer (blogger) service.
Because they have such a wide offering you just have to make sure that you are blogging with what you feel comfortable with. I get offers daily from Social Spark. Most have nothing to do with my blog so I don’t accept them. You can determine yourself what is right for your blog. I just choose to keep mine on the topic of my niche.
Every single successful blogger that I know is signed up with Social Spark.
You can see an example of a post I did that was sponsored by Social Spark and Pier 1 here.
Rivit is an ad network that runs banner ads on your sidebar.
Rivit pays per CPM which means that each ad that runs has a set price for every 1000 times the ad is viewed. The ads have a CPM of between $.40 and $4.00 depending on the campaign. Unlike Google Adsense it is not based on a CTR (Click Through Rate) though the higher your CTR is the better ads you get… Basically you are doing nothing, other than putting the HTML on your sidebar. And you guys should know that I am a big relationship builder, and they have the cutest girl running the show over there that I adore named Stacy. She is pretty much wonder woman.
The one thing that can be confusing sometimes is exactly HOW the CPM works. CPM is based on impressions (so every time your page is viewed) Ad networks run different ads throughout the day in the same banner. You are paid for each time a specific ad is viewed. If you were running a campaign that had a $2.00 CPM and it was exclusively that ad you would make a lot. Usually ads with really high CPMs have priority to your readers, meaning that they are the first ones seen but with Rivit they usually have a cap on the # of times an IP can view it in a 24 hour period. Because the ads are always changing your CPM will fluctuate daily. One thing to maximize your profit with a company like Rivit is to know when a high paying ad is running (they send you an email when this is happening) and make sure that you have GREAT content that day, things that will be tweeted and FB a lot sending more traffic to your site. Does that sort of make sense? That is what I understand at least, if I am wrong feel free to correct me!
Clever Girls is the third company that I am a part of. They are kind of a combo of the first two. In that there are sponsored posts and you can apply to be a part of their sidebar ad network
The Ladies that run Clever Girls are HILARIOUS. They are like the cool funny girls that want to be friends with everyone. Seriously I laugh out loud at the newsletters and tweets they send out with the opportunities. If you want to participate you reply to the email. The first time I ran this post there were a few people that signed up with Clever Girls (I don’t know how many). Instead of sending me a tweet or an email saying thank you, they sent me a HANDWRITTEN thank you card. I didn’t even know that was possible anymore! It just shows you the character behind these awesome ladies.
I recently was accepted into their Style Buzz network so I will keep you guys posted!
So there are a few ways to contribute to your thrifting/grocery fund.
And here is the best part. They all look for blogs that are big and small!!
So click over and sign up! Even if your blog is small and you only make $50 that’s like a whole new dresser people!
And in the policy of full disclosure I have not been asked or compensated by any of the above companies to blog about this subject. I just wish that someone would have showed me when I started!
Concerning Rivit. I don’t understand this part “It is not every 1000 times your page is viewed its every 1000 times the ad is viewed.” If someone is viewing my post they will see the ad, non? Can you elaborate on that. THANKS,
Muchly appreciated … I read your other post a while ago about ways to make money and thought it was very interesting and helpful
I like the idea of making money from my blog, but I feel like my blog is small enough still to where if I start adding ads my readers will be turned off and not come back. Is that just an irrational fear???
Sarah,
YES! If they stop reading because you have a few ads then they are LAME! Find blogs that have ads that you dont feel turned off by and follow their lead!
Love your guts
mandi
mandi, awesome info! do you know if these publishing networks allow other networks on your blog? i am new to blogher and im thinking about social spark
Thanks for all of the tips to help some of us make some money off of our blog! I’d like to make enough to finance my projects…we’ll see!
Thanks so much for the info!
This is great info, I am so glad you are open to sharing and helping out others! You really have inspired me a lot
Thank you for the clarification! I get it now.
Mandi, you are all kinds of awesome sauce. Clever Girls <3s you!
Thanks for the info! Totally signing up.
Thanks girl! This has helped a lot especially since I am a SAHM and have an addiction of making crap. Like ALL the time redecorating. Dont get me wrong I don’t have OCD! lol just love finding new things to try! Thanks for being awesome!
Mandi,
Thanks so much for this post! I have always wondered about how bloggers could make some moolah and since my blog has just begun, I will definitely check these out!
Jenni
Mandi,
Thanks so much for this post! I have always wondered how bloggers can get some extra moolah and now that my blog is underway, I will definitely check these out!
Thanks,
Jenni
This is a great post! I JUST started a blog, something I’ve been meaning to do for years, and this is something I’ve always thought about doing. I might try it out some day down the road!
BTW, I’m doing a tinfoil night stand this weekend! : )
Thanks so much for this info. I hadn’t heard of Rivit and Clever. I bet you get another thank you note!
Gloria
Awesome post!!! I’m checking them out right now!! 🙂
This is awesome, Mandi! I just went back last week and signed up for all these guys and I don’t understand any of it yet… but i’m sure it will all fall in place. Thanks for your transparency and sharing your secrets!
Thank you! I have thought about using my blog to make some fun money but wasn’t sure how to get started and this has been very helpful.
Thanks for the info. Any suggestions on amounts per blog post for Social Spark? I’ve never done anything like that before, so I don’t have the slightest clue how much I should set my minimum at….
Thank you! Thank you! Charitable work for the newbies! Cheers!
Thanks Mandi! I’m signing up for them. I had seen ads before but didn’t know what they were. I’ve got to fund my obsession somehow! 🙂
Thanks for sharing all the detailed information. I appreciate it!
Thanks so much for the info! I just signed up with Social Spark!
You are so helpful Mandi!!
Thank you! I just signed up for all three. I am just starting out in blogging and this post was just what I needed when I was feeling frustrating… thanks for the great information!
OMG. Thank you for being so open to demystifying the world of blogging! I’ve been blogging for fun for several years now (and have changed blogs several times!), but never really thought about making money since I only have friends and family reading. I found your blog last week and just love your projects and ideas. P.S. I’ve gotta get some of that Krylon glitter spray! #amazed
Thank you so SO much for posting this! As a baby blogger, I’m always interested in anything that’s going to ad to my fund for interesting projects to blog about.
Wow, thanks for the good information. I am just getting started and hope to have a store on my site too, but I am very interested is some of your ideas.
Lawana at http://www.meadowmagic.net
Thanks for the tips … and thanks for taking the time to help others.
I’m just another person who wants to THANK YOU for posting this! I just started my blog & probably wouldn’t really make anything right now, but I hope to grow my blog with time & be able to put this information to good use. You are awesome-sauce for sharing this!!!
THANK YOU!! That was seriously very thoughtful of you!!!
So…almost 24 hours later, and I have a question. Rivit wants to know how many unique visitors I have a month, and what my monthly page views are. Can anyone help with where to find this information? I’m sure I can just average to get the monthly views, but the unique views? Lost there.
Hi Mandy! You are so very, very gracious to share all of your knowledge! I have been thinking about placing ads on my blog, but I wasn’t sure how to do it! I can’t thank you enough for sharing what you know!
PS. I just watched your DI video where you and your friend are wearing the wigs. H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!!! so funny that your husband didn’t recognize you!
Thank you bunches for the wonderful information!! I
have never thought of doing ads on my blog because mine seems so small ~
I am going to check out these places for sure!!
This is all so great. Thank you for the information. Do you know about the ability of bloggers using wordpress to be able to utilize these sites? Word press doesn’t allow ads, but I’m wondering if they allow posts like the ones you are talking about with social spark….
Very good tips to have. I’m still a newwer blogger (started in march) with between 2-3000 page views per day. My ‘voice’ is clear in repurposed and recycled design and decor – but I still feel so young compared to blogland veterans. Would you still suggest to try these advert networks this young in the blog life?
Michael
Hi, Mandi
I read your blog often and I don’t know how I miss this post. I love how you expounded on this subject and I really appreciate it. I never wanted to ask this question, because I didn’t feel I could ask any of the well season bloggers. I though it was not appropriate to ask. Between you and Funky Junk I have learned tons of stuff to improve my blog. I love to blog and it feels like my own business anyway, so I am grateful for companies who want to work with bloggers. Thank you so much and I am very grateful.
Have a great week,
Vanessa
Thank you for the great tips – some of the things out there can seem so confusing initially.
Thanks for all the tips! I don’t think we have enough traffic to justify ads at this very moment, but I’m hoping we have some growth in the next 6 months! Thanks for making it all sound easier!
Hi Mandi! Beth (at homestories) pointed me in your direction about ad networks 🙂 She told me you wrote a good post and she was right! I just put adsense on my site and was just researching others. Thanks so much for the info . So it doesn’t really matter that I’ve only been blogging for 4 months? Anyone can sign up? I’ll check out their sites!
Thank you so much for this info! I will definitely be looking into these since I don’t have any advertising yet. I’ve been reluctant because I didn’t know where to start. I am so clueless- can I ask you a really dumb question? How do I add the html?