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Typically, I advise my clients to maintain a blog because it’s good for SEO and, as a result, site traffic. But once your blog starts to bring in a predictable view count, you might start wondering about monetizing. Monetizing a blog refers to anything that can lead to indirect, passive income, which includes directing your readers to your own products. But it also means selling ad space and starting affiliate marketing.
In this blog, I’m going to talk about the pros and cons of monetizing your blog as an author, artist, crafter, or other creator. I’ll also go over a few suggestions for getting started and maintaining an ethically monetized blog.
The obvious reason to monetize your blog is to increase your income. Selling items from your online store might be your main goal in starting a website, but it’s not the only way your web presence can earn you money. Once you’ve established yourself in a given field, you can use your skills as a creator to bring in some passive income.
My clients are authors, artists, crafters, and other creatives. Their reason for starting a website is usually to sell their creative work. So it’s not always intuitive to start thinking about affiliate marketing for a secondary project like a blog. There’s an impulse to say, “I’m an author, not an influencer. Why would I start shilling just to earn a few bucks?”
I understand the fear of selling out. It was something I seriously considered when deciding whether or not to monetize this blog. What persuaded me was realizing that if I was going to recommend web builders to some of my readers (rather than insisting that my custom design services were the only way to go), there was no reason I shouldn’t vet and recommend a specific builder and get compensated for that. Many of the free image providers I use for my designs are affiliates for iStock—why shouldn’t I do the same thing?
Earning passive income seems like a simple and straightforward way to earn some extra cash. After all, no one wants to be a starving artist. But there are a few potential downsides to consider before you dive in.
For starters, no one likes seeing ads. If you sell ad space, you run the risk of making your blog an unpleasant reading experience. There are ways around this, of course (I’ll talk about that in the next section), but even the most artful and low-bandwidth ads will change the feel of your site.
As to affiliate marketing, I think this is far more tolerable on a blog than, say, a YouTube channel. For one thing, it’s easy to scroll right past a link or skim over a few sales-y sentences. That’s a big difference from having your video interrupted with a two minute ad. However, some of the problems with affiliate marketing show up no matter the medium.
How many times have you seen a new company suddenly being advertised everywhere, only for it to seemingly disappear overnight? I can’t tell you how many times a channel I subscribe to has started a video with a mini apology for previously working with a sponsor that turned out to be shady at best, and scammy at worst. Remember when BetterHelp seemed to tank overnight once its poor business practices were revealed?
Then there’s the issue of promoting a product or company just for the money. I don’t know about you, but I’m not convinced that Raycons offer anything different than your average mid-cost earbud. Would any of these influencers try to sell me on them if they didn’t get a commission?
Personally, I don’t hold it against anyone who takes a sponsorship for a product they secretly dislike, but it’s not something I’d want to do. It just feels weird.
Considering how opaque some companies are about their practices and how hard you’ve worked to earn your audience’s trust, monetizing might not seem worth the risk. And that’s fine. Your blog is still (hopefully) bringing new people to your site and improving your overall rankings, so it’s doing its job.
Having said that, if you are interested in monetizing, there are ways to do so without feeling guilty.
If you’ve decided to monetize, here are a few suggestions to help that shift go smoothly.
Only take ads that meet your screening criteria. You can avoid obnoxious designs and dubious products that way, keeping your blog pleasant. This is more time consuming than simply putting ad code on your website, and it may be difficult to find companies interested in working with you if your blog is still small. On the other hand, it’s a great way to promote other businesses within your niche.
This isn’t just for your own peace of mind—it’s almost always a legal requirement. You’ll generally need to have a notice in the blog post itself stating that it contains affiliate links, and you’ll likely need to have a linked page explaining the affiliate relationship in detail. The information you’ll need to include will vary from one company to the next, so make sure you read the fine print carefully.
While there is no ethical consumption (and very little ethical employment) under capitalism, we must all strive to be as close to ethical as possible. Avoid businesses that are openly horrible (I am no longer an Amazon affiliate), and try to choose products that seem like they would be genuinely helpful to your readers. For instance, I’m glad to offer affiliate links for website builders, because I really do believe they’re a great option for people who are just starting out.
As someone who earns their bread and butter designing custom, hand-coded websites, you’d think I’d tell authors they should avoid generic, low-cost websites at all costs. But I don’t. In fact, during every consultation, I make sure the author I’m working with is certain that a custom website is in their best interest. Here's why.
I’m also an affiliate for products that I use myself. My rule of thumb is this: If I would recommend something to a friend I know in real life, then I can sleep easy recommending it to my readers. (In case you were wondering, SkullCandy is my preferred low-cost earbud. Sadly, this is not sponsored by SkullCandy.)
So, should you monetize your blog? If you can do so in a way that doesn’t compromise the function and design of your website and won’t make your conscience prick you, I say go ahead. Just be sure to do your due diligence by looking up reviews of any affiliate program you’re interested and and make sure you’ve read and understood all the terms of service (boring, I know) before you sign up.
Are you still deciding on whether or not to monetize? Are you already earning money through ad space or affiliate links? Share your experience in the comments below!
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