Bloggertunities: 35 Ways to Improve Your Blog, Build Traffic, & Earn More Money
“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.” – Timothy Leary… Love this quote, lol. But really – being a mom is a hard job. When you throw in being a blogger on top of that, well, life gets crazy. {You can read about how MY day is going today here. So.Very.Tired…} So many people don’t “get” what we do at home all day – from diapers to carpool to snacks to dinnertime to blogging and business… So, let me be the one to give you a cyber high-five, pat on the back, and enthusiastic “Good job!!” for everything you do each day! {Feel free to cyber high-five me back. It’s been a long week for me, lol.}
I hope that you’re off to an awesome start to the holidays already – if not, take a couple of days to really get organized and motivated. Make an editorial calendar to organize those post ideas you’ve got going. Sign up for a handful of new affiliate companies – this is the time of year that people are shopping online, so if you’re going to be sharing great products with your readers, you might as well earn some cash from that work too. Spruce up your sidebars, make sure it’s easy for people to find a way to follow or subscribe to you – since you’ll probably be seeing new readers this time of year. And remember to end each post with a call to action – and really end the year with a bang! Have other ideas to share? Or cool events to join, linkys to check out, tips to read? Share it all in the comments so we can all benefit from it too.
I’m hosting my first Blog Hop Giveaway – Join me, and some of my best-est bloggy buddies for a free event –Jingle Jubilee! Get details and join the fun today!
Tips, Tools, & Good Reads
Google Chrome: Are you SOOOOO tired of those dang “Shockwave player has crashed” messages when using Chrome? Then get the answers on how to fix it – super simple! – here: How to Stop Shockwave Flash Crashes in Chrome.
Smore: This is SUCH a cool site. I used it a couple of weeks ago to make an online flyer to promote my latest giveaways, and it got over 100 views in 3 hours. So cool. This free tool works great for so many things – school fundraisers, local events, birthdays, house parties, business promotions, sales, and so much more. Learn how to make a free online promotional flyer using Smore.com today.
List your Blog: I loooove this list. I haven’t finished it all, but try to go back to it once a month – 62 Places to List Your Website or Blog for Free. The more “doors” there are to your site on the web, the more ways people can find their way to you. Plus some of the links are do follow, which helps build your page rank.
Free Resources: This site is the cutest thing I’ve seen in for-ev-ah. If you’re a crafty type – or even if you’re not – You’ll find amazing free resources on her site. She’s super motivating and inspiring – love it. HeartMadeBlog.com. My fave section is the Study Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs.
Board Games: If you have over 5,000 fans on Facebook, and love fun family games – this is a great review opp for you – Spontuneous Reviewer Sign Up! – There is also the possibility of doing a giveaway for your fans, too.
US Family Guide: I love working with these guys – simple posts, and they offer things like free tickets to things like {here in the PNW} a family 4 pass of tickets to ride the Polar Express Christmas Train around Mt. Adams. So much fun! Sign up here – And in the notes section mention that you’re a blogger wanting to join their program.
SheHeard: Making Blogger to Brand Connections – that’s what they do! There are a couple of totally rockin’ ladies behind this network, and you’ll love working with them. Learn more about the site, and sign up to be a member of their great community today to get access to new opps.
Mom Select: This is a great network that I’ve gotten some really cool partnerships from – Like the opportunity to have our homemade recipes in the Baby Brezza cookbook, which was amazing. They run campaigns on everything from earn a gift card for filling out a quick survey, to chances to host super fun product house parties. Love them. Join the Mom Select team.
POP Alerts: Sign up for these newsletters on the Mom Fuse site – Get POP Alerts – to get updates when there are new promotions, campaigns, review opps, and more. Mom Fuse POP (Post Our Pitch) alerts are targeted towards mom bloggers, but are diverse enough to work great for everyone.
Making Money Online
Social Fabric: They are still open to new signs ups – And I can’t recommend them enough! Their campaigns are fun to complete and compensate very well. And they do a lot of great “giving back” type projects too, that are awesome to be a part of. Join Social Fabric today.
Gift Certificates: Ok, this isn’t exactly “getting paid” – but, there’s a super funny site, called LifeisCrap.com {Slightly offensive, I know, lol. But it’s all about laughing, even when things aren’t going well.} And, if you submit your ideas for a slogan, design, funny idea, etc – and they use it, they’ll give you $10 bucks in credit each time.
Free Stuff: Ok – again, only some of this earns you cash. Some are credits. But – since you’ve taken so much time to build a large blog and social media following, you can earn HUGE bonuses by referring friends and readers to some of your fave shopping sites. There are some where I earn cash, and get checks each month, others where I just rack up that free credit. It pays for trips, Christmas shopping, and clothes for Abby. Check out my huge list of places you can earn cash and credits from.
Shoe Dazzle: I just joined this one, and it’s rockin’ for me. Earn $10 when you refer new affiliates, $20 for every sale through your affiliate link, and a $1 every time someone simply registers their info on the Shoe Dazzle site. Join the ShoeDazzle Affiliate Program on ShareASale. If you’re not using Share a Sale yet, I totally recommend it. I’ve been very impressed with them – good payouts, SO much easier to use than a site like Commission Junction, and great response when you have a question.
Craftsy: This is another awesome one through Share a Sale – Join Craftsy’s Affiliate Program Today. Again, $10 for each blogger you refer their way, $1 every time someone signs up for their awesome newsletter, and you earn 30% commissions on any of the awesome crafty courses your readers or friends sign up for. {I’m a BIG fan of Craftys courses myself!}
Skimlinks: This is an easy way to be able to earn money from sites you want to promote, when you aren’t already an affiliate of them – and works great if you’re in a state that can’t work with Amazon directly} – Sign up for Skimlinks, do the easy set up, and you’ll love it.
Examiner: Once you get started here, and are posting regularly, you’ll qualify for “credentials for local events,” which means you can use your column as a way to get access to cool local events, to write about and share. Love that. If you are an expert on your local area, choose a topic, and get started earning money for sharing that expertise today. The more subscribers you gain, the higher the page views on your articles, etc – the more you’ll earn.
Sponsored Tweets: Earn money for tweeting. Simple, right? You get to decline or accept each offer, and write your own tweet. To comply with FTC, they require you to add a disclaimer – #ad, sponsored by, partnered with, etc. Easy peasy way to make extra cash each month. Join Sponsored Tweets.
Social Spark: I earn a few hundred bucks a month with Social Spark – and the posts are usually really simple to put together. They’re easy to work with, reliable, and you choose which offers to take – Learn more: Join Social Spark. They recently adjusted their “suggested price” per post – but I’m still at $65 per post, meaning that I earn that as an average, but also get offers as high as $200 from time to time.
Business2Blogger: This is a great network filled with cool opps you can apply for, from reviews to paid posts. I was able to go on an all-expenses paid trip to Texas to work with an awesome company earlier this year, connected to me by an opp on this site. Very cool stuff. Blogger Outreach – Join today.
Escalate: This is one of the easiest affiliates to work with, and they have SUPER quick payouts each month, at only $25 minimum to get a check our PayPal payment. Sweet, right? Great offers for mom bloggers.
Logical: One of my fave things about Logical Media is that the offers they have available stay valid for a LONG time. So that I can get clicks and conversions on posts that I wrote a year ago, that still get random traffic. So great! Logical Media – Make Money!
Amazon: If you live in a state where you can work with Amazon, this is a fantastic affiliate for anyone to join. Do reviews? Add an Amazon link to the product in each post. Do craft tutorial? Add links to some of those cool supplies and tools you use. Do recipes? Share links to the cool baking pans you use, or your favorite kitchen gadgets. You can choose to be paid by check or Amazon gift card. Love it.
BlogFrog Influencers: Join the Influencer Circle on BlogFrog – see their site for the minimum requirements. If you meet them – apply for opportunities to share great brands and campaigns with your readers, and earn really great compensation too!
Linkys, Events to Join, and Fun Stuff
Gift Guides: This is not the normal giveaway event – this one is for Bloggers with Holiday Gift Guides. She’ll be taking 30 Bloggers max, and the entries will be to visit and enter their Holiday Gift Guides! Free for Bloggers to join, must have over 2K social followers.
Twitter: Join the LandCentral Twitter party to find out who won a FREE piece of land {HINT: It’s a Blogger, & they don’t know yet that they won!!!!} – plus, when you RSVP and RT here – you’re entered to win a $50 Gift Card to Flourish! There are more gift cards, Amazon and Flourish, to win during the party too. It’s gonna be a rockin’ one!
Crafts: This is awesome – It’s a big linky, of linkys. If you’re a crafty type – this is a great resource to use to find new sites to link up your crafty or recipe awesomeness. Love it.
Recipes: Link up your favorite fall recipes on one of my favorite sites – Jam Hands has a great Recipe Sharing Monday linky, and she features some favorites each week too.
Mommy Solutions: I love this linky! Share your favorite Mommy Solutions of the week – clever ideas, recipes, crafts, anything helpful for busy moms. {And you’ll find a ton of fun ideas to check out too!}
AT&T: Join me for #ATTMobileSafety Twitter party tomorrow at 2p ET! We’re giving away 2 tablets & 3 $50 gift cards – plus you’ll learn some awesome tips to help you decide when and if to get your kids a cell phone – and how to keep them safe with it, at any age. RSVP – http://bit.ly/TbfigN.
WordVision: This is a free opp to join – you get one free link in the giveaway by sharing the announcement post, and can purchase additional links. Funds help make a donation to this awesome charity. Join here.
Love this post? Share it! Use the easy peasy social buttons to tweet it, stumble it, or share it to your other networks online. Thank you!
{Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. But all opps and leads listed are things that I trust, and have used myself. I only share what I love with ya’all! Photo Credit.}
"The phrase "working mother" is redundant."
I'm Meagan - a Momma, a Blogger, a Freelance Writer, and a total Social Media Junkie. I love sparkles and … [Read More...]
I hope that you’re off to an awesome start to the holidays already – if not, take a couple of days to really get organized and motivated. Make an editorial calendar to organize those post ideas you’ve got going. Sign up for a handful of new affiliate companies – this is the time of year that people are shopping online, so if you’re going to be sharing great products with your readers, you might as well earn some cash from that work too. Spruce up your sidebars, make sure it’s easy for people to find a way to follow or subscribe to you – since you’ll probably be seeing new readers this time of year. And remember to end each post with a call to action – and really end the year with a bang! Have other ideas to share? Or cool events to join, linkys to check out, tips to read? Share it all in the comments so we can all benefit from it too.
Hi Meagan!
Thanks for the kind words you share about Social Fabric!!! We love having you in the community!!! :-)
Awwww – thanks Courtney!! I love being a part of it too :)
Really great list! Thanks for the awesome resources!
Such a great list of resources! You shared lots of things I didn’t know of. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing my mommy solution linky party in your list.
And I am a huge fan of all the AT & T mobile safety options! Sad I missed the Twitter party yesterday.
Such a great list of resources, thank you for sharing
Thanks for taking the time to compile this list… I love how you are interested in building and giving to your community.
deborah
Some really useful free resources here, thanks for sharing!