What happens when cha-ching turns to kerplunk?
Once upon a time, Pinterest removed all affiliate links from their website. Bloggers were ticked about the sudden drop in income. Some bloggers were making thousands a month just from that alone! I admit that's gotta suck to have income just vanish like that.
Pinterest did end of changing their mind and they DO allow affiliate links from most places, but the bottom line is this:
Pinterest doesn't owe anyone anything.
They never made promises to keep things the way they were. They're a business and will make decisions based on what's best for their business, not for the people who make money via their platform.
The biggest thing you can learn from all this?
Never put all your blogging eggs in one basket, especially if the basket isn't even yours.
It's a similar tale social media consultants told small businesses years ago who insisted they just wanted a Facebook page instead of an actual website. Could you imagine the businesses who didn't listen? Facebook reach is as low as less than 1% for some brands now.
While I haven't relied on another platform before, I have relied on my main source of blogging income: my courses. Even though I'm not relying on another business, it still has risks. That's why I started to diversify more with sponsored posts, some advertising, maybe e-books, and especially affiliate income!
If you've got a great income stream, KEEP DOING IT! But don't assume it'll always make you as much or more as time goes on.
My challenge to you: Make it a goal to grow a source of income other than the one making you the most money.
If most of your income comes from sponsored posts, try optimizing your AdSense or other advertising. Depending on your monthly pageviews, you can also apply to much more profitable ad networks like Mediavine and AdThrive.
If you do great with affiliate income, get a media kit and start pitching brands or joining blogging networks.
If you're rocking it at e-books, maybe it's time to create an online course.
Stuck on ways to monetize? Darren from ProBlogger has a helpful mindmap of blog monetization ideas.
That way, you won't be stuck with something changes. Because it will change. Eventually.
Let's Dish!
What about you? How diverse is your blogging income?
Photo: Gold Egg © Alexey Laputin – Fotolia
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Hey- I'm Melissa! I'm a mom, side hustler, online course instructor, and brand marketer. I run a 6-figure blog helping online biz owners find their a-ha moments with can-do tips, tutorials, and online courses. I also work at Burt's Bees as the Social Media Strategist (yep, it's as cool as it sounds). Jump start your biz productivity with my free worksheet!
I try to diversify as much as possible, without spreading myself too thin. I do advertising, sponsored posts, create content for brands, run a small business, etc.
I can’t believe that bit about Pinterest ONLY being for the user’s experience. I mean really…
Great post! I’m currently not making money on my blog. But these tips gave me lots of ideas. Thanks
Great suggestions. And it has got me thinking about where my traffic comes from as well. Pinterest is such a big driver of traffic but if the promoted pins etc takeover, who knows what will happen.
I loved this post! You’re definitely right that you should never place all your eggs in one basket. I’m new in the world of online business and monetizing my blog. I never intended to focus on earning the bulk of my revenue from affiliate links. Diversification is clearly so important and I have a feeling the ability to diversify will mean a lot in the years to come.
You have a really good point there! But unfortunately here in Greece where I live there are not a lot apportunities to monetize a blog other than running your own business and make it succed.
Ironically, I recently started blogging because all of my income is generated from consulting. Fortunately, I’ve got more work than I can handle but what if that changes?
I’m looking at blogging as a potential second income source and realize this will take time. The plan is:
– write consistent and quality content to develop a readership
– offer virtual consulting
– offer short and reasonably priced how-to type guides
– offer an e-course
The biggest challenge is time! I already work on my laptop all day for clients. It’s hard to do the same all evening.
Hoping it all pays off!
Wow, great post. As you said, you definitely don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket, especially when you don’t even own the basket. That’s why I’ve focused on building my website for the past few years (something I own).
I didn’t know Pinterest would be disabling affiliate links. I don’t use Pinterest for that purpose, but I know a lot of people do. I’m sure that will cause a great loss of income for some.
This is news to me! I wish I had known the “secret” to earning an income with Pinterest, 😛 I know I have a few pins using my referral link on ways to save/make money with my Saving Money board but I didn’t feel like it would be irrelevant since it is *how to save money*.
I completely agree with diversifying. I have been teaching knit + crochet lessons at my local Michael’s store for over a year + am currently developing eCourses to teach online. As well as maintaining an Etsy shop of my knit + crochet items. It does keep you busy! I find the hardest part is remembering to unplug + step away from the screen for a couple hours a day.
As a new blogger there is a lot of stuff I am still trying to learn. I recently walked away from my job as a designer working for someone else, and started a blog and designing on my own. I kept hearing about monetization, AdSense, etc. I’m not in this to be rich, but this was great advice. It’s smart to have a knowledge about all the avenues I can take to bring in money to keep my dream of working for myself alive. This post was very helpful, thank you.