Last Updated on January 13, 2022 by ellduclos
How to Monetize Your Content Without Looking Spammy
If you want to monetize your content but you are afraid that it may come off as spammy, then this post is for you! I am sharing some tips on how to monetize your content without looking spammy. These tips will help you become more confident when it comes to selling on your blog and it should also help increase your sales.
A little background about me, I started my blog in 2017 and within 6 months I was making over $1,200 a month. Within a year of blogging I was able to turn my blog into a full time career and I have been blogging ever since. These tips helped me turn my blog into a career so I am hoping they will help you too!
I know it can feel odd trying to sell products on your blog or social media, but it’s all about mindset.
Before I give some tips, I just want to mention some of the ways you can use your blog to make money:
- Affiliate marketing – this is the most popular way to make money blogging. I have a helpful post on this topic that you can check out after here!
- Sponsored content – this is when you work with brands to market their products in exchange for payment and product.
- Ads on your blog – I have ads on my blog and if you are with Mediavine they pay well compared to something like Google Adsense
- Selling digital products – this is a great way to make passive income. I have a helpful post on selling digital products here as well
- Offering services – you can use your blog as a tool to help market the services you offer
Alright so let’s get into the tips to help you sell on your blog without feeling spammy!
Only talk about products you truly love and use
A great way to monetize your content without looking spammy is to make sure you are promoting products that you truly love and have tried out yourself. When you are promoting products you’ve never tried, this can hurt you in the long run if the product quality isn’t up to par.
I know it is very common these days to create round up posts of amazon finds or things that you may want to purchase, but you will build a lot more trust with your audience if you are focusing on promoting products that you know for a fact are of high quality.
This is why I am usually really picky about my sponsored content and who I work with. It’s easy to want to say yes to every brand deal that comes your way, but I have to ask myself, is this a product I would have purchased on my own? If the answer is no, then I wouldn’t promote it.
Watch out for brands that try to take advantage of bloggers. They’ll try to work with you without allowing you to test out the product first and I find that very “spammy” and it can create a lot of broken trust with your audience if the product isn’t worth it.
Switch up your sponsored content
One complaint that I often see on large influencers’ accounts is that their audience finds it spammy when influencers only share sponsored content.
If you want to monetize your content without looking spammy, I think it’s important to share non-sponsored content too. When you are only posting sponsored content, this can come off as spammy to some.
However, I know it is important to make a living when this is your full time job, so if you do take on a lot of sponsored content, try to see if you can create content that isn’t just focused on the product.
For example, maybe you have Hello Fresh wanting to sponsor your content?
See if you can create content focusing on 10 ways to start putting yourself first, and then one of the ways can be cooking healthy food at home. This is when you would mention hello fresh.
Creating content like this rather than just having a post all about hello fresh will appear less spammy.
A lot of brands will be okay with this, especially when you explain to them that you’ll be able to draw in a larger audience this way. Because let’s be honest… more people will probably click on “10 ways to start putting yourself first” over “cooking with hello fresh” but maybe that’s just my opinion!
Use text affiliate links
I find that text links appear a lot less spammy over image links or banners. The click through rate is usually higher for a text link as opposed to an image link. Sometimes image and banner links can look like an ad and most viewers won’t click on ads.
Focus your post on just one or two products
I find that when you are focusing your content on just one or two products rather than pushing 10-20 products at your viewer, it appears less spammy. Not to mention, sales will usually be higher.
Some exceptions for this would be a round up post. For example, 15 amazon home decor finds for spring.
The key here is to make sure that you aren’t just creating round up posts. You want to also create high quality content that is focused on promoting 1-2 products you love.
Show how the product can benefit your audience
Another great way to build trust with your audience and sell without looking spammy is to show how the product can benefit your viewer.
A great way to do this is by showing how it’s worked for you. Showing concrete results is key. People are more likely to buy what you are selling if you have results to back it up.
If the product isn’t something that has results, like home decor for example, then show images of the home decor piece in your home. Personal images will sell more than an amazon product image. It shows the user that you have personally tried the product yourself which again, builds trust. Try to show how the product adds to your life and show the product in action if possible.
Fix your mindset
When it comes to selling as a content creator you don’t want to come from a place of “how can I sell this product,” instead focus on “how can I bring my audience value through sharing this product.”
That’s the goal. You want to add value to your viewer’s life. When you are selling from a place of passion and wanting to add value, that’s when the game changes.
At the end of the day, that’s how you sell successfully, when you sell from the heart. Keep adding value and creating high quality content that provides value and you will have success.
I hope you found these tips helpful! I also have an affordable course on how to master sales. To learn more about what this course offers you can check out the link below.
Mastering Sales With Ell |
Thanks for such a nice post, would like to read more about such topics. Keep writing
thanks for sharing this amazing article. very useful.