Some of the links below are affiliate links. This just means that if you choose to make a purchase we may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We are using these links to showcase how you can use VENNDY’s carousels to use affiliate marketing.
If you are just starting out as a blogger or influencer, you have probably read tons of advice about how you should first build your audience and following and only then start monetizing your blog.
That is the conventional order: first a following and then income!
Even if you have a great-looking website and great content, it
means nothing until you have the traffic. This means there is no point in
trying to monetize or join affiliate networks until you figure out how to bring
in traffic.
In general, that is correct, BUT… it is not always so!
You can read about the pros and cons of When is the Right Time to Start using Affiliate Marketing to Monetize Your Content to help you decide for yourself.
Bottom line - there are more advantages than disadvantages to start monetization early, especially if you're doing it right!
So, while traffic is crucial, we’re here to offer you another way to deal with the problem.
VENNDY’s mission is to change the entry barriers; statistics show that many bloggers give up within the first year of blogging.
I discovered, the hard way, how difficult it is to float above all the online noise when you're just starting as a blogger. By the time you start earning something, you may just want to quit.
So why not change the order of things? Either with VENNDY or by using another service.
I think you should be very minded on your strategy either of finding the right people to engage with or of the ways you'll make money on your website or social reach.
One way to offer added value to your readers is by adding shoppable, easy to find, and save links to products, places, and services that you can recommend.
In other words, build your monetization process and your following from day ONE. Here’s how:
1. Join affiliate programs for beginners – there are quite a few who don’t have many requirements, such as traffic statistics or minimum conversion. Here is a list of Affiliate Networks to consider. For these types of affiliate programs start adding affiliate links from the beginning. I highly recommend starting with ShareASale and AWIN!
2. Adding these links using VENNDY’s LinkCollector extension will allow you to build your database of shoppable items all in one place, creating a passive income stream regardless of your new blog posts or blog traffic.
3. Using the items uploaded to VENNDY you can then gather them into stories (e.g. collections) and easily:
- Build shoppable carousels for your blog posts using a variety of affiliate marketing programs (from within an affiliate network or private) into one carousel.
- Create a great looking resources page.
- Add an Instagram shop tab such as this one to your blog,
- Link it to your Instagram bio as HERE.
- Promote all your item collections on Pinterest, such as this PIN which is pinning to HERE or HERE.
4. You curate your recommendation once, insert your affiliate link once and then can share it throughout all your channels. And we all know how important it is to promote your content.
To learn how to create clickable, shoppable links on Instagram check our blog post HERE, and for using multiple affiliate links on Pinterest, check our blog post HERE.
Finding your tribe is a challenge, you’re better off with 1,000 loyal and interested monthly readers who get you than 10,000 monthly unique visitors who don't care about what you have to say. VENDNY can help you find your relevant audience – and this can then be translated into engagement and conversions!
The LinkCollector allows you to easily collect any content from the web and use it as needed, to create a practical, rich experience for your audience.
For better personalization, you can upload your own customized image to an Item Page, creating branded content, and adding an extra personal touch to your promoted items.
Items can be presented on your website, Insta'nt Shop, or on VENNDY, with images from the retailers' website, as in this example:
But the same items can also be presented – with customized photos – and with greater personalization, this way:
Some examples from our early adopters
Cara from Never Skip Brunch blog shares the items and decor essentials that helped her design her new working space. As you can see for yourself from this story’s picture and the rest of the images shared on her blog, these are all genuine recommendations from her own experience. If her recommendation helps you and you subsequently purchase the items, she will earn a small commission. That’s how marketing through genuine content works, and every one of us can share our daily choices.
Katie from Joyful Messes blog has put together great recommendations in her Fitness On The Go For New Moms story. We LOVE her new favorite fitness subscription box, because you get a new outfit and item each month! This item is not linked to any affiliate links nor are some of the other recommendations in her story. That’s what’s great about VENNDY’s carousels – they don’t have to include shoppable items.
Here
are some more advantages of VENNDY’s carousels:
1. They can include shoppable items using different affiliate marketing programs (such as eBay, ShareASale or direct affiliations).
2. They can include articles with advice on daily workout programs or tips to keep you motivated which have nothing to do with affiliate marketing.
3. They can include shoppable items related to the subject being discussed, such as the water bottle, nutrition bars, and thos resistance loop exercise bands that you have always wanted but never found the time to investigate.
4. They can include your own earlier blog posts.
5. They can include items uploaded by other users with their own genuine reviews.
6. They categorize everything into a marketplace of reviews that can be easily found by potential customers, who will then find your blog through your practical, valuable, easy-to-find recommendations.
Ophelia from Sincerely Ophelia blog, shares a trend alert of the scallop hem: flats, bags, rompers, dresses and more. In her blog post she showcase a one piece play-suit or "romper", and in her Open VENNDY Story and related blog post carousel, she links similar items and invite her readers to add their favorite finds to the story and the carousel.
If you are a small business owner of fashion or digital products – or in fact anything else –you will know that you don’t always have the option of being included in an affiliate network program, and even if you do, it is so difficult to get noticed. We are delighted to be part of Cara’s launch of a new line of clothes and accessories. With VENNDY’s carousel Cara can both share her products and ask her new satisfied customers to review them and help her reach new audiences. No entry level. We believe in letting market forces create the impact. Let your happy customers spread the word.
If you are planning a pampering beach vacation, you know that there are many aspects to think about: location, places to visit, restaurants, what to do, what to take with, and so on. Emily grouped together all her favorites places and items for anyone looking for inspiration. She even suggested articles to read while you’re there!
Planning my Pampering Vacation - Where? What to take? What to read? How to relax?
Summer from Coffee with Summer has recently started using her blog to offer blog & social media consultations. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge with new bloggers to equip them with relevant and practical tools to help them become successful influencers. In this VENNDY story she has gathered all her blog and social media tips. We wish we could have inserted a carousel here with all these goodies, but only the curator and collaborators of a story can use a carousel of the items curated within a given story.
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