Websites can be expensive to run. They can also be time-consuming. If you aren’t making money for all the time you put into your website, you might find yourself upside down. Your website should be a profitable venture – not a money pit. Are you missing valuable earning opportunities on your online activity?
Make Some Merch
If your voice powers your website, you probably have a loyal audience. They come back because they’re interested in what you have to say. If you run a podcast or a popular blog series, the people who are entertained and informed by your musings would probably love to support you. Branded merch is a great idea.
All you need to do is come up with a few versions of your logo, incorporating catchphrases if you have any. You can, from the comfort of your own desk, use easy tools on third party merch websites to place your logo on almost anything. You can make shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, journals, calendars, and almost anything else people can use every day with your brand on it.
When you use a third-party company to make and ship the merch, you don’t have to do anything except collect a check. If it doesn’t become highly profitable, it’s no big deal. It won’t cost you anything to start, and you only need to do the work once.
Mention Your Favorite Products and Services
If your website doesn’t directly sell any products or services, it’s a little hard to generate revenue. You can make money from sponsored posts and paid ads, but you’re limited by the offers you get and deals you can negotiate. There’s always an easier way.
Many stores, including Amazon, offer affiliate codes to websites. You mention the products you use and love and use your special code to link those products. This is shockingly easy to do. How many times do you mention things you use or recommend your favorite things to your readers? You’re doing the same thing, you’re just getting a small kickback when your readers purchase products through your special link.
Some stores will give you a special affiliate code that offers your readers or subscribers a discount, and some of their savings are credited to you.
Either way, most affiliate schemes will give you a kickback on everything they purchase through your link or with your code. If you get 5% of every purchase and you promote a $50 pair of headphones, you’ll get 5% of that sale. If they check out with the headphones, a high-tech treadmill, a brand new gaming PC, and a fine Italian suit, you’re going to get 5% of everything. That $2.50 became $165, and you didn’t have to do anything. It’s all easy money.
Incorporate Affiliate Marketing
If your website is designed to sell products and services, you may not be making a substantial amount of money because you aren’t getting a substantial amount of traffic. People can’t shop with you if they don’t know you exist. It might be a good idea to use a tool like Voluum to start a marketing campaign. You can participate in a self-managed ad exchange to increase traffic to your website.
If your website features a lot of useful content, you may not want to limit yourself to run of the mill salesy adds. With a great native DSP, you can create adds that draw your audience in by getting them interested in what you have to say. Sometimes, an explainer is the best way to convert browsers into buyers.
Add New Content – And New Streams of Revenue
Have you considered moving into video content or podcasts? Every supplementary form of content you add to your website increases your potential streams of revenue. Videos can be monetized with automatic pre-roll and mid-roll ads on platforms like YouTube. Podcasts are often sponsored by companies who feel their products would appeal to the podcast’s listeners.
The Takeaway
There are many ways to earn more from your website. Making your website cost-neutral should be relatively easy. Making your website highly profitable may take a little work, but it’s absolutely possible. Make sure you’re incorporating as many potential streams of revenue as possible.
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