How to Earn Blogging Income Within Your First Few Months of Blogging...Guaranteed!

Whether you've started a blog to write about something you're passionate about or with the dream of turning it into your actual career, there's nothing wrong with monetizing it (providing you stay true to yourself and your audience of course!).

When you invest your hard work and time into a blog - whether it be just a few hours a week or your entire Monday to Friday - then it only seems fair that you might gain either a bit of pocket money or even earn a living from your effort and dedication (although the 'earning a living' part is often only achievable after years and years of pursuing your blog!).

Imagine this: blogging about what you love when it fits in with your schedule (perhaps you're a full-time student, mother or work 9-5) and earning enough money from this side-venture of yours to treat yourself to that beautiful dress, those books you've been dying to buy, dinner for two at your favourite restaurant, or even just to add into your savings account in the pursuit of something bigger...

Want to find out how you can quite successfully earn your first little blogging pay cheque within your first 3 months of blogging? Here are our tried and tested methods below!

Paid Blog Posts through Shareasale (guaranteed opportunity no matter how big - or small - your audience is!)

This one is hands-down a bit of a game-changer for bloggers who have just begun their online journey. Shareasale is actually one of the most successful affiliate programs available to bloggers and anyone can sign up to be a part of it.You simply find and apply to join individual merchants (there's hundreds of these on there, ranging from clothing websites to photography equipment, children's toys, books, party products, homewares...the list goes on!) and once approved you can start using affiliate links from those brands in your content. Like all affiliate programs, once someone clicks through to that website / product using your tracking link and they take some form of action (signing up, purchasing something, renting equipment, etc) you gain a commission.

However, Shareasale differs from most affiliate programs through one thing - paid blog post opportunities from a select few merchants...which we reveal very soon!

When you sign up to these merchants, you really do increase your income chances from the very beginning of your blog's journey. Every now and then (usually at least twice a month, sometimes up to 4 or 5 times) you will receive an email from one of these merchants announcing that they're offering a blog post bonus to anyone who writes a short post about something specific on their blog AND they almost always include a sample blog post that you can copy and paste as is, or tweak to suit your own writing style (something we would recommend doing).

While these bonuses are often small and range from anywhere between $5 - $20 US Dollars, trust us - they do add up (especially when you receive quite a few of these blog post bonuses from a few different merchants each month). Some may even offer a series of blog post bonuses where after 5-week period of posting one small blog post about them each week, your account is credited with $50 - Rent the Runway, for example, is doing this at the moment.

So who are these merchants that you must sign up for in order to earn these blog post bonuses?

A good place to start (if you haven't already) is to sign up for free at Shareasale. This is so you can view and join the generous merchants mentioned below.

**Disclaimer: Whim has been a member of each of these programs for well over a year now and we genuinely recommend joining them because of the positive experience we have had. We do receive a small bonus if people sign up to some, not all, of the programs mentioned below. The best part? You too can invite your blogger friends to join these programs and can also receive this bonus - It's win-win!

• CustomInk (most frequent blog post bonuses)
• ModCloth (most frequent blog post bonuses)
• Rent the Runway (most frequent blog post bonuses)
• Stella and Dot
• Craftsy
• One Kings Lane
• Shutterfly
• Warby Parker

These blog post bonus opportunities are wonderful for beginner bloggers (and even those who have been blogging for years) because even the smallest of income (such as $50 - $100 within your first few months of blogging) can give you the confidence you need to continue putting hard work into your blog.

What other methods can you pursue for income?

There are heaps of ways that bloggers can earn money if they're willing to dedicate themselves to their blog and audience. The ones listed below though are targeted specifically to beginner bloggers who may have a small audience or perhaps are pursuing their blog as a hobby.

• Affiliate links: We mentioned affiliate links earlier and these can be quite fruitful for some bloggers, especially when they use them to talk about products or brands they genuinely love and use themselves. Your click-through rate may be much smaller (and therefore, harder to earn a commission) while your blog is in its infancy, but it's definitely worth a try!
• Chasing paid blogging opportunities that will fit-in well with your blog and benefit your audience: Instagram is a great place to find these - simply search related hashtags such as #bloggerswanted, #bloggersneeded, #bloggersrequired etc and apply or enquire about those that interest you.
• Collaborations = Experience: A lot of other sites will tell you to chase sponsored opportunities on platforms such as IZEA, Cooperatize etc. From my experience it’s such a rarity to actually be accepted for one of these opportunities with a fairly decent sized audience, let alone a small audience or with a blog in its infancy. Instead, approach brands via a lovely email introducing yourself and offering to collaborate with them (BUT unpaid, for experience only!). Build up a few of these blogging collaborations with brands or people you admire and you will soon be able to use these as examples of your previous work when applying for paid jobs or approaching brands with paid collaboration ideas.
• Utilise your strengths (writing, social media, photography etc.) as a freelance service: As your blog is still in its infancy, advertising these services on there is helpful but might not reach a lot of people. Look on blogging job boards such as Pro Blogger or searching terms such as freelance blogger, fashion blogger etc. on Indeed.com and apply for any of these gigs which interest you or that you feel you're qualified for. Your blog is a great platform to share in your application because it showcases your strengths!

And there you have it! Our tried and tested methods for earning a blogging income within your first few months of blogging. Remember, blogging is still a fairly new industry and it often takes several months, if not years, to be earning a 'living' from what you do.

This is a guide to help you make your first blogging money, even if it's only $50 - $100 within your first 3 months of starting your site. Every little bit counts and even the smallest of amounts (such as through Shareasale blog post bonuses each month) really can add up over time to an amount you're super proud of!

Are you a newbie or even experienced blogger? Will you be pursuing any of these methods for your blog? We'd LOVE to hear your thoughts in the comments section below :)

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Image sources: (1 - 4) Jenn Best Photography via Style Me Pretty // (5 + 6) Shay Cochrane