This is an interview with Dale from Blogging Her Way.
Hey, Dale. Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
Hi Lidiya, thanks so much for having me here on your blog.
I am a blogger and digital product creator and the founder of Blogging Her Way, where I help other female entrepreneurs start profitable blogs.
What inspired you to start blogging and how did the first blog go?
I got the idea to start blogging one summer during college while I was working at an internship I couldn’t stand. I was determined to start my own business so I wouldn’t have to work for someone else again.
After much trial and error (I probably attempted half a dozen different online business ideas) I finally settled on blogging. My first “blog” was actually a website I created to advertise my short-lived web design business.
I started blogging as a way to attract clients, but I quickly realized that web design was not for me. However, I really enjoyed the blogging side of things and that was the start of Blogging Her Way!
How did you came up with the idea of Blogging Her Way and what topics do you cover?
I came up with the idea of Blogging Her Way because I wanted to create a place to document my blogging journey, share my blogging tips and strategies, and inspire others to start blogging.
I cover just about every topic related to blogging: from how to start a blog, to making money through affiliate marketing and selling digital products, to email marketing and Pinterest!
How long did it take you to earn your first dollars as a part-time blogger?
I was very lucky in that I made my first affiliate sale after about a month and a half of blogging.
What helped you keep hustling on the side as a full-time student?
Being able to work for myself and build my own business where I was the boss was honestly a huge motivator for me.
Even as a full-time college student, I made as much time for blogging as I could. I spent all my free hours working on it. At first, I was just happy to be earning an extra $1,000 a month so I could quit my part-time college job, but pretty soon I started to realize I could grow my business and income even more and that was also a big motivator for me.
How did you earn through affiliate marketing with a small blog?
My biggest strategy for making affiliate sales with a small blog is choosing high-paying affiliates and writing super detailed, helpful blog posts that solve a problem for my target audience
For example, someone’s “problem” might be wondering how to start a blog. So I have a blog post that’s a step-by-step guide to starting a blog, and I’m able to recommend things like my web hosting company and WordPress themes I’m an affiliate for in that post.
I have found that digital products (such as web hosting, WordPress themes, software, ebooks, online courses, etc.) typically have higher commission rates, so that’s a big part of my strategy. I also really like the Amazon affiliate program and earn a lot from that too.
What role did Pinterest play in your affiliate income?
Early on, I realized that Pinterest was good for not only driving traffic to my blog, but also making affiliate sales directly to the platform.
I remember that I had only been blogging for a couple months when I decided to make a pin that led directly to an affiliate link (instead of leading to one of my blog posts that contained affiliate links.) Within a couple days, I started making affiliate sales directly from that pin.
So Pinterest has allowed me to increase my affiliate income in two ways: by driving traffic to my blog posts which contain affiliate links, and by allowing me to make affiliate sales directly from Pinterest.
Read also: How Caroline Used Pinterest and Affiliate Marketing to Build a $100K Parenting Blog
How much are you currently making online and in what ways?
I am currently making over $5,000 a month from blogging, although that number can fluctuate depending on things like time of year, whether I launched a new product, etc.
I run multiple blogs (four at the moment) because I love testing out new ways to make money.
Right now most of my income comes from affiliate marketing and sales of my own digital products, but I also make some money from advertising and working with brands on sponsored posts.
What’s your biggest traffic source and how did you grow it?
My biggest traffic source is Pinterest. My growth on Pinterest really comes down to three things:
- I create multiple Pinterest graphics for every blog post I publish and am constantly creating new pins for old posts.
- I have 30+ Pinterest boards with keyworded names and I pin my relevant blog posts to them on a loop using Tailwind. So I might pin my “how to start a blog” post to my boards called How to Start a Blog, Blogging Tips, Blogging for Beginners, etc.
- I joined dozens of group boards related to my niche and I regularly pin my relevant blog posts to those boards (also using Tailwind.)
The great thing about Pinterest is that you can pretty much automate it using Tailwind, so I only spend maybe ten minutes a day actually on Pinterest.
Read also: Best Pinterest Courses for Bloggers
What made you publish your first eBook, Get Paid to Pin?
As I mentioned earlier, I started making affiliate sales directly through Pinterest pretty early on as a blogger.
I mentioned it on my blog and email list, and I started getting a lot of questions about how I did it. So I decided to write a guide about how to make affiliate sales on Pinterest, which ended up becoming my first ebook, Get Paid to Pin!
How much traffic and content does a new blogger need before making their first affiliate sale?
It really depends. For me, I was lucky and made my first affiliate sale with less than 1,000 page views and maybe five posts on my blog. But I also had a very targeted audience.
I don’t think you actually need a lot of traffic and content in order to make your first affiliate sale, which is why I always recommend that new bloggers get started with affiliate marketing right away. Otherwise, you could be leaving money on the table!
And even without a blog, you can always experiment with affiliate marketing on Pinterest first.
What books/courses/bloggers have helped you along your blogging journey?
My top five bloggers to learn from are:
- Michelle from Making Sense of Cents (and her super great online course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing)
- Carly from Mommy on Purpose (and her ebook Pinteresting Strategies)
- Elise from House of Brazen
They all have lots of great content and valuable resources for bloggers!
What’s your advice for students looking to start and monetize a blog?
Study and learn from successful bloggers in your niche, and experiment as much as you can. I believe I was able to find success from blogging early on because I spent a ton of time learning and experimenting.
Even if you don’t feel ready to do something (like start an email list or start affiliate marketing or launch your first product) just go for it! You might be surprised by the results, and you can learn from your mistakes as you go.
What’s next for you and Blogging Her Way?
I am hoping to continue growing Blogging Her Way into a top resource for female entrepreneurs and bloggers.
Within the next few months, I also plan to launch a detailed online course about blogging that shares everything I have learned from multiple blogs and two years of blogging.
Stock Photo from Floral Deco @ Shutterstock
