Welcome to the latest episode of ‘Money Talks’, where I am lucky enough to interview some of my favourite bloggers who make a living from their blog, and get them to spill the beans on how they actually make money blogging, how long it took them to make any money, and you know, all those kind of awkward questions no one ever asks, but everyone
is dying to know!
This week I am so excited to get to chat all things dollars with the super inspiring Nikki Parkinson (www.stylingyou.com.au). The gorgeous Nikki has built an amazing on and offline following, through her focus on quality content that is laser-targeted to helping her readers discover and develop their personal style. Nikki’s words of wisdom have even been turned into a book (on sale later this year), which seems destined for the best seller list given how engaged and passionate her readership is.
Yep, she she definitely knows a thing or two about treating her blog like a business and also about how to use blogging to create massive success for her business as well.
So, I am sure you are sick of my waffling on, let’s get to the good stuff!
Name: Nikki Parkinson
Blog URL/ name: Styling You (www.stylingyou.com.au)
When did you start blogging?: July 2008
Do you currently make a full-time or part time income from blogging? Full-time income
How long did it take for you to start monetizing your blog? And what was the first thing you sold/first money you made on your blog? I was m
onetizing my blog from the start as it was a marketing platform for my then personal styling business. My blog/website was how potential clients found out about what I did. My first blog-related income was personal styling consultations. About two years afterwards (April 2010) and my first site re-design, I received my first income from banner advertising. At this point I had begun to to realise that there was great business income potential from my blog than just it being a marketing platform. I really started focussing on my content and building my readership.
How long did it take for you to start making a reliable/regular income from your blog? At the beginning of 2012 I realised the tipping point had come. My main income streams were from sponsored posts and banner advertising. I decided then to stop offering my one-on-one styling services and concentrate on content for the blog and building the business that way.
What type of income stream has worked best for you and your blog, and what hasn’t worked so well? By far the best income stream for me has come through sponsored posts and ambassadorships. Since May 2012, these have been handled for me by my agency, The Remarkables Group. And it’s since then that I’ve seen the strongest growth in my business. My banner advertising revenue also co
ntinues to be a strong second stream. This has been particularly successful for me since largely automating these through Passionfruit ads (Passionfruit have now closed down so please use BuySellAds instead!) in November 2012. Using this system streamlines the process and frees up time I previously spent negotiating fees and uploading and taking down artwork.
This financial year and next I also have income from my ebook sales – which then became a publishing contract and so includes an advance on sale royalties.
Minor income streams are affiliate sales and Google adsense advertising. Affiliates work best for me when I link organically through my posts to Australian stores – stores my readers know and trust already. And I just run one Google adsense ad block. They may seem minor in comparison with sponsored posts and banner advertising revenue but over 12 months they really do add up.
Can you give us a rough break down (percentages is fine) of the different ways your make money from your blog each month?
This is the breakdown for this financial year to date:
Sponsored posts/brand ambassadorships 70%
Banner ads (Google included) 20%
Ebook and book revenue 6%
Affiliate sales 4%
What one thing did you wish you knew back when you started blogging? Do you know, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m happy that I accidentally fell into blogging and didn’t have a clue that I was blogging. I just happened to have a website set up for me on a WordPress platform. I think it’s actually been a good thing that I didn’t know it could even be a business model. For me, it’s meant that my business model has evolved as different opportunities have presented them to me. It’s evolved as my readership has grown. It’s meant I’ve always focussed on solid quality content. I think if I’d known too much, I would not have necessarily taken some leap-of-faith decisions along the way and I may have let the urgency to make money get in the way of the community building.
