One of the most commonly asked questions that the public wants to know about bloggers is how do they make money?

I can only speak from experience but I make money through sponsored campaigns and affiliate links/networks. I feel like sponsored campaigns are a little more straightforward than affiliate links, which is why I'm going to talk about the affiliate links and networks.

An affiliate link is when a blogger creates a unique link through their affiliate network (the most commonly used ones are ShopStyle Collective & RewardStyle aka LikeToKnowIt). Whenever someone clicks that link or makes a purchase through that link, the blogger gets a small commission.



I've been part of Shopstyle Collective for as long as I could remember as it was much easier to get accepted than RewardStyle. I never really understood ShopStyle and how affiliate links worked so I never really bothered to use them. Also, you don't make a huge commission -- I make a few cents every click and for a smaller blogger like myself, it takes time to build up the money in your account. However, I do still find it useful and the more I use it, the more money I do make.

For the past few years, I educated myself and now use them daily; Whenever I talk about something I do use affiliate links and that's stated on my 'networks' page. I saw that affiliate links were good ways to make some extra cash but also see what my readers respond best too. I can see on my dashboard what YOU click on and what you purchase from my links, and it's so interesting to see what brands you genuinely like to hear about.

It helps me create content and understand YOUR buying habits & favorite brands

Another way to create affilate links is if you join an affilate network. Some brands have their own affilate network where they accept bloggers/influencers and provide them with exclusive links, banners, and deals to promote to their followers. In turn, you earn a commission on those clicks and purchases as well. I used to be part of a lot of networks but didn't really undestand how it worked, therefore I never used those links.

Within the past month or so, I did more research and discovered a great network, Pepperjam, that is easy to use and had great companies that I really liked. I haven't used any of those links yet but I do want to take a deeper dive into them.

So basically, the rundown of affiliate links & networks is an easy, passive way for bloggers to make a small income and better understand the buying habits of their readers.

Do you have any other questions about affiliate links and networks?
xoxo
B

Pinterest is a secret gem of blogging, creating, and everything that comes along with living an online life. I've been preaching Pinterest since it's creation in 2011; not to pat myself on the back, I'm pretty sure that I was one of the first people to be on Pinterest back in 2011.

I remember like it was yesterday -- I was getting ready to study for my Fall 2011 finals and my sorority sister told me about this new platform called Pinterest which was a virtual pinboard. I became so obsessed I almost failed my finals. I spent that entire winter break (I miss having a winter break) on Pinterest, creating boards and being inspired.

Fast forward to 2018 Pinterest is now classified as a search engine similar to Google. People are going to Pinterest to search for things from design to beauty to fashion to weddings and it's blowing up.

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Because of my obsession with Pinterest, it's always been a tool in my blogging kit. I have always shared my posts to Pinterest and for years, it's been at the top of my referral traffic.

YUP. You heard that right.

I get the most blog traffic from Pinterest. More from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, or organic searches. Pinterest is KING and it works!

The key to getting traction on Pinterest are two main things: vertical images and using the captions correctly.

Vertical photos get shared more because as you scroll, you are obviously going vertically so those photos catch your eye.

For captions, it's important to use keywords to describe your pin and what you are pinning because people are going to type in keywords to find what they're looking for. Also, a common misconception about Pinterest is hashtags -- do you use them or do you not? I spoke to someone at Pinterest and they said NO to hashtags so you heard it here!

While Pinterest isn't a social media network, there is still a huge sense of community. I've joined countless group boards where I share my blog posts and then look through others and share theirs. Being part of a group board just helps get more eyes on your pins and in this case, my blog content.

For a long time, I was sharing Pins directly from my blog pages. I was using the Pin button and manually doing everything but then I discovered Tailwind.

Tailwind is a dashboard specifically made for Pinterest (recently they introduced tools for Instagram) and it allows you to schedule pins, gives you amazing analytics and is just so easy to use. Tailwind tells you the best times to pin and allows you to stock up your queue and just pushes out the pins at the given time.



The actual Pinterest website hasn't gotten on board with analytics yet so Tailwind is a great secondary tool to use to track your Pinterest analytics. It's amazing to see how many people are interacting with your pins and how it compares to previous time periods.

Tailwind actually just introduced their own 'group board' idea and I have fallen in love with it. Tailwind Tribes is a new feature that Tailwind released within the past few weeks (or at least that's when I realized it) and it's basically a huge group board that you don't have to 'join'.

It makes group pinning super easy and just like a regular group board that you might've joined from a blogging network, it gets your pin in front of more eyes.

Whenever I post a blog I make sure I share it on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Whenever I'm scheduling Twitter and Facebook, I head over to Tailwind and share that pin as well.

I also make sure that I'm sharing other Influencer's content and non blog related content to have some balance to my boards.

Pinterest is truly a hidden gem that all influencers should utilize. You have to know how to use it and not treat it as another social media platform. Do your research, join Tailwind, and get to pinning!

xoxo
B

I've gone through countless editorial calendars for this blog, so many that I can't even count them. I've tried montly planners, Google calendars, excel spreadsheets, custom planner pages in my Louis Vuitton PM agenda, and a planner made especially for content creators.

I thought that the last one, The Content Planner, would be the one for me. I pre-ordered it last Fall and patiently awaited for it to arrive. I custom created it with the stickers included and I loved that it was made especially for bloggers, business owners and content creators.

However what started happening was that I was changing my editorial calendar so frequently that writing things down just didn't help. My calendar layout had cross outs, washi tape, and eraser marks all over it and at some point I just threw my hands up. I couldn't take it and for once, a traditional handwritten planner was not for me.

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I change things too much and have too many other smaller, more compact notebooks for me to jot down ideas to use something like The Content Planner... even though I am very in love with it, it just turned out to not be for me.

Since April, I've been using a Google Spreadsheet (my obsession with Google Drive has grown significantly over the past month and that's an entire other post) with a template I found from another blogger, Dana from The Champagne Edit.

The layout is perfect for me, for now -- I say for now because I get bored easily and I know at some point this might run its course. However, right now I'm obsessed.



I customized it a bit to work for me and the thing I love most is that I can see everything in a nice spreadsheet, can move things around quickly but it's also giving me a little more information than a traditional Google calendar (which I used for a while).

It's also very easy to have the keyword column there because it's my least favorite part about writing a post but when I schedule something, I can easily just copy and paste (or if I'm writing something for a content series, I can just copy and paste the keywords and add/remove a few).

I will say that it did get a little confusing at first because there were so many rows that had past posts so I would have to scroll down so far to get to the present. I just ended up hiding those rows instead of deleting them that way I have them to reference.

I also like that I have this on the go; before when I had regular planners, if I wanted to change something I'd have to wait until I got home to make the edit. This way, if I'm at work or on my phone I can make a quick change and won't have to think about it later. Having access to documents anywhere and everywhere is becoming more important to me.

Because of my love for this calendar layout, I started using more Google programs, like creating tabs in this same calendar for posts I want to write or have to be rescheduled indefinitely for a variety of reasons.

I also have a spreadsheet for analytics, which was something I tracked in The Content Planner but never tracked before. (such a bad blogger!)

This calendar has been such a blessing and I'm so grateful Dana shared it!

xoxo
B

At the end of the month, I'm going to be celebrating my 6 year blogging anniversary. That in itself is enough to send me over the edge -- I never thought I'd be blogging consistently for six years. It's quite the milestone in my opinion.

Over the past six years, I've tried all different techniques to help propel my blog to the next level. I'm all about organization, making my life easy, and making sure I'm using the best items to help me make the best content I could.



Within the past six years, I've seen my fair share of blogging tools, tips, and tricks to make the most of your content but right now, in 2018, I have found the tools that work best for me. I'm sure if you're a blogger, you've heard of these (I'm definitely not reworking the wheel here) but I just had to share!



Tailwind: This is the best Pinterest tool out there and everyone from brands to top influencers to micro influencers are using it. It's $15 a month and I've done the free version, but it's definitely worth it. For a time there, I was getting tired of spending the monthly fee so I canceled my membership. However, I quickly resigned up because I saw a dip in traffic and realized that it made my social strategy much better. I was basically lost without it.

All you do is schedule your Pinterest posts and Tailwind will send it out to the boards you picked at the right time to maximize views.  It gives you all sorts of analytics and has a lot more features that I really need to take advantage of. Pinterest has always been my #1 traffic source because it's essentially a search engine, not a social media platform so if you aren't using Pinterest, you have too!

*I just discovered Tailwind Tribes which is basically like a huge group board directly on Tailwind, which will directly help your pins show up in front of more eyes. It's wild and maybe I'll do a whole post on this!

Buffer: I used to use Hootsuite to schedule my Twitter and Facebook posts but I find Buffer much easier to use. I have the widget installed on my bookmarks bar and just go to the URL I want to share and schedule it out, without even leaving the page. It makes re-sharing really easy and gives you good analytics as well. I love having the app on my phone and iPad so that way I can schedule on the go. It's very easy and a must have for all bloggers (and social media mavens!)



Planoly: As a social media manager, I understand the importance of crafting the perfect Instagram post. I think before my job, I didn't really play into the Instagram game with my blog. I kind of just crafted an Instagram photo and threw it up. What changed that, besides the industry, is Planoly. Before this app, I didn't really have a way to plan out content, without paying for a subscription to something. Planoly has completely changed that.

It is a scheduler/planner for Instagram, has deep analytics, and an amazing blog with so many resources for influencers/bloggers/social media professionals. What I mainly use this app for is to schedule my Instagram photos, and also seeing what a photo will look in my feed before actually posting.

It's really helpful in planning out content for campaigns or sponsored posts because you can schedule the posts and kind of forget about it until the push notification pops up on your phone!

I love that you can store your hashtags so you don't have to write the hashtags out for every post. I have a beauty hashtag group, everyday group, and books. I should add more and will eventually!

If you want to up your Instagram game, please go check out Planoly!

Google Docs/Sheets: This is a new addition to my blogging tools routine and I've been loving it. I have countless notebooks that I use for blogging but digitally, I would just use my Notes app that comes with the Macbook. However, I started running into issues because I would want to reference something that was in those notes but I was away from my computer. I started using the Google Docs/Sheets for my editorial calendar, blog ideas, brand outreach, and everything in between and it's been life-changing. I love being able to reference things on the go and I feel so much more organized. It's amazing and I highly recommend!

What are your favorite blogging tools?
xoxo
B

Next month I'm coming up on 6 years of Royally Pink...That is truly mind blowing to me!

I started this blog after discovering the world of blogs, through Carly The Prepster and I have never turned back. I always had so much to say and no one ever cared -- maybe 6 years later that is still true but at least I found an outlet where I can talk about anything and everything.

I am by no means a truly successful blogger. I don't get a ton of pageviews, don't have an incredible amount of followers but I'm very proud of the brand I've grown and that there are people reading Royally Pink everyday.

Despite that, I get to work with some amazing brands and that is mindblowing to me. I work on the brand side of influencer marketing and it's incredible to know that brands see me as a benefit to them. However, that isn't why I got into blogging. I wanted to create a space where I could talk to people about the things that were important to me, and to create a fun, interesting spot on the Internet.

Since 2012, blogging has really taken off and having a blog is not a 'weird' thing to do anymore.

One of my best friends has been trying to get into her blogging groove and a few weeks ago she asked me for some advice, and it got me thinking about this post. I've shared a few blogging tips in the past, like creating an editorial calendar and explaining Google Analytics but I wanted to start a series about blogging, so why not start with blogging tips for beginners.

Some of these may not be groundbreaking but I think they're important to remember.

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1. Blogger vs Wordpress: I've worked in both in some capacity but I personally love Blogger. I think it's very easy to use, it's linked to Google, and there are so many easy to install layouts to help you make the blog your own. It's easy to purchase your domain -- I pay $12 a year for RoyallyPink.com and it's well worth it. No matter what, pick your website and stick with it. I tried to transfer to Wordpress last year and it was too much to handle so I never did.

2. Do it for the right reasons: If you get into blogging because you want free stuff or want to make money, you will do neither. You have to be authentic because your followers will see right through you -- brands will be able to tell if you're here for the wrong reasons as well. Blog because you love writing or love taking photographs, or because you're passionate about the subject you're talking about. Passion will always win.

3. Consistency: Through 6 years of blogging the thing I remember most is to be consistent. I started off blogging 7 days a week and did that for about a year. Once I started my senior year of college that wasn't attainable for me so I switched to 5 days a week. Of course I miss a post here and there (more so nowadays than ever before) but I try to have at least 4-5 posts a week. Aside from when my dad died I've never taken a break and I might be do for one soon. I just love blogging, I love creating content and I feel productive when I get something up. Sometimes I'm lazy and a post won't go up but being consistent is the key to having loyal followers and key to working with brands.

4. Organization: Get a seperate blog email, get a blog notebook and/or planner, figure out how you want to sort out your editorial calendar and get to work. Brainstorm blog post ideas and have a handful ready before you hit publish on your first one. To me, nothing is done right if you're not organized.

5. Niche: Now this is a controversial topic in my opinion. I don't have a niche -- Royally Pink is everything and anything. It's a lifestyle blog which in itself has become it's own niche in recent years. I don't think you should have a niche because I feel like it limits you. You'll write yourself into a corner and I just don't think you can blog that much about one particular thing. People want a variety and in this day in age, you're competiting with everyone. No niche is a good niche in my opinion!

I could probably go on and on but I think these are a good five to start. Maybe I'll come back for part 2!

What are your favorite blogging tips?
xoxo
B

I always enjoy reading posts by other bloggers on the topic of blogging because I love learning new things. I'm always trying to improve my blogging skills, whether it's how to gain more traffic, how to plan out posts, or how to start a newsletter.

When I started Royally Pink, the only way I knew how to blog and grow as a blogger was watching other bloggers. At the start of all of this, I read blogs religiously and studied them -- how they were written, what they were written about, the photos that were taken; everything from editorial to design to the About Me Page.

In my opinion, that is the best way to learn -- by watching other people and researching the topic. You should always be original, you should never copy someone else, form your own voice and way of doing things but it's nice to take some tips from the people who have been doing this for a while.

I've always been an organizer, a planner, and I knew that when I started my blog back in May 2012 that I would bring that to the table. I needed too and I have and I think it's paid off.

Planning an editorial calendar has weirdly always been a dream of mine. I always wanted to work for a magazine and I dreamed of having a place to write all the ideas that were swirling around in my head. When I had the chance to create my own editorial calendar, I was stupidly excited.

That's what the post is about, by the way, planning for your blog posts and creating your editorial calendar.



I've tried multiple different ways, pretty much every way you can plan an editorial calendar but I finally found a way that works.

1. Physical calendar: I tried right off the bat when I first started my blog. I kept a separate notebook for my blog and would kind of create my own calendar by writing down ideas and putting a date next to it. It worked for a little while but then I started to get confused and it was difficult to remain organized and keep track.

I also love using my XOXO Heart Arrow Blog Planner

2. Combined agenda: What is a combined agenda you ask? Well, after a physical calendar I decided to use my regular, school planner as a blog planner as well. I had the Lilly Pulitzer large agenda and used the 12 month calendars as a blog planner. That worked really well for my junior and senior year of college. I had everything in one place and it was super easy to keep track of. When I had an idea, I just jotted it down and it was neat and tidy. Honestly, I used this a few months into post grad life as well but started to get bored -- that is really the only reason I stopped doing it.

3. Separate planner: When I graduated, I decided to become more professional with Royally Pink (has that actually happened?) and I wanted to get really serious. I had an extra planner lying around (My Whitney English Day Designer) and I started using that as my blogging planner. I was home more days a week and took my blog planning very seriously but it became too complicated to have two planners.

And now we come to my current routine...




4. Google Calendar: Once I entered the work force, I saw the appeal and amazingness of Google Drive, Docs, Calendar, etc. What I do now is so much easier than anything ever before. I plan out my blog posts anywhere from a week to two months in advance (I'll plan out weeks in advance if I'm inspired or on a roll and have so many ideas). I start off with the title of the blog post, which basically encompasses what the post will be about. If I have/want to input more detail I easily can by typing it all out in the description. Do I want to have two posts in a day? Do I want to move a topic from a Monday to a Friday? That's an easy, neat switch. There is no crossing out or page long outlines. Having an electronic calendar is not usually my cup of tea, but for editorial planning, it's the best way I've found.

Here are some other tips for planning out your calendar:

• Create series on your blog to keep a theme and establish a 'brand feel'. I have Links to Love, Sunday Shopping, Recipe Wednesdays, Beauty To Know, etc. I like to write about a lot of different things so this helps keep things organized
• Find a schedule and stick to it. I'm known for missing a day here and there but try to post 2-4 times a week and at the same days/times so your readers get used to when to expect a post from you. When I started out I posted 7 days a week and stuck to that for almost a year (WTF) but then I brought it down to 5 days a week and I still try to follow that now but if I get 3 posts up during the week, I'm not losing sleep
• Find your voice. I'm a writer, I always have been, so finding my voice wasn't difficult. I blog the way I talk. If you're not a writer, it may be a little more difficult to find a niche but if you just say what you're thinking, a voice will follow.