As you can imagine, there are some expenses involved in running this blog: hosting, development, domain name, and most of all, craft supplies!
This blog is primarily a labor of love (and I’m a professional developer for my day job, so in that case, the expense is time instead of money). However, the mister/household-bookkeeper is much happier when the things that suck up my time also don’t suck up my money.
One way of making money with a blog is to cover it in ads, but I don’t want to do that. I don’t enjoy that experience as a reader (especially when I’m on my phone), and I assume no one else does, either.
Affiliate Programs to the Rescue
A better way, in my experience, is to use affiliate programs. If you are not familiar with them, affiliate programs are a form of commission paid to site owners for purchases made at a retail website. (There are variations but that’s the main model.)
Affiliate programs operate by using a custom link for each site owner. When a visitor arrives at the retailer via that custom link, the retailer knows who sent them. If the visitor makes a purchase, a small percentage (usually < 5%) is set aside for the referring site owner, and when enough purchases are made to reach a payment threshold, the site owner is paid.
This commission is figured into the retailer’s cost (it’s essentially an alternative to an advertising budget) so it doesn’t cost anything extra to the customer.
Using Affiliate Programs Ethically
Used ethically, affiliate programs are a win-win-win:
- The retailer, often competing in a crowded marketplace, gets sales without spending a huge amount on advertising, which helps keep their prices competitive.
- The site owner gets enough compensation for their efforts to keep building useful resources.
- Site visitors get access to that useful resource, and possibly exposure to products that might interest them.
Some sites use affiliate programs unethically. A common example of this is a ranking site that claims to review various competitors in a category, but actually ranks them by the size of the commission they’ll get. They pick their categories carefully to target visitors without experience in the topic who have a one-time need, so they won’t notice the deception.
I hope it’s clear that I don’t operate like that!
What You Can Expect
My goal is to have an ever-growing group of enthusiasts who hang out long-term and geek out together on crafts and techniques. To accomplish that goal, I do need to make money, but I also need to foster trust. I take that seriously.
If I recommend a product, it’s because I’ve used it and I like it, and because I think other folks will find it useful. I do sometimes post things I haven’t tried yet (in the Inspiration section) but I never suggest otherwise.
If you have any questions or comments about my use of affiliate programs, please don’t hesitate to contact me.