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How to Create a Holiday Gift Guide to Increase Your Blog’s Affiliate Income
In this in depth step by step video below I’ll show you how to create a gift guide on your blog. This video will help you find affiliate programs, write amazing headlines, show you how to create the post and image, and how to promote it!
Bookmark this video – it’s super duper valuable! Checkout the review at the bottom 😉
Step 1: How to find affiliate programs
Search similar niche sites with gift guides. Click through and find what stores and websites they are using to promote products from.
Step 2: Rules you need to follow with different affiliate programs
Amazon has strict rules when it comes to promoting and using their images. Make sure you don’t break any!
Step 3: What headlines to use to get major traffic.
Your headline is just as important as your content!
Step 4: Actually creating the post on WordPress.
I’ll show you how to embed your affiliate links into your post and make them look super professional! I also include tips to increase click through rates.
Step 5: Creating the pin image for your gift guide.
You need to create a great promotional image to share your post. I’ll give you different examples and show you how to create them easily.
Step 6: Promoting your gift guide to increase your affiliate income this holiday season!
- On Pinterest
- On your Facebook blog page
- On your personal Facebook page
- In your email newsletter
- Roundup with other bloggers
- Ask your mom!
Tools used:
- WordPress
- PicMonkey (affiliate link)
- Blog by Number course
Additional Super Helpful Posts
How to use Pinterest and create pin images
Video Transcript
| hi everybody I am Suzi from Start a Mom Blog |
| and today I’m gonna give you a |
| lesson and gift guide creation I make |
| sure if you want to leave a comment make |
| sure the sounds working everything’s |
| looking good I want to show you a method |
| a type of blog post you can create this |
| holiday season that can help increase |
| your affiliate income |
| so you’ve hi good morning Gabrielle |
| you’ve probably seen a ton of gift |
| guides around on Pinterest and on |
| Facebook and it’s a way that bloggers |
| make increase their affiliate income |
| over the holiday season because |
| everybody’s spending money everybody’s |
| looking for gifts for their their moms |
| or their brothers or their nieces so |
| there’s tons of niches you can go into |
| and create these awesome comprehensive |
| gift guides and then all you need is |
| just for somebody to go through your |
| gift guide and click through to the |
| store or the website right they don’t |
| even have to buy the thing you recommend |
| they just need to buy something from |
| that store within that time period that |
| the cookie is valid depending on what |
| affiliate program you use so technically |
| you just want people to click through |
| you want them to click through your |
| affiliate link they’re gonna see |
| something cute and they’re gonna make a |
| purchase and you’re gonna get a kickback |
| and a commission from that so that’s a |
| great way to provide a cool value to |
| your readers and then also to make some |
| money this holiday season because we’re |
| all spending right now I know I am so I |
| see there’s some people on it’s exciting |
| let me know if you can’t hear me it |
| looks like everything’s working and this |
| is gonna be a long presentation not to |
| like scare you away but I’m gonna go |
| through step by step and show you |
| everything from how to create the blog |
| post how to create the pin image and |
| then how to promote it so good morning |
| how are you Abby so it’s it’s not just |
| like oh this is kind of what you need to |
| do this is gonna be in depth these are |
| like copy paste |
| create the blog post and everything all |
| right so let me show you a little bit of |
| an example and we’ll go over to screen |
| and computer um so I just got this this |
| morning from Abby Abby is a blogger from |
| just a girl on her blog she’s awesome |
| very very sweet sweet blogger this is |
| kind of what we’re we’re thinking about |
| creating right so she has best Christmas |
| gifts for decor lovers so she has her |
| pin image which I’ll go through and show |
| you how to create something like this |
| and then she has a great title the best |
| Christmas gifts for decor lovers or |
| decor however you say it and then she |
| goes through and explains every product |
| that she’s recommending so I really like |
| that that’s that’s a great technique and |
| I’ll show you how we can do this as well |
| and some of the restrictions that amazon |
| has cuz that’s one of the biggest |
| programs that people use to increase |
| their affiliate income I’ll just give |
| you a couple tips of what you can and |
| can’t do with Amazon especially alright |
| so this is kind of where we’re gonna go |
| we’re gonna create a blog post like this |
| so that you can increase your fluid |
| income – alright so when you go into |
| your blog let’s go into the back end of |
| my blog so this is kind of seeing the |
| nitty-gritty back stuff alright you go |
| to post go to add new posts and we’ll |
| create the the gift guide post here I |
| normally use Divi it’s easier to build |
| my blog post that way it has a ton of |
| functionalities but if you don’t have |
| Divi this is the plain normal side of |
| WordPress and this is how you’re gonna |
| create it so I do have some steps here |
| okay just to kind of keep myself |
| accountable okay so we’re on like how to |
| make a gift guide all right before you |
| create the the post right like how do |
| you what is an affiliate how do |
| get products to promote and how do you |
| get paid |
| most people sign up for Amazon to be an |
| affiliate for Amazon so that means you |
| can promote any other products on your |
| website and then you get a kickback if |
| somebody goes through your affiliate |
| link and makes a purchase the cookie on |
| Amazon |
| meaning how long the time is from when |
| they click to when they need to make a |
| purchase and that’s your window to |
| actually make a commission is on Amazon |
| is only 24 hours so that person needs to |
| go through your link make a purchase |
| within the next 40 24 hours and then |
| you’ll get a kickback other programs say |
| for example Jane they have a longer and |
| you can’t see it here a longer cookie |
| which is great we like long cookies |
| baked cookies they also have they have a |
| 15-day cookie so if you if somebody goes |
| through your Jane affiliate link makes |
| it purchase within the next two weeks 15 |
| days then you get a kickback you also |
| get a higher kickback 11% for new |
| customers 10% for returning customers |
| and higher than what you would get |
| through Amazon although Amazon’s more |
| popular so there’s a ton of different |
| companies that you can sign up with to |
| be an affiliate for them Jane I just and |
| I’ll tell you it like how I found about |
| how I found out about Jane but it’s easy |
| to find companies to be an affiliate for |
| and then you don’t always have to use |
| Amazon because as you can see here this |
| one has a higher percentage and a longer |
| cooking so that’s pretty cool so I’ll |
| show you that in a minute |
| Amazon we went through ok how to find |
| let’s move my little video here there |
| you go |
| hi know I’m at the top looking down how |
| to find affiliate program so before we |
| even create this blog post and start |
| promoting it how do you find affiliate |
| programs so the way I found Jane because |
| I’m not a fashion blogger was by going |
| to Pinterest and perusing other people |
| so let’s see if you go here |
| get a Pinterest we all love Pinterest |
| oh you got somebody from the UK hello |
| Elizabeth |
| okay so if you are on Pinterest you can |
| just search |
| what’s your niche fitness fashion food |
| let’s do let’s do fashion or like I’ll |
| tell you how I found Jane gift guides |
| Christmas okay so I’m just gonna type in |
| gift guides Christmas so here you can |
| see all these tons of gift guides that |
| come up that people are promoting so |
| you’re like oh that looks pretty cool |
| I’m going to click through you kind of |
| click through because you saw the cool |
| makeup but then you end up buying a hair |
| dryer or something and that person that |
| bloggers still gets that affiliate |
| Commission okay so what I did was just |
| go to any one of these and say for |
| example okay you’re your niche is |
| similar to this person you can go see |
| where they’re an affiliate so Thank You |
| Ashley Brooke Nikolas you have a great |
| blog we are on it |
| I’m showcasing you here um what I would |
| do is look at her gift guide and see |
| okay so she has bit ly links right now |
| you can see here at the bottom they pop |
| up the links if I hover over them I |
| would click through and then see okay |
| she’s an affiliate for this is Target |
| so obviously target has a great |
| affiliate program where she’s an |
| affiliate for it so that’s a way to find |
| affiliate programs and go click on |
| something else let’s see where that is I |
| can’t say this right anthropology so |
| anthropology has an affiliate program so |
| when you look at other bloggers in your |
| niche and you kind of go through their |
| gift guides or through their through |
| their blogs you can see where there are |
| affiliates for and that could be helpful |
| for you to see okay well these companies |
| have affiliate programs and then what |
| you would do is if you see okay so |
| target has one |
| I would just type in target affiliate |
| program I would Google that and then |
| here you go affiliate target.com and |
| then you can join it and you learn more |
| about it so you earn up to 8% when |
| people buy I don’t know how long their |
| cookie is but it’s probably longer than |
| 24 hours all right so that’s how you can |
| find affiliate programs because we don’t |
| always have to do the same thing all |
| right then let’s go we’re gonna take |
| Amazon as an example cuz I’m a I’m an |
| affiliate |
| hi everyone another UK viewer and yes |
| winter is here winter is coming quick |
| rules from Amazon just so I know I mean |
| I know most people sign up for Amazon |
| it’s a big program |
| you can’t cloak your links so you can’t |
| use like pretty link say for example if |
| your Amazon link is like AM Z dot |
| something that’s something you can’t put |
| that in pretty link and be like started |
| my blog comm slash I don’t know hair |
| dryers |
| and that links to the Amazon page you |
| can’t do that you have to use the Amazon |
| link as it is you also can’t use their |
| images on your pin images and this sucks |
| but I’ll tell you kind of what other |
| things you can do and how you can get |
| around that to still create awesome pin |
| images but you can’t take those Amazon |
| images from their website and then take |
| screenshots and put them on a pin image |
| bummer because I think it’s because when |
| you put their image on your blog post |
| you use HTML code so if they change |
| anything on Amazon it changes on your |
| blog post as well so they still kind of |
| have control over what’s showing up on |
| all the blogs over the world where if |
| you take a screenshot it’s a static |
| image and they don’t they no longer have |
| control of that and I think a lot of |
| times they don’t own those images so you |
| can’t share them on your blog post |
| anyway just a quick |
| on that not everybody follows that a lot |
| of bloggers still take screenshots and |
| put them puts them on their pin images |
| I’m just going to let you know that I |
| told you that you shouldn’t but if you |
| do this your business um you could get |
| shut down from the Amazon program then |
| what else did I want to say I’ll show |
| you how to create print images that |
| still get click throughs and still get |
| people to your blog all right another |
| tip use awesome headlines we’re gonna |
| get into the blog post we’re going a |
| little high-level right now use awesome |
| headlines especially for for Christmas |
| now you can be like best Christmas gifts |
| for and then you can go into that niche |
| for like 2 year old girls or best |
| Christmas gifts for 3 year old toddler |
| boys you can really niche down because |
| that’s what people are gonna be |
| searching for in Google and on Pinterest |
| they’re not just gonna be searching for |
| I’m Christmas gifts for kids they’re |
| gonna be searching for Christmas gifts |
| for toddler girls or preschool kids or |
| teenage girls try to niche down as much |
| as you can or for young single women or |
| for college-age kids so the more you |
| niche down the better that’s gonna be |
| and the more clicks you’re gonna get so |
| you can create you can add that headline |
| to your pin image itself into the |
| description of your pin so that it shows |
| up on Pinterest right you want to show |
| it both to the reader as they see that |
| pin image and then in the description |
| Pinterest is going to know what that |
| blog post is about so you can include |
| that headline in there all right |
| so top list of gifts for I don’t know |
| working from home mommies for under $25 |
| 2017 gift guide for if you put the date |
| in that’s also a good tip use that in |
| your headlines not in your url so |
| wherever you have a headline that you |
| can change or on the pin image itself |
| you can use dates and then you can use |
| names like Christmas or Thanksgiving but |
| if you want to have that blog post be |
| evergreen don’t put that keyword into |
| your url that’s just a tip let me show |
| you here into your year |
| here yeah so if I put here cute mom |
| shirts for Christmas then that would |
| kind of keep that blog post static to |
| Christmas and I can’t really promote it |
| the rest of the year if you keep it more |
| general especially just your URL you can |
| still promote it other times of the year |
| I hope that makes sense so on your PIN |
| image itself you can use the dates or |
| the holiday names because you can change |
| those but your URL you can’t really |
| change let’s go back to here headlines |
| we looked at the example from a bee |
| alright let’s do this alright it’s not |
| as hard as you think I’m lost |
| alright so we went into here and we said |
| we want to create a new post we went |
| into your back end or my back end of |
| WordPress for example we’re gonna do |
| cute mom shirts because I’m obsessed |
| with graphic t-shirts right now because |
| sometimes I’m too tired to convey how I |
| feel so I just kind of want people to |
| read my t-shirt so they can know how I |
| feel at that moment so I don’t even have |
| to talk to them anyway I started it this |
| morning a little bit so here is a |
| headline that I have 5 cute isn’t comfy |
| as mom shirts in my URL my permalink I |
| have just cute mom shirts that’s it so |
| when somebody types in cute mom shirts |
| they’re gonna get to this I can also |
| then change this headline to 5 q 5 |
| cuties and comfiest mom shirts for |
| christmas or the best gift guide for |
| moms the best |
| t-shirts for moms the best graphic tees |
| for moms anything like that with those |
| keywords cute mom shirts for Christmas |
| I spell that right okay so you can see I |
| have my headline here I have always |
| disclosed that you have some affiliate |
| links in this because obviously this |
| post is going to be filled with |
| affiliate links make sure that you put |
| that before you have any affiliate links |
| show up so don’t put this at the bottom |
| don’t try to hide it |
| we’re very honest you’re a blogger |
| you’re spending time on this you’re |
| allowed to make money from working on |
| your blog alright so we disclose so then |
| you can type in little text get people |
| interested in this gift guide a lot of |
| times gift guides don’t have a ton of |
| text because people are just going |
| through to your blog post to see what |
| you’re recommending and then clicking |
| through to the store so they’re not |
| there to read a long book but it is |
| helpful to add some text because that |
| will help convey that you really like |
| that product and that it’s a good |
| product about right it’s good because |
| normally when I go to Amazon I read |
| reviews I don’t really read the |
| description that the product owner puts |
| for puts there I read the reviews and if |
| other people tell me it’s good and if |
| they like it then I buy it as you can |
| see this thing behind me is a bounce |
| house and I bought this because the |
| review said it helps your kids get out |
| that last little bit of energy so they |
| sleep well through the night they called |
| it the nap maker so cute things like |
| that know what your audience wants like |
| why do they want to buy this and then |
| explain that in the review and then |
| they’ll click through so I’m a mommy I |
| have little kids I would love for them |
| to take great naps so I bought the |
| bounce house to play on and we’re having |
| a baptism on this weekend so it’s also |
| for fun for the baptism anyway side |
| story okay so how do you get these links |
| onto your blog post and why do they all |
| look a little bit different so here is |
| my little gift guide for cute mom shirts |
| when you preview it where is it |
| today there yeah when we previewed on my |
| blog you can see this first if Amazon |
| link has actually the title it has the |
| price it shows its Prime and they can |
| click on the little shop now’ button the |
| reason why i don’t really like having my |
| affiliate link show up like this and |
| i’ll show you in a minute how to do it |
| is because when somebody sees the price |
| they might be turned off and not click |
| through to buy it but if they don’t see |
| the price curiosity is gonna make them |
| click through and they’re gonna want to |
| see how much it costs on amazon and in |
| it even if that turns them off and |
| they’re like oh well seventeen dollars |
| for a t-shirt is way too much they’ll |
| probably peruse a little bit more on |
| amazon and buy something else it’s a |
| little cheaper right but at least you |
| got them to click through to amazon so |
| this one doesn’t show the the title or |
| the price this one has a little border |
| and this one is quite large the image |
| what I would do um most likely if I |
| created a Gift Guide for mommy cute |
| t-shirts I would do it like this I would |
| have the larger image and I would then |
| also link in text that you can get this |
| cute shirt from Amazon so that some |
| people don’t know that they can click on |
| the image they would click on the link |
| so I’m not giving away the price or |
| making it look kind of like an ad it |
| looks like it looks very clean right and |
| people like clean looks simple look this |
| is what I would do and I’ll show you how |
| to do it so when you have your post here |
| you’re probably gonna have will scroll |
| this down this is what it’s going to |
| look like right you have your title you |
| have your affiliate link disclosure and |
| you have some text so then we go over to |
| Amazon and this is after you’ve signed |
| up through their Amazon affiliate |
| program you have the ability to create |
| affiliate links this is what you’ll do |
| alright let’s see cute mom’s shirts see |
| and that’s what I would search for so |
| think about what your readers are gonna |
| be typing in the search bar and put that |
| into your url you are out there yeah |
| that was a blur |
| alright so this one’s really cute so |
| we’ll go into mom life like the little |
| image so you can’t take a screenshot of |
| this and then put that on your blog but |
| the way to get this image onto your blog |
| is to use your little site stripe here |
| at the top you go on to you can either |
| just get the text link you can get the |
| image or you can get the text and image |
| which shows that like I showed you |
| earlier on the blog post |
| kind of like an ad right I like just the |
| image way better and I like the large |
| image so that you go to image go to |
| large and then copy your HTML code here |
| at the bottom go back to your blog post |
| and do not paste the HTML code there |
| that’s gonna confuse you right don’t do |
| it here in the visual side of the |
| WordPress editor because this is this is |
| code so any kind of code we want to go |
| to the tech side of the editor and these |
| are all just little spaces this and bsp |
| don’t know what that stands for just |
| paste it there between the nbsp the |
| spaces and then go back to visual and |
| that will show up that right so that’s |
| how you get the image to show up I |
| normally highlighted and I’m gonna |
| highlight everything and Center them all |
| right this is the cutest mom shirt ever |
| I bought it and it’s so soft because we |
| like soft shirts alright so here you can |
| see that image is there the link is |
| behind it what I would do then now is |
| once we have a cute little image there I |
| would go back to the text link just get |
| the link itself |
| go back to the post and then highlight |
| the text close to it I would also open |
| it in a new tab so if something is |
| directing off of your side open it in a |
| new tab so you can see that is gonna be |
| there so now when you preview the blog |
| post maybe the computer just needs a |
| minute to think a little bit that’s fine |
| I need minutes – okay cool cool okay I’m |
| seeing some comments from jasmine thank |
| you I’m so happy this helps you it’s |
| like I feel it’s going a little slow but |
| I’m glad this is helping you kind of |
| seen the step by step let’s go back to |
| Judy says why do you need to paste text |
| into the HTML editor and not the visual |
| I’ve always pasted into the visual um |
| you can Judy when you paste the HTML |
| text into the visual does it work the |
| reason why I put the text into the text |
| side or the HTML into the text side |
| because it is code so normally when I |
| just take the code from Amazon whoopsie |
| copy if I put this in this the front |
| side it’s gonna show up like that and I |
| think it’ll show up as well when you |
| publish it there and that’s gonna show |
| text let’s see |
| yeah it’ll share your HTML here so you |
| want that to be on the tax side and not |
| the visual side so it shows the image |
| okay this is from Stacy Johnson Susie |
| you’re amazing thanks so much for doing |
| this it’s gonna start working on my |
| first gift guide today so this is |
| perfect as always you’re full of great |
| tips yay cool okay yeah I’ll continue |
| going I’m glad that you guys are finding |
| this this super helpful alright so now |
| you have your awesome post go through |
| and add a couple more sure |
| or different items right you can you can |
| add them from Amazon you can add them |
| from different affiliate programs from |
| Jane or from Target you don’t have to |
| use all your products don’t all have to |
| come from Amazon right so you can |
| include a whole plethora of different |
| items into your post depending on where |
| you think moms or your audience would |
| like to shop then a tip what I would |
| give you guys is buy at least one of the |
| items or something similar and then |
| include a picture of yourself like |
| wearing the item if you bought this mom |
| life shirt which I actually have a mom |
| life sure downstairs that I should be |
| wearing and I thought about wearing it |
| but I forgot um where’d like take a |
| picture of the shirt and then put that |
| in the posted well as well so people can |
| see that you actually stand behind this |
| item or if you do like a toy guide for |
| kids show that item show your kids |
| playing with it you don’t have to show |
| their faces like show that you actually |
| you’re you’re reviewing the products |
| you’re not just creating this gift guide |
| you could review one or two or the |
| products and people would be way more |
| trusting of you do then click click |
| through and buy it so if I did a nice |
| little review on this bounce house |
| castle behind us then people would see |
| okay well she likes it she got it in her |
| house and the kids are using it so you |
| can include a little video there’s a ton |
| of things that you can do if you |
| actually own one of the items and |
| include that into your gift guide and |
| Abby did this too and her gift guide oh |
| man her house is so beautiful I don’t |
| know how she does it but she recommends |
| a ton of items here but then she |
| showcases how some of those items look |
| in her own house so you’re like okay |
| well Abby’s pretty awesome she does a |
| gift guide but then she also shows |
| herself using it so she’s not just |
| recommending random things |
| all right and I might have to run down |
| and get the baby if he starts crying all |
| right |
| so now you have your post you have all |
| your items here on it how do we promote |
| this let’s go back to my powerpoint that |
| kind of keeps me structured now we have |
| the posts let’s create the pin image and |
| you can go I use PicMonkey for a lot of |
| these collage posts I’ll show you how to |
| do it and I have an affiliate link for |
| PicMonkey if you do want to use it I |
| also have a free course on big monkey |
| I’m starting my own blog comm slash |
| PicMonkey that’s how you go through my |
| affiliate link if you want to use it if |
| not there are other tools you can use as |
| well I just really like how easy it is |
| all right let’s go here all right we’re |
| gonna create something like this so |
| we’re gonna go to pick monkey |
| and then we’re gonna go to collage |
| [Music] |
| alright so on Amazon you can’t take |
| screenshots of those images right and |
| then use them on your blog you have to |
| use the HTML code on other affiliate |
| programs you would have to reach out to |
| them and ask them if you can use the |
| images if they say yes then go ahead and |
| use their images on your pin collage or |
| you can buy one or two of the products |
| and have that on your pin collage image |
| or you can just wear the product and |
| have that be your pin image I’ll show |
| you some examples so say for example I |
| reached out to the right companies who |
| sell these t-shirts and they all told me |
| yes I can use these images so make sure |
| you get the yes like okay great |
| I can use these these t-shirt images on |
| my blog and on my pin image so what I |
| would then do is start dragging and |
| dropping images into this collage of |
| PicMonkey I’m gonna add them here add |
| one there one there alright so here we |
| have all five images then you just |
| squish it a little bit I would add one |
| extra here and this image I’m going to |
| delete cuz that’s gonna be my title all |
| right I have to run downstairs and get |
| the baby it’ll be two seconds I don’t |
| want to stop the live I’m just gonna go |
| get him and then I’ll hold him so hang |
| on |
| oh sorry about that |
| I really thought he’s gonna at least |
| give me 30 minutes to do this video but |
| no all right we are back and we got a |
| cute little handsome man with us so here |
| is the kind of the UM the image that you |
| can create on on Pinterest so this is |
| what all those collages look like on |
| Pinterest where are they |
| Pinterest gift guides so you can see all |
| the collage pins right this is how you |
| can create one of those so once you have |
| your collage pin here I have another one |
| here that I like more you can then send |
| it to the editor |
| straight from PicMonkey and then you can |
| add your text on to it so now we’re |
| one-handed here best long new-type |
| this is tricky there you go best |
| t-shirts for mops something like that or |
| cutest t-shirts for moms or best |
| Christmas gifts for stay-at-home moms |
| [Music] |
| thank you guys for the cute comments |
| awesome alright so I’ll go through some |
| of the comments in just a second so best |
| t-shirts for moms what you also want to |
| add is your blog itself so just so |
| people see my blog where you’re blogging |
| from make a little smaller |
| cute little hats or something and you |
| can put that at the bottom here so it’s |
| kind of out of the way and then we can |
| make this like a different color make it |
| stand out a little bit more |
| Hey are you hungry |
| just a but we can eat again so best |
| t-shirts for Mom so you can obviously |
| use cuter fawns here on the side that um |
| pic monkey has sorry I keep wanting to |
| say Pinterest but people are gonna be |
| searching for something and if your gift |
| guide image has the text that they just |
| search for they’re gonna click through |
| and go to your post and then click |
| through to Amazon or Jane or Target |
| wherever you aren’t affiliate for |
| alright so then what you do is you |
| export this image I don’t normally |
| export it as a PNG which is the best |
| quality but just for this example I’ll |
| do cheap JPEG cuz it’s quicker exported |
| all right so the masterpiece is saved |
| like tilt up the computer there I get |
| the baby right here okay we’re back |
| alright so what I would then do is take |
| that pin image and put it away at the |
| top of my post so that people click |
| through from Pinterest they directly see |
| the same image that they just saw on |
| Pinterest they know they’re at the right |
| place it’s not like some fishy scammy |
| site and then they go and scroll down |
| and see all the awesome recommendations |
| so then you would add media upload that |
| image you just exported and you prot you |
| want to call it like cue t-shirts for |
| moms so let’s go ahead and open it and |
| here in the alt text in the description |
| you want to say cute t-shirts |
| for moms just so that when people search |
| for this keyword phrase they’re gonna |
| see it here as well and your image might |
| show up so we’re gonna insert that into |
| the post there you go |
| so there’s your pin image that you can |
| then promote on Pinterest so we’ll |
| update that once that’s updated I wished |
| on the preview here let’s take that away |
| go to the right URL for it so here you |
| can see your pin image and then your |
| gift guides going to be here at the |
| bottom I have different plugins |
| installed to actually have this little |
| hover social media button so that my |
| readers can easily pin things so you can |
| either use that or you can use the |
| Chrome extension you can’t see it here |
| you can use a Chrome extension to pin |
| any of your things to Pinterest so click |
| on that I see my image here I’ll click |
| on save and then I’ll search for one of |
| my boards I’ll just put on a secret |
| board for now but that’s how you save it |
| to Pinterest so maybe I’ll put it I’ll |
| put on my feature board I’ll just delete |
| it so you guys can see okay so I’ll save |
| it to my future board go back to see it |
| now and then boom your post is now on |
| Pinterest isn’t that awesome |
| so now if I’m on Pinterest here I go to |
| where’s my boards it’s just showing okay |
| it’s showing this here we go I am on my |
| board here it’s showing the pin so it’s |
| showing up on Pinterest then you can |
| start promoting it to different group |
| boards loading it to your tailwind |
| schedule board booster whatever you use |
| if you click on the three on the little |
| pencil here |
| make sure you add a good description for |
| your PIN image so when somebody’s typing |
| something in make sure that you use the |
| right keywords so that people will find |
| your pin and see it and love it and |
| click through and make a purchase all |
| right so let’s see let’s go back to the |
| comments a little bit I’m glad this is |
| so motivating Thank You Melissa zoo or |
| Xu II I’m sorry I’m not saying that |
| right I see its affiliated just started |
| blogging do I have to apply to be an |
| affiliate first in order to make money |
| from the clicks purchases yes |
| hundreds of companies offer affiliate |
| programs you can just go to the company |
| type in Amazon affiliate program or |
| Target affiliate program or Walmart |
| affiliate program and then one of the |
| first couple search options is gonna be |
| how you can join their program and then |
| you’ll go through and get a special link |
| and that special link will be what you |
| use to put on your blog post and get |
| people to click through and that’s how |
| they track you so they track you sounds |
| scary |
| how the company’s track where the |
| purchases are coming from so they can |
| give you credit for sending them a |
| customer and what’s great about an |
| affiliate program is they only pay you |
| when they actually get money so it’s |
| like you’re this free sales team they |
| don’t have to pay you a monthly salary |
| or or an hourly rate they only pay you |
| when they make money which is great so |
| it were it’s a win-win for both you and |
| for the company all right I’m glad this |
| makes you feel like you can do this – |
| Kristina you definitely can it’s tricky |
| between babies and so on but hey we got |
| to do it um baby noises have my ovaries |
| working overtime oh they are sweet and |
| he smells so good – will we be able to |
| see this again I’m at work so I’ve been |
| interrupted numerous times yes I’m gonna |
| leave this on my Facebook page |
| this video so you can watch it whenever |
| there’s three little buttons at the top |
| of the video where you can click the bat |
| and click on safe post so that will save |
| it into your Facebook library of posts |
| is there a beginner video on starting a |
| blog on WordPress yes jasmine I am have |
| tons of tutorials on my blog itself and |
| I have a course called block by number |
| where kind of like this I show you step |
| by step click by click how to start your |
| blog and kind of get started so that you |
| can create these awesome gift guides and |
| make money online so I’ll link to that |
| as well Thank You Jasmine just |
| pronounced sue okay cool |
| hi sue that’s how you pronounce your |
| name and awesome things I love that |
| you’re doing this with baby in the head |
| cool thank you for sharing this with a |
| few mom blog groups I think that was um |
| let’s see if I miss anything |
| we cleared the pin image yep when you do |
| have images that okay yeah I do want to |
| go into this when you have images that |
| you’re putting on that collage post make |
| sure that you are allowed to use those |
| images I don’t want you guys to get in |
| trouble what you could do alternatives |
| you can actually if you have a gift guy |
| say of 20 items go ahead and buy one or |
| two of them or maybe you already have |
| them in your house right so you’re |
| reviewing them you like them you’ve used |
| them you have some of them in your house |
| you can create like a lay flat image of |
| some of those products that you’re |
| promoting and your gift guide and that |
| can be part of your image for Pinterest |
| you can also like a be show that image |
| in your house so that shows people way |
| more that you really like this product |
| and they should like it too you can |
| model yourself wearing it not awesome |
| and then these are different pin images |
| that you can actually use so if you do a |
| lay flat of those images you can then |
| put your title at the top you can model |
| yourself wearing it and then put your |
| title in the middle um or like I showed |
| you you can create that oh my videos in |
| the top or you can create that I’m |
| Kalash pin like I showed you and this |
| was another example from Pinterest where |
| they had tons of items on their pin |
| image which is pretty cool too so |
| there’s different ways that you can |
| model the items and create different pin |
| images you don’t just have to create one |
| for promoting your your blog post you |
| can create multiple different images and |
| sometimes people are gonna like one more |
| than the other alright so then you |
| finish and promoted your blog post and |
| places to promote just right off the bat |
| is obviously Pinterest a lot of people |
| go there to look for gift guides on your |
| own Facebook blog page then on your |
| personal Facebook page why not like |
| you’re recommending awesome products you |
| want your friends and family to go |
| through your affiliate links and then |
| make purchases for their Christmas gifts |
| just a little side note if somebody like |
| Amazon has a way of tracking like if |
| somebody’s really close to you like my |
| mom in law bought something really |
| expensive through my affiliate link and |
| I thought I would get a kickback and I |
| didn’t because Amazon knew that we’re |
| related so Amazon doesn’t want you to |
| use like really really close family they |
| won’t give you a commission but a lot of |
| other programs and if you broadcast it |
| to extended friends and family they can |
| you can get that commission then promote |
| this blog post in your email newsletter |
| you can do a roundup of other bloggers |
| so you can share each other’s blog posts |
| and then ask your mom my mom has more |
| friends than I do |
| on Facebook and a lot of times if I ask |
| her to share something I get a ton of |
| click back so you can ask those close to |
| you to help you as well grow your |
| business alright Jennifer says I love |
| that you’re showing this live of your |
| baby in your arms it’s so doable for |
| most of kids at home this is a good life |
| best course ever thank you Tara |
| appreciate it glad you like it which |
| level of PicMonkey are you using which |
| yes which level of PicMonkey am I using |
| let’s see my account premium annual all |
| right there you go I’m using the premium |
| annual PicMonkey program newbie question |
| if you’re using your own pictures do you |
| get the file size smaller for example |
| from how do you get the file size |
| smaller there’s a ton of programs that |
| you can use to decrease the file size of |
| your image just quickly you can load it |
| into PicMonkey as we’re here on it now |
| let’s good here |
| you can even when you export it you can |
| put it on Roger |
| which is just a smaller image size you |
| can see here it’s 143 kilobytes if you |
| put it on Pierce it’s 185 kilobytes if |
| you put it on Shaun it’s 360 kilobytes |
| if you put it as a PNG |
| it’s 869 kilobytes so you can change it |
| right here when you export it or if you |
| go to the editor say for example ok |
| let’s let’s do new we’ll open a file |
| from your computer |
| it’s a cute image alright so here’s an |
| image say for example you want to use |
| that on your blog post you’ll go to the |
| top here go to resize and actually you |
| can resize it right here in impact |
| monkey so that’s an easy way a lot of |
| times I resize my images right and |
| PicMonkey or I use percentages and I do |
| instead of a hundred I do 50 so the |
| image size decreases this is being |
| recorded Debbie yes this is being |
| recorded so I will this will this video |
| will stay on my Facebook page and I’ll |
| probably send it out somehow to my email |
| list so that more people can see it and |
| learn from this tutorial alright I think |
| we went through everything I hope you |
| guys increase your affiliate income this |
| this winter like you can make gift |
| guides in any niche so make at least |
| make five because for it I know a lot of |
| you guys are lifestyle bloggers or you |
| have a broader niche so make a gift |
| guide for every type of kind of audience |
| that you’re serving and what is cool |
| about this is you don’t have to add a |
| ton of text on that that post right so |
| it’s not going to it’s not a three |
| thousand word post it’s like five |
| hundred words it’s a little bit of words |
| for every image and item that you’re |
| promoting and then it’s it’s an easy |
| post to create you just have to promote |
| them a lot to get that affiliate income |
| hello Danielle so my friend from South |
| Africa is on and there you go see you |
| sleep I slope now so it’s fun it’s fun |
| to have friends and family sometimes |
| come on my lives and then I can say hi |
| alright so I think that is good I’ll put |
| some links in the description if you do |
| want to start your blog I have an |
| awesome course you can go through if you |
| want to learn anything more about |
| blogging I’ll link to all my other |
| articles and then this video will be |
| will be here so you guys can watch it in |
| the future alright thank you so much and |
| thank you |
| being okay with having baby on here as |
| well I’ll see you guys later |
Most kick ass video on YouTube!!!! Talk about mindset and getting shit done! No excuses! You are truly an inspiration and i know that finding you in internet-land is a gift!!!!
I feel like every question I’ve asked about how to do this blogging stuff is being answered. Thank you thank you thank you!
I wish i would have seen moms like you when i had a baby on my arm and i thought my world was crashing down around me. Keep it babe you are crushing it!!!
You are my inspiration. You make things so practical. Everything you do is practical to mommy life. Thanks for keeping things real.
This Mommy Blogger is a m a z i n g!!! If she can do it with her third baby and newborn in tow, so can you! Thank you, Suzi, for your amazing content and step by step guide! You are an inspiration!
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"I made $3,557 during my first launch.
I just want to thank you so much for all of your help in laying out a step by step plan that I was able to follow."
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She is truly an inspiration and she definetaly knows the ins and outs of the blogging world!"
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I made almost $13,000 in just over 24 hours. Like I seriously cannot even believe that!!!"
Thank You for this. I appreciate the technical help, not just the “why” of doing a gift guide but the how when the technical can be overwhelming. I’m just using Amazon for right now. Target’s images are coming up so large on my post and I’m not sure why and don’t have time to figure it out. Will be using some stock images for now.
Thank you Carrie! So happy you liked the video!
Good morning. I don’t have any traffic so how can this work for me??
LaShanda, yes – you can even share the gift guide with friends and family (many companies are okay if your friends/family use your affiliate links – Amazon is a bit more strict.) And a gift guide post can help you generate traffic too if done well.
LOVE this tutorial! Thanks for doing it! Quick question about images…
Sounds like I have to contact the company directly to get permission to use images of their products?? Do you have a lot of luck getting a quick response? :-0 Thank you!!
Pam, thank you! Yes – most of the time the company is super quick responding – or they have verbage in their Terms and Conditions 🙂
Excellent video.
When you pinned from Pinterest to the top of the page, did you hide that pin? Or leave it there?
For Amazon, how would you create a Gift Guide on Pinterest if you are not using their images?
Thank you Michelle! I just leave my image at the top of the page – so others can pin it too 🙂 I would get creative for my pin image for Amazon products. You can buy 1-2 of the products and take your own pictures, you can showcase a different parts of the topic (instead of the gifts, you can show the user). For example: instead of showing all 25 amazing items for preschoolers, you can show a preschooler playing with toys in the pin image. xx
What a great article thank you!
Thank you Nadine!
Hey Suzi,
Great post. I’ve just pinned it 🙂
I am in the middle of creating my gift guide and I cannot wait to share it.
Thank you Tegan!
Suzi, I was unsure if I can use pics from Amazon to create a pin for Pintrest. Could you clarify? Thanks! And loved the video along with real-life mothering! Super helpful!
Melanie,
Thank you! You can not use pictures from Amazon on your Pinterest images (that’s what I’ve heard last when I talked to them.) But you can use their images on your blog when you use their html code (that auto generates the image). xx
This video is great! I am almost about to start looking at affiliate programs and this tutorial helped me feel that it is a lot more manageable that I originally thought. Thank you for putting it together! I have a question though – when people do purchase something through your affiliate links, what happens when items are returned? Do you not assume you made a commission until after a likely return window has passed?
Amy, most affiliate programs wait a month or two before they payout the customer. This time gives them a change to monitor returns or refunds. Here is more about the Amazon program, that takes about 60 days before a payout: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/202050050 and https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/202050210
Hi! Not directly related to this post, but I am curious when did you start writing a blog? Love reading your income reports and I am curious when you first started writing. Thanks!
Sure thing! I talk about it here – my readers love it, thank you! https://www.startamomblog.com/super-simple-weekly-schedule/
Great video! I’ve already started making my guide. On another note, is there a way to make those small images of your freebies that you often use on your pins, on Canva instead of pic monkey?
I think you can! Just import each image and see if you can twirl it 🙂 I’ll try to create a follow up video for it!