Question
What are the best ways to monetize a food blog without filling it with ads?
Answer
My friend Eric Marcus runs vegan.com, which is a lifestyle blog that combines a food lifestyle with other aspects. I believe his primary revenue source is affiliate marketing for things like relevant cookbooks and other food-lifestyle items (eg. cruelty free products). Since he is mainly interested in animal rights rather than revenue, his example may not be perfect here.
At 200 visitors a day, you're just at the threshold where there is enough data to start experimenting, but not enough to start monetizing in any serious way for a topic like food. I'd suggest simply trying various basic channels (ads, amazon, tips, sponsorships, shareasale.com affiliate deals, a permission marketing email newsletter etc.) in very limited, non-intrusive ways just to get some data. There is no generic answer here. There is no substitute for direct experimentation and A/B testing. Every blog audience is very different. If you want ideas for food blogging, look at what larger food blogs do, but don't imitate blindly. Test each idea for your wife's blog to independently verify its impact.
Advertising, done tastefully, is not disruptive to reader experience. You'll need to experiment quite a bit with placement. Invest in high quality blog theme design (I recommend shelling out for the Thesis theme for WordPress). A strong design will be able to support a far higher "load" of harmonized advertising. Most unreadable sites are unreadable whether or not they have ads. Because they have terrible font and color choices.
At a higher level, even if ads don't work out or you are not serious about them, there is still a reason to put in some minimal advertising. You don't want to be beholden to reader-nazis who scream "sell out" the moment you try to make the blogging worth your while. Quite simply, you may want to put in some ads to simply nip those "ad free" expectations in the bud. Your site, you reserve the right to make money. Set those expectations upfront, but don't go around blatantly pitching stuff every second post. Set an atmosphere that will naturally make money if it scales. Don't try a grow now/milk later strategy of suddenly plastering your site with ads the day you hit 1000 visitors/day. Set the right level of expectations around advertising early on, and get the data on its impact, long before the money is substantial.
I don't use advertising today because it simply doesn't work well for my site's particular type of content. Other revenue channels work better. But I learned this fact when my blog was far smaller.
Readers can leave if they choose. Most won't and are supportive of bloggers making money through advertising in ways that harmonize with the site. Done well, they'll actually thank you for bringing good stuff to their attention.
But mainly, at 200 visitors/day, the focus still has to be on content above all else. Keep trying to grow the traffic base, evolve the blog to rise above me-too food blogs by cultivating a distinctive lifestyle based brand, and so on.
When the blog grows up more, everything from cooking classes to a book, to ads to members-only premium content is a possibility. There will be a natural timing for trying each move in earnest, but start your experimentation and expectation setting well ahead of time.
At 200 visitors a day, you're just at the threshold where there is enough data to start experimenting, but not enough to start monetizing in any serious way for a topic like food. I'd suggest simply trying various basic channels (ads, amazon, tips, sponsorships, shareasale.com affiliate deals, a permission marketing email newsletter etc.) in very limited, non-intrusive ways just to get some data. There is no generic answer here. There is no substitute for direct experimentation and A/B testing. Every blog audience is very different. If you want ideas for food blogging, look at what larger food blogs do, but don't imitate blindly. Test each idea for your wife's blog to independently verify its impact.
Advertising, done tastefully, is not disruptive to reader experience. You'll need to experiment quite a bit with placement. Invest in high quality blog theme design (I recommend shelling out for the Thesis theme for WordPress). A strong design will be able to support a far higher "load" of harmonized advertising. Most unreadable sites are unreadable whether or not they have ads. Because they have terrible font and color choices.
At a higher level, even if ads don't work out or you are not serious about them, there is still a reason to put in some minimal advertising. You don't want to be beholden to reader-nazis who scream "sell out" the moment you try to make the blogging worth your while. Quite simply, you may want to put in some ads to simply nip those "ad free" expectations in the bud. Your site, you reserve the right to make money. Set those expectations upfront, but don't go around blatantly pitching stuff every second post. Set an atmosphere that will naturally make money if it scales. Don't try a grow now/milk later strategy of suddenly plastering your site with ads the day you hit 1000 visitors/day. Set the right level of expectations around advertising early on, and get the data on its impact, long before the money is substantial.
I don't use advertising today because it simply doesn't work well for my site's particular type of content. Other revenue channels work better. But I learned this fact when my blog was far smaller.
Readers can leave if they choose. Most won't and are supportive of bloggers making money through advertising in ways that harmonize with the site. Done well, they'll actually thank you for bringing good stuff to their attention.
But mainly, at 200 visitors/day, the focus still has to be on content above all else. Keep trying to grow the traffic base, evolve the blog to rise above me-too food blogs by cultivating a distinctive lifestyle based brand, and so on.
When the blog grows up more, everything from cooking classes to a book, to ads to members-only premium content is a possibility. There will be a natural timing for trying each move in earnest, but start your experimentation and expectation setting well ahead of time.