1. Remember your blog is valuable because it’s your voice
Your blog should be just that – yours. Your loyal and growing readership are there because they trust your advice, love your style, and find inspiration in your content. To build an audience and your own brand, you need to stamp out your own voice and what your readers would be turning to you for. All readers will see through surface expertise and an aim just to make money. You should never publish something that will not enhance the value of your overall brand. Your gift guide should offer reader variable price points and options based upon whom they would be shopping for.
2. Timing is everything – both for blogger and shopper!
Have an editorial plan taking into account the different topics you can cover leading up to the holidays. Whether these will be themed for different people to shop for or your own wish list, begin to think about what events are happening, when, and note down ideas on topics for blog posts. By having a plan, it will keep you on schedule and will act as a source of inspiration in times of writers block. Second, it will help you identify and capture revenue opportunities. Think about what will be hot products relating to calendar events. If, for example, you are a fashion blogger and know a favorite store has a ‘Free Shipping Day’ or special Cyber Monday deals, do some pre-research and plan to relate your blog to what is happening. You and your readers will appreciate the advanced notice on these deals.
3. Don’t miss a chance to monetize your content
Holidays are a great opportunity to monetize your content as you know nearly everyone is doing some kind of shopping. When you feel you have put your heart and soul into executing content, then using technology can help easily turn the content into commerce. Using automated link monetization services can make native advertising easy. Link monetization technology automatically turns existing links into affiliate links to ensure you get credit for the sales you are sending merchants.
4. Find new ways to connect with your audience
While your blog can be the first stop for readers to learn what is hot for the holiday shopping season, many readers are using social media to also connect with their favorite blogs. Twitter and Facebook provide quick ways to share a deal or hot item with your readers without needing to build an entire article around the subject. However, do not allow those links to go unmonetized as they too can be a source of revenue. Tools like VigLink Anywhere allow you to insert merchant links within Twitter, Facebook, emails, RSS feeds, Tumblr and more that can help bloggers increase their business earnings.
This guest post is by Oliver Deighton, Vice President of Marketing for VigLink
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