A question we frequently hear is, “how can I make money blogging about food?” These foodies want to share their passions with the world. Some might be expert chefs with a preference for Thai recipes. Some may want to share school lunch ideas for picky eaters or teach followers how to cut gluten out of their diet. Others may enjoy showing how to hack old recipes to create something brand new. But no matter what type of cuisine content they prefer to focus on, these food enthusiasts want to turn their hobbies into income generators.
The good news is that we can show you how to make money online as a food blogger! Let’s take a look at a few ways to generate income and how you can do so with WordPress.com.
Feature Ads on Your Site
Ads can be an excellent way to generate revenue if you have regular traffic to your website. In fact, bloggers can make between $200 and $10,000 per month from ad revenue alone depending on their site traffic, industry, etc.
You can set these up on your WordPress site using WordAds.
Here’s how it works:
WordPress partners with 50+ top ad sellers and negotiates ad rates on your behalf. You install WordAds in just a few clicks and choose your settings. Ads targeted specifically to each individual site visitor will display across various areas of your site — like your sidebar — and you’ll make money each time one is viewed. It’s that simple!
Develop Recipes with Sponsored Items
If you have enough of a following, you can also make money by featuring specific products in your recipes or social media posts — think sauces, kitchenware, and spices. There are a ton of different brands you can partner with, from local stores to larger companies. They’ll be thrilled to get their items in front of your audience and you’ll get to earn some money in exchange.
Damn Delicious, a large food blog built on WordPress, writes sponsored posts as one part of their revenue stream (which also includes display ads). For example, they featured Cabot cheese in a recipe for cheeseburger mac and cheese and highlighted Walmart when discussing ingredients for an Asian chicken salad. The key, though, is not to do this too often — you don’t want to come off as pushy to your followers — and only choose products that you can really stand behind.
But how do you find interested sponsors? Themeisle has a great post that walks you through all of your options.
Be a Brand Ambassador
A brand ambassadorship is similar to posting sponsored content — just long-term. You might create a certain number of blog posts, videos, and social media posts over a period of time in exchange for regular compensation. You make steady income, and the brand gets in front of your audience regularly and often. It’s a win-win!
Link to Your Favorite Products
Affiliate links are a great way to naturally make money when linking to the products you already recommend. Let’s say that you’re the blogger we mentioned earlier who writes recipes for picky little eaters. When sharing lunch ideas, you could link to your favorite bento boxes, sandwich cutters, or reusable sandwich bags. Then, when someone clicks that link and purchases the product, you’ll make money.
There are a variety of affiliate programs that you can use, but Amazon Affiliates is one of the most common because of its ease of use and wide variety of products. Learn how to add Amazon.com affiliate links to your WordPress site.
Write a Cookbook
If you’re ready for a bigger endeavor, you can turn some of your most popular recipes into a cookbook or include entirely new meal ideas! You don’t necessarily have to publish a physical book either — eBooks are a great, affordable option as well.
Either way, you can sell your cookbook directly on your site using a Pay with PayPal button. Create a landing page for your book with all the benefits, sample recipes, and high-quality photos. Then, add a Pay with PayPal button to accept credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal payments for your book.
If you’re interested in self-publishing a cookbook, this article features an interview with a food blogger who did exactly that.
Sell Cooking Classes
If you’ve done any live cooking demonstrations on Instagram or created recipe videos for TikTok, classes may be your next big step!
Start by talking to your followers and finding out what types of classes they’d most benefit from. Would they enjoy learning how to make pasta from scratch, pair wines with food, or create 30-minute meals?
Then, figure out your format. You could go live in a private Facebook group, join everyone on Zoom, or even build an online course in your website — whatever method works best for you and your followers.Â
Finally, determine how you want people to pay for your class. One option is to use the Pay with PayPal button we mentioned earlier. Just add it to a landing page and let people pay on your site! Or you could make the class itself free and solicit tips and donations with the Donations block.
Create Your Own Products
Maybe you have a secret sauce that everyone raves about during the holidays. Perhaps your cookie recipe is to die for. Or maybe your seasoning mix is a hit at family barbecues. You can turn that secret recipe into an income stream!
WooCommerce is the eCommerce leg of WordPress and allows you to sell anything you want online, from physical and digital products to memberships and subscriptions. This opens up an entirely new way to make money as a food blogger.
MegaFit Meals, for example, writes excellent blog content with tips for healthy eating and bodybuilding. They also sell customizable, pre-made meals specifically for fitness and nutrition. Customers can choose the number and type of meals they’d like, view the ingredients and nutrition information for each one, then check out directly on their site.
Keep in mind, though, that there are certain considerations and regulations involved in selling food from your home. Take the time to do things right from the beginning, and you’ll have a good foundation for success.
Sell Exclusive Content
Create exclusive content — recipes, tips, ingredient guides, videos — just for your most loyal, paying subscribers.
The Paid Content block makes this simple. You can hide any content you’d like behind what’s essentially a paywall. When someone tries to view it, they’ll see options to either log in or purchase a subscription. It’s the perfect way to make relatively passive income!Â
Turn Your Passion for Food into a Career
Making money from your food blog may seem a bit overwhelming, but it just requires creating the same consistent, high-quality content your followers already enjoy and being a little bit creative.
The best part? WordPress.com can help you along the way, with everything you need to increase your following and monetize your site.
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