How do food bloggers win money?
There are two types: one who blogs as a hobby and another as their profession. Although I began blogging as a hobby, it became a full-time job after I graduated in June 2013. Since then, blogging has been my profession. My article Making the Shift to Full-Time Blogging in India can be found here. How did I decide to make blogging my career? Vogue India featured me two years ago with the headline “Made a Career Online.” When I was about to graduate the year following, I wondered, “What next?” I was different than everyone else. I decided not to pursue law/post-grad/ IAS. Instead, I chose to blog as a career. Although this was not an easy decision, two things made it easier.
- Blogging was a joy. I can do a little of everything I love: baking, food styling and photography, writing, and meeting people.
- Money was the other compelling factor that convinced me to pursue blogging full-time. While still in college, I began making good money blogging.
Let’s now answer the question: How can food bloggers make a living? There are many ways food bloggers can monetize their blogs and make a regular income. What other sources of income should a food blogger look into? Continue reading!
1 SOCIAL MEDIA COLLABORATION .
Collaborations with brands on social media account for the majority of my revenue. I create content with their products that I promote on Instagram and my blog. A significant source of income for food bloggers is social media promotion. I began working with F&B brands such as Food Hall, Mother Dairy, and others. Slowly, I expanded my content portfolio and created content for tech brands (laptops, phones, cameras, etc. There are many possibilities, provided you remain true to yourself, your work, and your readers.
Here are some tips for starting brand collaborations
- Create an “advertise” page on your website.
- Your email and contact information should be displayed on your website and social media pages.
- Feel free to propose ideas to brands and reach out to them. There is a way to communicate your vision.
- Make it easy and enjoyable to work with. Your brand partners will appreciate your willingness to work hard and provide maximum value.
2 RECIPE DEVELOPMENT.
Although social media collaborations can be a great way to generate revenue, they are only possible if your company has a strong presence on social media. You can still collaborate with brands by creating content for their websites/social media channels. A variety of brands have asked me to take photos and recipes. These are the contents they share on their website. I am not obliged to promote it on my social media channels. Although this brand association brings in a different revenue than social media collaborations, it is a good start.
3. WORKSHOPS PERSONAL AND CORPORATE – FOR BRANDS, CORPORATE, AND PERSONAL.
Workshops are a great way to generate income. Bloggers have a large audience who appreciate our work and are eager to learn from us. Since 2003, I have been teaching baking and food styling classes. You can partner with another blogger to run a workshop or do it all yourself. You can find out more about the workshops that I have conducted. If you would like me to write an in-depth post about how you can organize workshops, let me know by commenting below.
You can organize workshops yourself, or you can tie up with brands to host events. You can also charge a fee upfront from the brand for such events. The workshop can be promoted to your audience, increasing walk-ins, audience, and brand awareness. I have done workshops on food styling, baking, and baking for DLF Promenade, HomeCentre, and Food styling for Google Maps.
A corporate workshop is another type of workshop you could do. This involves facilitating a session for employees of the company. Many companies always look for individuals to organize fun activities and events for their employees. I ran a workshop on baking for SBI Capital last year in Mumbai. You should wait for the company’s contact to arrange corporate seminars. However, you can always mention this in any services you offer to a company.
4. FOOD STYLING & FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY POSITIONMENTS.
We are food bloggers who style and photograph food to share on our blogs. These services could be offered to restaurants or brands. Many bloggers style and photograph Food for F&B brands or restaurant menus. This is a great way to generate revenue, as every restaurant and company needs their Food and products photographed and styled for their websites and social media channels. Some food bloggers have styled Food for TV commercials, serials, and food books.
5. PLACING ADVERTISEMENTS ABOUT YOUR BLOG.
This is a popular way to generate income for food bloggers. Although I have yet to explore this option, my friends who are food bloggers make good money placing ads on their blogs. After establishing a lot of traffic to your blog, you can sign-up with an ad network to monetize it. Food bloggers in India can make between 3-4 lakh per month by placing ads on their websites.
6. WRITE e-books and books.
Writing e-books or books can be a great way to grow your food blogging business and generate income. It was always my dream to publish a cookbook as a food blogger. My book, Bake with Shivesh, was announced last month by Harper Collins. I cannot wait to see it released in October. You can create your e-books to start and then put them on your website. Your e-books should offer great value, exclusive content, and delicious recipes. Consider selling your merchandise.