Blog

How I Monetize Our Blog – The Details

June 15, 2015 by Katie Clark 2 Comments

I’m in a lot of Facebook groups for bloggers, and these groups have varying levels of bloggers. There are people who are just getting interested in blogging, and there are others who make six (and even seven) figures from blogging. There’s definitely a huge range!

Something that I find most valuable in this group is when people are transparent and willing to share their tips for success and monetizing a blog. I’ve always felt so blessed by our success with blogging, that it feels almost selfish not to share some of my own tips. I feel like I’ve learned so much about blogging over the past three years (and, of course, I have so much more to learn), and I appreciate learning from others.

While I don’t particularly feel it necessary to divulge our income in income reports like many bloggers do (I really enjoy those – I just don’t feel super comfortable putting our finances out there for the whole world to see!), I thought I’d share a few of the ways we have monetized our websites and what has been most successful for us. Awhile back I shared a post about the different ways to make money blogging but here I hope to go a little deeper into what works best for us right now (and what we’re hoping to do next!)

Advertising – about 50% of my income

A large portion of our income comes from advertising. While sometimes I see debate on display advertising, here’s my thoughts on it – the content I provide my readers is free. I believe that with something that I spend so much time on, I should be compensated for what I’m doing, and display advertising is one of the best ways to do that. It allows me to keep providing content for free to my readers but justify the time that it takes to run a blog (because there’s so much to it – writing the content, photography the content, promoting it, promoting other bloggers content…the list goes on!) There’s advertising everywhere, and I honestly have gotten less than 10 complaints about ads during my 2.5 years of blogging (there’s ad blockers for people who really hate it!) < /end rant>fa

Anyways, I’ve done a lot of different methods for advertising, and I’ve yet to find the most perfect combination. I’ve managed my own ads, used companies that manage my ads, native advertising, text ads, mobile ads…I’ve pretty much tried everything! While I’d love to go back to managing my own ads someday (right now is just not the time with a baby coming in a few months), what I’m doing right now is doing fairly well (some affiliate links are used in this post – I endorse all of them 100%.)

For my desktop ads, this is what I do:

I used AdThrive. Basically, they manage all of my desktop ads, and they take a cut of it. It’s around 20%, which I *try* not to think about, but I do feel like I make a decent amount of money on my desktop ads. They require that you have at least 100,000 pageviews before they will manage your ads, but I’ve overall been pleased with their customer service. They recently announced that if you have a separate mobile ad network (more on those in a moment), they will not work with you (which, I have issues with), but I was grandfathered with my contract, and for the time being, they are still allowing me to just use them for desktop ads. Another company that manages ads like this is The Blogger Network. I used them for a time, and I wouldn’t be opposed to using them again. But I do feel like AdThrive makes me more money than they did. I’d say AdThrive makes up about 30% of my ad revenue.
Media.net is a company that I use to monetize on some of my most searched/popular posts. I wrote about how to make more money with your popular posts using Media.net awhile back. Currently I’m not making a ton of extra money from them, and that’s probably because I need to readjust the posts that are being monetized, but there are times where I make $10-15 a day using their ads on my popular posts.
Native Advertising is a newer form of advertising, but it basically works to integrate with the flow of your website as much as possible. Sometimes, people don’t even know these ads are actual ads. I’ve been using TripleLift since last year. While their revenue is really low right now, during third and fourth quarter I made quite a bit. I just have one ad unit at the bottom of my posts on Clarks Condensed, and they are always very high quality ads. I know other people have them inserted in between posts, but since I don’t use a typical blog format to display my posts, this doesn’t work as well.

For my mobile ads, I have been using PadSquad since last July, and for the most part, I’ve been very pleased with them. They make up about 60% of my ad revenue, and they perform very well. It sometimes takes a bit of customization and working with their employees to get the site just how you like it, but I highly recommend them. Their ads can be a bit more aggressive than some ad companies, but honestly, I don’t think it’s bad. They create a custom mobile website for you which serves mobile and tablet friendly ads. Be sure to say that Katie Clark referred you if you check them out. There is no limit on the number of pageviews you have to have, so I’d get set up right away (especially since mobile friendliness is now a Google ranking factor.)

Affiliate Marketing – About 10% of our income

Since we moved from Utah, we took a big hit in our affiliate marketing efforts. You see, we were mainly use Amazon, but Colorado is one of several states banned from having affiliates. It’s kind of ridiculous (but I’ll write a post about that another time!) Because of that, I’ve been struggling to make sure affiliate marketing brings in the money it was. Truth be told, Amazon may not have had the highest commission rates, but people seem to trust buying from Amazon a whole lot more than other websites!

Anyways, we’ve been slowly converting Amazon links to links from other websites, and I’ve been learning a lot more about affiliate marketing. I know bloggers who make six figures from affiliate marketing, so it’s definitely a good place to be. With affiliate marketing, make sure you can honestly promote the company. Don’t just sign up to be an affiliate because you think you can make a sale. Here’s where we make the most:

Escalate – This affiliate network offers a variety of different affiliate links – many of which are for coupons. However, I’ve been able to be very successful using the variety of survey companies they work with. I usually get 2.50-4.50 per signup for different survey companies, which can add up quickly. I get paid monthly from them, and it’s been pretty consistent.

Linkshare – This is the network where I am an affiliate for both Walmart and Best Buy through. I’ve converted a lot of my old Amazon links to Walmart links, and while I don’t make nearly as much as I did from Amazon, the cookie length is longer, and I do make sure money.

Mom’s Affiliate – I just recently started working with Mom’s Affiliate, but I really like them so far. They cater toward blogs that have more “mom” related material on them, and they also offer some sponsored post opportunities. Browsing through their affiliate opportunities, I’ve gotten some excellent ideas for posts, so that’s been helpful. I highly recommend signing up.

Impact Radius – I am an affiliate for Target through this company. I don’t make a ton from Target, but I feel like it might be more advantageous to be an affiliate for them during the holiday seasons.

Groupon – Groupon is a great place to be an affiliate

ShareSale – ShareaSale has tons of different companies that you can be an affiliate through. Personally, I’ve been most successful using Craftsy, PicMonkey, and Checkout51 through them. However, they have companies like Zulilly and Gymboree, hosting companies, Shutterfly, and more. Often when I am searching to see if a company has an affiliate program, they are doing it through ShareaSale, so I recommend signing up right away so you can just apply for those programs when you find them.

Commission Junction – Commission Junction also works with a lot of well-known companies. I use the Jo-Ann’s affiliate program through them, which is my top money maker, but they also have a lot of other companies. Like ShareaSale, I’m always seeing companies using CJ as their intermediary for an affiliate program, so it’s worth it to sign up, because I’m sure you’ll use them eventually!

Hosting Companies – I make some affiliate income from being an affiliate for BlueHost and Black Chicken. BlueHost pays a flat $65 commission with any new signup, and RFE pays a small commission each month a person is active with their company. I personally like RFEs model, since, overtime, you can make a decent amount. Many hosting companies have affiliate programs. I will say, please don’t sign up for all of them, or just for the ones that make the most commission – just to make a sale. Make sure you can honestly back the company and promote them to your readers.

Affiliates for other bloggers – Many bloggers offer ebooks, ecourses, print books, etc. to their readers. And quite often, these bloggers will offer an affiliate program for other bloggers to promote their content. Often when I promote another blogger’s content, they offer around 50% commission, which can really add up. So if you have bought a product from a blogger, be sure to check and see if they have an affiliate program!

So, there you have it – the most successful ways we’ve monetized our blog, Clarks Condensed (some of these methods I’ve used on this website as well.) Hopefully it helps you figure out a good direction for your blog! Let me know what has been the most successful methods you’ve used to monetize your blog!

5 Simple Steps to Start a Blog

June 10, 2015 by Katie Clark 4 Comments

Despite what you might think, starting a blog isn’t really that hard. Maintaining a blog, growing your readership, and monetizing your blog? Now, that’s a little more difficult. However, starting one? Pretty simple.

But before any great blog becomes a great blog, it has to be created. And there are just a few simple steps one should follow in order to be start on the best foot possible. Lucky for you, I’ve been in the beginning stages of many blogs (including my own), so I’ve got this down to an art. Below are five simple steps to follow when creating your new website. Maybe next time I’ll share what to do once you’ve completed these.

I suppose the first step is to come up with an idea. I’m just going to assume that you’ve already come up with that at this point (and if you haven’t, I do discuss over here tips for choosing a niche.)

And yes, there are affiliate links in this post. However, I wouldn’t try to sell you something just to make a sale. I promise!

Domain Name

No matter what you do, you need a domain name. It instantly gives you more credibility than having .blogspot.com and .wordpress.com at the end of your domain, and it’s not an expensive investment.

Depending on where your blog is hosted (more on that in a second), you may be able to get a free domain name. Both RFE and Bluehost, which I mention below, include a free domain name when you sign up. However, I highly recommend keeping your blog hosting and your domain hosting separate, and if a company offers a free domain, just use it as a secondary domain to redirect to your main domain name (so perhaps a .net address).

While I wouldn’t necessarily GoDaddy for hosting (even with their tempting $1 a month hosting with free domain), they are who I recommend getting your domain name through. They are affordable and have 24.7 customer service. You’ll usually end up paying 8.99 – 12.99 for a domain there, but you can occasionally get them for 99 cents. All of the many domains I own are hosted there. You can sign up here!

Hosting

You’ll need to decide where you want to start your blog. The main contenders are usually Blogger, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org, followed by Weebly. In the post I referenced above, I go more in-depth in discussing the differences between Blogger, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org. However, I’ll just give you two options here.

Blogger.com is what I would recommend if you cannot afford to pay for hosting. It’s not the ideal place to be (though many, many successful bloggers have started there), but it allows monetization, and it’s easiest to customize. I do Blogger to WordPress transfers all the time, so many people end up switching. However, if you want a simple place to start that’s free, this is the best free option.

The next place is WordPress.org, and this is where I really think you should be if you want to start off on the best foot. It’s a platform that you install on your hosting account, and it’s definitely the most popular place for blogging. I could go into all the reasons why I would choose to create your blog here, but I’ll do that another day. Fortunately, there are a lot of affordable hosting options, so you don’t necessarily have to break the bank. Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, but you’ve got to start somewhere. There are many different options for what type of hosting you can get, but when you are just starting out, starting at the lowest tier (shared hosting) is probably your best bet. You can always upgrade later!

Of the budget hosts out there, the one I recommend the most is BlueHost. This is actually where I started my blog and hosted Clarks Condensed until July of 2014. I’ve worked with many budget hosts, and I found them to be the easiest to work with, and they also had the best customer service. Prices start at 3.95 a month (if you pay for three year’s up front – though they do have a pro-rated refund if you decide to leave before then).

I am with BigScoots though, and if you can, sign up with them. They are AMAZING. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Social Networks

Once you have your domain name and hosting figured out, go and get all the social networks associated with your website name – even if you don’t think you’ll use them! It’s usually a good idea to make sure theses are available before you pick a domain. Since the majority of traffic comes from social networks nowadays, this is definitely a smart thing to do. These are the ones I would sign up for first:

Facebook (must have a personal profile in order to create a business page.)
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google Plus (though this may be irrelevant sooner rather than later)

There are countless other social networks that you may or may not use, but these are definitely the most used and popular.

Set up professional email

I think it’s important to have an email setup with your own domain name, as opposed to having it end with gmail.com, hotmail.com, etc. I believe it lends you more credibility, and honestly, it’s not hard to do. I have my email set up through my hosting company, but then I have it forward to Gmail (which I have set up to send emails from katie@clarkscondensed.com – I’ll write a tutorial on how to do this later.) You may be able to set it up through your domain provider as well, or another popular option is through Google Apps (which is a paid service.) If you need help setting this up, this is a service I offer for a minimal fee!

Install Analytics

Having some kind of anayltics tracker to track your progress is essential to growing a blog. There are many analytics trackers out there, but the “standard” for blogging is definitely Google Analytics. Other trackers tend to overtrack visitors, which may look nice, but doesn’t give you an accurate view of your traffic. You can sign up for Google Analytics here!

Bonus:

Of course, once you get all of these items taken care of, you’ll want to think about the aesthetics of your site. There are many designers out there, and you can even DIY your design yourself. If you are using WordPress, I highly recommend the Genesis Framework and child themes. They are very easy to use and customize, and there are SO many tutorials out there. It’s a little expensive, but it’s more than worth the investment! If you want something that is just simple use and has a lot of tools you can use, Elegant Themes is another great option. Be sure to check out this post on Blogging Resources for even more information on tools you can use!

Online Blog Conference 2015 – Registration is Now Open!

May 15, 2015 by Katie Clark Leave a Comment

If you can’t tell by now, I’m very passionate about blogging. Not only am I passionate about my own blog, but I’m passionate about helping other bloggers succeed as well. While blogging can be super stressful, time consuming, and, to be honest, tear inducing at times, it’s been such a blessing in my life.

Something that I’ve been very grateful to be a part of for the past three years is the Online Blog Conference. It was first started in 2012, and I’ve been able to help organize it since 2013. Each year it gets better and better, and this year is no exception.

This conference is held entirely online, and it features topics ranging from monetization, to SEO, to social networks. It’s really one-of-a-kind, and it also comes with an incredible and supportive blogging community. Even though it’s online, many attendants have made very close friends through it – myself included!

The tickets are only about $50, and it is being held at the beginning of September. The live video presentations are recorded so you can watch and reference them later. It’s really a great opportunity to be able to participate in a high quality conference – all from the comfort of your home. Register here!

Please let me know if you have any questions! We’d love to “see” you there!

Why Your Traffic May Have Dropped After Moving from Blogger to WordPress

May 1, 2015 by Katie Clark 2 Comments

Did you recently switch from Blogger to WordPress and see a huge drop in stats? Here’s a few reasons why that may have happened (and how to remedy it.)

Not a day goes by that I don’t see someone on Facebook talking about how their traffic plummeted after they were moved from Blogger to WordPress. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially when you are trying to grow your blog and make money!

When I moved from Blogger to WordPress, my traffic increased. I didn’t see the big drop others had warned me about. I think I may have given up if I had. While I’m sure some of that was luck, I also believe it’s because I spent time making sure I did everything right. Since then, I’ve transferred tons of other blogs to WordPress, and fixed botched migrations. So, I thought I’d share a few reasons why your traffic may have dropped when you transferred from Blogger to WordPress

1) Mobile error

Did you have the blogger mobile site enabled? Then this is definitely an error you need to be aware of. It’s something that only started happening recently (as far as I can tell), but it can have a major impact on your traffic! Redirect plugins, such as Blogger 301 Redirect, are supposed to prevent this error from happening, but they haven’t. Basically, if a link ends with the =m?, it won’t redirect to the correct page. Instead, it will result in a 404 error. Fortunately, it’s an easy fix that I describe over here. You will need to access your .htaccess file via cpanel, but it’s not too hard. If you need help with this, I charge $10 to do it!

2) Redirection not set up correctly (or at all)

This is almost always the first thing I look for. Many times, people haven’t set up the redirect correctly, and in several instances, even at all. If you are moving from Blogger to WordPress, you need to make sure you are redirecting your old traffic. There are quite a few different plugins out there, and they aren’t all great. The one that I always use is called Blogger 301 Redirect. It works the best, in my opinion, and seamlessly redirects the traffic. A lot of redirects I’ve seen set up show up with a message on blogger saying, “This site has been redirected, click here to see the new site,” which probably will lose you a lot of pageviews, or it just redirects to the home page.

So, I recommend using Blogger 301 for your redirect. All you have to do is install it, go into the settings, select all the boxes except for the top two, and then copy the code. Then, go to Blogger, select “Template”, scroll to the bottom of the page, and then click on “Revert to Classic Template.” At that point, you’ll remove all the code in the template that is there, and paste the code from the plugin. Press save, and viola!

3) RSS Feed not redirected

This is a big one if you have a lot of subscribers to your email list or just subscribed via a feed reader like BlogLovin’. When you move to WordPress, you MUST go to feeds.feedburner.com, click on the site you are working on, then edit feed details, and make sure the original feed address is http://yoursite.com/feeds. If it is not, it will not pull new posts. This is essential, even if you don’t have any subscribers via Feedburner, because it will help update the many different feed readers that are out there.

If you are sending out your emails through something like MailChimp, you will need to manually go into the newsletter you have setup, and change the feed address. This will ensure there is no drop in your readers via emails!

4) Permalinks not the same

The default Blogger permalink structure and the default WordPress permalink structure is not the same. If you don’t change the WordPress permalink structure to match Blogger, it will cause a lot of 404 errors for your site. So, when you are logged into WordPress, go to Settings — Permalinks, and make sure you have this custom permalink structure:

/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%.html

Then, you’ll need to download Maintain Blogger Permalinks. Go to that site, download the plugin, and then install it on your WordPress site. Then go to “tools” and and “maintain blogger permalinks.” You just have to run this once, and it will change the post name in your permalink to what it was on Blogger. Just delete the plugin once you’re done, because you won’t need it again!

5) GA Double Installed on Blogger

This is usually one of the saddest situations I encounter when it comes to a drop in traffic, but it’s very common. For some reason, people often have Google Analytics double installed on Blogger. Typically, they have it installed in their layout (via a widget) as well as under settings where you can paste the code, or in their template files. This will cause an inflation in your page views.

6) Relied on Blogger Stats

If you only ever used Blogger Stats, you’ll be in for a big surprise when you start using Google Analytics or even WordPress stats via JetPack. Blogger stats are infamously inflated – I’d say close to 3x what your actual stats are. The reason for this is because it tracks bots, crawlers, etc., which really shouldn’t be considered traffic. I always recommend having Google Analytics set up

7) Temporary URL

When you switched to WordPress, did you set it up using a temporary URL, so your site could remain live in Blogger? While this isn’t the best method to switch, it is often the most preferred (editing your host file is the best, but that requires a little more technical knowledge.) If you did use a temporary URL, it is very important that you update all the URLs after your site is live in your domain name. I always recommend using the Velvet Blue Update URL Plugin to do this.

8) Bad Luck

I hate to say this, but it’s true – sometimes, you just get some bad luck. I switched a few people right after the holidays, and while it may have looked like their traffic dropped due to the WordPress migration, it was actually more likely because most everyone sees a drop in traffic. Other people just have a drop in traffic for no apparent reason – and honestly, it may have happened if they had stayed on Blogger! All in all, I think that most people do not regret switching to WordPress (after the initial “ah, what did I do!” period), and I think it’s an important move to make.

What you can do:

If you’ve checked all the above, and everything still seems to check out, here are a few things you can do:

Submit sitemap to webmaster tools – this will help index your site faster.
Install WordPress SEO plugin and follow these instructions to set it up
Promote your content like crazy – social networks, blog directories, link parties!

Visual Post Editor not Working after WordPress Update? Try this.

April 29, 2015 by Katie Clark Leave a Comment

If there’s one thing I tell people, it’s to not update WordPress right when the update comes out. WordPress is notorious for having major bugs and conflicts with new versions. Typically they have to do with a plugin that hasn’t been updated to work with the new version of WordPress, but sometimes, the issue goes much deeper.

For instance, my friends at the Double the Batch were having some major issues with their post editor. They could only edit in text mode, and they couldn’t get the visual post editor to work. After deactivating plugins several times, we ruled out a plugin incompatibility. I tried a few other things with no luck. It was pretty much the most frustrating thing (more so for the girls at Double the Batch, than me, but I hate when I can’t get something figured out quickly!)

Well, one of them did some digging and found a forum where someone described the issue. One of the people suggested some different ideas. For her, she ended up needing to use a Cloudflare plugin (not sure why?) However, one of the other suggested fixes worked for Double the Batch. So if you are going crazy looking around for a solution on why your visual editor won’t work…try this one.

You are going to need to login into Cpanel and access file manager. You can also FTP in if you’d rather. For the sake of simplicity and this tutorial, the screen shots will be from file manager.

So, as I said, login to Cpanel, and then navigate to the File Manager option. Select the radio button for “Document Root for” and select the site you are working on. Press go.

Scroll down until you see the wp-config.php file. As with all editing (especially of php files) make sure you download a fresh copy to your computer in case something goes awry. After doing that, select code editor toward the top of the page.

Once you are in the code editor for the file, scroll down until you find this text:

/** MySQL hostname */
define(‘DB_HOST, ‘localhost’);

put a space, and then insert this code:

define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

Put another space below that, and then press save. Go to your site and make sure that it hasn’t crashed or anything (and if it has, you can remove the code.) Then, clear your cache, go to your site, and your visual editor *should* be working!

Good luck! I know there’s nothing more frustrating than a site that just doesn’t want to work. Just remember next time to wait probably 1-2 weeks to update to the latest WordPress!

Tax Tips for Bloggers

December 16, 2014 by Katie Clark 2 Comments

Tax tips for bloggers was originally posted on Clarks Condensed.

Disclaimer: This information is provided on an information basis only. Katie is not a tax expert, and even though Bruce Barker is, this is general advice about blogging and taxes. Do not consider this as a consultation on your individual needs. Pleas consult a tax professional to discuss your individual situation.)

Tax Tracking Form at bottom of page

It’s that time of year that most people dread — tax season. If you are self-employed, it can be a tricky process…and if you’re a blogger? Even more so! I’m a part of many blogger support groups on Facebook, and one of the most frequently asked question is about taxes. After observing these conversations, I discovered that they are many misconceptions about taxes and blogging — what you have to report, when you have to report, and more.

Lucky for me, I happen to have an experienced tax preparer in my family — my dad. He has over 30 years experience in the tax field, and he knows quite a bit. When I was home over the holidays, we discussed some of the topics related to taxes and blogging, and my dad offered to write a post about tax tips for bloggers. I hope that this post will help you better prepare your taxes this year. While my dad is very qualified as an enrolled agent, please consult your own accountant or tax adviser while doing your taxes.

What are some basic things beginning bloggers should know ?

Each taxpayer’s situation is different and there could be different answers based on each individual’s special circumstance.

What are the advantages of, and when should you become, an LLC, Inc, or sole proprietorship?
An LLC (Limited Liability Company) is not an IRS entity. Each state has their own rules regarding LLCs and you should review your particular state’s rules. They were initially formed to provide some liability protection to business owners. If you are seeking liability protection, you should consult with an attorney. You can form an LLC that is reported as a proprietorship on your federal income tax return. An LLC can also be filed as a partnership or corporation. The advantages to the various entities is an extensive explanation. The IRS does not require all businesses to be an LLC. You can be a proprietorship and simply use your name to report the income and expenses. If you want to have a business name you may need to register that with your state. It is a good idea to use a different name for your business than your name because you may want to protect your personal name and social security number for your customers and vendors. If you are setting up a business checking account or will be receiving money from a lot of customers, you may want to get a Federal ID number.

Should you have a separate bank account set up for business expenses/income?

This is not required. You can keep track of your income and expenses inside of your personal checking or savings accounts. It is a practice to have a separate bank account and credit card that you use for business. This will allow you to keep your income and expenses separate from your personal funds. Trying to sort out your expense from your personal checking account can be very confusing.

What counts as proof of business purchases? How can you prove you paid for digital software, craft supplies, etc.?

Receipts and invoices from your purchases should be kept, documented and filed by expense category. You should also be able to support those expenditures through your bank statements and credit card statements. If you are audited by the IRS, they may not accept only a receipt, they want to make sure you aren’t just borrowing someone else’s receipts.

What are the rules for reporting/writing off products that were received for review?

I’m still trying to get a good handle on this. Each item would have to be considered separately. Receiving a $20,000 car versus a $20 white board is completely different. In most cases you are just receiving a sample of something to try and are writing about it and there is no further continued use of the item. If you had to purchase the item to sample it, you would most likely be able to claim it as a business expense. If you receive a gift card or cash, you may want to claim that as income, but then you could also deduct the item as a business expense if you are using the cash to purchase a product that you are writing about. If you do this, you will want to keep your receipts to prove that is what you spent the designated money for. If you give the gift card away, then you may not be able to use that as a deduction, unless it was considered advertising for your business.

In general, if you are sent a product for the purpose of you reviewing it, you should report it on your taxes. This post has some good advice about free products you get.

When do you need to report income?

Many people believe that if they make under $600 from one person or business, for services performed, that it does not have to be included as income on their tax return. If the companies issuing the 1099s are telling your friends that they don’t have to claim income under $600, they are absolutely incorrect (source). These companies will not backup their claims in tax court. They should not be giving tax advice.

Generally all income is reportable unless specifically stated as tax exempt. Many people have the misconception that if they get paid under $600 they do not have to claim it as income. This $600 threshold is referring to those that are required to issue a 1099MISC for goods or services, not those receiving the money. For example, I do over 450 tax returns and received very few 1099s. So if I average $300 a tax return I would make $135,000, then according to your friends I don’t have to claim $135,000 as income. What great concept! I wish it was true!

The other issue of taxes under $400 not being taxable is another misconception. This refers to the self-employment taxes. If your income after expenses is under $400 then you don’t have to pay self-employment taxes on that income. Self-employment taxes are the same as Social Security and Medicare taxes, some people call them FICA. Although you don’t have to pay self-employment taxes on this level of income, you still need to pay federal and state INCOME TAXES.

What are the rules for deducting a part of your household expenses?

You can deduct a portion of your household expenses if you have a room that is used regularly and exclusively as the principal place of business for your business. You cannot use this expense to show a loss on your tax return. If your business is showing a loss the office in home expenses can be carried over to another year. You first need to determine what percentage of your home is business use. You can do this by measuring your office space and comparing that to the total square footage of your home. You multiply this expense against your rent, insurance, utilities, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, HOA fees, repairs, maintenance, depreciation on your home, etc. To me, the best advantage of an office in home is that you can deduct more business miles on your car, because you do not need to subtract the commuting miles from your business travel. Other issues to consider are the storage space used for business in your home, the capital gain you may have to pay when you sell your home, not being able to deduct all your office in home expenses as an S Corporation, Child Care businesses use a different percentage based on number of hours used, yard and landscaping are not allowed, etc.

When should you do an accountant vs do it yourself? Or is it just a bad idea to do it yourself?

Of course I believe you should use an accountant to prepare a tax return, especially when you have a rental property, business, investments and other complicated issues. Your tax preparer generally does many returns and takes classes every year to stay up on the law. The IRS code is very complicated and it is to your advantage to consult a professional.

Is food deductible as a business expense, and if so, what are the criteria for that deduction?

You can deduct the cost of meals and entertainment that have a business purpose. You need to document this by keeping receipts and writing on the receipt who you had the meal with and the business purpose. These types of expenses are only 50% deductible. You can also deduct meals if you travel over-night on a business trip. If you have a business meeting and you provide a meal or refreshments, you can deduct these expenses 100%. If you are sampling recipes and writing about them, you can also deduct the cost of those meals As with all business expenses, you have to have a profit motive for your business. If you are not generating any income, I wouldn’t suggest deducting these expenses.

Is there a problem with negative income?

Some businesses need time to grow before their income exceeds their expense. It is okay to have a negative income on your tax return, but the IRS may consider it a hobby instead of a business and there are different rules for hobbies. You generally have to show a profit in three out of five years. It is not healthy financially to go very many years without showing a profit. In all cases you need to treat your business like a business. That is, to keep books for your business, advertise, have profit motivated expenses, invoice customers, pay sales taxes, etc.

When does blogging no longer become a hobby income?

When you are not showing a profit and do not have any hopes of a profit. You still need to claim the income, but you have to deduct these expenses on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions).

When should I become an LLC?This is a legal question and I am not a lawyer. If you are vulnerable to a law suit then you may want to consult with an attorney.

How do you pay taxes quarterly?

You can pay taxes quarterly to the IRS and your state, by filing out a Form 1040ES (Federal) and sending in a payment. You will need to project your taxes in order to know how much money to pay. If your income is higher in the current year than the prior year, then you can use the prior year tax return to project your taxes and either pay 100% or 110% of the prior year tax liability. This only helps you avoid a penalty, you still may owe more taxes when you file your tax return. If you are self-employed and make a lot of money you should consult your tax professional to help you determine how much to pay quarterly and how much to save for when you file your taxes.(side note from Katie: I’ve made an effort to set aside 30% of all money I make so I don’t get slammed at the end of the year.)

Information on Bartering

Bartering is taxable. You need to determine the value of services and goods and report the amount you receive as income on your tax return. If you are bartering for a business service, then you may be able to deduct the expense. If you barter for a personal service like the dentist or painting your home, then you will not be able to deduct that expense.

Can I deduct supplies for projects I blog about?
Yes. But you should consider the amount of personal use involved and the magnitude of the supplies.

Can I deduct expenses for products I had to pay out of pocket for a sponsored post, that won’t be reimbursed?
Yes, if the post brings you other revenues based on hits to your website. There must be a business purpose.

Home office space — what are the true rules – can I write off Internet, smart phone, etc?

I answered office in home questions above. You can deduct internet and phone usage, but you can only deduct the percentage that applies to the business use. You will need to have a way to prove your percentage to the IRS.

Free product or products won in a giveaway — do we need to claim and how?
If these products are being used as a subject in a blog post (such as for a review), you can deduct them. Otherwise they would be taxable and have to be reported. If you receive a product for free (such as in a giveaway) that values over $600, the person or company who supplies it must send you at 1099. On a similar subject, if you giveaway a product worth more than $600, you must send the winner a 1099, so it’s in your best interest to make sure products in giveaways don’t value over $600.

Some companies pay in gift cards — do you have to report this?
Yes, that is considered taxable income.

If you are sent a product to review, is this taxable?

There is not a lot in the IRS code about this. It all comes done to if you are actually in business to make money and how successful you are. If the product review brings you revenue, then I would deduct it.

What is the benefit, if any, to using a TIN and/or submitting a DBA to your town/city?

A tax ID number is valuable when setting up a business account in a name other than your personal name. Also, if you have employees you will need this ID number to report the payroll taxes. It is also better to avoid using your name and social security number in your business. There are a lot of issues of fraud and identity theft.

Is there a benefit to get an EIN or can we just use our SSN as an individual?

I would suggest you get an EIN and not use your SSN on your business, because of identity theft issues.

Can purchases such as laptops, cameras, tablets, etc. be written off?

Yes, but you may have to depreciate the item over more than one year and only deduct the business portion of these items.

If we agree to take a product to try, but we’re not agreeing to review it (so, essentially a PR gift) do we claim those?

Depends. You don’t always have to give a good review. If you review an item and don’t like it, I would claim it as a deduction. You are in the business of sampling things and writing about them. Again, the magnitude of the item may be an issue. Like, if you receive a $1000 gift card to Macy’s, I don’t think I’d write off the full amount.

Here is a great list of legitimate tax deductions for bloggers, and this site lists even more!

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section!

If you need a way to track your taxes this year, here is the form I use to track everything and anything for taxes. If you want to use it, click file, and then make a copy, to save it to your own files!

Three Ways to Make a Mobile Friendly Website

November 11, 2014 by Katie Clark 1 Comment

More than likely, the majority of your site visitors are visiting your site on a mobile device. For our site, Clarks Condensed, we get about 70% of our traffic from mobile devices. After talking with others, this is definitely the norm. Because of this, ensuring your viewer’s mobile experience is pleasant is more important than ever.

I’ve looked into a lot of different options and weighed the pros and cons of most of them. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no perfect solution, but a lot of great ones. The hard part is deciding which one is best for yours. What’s good for one website could be horrible for another.

Below are three ways to make your site mobile friendly. All of these I’ve tried at one point or another, so I feel pretty comfortable discussing them. If you’ve tried something that I didn’t list, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Mobile Site/Advertisement Companies

This is the solution we’ve chosen to optimize Clarks Condensed on mobile devices. We currently with a company called PadSquad. They create a mobile site for you and manage your mobile ads. While we’ve had some ups and downs with them, we’ve been pleased overall with the revenue we’ve made. Our mobile ad revenue more than doubled since we’ve been with them, the time people stay on our page has increased, and our bounce rate has decreased significantly. To have a custom, mobile site created for you can cost thousands of dollars, so I think it’s a pretty good deal. I’ve been very pleased with how my site looks, and I’m always getting compliments from people on how easy it is to navigate.

If you sign up, be sure to say Katie Clark from Clarks Condensed referred you! Sign up here to receive a free demo of what your site will look like.

PROS:

Professionally created and looking website
Decreases bounce rate significantly
The amount of time people spend on your site typically increases – mine went up almost a minute!
Very easy to navigate – the navigation menus are great
You are fairly compensated, and chances are, your income will increase substantially.
An amazing referral program. I earned almost as much in referrals that I did in ad revenue last month.
Pageviews do increase with PadSquad, However, I say this was a caveat – mobile pageviews are typically tracked differently than desktop pageviews. However, I did see that my unique monthly visitors has increased as well since I started using PadSquad.

CONS

Typically have a lot more ads (including in content and popup ads). There is some room for how many and how often a popup will show up, and I’ve found they are more than willing to work with you. I always work with Paul, and he is always willing to explain to me things, and help increase my revenue.
It’s a 50/50 revenue share, so the company takes 50% of what you are earning. This is pretty typical with most ad networks though.
You have to sign a contract – typically one year (though with 90 days notice, you can get out of it.)
You don’t always have control over the ads. About a month ago, I started getting some very inappropriate ads showing up at the bottom of my site, and it took a little bit to get them taken down. While they totally understood why I didn’t want it, it would be nice to be able to specify from the get-go what types of ads you can show.
The amount you see in your dashboard isn’t always what you get. This kind of shocked me when I noticed over $100 difference in what the PadSquad dashboard said I earned, and what I received on my first paycheck. It was due to some reconciliation issues, and it made sense…but I was still kind of bummed!
The waiting period for your first paycheck is pretty long. They pay 60 days past the last day of the month you started with them. So, I started at the beginning of July, and I was first paid 60 days after July 30th. However, it’s every 30 days or so from then on.

PadSquad isn’t for everyone, but we feel like we’ve definitely benefited from our relationship with them. I know some people that don’t love them, but the majority of people I talk with enjoy their relationships, and find that the pros outweigh the cons. I find that the key to success is being involved with your account manager and understanding what is going on with your site. Remember, you can sign up here to receive a demo of your site. I’d appreciate if you say I referred you! And, in case you are interested, here are a few screenshots of my site using PadSquad’s platform.

On Tablets:

On mobile devices:

Mobile Responsive Theme:

This is probably the easiest way to make your site mobile friendly – start with a layout that has been created to resize correctly on mobile devices. When I’m talking about themes, I’m mainly referring to those of you who are on WordPress. With Blogger, I think there are probably mobile responsive themes you can use, but I’m not very familiar with them (beyond the option that Blogger gives you to

Basically, with a mobile responsive theme, it is coded with CSS that changes how the site looks, depending on what size screen it is being viewed on. It makes it easier for readers to see your content, without

I always recommend StudioPress. I believe that almost all (and at this point, maybe all) of their themes are mobile optimized. This is one of many reasons why their themes are my favorite. There’s a bit of an investment in the beginning, but because they are so popular, there are tons of tutorials out there.

I have a theme from StudioPress, both on this site and Clarks Condensed. This site is still mobile optimized, but when I didn’t have a custom mobile site for Clarks Condensed, I ended up removing the mobile responsiveness, mainly because my sidebar ads weren’t ever being seen. However, if advertising doesn’t matter that much to you, having a mobile responsive site is awesome!

PROS

Easy to read posts
They look nice
You don’t have to zoom in and out
Very little maintenance or setup required

CONS

Sidebar typically gets pushed to the bottom of the page (which means you won’t probably get revenue from your sidebar ads.)
Sometimes menus don’t work as well
Even if your design elements resize, things like popups might not, which may be obnoxious to readers
Depending on what theme you use, it can be a major pain to get the header to resize correctly (I’ve had issues with Modern Blogger Pro and Jane.)

WP Touch

This is a plugin you can use on WordPress that lets you create a customized mobile site. There are several different themes you can use, endless colors, and you can upload your header. I believe it’s something like $50 a year for the Pro version (and if you don’t want to customize it yourself, we do that for $30!) I have configured this on a couple different sites, and it usually works pretty well for people who just want a cleaner look to their site.

PROS:

Lots of customization options
After you understand it, pretty easy to use
Easy to navigate

CONS:

Doesn’t always work with every ad company
It can be a little bit confusing at first to configure
If you want ads, you have to have the paid version
Annual fee

Best Blogging Books Every Blogger Should Read

November 6, 2014 by Katie Clark Leave a Comment

In any industry, the desire to constantly learn more about what you are doing is essential to success. Doctors need to know the latest medical advances. Teachers need to know the best methods for teaching a child to read. And bloggers? Well, professional bloggers need to know how to most effectively reach their audience, grow their blog, and make money. With blogging, the industry is constantly changing, so it’s essential to stay on top of the latest trends.

But before you can follow the latest trends, you’ve got to get the basics down. When I first started blogging, I read everything. I read tons of books, blogs, articles, really — everything! I feel like that was one of my “tickets” to success. I still read a lot about blogging as I continue to try and evolve our business, and I’ve found several blogging books that I think every blogger should read. Whether you are just starting out, or hoping to mold your brand even further, these are all excellent books. They are worth the investment!

I’ve included my affiliate links, but I have not been asked to promote any of these books.

How to Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup

This is one of the first blogging books I read, and it’s definitely one of the best. Ruth is the creator of LivingWellSpendingLess.com, and this book is a gold mine of information. I think beginning and advanced bloggers can learn a lot. She recently released a second edition that has even more great information.

How I Made $40k in My First Year of Blogging

This book was written by a friend of mine, and holy cow – mind blown! She has done an incredible job with her blog in her first year, and she doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to sharing her knowledge in this book. Chelsea is the blogger behind Chelsea’s Messy Apron, and she goes through each month of her first year of blogging, and shares her successes, failures, and what she wish she knew. I learned some great tips from her, and I’ve been recommending it to everyone. You’ll love how transparent she is! Definitely put this on your list to read.

ProBlogger

ProBlogger is one of my favorite go-to sites for blogging information, and it’s for good reason! This ebook has great information. After reading it, you’ll be a huge fan of this guy, and feel empowered to great your own blogging empire!

Tasty Food Photography

Even if you aren’t a food photographer, if you are looking to improve your photography for your blog, this ebook is awesome. It was written by Lindsay from Pinch of Yum. I’m not 100% food blooger, but I found her tips to be very helpful for all around improving my photography. I never could figure out how to download it to my Kindle, so I’ve just read it on my computer…but it’s still a good one!

Blog at Home Mom

How to Grow Your Blog

This one might be a little more specific toward women bloggers, who also are mothers, but it was a pretty inspiring book. I found that she gave a lot of tips for balancing blogging with personal life, which is something that can be hard to do!

The Blogger’s Survival Guide

This was written as a colloboration effort of a bunch of different bloggers, many of which are friends of mine! It has some excellent information from a variety of different perspectives, and the contributors are bloggers from a bunch of different niches.

I felt like there was some great information in this book as well. It’s probably not #1 on my list, but I feel like it’s really well written.

Born to Blog

My Blog Traffic Sucks
8 Simple Steps to Get 100,000 Blog Visitors without Working 8 Days a Week

If you’d like to be included on this list, please email me at katie @ thebloghelp (dot) com. I will review your book and see if it fits my requirements for this list at that point. Thanks!