How to Monetize a Cooking Blog and Make Sizzling Earnings

So, you've mastered the basics of blogging - now it's time to make some money from your cooking blog!

Trust me, monetizing your blog is going to be a blast.

Whether you're just starting out or you're already a cooking pro, these monetization tips will help you turn your blog into a full-time gig. Let's dive in!

1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the best monetization method for cooking bloggers because it hits the sweet spot between time investment and earning potential.

Affiliate marketing is a form of advertising where a publisher (the site owner) links to a product in their content and earns a commission from the advertiser (the affiliate program) if readers click on that link and make a purchase.

Also, since you can add links to your existing content, it’s the perfect method for beginners. You’ve already written content, so you’ve already done the hard part.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing for Cooking Bloggers

Here are some different kinds of affiliate products to recommend in the cooking blogging niche:

• Cookware and kitchen gadgets: Pots, pans, knives, blenders, and other kitchen tools.
• Cooking ingredients and spices: Specialty salts, exotic spices, and unique ingredients.
• Cookbooks and recipe guides: New releases, classic cookbooks, and specialty recipe collections.
• Meal delivery services: Subscription boxes for meal kits and specialty food items.
• Cooking classes and workshops: Online courses, in-person workshops, and cooking demonstrations.
• Food and drink products: Specialty beverages, gourmet snacks, and artisanal food items.

Once you’ve identified which products will solve problems for your readers, you need to sign up for their affiliate programs.

You should start by joining the Amazon Associates affiliate program.

Most physical products in the cooking niche will be available on Amazon, and the conversion rate on Amazon is insane.

Yes, Amazon’s commission rates are rough, and they only offer a 24-hour cookie duration, but the conversion rate makes up for it. Plus, you’re nearly guaranteed to get accepted into their program.

For products that aren’t available on Amazon, just Google “[Product] affiliate program,” and you’ll find their program’s signup page.

To save you some time, here are a few of the best affiliate networks for cooking bloggers:

1. Rachael Ray

   

   Commission Rate: 5% Per Sale

   Cookie Duration: 30 Days

   The Rachael Ray Store sells a beautiful assortment of cookware, cookbooks, dinnerware, bakeware, and more.

2. Ketoconnect

   

   Commission Rate: 40% Per Sale

   Cookie Duration: 90 Days

   KetoConnect is a globally recognized brand for its authenticity and quality content towards improving health and fitness through a keto diet.

3. Cuisinart

   

   Commission Rate: 10% Per Sale

   Cookie Duration: 45 Days

   Cuisineart sells various kitchen appliances and tools. Get a 10% commission rate and 45-day cookie duration with their affiliate program!

Once you’ve been approved for the product’s affiliate program, the program will give you your affiliate link, and you can start inserting it into your content.

How To Monetize A Cooking Blog With Affiliate Marketing

To add your link to your content, go to your post editor, highlight the relevant text, and insert the link.

Here are a few best practices for adding affiliate links to your WordPress blog:

• Add links where it’s helpful. Adding too many links to your blog posts is just like adding too many ads; it’s annoying. Add links to product titles, images, CTA buttons, and the first time you mention a product. That’s plenty.
• Disclose your links. Every blog post with affiliate links should have a disclaimer at the beginning, and every CTA or product image should also.
• Use direct sales language. When you are writing your call to action, be direct. It’s not rude to say, “Check the price” or “Buy this product today.” Being too passive makes you look unconfident.

Or, take it a step further by creating product displays.

You Can Double Your Affiliate Sales With Lasso Displays

You can create displays manually using the post editor to add links to images and buttons.

However, it can be time-consuming to create these displays and keep them updated if you’re doing it all by hand.

Luckily, monetizing your blog with affiliate links is simplified when you’re using a tool like Lasso.

Lasso makes it super easy to add links and product displays to your posts. You can add product displays to posts right from the post editor; no coding is required. It’s as simple as clicking your mouse three times.

You can also automatically import product info from retailers like Amazon. Just paste the link into the Lasso dashboard, and Lasso will populate the display with the product title, image, and price.

With all of this, remember to follow the guidelines in the affiliate program’s terms and conditions. Amazon, in particular, is pretty stringent.

But everything Lasso does is compliant with Amazon Associates’ TOS, so you never have to worry about being booted from the program.

That’s just scratching the surface of what Lasso can do to help you monetize your cooking blog. If you’re ready to start making a serious affiliate income from your cooking site, sign up for Lasso today.

Affiliate Marketing Pros and Cons for Cooking Bloggers

One of the main pros of affiliate marketing for cooking bloggers is the potential to earn passive income by promoting products or services that align with their niche. This can be a great way to monetize their content and generate revenue without having to create their own products.

On the flip side, a major con of affiliate marketing for cooking bloggers is the potential for a loss of trust with their audience if they promote products that are low quality or irrelevant to their audience. It's important for bloggers to maintain authenticity and only promote products they truly believe in.

Another advantage of affiliate marketing for cooking bloggers is the opportunity to form partnerships with brands and companies in the food and cooking industry. This can lead to collaboration opportunities, free products for review, and increased exposure for their blog.

However, a challenge for cooking bloggers in affiliate marketing is the need to continuously create high-quality content that engages their audience and effectively promotes the affiliate products. This can be time-consuming and require a strategic approach to content creation.

2. Display Ads

The second best way to monetize your cooking blog is with display ads. Ads are the internet's favorite monetization method, but they have severe drawbacks.

How to Monetize a Cooking Blog With Display Ads

Monetizing a cooking blog with display ads couldn’t be easier.

First, choose an ad network to join. Networks have traffic requirements, so here are the best ad networks to join based on your site’s page views:

• 100,000+ Visitors per month - Raptive
• 50,000+ Sessions per month - Mediavine
• < 50,000+ Visitors per month - Ezoic

Once you’re accepted to an ad network, follow their instructions to integrate their ads into your site. They will have documentation for every type of content management service (WordPress, Joomla, Ghost, etc.).

If your chosen ad network has a dedicated accounts manager, they will guide you through getting their ads on your site.

And… that’s it. Let the ads run and wait for your deposits to hit your account.

Display Ad Pros And Cons For Cooking Bloggers

Display ads can be a great way for cooking bloggers to monetize their content. They are easy to set up and can provide a steady stream of passive income. However, they can also be visually distracting and may take away from the overall user experience of the blog.

On the pro side, display ads can help cooking bloggers generate revenue without having to create and sell their own products. This can be especially helpful for bloggers who are just starting out and don't have a large audience yet.

On the con side, display ads can be annoying to readers and may slow down the loading time of the blog. They can also be seen as a sellout move by some readers, so it's important for bloggers to consider their audience's preferences when deciding whether or not to incorporate display ads into their blog.

3. Digital Products

Selling your own digital products is a great way to increase your earnings per visitor in the cooking niche.

A digital product is anything you can sell on your cooking blog that the customer will receive via download.

List of digital products to sell on a cooking blog:

• Recipe E-books: Collections of exclusive recipes with step-by-step instructions and photos.
• Cooking Video Tutorials: Access to online videos demonstrating cooking techniques and recipes.
• Meal Planning Apps: Customized digital tools to help plan weekly meals and grocery lists.
• Cooking Masterclasses: Online courses taught by professional chefs covering various cooking skills and cuisines.

A lot of people search for simple checklists and guides related to different topics. They’d happily pay you for them.

Pros and Cons of Selling Digital Products for Cooking Bloggers

One of the major pros of selling digital products for cooking bloggers is the potential for passive income. Once the product is created and launched, it can continue to generate revenue without much ongoing effort.

Another advantage is the ability to reach a wider audience. Digital products can be easily distributed and accessed by people all over the world, expanding the blogger's reach beyond their local community.

On the flip side, a potential con is the time and effort required to create high-quality digital products. This can be a significant investment, especially for bloggers who are already managing a busy content schedule.

Additionally, selling digital products requires some technical know-how and marketing skills to effectively promote and sell the products, which can be a challenge for some cooking bloggers.

How To Monetize a Cooking Blog By Selling Digital Products

The first thing to do is create your digital product.

Look at which content your audience interacts with the most, and brainstorm digital products to help serve their search intent.

That’s what I did when I created our Ultimate Blogging Guide:

Then, create the product using whatever tools are at your disposal. For example, use Microsoft Word to create an ebook PDF, or Google Sheets to create interactive spreadsheets and checklists.

Next, you have to figure out how to distribute your product. The easiest way to distribute PDFs is by uploading them to your WordPress media library. Then you can give customers the link, and they can download the PDF from there.

Lastly, you’ll have to set up payment processing and order fulfillment. A plugin like Woocommerce can automate most of this, but you’ll have to tie it to a processor like Stripe or PayPal.

Woocommerce can even connect to an email tool like ConvertKit, so as soon as your customer finishes their checkout, they’ll get an email with a link to their download.

Barring any issues, you won’t have to do anything but watch your bank account grow.

4. Email Newsletter

One effective way to monetize a cooking blog is by creating an email newsletter. This method allows you to build a loyal audience and engage with your readers on a more personal level. Let's explore how to monetize a cooking blog with an email newsletter and the pros and cons of email marketing for cooking bloggers.

How to Monetize a Cooking Blog with an Email Newsletter

One way to monetize your cooking blog is by creating an email newsletter. You can offer exclusive recipes, cooking tips, and product recommendations to your subscribers. To entice people to sign up, you can offer a free e-book or a cooking course as a bonus for subscribing. Once you have a sizable list, you can partner with cooking brands for sponsored content or promote affiliate products to your subscribers.

Pros and Cons of Email Marketing for Cooking Bloggers

• Pros: Building a loyal community of cooking enthusiasts, opportunity to partner with cooking brands for sponsored content, and promoting affiliate products to your subscribers.
• Cons: Requires time and effort to create valuable content for the newsletter, potential for subscribers to unsubscribe if they feel overwhelmed with promotional emails, and the need to comply with privacy laws and regulations.

An email newsletter is a valuable tool for cooking bloggers to engage with their audience and build a loyal community. It allows you to deliver exclusive content directly to your subscribers' inboxes, keeping them connected and interested in your cooking blog.

5. Consulting and Coaching Services

Consulting or coaching is exchanging your expertise and time for a fee. Your customers need an expert, and you’ve proven yourself to be that expert.

As you become an authority in the industry, people will reach out to you with questions about topics they consider you an expert in.

Now, you don’t have to charge for being helpful, but you should place a dollar value on your time.

As a cooking blogger, you extensive knowledge of the industry. If a reader reaches out to you asking for help, you should get paid for that effort.

How To Monetize A Cooking Blog With Consulting Services

Monetizing a cooking blog with consulting services is similar to selling sponsored posts.

Put a “Coaching” option in your nav bar that goes to a landing page outlining your consulting services and your hourly rate. This will help head off some of the people looking for free advice.

Then, wait for requests to come in, evaluate them, and propose your offer. If the customer accepts, send them an invoice using PayPal or another payment processor, and schedule the call.

Pros and Cons of Selling Consulting Services for Cooking Bloggers

One of the main pros of selling consulting services to cooking bloggers is the potential for a lucrative income. Cooking bloggers often have a dedicated following who are willing to invest in their passion for cooking, making them more likely to seek out and pay for specialized consulting services.

Additionally, working with cooking bloggers allows for the opportunity to share your expertise and passion for cooking with a like-minded audience. This can be personally fulfilling and provide a sense of satisfaction in helping others improve their cooking skills and grow their own blogging platforms.

On the flip side, one potential con of selling consulting services to cooking bloggers is the need to constantly stay updated with the latest trends and techniques in the culinary world. This requires a significant investment of time and effort to ensure that your services remain relevant and valuable to your clients.

Another potential con is the need to navigate the competitive landscape of consulting services for cooking bloggers. With the growing popularity of food blogging, there is no shortage of consultants vying for the attention of cooking bloggers, making it essential to find ways to stand out and differentiate your services.

Cooking Blog Monetization FAQs

What Is The Best Way To Make Money From Cooking Blogging?

If you want to build a successful cooking blog, then affiliate marketing is the best way to monetize it. It’s the least intrusive way to make a lot of money from your site without much extra effort.

Can I Make A Full-Time Income From Cooking Blogging?

Absolutely! Some cooking blogs, like Delish and Epicurious get hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors. That’s enough for a full-time income for a small team of people.

How Do I Start a Cooking Blog?

Learning how to start a cooking blog is the first best way to use your expertise to start an online business.

You need to register a domain, install WordPress, and publish great content. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it!

How Do Cooking Bloggers Get Paid?

Most cooking bloggers make money through affiliate commissions and advertising fees. Both of these monetization methods pay out one or two months after the fees have been generated.

Some cooking bloggers also sell sponsored posts, consulting services, or their own products. In these cases, a payment processor like PayPal or Stripe is necessary.

Is Cooking Blogging Easy?

Nothing worth doing is truly easy, but that doesn’t mean cooking blogging isn’t fun.

As a cooking blogger, you’ll get to go places, try new things, and meet new people. And it will be part of your business! What could be cooler than that?

Is It Worth Starting A Cooking Blog?

It’s absolutely worth it to start a cooking blog. Not only can you make a living from it, but you can also build a community and control the conversation.

Once you’re an established authority, people in cooking-related industries will take you seriously.

Final Thoughts on Monetizing a Cooking Blog

So now that you know all the different ways you can make money from your cooking blog, here's a bonus tip for you:

Try using multiple ways to make money!

Having different income streams is the best way to protect your blog's future.

If you promote affiliate offers, use display ads, and sell your own products, it won't hurt your business if one method takes a hit.

With this multi-tiered approach, hard work, and careful planning, you'll be on the fast track to earning what your cooking blog deserves.

Why You Should Trust Our Cooking Blogging Content

You may be thinking, "that's all great, but what does Lasso know about cooking blogging?"

Quite a lot, actually.

Here's why you can trust our process for building a successful cooking blog:

We've Built Wildly Successful Blogs

Lasso is built for affiliate marketers, by affiliate marketers. We're not gurus; we've walked the walk.

Our team members have built multiple blogs from the ground up, some of them earning over seven figures in revenue.

We put that experience into every guide we write, so you can trust we're giving you a process that works.

We Talk To Cooking Bloggers Every Day

Lasso's WordPress plugin is installed on over 8,000 websites, including a lot of cooking blogs.

Our team supports those bloggers every day as they create awesome content and earn lots of money.

These communications give us a bird's-eye view of what's new in the cooking industry. We take that information and use it to keep these guides as up-to-date and accurate as possible.

We're Super Nerds

We've put a lot of company focus into learning everything we can about blogging, affiliate marketing, SEO, and anything to do with online entrepreneurship.

We attend conferences, collect high-level contacts, read tons of books, and distill all of that information into our content. We pass information onto you that was previously only available to industry insiders.