Starting a weight loss blog is an exciting journey! You’ve tackled the basics like registering your domain, setting up WordPress, and publishing your first posts. Now, it’s time to dive into monetization.
Trust me, this part is going to be a blast!
Whether you're just starting out or you're a pro in the weight loss space, these strategies will help you turn your passion into profit. Let’s break down each method!
Why You Can Trust Our Weight Loss Blog Monetization Guide
Lasso is installed on over 8,000 websites, including many weight loss blogs.
Our team has built multiple 7-figure blogs in a wide range of niches.
We have hands-on experience working with founders to grow and monetize their weight loss blogs.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the best monetization method for weight loss 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.
TIP: With all monetization methods, the rule of thumb is the easier it is to accomplish, the less money you can make, and vice versa.
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 Weight Loss Bloggers
If you're diving into the weight loss blogging niche, there are plenty of affiliate products you can recommend. Here’s a list of popular options that can help your audience reach their goals while earning you some commissions.
Here are some great types of affiliate products to consider:
- Weight Loss Supplements: These can include fat burners, appetite suppressants, or mood enhancers. Look for products with proven ingredients and good reviews.
- Meal Plans and Cookbooks: Healthy eating is crucial for weight loss. Offer guides or books that focus on balanced diets, calorie tracking, or specific eating methods like keto or paleo.
- Fitness Equipment: Items like resistance bands, weights, or home gym setups can encourage readers to work out at home.
- Online Fitness Programs: Many people enjoy video workouts or training subscriptions. Partnering with these providers can give your readers options to work out from home.
- Weight Loss Coaching: Consider recommending professional coaching services that offer personalized weight loss advice and fitness plans.
- Fitness Apps: Apps that focus on tracking workouts, calories, or habits can be very helpful. Affiliate programs for popular apps can benefit both you and your readers.
These products can help your audience along their journey, and here’s why endorsing them can be a win-win:
- High Demand: Weight loss is a popular topic, so your recommendations are likely to resonate with a large audience.
- Diverse Options: You can mix and match these products to tailor recommendations based on your audience’s specific needs.
- Recurring Income Potential: Some fitness apps and coaching services offer subscription models, meaning potential ongoing commissions for you.
- Personal Stories: Sharing testimonials and experiences can lead readers to trust your recommendations more.
- Upsell Opportunities: Once you attract an audience, you can highlight multiple products in a single blog post for increased revenue chances.
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 weight loss 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 weight loss bloggers:
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Commission Rate: $15 Per Sale
Cookie Duration: 30 Days
Fraser Wilson is an author of online training and nutritional plans which help people transform their bodies.
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Commission Rate: $50 Per Lead
Cookie Duration: 30 Days
Money is a great motivator so why not get paid to lose those extra pounds? That’s what HealthyWage does. Enter your information and see what you'd win.
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Commission Rate: $36 Per Sale
Cookie Duration: 30 Days
bistroMD combines a love for great-tasting real food with the unique knowledge that food is medicine. Get $45 commission per sale by new customers.
TIP: We maintain a database of the best affiliate programs. Click here to see the best weight loss affiliate programs.
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 Weight Loss 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 weight loss blog. If you’re ready to start making a serious affiliate income from your weight loss site, sign up for Lasso today.
A WordPress plugin that lets you add, manage, and display your affiliate links from any program, including Amazon. Increase conversions. Find new affiliate link opportunities. Earn more revenue! Less than 5 minutes to set up.
Affiliate Marketing Pros and Cons for Weight Loss Bloggers
A big perk of affiliate marketing for weight loss bloggers is the potential for passive income. Once you set up your affiliate links, you can earn money while you sleep. Plus, the weight loss niche has loads of products to promote, from supplements to fitness programs. This variety means you can choose what aligns best with your brand.
However, there's a downside to consider. Competing with other weight loss influencers can be tough. Your blog needs to stand out to drive traffic. If your audience doesn’t trust your recommendations, your conversion rates will plummet, hurting your earnings. Authenticity is key here.
Another factor is the constant need to produce content. As trends in weight loss shift, so should your content. Keeping your blog fresh means more work! You also have to be strategic about the products you select to promote. Not every item will resonate with your audience.
2. Display Ads
The second best way to monetize your weight loss blog is with display ads. Ads are the internet's favorite monetization method, but they have severe drawbacks.
How to Monetize a Weight Loss Blog With Display Ads
Monetizing a weight loss 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
NOTE: WordPress is an open-source software found on WordPress.org. WordPress.com is a premium blogging platform, but you never need to pay to install WordPress on your website, even if it’s self-hosted.
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.
TIP: Optimize your display ads for user experience by using your chosen network’s software settings or talking to your account manager. Keep the ads in the sidebar and footer whenever possible.
You’ll make a lot of money in the long run if you put your readers ahead of quick profit.
Display Ad Pros And Cons For Weight Loss Bloggers
Display ads can be a great source of income for weight loss bloggers, but they come with their own set of pros and cons. On the upside, they are easy to implement. You can use ad networks like Google AdSense or establish direct partnerships with brands. Additionally, once the ads are set up, they can generate passive income while you focus on creating content.
However, the downside is that display ads can clutter your blog. Too many ads can lead to a poor user experience, causing visitors to leave. Also, the revenue might not be steady or significant unless your traffic is very high. This can make them less reliable compared to sponsored posts or affiliate marketing.
Another con is the potential mismatch between the ads and your audience's interests. If the products promoted aren’t relevant to weight loss, they may not resonate with your readers, leading to lower click-through rates. It’s crucial to find a balance between monetization and maintaining the integrity of your blog.
Lastly, Ad blockers can reduce your revenue significantly. Many users have them installed, meaning they won't see your ads at all. So, while display ads can be a helpful way to earn money, it’s best to have a mix of income strategies to keep your blog financially healthy.
3. Digital Products
Selling your own digital products is a great way to increase your earnings per visitor in the weight loss niche.
A digital product is anything you can sell on your weight loss blog that the customer will receive via download.
Here are some digital products you can sell on your weight loss blog:
- Meal Plans: Provide structured meal plans for different dietary needs like keto, vegan, or paleo.
- Workout Guides: Offer downloadable workout plans tailored for beginners or specific fitness goals.
- Recipe eBooks: Create an eBook with healthy recipes that support weight loss and nutrition.
- Weight Loss Journals: Design a digital journal for tracking progress, meals, and fitness routines.
- Online Coaching Sessions: Provide one-on-one virtual coaching for personalized support and motivation.
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 Weight Loss Bloggers
When it comes to selling digital products, weight loss bloggers have a lot to gain. For starters, digital products like eBooks and meal plans have very low overhead costs. Once you create a product, it can be sold an unlimited number of times, leading to potentially high profit margins.
However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. The market is saturated with fitness resources, so standing out can be tough. You'll need to invest in marketing and build a strong personal brand to attract buyers. Plus, some people may be hesitant to buy digital downloads without a physical product to hold.
On the brighter side, digital products can be easily updated. If you've learned new techniques or adjusted your approach to weight loss, you can update your material without incurring additional costs. Plus, they offer instant access for buyers, who appreciate immediate solutions to their weight loss challenges.
Lastly, selling digital products allows you to scale your business. You can reach audiences worldwide with the click of a button. However, keep in mind that managing customer expectations and providing excellent support is crucial in retaining your audience and encouraging repeat sales.
How To Monetize a Weight Loss 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:
Get Your FREE 20-Page Guide To Making $1000/Day From Your Niche Blog
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.
TIP: You can still use Lasso to get more clicks to your digital products. Just create a Lasso display with the link pointing to your product’s sales page.
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 weight loss 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 weight loss blog with an email newsletter and the pros and cons of email marketing for weight loss bloggers.
How to Monetize a Weight Loss Blog with an Email Newsletter
Email newsletters are a powerful tool for bloggers, particularly in the weight loss niche. They allow you to engage with your audience directly, providing valuable content while creating a trusting relationship. This direct line of communication can turn casual readers into loyal followers and potential customers.
To monetize your weight loss blog through an email newsletter, start by building your subscriber list. This can be achieved by offering something appealing, like a free e-book with weight loss tips, meal plans, or workout guides. Once you have a list, you can maintain regular contact. Share exclusive content that’s not available on your blog, such as weight loss success stories, recipes, or fitness advice. When your subscribers see the unique value you offer, they are more likely to engage with your monetized content.
Next, explore affiliate marketing opportunities. This is particularly effective for weight loss bloggers. You can recommend supplements, workout gear, or meal subscription services that you genuinely believe in. Include affiliate links directly in your newsletters. When subscribers make a purchase through your link, you earn a commission. Just ensure you disclose your affiliate relationships to maintain trust with your audience.
Additionally, consider creating and selling your own digital products, like meal plans or workout programs, directly through your newsletter. Building subscriber relationships can lead to higher conversion rates when you launch new products. Your audience already trusts your expertise on weight loss, making them more likely to invest in your offerings.
Pros and Cons of Email Marketing for Weight Loss Bloggers
- Pros:
- Direct Communication: You have a direct line to your audience, allowing you to build relationships and trust.
- High Engagement: Email newsletters typically have higher engagement rates compared to social media, leading to better visibility for your offers.
- Targeted Content: You can segment your audience and tailor your content to different groups, enhancing relevance and conversion potential.
- Cons:
- Time-Consuming: Creating high-quality, valuable content for your newsletter can be time-intensive.
- List Maintenance: Regularly cleaning your list to remove inactive subscribers can be a tedious process.
- Software Costs: While there are free options, many effective email marketing tools come with costs that can add up.
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 weight loss 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 Weight Loss Blog With Consulting Services
Monetizing a weight loss 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.
TIP: Again, you can use Lasso to drive more clicks to your coaching pages. Just create a Display with a link to your sales page, and insert it into blog posts.
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 Weight Loss Bloggers
When selling consulting services as a weight loss blogger, there are definite pros. For one, you get to leverage your expertise and build a loyal client base. Clients often appreciate personalized advice, which can lead to strong relationships. This can enhance not only your credibility but also your revenue stream.
However, there are cons to consider. Managing clients and providing one-on-one support can be time-consuming. You might find yourself stretched thin, especially if your audience grows quickly. Additionally, there's the challenge of scaling; it's tough to clone yourself and offer the same personal touch to more clients.
Moreover, the market is crowded. Everyone is trying to sell their weight loss advice, which means standing out is essential yet difficult. Potential clients may be skeptical and overwhelmed with choices, making it crucial for you to clearly define what sets your services apart.
Lastly, there's always the pressure to stay updated on the latest trends and research. The weight loss industry can shift rapidly. This means continued education is a must to maintain your authority and keep your clients happy.
Supercharge your earnings with Lasso. Create no-code product Displays and Tables that convert, find and fix broken links, and gain valuable business insights with revenue analytics.
Learn MoreWeight Loss Blog Monetization FAQs
What Is The Best Way To Make Money From Weight Loss Blogging?
If you want to build a successful weight loss 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 Weight Loss Blogging?
Absolutely! Some weight loss blogs, like No Thanks To Cake and Authentically Emmie 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 Weight Loss Blog?
Learning how to start a weight loss 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 Weight Loss Bloggers Get Paid?
Most weight loss 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 weight loss bloggers also sell sponsored posts, consulting services, or their own products. In these cases, a payment processor like PayPal or Stripe is necessary.
Is Weight Loss Blogging Easy?
Nothing worth doing is truly easy, but that doesn’t mean weight loss blogging isn’t fun.
As a weight loss 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 Weight Loss Blog?
It’s absolutely worth it to start a weight loss 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 weight loss-related industries will take you seriously.
Final Thoughts on Monetizing a Weight Loss Blog
You've learned the different ways to monetize your weight loss blog. Now, here’s a bonus tip for you:
Use multiple monetization methods!
It’s smart to diversify your income streams. This keeps your blog safe and secure.
If you mix affiliate offers, display ads, and your own products, you're covered even if something changes in one area.
This multi-tiered approach, with a bit of hard work and planning, will put you on the right path to making the income your blog truly deserves.
Why You Should Trust Our Weight Loss Blogging Content
You may be thinking, "that's all great, but what does Lasso know about weight loss blogging?"
Quite a lot, actually.
Here's why you can trust our process for building a successful weight loss 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 Weight Loss Bloggers Every Day
Lasso's WordPress plugin is installed on over 8,000 websites, including a lot of weight loss 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 weight loss 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.