The Internet has opened up so many new opportunities for people all over the world to connect with one another in ways never seen before. One such way that's been growing exponentially since its creation in 2007 is blogging. Blogging allows anyone from teenagers to adults to express themselves through writing. It also provides an outlet for business owners to market their product or service without having to be physically present in order to gain interest. For some bloggers it can even provide them with passive income streams. This article will explore how blogging works as well as how you can earn money from tumblr blogs.
In this day in age where everyone seems to have access to a computer with internet capabilities, there are tons of websites out there helping users to create content. From Facebook and Google+ to Twitter and Pinterest, these sites allow us to communicate our thoughts via text, pictures, videos, and more. With the help of social media platforms we've created connections with strangers around the globe and developed friendships with those who mean something to us. The ability to stay connected with others has allowed millions of people across the entire spectrum of life to find friends, family members, classmates, colleagues and even lovers online. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are, if you're looking for someone special then chances are good that they'll be found somewhere on the web. In fact according to recent statistics "One-in-seven relationships start on dating site".
Tumblr, which was founded back in 2007, is among the most popular social networking sites today. According to Alexa.com, it ranked number 3 amongst top 100 million websites globally. This means that the average user spends approximately 26 minutes per visit browsing through the various posts that other people have posted about their lives, interests and hobbies. People love to read about the things that other people are passionate about whether they're sports topics, music, fashion, food, current events or anything else. There's no telling just how much time people spend on this website each day.
With such popularity comes opportunity. If you own a blog (or multiple ones) on Tumblr, then you could potentially get paid for posting on Tumblr. Let me explain how this works...
If you want to know how to get started creating content for your own tumblr page, check out Tina's guide here.
Adsense is a program offered by google that allows any blogger to place ads on their webpage. These advertisements are usually placed next to articles or throughout pages, but sometimes they appear right above the comments section too. When a visitor clicks on the advertisement, they are taken to the advertiser's website. Since ad sense only pays when visitors click on the links within the advert, advertisers pay every month based upon impressions - meaning how often their link appears on your page. Here's how it works:
1.) After setting up your account, select the type of advertising space you'd like to purchase. For example, banner ads, skyscraper ads, popups etc.
2.) Once you've selected your advertising option, you must set up your campaigns. Your campaign consists of keywords related to your niche. A keyword is basically a word used frequently by readers to search for information similar to yours. Each campaign should contain 5 different keywords.
3.) Next upload images onto your newly designed campaign. Make sure the image size of the images uploaded is 600x600 pixels. Also ensure that you include relevant tags relating to your niche into the description field. Tags will come in handy later on after your campaign begins generating traffic.
4.) Finally, add your code snippet to your HTML editor. Ensure that you don't alter the html code written by the developer because this could affect your rankings.
5.) Now test drive your new campaign. Visit your page everyday to see how effective your ads are. Pay attention to your analytics to keep track of your performance.
6.) If everything goes smoothly, congratulations! You now have a working campaign running on your Tumblr page. Keep in mind though that nothing happens overnight. Take advantage of free tutorials available online to learn about marketing strategies that work best for your particular industry.
7.) Repeat steps 1-6 until you begin seeing results.
There are many advantages to using tumblr besides earning profits. First off, tumblr allows you to build personal brand while simultaneously building credibility. Another great thing about tumblr is that unlike other social networks, tumblr does not require you to follow specific guidelines. Therefore, you can customize your profile however you wish. Users can easily navigate your page and view whatever they choose to see. Lastly, there are very few rules associated with posting on tumblr compared to other sites. So feel free to speak freely and creatively.
As previously mentioned, tumblr gives you freedom when it comes to designing your custom theme. However, if you aren't familiar with coding then you might need assistance with design/theme development. Luckily, there are several reputable companies offering affordable rates for graphic designers. Simply research local vendors and ask for estimates. If you decide to hire a professional designer, be certain to ask about a trial period prior to paying long term fees for design services. Most professionals would welcome the opportunity to prove themselves during a short trial run.
Additionally, remember to utilize hashtags (#hashtagsareawesome!) and tag your posts properly. Hashtags are commonly utilized by both marketers and casual viewers alike. They are essentially keywords assigned to individual pieces of material, allowing viewers to scan posts and discover interesting information pertaining to their topic of choice. On Tumblr tagging is extremely important. Tagging makes it easier for users to locate posts regarding their favorite subject matter. Additionally, it helps users determine if their audience shares common passions with them.
Lastly, once you've finished creating your content, take advantage of tumblr's built in sharing feature. By utilizing the "share" button located directly below your post, you give users the chance to spread your message far and wide. Remember, quality content attracts quality followers. Sharing your content is essential to gaining exposure.
Becoming popular on Tumblr requires dedication. Dedication to updating regularly, interacting with other users, responding to questions, commenting and replying to other peoples' posts. Being active on tumblr requires regular contributions. Popularity is gained by showing concern for others and being helpful. Be patient and consistent in providing value to others. Eventually, people will notice your efforts and return the favor by visiting your page. Just think of yourself as a friendly neighborhood hostess hosting parties in her home. All she needs is a clean house, nice clothes, fresh flowers and an inviting smile.
Viral content is defined as any piece of media that gains widespread distribution through electronic communication channels quickly. Viral messages are passed between computers and mobile devices worldwide. Because of the speed in which viruses spread, producers consider viral content to be novel, entertaining, controversial, shocking, humorous, surprising, cute, weird, insightful, engaging, informative and emotional. Basically, whatever strikes your fancy.
When searching for viral content try to look beyond mainstream outlets. Find unusual news stories that appeal to your target audience. Then simply reblog, reshare and comment on the original poster's post. Don't forget to add your two cents worth. This practice alone can lead to virality if done correctly.
Conclusion
Tumblr's been around since 2007, but it didn't really take off until 2013 when celebrities started using it as an outlet. The platform has become a home for content creators and artists from all over the world, including musicians, models, influencers, activists, and more — and there are even people who have made a career out of posting pictures and writing about whatever they want without worrying too much about what other people think.
But while Tumblr was once known for its "geeky" aesthetic that centered around things like fashion, music, art, and memes, in recent years it's gone through several changes. Nowadays, it looks very different than it did back then because of features such as auto-upload, grid layouts, and infinite scrolling. It also doesn't look anything like how it used to be 10 or so years ago. But can you get paid just for creating posts on the site? Can you ever make money off of Tumblr if you're not famous? Let's find out...
According to data released by comScore in 2020, Tumblr had 2 billion monthly active users worldwide last year. That means that nearly two thirds of those people visited the website every month. If we assume most of these folks aren't doing anything online besides visiting Tumblr, this would mean that roughly 1.2 million visitors per day were viewing something on the service. And considering Tumblr has hundreds of thousands of blogs (which are basically mini websites), it seems reasonable to say that a good portion of them probably weren't being updated regularly. So let’s round up our math here and say that one third of Tumblr’s user base visited the website daily, which comes out to roughly 3.6 million users per day.
If only half of those users clicked on ads placed within the free version of the app, Tumblr could theoretically make $3.7 million dollars in ad revenue each day. Obviously, none of us know exactly how many advertising impressions were viewed on Tumblr, nor do we know how many clicks advertisers got on average, but even assuming a lower number, that's still a pretty substantial amount of money that anyone can potentially earn. Of course, Tumblr isn't going to be raking in millions upon millions of dollars anytime soon, but it's worth keeping in mind that this figure is based solely on potential ad views. There's no guarantee that ads will actually show up on your post or someone else's, after all.
It's important to note that Tumblr also makes some extra cash via premium subscriptions. In 2019, it reported that it brought in an additional $300 million in annual recurring revenues (the company's main source of income) thanks to memberships and sponsorships. This brings its total earnings to somewhere between $4-$5 million annually.
So yes, you can theoretically make money on Tumblr if you're willing to create sponsored content. However, the chances of getting approved for either of those options are fairly low compared to simply running your own personal blog. Sponsored content usually requires approval from Tumblr before publishing, and sponsored posts must meet certain guidelines. For example, unlike regular posts, sponsored images cannot contain any text whatsoever.
In addition to sponsored content, Tumblr offers another way for business owners to generate passive income: page managers. Basically, if you manage multiple Tumblrs related to specific topics, you'll receive a cut of the profits whenever the posts you created bring in subscribers or new followers. Page management fees range anywhere from 25 percent to 30 percent depending on whether you're managing five or 50+ pages. Again, this kind of arrangement isn't exclusive to Tumblr. Other social media platforms offer similar opportunities. Just remember that if you decide to pursue this route, you should keep records of everything, otherwise you might end up owing taxes later down the road.
As far as selling merchandise goes, the same principles apply. Sellers set prices for items they've posted themselves, and buyers pay directly through PayPal or gift cards. Some sellers choose to handle shipping charges instead of passing them onto shoppers. Like with page manager partnerships, however, it's best to avoid mixing your merch offerings with general content unless you're completely confident you won't owe sales tax.
While Tumblr hasn't officially revealed its quarterly financial statements yet, according to estimates, the company lost $30.9 million in 2016. As of February 2018, though, it was estimated that the company earned $10 million during Q1 2017, meaning that for at least three months straight, Tumblr generated enough profit to cover its expenses.
At the moment, it's hard to tell how long the company plans to stay afloat financially. Backlash against former CEO David Karp, whose net worth reportedly increased by more than 400% during his tenure leading Tumblr, led to his removal earlier this year. Since then, he's taken a leave of absence, and the company has hired current Twitter chief operating officer Jeff McGehee as interim COO. According to Bloomberg, McGehee said that Tumblr needs to start generating $20 million in yearly profits in order to remain profitable, although he added that “it’s unlikely that’ll happen this year."
Aside from the fact that Tumblr generates plenty of positive attention for brands, it's also clear that the company itself loves experimenting with ways to grow. Earlier this week, for instance, it rolled out a feature called Infinite Scroll. Essentially, viewers now don't need to click next to see more photos — they can scroll forever. Previously, the app showed users six posts at a time. Now, it shows eight. A few days prior, it introduced Grid Layouts so that users can browse longer posts vertically rather than horizontally. And it recently launched Auto Upload, a tool that lets you automatically upload videos to your blog once you finish recording.
With Tumblr's endless stream of updates, it's tough to pinpoint where the platform stands today. Suffice it to say that regardless of how much money it earns, it's definitely not chump change.
Yes! Well, sorta. Though Tumblr's future appears uncertain due to internal issues plaguing the company, it's still one of the biggest names in microblogging. And even though it's fallen behind competitors like Pinterest and Instagram Stories, it continues to dominate among millennials.
A study published by marketing firm Vision Critical found that 47 percent of U.S.-based teens prefer Tumblr. Meanwhile, 38 percent of British adults aged 18-34 check the platform daily, followed by 24 percent of women and 16 percent of men. Even more interesting is that 55 percent of UK tweens preferred Tumblr, while only 37 percent of teen girls liked Snapchat more. All told, Tumblr boasts over 100 million readers per month across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Latin America, and the Middle East.
And despite the recent drama surrounding the company, Tumblr remains relatively popular amongst young audiences. Per the Wall Street Journal, 40 percent of internet users under 35 follow at least one account run by teenagers. Another report claims that 31 percent of American voters ages 18-29 visit Tumblr regularly.
So yeah, it's safe to say that Tumblr's not dead quite yet.
With over 200 million blogs created in 2014 alone, it's no wonder that more than 1 billion people visited Tumblr last year (and this one!). But can you make money from running a Tumblr blog?
It depends what kind of blog you run... if you're just posting photos or memes, yes -- but if you want to generate revenue through advertising or selling items, then probably not unless you have a lot of followers already. For those who are ready to take control of how much they earn from running their own site, here's everything you need to know about setting up an income stream.
We've broken down three ways you can go about generating revenue from a personal Tumblr account into four separate sections:
1) Sell things on Etsy. 2) Use Google Ads to display product links within posts. 3) Promote affiliate offers using Amazon Associates. 4) Monetize the content directly via other means such as promoting premium membership plans.
In each section we'll walk you through the steps required to set up these methods so that you can start earning money immediately. Let's begin!
The short answer is "not enough." In September 2015, Tumblr announced that it had grown its user base significantly since May 2014 when it reported losing almost half a million monthly active users. That's 500k fewer accounts accessing the blogging service every month. It also represents a loss of $200m in annual ad revenues.
Tumblr has been struggling financially ever since co-founder David Karp sold his shares in order to focus on engineering efforts back in 2013. The company wasn't able to turn around its finances despite increasing investment from venture capitalists. Its biggest problem was being unable to scale quickly enough while maintaining high levels of quality. According to TechCrunch, Tumblr missed out on major advertisers because they wanted to be associated with brands known for producing original content rather than something which was simply reposted elsewhere.
So why bother trying to grow your audience further? Because there are still plenty of potential customers out there who aren't yet aware of your existence. And even though some people might have abandoned ship due to lack of success, others could find themselves attracted to Tumblr once again without knowing where they came from. With any luck, you can position yourself to capture them before anyone else does.
Many bloggers associate the term'monetization' with advertisements, but that isn't necessarily true. There are several different types of sources for monetizing a website, including displaying contextual text-based ads, banner images, video ads, subscription forms, etc. However, most of us will only consider ads placed onto our blog pages. This article therefore focuses on how to profitably place text based ads on your Tumblr page.
If you don't currently have a large following, however, placing regular text based ads won't bring in very much money. If possible, try to build up a loyal group of followers who visit regularly and look forward to reading your posts. When that happens, monetizing your blog becomes easy -- all you need to do is add relevant adverts.
To do this, head to Settings & Privacy " Advertising & Promotion. Then click Add New Partner under Content Networks. From here, select Text Links. Select either Embedded HTML or No Code Required depending on whether you prefer code snippets or full HTML embeds. Either way works well, although embedded HTML tends to provide faster results. Once done, ensure Enable Automatic Loading is selected. Finally, hit Save Changes and check out your new text advert(s).
As always, testing is key. Visit your post and scroll down until you see the advertisement link. Click View Page Source to double check your settings. Now return to your dashboard and refresh your blog. Try opening various articles to test the effectiveness of your new adverts. Don't forget to include keywords in your title tags too.
Keep in mind that, unlike sites like Facebook and Twitter, you cannot change preferences regarding text ads on Tumblr. So long as your blog contains nothing illegal or inappropriate, Tumblr will let you advertise whatever you wish.
Another option available is to purchase space on sponsored posts. These work similarly to standard text ads, except the advertiser doesn't pick the wording used. Instead, Tumblr chooses the words itself based on data collected from previous campaigns. Sponsored posts usually cost between £20 -£50 per week.
Advertisers pay websites to show their banners after readers engage with said site. As such, you should never expect to keep 100% of the profits generated by your posts. Rather, aim to maintain 50% or higher. To help you achieve this, you must follow your chosen partner's rules, terms and conditions. Most partners will give you access to tools designed to help you maximize earnings. They include:
Google Display Network: Accessible via the Google Display Network panel located inside your Dashboard. GDN allows you to create custom ad units, target specific audiences, integrate third party tracking cookies and optimize performance.
Amazon Associate Program: An excellent choice if you plan to sell goods on your site. Like GDS, Amazon also gives you dedicated panels for creating and managing your campaigns. Unlike GDS, however, Amazon operates exclusively within the US market.
Facebook Audience Insights: A great resource for targeting specific groups based upon demographics and interests.
Once you've established your brand identity, you can then expand your business beyond your Tumblr account. Here's how to launch a successful online store.
For additional information please refer to our handy guide detailing exactly how to become an Amazon Affiliate [Broken URL Removed].
Yes! Although Tumblr hasn't quite cracked the code yet, the number of companies keen to invest in the platform continues to increase. Some big names include Microsoft, Starbucks, Adidas, Samsung, Target, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., Fox Sports Media Group, Hulu, National Geographic, NBC Universal, MTV, and eBay.
According to Digital Music News, Spotify recently invested $500M USD in music streaming sites SoundCloud and Deezer, both of whom now operate integrated platforms alongside Rdio, Pandora, Apple Music, MOG, Tidal, YouTube Music, and numerous other competitors. Last summer, Yahoo acquired Tumblr in exchange for $3B USD worth of stock. Not bad considering the fact that Tumblr hosts approximately 150 million blogs.
But what are your options? Well, according to Forbes Magazine, Pinterest generates the highest amount of digital sales followed closely by Instagram. Other popular social media giants include LinkedIn, Snapchat, Vine, Reddit, Medium, Foursquare, and StumbleUpon.
And remember, there are countless smaller players eager to jump on board. Just search for "social networking" on Kickstarter and you'll find dozens of interesting projects that would love to put your support behind. Or better yet, pitch yours!
Have you tried any of these methods? What were your experiences? Do you think Tumblr is truly capable of becoming a profitable enterprise? Tell us below!
Just follow our battle-tested guidelines and rake in the profits.