Affiliate links are another low-effort way to earn income from your food blog. Here’s how affiliate programs work: you link to a product on a blog post. It might be something you use often and recommend for a given recipe, like a KitchenAid mixer, silicone baking mat, or food processor. Any time one of your readers clicks that link, it’s tracked by the store. If the customer makes a purchase, the shop records that purchase, and you receive a commission.
Some affiliate marketplaces (like ShareASale) can help you find brands to work with. Others (like Target) make it easy to pick and choose the individual cooking utensils you love. Here are a couple to get you started:
Target Partners
Amazon Associates
ShareASale
For example, Just One benin mobile database Cookbook and Lisa Kitahara created curated lists on Amazon so that readers could purchase the spices they keep in their pantries or the essential cooking tools they use daily. When someone purchases an item from these lists, the bloggers earn an affiliate commission.
Any time you’re earning money from affiliate links, you need to clearly disclose that to your audience in order to comply with FTC guidelines. If you’re not sure or have questions about these guidelines, consult a lawyer.
A screenshot of a recipe on Sally's Baking Blog that tells readers there are affiliate links, and links to a disclosure policy
Sally places an affiliate link disclosure at the top of her blog posts that links to her full disclosure policy. Sally’s Baking Recipes
3. Leverage email marketing
Email marketing is always a great way to keep your audience engaged and drive traffic to your website. The more traffic you drive, the more money you can make from display ads. Create a newsletter that shares a weekly roundup of your newest recipes, or spotlight a favorite recipe that’s on your mind for any given week.