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The Best Ways to Make $3000 With Sponsored Posts
SPONSORED POSTS are commonly referred to as promoted posts, videos or images, marketed to a targeted group of people within the same niche or demographic all with the aim of reaching a wider audience.
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, sponsored posts have emerged as a dynamic and influential tool for brands and content creators alike. These posts represent a symbiotic partnership where content creators, often referred to as influencers, collaborate with brands to promote their products or services to a broader audience.
This marketing approach blends authenticity with promotional reach, blurring the lines between traditional advertising and personal recommendations.
Sponsored posts have become a driving force behind the success of social media platforms, blogs, and other digital channels, offering a means for brands to connect with their target audience on a more personal and engaging level. In this comprehensive guide, we will embark on a journey through the world of sponsored posts, delving into the strategies, ethics, and best practices that define this form of marketing. From understanding the nuances of influencer partnerships and disclosure requirements to maximizing the impact of sponsored content and measuring its success, this guide will serve as a valuable resource for both brands and content creators looking to navigate the intricacies of sponsored posts effectively. So, let’s explore this dynamic realm of digital marketing, where authenticity meets promotion, and partnerships become the conduits for reaching and engaging with audiences in innovative and impactful ways
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INCOME: MAKES $10,000 A POST
These course creators make SIX FIGURES all from sponsored posts, and this has become their main source of income. This is so different from Affiliate Marketing and placing ads on a site. In order to achieve great results with sponsored posts, you have to set up your hustle as a business. The main reason being that you are contacting brands, building relationships, creating contracts, setting your billing rates and much more. If you do not have a step-by-step process you are more than likely to fail and at worst, stain important business relationships. This course starts from the basics, teaches the top required industry knowledge and lays a step-by-step process of how easily start your business. Click Here to Learn About Sponsored Posts
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1. Lessons in Sponsored Posts Course
This section highlights some of the lessons you will learn in the course. This is not an exhaustive list as the course creators constantly update the information. This is not an exhaustive list, I just highlighted some of the lessons in the course. Each lesson builds on each other and teaches you how to prepare
- How to Pitch to Brands
- The Basics of Sponsored Posts
- How Much You Should Charge
- Do You Need to Have a Contract
- How to Structure your Rate Sheet
- Different Types of Sponsored Posts
- How to Create Marketable Media Kit
- How to Negotiating Tips for Higher Rates
- How to Find Sponsored Post Opportunities
- How Often You Should Post Sponsored Posts
- How to Have a Successful Brand Partnership
- How to Increase Your Sponsored Post Pageviews
- How to Create Engaging and Quality Sponsored Content
- How to Increase Your Chances of Getting Approved for Brand Sponsorship
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2. Types of Sponsored Content
Sponsored posts are essentially a form of native advertising within the content created by influencers or content creators. They serve as a bridge between the organic, non-promotional content that an influencer regularly produces and the promotional messages that brands wish to convey.
These posts can encompass a wide range of content types, including but not limited to:
- Social Media Posts: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms are commonly used for sponsored posts. These can include images, videos, stories, and more.
- Blog Articles: Influencers often integrate sponsored content seamlessly into their blog posts. This might involve writing a review, sharing a personal experience, or crafting content that naturally incorporates the brand’s message.
- YouTube Videos: Video content is a powerful medium for sponsored posts. Influencers create videos that showcase the product or service, providing demonstrations or reviews.
- Podcast Mentions: Podcasters can seamlessly integrate sponsored mentions into their episodes, discussing the brand or product in a natural, conversational manner.
Sponsored posts come in various forms, tailored to the platform and the influencer’s content style. Some common types of sponsored content include:
- Product Reviews: Influencers provide detailed reviews of a product, sharing their honest opinions and experiences.
- Giveaways and Contests: Brands often collaborate with influencers to host giveaways or contests, encouraging engagement and brand awareness.
- Affiliate Marketing: Influencers share unique affiliate links or codes with their audience. When their followers make a purchase using these links, the influencer earns a commission.
- Unboxing and Demonstrations: This type of content involves influencers showcasing a product’s features and benefits, often in a visually engaging manner.
Now that we understand the core components of sponsored posts, let’s explore why they work so effectively in the world of digital marketing.
3. How to Increase Your Value as a Content Creator
High engagement rates and audience retention tends to increase a content creator payout rates. Below are some of the factors that can increase billing rates for a creator
- The Trust Factor : Trust is a currency of immense value in the digital age. Consumers are more discerning than ever, and they place a premium on authenticity and credibility. Sponsored posts tap into this trust factor in a way that traditional advertising struggles to do.
- The Influencer-Consumer Connection : Influencers have a unique ability to connect with their followers on a personal level. Their content often reflects their own experiences, preferences, and values. As a result, when they promote a product or service, it feels like a personal recommendation rather than a commercial pitch. This connection is a powerful force in the world of marketing. It can lead to higher engagement rates, increased click-throughs, and ultimately, greater conversions.
- Diversifying Content: Sponsored posts inject diversity into a brand’s content strategy. Traditional advertising methods often rely on repetitive messaging that can quickly become stale. Sponsored posts, on the other hand, introduce fresh perspectives and creativity.
- Precise Targeting: Influencers typically have a specific demographic or niche audience. This level of precision targeting is invaluable for brands. They can partner with influencers whose followers closely align with their ideal customer profiles.
4. Analyzing Influencer Metrics
To identify the right influencers for your campaign, it’s essential to conduct a thorough analysis of their metrics and performance. Some key metrics to consider include:
- Follower Engagement: High follower engagement rates indicate that an influencer’s audience is actively interacting with their content. Look for influencers with genuine, engaged followers.
- Audience Demographics: Review the demographics of the influencer’s audience to ensure they align with your target customer profiles.
- Content Quality: Evaluate the quality of the influencer’s content, including their writing style, visual aesthetics, and overall presentation.
- Previous Collaborations: Examine the influencer’s history of brand collaborations. Are there any potential conflicts or oversaturation within their content?
- Authenticity: Assess the influencer’s authenticity and trustworthiness. Do they consistently disclose sponsored content, and do they maintain transparency with their audience?
By thoroughly analyzing these metrics and considering how well the influencer aligns with your brand’s values and goals, you can make informed decisions when selecting influencers for your campaign.
5. Creating a Successful Sponsored Post Campaign
Before launching a sponsored post campaign, it’s essential to define clear objectives. What do you hope to achieve with the campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, boost sales, or achieve another specific goal?
- Setting Clear Objectives: Setting clear objectives provides a roadmap for your campaign’s strategy and measurement. It allows you to tailor your approach to align with your desired outcomes.
- Crafting Engaging Content : The heart of any successful sponsored post campaign lies in the content itself. Influencers should create content that seamlessly integrates the brand’s message while maintaining their unique style and voice. The content should resonate with the influencer’s audience and provide value.
Collaborate closely with influencers to ensure that the content aligns with your brand’s values and messaging. Encourage creative freedom while offering guidance to ensure that the sponsored content effectively conveys your brand’s story.
6. Monitoring and Measuring Results
Measuring the success of a sponsored post campaign is crucial for evaluating its impact and ROI. Some key performance indicators (KPIs) to consider include:
- Engagement: Monitor likes, comments, shares, and other forms of engagement on the sponsored content. High engagement rates indicate that the content is resonating with the audience.
- Click-Through Rates (CTR): Track how many users click on links or calls to action (CTAs) included in the sponsored content. This metric reflects the campaign’s effectiveness in driving traffic or conversions.
- Conversion Rates: If the campaign’s objective is to drive conversions, monitor how many users complete the desired actions, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
- Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the ROI by comparing the campaign’s costs to the generated revenue or other desired outcomes. A positive ROI indicates a successful campaign.
- Audience Feedback: Pay attention to audience feedback and sentiment regarding the sponsored content. Are there any common themes or insights that can inform future campaigns?
By consistently monitoring these metrics and assessing the campaign’s performance, you can make data-driven decisions and refine your strategies for future sponsored posts.
7. Case Studies: Successful Sponsored Post Campaigns
Below are some top earning case studies that implemented the sponsored course strategies and got rewarding high payouts. When curating a sponsored post, its is important to create each phase of the process in order to be able get measured results
Case Study 1: Fitness Influencer Partnership
A fitness brand collaborated with a well-known fitness influencer to promote its line of workout equipment. The influencer created a series of YouTube videos demonstrating various exercises using the brand’s products.
- Objective: Increase brand awareness and drive sales of the workout equipment.
- Results: The campaign led to a significant increase in website traffic, with a notable boost in sales of the promoted products. The influencer’s engaging and informative videos resonated with their fitness-focused audience.
Case Study 2: Beauty Brand Collaboration
A beauty brand partnered with multiple beauty influencers across various social media platforms to promote its new skincare line. Influencers created a range of content, including product reviews, tutorials, and unboxing videos.
- Objective: Raise awareness of the skincare line’s launch and generate buzz within the beauty community.
- Results: The campaign generated a substantial social media buzz, with numerous mentions and discussions about the skincare line. The product received positive reviews and experienced a surge in initial sales.
Conclusion
This Sponsored Post Course – goes more in details on how to structure your business, how to find top paying brands, how to create your billing rates and definitely how to protect yourself in terms of contract and terms. There tend to be companies that underpay and over request content creators to produce a high output, this course goes over how to contractually protect yourself.
Cheering To Your Success
Brenda | www.DesignYourFinances.com
Let’s Connect on Social Media! | Pinterest |
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How to Start An Income Blog
AN INCOME BLOG is a blog that publishes and constantly updates related information and monetizes its content with various income revenue such as advertisements or affiliate marketing to mention a few.
Blog posts are entries that can be displayed and filtered in different settings such as topics, dates, or tags. The best way to arrange blog content is to file them under related categories. Below are the steps to take when starting an income blog, increase content engagement, blog traffic and showcases the various streams of revenue your blog can generate.
Please Note: there are affiliate links in this post. I only recommend products that I have fully vetted myself or use personally.
RESEARCH YOUR INCOME BLOG NICHE
INTERNET / GOOGLE SHEETS: The first step in this process is not purchasing a domain name but it is to research your blog content first. This really helps when picking a domain name as there are numerous ideas to source from the research phase. Usually, creating a blog normally starts with a general idea, in this section we expand the general idea into well thought out blog posts ideas. This should be the first step as you examine if you even like the niche well enough to write about it.
There are multiple ways to conduct your niche research, but the best and winning method is to write content that solves a problem or offers a solution. Potential readers and business partners want to see unique and engaging content that readers are interested in and will continuously come back to your site. In order to make it easier to explain, we are going to use an example of “How to Start a Food Blog and How to Make Money” from it. This process and steps can be duplicated for any niche, once you understand the process and formula you can easily recreate and increase your blogging income. This process is not exhaustive, but it will give you a framework to start implementing.
TIP: for your research process you can go to forums or facebook groups in your niche and see which are the most common questions the audience has and write blog posts answering the most asked questions
RESEARCH PROCESS: First, decide which niche you want to write about, for instance, do you want to write about dogs, gaming, painting, etc. In our example we are going to research a food blog. There are many topics and ideas when it comes to food such, vegan, vegetarian, dessert, baking, salads, soups, cheap recipes, you name it, the list is endless. The research process is mainly focused on the top questions readers have for each category. Simply, we turn the questions into blog posts. Remember, this is a business and you want to start blogging for income, the driving force behind your selection and writing of content, should always be the reader. Always solve a problem or answer questions that the reader has.
Food Blog Example: Taking the above criteria and other elements, we have narrowed down to four categories:
- Breakfast
- Brunch
- Dinner
- Dessert
TIP: researching your desired niche first, eliminates writer’s block because in this stage is when you frame your blog content.
CONTENT CREATION
INTERNET / GOOGLE SHEETS: Since we have decided on the categories of our website, we may start thinking about the domain name, at this stage write down ideas, if you have not yet decided, step 2 will help you tremendously. Content creation is the most important aspect of anyone who publishes content online. You need to have a schedule and keep the ideas coming. If you have determined that this is the niche you are interested in, then try to come up with content for a year. You do not have to write content for the full year in order for you to start your blog, but have a general outline.
Food Blog Example: Take the time to create a content calendar which includes
- Creating a content calendar
- Researched popular questions in each category
- Came up with 10 posts for each category and pictures
- Listed the most asked questions in each category and provided answers or solutions
BLOG POST THAT READERS ENJOY: This is the most important part of creating an income from blogging. You always want to create content that solves a problem or offers a solution. I have stated this statement many times, because it is the winning formula. As soon as I started to implement this process, my traffic increased and so did my income.
Food Blog Example: This is a sample of posts that readers in this niche are interested in:
- How to create cheaper meals
- How to create meals under $30 a week
- What are the popular foods in each season
- What are the most healthy foods for each meal
- The best vegan breakfast, brunch, dinner and dessert
- Foods that boost immune breakfast, brunch, dinner desert
TIP: write your first 10 posts before you even go live on your blog, this will free up so much time in the beginning and you can focus on other elements of your business.
GET YOUR DOMAIN
BLUEHOST: $3.45 a MONTH. When you are choosing a domain name take into consideration what you want it to convey and if it is relatable with your niche. In this example, we are starting a food blog, therefore it should reflect our niche. Below are some ideas in choosing a domain name:
- conduct a keyword search within your niche
- select a winning keyword from the list and
- turn it into a domain name that is customized to your liking
- or simply select a name that is memorable and easy to relate within your niche
TIP: many people get stuck on this section, choose something that depicts your personality, the niche or what you want your blog essence to be. It’s great to get the exact domain you wish for, but the likelihood of it is slim. Pick something and move on, the name of your blog is not a breaking point!!
HOSTING
BLUEHOST $3.45 a MONTH: The best part is that Bluehost has great services for both purchasing a domain and signing up for hosting services.
THIRD PARTY HOSTING YOUR SITE: There are different types of hosting plans and the best one is self-hosting. It is best to get your own hosting services, instead of opting for a free one. If you have a free hosting plan and are technically challenged, this can become a nightmare when you want to transfer to a self hosting plan. If you select free hosting, below are some of the abilities you lose:
- cPanel hosts all the technical elements that run your website and you do not have access to it if you are not self hosting
- you have to backup your website files, copy and upload them to the new hosting company – manually.
- it’s expensive to transfer from third party hosting to self hosting, there are some hosting companies that will transfer your website, for $300.00
SELF HOSTING:(you have access to your cPanel)
- This is the more preferred option , and importantly, you have full access to your cPanel.
- For our food blog domain is www.lovesfood123.com (not real site) It ends with a dot COM.
- PS it can also end with with ORG. NET. BIZ that will still be okay
THIRD PARTY HOSTING (someone owns your cPanel) - If your website has an extension (extension is the wordpress part in the link below) www.abc123.wordpress.com(not a real site) this means that WordPress may host and own your cPanel.
- Be careful other hosting services offer extensions even if you pay for hosting service.
- This can become difficult if your business grows or if you want to sell it. It is always best to have total control and set it the right way. Below are some definitions and processes to flow.
DOMAIN - this is the name of your site
- Go to Bluehost and search if your domain name is available in this example we have settled for www.lovesfood123.com (not real site)
HOSTING - is a company that provides a service for your site for it to be searchable on the internet. If it is not activated, your website will not bring any results.
- You can also use Bluehost for the hosting services, this makes it much easier as this is less technical
SELF HOSTING - if you have access to your cPanel, usually that means you are self hosted. This is the best option
TIP: please make the right business decision for your blog. In the beginning I had an extension and had to pay over $300 in order to self host, instead of just paying $3.45 to be self hosted
BUILDING WEBSITE AND GRAPHICS
CANVA: This is one of the most dynamic tools when it comes to graphic design. The system is user friendly that makes it easier for the less tech savvy. The system comes with predesigned templates for different social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and many more. You can design anything with this tool and this helps with user engagements as the designs include, infographics, newsletters, brochures, flyers, logos, photo books, print products, invitations, ebooks, printables and so much more. All the graphics of Design Your Finances are created in Canva. You can create teams in your Canva account and set your business colors.
WordPress: Once you have activated your domain and hosting you can build your site. Most websites are created in WordPress, as they are user friendly. In your Bluehost dashboard, you can easily connect your domain to your WordPress. This is why Bluehost is the best option, because they have 24/7 support service and can easily walk you through the process or do it for you. Once your domain is connected to the WordPress platform, you can now login to WordPress dashboard and then upload your posts and manage your site.
Website Pages: It is very imperative to have your website set up the right way, this includes mainly having the Privacy Page and Terms and Condition Pages. Below are some quick definitions of what each page entails.
- Privacy Page: this normally states how information is collected from the website and how it is used and if it’s shared, with whom.
- Terms and Conditions Page: this states how the website operates its business and how to abide to with their rules
- Disclaimer Page: is a statement that you are not responsible for something. In business, it’s basically a statement to protect yourself from claims of liability.
TIP 1: In WordPress, they have standard Privacy and Terms of Conditions Pages that you can easily format to fit your website
TIP 2: take the time to choose your colors, the fonts and how you want your website and other related platforms to look
ANALYTICS
GOOGLE ANALYTICS: This is the best way to measure how your blog is doing and also verify what content your readers or visitors enjoy. The power of analytics, if used correctly, can be an important asset in growing your business. You can easily connect your Google Analytics to your website. This is not an exhaustive list, below are some of the important metrics to consider, especially if you are running a blog. Keep in mind, that the importance of a metric is dependent upon the industry
- Pageviews: most business partnerships require a high monthly pageview as this showcases how many people visit your website each month.
- Most Visited Pages: this showcases the most popular pages on your website. This is instrumental because you can create more similar content
- Sessions: this showcases repeating and unique visitors to your site. A good mix means old readers keep coming back and new readers, means your content is reaching more people
- Loading Page & Website Quality: this showcases how fast your website loads up and any missed opportunities that Google thinks could improve your website
TIP: take the time to study your Google Analytics as it has valuable information on how to improve your website
EMAIL SERVICE
GET RESPONSE: For any thriving business it has become extremely important to create and maintain an email list. This is the most important asset of your business, as you are now in direct contact with your potential customers. There are different ways to communicate with your email list from newsletters, FAQ, tips, how to list and market any new and upcoming products you want to sell.
It has been proven that an email list that you constantly communicate with, is more likely to purchase from you than a new visitor on your site, mainly because you have built trust with them. Get Response Email Services include, newsletter, autoresponders, landing pages, list building tools, survey forms, email marketing tools, automation, conversion funnel, webinars, push notifications and so much more. Starting to collect an email list as soon as possible, only benefits you in the long run.
Food Blog Example: Ideas for an email list that will help create and engage one
- Create a welcome email
- Create and send newsletters periodically
- Sent email reminders when a post is published
TIP: take the time to create a welcome email and follow up emails, so for our Food Blog, we can create recipes in PDF and send them periodically to our list. Always give more to your list.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND INCREASE TRAFFIC
Generally, the more traffic you have, means the more your blog can earn. Below are some courses that actually teach how to increase your traffic.
PINTEREST COURSE: The course creator makes over $100,000 a month and most of the traffic is from Pinterest. Pinterest has become one of the best tools for bloggers to quickly increase their traffic. It showcases the different ways to increase your pageviews and get more traffic, which means more income. The main favored difference with Pinterest and other social media platforms, is that when you post on Pinterest that post continues to bring traffic because one rule of Pinterest is to share other people’s posts.
FACEBOOK ADS COURSE: The course creator has about 1 million page views to his site because he runs very cheap Facebook Ads to his website. The more pageviews you have on your site, the higher the income. For instance, Ad Agencies they pay more for high pageviews. This is why bloggers and content creators are much invested in increasing pageviews, because you can easily monetize your traffic.
CANVA is the tool I use for all graphic designs of Design Your Finances and the website’s related social media platforms. The best part of this tool is that it has pre-designed graphics that meet different social media requirements such as Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and much more.
Once you have completed the prior tasks, you are now ready to start sharing your website. Most of your time should be spent creating content, marketing and answering customer questions.
Food Blog Example: There are many social media platforms and you cannot do them all at once. Below are some tips to consider
- Sign up for all social media platforms so that you secure social handles that match your website name
- Focus on one social media at a time
Determine which social media fits best with your content and which drives traffic. - Invest in courses that teach that specific social media platform
- Give yourself the time to implement what you have learnt and then once you have gotten results then move on to the next
TIP: this section is all about increasing traffic to your website. Invest in tools and courses to cut down the learning process. The goal is to make money as soon as possible from your site.
MAKE MONEY
There are multiple ways to make money from blogging, after trying and failing I decided to invest in courses that truly helped me to turn this blog into making money. Pick one or more courses that truly fits what your objectives are.
AFFILIATE MARKETING COURSE: This course creator has earned over a $1 MILLION dollars with her blog and teaches step by step the process of how to make money with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you promote other companies products and then you get a commission, this does not increase the cost of the product. This is a great way to start earning money, as you are not burdened with the whole process of creating the products.
SPONSORED POSTS COURSE: This course creator is making $10,000 to $15,000 a month working with brands and in this course showcases how to start with sponsored posts and make money. Sponsored posts is when you work directly with a brand and produce different types of content such as blog posts, videos, pictures and many others. With a sponsored post, the company may require you to try and give feedback of that product and in return, they pay you a fee.
Ad Agencies: The higher paying ad agencies, require a blogger to meet certain requirements before they join their agencies. Some of the requirements include the type of content that is created, the number of pageviews per month and how old your blog is. The best way is to first examine the ad agencies and then work hard to meet their requirements. Some bloggers are making at 5 figures a month.
Now that you have completed the above steps, it is time to start curating some business relationships and implementing different strategies to earn and increase your blog income. Take the time to research what kind of partnerships or service you want to create. As for Design Your Finances, I only share products or services that I have personally used. Credibility is so important to me, that I have let go business relationships that did not fit my criteria. For other ways to make money online read How to Make Money Blogging
Food Blog Example: Now that we covered a few ways to increase traffic below are the ones to use for our food blog:
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sponsored Posts
- Implement various strategies to increase traffic and join Ad Agencies
TIP: My motto is always that my readers come first before any business transaction. Aim to solve a problem or provide a solution, that is always a winning formula.
CONTENT PLANNING
TAILWIND: Pinterest is amazing when it comes to getting traffic. I would recommend new bloggers to start with Pinterest first. But you can waste so much time and effort if you do it incorrectly, this is when Tailwind comes into play. You can schedule over a year of pins and still increase your followers and pageviews. Once you set up and schedule your pins, the tool does everything automatic for you.
Now that you have gotten the hang of it, you have at least 10 posts on your site, you are now comfortable in researching blog posts and you are in constant communication with your list CONGRATULATIONS and WELCOME to the life of blogging. This phase is what keeps your readers coming and your blog growing. This is the reason why I advise to write at least 10 posts before going live, because there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. This section is all about organization. You have to be organized in order to be more efficient. Do not do tasks that are time wasters.
Food Blog Example: want to create content and graphics in advance in order to erase backlog
- Want to publish 2 blog posts a week
- Schedule time to create graphics and take pictures
- Research content for the upcoming year for each category
TIP: always try to write at least a month worth of posts, this eliminates pressure and additionally use tools that help with scheduling your content
NETWORKING
This is an important part, but only do it when your business is ready to be announced on a wider platform, mainly because there is a lot of work that goes behind the scenes and you do not want to introduce a business that is not well managed. The best place to network is within your niche, look for forums, networks, conferences etc. This will just expand your knowledge and along the way you may meet some great people that may influence different strategies to grow your business.
Food Blog Example: start with the ones that are easy to join and do not require large amounts of traffic or other requirements.
- Join Food Network Platforms
- Contact other food bloggers for a collaboration
- Participate in various forums by answering questions and linking back to my website
TIP: never stop growing, the more you do, the better your content and it will increase your business.
SUMMARY
The best approach is to simply start. Brain dumping is extremely helpful, this is when you write down any ideas or thoughts that come to mind regarding a specific topic. During step 2, researching categories, come up with 10 blog posts for each category, this will give you so much content to start with and eliminates writer’s block.
I hope this answers the many questions I get on How to Start an Income Blog. For any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section.
Cheering To Your Success
Brenda | www.DesignYourFinances.com
Let’s Connect on Social Media! | Pinterest | Facebook |
MONEY QUOTE