Hi, all! As we mentioned previously, Ave and I started a section on the site on how to make money blogging. We have been so fortunate to be able to monetize our blog and we want to share just how we do it.
Today, we introduce LinkVehicle!
LinkVehicle is split into two separate services. The first is for sponsored posts and reviews, a service that makes it easy for companies to reach out to bloggers with offers. The second part is for affiliate links and offers, working directly with merchants.
About the company
LinkVehicle is a service that connects companies, advertisers, and agencies with bloggers and publishers. I have spoken with their staff members and they are very helpful. They even featured us on their Facebook page!
Who is this open to?
LinkVehicle is open to bloggers or webmasters who have an English-language, quality website in any niche. Every website added as a ‘publisher’ is personally reviewed by the LinkVehicle staff. They have a specific set of requirements a site must pass in order to be placed in the marketplace. The requirements are not published, so I cannot list them here, however, it seems that the number of incoming links to your site is important.
Brands they work with
LinkVehicle works with a variety of brands in all types of niches. Through their service, we have worked with major companies and non-profit organizations, including Unicef. Additionally, the affiliate section of the service works with many top-notch merchants such as Fiverr, major magazine brands, and more.
Sponsored Post Offers
Offers will reach you by email, although we have had issues receiving the initial notice altogether. Reminders are set to be received every 48 hours and that is usually how we find out that we have an offer.
The offers can range in type and topic – some are sponsored posts that require linking out, some are meant to advertise a product or company, while others may ask for a different type of promotion. We have received offers from various countries, including Canada, Australia, and England.
From the moment you receive an offer, you have 14 days to publish your sponsored post. Most offers include pre-written content although you are free to write the post yourself or edit/add to what was provided. Most of the time, the content is well-written although, in our experience, they do require a personalized touch for publication.
The offer system isn’t great and I have had back-and-forth conversations with the staff regarding this issue. First of all, you are allowed to reject an offer if you are not interested. However, that rejection is counted against you, and if you reject more offers than you approved, you will no longer receive further offers.
It felt frustrating because the main reason I rejected offers was due to irrelevance (i.e. offers asking us to advertise hardware products that made no natural sense for our site), and since it was early on after our application, our rejection vs approval rating quickly became negative. However, our personal ratio was fixed by the staff, and we are back to receiving offers.
Affiliate Offers
There are a variety of topics and offers to work with. Anything goes here, from payments for sign-ups to services or newsletters to commissions on sales. The offers are easy to go through and understand, and they also clearly mark if they are open internationally or to a particular country.
Added Benefits
- Great customer service and team behind LinkVehicle
- Affiliate links & offers + sponsored social media shares + sponsored post options
- Mostly provides pre-written content. Allows editing or writing own content.
Weaknesses
- No way to communicate directly with their client (i.e. in case of any questions)
- No way to extend the review/sponsored post-deadline – it’s set to 14 days.
- Rejection vs approval rating affects your chances of getting new offers.
Payment
LinkVehicle allows you to set whatever price you want. However, note that they will take the exact same amount as a commission. That is to say, if you want $100 for a sponsored post, they will charge their client $200. This is all transparent and clear.
There are three payment systems:
Text Link earnings: For those of you who are okay with placing links in exchange for money. (I assume follow links in sidebars?). I don’t know how to disable this if you are not interested.
Review earnings: Payment for reviews of sites, companies, products, etc. I believe this also refers to sponsored posts.
TopLinks earnings:
I’m not sure how this works but apparently, you get paid for posting + an additional monthly payment for each month the post stays up. I have never been hired for this option.
*Note the “Market price”: this is what their clients are charged.
There is no need to request payment. Payments are automatically covered on the 1st of the next month. (i.e. if you published in March, you get paid April 1). Minimum payment is $10, which is a low threshold.
Our final thoughts
We like working with LinkVehicle, despite its minor flaws. They are a great team, they work hard to get you offers, and it seems (to me at least) that they are growing and increasing their client base. Once you sign up, you won’t have to do anything to keep updated but wait for offers by emails and updates to reach your inbox – which is a great plus. We also like their affiliate section – they have good offers from time to time that pay for signups, and they have converted for us!
Interested in making some money?
[button url=”https://www.linkvehicle.com/signup/referrer/eb6b2964bce516b4fa32b0203a11945ac1c649bf%20″ target=”blank” background=”#ef2d64″ size=”4″ center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: check-square-o” rel=”nofollow”]Join LinkVehicle here![/button]
This is the first I have heard of it, so thanks for the heads up about it. I need to get signed up and start using this.
I had not heard of this company. I will definitely be looking into them further! Thanks for the honest information.
I have only received one post from this company. I haven’t really tried any of the cpc offers. Might try it next time I do a coupon match up at Walgreens.
I am amazed how complicated it is to monetize. I also appreciate this breakdown. I’m still trying to find the best fit for me.
I love LinkVehicle! Been with them since I went blogging mainstream. 🙂
I work with them. They pay on schedule. Trustworthy
I know of several people who use this and are very happy. I’m glad it’s working out well for you!
This sounds awesome for bloggers indeed. I have have to check this out with the research I am doing. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds great! This is the first time I am hearing about this link vehicle. I would love to check this out for sure. Thanks a lot for sharing this great information as this is going to help many bloggers around.
thanks for sharing! I’ll check it out…
Thx for this article. I received my first paid offer from them but it requires a “do follow link”. I am concerned due to Google’s “no follow” link policy. Advice?
Hi Nadeen, it depends on what you feel comfortable doing. I have seen situations from both ends: webmasters who do not receive enough hits from Google to be disturbed by the risk of penalty, and webmasters who do not want to take the risk by any means and thus prefer to follow Google policy. Every individual blogger can make the best choice for them as it’s their blog and their right to decide. The only advice I can provide is for you to evaluate the pros and cons and decide what is best for your you and your site. <3 Good luck!
Sorry – didn’t notice your comment until now! I can’t see all campaigns going on, so as far as sponsored posts/reviews, that information is not widely accessible to users. You would have to ask for it from the LinkVehicle staff. Regarding affiliate links and offers, if you see our image above, it’s very clear what categories have the most advertisers. 🙂
Is there somewhere I can compare Link Vehicle, Purple Camel, and Zoom Online Media? I’ve been approached by all and used to ignore them. Ooooops!
No Idea! We usually join all partnership/sponsorship services we find. Offers roll in sporadically from each, so it’s never an overwhelming amount and you can always reject offers that don’t interest you.