Creating Gift Guides As A Way To Earn Money

Photo of a gift guide. Check other gift guides before you begin creating gift guides. Affiliate link for Perfect Gift Guides online course.
You can create gift guides to save more money for retirement. Image by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash.

This post about creating gift guides as a way to earn money contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Helping baby boomers learn how to boost retirement savings after a late start continues to inspire me. Today I’m excited to share a guest post from Anne, the owner of Unique Gifter, who highlights another creative way to catch-up retirement savings. Anne is a personal finance writer who also knows how to give the best gifts. In addition to her blog, she is the creator of an online course, Perfect Gift Guides.

Take it away, Anne!

If you’re trying to increase your retirement savings later in life it can be challenging. Especially if your paycheck is already spoken for as soon as it arrives. The easiest way to increase your savings when you don’t have any spare change is to earn some extra money on the side. To help with this, consider creating gift guides in your spare time. They’re perfect for earning some extra cash that you can put right into your retirement savings. Here’s how you can earn extra money for retirement by creating gift guides!

Earn extra money for retirement by creating gift guides

Gift guides can be an excellent way to earn an income on the side. If you’re already a blogger, adding some gift guides to your current site can increase revenue. Even beginner and small-scale bloggers can include affiliate links on their sites! And, for those interested in getting into blogging, gift guides can be a fun (and profitable) niche to focus on. 

5 photo collage of flowers, cookies, and women's accessories in shades of pink and cream.
Image by klippi0 from Pixabay.

When I started Unique Gifter, I found that too many people were giving terrible gifts for special occasions like weddings and baby showers. As someone who loves gift giving, it was a perfect fit to create a gifting website to help people find ideas. It just grew from there and is now a fun side income that I can use to invest in things like my retirement savings. 

Since starting, I’ve made over $100,000 creating gift guides. 

What is a gift guide?

The name says it all! It’s a list of gift ideas for someone based on a specific topic. All of the gifts should relate to that topic, and of course be great ideas. You want to help people buy the perfect gift for someone who’s hard to shop for! Once they’re created, they can be shared on social media, on Pinterest, and be found by people via search engines like Google.

What should a gift guide be about?

The great thing about gift guides is that they can be on any topic! I usually suggest people start with things they’re interested in or ones that relate to their blogging niche. For example, you could do gift ideas for someone who’s trying to save for retirement! Sometimes gift guides turn into personal wishlists, but that’s OK as long as they fit the topic.

How do gift guides make money?

You’re interested in earning extra money for retirement with these gift guides, right? Well they have to actually earn an income for that to work! Gift guides make money through affiliate links. These are most popularly from Amazon and Etsy, but there are many sites with affiliate programs. When someone clicks that affiliate link you earn a commission when they buy something from that website. Usually it doesn’t even have to be the gift, either! 

Photo of computer keyboard with shopping cart button.
Image by athree23 from Pixabay.

Affiliate links use something called a ‘cookie’ that stays on someone’s computer for a certain amount of time. This can range from a few hours to a whole month. When someone clicks your link, it activates the cookie. Then, anything they buy on that website once the cookie has been activated is associated with your link and you earn commission on that sale. Cool, right?

The other way you can make extra money for retirement with gift guides is just monetizing the web traffic. If people visit your blog and read the gift guide any ads you already have in place will still be paying out! 

Does it cost anything to create a gift guide?

The best part about this income idea is it has low (or no) upfront costs! If you already have a blog you won’t have to spend a dime to create gift guides! Otherwise it’s just the cost of setting up your blog to get started. Some bloggers hire writers to create gift guides or virtual assistants to add the items and links, but you can easily do this yourself if you’re just starting out.

What goes into a gift guide?

Usually gift guides should be a good length. At least 20 items, but you can easily go longer and divide it up into different sections as long as it’s all the same topic. First, you pick what your gift guide will be about. Then you find products that you think would make great gifts on the sites you have an affiliate relationship with.

On your post, you’ll write an introduction, add all your links with pictures, and write a little bit about each one. It can be a bit time consuming, but worth it! What I really love about this format is you always have something to write about because you’re talking about the gift ideas. 

Photo of candle, metal heart ornament, and heart-shaped container of fancy chocolates.
Image by pasja1000 from Pixabay.

How do I advertise my gift guides?

Just like anything online, you need to get it in front of people so they’ll see it (and so you can make money). The main ways I market the gift guides I create are through SEO (search engine optimization) and Pinterest. 

Gift guides are naturally great post types to get traffic from online searches. You can easily create them around certain keywords and write your descriptions to increase your organic website traffic. It’s a good idea to brush up on your SEO skills if you’re unfamiliar with these concepts because it will help your gift guides perform better. 

Pinterest is also a great tool for promoting gift guides. If you’re using this platform, make sure you create beautiful vertical pins so people will want to save your gift guides to their boards. You can even join group boards or participate in pin exchanges. Pinterest is a lot of work to get started with but can pay off in the long run.

You can also use whatever social media you’re already familiar with to promote your gift guides online. Facebook is great, especially if you can ask family and friends to share your posts. If you have a large following anywhere take advantage of that!

Affiliate link for The Herbal Academy's online course: Botanical Skin Care.

How much money can I make for retirement by creating gift guides?

When you first start out you might not be making a whole lot, but if you do things well there’s potential for gift guides to become a serious side business. Commission rates vary even on a single site like Amazon. They also change sometimes, so you need to keep that in mind. Currently Amazon offers a 4.5% commission on physical books. That means if someone clicks your link and buys a book for $20, you get 90 cents. 

The thing about this income type, though, is it’s partially passive. Your gift guide won’t be going anywhere so every month you could possibly earn some revenue. The more gift guides you have, and the more popular they become, the more you earn. Lots of people earn five and even six figures off their gift guide websites!

Photo of cookies, gift box and ribbon
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay.

How to get started

Getting started creating gift guides is easy if you already have a blog. If not, you’ll need to set one up before following these steps.

  1. Sign up for affiliate websites
  2. Choose a gift guide topic
  3. Create your gift guide on your blog
  4. Promote! 

You can also read up more on SEO and marketing to make your gift guides more successful. Don’t forget to read all the documentation for the affiliate sites, too! If you make a mistake you could get removed from their program.

An alternative way to make money with gift guides

As I mentioned above, one way to turn this into a profitable side hustle is to create gift guides and sell them to other bloggers. There are several Facebook groups where freelancers can sell to bloggers. This way, you can turn your gift guide writing skills into cash up front, instead of needing to build a website and your own audience. Here are some of the groups:

Hopefully this post helps you get started creating gift guides to earn extra money for retirement. If you still need some extra help, I created an online course that goes into more detail and explains everything you need to know. 

Photo of Anne, guest blogger from Unique Gifter.
Author Bio: Anne loves finding the perfect gift idea that’s on budget. She has been writing about gift giving and personal finance online since 2012, as the owner of UniqueGifter.com. Her favorite beverage is champagne and she loves figure skating, even if it’s harder now that she’s not 20!

Final Thoughts

Thank you, Anne, for this detailed look into creating gift guides as a way to earn extra cash for retirement. When it comes to catching-up retirement savings after a late start, having multiple income streams can really help!

I can vouch for the quality of Anne’s course, Perfect Gift Guides, because I bought it myself. This course has even helped me to improve my blog in other areas, before I’ve written my first gift guide! Expect to see some gift guides on Baby Boomer Super Saver very soon.

As you can see from Anne’s post, creating gift guides is an easy way to start making some extra money. Just about everyone can use some extra money, whether you need the cash now, or are trying to catch-up retirement savings, like me. If you’d like to start creating your own gift guides, you can purchase the course here.

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Join the conversation! Drop your comments below.

177 Replies to “Creating Gift Guides As A Way To Earn Money”

  1. I have seen a lot of great gift guides and it never hurts to help people who post them! I like that you can earn money with some recommendations to your readers. Oh wow, you have made a lot of money!! I need to get on your level. Someday I will curate one but keep doing a great job with yours!!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

    1. Thank you, Nancy! It is nice to be introduced to great products by someone who has already searched out the best of the best. Gift guides are so creative and full of fun ideas. It’s also eye-opening to find out how lucrative creating your own gift guides can be. Glad you enjoyed the post!

  2. I loved this post! I’ve seen gift guides on other bloggers’ sites, but never knew how lucrative they could be—wow! My mind is blown.

    I think it’s a great idea, even if readers don’t make a purchase. It’s still a great way to share ideas and help spur on some creativity.

    Thanks for sharing, Anne! And thanks to Kathy for having you on to guest post!

    1. I didn’t realize how much money gift guides could bring in, either, Chrissy. It’s pretty amazing! I like the idea of having multiple income streams and gift guides seem like the perfect fit for someone who already has a blog. I’m so happy you loved the post!

    2. It takes a lot of them, or a viral post, to get them to be super lucrative, but they are absolutely a good way to add a revenue source to your website!

  3. This was a very interesting and useful read for me. As a relatively new blogger I’m very appreciative of advice like this. It’s good to know that people can make a significant amount of money from this over time. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Thank you, Jaclyn! I’m happy that the post was useful to you. If you have a blog, I don’t see any reason not to add some affiliate links for products you love. The affiliate links on my site are from small companies whose products I found & loved. We do a lot of sharing, this is just another way. And the extra income can help with saving for the future, like catching-up retirement savings.

    2. I’m so glad you found it helpful! You hit the nail on the head when you said “over time.” It’s definitely a slow build, and most folks abandon blogging before the first year, which is around when things start to really get traction.

  4. It’s a shame that Amazon is the main gift guide you can use to make money through, as I refuse to support that company in any shape or form. They don’t buy taxes, they treat their workers like trash, stripped workers of health insurance, forced workers to work during the pandemic in unsafe conditions, and then sacked the ring leaders of the protesters who who protesting for safer works conditions. I absolutely hate Amazon. They’re one of the worst compaines out there, and what makes it worse is that Bezos is on course to be the first trillionaire. Rant over.

    Great post though, not sure how I’d do that with my niche of mental health, dyslexia, and invisible disabilities when I won’t help support Amazon though ha ha ha, but I’ll certainly look into this idea to see if something could be done

    1. Thanks for your thoughts, Unwanted Life. You’ll be happy to know that Amazon is not the only game in town when it comes to affiliate opportunities! In fact, Amazon doesn’t even pay very well when it comes to their affiliate program. Baby Boomer Super Saver is not an affiliate of Amazon. I should add a line at the end of the post to highlight that there are many other affiliate programs out there.

      In Anne’s online course for creating gift guides, she covers how to find other affiliate opportunities. She also gives ideas for how to create a gift guide around any special interest. I could see you doing a gift guide on your favorite products for supporting mental health and self-care. Thanks for stopping by & for your comments.

    2. There are literally thousands of companies you can use! In the course, I cover how to evaluate different programs to determine what is a good fit for your site and needs.
      Kathy offered some great ideas that would work for your niche. My friend Amanda has done some excellent guides with topics like “50 Self-Care Gift Ideas under $50.”

  5. This is really interesting. When I started my blog last year, I just did it for fun and never really thought of it as a way to make money. I should definitely explore this. Thank you.

    1. Thanks, Michelle! I also started my blog for fun. But I also wanted to help other baby boomers like me, who might not have saved enough for retirement. It’s important to see that it’s never too late to make a little extra or save a little more today to make tomorrow better.

      As Anne mentioned, many bloggers quit after the first year, and earning money from blogging does take time. But if you’re going to be blogging anyway, why not write some gift guides for your blog? I like this idea for potentially adding another income stream for retirement.

    2. There’s a whole spectrum of blog types out there. A few gift guides may be a way to help cover the costs of your blogging, if you’re interested in doing so.

  6. Very informative! I love reading gift guides, and I’ve made a couple. It is a lot of work! Looking forward to seeing what you create on here!

  7. This post was something I needed! Really!
    Already a long time I had many questions but no answers… here I get everything to start my gift guide – online course, useful tips, and a real story! Thank you!!!

    1. You don’t have to wait until retirement to start making money from gift guides. I’m planning to add gift guides to my blog as another creative way to help me catch-up retirement savings, before I retire. But they could also be another income stream for after retirement. Gift guides are very versatile!

    1. Thanks, Charly! I’m glad you found the information helpful. Be sure to let us know when you’ve created your own gift guides on your blog. If you need help getting started, be sure to check out Anne’s affordable online course (links are in post, above).

    1. Glad it was helpful! Have you set up the awin convert a link plugin? It makes life a lot easier, because it turns a regular link from your site into an awin link, without needing to go get the code from the platform. You just need to link to the item and the plugin will turn it into your affiliate link.

  8. This is a great idea on how to earn from affiliate marketing. I’ve actually read so much about it before but this is the first time I read such a creative way to use it.

  9. Some autism related gift guides are definitely going in my note book of blog ideas. Thanks for sharing 😊

  10. I’ve never created a gift guide before, but this has inspired me to give them a try myself. I’d love to add this kind of post on my blog.

    Also, I definitely agree that SEO and Pinterest are the way to go!

    Very informative and helpful post.

    Much love always,
    GABBY | http://www.gabbyabigaill.com

  11. I love doing gift guides for this reason and because it means when I need a quick gift idea, I can pop into my own post. Or onto someone elses if mine doesn’t suit. It easily cuts down my time searching for presents by half.

    1. They are so much fun to make when they are basically a list of nice things that we’d like to have for ourselves. I’m glad you find them helpful for saving time, too.

  12. This is so impressive! I have always heard that it’s good to diversify and have multiple income streams and this seems a good way to go about it. Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us, really appreciate it xx

    1. Yes, Sakshi Raina, I think including gift guides on your blog would be a great way to add another income stream. Or creating gift guides for others. As Anne pointed out, there are several ways to make money from writing gift guides, whether you have a blog or not. She goes into greater detail about this in her course.

    2. Diversifying is SO important. I have been working on that for the past year or so. Multiple revenue streams are much safer than just one or two.

  13. I never knew that gift guides were thing it would be helpful to have a guide for any occasion. that way I don’t have to go looking for gifts.

    1. Thank you, Amber! Yes, gift guides really help the reader who is looking for amazing gift ideas, simple gift ideas, inexpensive gift ideas, luxury gift ideas….. there is no limit to how creative you can get with gift guides!

  14. I created a holiday gift guide for Christmas last year but didn’t make use of affiliate links; this definitely prompted me to think about creating more gift guides now! Thanks for sharing!

  15. This is a really helpful post! I always try and go through affiliate links when I buy something as it helps someone out somewhere. I didn’t, however, know to what extent someone can benefit from these links! It is nice to know I am helping some people out. Thank you for sharing this guide!

    Em x

    http://www.loveemblog.com

  16. wow! I never thought of this as an income stream!
    creating a gift guide is a wonderful way to earn passive income.
    as I was reading this, I was surprised at how many great things I can learn from this post.
    this is a perfect guide for beginners to get started with creating gift guides.
    thanks for writing such a wonderful post!
    surely share this with my network!

    1. That’s the reason gift guides are such a great way to make extra money – there is a huge need for good gift ideas! It really does help people when you’ve put together a great list of gifts. Glad you enjoyed Anne’s post, Qeenie!

  17. This is so helpful! I definitely need to start utilizing affiliate links on my blog, I never realized how much revenue posts like gift guides can make! Thank you so much for sharing all of this information! 🙂

    1. It’s a nice way to add an extra income stream, Melissa. I was happy to have Anne come on the blog with her guest post explaining how she developed a lucrative cash flow with gift guides. Her course is inexpensive and very helpful – I’m going through it myself!

    1. That is wonderful, Adam! I’m glad you gave it a try for Father’s Day. Creating gift guides around your own expertise is a perfect way to help your blog “Dad Does Autism” start producing more income. I’ll be looking forward to your Christmas gift guides!

  18. Oooh! It is great that people can make money by making gift guides. Perfect for the end user to save time based on the creator’s expertise! It is so cool that you made so much money so far. Thanks for sharing some great tips!

    Nancy ✨ exquisitely.me

  19. Thank you so much for sharing this! I’ve always wanted to put together a gift guide, I just had no idea as to how to connect the dots in terms of affiliate marketing so this was really helpful, thank you.

  20. What a great guide to gift guides! I wrote one for my blog in 2018 but it didn’t do that great. I think I went too generic, didn’t plan the guide out well and published it at a very busy time in a competitive market. Will hope to do a better one in the future!

  21. Wow this is an awesome idea! I was aware of affiliate marketing, but I hadn’t really thought about the idea of gift guides before. Now I’ve got all kinds of ideas running through my head! Thanks for that! 😁

    1. You’re welcome, Clarissa Cabbage! It was wonderful having Anne share her knowledge about using gift guides to make extra money. Anne’s online course on creating gift guides is another great resource for bloggers, and it’s loaded with value! There is a link to purchase at the end of the post, if you’re interested.

  22. I love looking through gift guides for inspiration when Christmas and Birthday’s come around. It’s great that Anne has turned this into a side hustle! I can’t believe she has made over $100,000 that’s insane!

    1. Thanks, Kelly! Yes, Anne’s story is amazing! I’m glad she shared it with us, and created an inexpensive course for the rest of us to achieve the same results! The link is included in the post. I’m going through her course now, it’s very helpful.

  23. I had no idea gift guides could be so profitable, but I know that I love coming across guides with fresh and exciting ideas. I love giving thoughtful gifts and always appreciate a little extra relevant inspiration!

    1. Thank you, Jamie! Yes, I think writing gift guides are a great way to earn passive income. You only have to write the gift guide once, and it can continue to bring in money once it’s online. You probably still need to promote your gift guide once you’ve written it, though.

    1. Thanks for reading & commenting, Melissa! Anne’s course goes into greater detail about where to find more affiliate partnerships and ideas for ongoing promotion. The link to her course is above, in the post. I’m taking her course, too. I’m already learning new marketing techniques!

    1. Glad you enjoyed the tips, The Queensights! Yes, you do want your affiliate links to be relevant to your blog content. That’s why writing gift guides is the perfect way to promote affiliate links. It’s easy to follow a theme, and there are so many themes to choose from that you could write numerous gift guides.

  24. Great idea! I’ve been thinking about doing my first gift guide this year but I’m not sure – definitely need to do some solid research first but I really like the idea of it.

  25. This is such a helpful post. Saving money for the future is definitely something I want to do. I’d never thought about doing it using the money I make through affiliate programmes before but this is such a great idea.

  26. Wow, I love the idea of it. Gift guides are extremely useful and as someone who loves to give gifts, it is perfect. This idea never crossed my mind, but it did now thank to your post. I really love this. Thank you so much!

    1. Writing and adding gift guides to your blog can be a great way to add some passive income to your site. You do have to create your gift guide, but once you write it, can sit back and sales will continue to roll in. I’d say you have to market your gift guide blog posts just like any other blog posts you share.

  27. Such a detailed article! Gift guides are really helpful. This is something that I’ve been working on as a beginner blogger. Thank you so much for sharing great info x

    1. It’s like creating your own income-producing project, Fadima! It takes a little work to write your gift guide, but once it’s written, it can continue to generate passive income for you! Check out Anne’s course to learn how to write gift guides for profit.

  28. I really love making gift guides!! It’s something that I always struggle with when I have a birthday or occasion coming up, so when I started doing them it was a great way for both me and the blog!

  29. You are so right, Jamie! Gift guides can be super helpful, especially when gift ideas are hard to come by. It really helps to see a curated selection of gifts. Very useful for specialty gifts, too. For example, gift guides for environmentally conscious or green gifts. You can create gift guides to match any blog theme, to earn a little while helping others.

  30. These are all amazing ideas! I really enjoy making gift guides and with some work, they can really make a great side hustle! Even better if you find an affiliate with a great percentage of return x

    1. Thanks, Cristina! Yes, gift guides have made Anne over $100k! Creating gift guides is a great side hustle for making extra money to catch up retirement savings or boost your income. There are LOTS of well-paying affiliate programs. Anne’s course teaches you how to select affiliate programs that will make you money.

  31. I’ve been blogging for about 8 years and have often thought about doing a gift guide. A lot of the bloggers I follow do them, especially around holidays. I’ve never really understood the benefit of having one nor how to put one together. Thank you for the simplicity of this explanation! Maybe this will be the year I dive into creating a gift guide.

    1. Happy to hear you found it helpful, Sandy! There are so many benefits to writing gift guides, including highlighting good solutions and products that solve a problem, promoting causes you believe in such as eco-friendly products, and boosting your blog income! Anne’s downloadable course, Perfect Gift Guides makes it really easy, with step-by-step instructions and examples. Get your copy and get started today for more affiliate sales!

  32. This was such an interesting read! I think the idea of creating gift guides is so fun and I can see myself really enjoying it; I’d love to make some after I sign up to more affiliate programs. Passive income is something I’m trying to do more currently and this is such a great place to start! Thank you so much for sharing.

  33. This post has come at a really good time for me! I’ve been looking for some time to generate some extra income and I think creating gift guides sounds like a great idea to do just that. I’m going to give it a go. Thank you so much!

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