How to do Blog Monetization

If you are on my early notification list for Blog Mastermind you already know why I love recursive affiliate income. Affiliate marketing is great because you sell something and you don't have to deliver any product or provide customer service. With commissions as high as 75% you can run an online business that never produces anything, all on the back of affiliate marketing.

Recursive programs are the best type of affiliate program. When you sell a continuity product - something people pay for on a regular basis to maintain their membership - you are also paid an affiliate commission on a regular basis. If you build up enough recursive affiliate sales you can secure a stable income source.

As an example, I don't just recommend programs like StomperNet because they are great products backed by real experts (which StomperNet is), but also because they have recursive affiliate programs. When a person signs up under my affiliate ID I make a commission every time they are charged to maintain their membership.

In your case you might have to look around to find relevant continuity products with affiliate programs to promote on your blog, but it's well worth it.

Affiliate income takes position number four on my list too but the difference to recursive affiliate income is that this time I'm talking about products that pay out once, each time you make a sale. In this case the money isn't quite as dependable as recursive programs since you need to keep selling in order to generate revenue, however some products have large payouts and just one sale can make it worth while.

I find there are two types of products that have sold well for me as an affiliate. The once-a-year big events like conferences and workshops, which pay out commissions ranging from $100 - $1000 depending on the cost of a ticket. I don't usually sell many of these, but with such a high commission just one or two ticket sales can be enough. About two years ago I promoted Perry Marshall's conference which cost $2000 to get into and he paid a $750 affiliate commission. I only sold two tickets, but that $1500 was more than I had generated in the previous year of blogging.

The other good seller is staple products, things people in my industry eventually buy. Most industries have a seminal book or a service you can't do without (for example web hosting) and if you review these products and mention them now and then you usually can sell a few on a regular basis. Perry Marshall again makes a good example again, with his $49 Definitive Guide to Google AdWords ebook, a solid repeat seller since if you intend to do AdWords campaigns you must have this book.

No doubt in your industry there are must-have products or services that you can review and recommend as an affiliate, just make sure the margins make it worthwhile. Try the Clickbank catalog if you are stuck for affiliate products to promote or just think back over the last few purchases you made online related to your blog topic and see if there is an affiliate program for them.

There are many other options, including ad brokering services like Chitika, BlogAds, AdBrite, AdVolcano and Blogkits. Some of these I briefly tested but did not like their system or my current monetization methods pay more.

Again, these options might be fantastic for your blog but you won't know until you try. However in almost all cases, if you sell ads directly to sponsors you make more, it just might be harder to manage and initially procure the sponsors, especially for small and new blogs.

As I've said many times before, I suggest you not think about monetization for the first few months of blogging, or until you get to at least 100 visitors a day, preferably 500. Once you hit that first milestone, slowly roll out some monetization tests, perhaps starting with an affiliate promotion to your readers in the form of a product review and then work your way through the list above to see what works best in your case.

RSS is a great way to get all kinds of messages to listeners and fans. It has replaced most of the email spam that we suffered through for so many years, and has become a welcomed sight in most people's email boxes. Here are 9 ways to productive RSS.

1. RSS News
You can use productive RSS to broadcast news about your business or other things that might concern customers.

2. Think Lean, Part 1
You should keep abreast of RSS technology to learn new way to streamline your production. Look for new equipment as well as new software.

3. Think Lean, Part 2
If you really want to streamline your operation, use productive RSS in combination with podcasts and other forms of internet communication.

4. Think Lean, Part 3
Streamline even more by combining feeds and releasing them together. This can help you increase your subscriptions as well as your website hits.

5. Surprise Events
Surprise your subscribers now and then with special events and sales. Use your productive RSS to announce them.

6. RSS as Press Release
In addition to traditional press releases and internet press releases, use your RSS as a press release as well.

7. Blog Links
Put links to your feed in your blog. You can also do this with forum posts, but be sure to check the forum rules first.

8. PPC Ads
Productive RSS can help you support your PPC ads as well as online auctions and other advertising.

9. Updates
You can notify your customers and potential customers as well of anything that might help your business-RSS can bypass most spam filters.