Business Ideas for Kids: Blogging for Fun & Profit

Basically, a blog is a website where you write stuff on an ongoing basis, with the newest posts showing up at the top, and older posts show up below. One unique feature about blogs that makes them more social than traditional websites is the fact that you can comment on posts. More popular blogs have pages of pages of conversations all in the comments section of a post.

Blogs (or weblogs) started out just as personal diaries, but now they are much more than that. A blog can be a diary, a collaborative space, a political soapbox, a collection of links, a sales pitch, or whatever you want it to be.

The author of a blog is known as a "blogger", updating a blog is known as "blogging" and new entries to a blog are called "posts" or "blog posts". A blog can be much more than just text entries however. It can have pictures, links to other websites, audios, vidoes and other files.

As of December 2007, Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs. According to WiredSafety.org, over 6 million kid blogs.

There are a million reasons why kids would want to blog, but here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head:

- To keep an online diary. Blogs are great for this because the posts are sorted in chronological order. You can also group posts into categories, which makes it very easy to search posts later. Blogs will probably replace diaries and journals because they are so easy to create.

- To communicate with their friends. Because blogs allow readers to comment on posts, they are very social platforms. Some blogs have pages and pages of conversations just within the comments of one post!

- To talk about their favorite hobbies. Blogs for kids are a great way to show off their favorite hobby and to meet other kids involved in the same hobby.

- To talk about homework. Many teachers use blogs to post homework assignments and provide help to students. Kids can use their own blogs to discuss homework assignments, get help with homework, etc.

- To share photos. Blogs are an awesome way to share pictures with your family and friends. More creative kids use their blogs to showcase photos they've taken or even to tell stories with photos. Tip: Google loves photos, so if you're trying to make money with your blog, make sure you include lots of pictures!

- To share artwork. Creative kids can start blogs to showcase drawings, paintings or other artwork they have created. What a great way to start a portfolio if your kid is a future artist!

- Last, but not least... To make money! Yes, kids can make money with blogs, and some of them are doing very well at it! I'm not surprised since these days grow up with computers. We'll discuss how to make money with your blog later on, so keep reading!

There are many benefits to kids blogging, including:

Better Communication: Blogging gives kids the opportunity to keep in touch with relatives who live far away. It also gives relatives a glimpse into their kids lives that they might not get otherwise.

Technology: Kids are growing up with technology all around them. Blogging helps them keep up with new developments in technology, which can give them an edge when they start jobs or businesses of their own.

Writing Skills: Writing on a regular basis for a blog will improve your kids' writing skills tremendously. Especially when they know their friends and family are reading, because they will work hard to produce their "best work". Blogging on a regular basis will also help kids learn how to present their ideas clearly to other people.

Improved Spelling and Grammar: Most blogs have spell-checkers built in, which will help your child improve both their spelling and grammar when writing.

Commitment and Responsibility: Blogging for children can be a great way to learn discipline if they commit to posting on a regular basis. If they know their readers are expecting several posts a week, they will want to keep up so they don't disappoint their friends and family.

Business Skills: Assuming your kids use their blog to make money, they will learn about advertising, how to promote products and they will learn money skills as they start to earn money.

While the main focus of this lens is to discuss kids blogging for money, there are actually many things kids can do with blogs. It doesn't always have to be about money ;)

Here are a few blogging ideas for kids:

• Diary or Journal: blogs can be set to private or public, so a blog as a diary does not mean the whole world will see it)


• Prayer Journal: this is a great way for kids to memorize scripture or to explore their spiritual/religous beliefs


• Nature Journal


• Showcase their Artwork


• Photo blog


• Poems or short stories


• Review your favorite movies or books


• A joke blog


• Show off your hobbies or collectibles

There are tons of blogs, books, websites, and courses on how to start a blog, but the one that I think is the best resource for kids is Become a Blogger by Gideon Shalwick and Yaro Starak.

Gideon and Yaro have created simple, step-by-step videos to teach people how to create successful blogs.

You can view their 10 Easy To Follow Videos Showing You How To Create Your Blog From Scratch, and if you want more help, you can continue on to their premium Become a Blogger program.

Okay... now on to the fun part. How can kids make money blogging?

Basically, blogs earn money by getting traffic and converting that traffic into money. There are several ways to earn money from traffic to a blog, including:

1. Ads - the most popular way to make money with ads is to use Google's Adsense program. The goal is to drive traffic to your blog and hope the visitors click on the ads placed within the blog. Ad can be ad boxes or contextual ads within the text of the posts themselves.


2. Sponsors - if you have a niche blog, you can sell advertising space to companies or individuals who sell products or services that are related to the topic of your blog.


3. Affiliate Programs - many bloggers make money from selling books through Amazon's affiliate program or by selling products that are sold through affiliate programs. Basically, you are selling other people's products (that are related to your blog) and earning a commission on each sale. Clickbank and Commission Junction are two popular affiliate programs.


4. Your Own Products - many people (including some very entrepreneurial and creative kids) create their own products and services to sell on their blogs.

As kids get older, it is inevitable that they will want more money to buy things like clothes, music, their first car, etc. This will prompt many kids to get a job or even start their own business to earn money for all the extra "stuff" they want.

For most kids, the last thing they are thinking about when they get a job or start a business is whether they will need to file a tax return or owe taxes on the income they earn. And most kids won't even make enough to file, but some children will be required to file a return based on the amount and type of income they earn.

The rules for children and taxes can sometimes be different than those for adults, so how do you know if your child is required to report their income?

Continue reading 'Children and Taxes: Is Your Child Required To File A Tax Return?'

It's actually very easy to get started blogging because there are so many free blog platforms available. Some of the more popular ones are:

• Blogger


• Wordpress


• LiveJournal


• Weebly

You can also use websites like MySpace, FaceBook and other web 2.0 websites to create blogs.

In fact, you can find 40 free blog hosts at Mashable.com.

With all the free blog hosts available, it's free and easy for anyone to start blogging right away.

Note: Many of these sites have age restrictions, most commonly you must be age 13 or older to use many of these sites. Parents should help younger children setup blogs (if they meet the age requirements for that website). It's also a good idea to help your kids setup their profile page so they don't include personal information like their phone number or address.

While blogs can be pretty casual, and there really aren't any rules to follow, here are a few tips to help kids create better blogs:

• Write on a regular basis so people will keep coming back to visit


• Use good grammar and check your spelling


• Don't talk bad about your family or friends on your blog


• Comment on other peoples blogs


• Have a main theme to your blog so your readers will know what to expect

Unfortunately, the Internet can be a dangerous place for kids, so here are some tips for parents and kids to keep kids safe online:

Establish rules for online use with your kids and enforce them.

Screen what your kids plan to post before they post it. While this may be seen as an invasion of privacy to your child, it could protect them from revealing information that is too personal for the Internet.

Use blogging services that offer password protection and other privacy settings.

Review your child's blog on a regular basis to make sure they aren't sharing information that is too personal, such as contact information, personal details about family members or friends, or inappropriate pictures.

Check out other blogs to find positive examples for your kids to model.