How to Make Money from a Blog
I only recently started blogging. Its been pretty interesting to say the least. Even though I have just started, I've already learned a lot. Like the fact that my first blog my not ever be a really huge money maker! But thats OK, if I learn from the process and go on to make money from future blogs, then all of the time I spend on the first one will be worth it.
So What's a Blog?
A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) or sexual in nature (Adult blog), and are part of a wider network of social media. In May 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 71 million blogs. from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In other words, a blog is an online journal with the most recent post showing first. They can be about anything you want then to be, your own personal rant on the world, your dating habits, your political viewpoint, instructutions on any topic, , etc. The only real requirement for making money is being able to get people interested in what you have to say. And if you're interested in it, chances are other people will be too.
Here are some randomly found examples of blogs: Internet Lifestyle, TechEBlog, and FashionTribes.
The other great thing about blogs is that they are easy to start. You can start blogging for free and with no technological knowledge at the following places: Blogger, and Wordpress.
Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) or sexual in nature (Adult blog), and are part of a wider network of social media. In May 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 71 million blogs. from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In other words, a blog is an online journal with the most recent post showing first. They can be about anything you want then to be, your own personal rant on the world, your dating habits, your political viewpoint, instructutions on any topic, , etc. The only real requirement for making money is being able to get people interested in what you have to say. And if you're interested in it, chances are other people will be too.
Here are some randomly found examples of blogs: Internet Lifestyle, TechEBlog, and FashionTribes.
The other great thing about blogs is that they are easy to start. You can start blogging for free and with no technological knowledge at the following places: Blogger, and Wordpress.
Starting to Blog
Ya gotta start somewhere
I'd heard of blogging and I knew that there were people out there making money from blogs, but I never really was interested in starting my own. (BTW - I hate the word blog. Blloooogg. Couldn't the powers that be come up with something a little better sounding, and surely it's not to late to change that particular terminology. Not, mind you, that I've been able to think of anything better!)Anyhoo, obviously I changed my mind about having a blog. And the first place I looked for information was anywhere that was giving it away for free. I like free. And free fits into my miniscule budget quite well. Here are two of the best free blog resources that I found.
Seth Godin has a free ebook on blogging here. It's called Who's There and is a great 45 page ebook about the blogging community and how it is different from mainstream media. It also talks about why and what makes blogs successfull.
Another great free resource is Yaro Starak's Blog Profits Blueprint. The focus on this ebook is making money from blogging. It is easy to read while still being informative.
Here are the titles of a few more ebooks about blogging that I found for free. Blogger's Guide to Profits, Blogging for Profit, and Blog and Ping. Where you can get these free tends to change. But if you spend a little bit of time searching you can usually find a way to find them for without coughing up some change.
Better Than Free
As with most free resources, you usually get what you pay for. And usually that means either easy-to-read-but-no-helpful-information-what-so-ever or lots-of-good-information-but-reading-it-is-a-painful-process.
So while free is great on the pocket book, sometimes it's better to pay for things and get a truly great product. Below are two products to choose from that can help increase your bloging profits. Both provide in-depth and up-to-date information about making money from blogs.
Blogging to the Bank is a step-by-step blueprint for creating a blog that will make you lots of money. You get everything you need to get started and actually have success online with a blog.
Atomic Blogging is focused more on marketing your blog so that you can get high ranking and a flood of visitors. After all, no matter how good your blog is, if you don't have traffic you won't be making any money. And in order to get traffic you're going to have to market your blog.
This doesn't have to be scary, costly or time-consuming. Atomic Blogging shows you how to use the best of web 2.0 sites to keep steady streams of traffic headed to your blog.
So while free is great on the pocket book, sometimes it's better to pay for things and get a truly great product. Below are two products to choose from that can help increase your bloging profits. Both provide in-depth and up-to-date information about making money from blogs.
Blogging to the Bank is a step-by-step blueprint for creating a blog that will make you lots of money. You get everything you need to get started and actually have success online with a blog.
Atomic Blogging is focused more on marketing your blog so that you can get high ranking and a flood of visitors. After all, no matter how good your blog is, if you don't have traffic you won't be making any money. And in order to get traffic you're going to have to market your blog.
This doesn't have to be scary, costly or time-consuming. Atomic Blogging shows you how to use the best of web 2.0 sites to keep steady streams of traffic headed to your blog.
Enough Already! Show Me the Money!
Ways to make money with a blog.
There are numerous ways to make money with blogging. They are limited only by your imagination. It may take some experimentation to find out what is best for you and your audience, but it can be done.Perhaps the most obvious is having your own product to sell, whether it is your own consulting services, a book, an ebook or some software. If you can blog about the industry, the market or other aspect of your business in a way that informs and entertains your readers, then chancers are that you will have a group of people who are more than happy to your services amd/or products.
Don't have your own product to sell. No problem. Promote someone else's and get paid a portion of the sale. Called affiliate marketing, it's basically being a salesman and working for commissions. But no need to be a tacky, pushy salesman. You can simply blog about the great new thing that has made your life better. And the cool thing is that the millions of affiliate programs out there on everything under the sun mean you don't have to blog about your business but can blog about whatever hobby or interest you have.
And let's not forget advertising. Just like a magazine or newspaper you can sell ad space on your blog. One of the easy and popular ways of doing this is with Google Adsense. You've seen these ads before, I'm sure, because they're everywhere. (There are some at the top of this page in fact.) Someone pays Google to post their ad and then Google pays someone (possibly you!) a portion of that everytime someone clicks on the ad.
Another option is asking for donations or tips. You can ask your readers to give you money if they feel that your blog enriches their lives. Paypal and Amazon are just two companies that you can set this up with. And if you think no one would ever donate, think again! My husband put up a Paypal donation button on his website figuring that it couldn't hurt, and some generous soul regularly contributes $50 at a time. A unique twist on this that I have seen is giving a link to your public Amazon Wishlist and asking folks to purchase and send items on the list.
You don't have to stick to just one from of income generation either. You can mix-n-match to your heart's content. For more information about these methods check out the Resources section at the bottom of this page.
Actual Books on Blogs
It's much nicer to hold a real book in your hands. Most people still prefer them to ebooks. Unfortunately when you buy an actual book on anything internet related, it's out-of date before it is even printed. That doesn't mean that they can't be helpful however. If you are just starting out, sometimes a book can be an informative, down-to-earth place to start.
Here are a few on the topic that can help you get started.
Here are a few on the topic that can help you get started.
Money For Content and Your Clicks For Free: Turning Web Sites, Blogs, and Podcasts Into Cash
Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)
The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 10/12/2008)
Publishing a Blog with Blogger: Visual QuickProject Guide
Amazon Price: $15.29 (as of 10/12/2008)
WordPress Complete: set up, customize, and market your blog
Amazon Price: $35.99 (as of 10/12/2008)
When a Book is Not Enough
No matter how good the book is sometimes you need a little more help. Being able to learn from others, ask questions and keep up to date is difficult to do from a book.
Blog Mastermind is a mentoring program run by Yaro Starak that will take you by the hand and help you start making money from your blog efforts.
This is not information regurgitated from other people. But rather the skills, techniques and attitude necessary for successful blogging that the author learned from taking his blog and building it up to the point that he makes a consistent $5000 USD per month blogging.
The program includes:
* Regular e-lessons taking you step-by-step through the process he went through to build a popular blog
* Audio and video training on all aspects of successful blogging
* Question and answer sessions where you can ask him your specific blogging questions directly
* Bonus audio interviews with successful bloggers
* And much more...
If you think that having a mentor to help you through the process of building a successful blog, then Yaro Starak's Blog Mastermind may be just the thing for you.
Blog Mastermind is a mentoring program run by Yaro Starak that will take you by the hand and help you start making money from your blog efforts.
This is not information regurgitated from other people. But rather the skills, techniques and attitude necessary for successful blogging that the author learned from taking his blog and building it up to the point that he makes a consistent $5000 USD per month blogging.
The program includes:
* Regular e-lessons taking you step-by-step through the process he went through to build a popular blog
* Audio and video training on all aspects of successful blogging
* Question and answer sessions where you can ask him your specific blogging questions directly
* Bonus audio interviews with successful bloggers
* And much more...
If you think that having a mentor to help you through the process of building a successful blog, then Yaro Starak's Blog Mastermind may be just the thing for you.
Let the World Know
Once you start blogging, or even before, its good to let the world know.
Use shirts for instant advertising, as conversation starters or just for fun!
Use shirts for instant advertising, as conversation starters or just for fun!
I Would Love To Hear From You!
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SelfishBeat
Dear nadiazr, Posted May 03, 2008 |
10 Blog Traffic Tips
by Yaro Starak
In every bloggers life comes a special day - the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else's blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader - you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that's about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.
Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.
It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called "traction", which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.
Top 10 Tips:
Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.
It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called "traction", which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.
Top 10 Tips:
Tip #10
Write at least five major "pillar" articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good "how-to" lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn't news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.
Write at least five major "pillar" articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good "how-to" lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn't news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.
Tip #9
Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.
You don't have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.
Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.
You don't have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.
Tip #8
Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need an easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that's the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you've done a good job!).
Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need an easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that's the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you've done a good job!).
Tip #7
Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people's blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.
Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.
Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people's blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.
Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.
Tip #6
Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger's article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it's sort of like your blog telling someone else's blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.
This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.
Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger's article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it's sort of like your blog telling someone else's blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.
This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.
Tip #5
Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.
Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.
Tip #4
Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival enjoy a spike in new readers.
To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at BlogCarnival.
Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival enjoy a spike in new readers.
To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at BlogCarnival.
Tip #3
Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it's so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it's worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!
Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it's so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it's worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!
Tip #2
Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn't bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it's worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.
How you benefit is through what is called your "Resource Box". You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.
Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn't bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it's worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.
How you benefit is through what is called your "Resource Box". You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.
Tip #1
Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I've listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won't stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.
Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I've listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won't stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.
This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.
To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:
Blog Mastermind
To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:
Blog Mastermind
So Why Blog?
I guess everyone would have a different reason for blogging. It doesn't have to be about making money. It could be about sharing what you are passionate about, venting life's problems or any other reason you can come up with.
But the idea of being able to make a living from the internet sounds awfully compelling. To be able to be financially free to do as you wish. To be free of the restraints of a job. To be there for you family whenever they want and need you. It all sounds like a dream come true.
Making your dreams come true usually take a bit of effort. And this is where most people let go of their dreams. But there's one guy who didn't. Yanik Silver. And now he has a blog where he is talking about finding fun, freedom and financial independence on the internet. It's pretty new, so there aren't a lot of previous posts to catch up on. I'm looking forward to seeing where this site will end up.
I also really like the Internet Lifestyle gear he has. I'm thinking I need one of those hats!
But the idea of being able to make a living from the internet sounds awfully compelling. To be able to be financially free to do as you wish. To be free of the restraints of a job. To be there for you family whenever they want and need you. It all sounds like a dream come true.
Making your dreams come true usually take a bit of effort. And this is where most people let go of their dreams. But there's one guy who didn't. Yanik Silver. And now he has a blog where he is talking about finding fun, freedom and financial independence on the internet. It's pretty new, so there aren't a lot of previous posts to catch up on. I'm looking forward to seeing where this site will end up.
I also really like the Internet Lifestyle gear he has. I'm thinking I need one of those hats!
Recommended Resources
E-Books
Who's There
Blog Profits Blueprint
Blogging to the Bank
Atomic Blogging
Mentoring Programs
Blog Mastermind
Who's There
Blog Profits Blueprint
Blogging to the Bank
Atomic Blogging
Mentoring Programs
Blog Mastermind
Do You Squidoo?
If not you should... It's fun and it's free!
I love Squidoo. I can put up web pages about anything that I want, for free. And I make money! I've been looking into the world of internet marketing for awhile, but never made any money at it until I starting using Squidoo. I may not be making a fortune. Yet! But I am making money at last, and without spending a dime too.
I had heard of Squidoo in passing and wanted to learn more about it. I found SquidooSecrets.com and was able to download two free reports, Paulie Sabol Interviews Bob The Teacher and "How Do You Do, Squidoo?" Orientation Guide To Squidoo, that helped me to get started making money on Squidoo. I also got a series of emails that helped me to learn even more. All for free. Just the way I like it!
Head on over and get your free guide to making money with Squidoo.
