In this blogging series I’ve shared with you how to start a blog, what free blog platforms there are and the differences between them. I’ve talked about the different types of posts and where to find content for your posts. Finally we talked about driving traffic to your blog. Today I want to share five easy ways that you can make money from your blog.
Your blog has the potential to be a money-making magnet, if you know
the right steps to take. Blogs once started as a sort of online diary.
They’ve been totally transformed to fit a whole range of needs, from a
place to house an online newspaper to a simple way to start an Internet
stream of income. The following five methods will help you make money
from your blog, no matter what niche you are in and how you are using
your blog.
1. Affiliate marketing
This is one of the easiest ways to make money from your blog, and the
simplest way to start. You begin by selecting an affiliate program from one
of the popular affiliate networks. You can either post a review on your
blog about the product (complete with your affiliate link) or post ads
along the side of your posts (also with your affiliate link). Affiliate
marketing is simple to implement because you don’t have to worry
about writing a product.
2. Selling your own product
If you feel there is a need to be met in your niche and want to create
your own product, you can add it to your blog for another stream of
income. Advertising your own product on your blog is a smart idea.
Your readers have already built a level of trust with you so they’ll be
likely to be interested in your product. You can link to your product’s
sales page directly from your posts and display graphic ads in the
sidebars of your blog.
3. Contextual advertising
Contextual advertising, like the type offered at Text Links, will help you
make money from your blog without much intervention on your part.
When you sign up with Text Links or a similar service, your blog posts
will automatically have certain words hyperlinked. These links go to
advertiser’s websites. You get paid when someone clicks on a link.
Unlike with affiliate programs, you don’t get a commission on the sale
but you do get paid whether or not your visitor buys from the
advertiser’s site.
4. Other types of advertising
Google Adsense and other pay per click advertising programs will give
you code to add to your website. These programs will display ads in the
sidebars of your website. Anytime a visitor clicks on one of these links,
you will get paid anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars depending
on your niche. These ads don’t appear within the body of your post, but
they are based on the content of your posts so they will be attractive to
your audience.
5. Get paid for reviews
Once you have some traffic coming to your blog, you can be paid to
post reviews. There are many different networks that link advertisers
with bloggers. You simply find an advertiser through one of these
networks and promise to post a review on your blog about the product
or service. You’ll be paid a flat rate for your review. Be sure the product
or service is relevant to your niche for best results with this monetization
model.
6. Guest Blogging
You can offer guest blogging opportunities.
As you can see, you have a lot of different options when it comes to
making money with your blog. Try one or all of these to see what works
best for your niche.
