Blogging for Boneheads (part 4) Cashing In!

by James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com

Also see:
Blogging for Blockheads (part 1)
Blogging for Blockheads (part 2) Scratching Your Niche
Blogging for Blockheads (part 3) Exposing Your Blog

In the final part of this series, we will learn how to earn an income from your blog. What is this? Your hobby can earn you money? Yes. There are several ways a blog can generate an income. Not everyone will want to make money from their blogs and will use this as purely a form of entertainment or relaxation. Others may want to off-set the price of their web site through some sort of revenue.

When using these techniques, keep in mind your niche. Your advertising should be closely related to your niche. For example, let us say your blog is named “BloggDogg” and it deals with your pet, Rex. The type of revenue you would like to use could be an affiliate from 1-800-PetMeds. However, you would want to steer clear of ACME Fur Traders for this type of advertising would weaken your message. Always think about your focus and what would detract from your goals.

The following is a list of methods that generate income through blogs/web sites. You can use any or all of these to supplement your income. I am not going to try and make you think that your blog is going to generate thousands of dollars per month (although there are blogs that do this). See what works best and implement these ideas if they suit your blog.

Advertising
Advertising is the use of a service or product by a sponsor. On the internet, there are several ways a sponsor could advertise on your blog. Getting companies to advertise on your site is both difficult and uncertain in its’ effectiveness. The reason for this is because advertising on blogs is quite new. A key way to have someone advertise on your blog is to keep accurate information on the number of visitors you have to your blog each day. Advertisers on the internet use various methods to pay for advertising. These methods are:
Pay Per Impression: You are paid each time the advertisement is displayed. Payments are usually charged per thousand impressions, called a CPM. This is usually done in the form of a banner advertisement.

Pay Per Click: Similar to a pay per impression, this type of advertisement only pays you when a visitor clicks on the advertisement. We will look at a form of pay per click advertising later in this article.

Pay Per Sale: As the name says, this type of ad only pays you when someone purchases the product you are trying to sell. This generates a percentage, usually between 3%-30% of the price of the product or service. While the reward through these sales is better than that of Pay-per-Impression or Pay-per-Click, you have to have the customer actually purchase something for you to make any money. Note: If you make a purchase of a product through this method on your blog, consider it a discount. However, many of these ads require a minimum amount of money to be generated before you get a check – usually $25.

Pay-per-Ad Placement: This is the most understood way of advertisement. With this method, a company pays you to put up their ad for a set period of time. This is exactly the same method of payment that you would receive for putting an ad in the newspaper or in a trade magazine. This is also the hardest method of generating income on your blog.

Google AdSense: This is the most popular advertising method through blogs. It works on a pay-per-click method and is available through most popular blogging sites, such as MySpace and Blogger. Every time a person clicks on your Google Ad, you get paid. However, beware because Google is very, VERY strict in their policy of click fraud. Click fraud is when you click on your own ads or entice others to click on those ads for you.

Affiliate Programs: What if you could pay for advertising only when you made a sale? That’s what affiliate marketing is. It uses the Pay-per-Sale method of advertising. Sometimes this is called “pay-per-performance”. There are literally thousands of affiliate programs on the internet. You can sign up for these through affiliate marketing sites, such as Linkshare or Commission Junction. You can pick and choose from these to match your site.

Donations: This is perhaps the most simple way of gaining money. Put out your hand. For this, all you would have to do is ask and direct the person to your PayPal site. Why would someone donate to your blog? They might do it if they like what you are writing or support your cause. This usually works best with non-profit or charity blogs.

eBooks: You’ve been blogging for months. You’ve set yourself up as an expert in your niche (notice how this “niche” keeps coming back?). You have gathered a following and people are reading your blog. It is now time to take a topic, re-work it and expand upon the idea, and put it into an eBook. An eBook is short for electronic book. An eBook is usually a bundled PDF (Portable Document File) and set for distribution. This format can be hyperlinked and show pictures that go beyond your blog. Once you have created an eBook, you can sell it on your blog. If what you write is informative and educational, people will be willing to purchase your book for a nominal fee. You can sell it via your merchandising account or through PayPal. You could also offer a printed version of your book for sale for a higher price (you then have printing costs and shipping).

Yourself: The last method of turning a profit from your blog that I will list is to sell your own services or products. If the blog has something to do with your business, then you have something to sell. Talk yourself up. Show your readers what you have to offer and add a link to your web site. Since I have started this blog, I have had clients hire me to consult on web marketing projects, as well as build sites for them. If you feel that you have something to offer, let your readers know. Incidentally, I am available for consulting or design through my web site at: www.mywebsource1.com

As a final note, keep track of the people coming to your blog. Notice what topics you are writing about that seem to stir interest. Know when you should be blogging and when you should not. See when people are clicking through to your ads. These demographics will help you sell more advertising space on your blog and give you peace of mind when you are writing. Web sites, such as Feedburner will help you to follow your blog traffic.

I hope that you have found this series on blogging useful. The methods described will help you to achieve success on the blogosphere. Go out and start your own blog if you do not already have one. Let me know and I will subscribe to your blog to help you on with your success.

Good luck and happy blogging!