Written By Trevor A. Winchell How do you know if your blogging is a hobby or a business? Consider the following:
Are you behaving in a business minded manner when you blog?
Does your blog, even if silly or comical, have a purpose to draw readers or traffic with the intent of creating an income?
Are you putting in enough time and energy into blogging to make it profitable, or are you half heartedly approaching blogging as a side hobby?
As you increase your income, are you investing, reinvesting or utilizing the income for livelihood, or are you considering it 'mad money'.
There is a difference in how you perceive your income and how you will behave. If you feel it’s just extra money to have fun with, you may not be taking a serious business perspective of blogging that you need to take for profit long term.
As you increase your business, you need to be flexible and grow with the business. This means that what worked in phase one may need to be upgraded or changed in phase two, and phase three and so on and so on.
In the past, have you followed through with goals and activities? If the resounding answer is no – then beware, being self-employed, even a blogger business, may not be right for you. However, if you have a support system, a partner or a plan B, where if you start to fall downward you have a way upward, then blogging as a business is certainly a possibility.
Some real positives of having a blog as a business is that it is easy to start up, and easy to maintain, especially if you use a service to help you glean the most from your business as you can.
Another great thing, if you are not a people person, that is fine! If you are, good – communicate more with your fans! Having positive working relationships is very important and yet, with blogging, you can make money and not really have to develop super close relationships. Many people find close relationships, especially working relationships, to be very stressful. Again, if you have a service to help you, this is two-fold easier.
Blogs are great because as far as a business goes, there are minimal decisions in this line of career. Most business owners make decisions constantly, have a lot of overhead and are under pressure. However, with blogging you have minimal overhead if any, and your big decisions are often simply when to renew your service contract with your supplier/manager. Usually the partner/manager/supplier in blogging makes all the nuance decisions that can drive you crazy.
If planning and organizing are not your strong suits, never fear… you can certainly hire someone to do this for you; again there are organizations that take all of that nitty-gritty stuff away from you for a small fee. But you can also learn how to organize yourself but realize this can mean you may be working at your blog a few hours at a time when you’d normally be spending time with family or friends. Again, blogging will make you money if you go toward this goal as a business, not a hobby.
Make sure you survey family, friends on peers in what they may enjoy seeing or having in a blog. Maybe they will voice that they’d like to have a place to write in themselves about their experiences, or just read inspirational experiences or informative comments. Perhaps, they want an informative site where they can both interact with others and, purchase equipment or books. Figure out what you like, then start seeing how you can tie your interests in with other’s desires.
As you initially start your business you can add ideas or subtract things that don’t seem to be working, but in whole marketing research will give you a nice, firm foundation; if nothing else, it gives you a target starting point which is easier for you to focus on.
This actually takes you to the next subject of thought, which is a strategy to market. Once you know what your survey tells you, you can easily, as outlined above, develop a strategy. Again, it’s knowing how to take an interest of yours and make it marketable.
In your blog, don’t just write! Sell! Sell a product or service. Although some people can make money just from writing, through banners and such, you will have more success actually offering a bit more. However, if you have a service working with you, they can certainly help to promote you as well as place banners and other marketing tools in to help you get your business off the ground.
Think of unique promotion strategies. Though if you have a service, again, you will not have to worry as much – it still is a good idea to create promotions yourself that are highly unique to your specialty. Make sure your prices are competitive or at the least, considered well within your target market. The moment the Blog is up to the moment the client or consumer has what they want from you; and the entire process should be quite enjoyable!
Written By Trevor A. Winchell Have you heard that you can make money blogging? Well it is true, you can make money blogging but it’s going to take more then just setting up a blog and making a few posts. It is going to take some good content on your blog to get the visitors to come and to click on your links.
If you want to make money blogging, you are going to have to have content on your blog that people want to see. Don’t just start a blog and slap on some ads, you are going to have to give the visitors material they want to “eat up”. Blogs had first started as online journals but now have turned into far more. Now, there are tons of people using blog software to create websites. I know this, because I have done this myself. I am now creating niche sites using Wordpress, one of the most popular blogging software out there.
Where does the money come in? Well that will come in time. My favorite source of income from blogging is from Google’s Adsense program. To join Adsense signup for an account and then place code into your blog posts. The code then appears as an ad once posted. When users click the ad, you make money. The price you make per click varies each time but can sometimes be more then just a few bucks. It all depends on the market/niche your blog falls into. See Google’s Adsense will pull ads relating to the content on your website.
Another way to make income from a blog is promoting affiliate links. You can signup to relevant affiliate programs, then promote them on your site. You can make a review on an affiliate product, then when the visitor reads your review and clicks the links and buys the product you are in profit. You can also add affiliate links to the menus in your blog, your signature lines, etc. The customer can’t buy if they don’t have a link to click on.
I started blogging with a personal blog over two years ago, now I have eight blogs and growing. I have actually been trying to create a blog for each website I own. Adding a blog is an easy way to add content to your site.
If you haven’t started blogging, what are you waiting for? Not only can you make money with your blog, you can drive traffic to your sites with them. I started with www.Blogger.com. They offer free blogs and you can have one setup within minutes. Try starting out with a personal blog for practice, then go to a business blog. Remember, the more incoming links to your sites, the better.
Blogging is so easy that you probably do not need a start up guide, but for those who have blogaphobia, I am doing this.
1. By reading this you are half way there. This is a blog style post.
2. If you post, you are blogging to an extent.
3. If you take my advice and get a blog, you are a blogger.
4. If you sell anything, or create money trail, you are making money blogging.
Now that I’ve bored you with a list, you probably want something good. I’ll give it to you. If you have never blogged, this little start-up guide is for you. If you have blogged, maybe you just need a refresher course.
Anyway, you probably want to know how to blog. You know what blogging is and you know you can make money with it. What you may not know is how you start.
Well, it’s easy. Choose a provider. Make sure it’s someone who has the up-to-the minute programming so you don’t look ancient, I recommend blogger.com.
Create an account –Then, start writing! Alas, you are going to say “exactly HOW do I just pop into the blog and write?”
It’s not some horrid thing where you have to have a book next to you figuring out designs and codes. For the most part, there are layouts you choose from and often you can even pick colors of fonts and such. It’s like decorating a living room, only this is a living room about 12 million people could possibly visit. So make it look nice!
You don’t have to have software usually or anything snazzy. You simply pick a design or layout and create a look or image based upon choices that you’ll be prompted to make.
Is it an article, a column? What the heck IS a blog? As mentioned before, in another article -blogs are actually entries. It’s like a diary or a journal. You simply write, but note – that whatever you do not want the world to see, do not write. After you write your entry, you will be asked to publish or post it. Once you do that you still can often, go in and edit or delete it. You will usually give your blog a title. You type your entry, which you may call “blog” or “Content” and away you go. You’ve just blogged.
Sometimes, you allow (or not allow) the public or a select bunch you’ve invited to make posts or comments to what you have written. This makes for fun if you do allow it but sometimes it can be downright harsh. There is usually no screening on posts unless you specifically in your template and choices make sure no one has potty mouth or gossip mouth. The way to do this is to be a moderator, or to even hire a moderator. This way, all posts first go to an email address (they have no idea) and you or someone with some degree of ethics and standards, will edit, delete or allow the post to go through. That personally is my advice; don’t let downers, potty mouths or idiots post on your site unless you are really sure that you will attract only a top-notch crowd. Since blogs are often public places – think of the blog as a public bathroom. Only let the people in who flush and wash their hands. This is an especially nice feature also for control freaks.
Do I have to be youngish? Hip? Can I be a boomer or older than dirt? Anyone can blog. There is no set rule of thumb. It used to be hip kids, journalists and maybe a select other few who did it. Now, you have grandparents who blog and let their kids blog also – and grandkids. It’s a great way to keep the family as a unit if you keep everyone together, you know?
Blogs are special. They are unique. They are really nothing more than a public diary or journal – where a web site is all about people going to the site and just staring at it, a blog is all about saying, “Come on in and sit a spell” – which is why you will find that blogs tend to be more upscale, than say, a chat room or chat board. Blogs are the welcome wagon of the internet. Chat rooms are like a seedy bar. Chat boards are like hospital waiting rooms where people sometimes share doom, gloom and gossip. But Blogs are really usually positive. Sure you will have that negative blog here and there – but a decent blog owner will beget decent posters for the most part.
It is a small world. So, when you visit a blog, or when you have a blog – expect people to comment online. It’s a diary where people will actually say – “this is cool, and I want to be a part of your life and share this with you” and…they will! If you allow this in the template, you will have comments that agree, disagree or just share. You may have folks promoting themselves, or you may have cheerleaders supporting your blog. Either way, it’s a great way to make friends and yes, make money if that’s what you wish.
You need to realize that your blog could and very well may be found on the net during someone’s search. For instance, if you have certain tag words in your blog, or it’s just plain popular, a key word search could turn up your blog. It’s the net, and it’s public. Blog smart!
Blogging is for you, even if you think it isn’t. You may think you are not a writer. So what? First of all, if it is a personal blog meant for only a few folks, and you don’t care that you are not a thespian of the paper, then don’t worry about it. Also, you don’t have to be a super-duper writer at all. Even if you are a writing savant, you certainly at least have an opinion, correct? Voice it through blogging! You also probably have a passion such as gardening, cooking or fixing old cars…that a bajillion people also have, that you could talk to and share with. Again, you can make money. If you like gardening, you may want to think about selling seeds, or dried lavender from your garden, or renting ad space or a few thousand other ways to make money. Maybe an online course where you teach the power of planting? As long as you have passion and ideas, there will always be possible ways to make money that are fun and proactive.
Blogging is absolutely one of the most easy, fun, economical yet possibly financially rewarding hobbies you can start for yourself.
Different Ways To Earn Affiliate Commissions From Your Blog
Written By trevor A. Winchell
You can profit with your blog in more than one way. The first way is to get readers to your site to read your sales letter, or to your affiliate site. Unfortunately, many people leave it at that, not using the blog for any other purpose. They are leaving money on the table!
First, add Google AdSense to your blog. You will profit from clicks on the ads, and there is no reason not to do this. Remember, the important thing is that profit is made, and it ends up in your pocket. You should have one Google AdSense unit on the border of your page, and then paste in the code for each blog post as well.
Add affiliate banners around the borders of your blog. Don't use annoying banners, and make sure that all affiliate programs are relevant to your main topic. Also, promote affiliate programs within your blog posts, using your affiliate links or directing the visitor to your sales page. When doing this, however, make sure that the post is informative. Avoid just posting an advertisement as a blog entry.
If your blog becomes very popular with a high readership, sell advertising to other people on your blog! It may take a long time to get to this point, but with time and effort, you will get there.
Always be on the lookout for ways to profit from your blog. Use every opportunity for profit as it presents itself. Just remember that while people like to buy, they do not like to be sold to. Use your blog to inform people about your niche, and also use it to build a relationship with your readers.
Once the relationship is established, and you've proven yourself to be an expert in your niche, you can easily make recommendations to your readers, and your most loyal followers will buy the product, solely based on your recommendation. This is very powerful.
Think about this. Is it better to market to a huge list or readership of people who really aren't all that interested in what you are saying, much less in what you are selling or is it better to market to a small list or a small following of devoted readers, of which the majority will make a purchase every time you make a recommendation? The second option is the one you want, and this is where you should focus your time and energy.
