To create a successful blog, unique content is always a good thing – Google loves it and so do readers. The quality of the writing however is open to interpretation. If you want regular readers who Stumble your site to come back every time you post then you will need articles or posts that people enjoy reading. You want them to go away saying ‘Hey that was a fantastic idea/post/joke” and they will bookmark your blog or sign up for an RSS feed’. The content for your blog should normally be something you’ve either written yourself or you’ve paid a ghost writer to write and post on your behalf.
I won’t explain what a blog is and what it’s used for in this article. I’ll just concentrate on ways you can make money with your blog. There are five main categories we’ll look at to make money with your blog.
- Selling advertising
- Selling other peoples products
- Soliciting contributions
- Marketing your services or products and
- Deepening your customer relationships.
If I was to ask anyone to name a company that was synonymous with the word ‘web’ or ‘internet’ I bet they would say Google. The big G is by far the biggest advertising company in the world. Lots of people would say “But they are a search engine aren’t they?” – to tell the truth not really. They only really show you the content they want you to see. They index every page they come across and then choose what sites to show you when “Google” a keyword phrase. They show you the best sites related to that keyword phrase and they attach ads that are relevant to those keywords. What they do well is sell advertising in addition to providing high quality search results.
Advertising by using contextual ads on a blog is by far the most common means of making money off your blog. You place a simple bit of code on your site (after signing up to the advertiser’s service) and it will show ads that fit your content. So if you were writing about televisions your ads would show ads for televisions and so on. People click on the link in the ad and you get paid. Mostly pennies but they all add up.
Affiliate programs are also a really good way of making money with your blog. Let’s think if you were talking about the latest album from a top singer on your blog, you could easily put up a link or picture that would take them to either Amazon or CD Baby and you would make money when they buy the CD.
Using an old cap in hand trick – you could easily put a quick button on your blog asking for donations. Paypal can help you with this and you would be pleasantly surprised how many people donate.
If you have a product or you offer a service – keep a blog about it, tell people what you sell or that you will make a bespoke website for them – again a very direct way of making money from your blog.
Something most people don’t think about – a blog can also be a way of keeping your customers ‘in the loop’ of the happenings of your company. Keep them informed, give them a chance to comment and they will stay a customer for years to come!
