Using Your Blog to Make Money

Have you ever thought of using your blog to make money? The fact that blogs have become an extremely popular marketing and promotion method is no surprise. Not when you consider the advantages they offer over the standard website.

For one thing, if you use an independent online blogging service like WordPress you don’t need any web design or programming skills. You simply sign up for a free account (or low cost), choose the template you want, and then begin posting content.

And since these types of services are maintained on the owner’s server (Blogger, Wix, SquareSpace), there’s no need to acquire independent web hosting or domain names. Whether you operate one blog or several hundred, there’s no cost whatsoever.

Another important advantage is being able to get your blog (and subsequently, future blog postings) indexed by search engines in a much shorter period of time.

For the most part, that can be attributed to three factors:

• Search engines such as Google favor blogs, mostly because it’s fresh content that’s updated on a regular basis.

• Ping capability means you can immediately notify search engines whenever new content has been added.

• Syndicating blog content through RSS feeds increases both the content value and the number of back links.

Just like any other website, you can also incorporate independent advertising in your blog template.

Using Your Blog to Make Money

Customized Google Adsense ads, for example, can be quickly and easily added to a Blogger website. You can also sell additional advertising space. These ads can either be placed throughout the overall content or established within designated areas of the template.

Of course, the real money-making potential is the fact that you have a platform for including whatever information or promotions you choose. And the fact that blogs are already accepted as a personal announcement vehicle, they can be the perfect place to offer product testimonials and endorsements.

As long as your blog content provides valuable and interesting information, other bloggers will come. The only difficulty is providing this inviting content on a regular basis.

The reason most blogs fail (other than the fact that so many of them contain nothing worth reading about) is simply because the owner can’t keep up the pace. They open their blog, post some good content for a period, and then gradually run out of steam.

It doesn’t have to go that way…

What you need to understand is that blogs were and always will be a vehicle for venting personal thoughts. That’s not to say you can’t use them for business. They just need to be geared more toward private writings than a promotional message.

When you think about the way blogs started out – and what continues to make them so popular – it’s obvious that owners use them to “bare their soul,” so to speak. They don’t labor over their content, constantly revising and editing as though it were some literary masterpiece.

They simply speak opening and honestly about what they feel and what they think. And, if what they write is highly engaging, their blog will not only attract a considerable amount of followers, it will endure over an extended period.

In other words, it will last long after thousands of other blogs have bit the cyber dust and disappeared.

If you want your blog to be successful, you need to approach the writing on a casual and personal level. Be yourself. Write honestly and from the heart, without all the hype and polished promotional agenda.

Granted, your goal is to make money. But you won’t be able to do that if you use your blog simply to hawk products. You need to entertain people. Maybe not in the extreme sense of some stage performer…

But you do have to give them something that makes them want to keep reading. And not just initially. You need to capture their attention to the degree that they actually look forward to hearing what you have to say next.

One of the best ways to ensure that you’ll retain reader attention and support is to choose specific niche topics. The more targeted or specific the niche, the better.

Rather than trying to please scores of individuals with various interests, you can focus on subject areas that have very strong and targeted audience potential.

And writing about specific niche topics will mean your Google Adsense ads will also be highly targeted. A perfect match for your own content.

Another important aspect of operating a blog is allowing readers to add their own comments.

For one thing, it gives them a sense of inclusion, that they’re part of the process rather than merely an outsider looking in.

Secondly, it helps build content. Even on those occasions when you’re not able to contribute, you can rest assured that your readers are posting their own comments, opinions, and advice.

That’s assuming, of course, that you’ve given them something to talk about. Which addresses yet another blog practice that should be implemented…

It’s always a good idea to invite reader participation. Rather than wait around for someone to contribute comments, put something out there that prompts them to take action.

For example…

• If your blog is centered around SEO, ask readers to post their best and worse search engine tactics.
• If your blog is centered around dogs, ask readers what training methods resulted in the most success (or failure).
• Take a poll, take a survey. Conduct a contest. Include a questionnaire form that readers can fill out and submit.

There are all sorts of ways you can get readers involved. If nothing else, just mention something that will prompt them to post comments. Or, at the very least, provide content that makes them want to keep coming back.

Don’t just write. Get people fired up. Give them something to think about, to talk about with their friends and associates. The more you get them involved, the more likely they’ll spread the word about this great blog they continue to visit.

Of all the advantages a blog can offer, the best one is the fact that people who frequent blogs don’t expect them to be literary works of art. Instead, they’re looking for a place to be informed, amused, enlightened, entertained.

Naturally, if you’re on a more serious level, talking about a professional subject such as SEO or internet marketing or financial investment, you’ll need to be careful about your writing, spelling, and grammar.

In those types of instances, you want people to respect your advice and view you as an expert in your field. You won’t be able to pull that off if your blog posts are riddled with misspelled words and grammatical errors.

But in most areas of writing, it’s not that critical. Not like it would be on your typical “business” website. When frequenting blogs, people are generally more interested in what’s posted there than how eloquently it’s written (just like discussion boards).

Your blog has the potential to generate a good deal of revenue. But your first and primary objective should be to create and maintain content that keeps your readership alive and well. Once you’ve accomplished that, financial success will automatically follow. Remember, Content First. Then, use your blog to make money.

For more information, especially if you have questions, feel free to contact us via our contact page.