Make Blog $$$

Like any other business, blogging has the potential to make $$$, if you can provide a product or service to your target audience that solves their unique problem. Your blog can be one of the most powerful marketing assets you have, when you remain focused on the topics your target clients want most.  You can start selling coaching services, equipment or books you have written, etc., by gaining a blog following.

 

Below are some ideas for making blog $$$:

Your Knowledge and Skills: The selling of knowledge is a very large part of monetizing a blog. Increase your credibility as an authority, and then sell quality information to that market. This can take the form of e-books, audio, SlideShare presentations, YouTube videos, Webex tutorials, or a combination of all things. Package them, or just sell them digitally. If you author the products yourself, then you keep 100% of the profit. Your blog is a place for you to market yourself and promote the knowledge and experience you have.

Consulting or Coaching:  Another way to make blog $$$ is to build your reputation, brand recognition and an audience. Make $$$directing traffic into offline services consulting or coaching.  Establish credibility into offline lectures or tutorials which you get paid for.  This can be a great opportunity for more networking as well.

Product Sales: Bloggers can gain a high level of trust and loyalty from their readers. This makes blogs the perfect platform for launching products. A blog with targeted traffic can make blog $$$ by selling products directly to readers.

Products often include; ebooks, membership websites, courses, equipment, video games, training services, accessories, etc. As long as the product you market is closely related to your blog’s topic, it will sell. To get an idea of what you could sell to your readers, take a look at similar blogs within your niche and see what they are selling.

Email Marketing: The ultimate marketing tool for bloggers. It allows you to instantly deliver your message directly to the inbox of readers. This makes it a more powerful marketing tool than Facebook or Twitter. Put a Mailchimp box on your blog today.

Affiliate Programs:  A large number of online shops and services offer an affiliate program to website owners that pay commissions to those that generate sales for them. The affiliate program usually pays a set fee or a percentage of the overall sales price.

Membership Programs:  A growing trend in online income right now is to create a membership program with a leveled structure, providing quality content for free to your audience, and a premium-level program to those willing to pay for it. Charge a monthly membership that creates and online community and provides a steady income stream. This is a popular platform for athletic/fitness sites.

Direct Ad Sales: Banner ads and in-text ads are often used on blogs to generate revenue. Considering this method, selling the ads directly could result in more cash in your pocket. Advertising space can be sold directly to advertisers. Blog owners normally charge advertisers a fixed fee or charge per thousand impressions of the ad (cost per impressions are frequently referred to as CPM). For example, an advertisement with a CPM rate of $3 would cost $300 for one hundred thousand impressions.

Advertising Networks: An alternative to selling advertisements directly is to display them from an ad network. Google Adsense is by far the most popular for bloggers, however there are many alternatives such as Chitika, Kontera, and BurstMedia to name just a few. Advertising networks normally pay on a per-click basis or a CPM basis. Due to this, income generated from advertising networks will vary month to month

Banner Advertising: You can run network advertising from a variety of different sources such as, Adsense, Kontera, IDG, and more.  You can also direct sell ads and use network ads as filler for unused inventory.

Paid Posts:  One way for an advertiser to increase sales is to pay for a review on a suitable blog. You can generate additional income, reviewing other’s products and sites on your blog. A sponsored review refers to a review that you have written about a product or service for a fee.  A paid post refers to an article that an advertiser has written and wants you to publish it on your blog for a fee.

Job Boards: Some sites have job boards. One way to take advantage of your traffic is to launch a dedicated job board, classifieds or marketplace. They are easy to set up and allow people to advertise, buy and sell items. Once job board has become successful, you can charge users for posting ads.

Build It & Sell It: You can always build a blog, build an audience, and then sell it. Some businesses buy blogs, re-brand them put their marketing teams to work on them and sell them again

Please remember that in order to implement any of the above, you must consider the following:

Traffic is a Requirement: You can’t earn blog $$$ without steady traffic, and advertisers won’t buy ads spots on your blog unless they see reach. Optimize your blog and increase your social media presence.

Enough Content: Many bloggers begin putting ads on their site before they have generated enough traffic. Make your blog rich in high quality content and market it fully in advance.

Target Audience:  Writing to your target clients is really important as it can help you connect with your readers and increase your conversion rate. Advertisers are willing to pay you when you are marketing to a targeted audience.

Design: The initial and often overlook issue is creative design. Consider the placement, size and format of ads, and how changing these things affect blog $$$. Rotate ads frequently if your readers are returning often, but that doesn’t mean every time they come to your page things should be different.

After you have determined what problem you will solve, start offering it to your target audience. You can begin today! You will learn more about the problem and your audience as you write and receive feedback.

Tell us what problem you are going to solve!

Blog Happy!

Linda A. Amerigo
Instructor, Technology for Sports
Universal Sports Education, LLC.
[email protected]
http://www.amerigoconsulting.com/