There are a host of “make money with your Blog” sites out there. Sifting through them all, I have realized that some are junk, some are excellent and many are repetitive.
Before you go spending money on some e-book or manual that tells you how to make money with your blog (like the sites, there are good ones and bad ones-certainly check out their claims), you should look at the quality, FREE information that is available to you.
One thing anyone that knows anything will tell you is that content is KING. Before you start a blog, you need to think long and hard about what your blog will be about. I have seen many blogs that want to “make money online” and may offer a few good hints, but the content is poor. You must write about something that is passionate to you.
If you do this, the content will be better than if you are writing solely to make money. Obviously some topics will have broader appeal while others will be very niche oriented. I have found that niche sites, while they may have smaller amounts of readers, will often outperform broadly targetted sites. The reason is the niche reader wants the specific information you have. So if you have an area of expertise or a subject you are passionate about-chose that as a starting point for the focus of your content. It’s like the old saying: “do what you love, the money will follow.”
I ran accross this post in the Digital Point Forums. The author of the post talks about creating value for readers through content as the single most important component for making money online. For those who’ve never been to this forum, it is chock full of great information about just about anything related to running your own website or blog. Its a great place to “shout out” your new blog in the introductions section too.
For a very detailed and poignant article on getting started making money with a blog and the things you should consider, this post called How to Make Money with your blog, is a must read.
Once you’ve got some content together and you’ve figured out how to drive traffic to your site, the first thing you need to do is get Adsense Ads for your blog. You may not get rich with these (I’m making about $500 per month with my sites) but you will make something. Adsense is easy to sign up for and set up on your site. If you can cut and paste, you can put adsense on your site. Spend some time experimenting with colors, ad sizes and ad placement. There is plenty of “how to” information on the Adsense site, so you should be able to figure out anything you need to know!
Back to money making blogs. I have read many, I’ll probably read many more.
One of my favorites is John Chow’s Blog which is very rich in content about everything related to blogging. It was the first site I visited when I began my blogs and it has been an excellent resource for me. Since there is SO MUCH information there, you might want to visit it LAST.
A more “nuts and bolts” type of blog is Problogger. Darren Rouse, the author, is not as “in your face” as John Chow and there are hundreds, if not thousands of tips for the newbie and old pro alike.
Another “nuts and bolts” type of money making blog is Mike’s Money Making Mission. The author of this blog shares what money making programs work for him and details different programs and their earnings. Mike goes deep into the net to make dough-he even sells adult products and sexy dating services. He started about three and a half years ago with nothing and has built a mini internet empire! He came on the scene about the same time I did, so I’ve followed his progress. Since he’s a Brit, he offers insight into programs that might not be available in the states, but his simple, no nonsense style is easy to understand and his programs work for him.
Get to work, you have a lot of reading to do!