Tag: home business
Jun
06
How to make money blogging – Monetize Your Blog (Part 3)
You have chosen your niche market and you understand who your audience will be and what they are looking for. You’ve chosen a great domain name and created an awesome looking blog. Wow. That was alot of work, wasn’t it? Well, we are just getting started! Now, for the meat of your blog.
Write Your Anchor Content
Now that you have your blog up and running, the first thing you will want to do is write as many posts as you can possible manage. Look around at other blogs like yours and see what the most popular posts are. To find these , there is often a widget on the side that will say “Popular Posts”. Now, please DO NOT copy their ideas or titles, but get an idea of what your market wants to read about. Then you will want to write a minimum of 2-3 anchor articles. These will be your most popular articles (hopefully). Put some effort into these articles and give away some of your most valuable information. These will be the articles that draw people to your blog.
Adsense
Some people don’t like Adsense for one reason or another, so they choose to monetize in other ways. However, there is a great deal of revenue to be made if you do it right. If you already have an Adsense account, you can simply log in and get your code and insert it into your blog. If you don’t have an account, it’s easy to apply. Simply go to https://www.google.com/adsense and follow the yellow brick road. It takes about a week to get approved. Be sure to read their terms and conditions, and know up front that Google will ban you from their program if you or your friends click your ads even a little too much. NEVER, ever, ( click your own ads, and if they notice the same people (friends, well meaning relatives) are consistently clicking your ads, you will be sliced irreparably from the program. No mercy. So beware.
There is an art to placing these ads on your site. Websites like Homeschool.com make over $30,000 per month on just Adsense. (reliable heresay) If you want to learn more about it, I would recommend finding an ebook on Clickbank or there are several good books on Amazon, too. The reason I recommend an ebook is because it’s difficult to find a published book on Amazon that isn’t outdated by the time it makes it to press. Google changes it’s terms rapidly, so the newer the information the better. I recommend Clickbank because there are so many scammers out there and Clickbank is reliable to weed out the garbage and will give you a full refund troublefree is you find it’s not what you thought it was. Information is power.
Affiliate Programs
The other main way you will make money on your blog is to sign up for some affiliate programs. Linkshare and Commission Junction are two of the top networks you will want to apply to. There are many others and you can read more about this in our post: The Top 10 Affiliate Networks.
Clickbank
If the internet is the information super highway, then Clickbank is the #1 truckstop. Like I mentioned above, Clickbank has a level of integrity to maintain so they are meticulous about not accepting junk. It’s also a tremendous source of useful information about almost any subject you could imagine. It’s easy to use and navigate. You can sign up for free to sell any product. If you want to sell your own product, it costs a one time $50 registration fee. But I don’t think you are quite there yet. Once you have your Clickbank ID, you will find creating links for any of their products very easy.
There are other ways to make money on your blog, but you will want to get a little more established first. Also, you don’t want to put too many ads on your site, or many potential readers will click away in a nano-second.
So now you are up and running, keep posting quality content 2-5 times per week and you will find that within 6 months you are doing better than you ever thought you could. There are a number of ways to tweak your blog, and of course, generating traffic will be your next hurdle.
Marketing Your Blog
We are only going to briefly touch on this because it’s an entire series of posts all by itself. We used to have a category called “Marketing” but decided it deviated too far from our intended focus. There are many ways to market your blog, but here are our top seven:
- Comment on other blogs (like ours) similar to yours and leave a back link
- Guest post on popular blogs (like ours! just email us with your post)
- Start a Facebook Fan page
- Start a Twitter profile and add others like yourself
- Register and use Delicious, Stumble on, Digg, Reddit, Technorati, and others like it. Download Alexa’s toolbar. You’ll know at a glance the best sites.
- Start a newsletter-sign up with AWeber or Constant Contact.(60 day free trial)
- Post really interesting stuff, top 10 lists are HOT
Well, that is it for our series, but we have much more free tools and tips on this blog to help you succeed. What kind of advice can you offer our readers that will help them get started? Thanks!
Jun
06
How To Make Money Blogging- Choosing Your Platform (Part 2)
Please note: this was written in June, 2008! Updated, June, 2010
First off, I really want to make it clear that I am NOT an expert at blogging, actually, I am just really getting started. (6/2008) If you’re wondering what am I doing writing a blog about blogging when I’m a new blogger (say that 5 times really fast) , so am I. What I am is a teacher, and a researcher. To clarify my purpose here, it’s to give you a concise outline to get started and point you to all the resources you need to make …GOOD…money blogging. I am happy to walk along side and compare notes as we go along, too!
OK, now that we have that out of the way…..Step 2. You should have your topic now, your next assignment is also one of the most important foundational steps you will take and that is deciding on your blogging platform. Here is where I have freedom to tell you my experiences with various platforms because no one is paying me to say what they want me to! In case you aren’t sure what I mean by ‘blogging platform’, then you are at the right place. This means you aren’t up on the latest CSS or HTML, or other alphabet software and you need a basic recommendation.
Choosing Your Platform
Ok, what’s a ‘platform’? It’s basically what you use to write and publish your blog. Also know as a ‘Content Management System’ or CMS, it’s one of the most important decisions you will make in your blogging journey. There are a number to choose from, and if you’d like to see a full list, Problogger has one posted here.
WordPress
We are only going to deal with the most popular free programs. I discovered WordPress later in the game and absolutely LOVE it, and it’s 100%free. You have two options with WordPress, WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Many people confuse these two, but there is a BIG difference. WP.com is the online version that is ideal if you have $0 money to start with. They will give you a domain name (actually, it will be a subdomain of WP like like ThisIsMe.wordpress.com) and walk you through step by step. You can purchase your own domain name and plug it in if you want.
Your other option is to obtain your own hosting and domain name and put it on your server yourself. This is called a ‘self-hosted blog’. Many hosting companies already have it installed on their system, and it’s a one or two click start up. Why would you go to all that trouble and expense if WordPress is willing to host it for you? Money. On WordPress.com you are limited not only to what you can do with design and the like, but if you get too commercialized (ie: advertising) they will shut you down. So if your object is to make money, it’s wise to start out with a self hosted blog. It’s not as difficult as it sounds, and some hosting companies are more than helpful in walking you through it. Blue Host has the best customer service IMHO, and was very patient with me in the early days. Believe me, I would not have been as patient with me. I had no idea what I was doing. They spent hours at a time helping me out. iPowerWeb.com also has award winning customer service and is probably the most affordable option, including a free domain name.
Blogger
Blogger is Google’s baby, and is easily set up with Google Adsense. However, being somewhat of a remnant child of the sixties, I have struggled with how big Google is getting, and thus a little too powerful. So I enjoy promoting the free spirited WordPress. That’s all I will say, in case Google is listening….. It’s also more difficult in my opinion to use on a day to day basis than WordPress, but they do make it easier to install some of the extras (like their Adsense).
Homeschool Blogger
Homeschool Blogger is a free blogging platform that is made for homeschoolers. They have recently done a MAJOR remodel, so be patient with them. It’s a great way to get to know other homeschool families.
The platform I started with came with my hosting package and was an installed WordPress application hosted on my Blue Host. I felt limited in what I could do at the time. I have blogs on all the platforms, I tried them all just so I could report back to you what works and what doesn’t.They all work, but I like WordPress the best, and Blogger the least.
Now (6-2010) I have several ‘self-hosted’ blogs and love all the options and the ease with updating and trying new things. I enjoy trying on different themes like some women enjoy trying on new clothes! (not recommended)
Would love to hear your experiences, please leave us a comment with your opinion. Thanks!
Read next: How to make money blogging – Part 3
Jun
06
How To Make Money Blogging – Choose Your Niche (Part 1)
In all my years of looking at all the ways to make money at home, there was always loads of ideas and “the best ways” but what I found was no one told me exactly how to start. All the information was concentrated on how much I was going to make and rarely where to begin. So what would I do but dive in only to discover down the road it wasn’t going to work for one reason or another. I decided then that if I ever figured it all out that I would share it all. Free.
In looking at all the many sources of information about how to make money blogging, I can’t say this guide is the best, but it’s certainly the most condensed. You want to get started, so let’s go!
So! To begin your blogging career, you will need to decide what you want to blog about! This is probably your most important step. You don’t want to sign up for a domain name or service yet, because you need to have a clear vision of what your blog’s purpose will be FIRST.
Your blog should be something you’re interested in or your apathy will show through your writing. You will also find it very hard to continue writing every single day about something you don’t have a passion for. Of course, you also want to be sure your subject choice is profitable. Are there products or services connected to your blog that are in demand? Think about where your experience and knowledge intersect with a subject that people want to read about. One way to determine what you are really interested in is to browse the open questions in Yahoo Answers. Take a look at some of the open questions and see what you tend to gravitate towards.
If you are still having problems thinking of ideas, try looking at some of these sites and see if it helps you generate some ideas:
top 100 blogs (if you can stand the flashing ads…)
another top 100 blogs…(no flashing ads…)
have fun! You might want to set a timer, it’s easy to get lost in time when surfing the top blogs!
Make a list of 5-10 subjects you think might be possibilities and then check which subjects have profit possibilities and which don’t! The way to do this is do a search on the topics of choice and see what is available. This is the hard part, and is best an item of prayer for guidance. If there is very little available on your subject, you may find there is little interest. (not profitable) Don’t be afraid of diving into an overloaded subject area (like dieting or dating) if you think you can do a better job than most. While you are looking, try to notice any unfilled niches in your subject area.
There is a program that is highly recommended that has a plug in search area telling you the perfect ratio of interest to availability. They also provide one of the easiest web hosting and posting options there is for a very affordable amount. It’s everything you need in one package, if you’re interested it’s called NPC-Niche Profit Classroom. I’ve tried it myself and can highly recommend it. It will cut your learning time in half, if not more.
Once you have your subject chosen, think of a domain name and blog title that says what you write about. A cool tool to brainstorm a domain name is NameTumbler.com.
Hold off on buying your domain name for now. Remember, if you haven’t purchased your hosting yet, most companies will give you a free domain name with your purchase.
The last task in this lesson is to think of your byline. Your byline is a one sentence summary of what your blog is all about. This will give you focus and help you stay on track. For instance, Homeschool-Entrepreneur.com’s byline is “Teaching It, Learning It, Doing It!” At one point, it was “Where Learning Makes Sense Cents ”
Read next: How to make money blogging – Part 2
Jun
06
How To Make Money Blogging-Intro
I’ve spent the last 4 hours researching and looking at blogs and what others are doing to make a GOOD income blogging. Obviously, there are many, many people doing it as a full time job and doing very well with it, but all will say that it is work. Those journaling their journey tell how they virtually lived online at first. So, it’s not a get rich quick income, but it certainly seems to suit the typical homeschool family as a way to make money at home!
Think about it, your blog could be a topic of special interest to your family and you could make it a daily school assignment! Writing practice, research, and creative thinking all rolled into one ongoing assignment! The best part is you can get started for free!
OK, here is my plan. For the next 6 months, I am going to dig online and offline for the best of the best blog advice there is and journal my creation here on bizyhomeschoolers. I’ll let you know every detail, including what I make, so that you will know what to do -or what NOT to do – to make money blogging! I also would like to link to as many homeschool bloggers as possible, so watch out. However, that’s all for my intro because it’s late, and I’m going to bed, good night!
Read next: How to Make Money Blogging – Part 1
Jun
06
Huge List of Great Blog Resources!
Here’s another HUGE list of great blogging resources- everything from blog helps to platforms to search engines and more. If you are serious about making money with your blog, spend some time here!
Daniel Scocco is the creator of Daily Blog Tips, one of the top blogging sites. His blog offers quality information on everything you need to know to catapult your blog to greatness. Beware, once you’re there, you won’t want to leave!
This list of blog resources came from dfinitive, a popular bookmarking site that Daniel has been named their ‘resident blogging expert’. No small honor.
HUGE list of blogging resources
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