When And How To Monetize A Blog
Today’s Quick Blogging Tip Thursday comes from a question from one of our subscribers.
Hi Michael, I’m not sure how popular your blog is or in which niche so it’s hard to frame an exact answer. AdSense is always a common answer but you can do better than give away hard-earned traffic for pennies.
I always recommend building a blog’s readership, reputation and interaction before monetizing it, especially with banner ads.
- Choose a niche you enjoy and become an expert.
- Learn everything you can about blogging.
- Build traffic naturally and quickly.
- Use social media to its fullest.
- Network and collaborate with other bloggers.
- Build a list as soon as possible (Avoid free auto-responders).
- Deliver valuable, consistent and relative content to readers and subscribers (blog, list & social networks).
Once you have a popular blog with consistent traffic, you can start easing in recommended products via affiliate programs in blog posts and emails to your list. As those profits build, you can begin thinking about product creation, better marketing and expanding from there.
That’s just a general answer but with consistent effort you’ll be a blogging pro in no time. As far as millions of dollars, don’t believe all the hype. Blogging, just as with any business, online and off, takes work, time and even money.
The answer on, “How do I make my blogging?” can only be addressed after, “When should I start monetizing my blog?” is answered.
Update
Another factor I didn’t touch on, and should have, is selling advertising. I won’t sell advertising on a site unless I know I can deliver results. That takes a steady stream of targeted traffic. Even with a popular blog, an unrelated ad, bad copy, ugly graphics, misplaced location and many other factors can destroy CTR and conversion rate. Selling advertising is a responsibility that should be taken seriously.
Your Feedback
I’d love to hear your feedback, ideas and comments. Are you advertising on your blog? Are you having any success? What are some other factors we should look at when it comes to online money by blogging? Please comment below.
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I hav been using CB Engine Banner Ads on my sites – targeting ads that are not similar to what my site is selling – Why take traffic away from my site???
Hi Lee, how’s that working for you? Wouldn’t it be better to build traffic within your niche and keep the content within that niche? Would something like an opt-in form to build a list or your own product better serve you in that sidebar than third party text ads? Just my opinion, they might be paying off for you for all I know.
Short post, but very powerful. The number one thing I believe is being able to deliver value to your visitors. That will create trust and keeping them coming back.
Trust and value Denis, that’s what it’s all about; from true in-person friendships to customer relationships and everywhere between.
Yes, blog should not be wasted, earning pennies. Blogs very much have the potential to sell anything from a car to aeroplane. I have seen people selling diamonds, LCD TVs, and much for anybody can imagine.
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Ganesh J. Acharya recently posted..Good sales pitch tips and techniques
it’s true Ganesh, blogging has grown in every field and we’re seeing a lot of success everywhere.
Again I have read a report that ironically said blogging failed impacting the way it was expected. And as far as I know, it did far better.
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Ganesh J. Acharya recently posted..Some More to Learn Regarding Blog Commenting
How can I tell if I am doing a good job monetizing my blog?
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Jim Syyap recently posted..Here is something you might not know about me
Hi Jim, From those PayPal messages to start. lol If your income goal are being met from your online efforts via your blog, I’d say that’s pretty good. If you have banner ads all over the place, distracting readers and sucking up bandwidth, and there’s nothing monetary to show from it. I’d recommend re-evaluating things.
Monetizing your blog is no easy step but then there a lot of ways on how to do it. Just be sure that what you’re offering is something that your followers will find very interesting and unique.
Well done. This post is a quick recap of all the important points. As you have mentioned, building reputation and relations is more important than spending efforts on monetization. Monetization will happen automatically when you deliver the best and when you engage the audience to the optimum level.
Jane recently posted..Is Like-Gating Sufficient for Connecting with Your Target Audience?
Thanks Jane, it’s one of those things we can’t jump into but many bloggers do. We’ve all seen it but everyone has to learn at their own pace, I guess.
This is what i am searching for. The tips on how to monetize blogs. You made it easy for me to understand the basic tips of it. Choosing an niche and collaboration on other website is a good step.
Thank you Isabel, I’m glad to help.
Brian Hawkins recently posted..New Year, Great Look and Big Plans – Hello 2012!
Yes these are basic tips but most important.
We’ll be getting into more advanced monetization methods soon Nidhi.
Brian Hawkins recently posted..New Year, Great Look and Big Plans – Hello 2012!
I think participating in Forums will also help you monetize your site. I think one forum site that could help you with your monetizing effort is Warriorforum.
Sure Jarrod, a lot of marketers have made big money on the Warrior forum. I’m a member there myself but haven’t been on much lately. To me, it seems to have turned almost into a marketer’s meat market with little value but there are other forums too. Nice point though, I like it.
Brian Hawkins recently posted..4 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Improve Alexa Ranking
Nice recap of all the important points to be followed before going for successful blog monetization. You should be very careful in selection of your affiliates and sponsors.
Barry recently posted..LIST BUILDING
yes you are right barry
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nidhi recently posted..6 Types of Webhosting Services
I agree Barry, once people start getting burned from recommended products our reputations go down the drain, along with any hope for future profit.
Brian Hawkins recently posted..4 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Improve Alexa Ranking
Happy New Year Brian!
EVERY blog should be monetized – even those that get a few visitors a day – because you NEVER KNOW when an article you published will get a link form an A-List blogger or a newspaper or a popular online destination!
Blog On!
Well thanks Dave, Happy New Year to you too. I’m pretty excited about 2012.
I have a different opinion though when it comes to blog monetization. I feel it’s better, in a long run, to build trust and reputation first.
It’s important to stay on target with our blogs and have a very direct and clear message as to what our site is about. Our blog’s “purpose” must be obvious to new visitors the second they click over. Distractions of any kind, especially flashy banners, rob that blog of focus and any future success. When someone has to search and scroll around to find exactly what they are looking for we’ve already lost that visitor and potential customer.
There are also SEO drawbacks from advertising too early. A bunch of low-value links, even when no-follow, can hurt search rank and position. Then there’s the load time factor which does play a role in search results on Google. Every image, script and data slows load times.
Brian Hawkins recently posted..New Year, Great Look and Big Plans – Hello 2012!
I know many bloggers who are earning more than $200 just from adsense alone.Adsense is probably the best money maker out there.I think affiliate marketing require more efforts.
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Shanky Sahni recently posted..Why is blogging so addictive?
I’m glad you brought up effective use of social media since a lot of businesses just throw in social media without understanding how to use it. They’ll set up a Facebook group and make a Twitter account, but after a month or so they abandon them and the group becomes a sort-of online eyesore for the company.
I’m actually running a webinar on blog monetization tomorrow at 4:00 PM EST, which you can sign up for here: http://www2.onlinemeetingnow.com/register/?id=09e8d47324
You guys are more than welcome to check it out!
Thanks for this awesome summary.
My blog isn’t big enough yet to really make any money out of it, so I’ll leave the ads out for a little longer.
Now, I am wondering, is AdSense really the best (if you do opt for not selling/picking your own ads) or are there any better affiliate programs (thinking at Chikita, etc.)?
Short article yet precise. In my opinion, one’s niche is all that matters for a successful blog. I have some blogs of which 1 is a big one. Till date, only used Adsense but don’t like the irrelevant ads that show up regularly. As you said, targeted advertising for advertisers like BuySellAds would be the best once the blog is big enough.
Most people throw in ads the second they build their blog. This a mistake, in m opinion, because ads simply make a blog, any blog, slower and ugly. And when you have no readers, the few that stray they path and end up on your blog will just as quick leave it when they see how it looks.
Plus, even if you make 0.1$ a day from clicks, that can’t be called money.
Bloggers should first build a steady flow of traffic and only then think of monetizing.
People should 100% focus on providing quality first before thinking about ways to make money from their site. By trying to monetize a site too early you can put off of the loyal visitors that you’ve already built up. So, take it nice and slow, and when you do implement keep an eye on your Analytics to ensure that the time people spend on your site isn’t noticeably dropping.
When to monetize? Why not start monetizing right from the beginning… a few Adsense ads or whatever, won’t be big money but even seeing a little bit will keep you motivated to keep writing!