Make Money Blogging
Create your profitable Blog
If you feel you are ready to start blogging then you have made a great decision. The rewards of having your own blog can be felt financially and give you satisfaction that can only be felt by helping others through your own blog. If you haven’t already I suggest you read the advice available on Startupsandsuch.com before you start blogging. That way you can start out on the right track and get things moving faster. If you can’t wait then you can always read up on them later.
Due to the frustration I felt when I was just starting out blogging I decided to make a special page to help you get going on the right step.
31 Days to Build a Better Blog (CLICK HERE) a downloadable e-book is designed to help you revitalize your blog by giving you 31 tasks that will all help to turn it into the page view powerhouse you’ve always dreamed of. This is a great book for those who have a blog and might need to touch it up. Those who are just starting out this book is a MUST read so check it out. Now on with starting your blog.
The Basics
1. Choosing Your Niche
It’s time to sit down and really think about your passions. For me, writing about online business and how to start online businesses came naturally because I have a passion for it. Don’t choose a niche unless you really like talking about it, and know a lot about. This is going to be your baby, so make sure you choose the right niche before you start out. It never fails to do a little research in your niche to add value and integrity to your blog.
2. Deciding On A Domain Name
Do you want to pick some keywords for your domain name, or do you want to use your name? There are tons of successful blogs that use both of these options. Don’t get too hung up over your domain name. Pick something you like and try to make it catchy if you aren’t using your own name. However depending on your blog you may want to consider a name that tells a little something about your blog.
3. Pick Your Hosting
When it comes to hosting you do not want to make a bad choice. A bad host can really hurt your blog with down time, and internal errors on their servers. I use Hostgator and have never had a problem. If I experienced a problem their online chat was outstanding in answering my questions and solving my problems. Their customer service has always been impeccable with any questions I had, which turned out really useful when I was just starting out with having a website.
CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR HOSTGATOR.COM
4. Setting Up Your Blog
Okay what do you need to know to setup your blog? First off we need to obtain a blog. There are several options – host a blog on your own domain or get a free blog. For starters, let’s talk about the free blogs. You can obtain a free blog at www.blogger.com or even better at www.wordpress.com. It is your personal choice but as you can see I like WordPress. It seems I always learn something new using WordPress which is great because it is all about learning and helping others to succeed.
Both blogs have step-by-step instructions to setting up your blogs. Tinker around with both blogs if you like and compare options. WordPress is very popular amongst bloggers because of its ease of use, forums, and tons of WordPress Templates out there to customize your blog to your style.
Another plus about WordPress is that it is simple to set up using my host which is Hostgator. That is something you should consider when setting up your blog. What blogs does your host support?
5. Blog Content
What type of content is suitable for my blog? The question is what is my blog about? First off, there is no specific perameter that your blog should have, which means you can write about anything.
The difference between a profitable blog and non-profitable blog is the way the blog is actually written. Would you rather read a blog that sounds like a lecture or sounds like we are talking with a friend? I would prefer reading a blog that sounds like I am talking with my friend. That type of blog keeps my interest. I have sat through too many lectures to know that is not what we want to read in a blog.
When people log on to your blog, they are not only looking for information – they are also looking for information they can obtain easily, and better still in a relaxed manner. Add a human touch to your blog post, this will keep your current visitors coming back and attract new visitors. Imagine yourself talking about your subject to a personal friend, add humor to your blog posts, and keep it light and easy to read. Write as if you are having a conversation with single person.
Human beings are very curious creatures, so naturally your visitors would want to know as much about you as the information you’re offering them. Having a distinctive personality in your blog would make a world’s difference between your blog about gadgets and all the other blogs about gadgets out there.
Creating a relationship with your visitors is creating your own brand which helps visitors’ remember your blog’s name when they need to find information that you have.
6. Getting Traffic To Your Blog
Blogs can be entertaining, but only if other people are looking at them. This is why you should follow the six ways to bring traffic to your blog to get people interested in your thoughts and comments.
1) Twitter is the hot, new website on the internet where people can post text-like messages. So once you register on Twitter, include the URL of your blog, and become a follower of the fans who seem interested in your blog’s subject. More times than not, people you follow will return the favor. After you get a decent following, you can notify them about each new post.
2) Digg is a wonderful way to advertise your blog. One you sign-up, you can post about your blog as often as you want, as long as each post in original. People who like what they read on Digg will read your blog posts.
3) YouTube is another great outlet that will get your blog noticed. Make a short video clip and put it on YouTube for all of the world to see. As time goes on, more people will look at it, and you can make your video available for viewing as long as you like.
4) Forums related to your blog topic are places where you can get the word out about your website. However, stay active on whatever forum you choose to join. This means posting a comment several times per week. The bigger presence you have on a forum, the more visitors you will have on your blog.
5) Answers.com as well as Yahoo Answers are both sites that give people answers to questions, and they are both also highly popular. What you should do is look for a question that deals with the subject matter of your blog. One you find one, supply a thoughtful, thorough answer. If you appear knowledgeable, people will flock to your blog.
6) Facebook is arguably the most popular social networking site on the internet right now. There you can post information, videos, and pictures for your “friends” to see, no matter what part of the world they live in. Make sure you put up your blog’s link and communicate with others several times during the week to stay active.
7) The Google Traffic Pump System is a product that will teach you how to get targeted traffic to your blog. This system uses Googles free tools to show you exactly what Google wants and is looking for. By finding out what Google wants you can cater to Google by implementing the recommendations onto your website. Once Google indexes your site and finds the inbound links your page rank increases thusfore moving your site up in search engines. Why not give Google what it wants. Find out more CLICK HERE
7. Making Your Blog Profitable
Despite the fact that blogging started out as a platform to exchange ideas, industrious users have found simple ways to make money from them. People from all walks of life are utilizing blogs to earn an at-home income. You can earn residual revenue every month just by creating and maintaining a blog.
Take a look at the four best ways to bring in money from blogging.
1) The ad network, Google Adsense, is a simple, reliable to earn money every time someone clicks on the ad you have posted on your blog. Each click pays you a certain amount of money that comes from Google advertisers. You will not make a lot in the beginning, but with time, it can turn into a viable income; this requires a steady, full stream of traffic.
2) Affiliate programs offered by many sites are also places that can make your blog money by earning commissions on sales. All you need to do is register and market the online business’ products or services, and you will get a percentage of the selling price. Because affiliate marketing is a popular form of advertising, you should have no trouble finding something related to your blog’s subject.
3) Amazon Stores is definitely worth mentioning. When you become a partner, you will receive a portion of each completed sale. To do this, post a link on your blog to take people to the store on Amazon, and when they buy something because of your link, you earn money. It’s as simple as that.
4) Tons of people make money off of eBay everyday, and you can too, even without having your own store. You can be a partner on an eBay network and get cash when someone places a bid. Again, you just need to put a link up on your blog. Because people love the thrill of an auction, eBay can be extremely lucrative.
There are more ways to make the big bucks using your blog. As you can see, most methods take minimal effort.
4. How Do I keep Visitors Updated About My Blog Posts?
That is a great question. There are many ways to keep visitors coming back. The best way is to “build a list” of your visitors to allow you to implement an email marketing campaign. What you want to do is build a relationship with your visitors, provide valueable content based on your business model and also make money.
List building is fairly simple. It will require you to offer a product or service that is relevant to the theme of your business, and of value to your visitors. You can do this through a weekly, bi-weekly newsletter, ebooks, software, or many other products. My expertise is making money online so I offer my visitors products that have been tested and will help them grow their business to make money online.
Emailing your list with recommendations or to keep in contact builds a relationship with your visitors. This in turn helps you build creditabilty. When you update information, add new products, offer new servcies, or make new post on your website that you feel is important to your visitors you can email them the information. Keep in touch with them regularly and they will greatly appreciate you for it.
