Get Your Money

Three Simple Tips for Your Blog

Blogs are an extremely powerful tool for earning money online

The following are three time-tested methods for doing so:

Affiliate Programs

One of the most powerful and popular means of earning from your blog is through the marriage of your blog and an affiliate program. With the proliferation of gigantic affiliate networks such as Clickbank, Commission Junction and Share-A-Sale, it has never been easier to hook your blog up to a tested seller on a large network, and start earning.

These programs are extremely lucrative. They pay from 30% to as much as 75% of the selling price of the product. They do all the work. You, as the blog owner, collect the commission for driving traffic to their sales page.

A classic technique for matching up willing buyers with affiliate products is the use of a well-written review. The review adds value to the buying experience, educating your blog's visitor about a particular product or industry, and offering several opportunities to check it out further on the provider's web site.

Adsense and CPA Network Publishing

A second method of profiting from your blog is to establish a relationship with a CPA or Cost Per Action network such as Google Adsense or Yahoo YPN. Using this method, you build a series of ad blocks into your blog in strategic places, such that blog consumers who are reading your posts are also observing ads that are relevant to your content. When one of them clicks on an ad, you, as the blog owner / site operator, get paid. The conventional wisdom is that this method of site monetization should not be your only income source, but one that supplements your other strategies (such as affiliate programs)

Some site building applications are so easy to implement, you simply point your mouse in the right place and type in your publisher ID and your ad publishing system goes live. Others are a simple copy and paste routine, once you choose the position on your site and which type and size of ad is appropriate.

List building

A third way of earning from your blog, and one that is quite often overlooked, is the technique of building a double opt-in mailing list, and subsequently marketing to that list. Developing a mailing list of visitors is a natural progression of events when you own a blog, because your visitors are often interested in being kept in the loop as to what you have going on. Particularly if your blog is involved in contests, giveaways, carnivals and the like, it's important to advise your consuming public what is happening.

A logical outgrowth of this mailing list development is the marketing of products or services that are related to your blog directly through your mailing list. As the blog's owner, you already have established a sufficient rapport with the subscriber to your list as a result of them regularly traveling to your blog. It's not much of a stretch for you to sell to them directly.

Blogs are a powerful mechanism for communicating ideas, adding value to the Internet and building relationships with your blog's visitors. If you design them right, and take good care of them, they can also become a lucrative and continuous source of revenue.

Steve teaches blogging tactics and other online marketing techniques and skills at Internet Mentor, his online mentoring community

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