Make Money Blogging in Your Spare Time
Making money your blog is definitely one of the most exciting times for the growth of your site. Setting up your blog for the first time, getting your first post live, then seeing traffic coming through your site on a daily basis are all amazing things, but finally seeing all of your efforts come together and that you have built a web site / blog that can really make you money, now that’s amazing!
When it comes to blogging and making money on line I’ve had my fair share of everything. With ZacJohnson.com I’ve been able to generate over six figures per year through various methods, such as onsite advertising, affiliate products, partnerships and affiliate programs. Even better, my personal brand continues to grow each step along the way.
This post is all about making money with your blog and now I’m going to break down some of the best ways to start monetizing your blog, while not jeopardizing your user experience.
Best Methods for Make Money with Your Blog
As mentioned, there are plenty of ways to make money with a blog but you don’t want to get into any shady areas and you definitely don’t want to lose your audience just for a quick buck. Each of the methods mentioned below I’ve used on my own blogs and your audience may even benefit from them in the process.
Affiliate Marketing
Most of are already familiar with affiliate marketing, but for those of you who aren’t it’s all about earning a commission on products or services that you recommend through your blog. For instance, if you just read a great book and mentioned it on your blog, you could use your Amazon.com affiliate link to refer sales back to Amazon and you will earn a commission on each.
The good thing about affiliate marketing is that it expands across nearly every industry and topic that you could think of for a web site. This means no matter what topic you write about on your blog, there are plenty of ways for you to monetize your content. You also don’t need to actually sell products or services to earn commissions, you can also refer leads to business or earn commission just for people to fill out short surveys or download games.
If you already have an idea for a site that would be a great fit for your site, go to their main page and look for an “affiliate program” link on the bottom section of their site. Most sites do have affiliate programs, but not all of them list it on their sites. To find more affiliate programs in your niche you can join larger affiliate networks such asshareasale.com that house thousands of different programs or search Google for “niche/industry + affiliate program” and you will have a nice assortment of programs to look through.
On Site Advertising
If you’ve spent a lot of time building up your site traffic, content and brand then you may be able to start selling on site advertising on your blog. This can be anything from product reviews, banners or newsletter promotions. Depending on your site traffic and niche, the price you can charge for advertising will heavily vary.
When selling advertising on your blog be sure to limit the amount of advertising space available. This will help you for two reasons. The first is that it won’t ruin your blog reader’s user experience and the other reason is that you can sell your advertising at a premium rate if you have less spots.
A great way to bring in new advertisers to your blog is to add an “Advertise” button or link to your blog. If you are having trouble finding advertisers for your site, take a look at your biggest blog competitors and see who is advertising on their sites. Send them an email and offer them a great deal for a test period to advertise on your site.
Creating Your Own Products / Services
The holy grail on blog monetization is creating your own product or service. If you are an authority within your niche and blog readers are continually coming to your site to hear what you have to say, then creating your own product is a great way to monetize your blog. When you have your own product or service not only will you be able to create something that your audience is interested in, but you will also be earning 100% of the revenue as well.
Some of the most successful ways to create your own product or service through your blog is with your own personal consulting service, creating a membership area to premium content and by writing an ebook with your best posts and content. Each of these might seem like they might not sell well on your site, but people pay good money to save time and benefit from quality services. This means, if people are coming to your site to read what you have been writing about, it’s very likely they would pay a premium for great content and services as well.
Starting Your Own Mailing List
All of the monetization methods above are extremely important and lucrative, but if you aren’t building a relationship and keeping your audience coming back for more, you are just another blog on the web. Starting a newsletter or mailing list for your blog is the absolute best way to grow your audience on a daily basis and giving you the ability to contact all of them with the simple click of a button.
I’ve been using Aweber for many years now and they are one of the most trusted businesses online for email and newsletter management. All you need to do is throw a signup form on your site and ask people to join your newsletter and you are ready to go. To increase the amount of signups to your mailing list, you should create a free product or guide that you can give away to anyone who signs up. Not only will this allow you to offer a quality bonus to your audience, but it will heavily increase your conversions as well.
Through the use of a newsletter or mailing list you can keep your blog readers up to date with any new and exciting events going on at your blog, while also letting them know about any new premium services or products you are offering through your site. All of the biggest bloggers in the world and thanked mailing lists as their number one method for growing their brand an monetizing their sites.
Always Treat Your Blog Like a Real Business
Starting a business on the internet is extremely cheap and easy, but getting your site to the status of a real business that makes money is quite an accomplishment. This means you need to treat your blog like a real business. Blogging is one of the slowest forms for making money online, but when done correctly it can turn into a multi-million dollar business. Just take a look at TechCrunch, HuffingtonPost
If you haven’t already, get setup with your blog and a free domain name, then shoot me an email with any questions you have about getting setup. I can even set you up with a free premium theme to get you on the right path.
This is it! We finally completed the “Seven Days of Blogging: My Personal Guide to Blogging”. If you missed any of the previous posts in the series, be sure to click here and you can find a link to all of the previous topics and discussions. Good luck with your blog and keep me updated on your success!
